Tag: MondayKudray

Brexit Resilience: Conception to Grave

As we stand here today, the hazards, risks and threats across Europe and the rest of the world, remain as high as ever. Not just from conventional forms of crisis, emergencies or disaster, but from technological and terrorist related incidents too.

It’s a fact that possibly no longer
scares people as much as it used to?

If we look beyond 2019, (scan the horizon), Expo 2020 Dubai will take place with its magnificent theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and by then, Brexit will be a year old. Cutting it’s first teeth, sitting up on its own, without support, crawling and if we’re super confident, standing and taking some steps forward!

The Expo 2020 Dubai’s theme, although infinitely simply, has an amazing power of ambition that will no doubt, achieve its goals. To ‘create the future’, we must go through identifying lessons and learning from them; developing and implementing innovation, and with leadership and collaboration, with people and organizations, we can enable that opportunity to happen.

But we will all need to be resilient and have
safety and security in the world, no matter
where we are or where we belong.

I am no fortune teller and I am a self-confessed person who ‘Knows Nothing on Brexit’ (form your own acronym). But the reality is, hazards, risks and threats, crisis, disasters and emergencies, cyber security breaches, acts of terrorism etc, will happen.

Yes, with excellent resilience planning and collaboration between multi-agency partners, public and private sector engagement, risks can be removed or reduced, impacts and consequences can be mitigated. And we are truly grateful for those involved in such work around the world, in both response and recovery stages.

Connecting Minds, Creating the Future

Reflecting back on ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, to achieve this, we will also need to consider the way in which we ‘communicate to educate’ the people of the world, regardless of where they live and work. Not everyone, is academically gifted.

People don’t always like to think of or talk about the moment of conception, unless it’s what you’re trying your best to achieve. For some, it happens naturally and for others, it needs some technological support. Sadly, for some, it doesn’t happen at all.

Resilience and security have similarities in that
some don’t like to think or talk about it. But it
happens and its needed to ‘create the future’.

We all want and need resilience and security wherever we choose or want to be. To help make it happen in the future, we need to stop talking to ourselves and think of the real people who need the support, guidance and advice, of the brilliant experts we have around the world today.

Resilience and security matter, no matter
where we are. Communicate to educate.

Conception to the grave, life needs to be resilient to be in the future.
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Conference Shows and Quality Street

Have you ever been to a conference or an exhibition, and noticed the quality (and variety) of sweets, available in the bowl on each stand, all trying to tempt you into a conversation with the people about their products and services?

Conference shows and exhibitions are part of parcel of all industries and sectors around the world. They provide an excellent opportunity to showcase innovation, technology, equipment and concepts. They provide a platform for networking and consensus gatherings of like-minded people, listening to a guest speaker sharing their ideas and experiences.

Too many conference sweets perhaps? Too many buffet lunches?The shows also provide us the opportunity to see familiar faces from the past, and to notice if they’ve put weight on since you last saw them? Too many conference sweets perhaps? Too many buffet lunches?

Gratitude and Professionalism

Whatever the industry, we must be extremely grateful for any organisation that is prepared to invest in their time, expense and effort to participate as an exhibitor. Its not cheap. Yes, it’s business of course, but they are bold and show a professional commitment to the subject cause. They support whatever profession it is, as part of a collaborative approach, to make things happen. We need their support. It’s about collaboration and relationships. Attitudes.

We need their support – Thank you

And the event organizers themselves. It isn’t an easy task and possibly a thankless task sometimes. Competition and getting the theme right. Getting visitors interest and keeping them engaged, whilst ensuring the show must go on attitude. I guess people will still complain about something though? Resilience is the key.

6th Annual Oscar Celebration of New Zealand Filmmaking

Aisles, Rows and Zones. Sweets, Pens and Gadgets

We walk down the aisles and through the rows; we enter the different zones and then we exit them. As we wander around the exhibition hall, our eyes make contact with the people on the stands, working hard to showcase their organisations products and services.

I’ve seen others boldly go and grab a handful of sweets, without even so much as a thank you, let alone a ‘please can I take one?’We also look at the layout of the stand and what’s on the table in front? And we look at the ‘freebies’ available, to draw us in and reward us for our hopeful interest and conversations.

Now I’ve always been too humble and respectful and have never had the guts to just go up to a stand, and just take a freebie without engaging into a conversation about the products on offer. I can’t’ do that. It’s not me. But I’ve seen others boldly go and grab a handful of sweets, without even so much as a thank you, let alone a ‘please can I take one?’

As technology advances further in the future, the greater the need for human interaction, there will be. We need such shows and events to bring together like-minded individuals, from all agencies, under one roof, even if its just for a day or two, who share a common goal and profession.

