Join thousands of people starting their week on a positive note. Every Sunday afternoon, I send out an upbeat idea to set you up for the week ahead.
"What do you want from a new Pope?"
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Hi Reader, Welcome to Rev Up for the Week. A simple thought to help you power through the next few days. This week, I was listening to a radio phone-in and the question was "what do you want from a new Pope?". My first reaction was "what a strange question. Nothing much that I can think of..." I'm not Catholic (or religious generally) and it just struck me as such an alien thing. "How absurd to be worrying about something like that!", I caught myself thinking. And then... I remembered that for many Catholics, this is exactly the right question for them at this time. It matters. It's pressing - urgent, even - and carries all kinds of emotional weight. Also this week, I accidentally found myself in the middle of a gathering of the Austin Healey club. These are all people who've all lovingly restored beautiful old cars. One of the guys came bounding up to us and expectantly asked us "Are you Healy people?!". I had to disappoint him, and for a moment, also disappointed myself that I wasn't part of their gang. It looked fun. It's all a useful reminder of something that, in our silos and bubbles, is too easy to forget: that humans are weird. And whilst there are huge territories of common ground between us all, and things that universally we all might want or need, it's often our weirdnesses that set us apart or make us interesting to others. We can fall into the trap of thinking of weird as meaning "alien", as I did for a brief moment about the Pope question. Or instead, we can choose to think of weird as interesting, valuable, unique, and a cause for curiousity. In the weird, quirky or unique stuff can be moments of wonder, things we can learn, or stories of someone's painful quest for acceptance. In life, the embracing of weird inevitably leads to more empathic connection with those around us, and a richer tapestry. At work, breaking out of the mundanity actually drives higher performance. The quirky ideas around the table often drive the most innovative solutions or generate healthier and more critical thinking - "group-think" is what happens when nothing feels weird. And feeling safe to embrace your own version of weird can often lead to better risk-taking, critical interventions or bolder leadership. This isn't a given - it's on all of us, especially the leaders, to foster the psychological safety that we all need to allow weirdness and diversity of thought really thrive. So this week I invite you celebrate the "weird", rather than dismissing it. Look out for the opportunities to be curious, broaden your perspectives and learn new things. And I invite you to embrace your own "weird" too - publicly if that feels safe where you are, or privately and creatively if that's more appropriate for you. Humans are weird, and it's one of the most beautiful things about us. Have a great week, Graham |
Rev Up for the Week with Graham Allcott
Join thousands of people starting their week on a positive note. Every Sunday afternoon, I send out an upbeat idea to set you up for the week ahead.
Hi Reader, Welcome to Rev Up for the Week, where each Sunday I send you a simple thought to supercharge the week ahead. I've been out doing client keynotes this week, sharing some of the ideas from 'KIND'. One thing that's started a lot of conversations is the idea of abundance, and more specifically, abundance vs scarcity. I want to share this with you. What I'm about to share, I believe with all of my soul, but I also know that part of our brain deeply rejects it. What can be objectively...
Hi Reader, Welcome to Rev Up - one idea delivered every Sunday to supercharge your week ahead. There's been a lot of talk in recent years about the need to make work more human - to cast aside the unfeeling throws of the industrial age, to keep our humanity as we move to AI automation, to bring our whole selves to work, to recognise and feel the emotions involved in what we're doing. The problem that we often face in making work more human is not just about how to make work less robotic. It's...
Hi Reader, One of my first supervisory roles was working in a call centre. I'd landed the promotion by accident, but it was better than being on the phones, and a whole extra £1 an hour, so I went with it. Part of the job was admin - clocking everyone in, clocking everyone out - and the rest was keeping everyone motivated. There was a whiteboard to track sales, a budget to give out prizes... all the stuff you'd expect to see in a 90's outbound telesales centre. The admin records I'd inherited...