Gestalt in Action
When I was a young Entrepreneur, I found company growth exhilarating. Little did I know it would educate me in ways I didn’t expect!
My business required my employees to do extensive traveling and we provided them with company credit cards to pay their expenses. Things went smoothly for a while (giving me a false sense of security, I might add!) Then I hired Ann. Ann took her first vacation after only a short time with my company. She took it without notifying me, and she also used her company credit card for this vacation. When I finally tracked her down, she had spent over $24,000 on hotels, restaurants and first class plane tickets… in one week!
My lesson did not end there. I learned next that she had not broken any laws. Even though she was using the credit card issued by the company, it had her name on it, so it was legal. Had she taken my credit card with my name on it and forged my signature, that would have been illegal. But in this case, all she did was break company policy by using her company credit card for personal use. A little more research uncovered that Ann was a financial train-wreck. I hadn’t run a background check on Ann before I hired her, now I was learning the hard way! I immediately changed my company’s credit card policy and started running background checks on all new hires. It wasn’t always convenient, but it never once cost me anywhere close to $24,000 again!
As a trainer who has worked with hundreds of business owners over the years, I’ve shared my story about Ann many times, and I discovered an unexpected benefit. Different people extract different types of value from my experience – credit card policies, travel policies, employee background checks, etc. I may never know if or how someone finds my story useful, but if I’ve managed to help one person avoid a similar mistake, I’m happy.
Analysis
Note that in this story, the entrepreneur doesn’t ever say, “You should never give your employees company credit cards”. Instead, she simply shares her own experience. This is GLP in action.
So how does this process work? In its simplest form GLP is helping others with decision making or problem solving without giving advice. Instead of advice, you share an experience of your own. You provide an opportunity for your listener to hear what they need to know and to implement it in the way that is best for them – in their own context.
Note: GLP can be used in virtually any situation in which one party wants to share helpful information with others (a.k.a. advice).