Share their attitudes

Quality Street 2Such events enable the sharing knowledge, experience and attitudes. To re-think and to consider. To fire up the passion again. To motivate. To find the solutions.

Whether there are Quality Street, (other confectionary and candy are available) or even the humble boiled sweet on offer, I’d like to thank the exhibitors for thinking of the visitors.

The freebie packages of sweets, pens and the gadgets, are not the most important things you can take away from these events. The relationships and connections matter most.

Thank you for the show.

But what sweets tempt you in? 😝

To be continued…

Ok, so you’re watching your favorite TV series as its getting towards the climax. You’re waiting in anticipation of just what’s going to happen next. When suddenly… BOOM! To be continued… is on the screen right where the action is supposed to be! You feel robbed, cheated even. I bet those three little words annoy the pants off you right there and then?

We don’t want words do we? Give us the action, please? Nooooooo ☹! Don’t make us wait another week, let alone another day, for the next episode!

Hero

That makes you the hero right?But you’re the audience and that makes you the hero, right? You are in control. You want it now and you can find a way to make it work for you. Catch up, box set binge, record the series as a whole and watch it when you have the power!

Blast through the TV adverts, as you shoot them down at warp factor x30 speed on the remote control! And just how awesome do you feel when you get us all right to the very start of the next part? Come on… fist pump you because you deserve it; you are the hero!

We want to be in control of the to be continued. We want it now and we don’t want the action to be continued later.

remote control

Road Block

But what if the to be continued represented your life? Your work; your business? Your family and your lifestyle? Your source of income? Your vocation? Your status and your purpose? What if, it’s no longer just the tv program that you have to wait for, but it’s the sustainability of your lifetime of adventure, supported through your employment?

Whatever has gone wrong, a magical remote control in your hand isn’t going to give you the option and ability to fast forwardWhat if your workplace is put on hold because something has gone badly wrong and it needs recovering to get back up and fully functioning? Whatever has gone wrong, a magical remote control in your hand isn’t going to give you the option and ability to fast forward, pause or record until you are ready to pick it back up.

You want and need your life adventure in which you are one of the main stars to continue, and one of life’s complications, is that you need the income from that job, to help you on that life journey; to battle the enemies, rescue the beautiful woman/man from danger, then ride off into the beautiful sun set or clear magical night time sky.

This call to adventure we are on is ours because it is our life. Even if we don’t always agree with employers and their dastardly policies and procedures; their evil soldiers and their workplace weapons. You know where the backstabbers are ‘who smile in your face, but all the time they want to take your place (The O’Jays). But you also know where the good people are, the friends; those you like and trust and will be your supporters. Those you need, and in return, need and look up to you.

So, when the workplace is under threat because it could blow up or sink; be attacked by the cyber terrorists or some other source of big major disruption which ultimately, may put you, your life adventure and others at risk, now is the time for the business to be continued.

game over

It’s going to be hard and it’s going to be tough. It isn’t going to be pretty and we might sweat a little as our heart rate gets faster and faster. You may have sat in on a presentation in a past life. This the big one. This battle is called… Business Continuity Management.

But together, with the right guidance and experience; the right coaching and confidence, we can find a way, because once again, you can be the heroes to get us through.

Emerging Through

Plans and procedures may be in place. Risk assessments may have been taken and the business, if they are a good-hearted culture, will know what they want and what they need to do, to survive. They have got business continuity management (BCM for short, to help you save your breath), in place and we should be aware of it, trained and exercised; ready for the call to action to be continued.

But the business needs its heroes like there’s no tomorrow. No catch up, no box set binges, no pause while we go for a wee and put the kettle on. The business needs to continue, and the incident won’t wait for comfort breaks. No recording clashes. You must choose which thing you want to continue viewing?

The business needs its heroes like there’s no tomorrow!But because you want and need your life adventure to be continued and there are people you can help, we can work together to build resilience and help save the day, perhaps even save some lives too!

BCM isn’t just about looking after the business and the enemies within. It isn’t just about keeping its empire going to serve and collaborate with other kingdoms. BCM also helps us live our lives the way we hopefully want to live.

We, said the late Bowie, can be heroes, just for one day. Nah…. scrap that David! Don’t underestimate the size of the task ahead. We may need you to be heroes for more than one day. And together, we can help us all, to be continued.

The humble ‘Banana Skin’ – possibly the greatest risk management tool ever

Horizon scanning is a fundamental, dietary requirement of any business strategy. It’s an expected factor of successful direction. A needs must! You need to see what’s in the distance; what hazards, threats and risks lay ahead. The road on which we travel and where we want to be.

During basic and advanced driving skills, we should be looking ahead as far as we can see, to anticipate and prepare for the challenges; enabling us to get ready to adjust and negotiate our way as smoothly as possible. Minimalize the last-minute breaking to prevent a collision with some obstacle or another.

