Geordie Raine Visits CFFB

Submitted by Rick Baker – Spirited Leaders

Geordie Raine serves as Montana Consulting Group’s Director, Corporate Learning.

He traveled from Montreal to speak at CFFB’s breakfast event on April 27th.

Geordie described his company’s Turnaround Interview® process, that is, a process for helping employees correct inappropriate behaviour. His  presentation was ‘hands-on’; Geordie interacted with the audience with ‘role playing’ and he got into details.

Turnaround Interview® has underlying assumptions. When we want to correct employee behaviour:

• we need to talk about the little things [and catalogue precise and accurate details about what, where, how, who, etc]
• we have good people, however, they do things we do not want; good people change the deal on you
• we need to understand people are predictable [we should expect defensiveness, denial, trivializing, etc]
• we need to reserve discipline for when we really need it [ie, like Spirited Leader’s Master Rules concept]

Our members received copies of the Quick Reference Guide to the Turnaround Interview® . [It is an excellent little book] The Turnaround Interview® process has 5 Steps:

1. Key Question: I think we agree that this has happened X times in Y weeks. Right?
2. Key Question: Do you agree this shouldn’t go on forever?
3. Key Question: What could you do to eliminate/control this behavior?
4. Key Question: What does it make sense to do now?
5. Close: the employee makes a promise to change the behavior/habit

What a terrific example of the art of asking good questions. Here’s one of the many pieces of good of advice Geordie shared with us: “In order for change to work it has got to come from within.” I have talked to a number of our members…every one of them felt Geordie’s presentation was one of the most valuable presentations of the year. Well done, Geordie!