- Jon Hammond
- Director
- Grovetree Farming
After initially being very sceptical about our ‘senior management training”, my introduction to Paul and Dawn Barron and the subsequent training and mentoring I have received has genuinely been a life changing experience.
My historic approach to managing our team was somewhat ‘old school’ and had been developed over a number of years. The ‘carrot and stick’ management style was prevalent in our industry, and relied far more on applying the ‘stick’ than rewarding with the ‘carrot’.
The training sessions introduced me to human behavior patterns that I had not previously been aware of, making me realise that a number of the management techniques were inappropriate and ineffective. On the plus side I was reassured that my personal skills, especially the building of inter-personal relationships were very good.
My light bulb moment came in one of the early sessions and involved managing reactions. At first this made no sense, but through the training, I realised that when a negative event occurred, by considering the outcome I wanted first, I could manage my reaction in order to achieve it. This was a revelation to me as like most people I react first and then wonder why the other person’s reaction is not what I would like. This was one of a number of life-changing moments during my training with Paul and Dawn.
From a business perspective, the old adage of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’ was hugely applicable to us and we had never been exposed to this level of training. The opportunity to look at our business and senior management team through the eyes of industry leading professionals who showed us the power of imagining a new future, true people leadership and a more commercial approach, gave us the insight to dramatically change our business for the better.
Working with Human Alchemy has transformed the way I work and made me more approachable and level headed, whatever the situation. I now take the time to assess and consider the most positive outcome, and that has helped turn our business into a slick and successful operation in a hugely competitive and risky industry.
Our management team is working far closer together and, guided by the Board of Directors and myself, they are now leading the business; allowing the Directors the time to plan for a sustainable and prosperous long-term future.