Business Problems Solved Podcast

This episode's guest is Chris Rainsforth, an award-winning Customer Contact Specialist who has been in the Industry for over 15 years working in both in-house and outsourced contact centres, holding roles in Operations, Training and Support Functions across Front & Back Offices. Chris has experience in developing multi-site, multi-culture and multi-channel change programmes, working across global regions to deliver successful initiatives including enablement, quality assurance, speech analytics and Training and has a demonstrated history in Program Leadership across many functions in a range of industries. His experience is shared as a thought leader and Keynote speaker who has experience delivering small training and discussion workshops up to large-scale conferences and events. Lee and Chris discuss his journey from homelessness to successful change leader, working for The Forum, a professional training and coaching company, bringing his wealth of knowledge and experience to use in helping clients develop innovative and robust approaches to customer service. KEY TAKEAWAYS At 15 Chris became homeless from detrimental choices and being an ‘idiot’, but luckily met people who put him on the road to his current success. Chris’ experiences have led him towards a career advising and guiding other people. Contact Centres are great places to launch a business career as it teaches you so much, be it Customer Service, HR, Management or Training. To circumvent mistakes of the past, Chris’ family have a very open environment so discussions can be easily held. It takes a degree of confidence to issue Keynote speeches, lead Change Groups and run open conferences and events. It is much easier to be yourself in these environments as having to keep up an appearance is exhausting. Be authentic. BEST MOMENTS ‘We help organisations that run any type of customer operation, whether it’s a contact centre or a back office or retail business, help them understand their requirements and give them learning development and support to make themselves and their people better.’ – Chris ‘One of the key things for me was finding that you don’t need to do everything alone. That’s the place I was in, that I had to do everything alone. It taught me that I don’t need to be expert at everything, I don’t need to know everything, but I do need to know that there are people out there that can help.’ – Chris ‘What three words do you think your daughter would use to describe you?’ – lee ‘I honestly think she would say that I am caring, generous, and I would imagine she would say I’m a role model.’ – Chris ‘People will like me or they won’t, and that’s fine, I’m happy with that. I am who I am and I’m not going try and change who I am anymore. I’ve tried that and it’s exhausting.’ – Chris VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast          ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.   CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

This episode's guest is Matt Grady. Born in Leeds, Matt is a thoroughly sporty chap and became a professional golfer which took him to the PGA and via Oxford to Dubai and the United Arab Emirates setting up golf courses until the financial crash of 2008. Returning to the UK and quitting golf, Matt found employment in Sales, particularly in Recruitment, and in the last 11 years has progressed to working for international Biotech and Pharmaceutical Companies. A specialist in solving leadership challenges via recruitment solutions, Matt has turned his hand to writing a book, “Making The Cut : Turning Pro in Sport, Business and Life.” He has his own podcast and is a guest on many others. Lee and Matt chat about becoming a professional sportsman, his golf career, his move to sales, recruitment, writing a book as a dare for motivation, podcasting and the nature of inspiration. KEY TAKEAWAYS At 10, Matt couldn’t see life without golf. His success came from heavily visualising his future and having a great sports teacher at school. Having the right support and the right drive was intrinsic. Matt joined the recruitment industry via his sales skills and claimed the stability and investment in his future that golf didn’t offer.  “Making the Cut : Turning Pro in Sport, Business and Life.” Was written determinedly in 30 days.  Matt has his own podcast, ‘ The Domus Search Leadership Podcast’, tackling the subjects of Health, Mindset, Personal Growth, Nutrition, Training and a weekly segment joined by special guests. Filter opinions based on the experience of the person providing them.  BEST MOMENTS‘I’ve got a nine year old aspiring goalkeeper next door. Fingers crossed, that’s my retirement plan. What is it that kept you going to actually realise your dream, and did you realise your dream?’ – Lee‘I was thinking seriously about becoming a sports teacher. Turns out my college didn’t do the A Level, so it was back to plan A all the way.’ – Matt‘In ten years when I’m 50 I’ll be playing golf on the champions tour and I’ll retire having the time of my life.’ – Matt‘I’m very much a one man band in a bigger organisation, competing in a very challenging sector, with a lot of competition. So I’m doing, hopefully, what others won’t do today so I can get the results that they won’t have tomorrow.’ – Matt‘I think if I was talking to a younger group now, teenagers, you might think that someone is going to come and save you, and give you all the skills and all the support, but actually probably 99% of it is you and you really have to do the work.’ - Matt VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast          ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Lee needs a favour. He has started to write a book. A work in progress with a working title of ‘The Leadership Cheat Code.’ Be Lee’s writing accountability partner and ensure that he creates real actionable content and go to bit.ly/theleadershipcheatcode and sign up for progress updates and keep him on track.  KEY TAKEAWAYS The book will be a practical guide to help leaders of people and change and create high performing teams.  The acronym C.H.E.A.T currently stands for Communication, Humility, Engagement, Authenticity, Teamwork. Chase, nag, cajole, pursue, encourage, persuade, advise and suggest until Lee produces a book that actually can be used to create real change in, and for, its readers.  BEST MOMENTS‘I spoke on the podcast about an acronym called T.E.A.C.H. And is anybody working out that the letters in ‘teach’ are the same as ‘cheat’. So there is some commonality with what I shared in that podcast and what I will be writing about in the pages of this book.’  ‘We’ve spoken about humility before and that is not thinking less of yourself, it is about thinking about yourself less. It’s the difference between selfish and selfless.’ ‘In the book I will also be sharing Chris’ story because that’s the foundation for it and sharing the three lessons and where they came from, and then how they feed into The Cheat Code.’ VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast          ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Lee relates his journey and career as an Improvement Coach. An immense learning experience and the best and worst job he’s ever had, Lee explains how he has got to where he is now in the career that has given him the greatest satisfaction. KEY TAKEAWAYS In 2006 Lee was offered a job that included training in workplace organisation, visual management, standards and problem solving and then presenting it as improvement to teams. Lee then spent ten years on projects and programs on problem solving, specific issues that businesses were having difficulty with. This involved end to end visualisation of processes. Resistance in improvement made Lee focus on people and their importance in creating systems. BEST MOMENTS ‘This is how I believe looking back how my career in improvement has transitioned.’ ‘It required somebody as part of the solution to move desks. I thought it was a small part of the solution. To him it was massive. It was like I was asking him to uproot his whole family, or leave his family!’ ‘When I think about my journey as an improvement person there’s three wheels that I’ve been consistently trying to turn.’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast          ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.   CONTACT METHOD   You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

