Stevie Kidd – Driving Force behind Change

Stevie is in London for the next couple of days. He was invited by Gerry Croall of A4e to visit one of their Vox centres which provides hands on vocational training in a wide range of industries for young people who have struggled to attend full time school.

Stevie is extremely keen to see the inspirational work that is being done as this fits in with his own agenda of developing young people.

When they arrived at the airport last night they were met by a chauffeur. The driver had not been scheduled to take Gerry to his hotel so Stevie asked if this would be possible. The driver said that it would be, however the way he communicated with Stevie told a story. Most of us would not have picked up on this but Stevie, being a master of human neurology, certainly did!

Straight away Stevie was able to identify that the driver was unhappy in his job; he asked him what he was good at and what he was passionate about. He quickly identified that his passion was for motorbikes – buying and selling.

Getting Gerry involved, Stevie spoke with the driver taking his usual high energy and exceptionally fast-paced approach. He asked Gerry his strategy for coping with failure and disappointment.

As soon as Stevie got the driver engaging in conversation about his passion he could see the instant change in his behaviour. Then Stevie really went for it! He started to speak about how much time was being wasted focussing on all of life’s negatives and what that does to his behaviour – what do other people see?

During the conversation it came to fruition that the driver had come through the care system, Stevie spoke with him about what we do and offered the opportunity to speak with groups of young people who are in the same position and are maybe struggling and need guidance. The driver jumped at this opportunity, a chance to give something back.

 The meeting ended with a firm handshake and offer from Stevie to help the driver achieve his goals and thus happiness. To reaffirm the message Stevie used the rear view mirror as a metaphor – stop looking behind you and focus on the road in front, the one that has not yet been travelled.

This complete shift in human behaviour was all done in front of Gerry’s eyes!
 

9 Comments

Posted by rob clemence EEO on 28 April 2011

Sounds like a paradigm shift right in front of Gerrys eyes...

Posted by Sarahjane Sarkhosh on 28 April 2011

Another great example of how Stevie never switches off!

Posted by Tommy on 28 April 2011

Throughout my years at KDS i have seen Stevie motivate and inspire many of the team at the start it was distribution and then leading onto numerous people who have visited our premises to have 1-2-1''s with Stevie. This could be from just spending a moment with them to spending an hour, the outcome is always the same from my guys in distribution the change was immediate to external where the change has been over a period of time, but all fantastic results...I myself have been mentored by Stevie throughout my 5 years with KDS, and as always it has been a power boost or assisting me in to taking the right decisions in my career and personal life.

Posted by Stevie Hunter on 28 April 2011

Wonderful partneship working, as usual every days a learning day with Stevie kidd always looking for the best strategy. Well Gerry for making this happen. Stevie Hunter Training Manager

Posted by Joe Wilson on 27 April 2011

Unbelieveable. This is what absolutely astounds me about Stevie. Where most people in the world would sit back and get driven to our destination by an anonymous driver who''s name we don''t know or care to know, Stevie does this! And look at what happens as a result. Can''t wait to see this guy speak to his first audience - what a story.

Posted by alison Gilbert on 27 April 2011

Great work Stevie. Not only have you changed the driver I am sure ''the ripple'' will effect and benefit people who you will never meet.

Posted by Katie on 27 April 2011

Seeing the magic happen in front of his eye''s will have been a fantastic experience for Gerry and will open his eyes even further to the possiblities out there when working with people!! Nice to see someone else will have the sparkle back after meeting Stevie - It will be a very different Chauffeur taking people about today! K

Posted by Edmund on 27 April 2011

Yet another who was lucky enough to meet and interact with SK

Posted by Roger on 27 April 2011

I''ve seen Stevie instantly "cut to the chase". Get to the point and make people sit up and reassess their current situation versus what they''d really want to do or be. The shock of someone speaking direct can break the monotony and wake you up!!!

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