The Power of Risk Awareness

The old saying of avoiding the ‘potential banana skin’ is simply immense! It has kept many ‘wise’ people from danger or challenges over history. You try to avoid them I’m sure?

“We run the risk of missing the terror of the discarded ‘banana skins’ that could be so close to us.” Now I’m not fully qualified to give exact data figures of who has actually ended up in the emergency room after slipping on a banana skin, but I’ve never done it myself. Why? Well simply because I’ve always avoided them when I see them on the floor. After all, they’re a potential death trap,.. aren’t they? ”We run the risk of missing the terror of the discarded ‘banana skins‘ that could be so close to us.”

The person who invented the idea that the thrown away skin of the once exotic fruit, could be an excellent opportunity to communicate risks, must have been a forward thinking, strategic leader, with exceptional resilience values. A philosopher. A genius. A real risk management expert!

The ‘banana skin‘ concept is still powerful enough even today, in this crazy technological world, to make clever people think twice. To inform leaders and all around of what could potentially wrong, if we don’t look up and see the path ahead. Look up to see the risks in the distance.

Although technically, if we do look ahead, we potentially run the risk of missing the terror of the discarded ‘banana skins‘ that could be so close to us!

The Business Banana Skin Effect – (Continuity and Success)

Horizon scanning is a must; business planning, strategic, tactical and operational skills all working together, in the right roles and responsibilities, will help avoid or reduce the risk of disruption and challenge (well, as far as reasonably practicable).

Any business and organization needs to look up and see the direction they want and need to travel in and the landscape around. The competition, the opportunities, the dangers. Try to see the ‘banana skins‘ in the distance or anticipate where they may have been dropped.

Just Because We Can’t See Any Banana Skins Does Not Mean We Won’t Slip Up

In business, we will always hear the ‘it has never happened to us yet’ saying as a means of ‘justifying’ why resilience is not needed. Yes ‘banana skins‘ exist and they can be ‘dangerous’, but I’ve never stepped on one, so I’m resilient!

“It can be taught to children and adults alike. It is effective and just so simple. It actually helps us manage the risks.”Actually, I avoid them like you do, so that it is why I haven’t slipped on one before. But we have still tripped and slipped in the past, on other less or bigger things! It happens.

The ‘banana skin‘ effect is an exceptional, internationally recognized risk awareness tool. It crosses businesses and boundaries so effortlessly. It can be taught to children and adults alike. It is effective and just so simple. It actually helps us manage the risks.

However, it is essential that any business leader and their teams, consider not just the dangers and opportunities on the horizon, but also those that may be close by. Situational awareness as it is more commonly known by.

Having a shared situational awareness (SSA) will help all avoid those trips and slips or at the very least, reduce the risks and minimize the impacts, if they do create a challenge.

The ‘banana skin’ risk management tool has stood the test of time and will probably continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Technology is amazing but simple education and communication is just as awesome when it comes to risk and resilience management.

Working from Home: Business Matters

How many big business decisions, are made, wearing slippers (or not)?

I recently watched the Churchill movie, The Darkest Hour and noticed that they portrayed the man himself ‘working from home’ in his pj’s, on the bed drinking champagne etc. It is nothing new.

Working from home is a norm today. It will have it’s knockers and naysayers for sure. The myths and disbelievers. But working from home is a positive capability in more ways than one.

Not only is it very much ultra convenient, or even the only way for some, it is also a resilient solution in certain challenges.

Listen to Paul’s suggested soundtrack for this post

Business Matters

With many new office designs having less parking spaces than the occupancy permits, home working is actively encouraged to promote a good work-life balance, in addition to ensuring the environment has a break every now and then.

Are you sitting comfortably?….then we’ll begin

Just how many big business decisions, risks and innovation, have been made over the years from the ‘sanctuary’ of home? The home office space or even sat at the dinning room table?

Hassle free working?

Working from home provides people with a bit of ‘extra’ breathing space from being ‘hassled’ at the normal work place.

Less interruptions (or so we hope) and time to concentrate on the big projects. The business case… not the muffins.

Life in the fast lane

For some, working from home is not a viable option and I suspect, some are very happy it is not an option full stop. But in today’s ‘flexible’ and ‘mobile’ world, in which buisness demands are fast and furious, Business Continuity Management (BCM) plans and arrangements, will always have the ‘work from home’capability as one of it’s essential weapons of defence. Technology has enabled progress which enables a hopefully, seemless continuity (on the surface at least).

Decision making

Okay, so we will be a little more relaxed in our own homes. Decision fatigue becomes less relevant when we negate the challenges of what to wear for work today. Some will dress accordingly because it feels more motivational and ‘feels like work’, however others may prefer the comfy options.

