I have been cooperating with Future Centre since June 2010. As a trained historian with additional qualifications in business administration and accountancy and a natural curiosity in the world around me I always have my finger on the pulse of business, keep up to date with business trends such as Lean or other agile practices and have a wide ranging general knowledge and interest in current affairs. All this knowledge equips me well in my interactions with others – indeed my wife frequently tells me I can speak to everybody and anybody on any subject!
It is often said that once you find your vocation you never have to work another day again – and this defines my life! I love meeting new people and working as an educator. My approach is based on a methodology that have devised – the Rapport Based Approach – and which is about meaningful contact with others as individuals using a steady blend of humour, human interest and candour which students find both refreshing and challenging.
The Rapport-Based approach is all about developing strong interpersonal relationships between individuals within an organisation. Investment in dynamic relationships is often the reason why smaller organisations are more dynamic than larger ones. Research shows that units function effectively until they exceed 200 members and for this reason larger organisations are frequently made up of smaller units that are no larger than this magic number. It therefore follows that the dynamism of the smaller organisation should be replicated in larger organizations.
It’s all about people!
At the heart of any organisation are its people and a failure to recognise this could have drastic consequences. It does not matter how good your product or service is or how innovative you think you are; the fact is that unless you have the right people in the right place(s) your organisation will always struggle.
Rapport should ideally be a natural organic process borne out of your personality strengths or if it is something you struggle with it should be something that you make as natural as possible. Research shows that an effective key to building strong relationships is an ability to share knowledge and use personal or common experiences to enable others to connect with you and ADD VALUE to your relationships.
In addition to the use of rapport in developing relationships I am a strong believer in the anecdote, and having travelled and experienced so many different things in my life it is natural that I can use a story to help illuminate any teaching I deliver. One short but amusing example is when I am building a bridge with a new student who may be somewhat nervous about working with a native speaker. I tell the story of my one time girlfriend who I tried to complement in Polish (before I really knew any) and I inadvertently told her ‘you are very easy’ instead of ‘you are very nice’ – these are similar sounding words in Polish. Of course the point I am communicating to a student is I make mistakes too – and mine are worse. The result of such a story is that the student actually feels more confident because they realise they are working with someone who is not unsympathetic to their situation.
Why is this important?
The reasons why we should invest in our relationships are very simple: First and foremost people are individuals and want to be treated so. They feel more empowered and valued when time is invested in them as individuals and consequently they become more motivated and loyal as their esteem rises within an organisation. Secondly, it is human nature to reciprocate and want to help out and by investing time and interest in others they are more likely to want to do the same. This has been demonstrated to me time and time again.
Glossary:
- accountancy – księgowość, rachunkowość
- keep up to date with – być na bieżąco z
- agile – zwinny, zręczny (w biznesie występuje w znaczeniu: elastyczny, dopasowujący się)
- vocation – powołanie
- blend – mieszanka
- candour – szczerość
- struggle – walczyć, siłować się
- borne out – poświadczony, potwierdzony
- inadvertently – mimowolnie, nieświadomie, nieumyślnie
- empower – upełnomocnienie
- reciprocate – odwzajemniać
Richard Horton – lektor, trener z ponad 10-letnim doświadczeniem
Richard pochodzi z Lincoln w Wielkiej Brytanii. Od ponad 11 lat mieszka w Polsce, gdzie wykorzystuje swoje bogate wielokulturowe doświadczenie zawodowe zdobyte m.in. w Albanii. Jako lektor/trener specjalizujący się w szkoleniach dla biznesu cieszy się doskonałą opinią. Przekazuje słuchaczom wiedzę w kompetentny, a zarazem przystępny i dowcipny sposób, dzięki czemu wypracował własny, niepowtarzalny i skuteczny styl nauczania.
