In this episode, Lawrence explores the critical importance of trust, human senses, and authentic leadership in fostering meaningful connections and driving business success. His insights challenge us to reconsider how we view relationships, communication, and decision-making in professional settings.
The role of trust in business and whether it is influenced by generational differences.
How human senses and intuition can be leveraged to create stronger connections.
The importance of empathy, authenticity, and leading by example.
Practical tips for using sensory cues and emotional intelligence effectively.
The significance of integrity, keeping promises, and fostering a positive environment.
Sound bites
"Human Connection Is Inherently Primitive"
"Leaders Who Practice Authentic Empathy Break Down Barriers"
"The Power of Small Gestures"
Chapters
00:00 - Introduction to Trust and Sensory Awareness
01:26 - The Role of Trust in Business Relationships
05:13 - Leveraging Human Senses for Stronger Connections
10:06 - Empathy and Authentic Leadership
13:26 - Practical Tips for Using Sensory Cues
14:51 - The Importance of Integrity and Keeping Promises
15:49 - Final Thoughts on Trust and Growth
00:02 - Hello and welcome everyone to the Priority Lane podcast. The show where we explore the power of prioritizing and how it can be used to achieve real growth by doing less but doing it better. I will be your host today. My name is Lawrence. I'm country manager for My Brokers app. This is in the absence of Nigel Catt, usual host who is currently in the outback, I believe, attempting to reenact certain scenes from Crocodile Dundee, a rather successful 80s film. It remains to be seen if he will be successful at that reenactment as I don't quite believe Nigel has the physiology, shall we say, to succeed in the sorts of stunts that Paul Hogan did in that film. Only time will tell. If he returns home with missing limbs or something like that, we'll know that he lost an encounter with a saltwater crocodile. Anyway, thanks for joining. I'd like to firstly thank the team behind the Priority Lane podcast and my brokers who have invited me to host this solo session. Just to drill down on a few things that Nigel and I discussed in my last podcast with him.
01:26 - About the human element in business, which as ever is always hugely important. As I firmly believe that people are the source and technology is the tool. There's not a computer in the world that built itself. I know that they're all self-learning now with the advent of AI and that technology advancing. Without humans, that wouldn't be programmed and it wouldn't be able to respond. So we are the key. We are number one and I'd like to push that. So anyway, thank you to the team for inviting me to do this. I wanted to touch on a number of things. Firstly, I know that Nigel and I discussed how trust was a key element for many businesses and obviously people in general in our everyday lives. And for me, the trust issue, have a good analogy here. I actually had a conversation on the phone with a new prospect, a managing director of a financial services business that my brokers could certainly work with and help. And interestingly, he's been in business for three decades, similar to myself. And he said when I asked him if he had opened the information that I had sent him previously, he told me that his actual words were, if I opened everything, Lawrence, I'd get nothing done. So I don't open anything. And I went, okay, I understand. Yeah, obviously I can understand that you're not going to sit there and just trawl through unsolicited prospects and emails from people you don't know. Obviously, we know that's the case. However, from the human element side, I did feel somewhat that he was kind of missing a trick and it was somewhat closed mindset because how could you know that a product or service that you might not know of could actually help you or streamline your business if you're not willing to entertain the idea or listen. He did say to me, however, that the only way that he would ever consider something new, for example, would be if it was recommended to him by either a member of his in-house team, of course, or a peer, someone he's known for decades. Which again, I totally understood. So I suggested to him, said, okay, well on that premise, would you mind if I resend that information and whilst we're on the phone, you forward it to someone you trust in your team so they can have a look at it. If they like it, great. If they don't, that's great too. And he agreed. So that's how we moved forward. So for me, yes, the trust of course is important. And actually what I'd like any of you to do is if you've got any comments or theories or opinions on the trust issue, because I'm wondering, and I'm going to ask you, do you believe it is a generational or dare I say an age related symptom, shall we say? Or do you think that that is a good methodology to follow to not open anything just in case it takes up too much of your time. So please send some comments or you can email me. All my details will be either at the end of this show or you can find them on the mybrokers.app website. So please take a look at that. So trust, obviously a key thing. The other side of this that I think we also all forget, humans are made up of basically we are a bag of water. Effectively and we have more electromagnetic, synaptic connections in the body than there are galaxies in the universe and there are over about two trillion galaxies. Okay, so the body is a really complex machine, 65, 70 % water, something like that, bit of organs, things help you live, breathe, etc. Obviously, the body has a number of sensory applications, should we call it. So we know that the common five, know, sight, smell, taste, know, auditory hearing, touch. We also, I believe we have seven. So the other two, the sixth sense of course is ESP where you're able to predict or see things happen before they do. And for me, the seventh one is actually to feel. What I mean by that is it's like intuition. If you've ever walked into a room where there are people and you feel suddenly uncomfortable or you might be talking to someone and you'll get the sense that this person doesn't like me, those two feelings, I promise you, were probably correct. And this is something, so that seventh sense that I'm talking about is something that we all disregard. Mumbo jumbo, but trust me, I'm pretty sure most of you have walked into somewhere and felt a little uneasy, uncomfortable or something like that. And you should listen to that because that is your inner self going, hang on a minute. It's a little bit like the Star Trek Enterprise using its sensor array. We have that in abundance. So, to that. And I have a really good, this is a true story. I was selling a house many years ago and the buyer and the estate agent and apparently their insurer were coming round and I've had to witness an insurer coming round to check the doors and windows and that sort of thing. But what I did before they got there is we had a log burner so I put that on. We had an old filter coffee machine. So I put that on and I also had a bread maker. I mixed up the yeast and the flour, et cetera. And I put the bread maker on, which takes about three hours or something like that. So when they eventually arrived, the home was lovely and warm. It was redolent with the odor of soft log wood smoke, fresh coffee and fresh baked bread. And of course, I also put a bowl of fruit on the table and polished the apples so that when they walked in, their sensory applications on their body were overloaded. Okay. And needless to say, and this is true, the guy bought the house. Now I'm not saying he bought it because of those sensory cues that I had obviously on purpose placed in my home. But I know for a fact that they absolutely carried weight. And what's more important is that I offered them a cup of coffee so they had the taste as well. So I was ticking off all the sensory applications that the human body has and pretty much, you know, he sold the house to himself. And I didn't need to actually do anything. So what I'm trying to say is use your senses to your advantage. They're there for a reason. So we are no longer primal creatures that use them to go hunting or for defense, that sort of thing. So use them to the good. I think it's hugely important.