As leaders of people and change, we are always trying to get people to do the right thing at the right time, every time. Rather than repeatedly just telling or ordering them to do so, which requires intervention from you constantly, there are other ways to persuade people to continuously commit to action which Lee explains to you in this episode. KEY TAKEAWAYS If someone is working a process they have to be either really well trained to the point where the actions become habitual, but not everything we do is a consistent action.  If the action is a response to circumstance then training will not help, the person has to make the right decision.  The three main influencing strategies are ; using the Person, using Social influence or using the Environment to support it. (PSE). You may face resistance due to the pain required to change may surpass the pain of the current process.  You can create a sense of belonging and teamwork. Can you provide a role model to the process?  Ensure the whole environment is supportive of doing the right thing. For example, easy provision of equipment.  Create trust as people need to believe that change is for the greater good.  BEST MOMENTS‘Our job as leaders is to help them think about it enough to then, hopefully, do the right thing.’``We spoke about pleasure and pain quite a bit in the past as well. We always, typically, try to paint this picture of pleasure. The dream that we are trying to create, the process and the place we want people to work in.’‘The conditions within our environments that we’ve created are also factors we need to consider.’‘Do not just tell them. Do not just tell people to do something. There are so many other strategies that you can do to help people do the right thing at the right time, every time.’VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast         ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Lee speaks on the importance of understanding not only the way your own head works but also the thoughts of people you work with. Are you getting in your own way, becoming stuck in your own mind in meetings? Do you make assumptions about what others are thinking which alter your attitude and actions, often incorrectly? Lee explains how perceiving your own internal habits and perceptions can be essential to communication and knowing others thoughts crucial to understanding. KEY TAKEAWAYS Your own thoughts and reactions to others are often a block to being the person you want to be and the messages you want to convey in your meeting. The eclectic nature of our thoughts means we can often bypass sharing all the ideas that occur to us.  Our own assumptions drawn from body language and other inconclusive external information can often lead us to prejudge the conversation we are about to have with others.  How a meeting starts and its tone often dictates the flow onwards, so it is important to be aware of your own thoughts and the effect others will have on you at this stage. We have no control over others' thoughts. We can only persuade people to follow our ideas. Asking people what they are actually thinking can often lead to creative and unexpected results.  BEST MOMENTS‘You might go to a meeting and you might recognise that there’s somebody who has been a bit negative about what it is you’re trying to achieve and that might help or hinder you.’‘Often people say that the first few interactions in any meeting set the meeting tone for its duration.’ ‘Giving a point of fact, bit of data, maybe a few slides for context and then just opening the floor and asking ‘what are you thinking?’’‘Only by sharing the thoughts and ideas that everybody has can we really create amazing solutions and create greater and stronger connections because we are understanding more about each other.’ VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast         ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