Who cares really as long as it works for them and the decisions and output they have to make.Tough decisions like ‘shall I put a wash on’ may always be a ‘home challenge’ but in the main, working from home, if it is an option and a workable solution for BCM purposes, is undoubtedley a vangaurd of today’s economy.

Swings and waterslides

There will be arguements perhaps, over this and that (utility bills, internet access etc etc) but the benefits to both sides are far more positive than negative. We need resilient arrangements; fallback solutions and flexibility.

In difficult times, we may need the person in the slippers to stand tall and show how amazing they can be, with or without the suit and shoes. #resilientslippers

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com

Not everything can go in the dishwasher

Busy lives mean endless choices and the subsequent working out, in which order to tackle them? To do lists, should do lists, must do lists; whatever you decide, somethings will naturally be at the top of the pile by default. And other issues will linger and cause prolonged consideration and even angst.
IN YOUR EARS

Paul suggests listening to this song to accompany reading this post!

Whatever difficult decision challenges we face today, such as family, health, finances, business, career, we can be overburdened as they stack up like the dirty dishes. Not everything can go in the dishwasher, out of sight, out of mind (for the time being at least).

Decisions are no different; we can delay them, put them off until the morning so to speak and before we know it, there they are!

I wish I’d done them last night!

Evolve rather than revolve

It is easy today to follow our pattern and routine. We feel comfortable at that speed. In control.When we are pushed ‘out of the comfort zone’ or hassled for a decision, it feels a bit pressured and we lose the time we really wanted to go through the options at our own pace. We start with a holding line, usually starting with ‘erm…….‘ as we play for a few more magical seconds to make the call.

It could even by such a challenging
choice of tea or coffee?

Everyday we take on more experience and knowledge and we evolve rather than just revolving around the same old doors of life. We push the boundaries and take some risks. We feel more empowered for a few moments.

That’s good. Positivity helps. A step in the right direction.

I’ll wash, you dry

Not everyone has a dishwasher at their disposal. Some ‘dishwashers’ have human names, because, they are humans, sharing the domestic or work responsibilities. And yes of course, not all items are dishwasher safe so they have to be hand washed even if you have the machine available. Bugger! Who bought this?

Lets not forget also, that some dishes come out of the machine with a stubborn stain that needs a bit more attention. Decisions we thought we made are also like that sometimes. They come back for more!

Resilient priorities

When we have tough decisions to make, in limited time, we need and seek as much information and inteligence available to us at the time. We want to make the right choice and in the right order. We weigh up the options and we use a number of factors to ‘prioritize’ and we go for it.

We can review the actions as we go along and we can evaluate to see if it is effective or not. We do this in everyday life and it is something that the emergency services, incident commanders and multi-agency teams have got far better at working together with. Joint decisions in a good cause. But it is something we do independently or at ‘team home’. We are resilient.

Hands that do dishes…..

A famous TV commercial for a certain brand of washing up liquid, used a catchphrase to ‘sell’ the qualities of their product. It made the public feel that tackling such a domestic chore could still have benefits to the softness of your hands.

Decisions, challenges, tasks, options, dilemma’s, whatever issues you have stacked up right in front of you now, can be tackled efficiently. Either working with others or by yourself if you have to.

We find a way of getting through the list of things to do and our ‘hands’ become softer, or at least a bit smoother once more.

The trouble is, those decision dishes of life will be back again before you know it. But you can face them again, when you’re ready!

The Generation Game: Where resilience matters

Born in the sixies, I grew up a child of the seventies, when there were only three UK television channels available to watch (if you were fortunate enought to have a TV!).

I was raised on a council estate in a working class family and money was tight. Our TV even had a money meter fixed to it, as did the electric meter too! It was a norm back then. It was a way of surviving and living and we were happy. We were resilient.

A ‘family treat’ happened on Saturday evenings when we would watch the BBC programme ‘The Generation Game’. A TV ‘game show’, then presented by the late Sir Bruce Forsyth who passed away in 2017. The format of the show involved family members, usually two adults, one older, one younger (hence generation link); with the aim to take on tasks and skills and compete against another ‘family team’.

IN YOUR EARS

Paul suggests listening to this song to accompany reading this post!

Light entertainment as it’s called

The family who scored the most points along the way, eventually had the chance to witness a converyor belt, loaded with prizes for a short a time, before having to recall the items one by one a short while later. Only one of the family members did this task.
Whatever items they could remember, they took away with them. The audience shouted to help the person remember what had passed by on the belt. It was indeed… ‘a good game, good game‘ (as Brucie would say!).

Family Matters: Business Matters: Life Matters

I am aware that the BBC is bringing the programme back with new presenters in 2018. There have been a number of different presenters over the years and an absence of the programme from the screens altogether. But the concept of a ‘Generation Game’ should not just be restricted to a TV programme of ‘light entertainment’.

