Spend time on yourself. Make yourself bettter. Because it’s you… versus you.
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Author: Bal Bansal
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Why everyone needs a Mentor…
If you’ve read a little about me, you’ll know, I started my career at Kodak.
That’s right, Eastman Kodak, the giants of Photography…
Well, when I joined Kodak, I joined on the graduate scheme. I had a mentor, and at the time, she was ok. She gave me advice but I was fairly strong minded back then, that I listened but was insistent on doing what I had in my mind and wanted to do.
It was only when I joined a small team on the Harrow, UK site.. who were doing some lean activities. And it was within this team, I met my ‘real’ mentor.
Mark Chamberlain. He’d come from Toyota. Knew vast amounts about Lean. But the key thing was, he never taught me. He always took me with him to Gemba and various site walks. Showed me, asked me questions, but never told me the answers. I had to figure them out myself.
Yes he guided me, and taught me some of the lean principles… but it was the simple things that I learnt from him.
For example… we had a cupboard for our overalls. All the overalls were white. But they had our names on the inside. So… when you’d open the cupboard, you’d spend a minute or so, looking for your overall amongst all the others.
One day, I opened the cupboard, and there was a bright red sticker on one of the hangers. It was Mark’s. I thought, why’s he done that. Didn’t ask… just spent some time looking for my coat, found it and left.
Later that day, I was sat at my desk, and saw Mark go to the cupboard. he opened it, and immediately, got his coat and walked away.
It was at that moment, the penny dropped.
Visual controls. He opened the cupboard. Saw a red sticker. Immediately knew where his coat was, got it and went. No time wasted.
Genius.
I want to learn from this guy.
And so I did. During my time at Kodak, I kept on learning.
There were various instances, where we’d walk into a room which had boxes and some scales, and he’d ask me what I saw… and i’d tell him. He wouldn’t say anything. Which at times frustrated me. Then a few weeks later, we’d walk into that same room, and this time… I said, I see inventory… I see… and he paused me. Smiled. And we both walked away.
I’ve kept in touch with Mark. Often reach out for advice, not as often as i’d like… but I know he’s there.
And that’s my story about my mentor.
So, why do you need one?
Well… someone to guide you. Someone to show you. Someone to not give you the answers… but someone to ensure you will achieve the best you can.
Where do you find a mentor? Well… start by looking within your company, your organisation or network.
If there’s someone you look up to… ask them. You could be in the music industry, and look up to some musicians… ask them. What’s the worse that could happen? – they say no… then you either keep asking… or find someone else you look up to. Either way, if you can find someone to show you…. you’ll learn so much… and that’s only a good thing in your journey.
We’ve seen Toys’R’Us announce they’re closing stores.
We’ve seen it with Maplins… they’re also closing shop.
I’ll be honest – I’m surprised Maplins kept on going so long with their physical stores. Most of the ‘tech’ items you can buy in there… you can probably buy at a lower cost, online.
I remember, a few months ago – I went in there. Can’t remember what it was that I wanted, but the staff were really helpful, and they said – we’ve not got it in store, but it’s available online.
I left, went to my computer – had a look – and he was right, there it was online. But then, I thought, how much is it with Amazon (other online retailers are available). And you probably guessed it – yes, it was a little cheaper with Amazon, and being a Prime customer, I also had the option of free next day delivery.
Yesterday, in the news – it was announced that shares in Carpet Right and Mothercare fell – concerns that they’ll follow the same path as those mentioned above.
Mothercare is in the midst of a store closure programme. Their shares fell 12%. 140 down to 80 stores they have proposed… now that’s a lot of store closures.
Then there’s Carpet Right. They have 409 stores across the UK – and have been struggling and under-performing.
So the question is… Is this the Start to the End of the High Street?
Well… it’s all about change. As Darwin said, it’s not the strongest that survive.. but those who are most adaptable to change. Now admittedly, he was talking about species… but you can apply the same thinking to businesses.
Have any of the above evolved over time? Have they introduced or used, new technology to help their customers?
I feel, there’ll always be a need for a physical presence of a store – depending on what they’re selling – and a great example of this is Amazon and their new physical store they are trialing out.
It’s a shame to see these great big stores close. But if you can buy it easier, cheaper and with less hassle… elsewhere (be it online or in other stores) then why not?
All businesses should be thinking – what do I need to do, to ‘future-proof’ myself?
What technology can we use to make the life of our customers easier? – Look at Ikea and how they’ve evolved… now using Augmented Reality… or should I say, are offering within an app, Augmented Reality, so you can see what furniture looks like, in your home…
What is the overall process our customers have to go through – that we can understand better, and help them to make their decisions quicker and ensure we offer everything to them…. because it’s all about the customer.
High street shops & companies must adapt.
Otherwise – this is the start, of the end… of the High Street.
