Many years back I was fortunate to attend a talk by well-known author Ken Blanchard. Just to jog your memory cells Blanchard wrote and co-authored a number of books: "The one Minute Manager";
"Trust Works" and "The Heart of a Leader" to name just a few. He spoke of the concept of H.E.L.P.
that I wanted to share with you – well my version anyway – that hopefully will serve as a gentle reminder
in your personal and professional life.

Often in our lives, both personally and professionally we push on through obstacles, find ourselves getting frustrated, feel overwhelmed at times,
get stressed, irritated and our confidence gets knocked... the list is long!

H is for HUMOUR. Take what you do seriously however take yourself lightly.

Humility of all the virtues vital for successful leadership seems to elicit the most lip service and the least
action. Humility is to acknowledge our imperfections and admit when we are wrong, and to then implement
a change of direction.

We need to remind ourselves it is not only about ME, ME and ME and to move away from self-promotion that is sadly so rampant today!

L is for LISTEN. Learn to listen not only to others however to yourself.

Did you know that a person receives on average 40 000 impulses through the eyes, ears and hands each second and then picks out a few which focus ones attention. The interesting thing is what one picks out is influenced by ones expectations, needs, beliefs, interests, attitudes, experiences and knowledge.

A book called "Let's Talk advises us that we hear half of what is said, we listen to half of that and remember half of that. The interesting fact about listening is that it is one of the most difficult skills
to learn. We listen with filters... we listen ahead of others and make assumptions and often we hear only what we want to hear!

So in learning to listen to others we also need to learn to listen to ourselves. That gut... that intuition... that feeling so elusive and yet so strong. How often has your gut almost been screaming at you and yet we have to chosen to ignore – for various reasons. We don’t want to hurt others feelings… we don’t want to look foolish... it doesn’t seem like a rational thought... we allow others to influence us… and the list goes on...

I recall some years back attending a talk. It was interesting however a bit over the top and hard sell for my liking. I decided
I had had enough and chose to leave early. On exiting the auditorium I was confronted by a maze of people with big smiles and pens. Did I want to sign up for the course… did I enjoy the session… did I know how great this was??? My gut was shouting at me however I went against it and signed up. What a waste of time and money. I look back at the lesson learnt and know there will not be a next time when I ignore that feeling!

So learn to listen better – not only to others
but to that intuition.

P is for PRAISE. Learn to praise and not only to criticise - that applies to others and self.

The Gallup Organisation surveyed more than 4 million employees worldwide on the topic of praise and recognition. The results which included more than 10 000 business units and more than 30 industries found that individuals who receive regular recognition and praise:

	have increased individual productivity
	have better engagement among their colleagues
	are more likely to stay with the organization and show loyalty
	have better and more effective client and customer relationships

However praise is not only about giving to others it is also about self-praise. Sometimes when we so need those words of encouragement or bit of praise and it is not forthcoming, a little pat on the back, a 'well done' said to self is a small touch we can give ourselves and even owe ourselves.

So start giving more praise and recognition to others and self!

I trust this served as a valuable reminder!

Warm regards