In resilience terms, we share what we see, know and do, with family, friends and work colleagues. Our experiences and our joint working together to take on challenges and tasks; not only to win ‘prizes or rewards’, but often simply to get through life and the business jobs at hand. It matters to us all. We share stories and experiences and we pass the information on.

We work together

Conveyor Belt Principle

In our daily family and working lives, it is a pretty good assumption that somewhere along the journey, you will have been trained by someone more experienced. You may have even trained others who had less experience than you. A generation thing perhaps?

There will be ‘family’ love and protective advice passed down through generations to help you along the way. ‘Don’t go off with strangers’ and ‘don’t play with matches’ are just some examples. All kinds of relevant useful tips and information, sat on a ‘conveyor belt’ we see, receive and pass on, with the aim of being resilient; winning or getting through the ‘game of life’.

If you can think of as a many useful and relevant resilient items and tips today, what would you expect to see on the ‘conveyor belt’ and how many would the next generation be able to understand and recall?

Cyber security, emergency plans, business continuity management, flood water protection, emergency grab bag, mobile phone, pen, paper, stay safe leaflet, fire extinguisher, water, clothing, blankets, personal protective equipment, emergency shelter… cuddly toy?

The Price is Right if you Play Your Cards Right

Ok, so I’m a bit of a ‘saddo’ and I can recall other Bruce Forsyth TV programmes of ‘light entertainment’ over the years. The Price is Right and Play Your Cards Right are pretty universal concepts involving ‘games’ that particpants play to ‘win’.

Modern shows such as The Chase, Pointless, Tipping Point and I suspect, a whole lot more from around the globe, could easily be linked, with the concept of resilience. The taking part that counts or playing to survive, get through to the next heats, playing to win? That is what life and business is about.

We will take on challenges and tasks,
share some knowledge and work together
and be resilient

Everyone’s a Winner?

No, of course there are winners and losers. That is life and business again. For whatever reason, it happens. But resilience is an immensely essential role in the everyday lives of leaders and players. Both in life and in business. The subject should never be totally confined to being compartmentalized into personal and business (organizational) resilience.

Resilience transcends and crosses all walks of life and business, because there is a human, family value to it.

Resilience is not ‘light entertainment’ of course not, but it starts within the family and generations first and then grows with maturity and experience, in the wider business and working life.

We will always be involved in The Generation (Resilience) Game, because we need it.

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com

Personal Trainer – Resilience Required

Let me start by wishing you an amazing 2018! Hope you have a spectacular adventure.

Over the last year, I took on a major new challenge and qualified as a Personal Trainer. Yes indeed, a fairly average, fat boy (34 regular), took on a different capability and I found that my previous skills and experiences, of coaching and mentoring; business and personal resilience, and even anatomy and physiology, all helped me pass my Level 3 qualification.

I am now at an age and period of my life, where I swore I would never take on another exam! There comes a point in your life, when you would rather live ‘your life’ than sit in front of the computer and manuals, all alone and away from everyone, ‘revising’. Besides, it becomes so, so much harder to concentrate, when you just want to listen to music, go shopping or even do the ironing!

IN YOUR EARS

Paul suggests listening to this song to accompany reading this post!

Intuition, Listening and Leadership

Something inside me, my intuition and interests, along with some great words of encouragement from people who believed in me, made me decide to take on more study and become a Personal Trainer (PT). Why not I thought? I can do that. I am exceptional (I’m confident with it) at helping others to develop. I have done this all my life.

I am a motivator. A ‘leader’. I see the great potential in others and enjoy helping them become better at being themselves. I am a resilient person first and a resilient professional second.

A good coach can change you, but
a great coach can change your life

Health and Wellbeing: Resilience Required

We hear so many resolutions at this time of year; the desire to ‘be healthier’, ‘be good’, ‘achieve this and don’t do that’. The peer pressure often collides with our own personal needs and desires to make a new start; begin as we mean to go on.

But in reality, it is generally a temporary thing. There is nothing wrong with this, in my opinion as everyone is perfectly entitled to want a bit of improvement. It is good for both mind and the body.

Also by the same author – How to be resilient in business today

But in health and fitness, there remains a key element in that the ‘client’ needs to own their own goals if they really are to adhere to them. There is the essential element that goals and objectives need to be SMART of course.

However the ‘client’ fundamentally must own the direction they want to travel in. Understand the journey; resonate with the language.

See the support but also accept it is they who really need to do the hard, painful, tiring stuff. It must be something they see and can do.

They must be resilient to see and
feel the change for good

Feel the Burn

We are all personal trainers of some sort; we support and motivate ourselves (and others) to go and do things. We can even visualise how we see things in the future and we try to work towards it. We do that without a ‘text’ book open as we progress through the ‘exams of life’.

