Miss Mandie

The proposed "reiki studio"

I have lots of business ideas. Most of which are shelved until I finish my life coaching qualification. But one I had seemed like the perfect solution to making use of a great little studio on my property and getting me some extra cash while I am studying. I wanted to convert the guest studio into a reiki studio. I had the view I could entice some city gals to have a “girl’s afternoon” at my place. They could sip tea on the verandah. Enjoy the views. Be still and calm, while they took it in turn to have a reiki and massage session with yours truly. I thought it was a great idea!

It escalated into an even better idea when I ran into one of my neighbours in The Forest who is also a reiki practitioner. A practitioner in need of a space to practice. Perfect! She could use the space too for a small contribution. I was getting excited about creating this beautiful space. I even managed to compromise with my landlord about reducing the number of colours in the room…I got him down from four to two. We settled on keeping the green and blue. I could repaint the purple and yellow. I was going for a “serene” look, I told him in earnest.

Then, in a style that has permeated my entire career, largely in the world of communications and management, I decided to be open and honest and let others know what I had planned and confirm that it was okay for me to go ahead with this idea. It was an interesting process, being passed along from person to person. I quickly realised that no-one wanted to be that final person to give me the ultimate permission to proceed.

See, I live on a “multiple occupancy” property. It’s an interesting set up, where each individual landowner doesn’t own their piece of the land, but instead owns a share in the company that owns the whole land. It’s pretty common around these hippy areas. I think they are usually set up as “communities”, but somehow over the years as people come and go, the community aspect falls by the wayside and what’s left is an unusual arrangement between a group of people thrown together through circumstance.

As I spent hours in conversations with different neighours, coming up with solutions to issues raised, developing guidelines and boundaries around my proposed business operations, I realised why some organisations choose to do things without consultation; without being so “transparent”.

Because transparency and consultation:

• takes time and energy;
• means you sometimes have to alter your original plan;
• requires you to clearly decide upon about what you want to achieve, so you can communicate that to others;
• makes you think about issues/problems that perhaps you weren’t aware of/didn’t want to know about/have no idea how to address;
• can seem like too much hard work.

.
So why do it?

Despite many neigbours overall support, in the end, it was all getting a bit too much. One owner, who was less than enthusiastic about the idea, wanted to call a shareholders meeting and have everyone vote on it. She accused me of being apathetic about the financial implications of the extra traffic on the forest track because I was a tenant and I don’t pay the rates. I admit it, her harsh tone made me cry. Seriously, I told myself to get a grip. Am I going to cry every time someone tells me they don’t like my business ideas? Or accuses me of something that I think is unfair? Harden up Mandie. Admittedly though, I think I am also premenstrual. Remind me to check the calendar the next time I set out on community consultation please.

It was mentioned on a few occasions that given the small amount of clientele I was considering, I could have just gone ahead and done this without anyone being any the wiser. It’s just not my style though.

What has transparency cost me? Well, a lot of time. And for the moment I’ve decided not to push the issue. I know I could write a formal proposal and ask for a meeting to be called, but for the moment, I think it’s best to let the dust settle.

So what did I gain from being transparent through consultation?

• The opportunity to talk to neighbours that I usually only see in passing on the road, if that even. I got to know them better. I learned that the eccentric man next door who lives in a caravan, who drives the local school bus also really wants to be a homeopath. He was intrigued about the potential of using the room too, once he built up the courage to begin to see clients. I got invited for dinner by two of the original owners and heard fun stories about what it was like living here in the beginning, when rustic and rugged only begin to describe the conditions.
• I visited the most amazing property in the forest that I never knew existed. It was truly breathtaking. Nestled in the valley, hidden amongst the tall trees, this little hideaway is what I imagined it could be like to live in the Daintree Rainforest. They even have an outside bath tub that is fed by water from a large copper pot heated by a fire lit underneath. They said they would call me the next time they put it on (sweet!).
• I got to practice listening with an open heart and mind. To not take objections personally, but see them for what they were and allow myself to creatively work on solutions with the neighbours so concerns were addressed. I proved to myself that I was flexible and innovative.
• I built relationships with those around me, and trust has been established that “Mandie is a respectful neighbour”. I now have a reputation, whereas before I was largely unknown. I use to be just “John’s tenant”.
• I ignited ideas and enthusiasm for the potential of the space from those that could think of others ways it could be used. A meditation group! A reiki circle! A women’s workshop! Despite these ideas being beyond the scope of what others in The Forest would deem acceptable, who knows where those ideas may lead in the minds of the people that raised them.
• I’ve learned a thing or two about group dynamics and will be able to approach consultation in a different way next time that will save me time.

.

In short, consultation can help:

• you learn valuable things about your customers/clients/stakeholders/employees that you never knew before;
• uncover information/knowledge/insights that can help you;
• you learn things about yourself;
• build an image and reputation based on trust;
• generate ideas for future projects and plans for yourself and others;
• expand your abilities to be creative and innovative;
• open doorways through increased exposure;
• improve your processes for future transparency.

.

So was it worth it? Sure it was! I’ve picked myself up today from yesterday’s disappointing road block (speed bump, not a stop sign as one friend put it!). The sun is shining and I have a pile of books to go through to complete the literature review for my research project. And as one neighbour said last night – who knows what discussions will take place now. There is still the potential that it will come up for a group decision at the next shareholders meeting. So this thing could still happen. In the meantime, I choose to focus on all that I gained from the process. Isn’t that what learning is all about? And I make the promise, that no matter how big my business ideas grow and how many people get involved, I am going to strive to keep this level of transparency in all that I do. I don’t care how idealistic people think I am when I say that. I am going to bring such a high level of integrity to my projects. It will be what I am known for.

Watch this space folks.