Lollipop Moments

We love the concept of Lollipop moments, so like Drew we wanted to share our Lollipop moments with you to demonstrate the enormous power and positive influence we can have over other people through our actions and behaviour without even realising it.

 

 

Elizabeth’s Lollipop Moment…

 

For me it was most definitely my old boss at HSBC – Bill, and the funny thing is he wasn’t even my boss at the time the ‘lollipop moment’ happened.  I had only just accepted the job at HSBC, which was quite a radical career change and a bit of a risk if I’m honest.  I was working my notice at GNER (the now extinct railway franchise), wondering if I’d done the right thing, as in reality I loved the job I was doing but there was just no career prospect in it and on a bit of a whim I had decided to apply for the HSBC job, never really imagining I would actually get it.

 

I was busy working on the 8.05am train from Leeds to London, and we were just passing through Peterborough, when my phone rang – it was Bill.  He had decided to ring me to welcome me to HSBC, as he had been told I would be joining his team in a few weeks’ time.

 

The call itself was a lovely idea, but it wasn’t actually this that was my lollipop moment, it was what he said and did on the call that made all the difference.   Instead of telling me all about my new job and my new employer, Bill spent the whole call just finding out about me and what was I doing when he called – was I working on the train at that exact moment,  what did my job on the train involve etc…

 

Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t a long call, after all I was on a moving train, but his fascination with my role at GNER and how it worked and what I loved about it put me at ease straight away.  Without even realising it Bill had tapped into how I was feeling about leaving, but had done it in such a way that drew me towards my new role, rather than further away from it.  Somehow Bill had allayed all of my fears about whether I had done the right thing, and following that conversation I started to get excited about my new job and couldn’t wait to meet Bill in person.

 

That one simple phone call paved the way for a great working relationship once I started my new role and Bill is still the best line manager I ever had.  He pushed me, challenged me and was tough on me, but I always knew he had my best interests at heart and he genuinely cared about me as an individual.

 

We are still friends to this day!

 

 

Martin’s Lollipop Moment…

 

My lollipop moment was reasonably early on in my career, funnily enough also when I worked for HSBC.

 

I had been recently promoted into a new role as a management and leadership trainer and  was attending a development programme with many older and much more experienced colleagues, many of whom I looked up to and was anxious to impress.

 

I spent the first couple of days of the five day programme trying desperately to fit in and be accepted by my more experienced colleagues. I wasn’t loving it to be honest as I felt less intelligent than my fellow participants and as a result more than a bit unworthy. In truth I started to question if I could do this role or whether I should just ask to go back to what I was doing before and was comfortable with.

 

I will always remember the two minutes that Amanda, the programme facilitator, spent with me at the end of day two as it has helped shape my career ever since.  As everyone was leaving she came up to me and asked me how I was finding the programme and what my thoughts were. To this day I’m convinced she had read  my mind!  I told her about my doubts and concerns and the fact I was questioning whether I was in the right role.

 

What Amanda did next really surprised me, she sat me down and replayed back to me almost word for word a number of the contributions I had made over the last two days. I was amazed she had even noticed I was there with all of the more experienced and knowledgeable people in the room. It was at that moment I realised I was in the right role and that I had something to offer, even if I didn’t have the years of experience of some of my colleagues. As she got up Amanda looked me straight in the eye and said ‘I believe you’ll be great in the job, you just need to believe it too’.

 

I have never seen Amanda since that course but having watched Drew Dudley I found her on Linkedin and emailed her to tell her what an amazing positive impact she’d had on my career. More than 15 years later I still work in management and leadership development & absolutely LOVE IT!!

 

Thanks for reading

Martin & Elizabeth