A Question of Integrity

by Mark Evenden @ Developing People Limited

Many years ago, I was a management trainee with the National Coal Board. As with many other nationalised industries at the time, they offered excellent management training and a good grounding for future mine managers.

After completing my statutory basic training and close personal supervision, I worked in various roles from underground logistics to work study. My mentor was our Colliery Manager, who was a strong character and claimed to lead from the front. He expected all those in management roles to lead by example.

Working in a mine has a number of inherent dangers, and there were strict rules governing personal health and safety. One example concerned the plethora of conveyor belts which transported coal from the face via various belts to a drift, and eventually to the surface.

Some of the belts were designated “man riding” belts with properly constructed stations for safe access and egress. However, it was prohibited to ride any other belt, including the one which took the coal to the surface via the drift. One day, I was with a ventilation engineer checking air flows at various points in the drift. We noticed two cap lamps which appeared to be on the conveyor, which was strictly prohibited. Two people were indeed riding the belt – one was the Colliery Manager and the other was the Chief Union Official.

This was an abject lesson for me in how not to lead by example. Firstly, how could a Colliery Manager who was responsible for the health and safety of his staff discipline them for breaching health and safety rules when he did it himself? Secondly, how could a Union Official whose union campaigned forcefully to improve the safety and welfare of miners be prepared to risk his own safety and collude with his Colliery Manager?

Neither of them fully understood the consequences of their actions. Interestingly, the mine had a number of incidents of breaches in health and safety (including riding on prohibited conveyor belts). I wonder if the Colliery Manager and Senior Union Official ever understood the root causes of these problems?

An Abject Lesson in Leading by Example

by Mark Evenden @ Developing People Ltd

Leading by example is an interesting topic, because for many of us we often want to “tell” people (family, friends, work colleagues, etc) something and then expect them to get on with it. We may not feel the need to do the things we have asked of others (for example, we might insist our child keeps their room tidy when the rest of our house looks like a bomb site), but we just expect others to do as they are told. However, our behaviour has a direct impact on the people we interact with, and I will give you a simple example of this.

I have had an interesting first season as the Manager of a girls football team. I had no previous football coaching experience, and so the club assigned me an experienced coach to support me and help me learn the ropes. Initially this was very helpful because I could not make every game due to work commitments.

However, I found out that when I was away, the said “experienced coach” had become very frustrated with one of the league referees. Instead of hiding his frustrations, he made them known to all, and made comments in front of the girls (and their parents) such as “We lost because the other team had an extra player”. His behaviour started to cause angst amongst the team and the parents, and it because a regular discussion point whenever that particular referee was in charge.

The team played really well, and reached the final of the local league cup. However, guess who the match referee was and guess what the outcome of the final was?

Yes, we lost the game - not because the other team were better than us, but because in the minds of the girls and of the parents, we were playing against a team of 12, and therefore we would never ever win.

This is an abject lesson in leading by example. The behaviour of the “experienced” coach affected the team and how they played. Sadly, he still couldn’t see it – his only comment was a hollowly triumphant “See?? I *told* you we wouldn’t win with that referee” !!!

Sometimes (or perhaps often), football coaching has nothing to do with football, but it does have a lot to do with setting an appropriate example.

Management Training - Improving Your Networking Skills

by Lucy Cadman @ Developing People


I freely admit that I probably spend way too much time on the internet. It seems to be one of those things that is just like Marmite – you either love it or you hate it. And my relationship with the internet is definitely a love affair.

In third place, I would say, is reading and replying to emails. They are such a quick and easy way to keep in touch, especially with those who don’t live locally, or indeed who are from another country altogether. You can cram so much into one single email that you couldn’t probably fit into an expensive international phone call, although I must admit that I ought to get off my sofa and walk round to see my friend who lives in the next street as opposed to emailing her!

Second place is likely to go to using forums. With a number of fairly diverse hobbies (ranging from Ballroom Dancing via Classic Car ownership through to the keeping of several Tarantulas, and all manner of things in between!), I am often on the search for information, supplies, and the company of like-minded people. Forums provide a wealth of information at the touch of just a few buttons, and it is pretty easy to get absorbed into the community feel of such sites.

Without a doubt, in top place is Facebook, and other similar networking sites such as LinkedIn. I can misplace hours at a time keeping up with what friends all over the world have been doing, and keeping everyone up to date with my latest dancing injury, my newest car purchase, or the hiding place of my most recently escaped Tarantula. I can relay news to a couple of hundred friends, old and new, again at the touch of just a few buttons.

In today’s technological times, social and professional networking sites are a quick and easy way to give you access to a large network of people via your computer. Here are five top tips to help you use the internet successfully for networking purposes:

1. Don’t mix business and pleasure. Be careful about the way you use your business networking sites (for example, LinkedIn) as opposed to the way you use your social networking sites (for example, Facebook). If possible, keep business and pleasure completely separate online – don’t invite professional contacts to link with you on social networking sites, and vice versa. The last thing you really want is your professional contacts to be reading all about how you got a bit tipsy at the weekend, or your poorly dog needing to be taken to the vets!!
2. Take the time to look up old contacts. By adding just one contact to your online network, you will often gain access to hundreds more people who are interested in a similar vein of work, or who have professional skills that may be useful to you. Take the time and trouble to look up people you haven’t contacted in a while, and make use not only of their skills, but also of the skills of the people they network with.
3. Be careful how you come across. Remember that the written word does not have the advantage of body language to emphasize its true meaning. Words can easily be misunderstood across a computer screen, so if in doubt, leave it out!
4. Think what your legacy will be. Where as the spoken word is gone the moment it has been said, the written word has a much more lasting legacy. Never type anything out in temper, as it may be difficult to retract it, by which point the damage is already done. Be polite, courteous and professional at all times.
5. Beware of addiction! Networking sites can be incredibly time-consuming. Whilst they are a very important and useful resource, stay aware of how much time you spend using them, and don’t let this become proportionally imbalanced to the amount of work you generate from networking in this way.

One of these days, I will take my own advice on that last point … promise!