Just because you can

Do thingsfor no reward – just because you can

This blog shares two stories of people who influenced my life in my teens. It is an extract from my book "Dive In - Lessons learnt since business school"

One of my first Jobs at the age of13 was at a shop called Hamrad in downtown Johannesburg.  One of the guys who worked at Hamrad was RegGreen.

 Reg was one of the original radio hams in the South Africa.

He was a radio operator in the warand used to have conversations in morse code every Saturday morning at the shop.He could be having a ‘conversation’ with his friend overseas and could talk tocustomers in the shop, while simultaneously sending and receiving morse code.To Reg, listening and sending morse code was no different to listening to twoconversations at once.

The lesson I learnt was that thebrain has the innate ability to multitask.

Reg was probably also one of myearliest influences in sales and sales techniques. In the field of Ham radiothere were not many more knowledgeable people than Reg, however in everycustomer interaction (and colleague interaction) he was able to impartknowledge in a way that was educational and presented on a peer level basis.

Many people who have superiorknowledge of a product or service often lack the ability to impart thatknowledge to others without a seemingly superior attitude.

The sales person in a store shouldhave superior knowledge of a product or service if they are to be successful.The most successful sales people will communicate that knowledge in a way thateducates the potential buyer in a way that does not make them feel inferior.Reg was very good at this and was able to communicate the various aspects ofthe equipment we were selling in a way that never made him look superior to thepotential customer.

Explaining concepts in their termsand language makes clients feel empowered – a technique I learned from Reg atthe tender age of 15 .

The second person who had a profound influence on my life at that stage was someone I never met.

I had to learn morse code to getmy unrestricted radio license, and Reg suggested a teacher that would assist me(over the radio) in the evening to practice.

Felix was blind.

He worked as a telephone operatorat Anglo American Corporation (where I would work years later). I never met himin person, but spent many hours talking to him over the radio in plain Englishand morse code.

He was patient and prepared tospend time with a then 16-year-old boy, teaching an obscure skill set for noreward other than the pleasure of passing on the skill.

This was a valuable lesson in altruism and giving back. Despite his disability, he was always chirpy and positive and viewed every day as a new challenge, thankful for being alive and being able to work and help others. I never really worked out how he operated his radio transceivers, and for that matter the switchboard at a major corporation.

Today we use the term – paying it forward.

How much do you do for others just because you can?

RaelBricker is a speaker, consultant and mentor on achieving BUSINESS EXCELLENCE. Theseencompass presentations, workshops and consulting on business excellence,culture, ethics, inspiration, simplifying systems and harnessing growthpotential. 

Rael hasconducted unprecedented GLOBAL research into CULTURE by interviewing 70+companies in more than 25 countries.

If youwould like more information, please contact Rael on rael@raelbricker.comor +61408600330