I was born in 1963 to loving parents in a post war Council House and as I grew up I had fond memories of the devoted way I was brought up.
Our house was just like the next door neighbours, which was the same as the one next door to them, which was identical to the next one. And so on.
Until 1986, as my parents bought their council house for a song under the Right to Buy scheme. Soon everyone in my neighbourhood bought their homes and a transformation began.
Since everyone now owned their home, they started to do them up. Building small extensions, revamping the front drive, new windows, loft extensions, landscaped gardens. Everyone wanted to be different and unique and the ownership bug empowered them to do so.
This is known as gentrification and in the same way we should treat our own and our team’s self development programmes.
Don’t control, don’t determine the content on their behalf, don’t lay on standard courses and workshops. Just like our council housing.
Instead let them own it, give them a budget, let them decide how they’re going to spend it and look back and reap the benefits. You’ll be amazed at how much ownership will inspire them to revel in their self-development. Just like the housing estate in the place I grew up.