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Monday Motivation…
Recently, I tweeted – I may hold a workshop, around idea generation… creating ideas… collaboration… and how you can succeed on those ideas.
The key thing here is… imagination.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Emotions and Intelligence
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Monday Motivation…
A lot of the times, I hear a lot of excuses – and 99% of the time, those excuses are limits. Limits that have been placed upon us. And it us up to us, to understand those limits. As you are your only limit.
Anything is Possible.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Sometimes, we must simply enjoy…
So I’ve decided to start throwing back to some good old times… on Thursday’s. Not every Thursday, I’ll throwback once a Thursday a month.
Last month, we had my good old days at Kodak… and this moth, I wanted to share with you a throwback, to a time when my good friend, Karun Chandhok and I met up at Silverstone for a little beverage and a conversation.
Now, Karun is an accomplished racing driver. He’s raced in Formula 1, he’s raced in Le Mans, he’s raced in many races around the world… I could keep going on about his races, but easier if I share a link to his bio –Â http://www.karunchandhok.com/KC/
But why I am sharing this information with you? – well, when we met up, he shared some real good insights into his daily life that are applicable to all of us…
For example,
Karun has, as I mentioned, raced a lot. He’s done speeds, which I can only dream about… but when we met up, he pulled up in a VW Passat. Now, no offence, they’re extremely good, solid, family cars… but for a Formula 1 Racing driver to pull up in a Passat, you’d ask the question… where’s the sports car?
Now his answer… “Well, Bal… you see, i’m doing 350km per hour, in some of the best racing circuits in the world… don’t need anything fancy on the roads where you’re limited”.
Damn! – that put me in my place!! – So true… when you’re following your passion, and you’re doing what you love – you’ll be near the top of your game, with that in mind… who cares what you do (or drive – in this case) when you’re limited with restrictions.
Karun never wanted to be a doctor or an accountant… he didn’t want a professional job like that… he knew, he wanted to be a racing driver. He followed his passion… he worked hard… even though he was limited to resources when in India, he moved to Northampton, out of his comfort zone (away from the hot weather) and kept on pushing himself to achieve his dreams.
That’s another lesson we can all learn. Move away from your comfort zone. We talk about it… but how many of you are willing to give up on home comforts?
The one thing, I really wanted to share about Karun is how humble he is.
Honestly, this guy… is so nice… for example, when we’d finished chatting at Silverstone, I asked him… is it the private jet to the next race venue? – his answer… no, it’s a normal flight. In fact… came over on Easyjet, because it was the quickest and easiest.
Easyjet?! – now… once again, nothing wrong with Easyjet, in fact, I use them a lot… but it goes down to the thinking. Yes, from time to time, the private jet or chartered planes are there to take him around the world, but for Karun, it’s the quickest and easiest method of transportation to get him from A to B. And you couldn’t get any more ‘Lean Thinking’ than that.
And there you have it… a couple of lessons from Karun. Who left the lovely hot weather of India, to come to Northampton to follow his dreams….
I feel I need to put a number of disclaimers in this blog post – The VW Passat, as mentioned, is a lovely car… Easyjet are a great low cost airline (Value for money indeed)… and Northampton does have hot weather (for a few days in August).
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From Bedroom to £2m turnover…
You’ll see quotes and hear about how people made a simple yoghurt into a million dollar business… or how someone made a fortune from selling nuts in a box. Sounds easy, right?
Well, it’s not.
You need a) passion and b) some serious commitment to make it work.
My good friend, Gurdeep…. decided one day, he’d had enough working for someone else, so him and his brother… set up shop from their bedroom!
That’s right – they wanted to have their own business.
Now, the great bit is, several years later… they’re on course to turnover £2m. Fantastic news. Indeed… but it hasn’t been plain sailing.
There’s been some up’s and downs on their journey, more downs than up’s at times… coming to a point of quitting and ‘getting a normal day job’.
But this is where my second point, about having some serious commitment – comes into play. You will have all sorts thrown at you, but you need to keep going.
Now, as 2 Red – the name of his company – continues to grow, he’s branching out, looking at other opportunities and most importantly… meets up with me, for a Nando’s to discuss, what else he could do. And you know what, i’m happy to share thoughts, ideas and what I think could help his business grow over some peri peri chicken.
What advice would he give to people thinking of setting their own business?
Here’s his top 3 tips…
1. Have a clear vision of what you want to achieve
2. Thoroughly research and understand the market you are going into
3. Stay focussed on your goals and don’t worry about competitors.
Some good tips there. And I totally agree with them. Now to see the main man in action – well, not in action literally, but to watch a little video of them (it was filmed by someone else – so it centres on staffing and skills, but the key messages are there… how they started, how well they’re doing now… and most importantly, if you need a boiler, who you can contact).
Link is below to the 2 Red Linkedin Page, where the video is shared…
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6365300208737222656
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Work hard. Be honest. Keep climbing…
