Coryse Melfor
Coryse MelforTNT Post, Team Coach
32 years old, single, 2 children
If you’re going to try to talk Coryse into doing something, you’d better know your stuff. If you don’t, you’ll regret it and she’ll out-manoeuvre you before you know what’s happening. The point is that Coryse is extremely bright. An expert chess player, you know she’s going to make the best of every situation. And she does. The amazing thing is, though, she does it entirely selflessly and with the greatest respect for others. In her role as part-time team coach, accepting people as they are and making the most of everyone’s positive qualities is paramount. Things never go badly; it’s just that they can be done better…
“I’ve been trying to work out how my work and I fit within the idea of ‘All the right connections’,” says Coryse. “It took me a while, but then I realised that there are basically four areas where connections come into play: between my colleagues and I, with my boss, with clients and between what we do today and how it can be done better tomorrow. I think if you handle the latter properly, the rest all falls into place – the question is how.”
“My approach to improving is a system I like to call the TIPTOP system. In any working process, or on a personal level if need be, there are things we do well (the TOPS), and things that can be done better (TIPS). The idea is to maintain the TOPS of today and to make sure that you concentrate on transforming the TIPS. Then everything’s TIPTOP,” (she laughs). “Joking aside, it works. I like to let my colleagues suggest new ways of improving on what we do together. If they are allowed to take responsibility for their own actions, it enhances their enjoyment and at the same time increases their devotion to the company. I think we all like to feel as if we’ve achieved something when we go home each day.”
“Another way I like to help my team succeed is to organise team outings. We’ve had cooking evenings, we’ve been bowling. There have been lots of group events. I learnt some time ago that the trick to extracting the most out of everyone – call it positive manipulation if you have to – is first to get to know them. That is best achieved in an informal setting. They open up; you discover people’s qualities and what they enjoy doing. What they’re not so good at. Once you know what people are really about, you can use their positive qualities in the workplace. You know that they’re going to do well in certain settings and, again, they’ll feel better about themselves, the company, etc. Okay – it’s a strategy. Maybe it’s in my nature and why I love chess. But at the end of the day, it’s the result that counts. Always do better.”