In a lot of teams and businesses when you try to influence one or all of your staff to move faster or push harder you often find you encounter resistance. Lee explains this thorny issue and what you can do to circumvent it.KEY TAKEAWAYS Deadlines are often set in isolation and that means absolutely nothing to the staff member that is required to meet it.  It is important that people connect on three different levels. To you as a person, to the problem that needs to be solved, and to the solution. Why would an individual support a change if it’s not to their advantage? No amount of influence or manipulation will speed them up.   Personal influence is the consideration of what the advantage is personally for the individual. Social influence is demonstrating other people doing the task you want them to undertake, resulting in peer pressure and example. Environmental influence is changing the surroundings to make it easier to take the action required such as providing the right equipment or circumstances for action.  BEST MOMENTS‘Often we don’t necessarily understand where the starting position for everybody is and whether they actually want to go at the pace you’re going.’ ‘Everybody moves at the pace they want to go.’‘If they do not benefit from it and can’t relate to the benefit you’re proposing, why would they do what you want them to do?’  ‘If you want to have a daily huddle with a white board, then make sure that the room supports having the white board.’ VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast         ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Understanding the end destination and result is fundamental in successful leadership, business improvement and change. Lee explains the steps to achievement by asking the question ‘What needs to be true?”.KEY TAKEAWAYS What are the tangible signs as well as key measures that will let you know when you have achieved your target, destination, vision or change? Just because you have achieved a measurable result does not mean it is sustainable. A short term result is not necessarily going to make a difference unless full time repeatable systems are in place to produce it. Do not be reliant upon the subjective vision of other people to indicate that an objective has been reached. Agree upon a verifiable set of results beforehand to fully confirm that the objective has been met. BEST MOMENTS‘One way that we try to articulate this for teams and for businesses is “What habits need to be displayed? What behaviours are being displayed? What outputs need to be produced?”‘You might need to create something, you might need to start a conversation, you might need to factor something in. So this is truly about understanding where it is you’re trying to get to and then making it real in everybody’s eyes.’‘What does it look like, feel like, sound like as well? What are the habits, the behaviours and the outputs? And then what needs to be done to create those things? Now you know, tangibly, how you're going to get there.’VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast         ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Flourish ; To grow and develop in a healthy or vigorous way especially as a result of a particular environment. Isn’t this what we want for all our people? We need a welcoming and encouraging environment to allow our team to develop their skills, express their ideas and creativity and effect positive changes to their workplace. Lee takes a look at how we can accomplish this. KEY TAKEAWAYS We need to concentrate on people and process capability. Develop these two things together and you can create a future ready and fully engaged workforce. Being able to develop, learn and progress are always noted as motivating factors by staff within the work environment. Allow people to speak and share in a timely, regular and open fashion to take full advantage of problem solving, process adjustment and to also show that your people are essential and valued. BEST MOMENTS ‘As leaders we have such a huge role in creating a space for people to flourish. It doesn’t just happen overnight.’ ‘Often processes are worked multiple times every single day and things that get in peoples way are identified every single day so what you don’t want to do is have a meeting structure that is monthly.’ ‘First things first, it is individual to that person how much they want to grow, how much they want to develop and how much they want to really, really flourish.’ VALUABLE RESOURCES Business Problems Solved Podcast          ABOUT THE HOST For the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material. Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker. CONTACT METHOD You can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194 Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/

Which statement resonates best with you ; “I will be successful if I can” or “I will be successful if I want”? No one expects to go to work and do a bad job but we don’t provide the environment for people to flourish. Lee discusses the differences in motivations that can drive your team in this episode.KEY TAKEAWAYS These questions are to encourage discussion on the nature of motivation for people in their workplace. If the answer is “want”, the outcome is dependent on motivations utilised by the organisations on the individual. If the answer is “can” the outcome is dependent on external influences like training and equipment. Does the person have the things they need to be able to create? As a leader if you ask these questions you will establish you have a far bigger role in this than you think. What are the environmental factors that will allow your people to become self motivated? BEST MOMENTS‘It’s a motivation challenge. It’s about unpicking and understanding what is required to motivate. Are you moving towards pleasure or are you moving away from pain to that neutral state?’‘The things that motivate us internally are actually external things.’‘You’ve got a big role to play in motivating your people. Don’t just rely on the carrot or the stick. Understand the environmental factors.’ VALUABLE RESOURCESBusiness Problems Solved Podcast         ABOUT THE HOSTFor the last 15 years, I have been a multi-sector internal or external business improvement consultant, building the improved capability of individuals, teams and businesses.In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my two young children Jack & India. I also enjoy listening to and reading business & personal development material.Lee Houghton is “THE Business Problem Solver”, a Management Consultant, CX Specialist and Keynote Speaker.CONTACT METHODYou can contact Lee Houghton on 07813342194Lee@leehoughton.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/lhoughton/