About Being an Employer

This is not a blog of self doubt. More a pondering on my relatively new role an an employer of people at ACLAÍ that all started with a question. “Who am I to be a boss?” Its a role that I have never completely settled in to, but as ACLAÍ grows its services and its customer base, it is something that I need to come to terms with, both the enjoyable aspects of being at the helm, and the less fun parts too.

I can’t be sure, but I suspect that my struggle with the role comes from a long standing belief that the ‘boss’ is generally in a comfy office, with a big desk, leather chair, and many leather bound books as Ron Burgundy put it, while the workers work.

Dick Gaughan sums up this perception of the ‘boss’ very well in my opinion in his song, The Workers Song. 

We’re the first ones to starve the first ones to die
The first ones in line for that pie-in-the-sky
And always the last when the cream is shared out
For the worker is working when the fat cat’s about

I didnt grow up with the mentality of the fat-cat. More the mentality of the worker. In fact, I always had in my mind that maybe I could be a person who would be able to add something positive to the world or the worker. I remember listening to the song Victor Jara, sung by Christy Moore at a young age, and it had a big impact on me.

He sang for the copper miners and those who farmed the land
He sang for the factory workers who knew Victor was their man

He campaigned for Allende canvassed night and day
Singing take hold of your brother’s hand the future starts today

Childhood and adulthood hero’s include Che Guevara, James Connolly, Joe McDonnell and Bobby Sands. Mairtín Ó Caidhin, Mairead Farrell, Victor Jara, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, and Malcom X, among many more exceptional figures with whom I had the honour of being around in West Belfast from an early age. My father Gearóid, a life long activist for the Irish language had an influential hand in many long lasting community based initiatives that are still flourishing in my hometown, and helped inspire a generation to carry the struggle forward for our native language. One of my favourite books is the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist.

All these things bring a different perspective to being in charge of a small business, and responsible for providing the framework for others to make a living in, that just does not fit into the mentality of ‘I’m the boss, your the worker, get busy, or you will get the sac’.

At the same time, I find myself in the position of running a business, that is required to turn a profit for its survival and growth. A balance must be found, and I feel a strong sense of responsibility to have things clear in my head before bringing ideas to the team, or before I feel like I deserve to be the leader of the team at ACLAÍ.  A few key questions arose when considering this issue.

What is Success?

To help me figure out what way I should be as the head of the team at ACLAÍ, its important for me to be clear on what ‘success’ actually means. If its solely based on turning a big profit, then that leads me down the road of cutting corners, saving money, and paying little. Already, this sounds like a miserable approach to me.

I believe that success is represented by the following 3 points in ACLAÍ, that are mostly centred on making a positive difference to the customer, the employee, and the community:

1. Creating a positive experience for the customer that brings them towards the goals that they want to achieve. 
2. Build an inspiring and rewarding career path for the coaching team and other employees at ACLAÍ. 
3. Build a reputable, sustainable, ethical, and profitable company. 

What Does it Mean to Lead a Staff?

Specifically in relation to the topic of this post, the next question that comes to mind is the one above. What responsibilities do I want to assume on behalf of the team?

The ones that come to mind are the responsibility to:

• Create a positive and inspiring environment for the whole team from top to bottom to grow, explore, develop, and learn.
• Know that in each others lives, we are all passers by. We cross paths for a brief period, sometimes for a little longer. A person cannot own another person, and everyone needs to be treated with respect, and equality.
• Set a good example and be a positive influence on each member of the team when the opportunity comes up. I feel that not asking anyone to do anything that I would not do myself is a big part of this philosophy, and I am glad to say that I always make sure that I have done a talk myself before asking anyone else to do it.
• Always remember that I can learn as much from the ACLAÍ team as they can learn from me, in the same way that any two people, in any situation can learn from each other. This is something that happens regularly at ACLAÍ every day. The whole team learning from each other. Especially over a cup of coffee, or at our weekly coaching team training sessions.
• Importantly, make sure that I carry out the above duties, along with the more mundane day to day tasks to ensure that everyone gets paid at the end of the week, and that the team are rewarded adequately.

With the above in mind, I hope that I am working in the right direction, that the ACLAÍ team, and anyone else whom I happen to have the pleasure of working with in the future, feel like they are valued, challenged, free, and treated well.

I also hope that I do my childhood hero’s proud with an approach that puts the development of the coaches at ACLAÍ, and the experience of the customer, on the same level as the bottom line.