Management lessons from Kids Obesity levels in Leeds ...

... it was a bit of a jump but bear with me, I found the connection.

Leeds becomes the first city to lower it’s childhood obesity rate

... by saying ‘No’ to kids.

Go Figure, if you start saying No to kids who want crappy, fatty, sugary, nutrition void food their overall health improves. Who’da thunk?

My first reaction was “Why is this so newsworthy? Why is this not the norm across the UK for all parents?”

The article talks about a new approach of “Authoritative parenting”, that gives kids choices within parental boundaries, as opposed to Authoritarian (no choices) and Permissive (choices and no boundaries)

Parenting 101

Since when has this been a new approach, that was how I was brought up, and is certainly how I set boundaries for my kids. (“would you like to wear the blue top or the green top today?”, instead of an open ended “what do you want to wear?”)

I always set the boundaries and both kids knew if I said “No” that was the end of the discussion ... however I nearly always allowed discussion, the opportunity to put their case forward and I listened, I considered and would compromise or even cave when they had a valid argument. And I always gave a reason if I turned down their request or appeal, it was always a 2 way discussion if they felt they needed it (and even a 3 year old has a need to express their feelings).

That allowed them to feel safe, they always knew where they stood, it allowed decisions to be made quickly, they weren’t overloaded with choices, especially the ones that only experience knew was inappropriate. The result was they were confident in their choices, they knew I would stick to my end of the bargain of accepting one of the choices I had given them. They felt like they had some control over their own environment, and they still had a say in what was going on around them which they knew I valued as an important opinion.

Arguments?

Rarely.

I thought this was parenting 101, discipline in the truest sense from the traditional meaning of the word. Something that carries a positive connotation of guidance, boundaries and support while our less experienced little humans tried out different things as they discover who they are.

What does that have to do with business?

So why am I writing about this when I normally focus on business?

2 reasons...

1st - It irks me (and therefore I need to vent) that as a nation we seem to have lost all parenting skills and are constantly looking to our now Nanny State of a government / social services for answers. Yes it is great that it is being reintroduced and obviously need more of it (so thanks to those who actually have the common sense to see it is needed).

But as a collective community how did we lose it in the first place? Where is our individual responsibility for parenting, for wealth and health management, for contributing to the wider community, for being downright self sufficient and paying it forward to others that are unable such as the young and the elderly?

It’s seems to be a diminishing minority. Or am I looking at my childhood with rose tinted glasses? Have we always had issues with good parenting and a community spirit not being so common, and I was just one of the lucky ones?

2nd - it can actually be applied to business

If you want a lean, flexible, self-sufficient business similar principles apply. Do you have clearly set boundaries with an overarching goal and behavioural expectations clearly communicated?

Most business don’t, the culture has grown organically, almost by accident, bent by the will of the strongest or most resilient personalities. The result can be a good one, but I have seen it often isn’t. Like a child left to grow wild like the heather, it can be potluck how it turns out.

Many will start out with a great culture around ethics, and customer delivery etc because the person who started the business is involved in every aspect of the business. Then as the business grows the most common side effect is what made it once a fantastic small business becomes a mediocre medium sized business, or worse case scenario a business that nobody cares about, least of all the employees, never mind the clients... because the person in charge no longer has the time to be involved in every aspect. The good stuff, the caring or passionate culture becomes diluted. No one has quite the same understanding about the whole business as you do, the business owner.

This can lead to complaints of not being able to “find the staff”, clients deciding you are just the same as everybody else... OK but nothing special. Eventually this often leads to the business contracting, because things seemed to work better when it was just a small team headed by one person ... you.

Sound familiar?

So what can you do?

But those who have set out with intention, had a clear picture of how the business will operate, what type of people will work there, the environment and culture that they get to enjoy, these business have a far better chance of achieving exactly what you envisaged right at the beginning.

To do that requires you to set out a clear Vision and Set of Core Company Values, it then requires you to set out clear expectations for individual roles within the company so that employees know exactly where they can confidently make judgement calls, when you need to hear about it and when it needs to referred back to a manager or even you. (Back to the choices with boundaries idea)

How intentional have you been? Have you ever sat and thought about, not only how big you would like your business but what you want it to be like to work for or work with your business. Did you map out the intangible goals along with the financials in your Business Plan?

If you haven’t it is never too late to make some important changes, but it does require a lot of thinking and then clear communication... in black and white so that as the business flexes and develops you have some foundational strategic documents you and your management team can come back to.

The benefits of being clear on your intangible goals can add very tangible assets to your bottom line and prove to be a rather profitable investment albeit a long term one.

Original Article and photo from The Guardian online

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