We feel the heat and the burning sensations from time to time, but we hopefully feel the euphoria of success and contentment. We are resilient.

Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q)

If you are a member of a gym, you will be familiar with (well, hopefully anyway) the PAR-Q process you must fill out prior to any exercise activity. It is a small, simple health screening format to determine if you have any illness or injury to prevent you from safely taking part in your exercise programme.

At the end of the day, exercise programmes must be safe and effective if they are to work.

Business Resilience and the Personal Trainer Similarities

My experiences of both business resilience and the newly acquired skills of being a PT, made me realise that like a great deal of completely different topics, there will always be some familiar faces. Before we make a conscious decision to want to change our lifestyle, we need to feel the need, see it and believe we can do it.

The client/PT relationship of course, will remain a critical part of the success and should never be seen as just a transaction. Unfortunately I think this does happen (my opinion) from time to time. But if the client is happy, the training safe and effective and results can be seen, then who are we to question?

Business leaders, of all shapes and sizes; the fit ones and those that need a ‘bit more’ additional support to become fitter and healthier, will require the essential ingredient of resilience to make it happen.

Not everyone is perfectly shaped, fit, healthy and capable, but importantly, everyone deserves a chance to be better.

We just need to see the potential and help ourselves to achieve it with the right coaching, guidance, empathy and ‘push’ in the right direction. I believe you can do it!

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com

Business resilience? Or Business reliance?

You’re on holiday, sat by the pool ‘chilling out’…

…or on the beach (getting sand in unmentionable places)… and all of a sudden you hear it! The oh-so-important person – talking far too loudly – on a business call!

As a seasoned resilience professional I know better than most that some matters are critical to a business, and have to be carried out no matter what!  

But, being forced to listen to some of the calls, it sounds more like people not letting go; either because they don’t have the infrastructure to do so, or because they don’t trust the people they’ve left ‘holding the fort’

IN YOUR EARS


Paul suggests listening to this song to accompany reading this post!

Business resilience becomes business reliance – the person supposedly on holiday, making decisions whilst they sip their pina colada (umbrella and cherry optional).

People watching

Mrs K and I weren’t working; we were enjoying a well-earned break. KCL Towers was in the very capable hands of someone we trust, who had the power to make appropriate decisions as and when necessary. Yes, we had a back-up plan for extreme emergencies, but we trusted our own business resilience. We’d prepared and planned for the event.

Why wouldn’t you!

On numerous occasions, our tranquillity was interrupted by the ringing mobile of the ‘holiday business VIP’ sat by the pool; most of whom – and I don’t want to appear sexist here – were male.

Equally noticeable, they all seemed to be of a similar age and profile – heads or owners of their business. The ‘wives’ appeared to be embarrassed and there were lots of ‘stares’ going on in an attempt to gain attention and get calls terminated quickly.

What’s the story morning glory?

I’m not an eavesdropper and I couldn’t be less interested in hearing business talk while I’m sipping my sex on the beach (that’s a cocktail…!), but years of communicating with people in emergencies means I have highly developed listening and observation skills. And these VIPs are always SO loud!

The common trait I noticed was these people couldn’t help ‘checking up on things’ at work. To me this demonstrated a clear lack of resilience. In the ‘it takes a village’ resilience models we work to, these VIPs are creating problems for themselves where there need be none. Delegation is key to being able to continue business as usual no matter what… to a happy marriage… and to having a relaxing and restorative holiday.

Gentle on my mind
Talking to a friend, she said her husband (a boss) rings the office at 15:00 hours every day while he’s on holiday.

Some years ago, while visiting the World War Two sites in France – an immensely powerful and moving experience – someone on the coach (you guessed it, a man) made and received business calls the entire journey. The tour operator – clearly dismayed by this particular VIP’s lack of sensitivity – relayed a story of someone who ran their business, whilst visiting historical scenes, to the annoyance of those paying their respects, in an attempt to shame him. It didn’t work…

David Cassidy sang:

‘Any fool can see… that she’s lookin’ through the eyes of love’

Part of what made me uncomfortable about the business VIPs’ attitude and insistent devotion to business, was the way their ‘wives’ looked; bored, neglected and eager for attention from their loved one.

None of the calls I heard appeared to be life or death business decisions. There didn’t appear to be a crisis – and I know a lot about how crises sound and play out. These calls all sounded mundane and routine.

Is a lot of the making and receiving of calls on holiday an ego thing? Is it important to other people around the VIP that they look indispensible? Or is it those back in the office they’re trying to convince that they can’t manage without them?

Adventure of a lifetime
I know this has turned into a little bit of a rant, but there is a business and a life story in this experience:

The business resilience (or lack of it) is apparent in the personality dependence of the person ‘checking up’ on things. If you can’t let go of any decision, how will things pan out when the crisis hits? Will the VIP trust their people in charge to make the right decisions – or indeed any decisions – and will their people have some degree of decision inertia, because the boss isn’t there to make the decision for them?