10:06 - So yeah, and the other thing I read somewhere the other day was that were people inherently good? I think the question was. And I understand that this current time around the world, there are unfortunate war zones and hostile environments, which just for me, know, humans have been at war constantly, apparently for nearly 10,000 years. And I kind of think it's time to stop because there's no benefit at all to the, you know, the actual human species. It just creates hostility and that sort of thing. But in the back of my mind, I thought, COVID is a great example of, you know, I think how people need people. Because we were all isolated, were all told to stay at home, which we diligently did. But I also know that we then, I suppose that the government, particularly here in England, they realized that people were isolated and they needed a support network, people to talk to, they needed company. And so very quickly, you know, our, what were they called? It was a bubble. Yeah. Your safety bubble was put in place where you were able to, you know, travel and meet, you know, one specific pod of people, not dolphins. And I just found, I find this, you know, I found that encouraging that, you know, it was we people need people. So, you know, and we, had to get involved, you know, with, networking still and, that sort of thing. You know, within the events industry, for example, people, you know, obviously the face-to-face events couldn't work. So they, put together lots of webinars and, you know, all the sort of online stuff, which worked great, but it was still connecting people. So, you know, I think that's vastly important and something that we, should all, all remember. And, you know, again, to quote, quote another film from the 80s with the late Patrick Swayze, who played a bouncer in a film called Road House. His name, I think his character's name was Dalton. And his piece of advice to his team of bouncers who were going to help him clear up the town was be nice. And of course that drew, as you can imagine, certain level of disdain from these muscle-bound jerks who were helping him, I suppose. But yeah, his advice was, philosophically, suppose it was, was be nice. And I think that's a, you know, two words that we could all perhaps try harder to use. And in business, it doesn't mean you're weak. If you show some empathy, if you listen, if you are nice, you know, I mentioned before, I think that I found that managing directors and CEOs, people who've been in business, male and female of course, who've been in business a long time, many decades, they kind of have sometimes a sort of standoffish, I'm too important to talk to you if you're a sales manager or a regional business development manager or whatever it is. And I find that quite sad, you know, and I do believe in leading by example and Nigel, the chief executive of the Blackbridge Group and my brokers app, course, is, as I said, he's a lovely chap. And the thing I love about Nigel is that he's happy to talk to anybody. You know, he speaks quietly, he has a lovely energy, he's very calm, you know, and I think that's a absolute perfect model of, I think of how someone, know, a, you know, executive level should should really behave. But, you know, you can't, you can't change, you can't change everybody. And you can't convince people who, who've been doing things a certain way for many, many years to change, you know, they have to, they have to want to do that. So what can I say, you know, surround yourself with people that want the best out of you and that you want the best out of them. You know, listen to each other. You know, be nice, obviously, and do what you say. Something else that I mentioned in my previous podcast is, if you say you tell a client, you tell a family member, whatever it is that you're going to do something when, where or how, please do that, you know, because that's, that's your integrity. That's your reputation. And all these things, all these things add up. So yeah, so that's pretty much it from me. Obviously, there's a lot more to it. But, you know, use your senses. Be aware. And, know, try, try trusting a little bit more, if you can, because there are lovely people out there who have incredible solutions and services and products that we could all benefit from. you know, don't be frightened or dig your heels in, you know, take a chance and listen. And I think, you know, all I can do now is to leave you with one of my favorite pieces of advice, words to live by everyone is never upset anyone who has access to your toothbrush. I think you'll figure it out. Thank you very much for listening. I'm Lawrence. This is the Priority Lane Podcast and we'll see you soon. Cheerio.