Why Wel Blunt?
Why Wel Blunt?
Its who I am, How I talk and what gets it done.
I’m from the North of England and for some reason, we always use the word ‘well’ when trying to emphasize how good or shocking something is.
But why Blunt?
My family and work colleagues have said to me many a time things like:
"Aunty Carol, that was well blunt, but so true."
“Mum, I know what you mean but that was well blunt, but straight to the point.”
“Carol, I really appreciated, your feedback, it was straight to the point, blunt but not offensive."
“You get what you see in a good way! No sugar coating, you are not offensive, it’s no bull; it's just blunt.”
My passion is leadership and empowering people to get the job done, to believe in themselves, use their skills, be confident and share their skills with the team.
I work with organisations to find out what your core business needs are, what you are trying to achieve, what is or isn’t working and how we can work together to take your business to the next level.
Along my journey some of the most common feedback conversations I've had with employees are:
"We always do it this way and it hasn't been an issue before."
“Sorry, I don’t know why I do that it’s just something I was instructed to do."
“No one ever listens so why bother."
“You don’t know what we have to deal with."
“No, we work well together, we are just tired."
“We don’t really get much info."
“Some people in the team think I’m a ‘yes’ person."
“Why do we need to change?”
My Thoughts
How many businesses out there pay a consultant to come into their business to motivate their team?
The consultant does a fantastic job bringing the team together in workshops to identify what issues need to be addressed in order to get the team working together.
Gather the team in a room, present and demonstrate good team building strategies and as each day goes on, the team become motivated and empowered. GREAT!
The consultant leaves achieving what was required… or so you thought.
Monday morning brings a new week, "let’s get started."
"How?"
"What do we do to put the actions into place? "
“Who wants to lead the team?”
“The team are motivated and ready to go but they are not sure how to implement the changes. Oh, just leave it to the manager.”
Let’s go back a step first.
If implementing something new to the business was as simple as "leave it to the manager" then why have a consultant in the first place?
Harsh? No, it’s just real. It’s Blunt.
Leaders
"A manager does things right,
A leader does the right thing." - Warren Bennis
It’s not about what the manager has or hasn't done, it’s about how they present to their team.
Working alongside the team, jumping into the trench is where I come in. You can’t build a team from the side-line. If your organisation is not performing to its full capabilities, it’s time to stop throwing your money away and start embracing BLUNT.
In my opinion, team building days are great to keep the team motivated but they don’t always get long lasting results. If you are in the trench with your team, you can help the ones who are struggling to succeed and those who are succeeding to perform even better. WIN WIN!
Being in the trench with your team means that you can relate with them, whilst making sure you are always far enough ahead to motivate and lead them.
There is nothing more empowering than a team doing something you want to achieve, because THEY WANT to achieve it also.
Everyone has their own strengths; it’s about aligning those strengths to achieve the same goal.
My passion is leadership, it’s what drives me to succeed. Over the years I have had to grow and strive in order to be the leader I am today.
Today my success is growing others.
"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."—Jack Welch
Examples of my success
Empowering Others
Empowering Others
Empowering Others
Working as a director I have turned teams around to be the best of who they are. I haven’t always been popular for this but, as a leader, saying No earns respect from your team. Many leaders find it hard to have that difficult conversation. To me saying No is about delegation; giving someone else the opportunity to shine.
If you are saying no to an idea the team has put forward, but you know it’s going to cost far too much money for the business, don’t just say No. give them a clear reason, build up that trust, discuss the objectives and clarify!
I have brought teams together through being real, honest and trusting. In one of my previous roles, I was met with a very polite, dedicated, intelligent but standoffish team. Not much trust, no motivation, no empowerment.
The day I left the company to move onto my next leadership role I received a video. We were all locked down at the time due to COVID so I couldn’t meet up to say goodbye.
So, after many team meetings, wishing everyone goodbye, I had just finished my last executive meeting and the video below was in my inbox.
This video was worth more to me than any qualification or leadership award. When you know you know.
There is a story behind the song and the video which is saved for another day (part of my leadership strategy at the time).
It showed me just how far the team had come and how much respect they had for me, in turn creating respect, financial stability and empowerment for the business.
Massive turnaround.
Feeling Safe
Empowering Others
Empowering Others
As a leader I want people to feel included, to have integrity (that’s massive to me) and to show insight into the what, why and how. I want them to have trust in me, the business and themselves and to be accountable and honest.
"Yeah, yeah. We all want that you say.
Yes, but can you deliver on it?"
In another leadership role I took it upon myself to survey my leadership style with the team.
The results were amazing, not because I received some fantastic feedback but because the team had grown confident enough to trust their own capabilities within the business and felt empowered enough to be totally honest with me. (Now that’s a WIN!).
I will share one comment I received from a few members of the team: "you make me feel safe." WOW, could you ask for anything more? The business had grown so much over the months thanks to a dedicated empowered team who now believed in themselves and believe its ok to make mistakes. After all, mistakes happen. Trust is earned.
My job was done, time for the next challenge.