The life experience. Business may be more than a means to making a living, but developing better business capabilities and allowing others to grow, will enable the benefits of hard work and give you more time to enjoy and experience ‘time off’

Life is for living, and work plays a part in that. But there’s a time and place for everything and ‘routine’ business calls by the pool or on the beach – as Shania Twain once proclaimed:

That don’t impress me much!

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com

I don’t care what it means; I just survive

Last week I checked through the clothes we have stored away in the attic at home for the UK winter ahead. I rescued the coats we needed and then I noticed another perfectly good jacket I hadn’t used for ages.
I tried it on and as a result of being a bit more healthier these days (#spin), the jacket was just too big. Awesome I said to myself. But the jacket was a really good quality water & windproof one; I loved it when I bought it and used it all the time until eventually, (somewhat a sad reflection of materialism) I forgot about.

Cutting to the chase, it wasn’t that the coat was old or unwanted; I just didn’t need it anymore!

IN YOUR EARS


Paul suggests listening to this song to accompany reading this post!

Mrs K and I are big believers in recycling and we give more than our fair share of clothes and other items to the charity shops. But early last week I saw a homeless man not a million miles away from where we live and I happened to notice his coat, or more importantly, that it had seen better days.

Over weekend I decided to give my coat to that man, if I could find him again that was; but it wasn’t that hard to come across him once more at the same place, same coat, same situation. I knew (thought) what he wanted and needed; my amazing coat.

‘I don’t care what it is’

When I approached him and said I had a coat and asked would he like it, without any hesitation, he said ‘what’s it like?’ To some that might surprise you. But to me it did not.

I didn’t expect him to be just grateful for any old thing. He knew he needed something that was useful to him; his situation. Not me just giving him anything that I think is right for him. I don’t live in his world. I can only try to make sense of it.

I showed him the coat and he said yes please, if I didn’t mind he would have it? Why would I mind anyway? I thought I was doing him a favour but his decency came across and he was helping me to get rid of my coat.

Now I will talk to anyone me; I can communicate as I’ve done so all my professional life. So, in the few seconds that seem like an eternity as I handed him the coat and he was pleased at the prospects of using it, for some reason, I thought of the resilience word.

To me this would help him be a bit more ‘resilient’ in his circumstances. So, I asked him a question…

“What does resilience mean to you?”

He looked at me and said “I don’t really care what it is, I just survive from day to day”.

Life is for living

In the few seconds of (slightly) uneasy silence, I reflected on his answer. He was right. He didn’t need to know what resilience means. He just needed to be it; to survive.

It was a real moment of connecting my business profession with a real-life situation.

I’m in a current phase of trying to demonstrate and influence the need for some change in the business continuity world. Some sense of reality.

I don’t proclaim to know fully, what the moral of this real-life story was, but the bottom line is, I guess the man was going to be resilient with or without my coat. My coat just helped him be, (perhaps) a bit more resilient. Gave him some further security, confidence and capability to do his own thing.

I suppose my coat could be a metaphor for somethings in the resilience industry and profession; but in the end, does it really matter? It was about what he needed, not what I wanted him to have. The coat in its simplest form will help him along the way but his survival matters the most.

He thanked me and I thanked him and I parted with ‘you’re welcome’.

Survive and thrive

I normally end my articles with a standard paragraph about resilience and my previous posts. But on this occasion, I would rather just say, if you do have any clothing you don’t need anymore (rather than thinking they are unwanted), please consider giving them to the homeless or to charity.

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com

How to be resilient in business today

Your free password to continued business success BEFORE a crisis is…

Resilience
These are the 3 simple things we must do to be resilient in business today:

  1. Simply believe something could happen and go wrong
  2. Simply do something before it happens – have a simple plan, it’s all you need
  3. Simply train and exercise yourself, your team and the simple plan to keep it alive

Entrepreneurs, future entrepreneurs, business banks, insurance providers and the resilience profession; we can all make an instantly successful impact on businesses today.

Today’s world is exciting, but it is a tough place; tough to set up and keep a business idea and venture trading. Things can and will go wrong. Just look around.

Some businesses are here today
and gone tomorrow

Entrepreneurs want to be successful; they have fantastic ideas, leadership and ambition. We need them in the world today; but they can also be our competitors. Competitors don’t care if we fail and go out of business when something went wrong. Competitors want us to fail. #toughlove

If we start thinking and accepting that having business resilience is a real marketable asset, then we can enjoy business growth and success together.

Staying in business during
adversity will help you succeed

It’s not just about what our profit forecast will be when we set up our business; it’s about how we will simply keep our business going when something bad happens to all of our competitors.

