Lending a Hand

It’s a phrase we all know. Whether you’re being asked to lend a hand, or offering to lend a hand, it’s one of the most rewarding ‘give and takes’ that comes with having a circle of friends and family around you. You are not alone, you have someone to help you and rely upon. And, indeed, someone who needs you. These acts of helpfulness seem to be all around us, particularly at this time of year. We think nothing of being asked to ‘lend a hand’ when it comes to even the smallest of tasks – helping out with dinner, wrapping a present, or even the dreaded...’can you give me a hand with these lights’.

Yet, for others, the concept of needing a hand is a very serious matter. Research data indicates that there are as many as 1.3m people living in the US with some form of amputation, with hand or partial hand loss being the most prevalent. Yet, it is estimated that only 50% of those affected receive any form of prosthetic service. These numbers, obviously, grow exponentially on a global scale, where combinations of land mines, disease, and birth complications result in even more instances of hand loss.

Recently, our HF/Demos team in Australia designed and deployed a Helping Hands program, in conjunction with a partner called Odyssey Teams. This program, a 10-week Advanced Leadership Program for Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, took traditional team-based learning to a whole new level through a workshop that guided participants through assembly of prosthetic hands. In the program, participants built prosthetics for children who have lost limbs in land mine accidents. In total 6 hands were built by the team, and have already been shipped to change the life of a child somewhere in the world. A perfect outcome that symbolizes so much about the spirit of cooperation and helpfulness that so many leaders strive to attain in their teams.

As learning specialists, we often spend countless hours contemplating, with our clients, the precise requirements for new skills that are needed to drive team improvement and business result, often concentrating on the very predictable subjects of delegation, performance management, time management, etc. Oftentimes, all that really matters is how well the team works together and demonstrates what can be accomplished when there is a shared purpose that all can rally around.   I am proud of what our team in Australia has accomplished with this innovative program. It is an inspiration to what can be achieved through more progressive learning, and how a differentiated experience can lead to real enhancements in team dynamics.

If you’d like to learn more about the Helping Hands program please watch the video clip.

As we are asked to lend a hand to someone this season, let that be a reminder to us of the greater need that many in the world face, and the more literal translation of the  phrase, ‘lend a hand’.  

On behalf of the entire Hemsley Fraser team, I hope that all of you has a joyous and safe holiday season!

Todd