Meet our Team of Harrison Assessments Consultants – Gerry Murray

Welcome to the next blog in our series of ‘Meet our Team of Harrison Assessments Consultants’.  Today we would like to introduce you to Gerry Murray, a Master NLP Coach and Trainer who works with leadership teams to enable them to inspire their people and take performance to higher levels of excellence.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I really enjoy people rediscovering their true power or what makes them tick. Watching somebody transform themselves before my very eyes is one of the most rewarding aspects of what I do. I feel I’ve done a good job when I see that sparkle in people’s eyes and they tell me that they had an amazing experience.

What is your most memorable assignment and why?

I have so many memorable assignments that it’s not easy for me to single one out. However, I would say that what makes assignments memorable for me is when they provide an opportunity for me to learn something new. This often means that I learn how to adapt my approach as a result. The adaptation may just be adding more response choices or perspectives to what I do or it can sometimes be more profound than that.

Because I work mainly with non-native English speakers I’m constantly learning about how each person experiences their world in a unique way and the role and power of language in how they express this. Therefore, there is tremendous value in exploring how someone lives their world in their native language and not assuming that because they speak English that it has true meaning for them. Some of my most memorable moments have come from realising this over and over again.

What quality do you most admire in other people?

Authenticity, integrity and compassion.

In your experience, what is the most common trait hindering people’s performance?

In general, people have a habit of getting in their own way. I’m always fascinated by the answers I get to the question: “What stops you from doing/achieving or being X?” The amount of times the response is “Myself” is quite astounding. I’m not quite sure if we can isolate it to one specific trait as all traits will be useful or not useful depending on the context in which they are deployed. However, what’s important is that people get to know their traits and how these contribute to their performance, good or bad, satisfactory or unsatisfactory.

Anything else you would like to share?

My research into the future of work has revealed that many people are not happy in their current jobs. This is linked to profound changes in the way we work and the conditions in which we work. The financial crisis of 2008/9 has affected people on a multitude of levels. There is a crisis of leadership, not only in business but across the board. Levels of employee engagement are at an all-time low, especially in the Western world where our competitive advantage on the global stage is likely to depend on the quality of our talent. The current levels of youth unemployment are unsustainable and have serious implications for society. And there appears to be a misalignment between the supply side of skills (education) and the demand side (work). And, it doesn’t have to be this way!

Never was there a need for a way to realign and re-engage workforces than there is now. People deserve to enjoy their work and perform at their best. It’s a win-win for everyone in the long run. I’m pleased that there is a tool such as Harrison Assessments (HATS) that can facilitate this process of realignment and this brings me back to my first point above: when people receive coaching on their HATS reports I’ve seen them light up. They light up partly because they are rediscovering their true selves and partly because it gives them a renewed sense of belief in themselves and confidence for their future. Now, that’s got to be a good thing…

Gerry Murray, Wide Circle

Meet our Team of Harrison Assessments Consultants – David Klaasen

David Klaasen

Welcome to the first in our series of ‘Meet our Team of Harrison Assessments Consultants’.  Today we would like to introduce you to David Klaasen, a highly skilled trainer, coach and facilitator who specialises in leadership and management development.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

It is always fascinating to go into businesses to meet the people and understand the culture that has developed. Often this culture has developed organically over time without any planning, attention or focus. It is very exciting to work with the Directors and Managers to help them shift the culture to one that underpins long term success for both the business and the people who work in it. Using powerful tools like HATS provide excellent insights that can be rapidly understood.

What is your most memorable assignment and why?

I have a lot of very long term relationships with clients so I can see how the business and the people in it develop over time. It is always very rewarding to see people be promoted and take on new levels of responsibility. A particularly memorable assignment was working with the Directors of a relatively new business that formed from the merger of 3 smaller businesses. Getting the Directors to discuss and agree their values was very powerful and raising their awareness about what really motivated them and what they enjoyed most released huge potential and led to very rapid growth.

What quality do you most admire in other people?

Drive , enthusiasm and self-awareness. The ability to bounce back from setbacks, and the recognition that getting things done through others is about getting to know them. It is great when managers recognise that they need a slightly different approach with different people while maintaining consistency and fairness. The insights provided by HATS give managers exceptional levels of self-awareness and also helps them understand their people more rapidly.

In your experience, what is the most common trait hindering people’s performance?

Lack of self-awareness and thinking that everything is other people’s fault. When we take responsibility for our actions there is often a lot of support available from others and they are more willing to help us.

Anything else you would like to share?

I love learning about the latest neuro-scientific research into how we think and behave. It is providing some excellent insights that can make a huge difference in the way we can communicate and collaborate to achieve mutual success.

David Klaasen FCIPD, Inspired Working

Watch out for the next in the series of ‘Meet Our Team of Harrison Assessments Consultants’.