We need to build business resilience planning into our business case and organisational culture from the very start.

Make resilience a due diligence
test – a quality – a capability

We can be resilient or do we just want to take a risk and throw it all away when the next big flood or fire comes along? It’s our call. Intuition tells me that we would much rather be resilient and prepared.

Insurance providers in the future should hopefully reward forward thinking resilient businesses for being prepared because financially it will save more time and money when something bad happens. Or they should simply stop complaining about the cost of disasters when the stuff hits the fan!

We need to be part of the resilient future by having some simple resilience; making resilience simple where we can for businesses to understand and achieve.

Business resilience does not have to be complicated; because it’s not

Business resilience today simply means
you can continue to trade during adversity

At some stage in business, something is going to go wrong. History and the news headlines we read today will back that up! It doesn’t matter if we are a small, medium or large business; no one is immune from the risk of something potentially going wrong.

Yes, some organisations can be better prepared for it; manage their risks exceptionally well. Others will take risks and take a gamble. Sometimes because resilience seems too out of reach.

Empathy for the business entrepreneurs of this world – we want our business to succeed.

It’s not easy to hustle and compete and win contracts or clients. Yes, it’s much easier for the established organisations who have already succeeded. But their success did not come overnight.

That does not happen. It’s not luck; its hard work that brings the success. Well ok, perhaps a tiny amount of the right place and the right time; but we can create our own ‘luck’ by being prepared.

There is so many other things going on in the entrepreneur’s mind that chances are, business continuity management (BCM) or resilience, whatever we want to call it, is just not on the radar of things to do.

Why? Because instinct suggest it’s
just not a sexy thing to think of

Business is about making money and there is nothing dirty about that. But continuing to make money and trading during adversity is essential if we want to be a success. To continue being a success, that is. It’s our call.

Your business may be a well-established one with great customers and clients or it could be start-up. Whichever it is, our leadership vision does not always need to over complicate business resilience thinking. Quite often, it’s just a simple plan you need to succeed.

Too often business resilience sounds like we have to scale the un-scaleable mountain; but it’s not the case. Too often business resilience sounds way too corporate for some businesses and its complex; but it’s not.

If we just have a simple, thought through plan of action, for when something goes wrong, our leadership and business resilience will help us to continue to succeed as competitors fall over.

Did you like this post? Please leave a comment below!

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com

‘Don’t be pinned down by negativity’ when building your own resilience

In one of his DailyVee episode, Gary Vaynerchuk said;

‘Tell someone, you know what, I’m not going to be pinned down by your negativity; I’m going to do it’.

This resonated with me both in a personal and professional way (as intended by Gary V!) There is everyday life, when so much negativity can pull you down, even when you start the day in a great positive frame of mind; it only takes one negative element or person to ‘bring the curtain down’ so to speak!

Of course some people have ‘bad luck’ and negativity is forced up on them and we do our best to help ease that burden and share some of the pain. Human nature and compassion kicks in (if you are that way inclined as I am). Others perhaps, might attract or need the negativity to be resilient; but their aura can impact and transcend onto others.

Don’t stop believing

Recently I used the phrase ‘no passion, no point’ when talking about the work that I do now. If you don’t have the passion for anything in life or work, then there is either no point to it or it becomes harder to do! I know that’s hardly rocket science is it?

You/we shouldn’t stop believing in what we do, even when things seem to be changing or there is a fear of change ahead. Often all change seems like failure in the middle stages.

And yes of course, some changes brought about by our ‘leaders and management’ of the past, actually turned out to a load of old tosh; complete waste of time and effort with no lasting impact at all. Change for change sake!

But you don’t need someone else’s permission to be a success! Just believe in your ability and your passion and go for it! Don’t worry about things you can’t influence (like the weather for example) but concentrate on what you can achieve. Try this:

  1. FOCUS on what you want to achieve
  2. PLAN how you will go about it
  3. PREPARE get yourself ready
  4. DELIVER do it
  5. ACHIEVE be it

The only thing that matters

Its about you, us and me. What we believe in and this isn’t a secret to success because naturally hard work, commitment, talent and perhaps that element of serendipity, will all come together, (hopefully) at the right time.

If you have a passion for something and a belief that you can achieve it, then don’t think about it, if you can do it!

Don’t be pinned down by someone else’s negativity, either in work or in your personal life but more importantly, (and if you are really capable), don’t be pinned down by your own negativity.

Paul Kudray

A truly down to earth, grounded individual who is a resilience professional. Helping people and organizations to build and maintain their capabilities to respond to and recover from, crisis, emergencies or disasters. Paul is the ‘resilience maverick’ because he is not like the average resilience professional. Paul wants to help everyone be a bit more resilient because they can! paul@kudrayconsulting.com