People making impact

On the 16th and 17th of September, we had our company weekend away with Rapid Circle. Two days off site in the Belgian Ardennes, we spent time together sharing company updates, building teams and of course having a lot of fun!

Personally, I had the immense pleasure to host our plenary company update sessions and talk a little bit about our company values as well. Our four core values are:

• People making impact
• Better together
• Ahead of the curve
• Trusted to deliver

Every quarter, we pick one core value to explore a bit more with all our colleagues. This time it was “people making impact”. What do we mean with this?

We seek to have a lasting positive impact in everything we do. We are conscious of our actions today and their impact tomorrow. We build long-term trusted relationships, whilst making positive change for the communities we operate in.

That all sounds great, but how do we do this? That’s what I talked about with our colleagues, and I wanted to share and highlight a couple of perhaps less obvious talking points, because they are close to my heart.

Listen and ask, don’t assume

Okay, okay, this is an obvious one. But I really wanted to share it here. Because we still don’t listen, and we definitely still assume too much. We have all heard the expression that assumptions are the mother of all mistakes (yes, I am aware there are less nice ways to say this too ??), and yet, we really assume too much. Ask, and then listen, and if needed, ask again, and listen some more. We really should never call out someone’s question as a stupid question. That way, that person will be less inclined to ask questions a next time, which could lead to more assumptions. It is okay to ask, just don’t forget to listen when you do.

Give the benefit of the doubt

More and more, I find that people don’t give the benefit of the doubt in conversations they have. There are multiple reasons for that. Many conversations happen virtually and async. This causes short messages, often lacking context or empathy, but even more importantly, this doesn’t provide the non-verbal communication signs that we human beings need so much in our communication. But it’s not just that. Our society is becoming more egocentric and trashing on social media has almost become the new standard. Could it be that we therefore don’t trust other people enough anymore? I like to think that my colleagues always try their best. They do not have any intentions to mess things up. When their tone of voice is maybe not the most constructive, I do believe that they speak up because they want to see things improved, not to bash you. Please, let’s trust each other a bit more and next time you doubt someone’s intentions, let’s give that person the benefit of the doubt.

Speak up if your integrity is at risk

At Rapid Circle we want to be inclusive. As mentioned earlier, we try to create a positive work environment for people with different ideas, talents and backgrounds. That implies by itself that we value and respect other people’s opinions and differences. But there is another aspect to this as well. People should also value and respect you. It is not always obvious though, what your opinions and values are. If you feel someone is about to cross a line (or already did): speak up! That is okay, that is totally fine, because we want to respect you as a person and we have an open mind.

That’s it, I just wanted to share this with you. Also as a way to remind myself, because I have found both these topics not always easy to follow. But I am trying ??