Are we really ‘too busy’ to respond? My call to support the inspiring Adelaide Lightning

I recently read a post by a colleague who commented on someone they work with always running late for meetings and providing the excuse along the lines of, “I’m busy”.  Well, we are all busy, but I believe that how we communicate with others is really important and if we expect to be understood and heard, then we need to provide better clarity to the message we wish to convey. 

This would appear to be such a common issue that Harvard researchers did some research into it. It has some interesting out-takes.

Is “I’m busy” just an excuse for non-commitment?

Being “busy” seems to be used as an excuse for why people do not carry through on commitments made to others. Or perhaps it’s a discomfort in honestly telling someone that you are unable to fulfil their expectation of you or clarifying why you can’t make that commitment.

A recent business encounter highlighted this issue and left me feeling disappointed.  It relates to a particular endeavour, or project, where a number of people had committed to participating. A worthwhile request for assistance by a member of the project seemed to have fallen on deaf ears or perhaps received the “too busy” treatment with little communication to that effect.  

Earlier this year I had the privilege of being invited to my first women’s basketball game at Arena Stadium in Adelaide. It was a nail-biting game between our Adelaide Lightning and the Canberra Capitals. We won! 

I was lucky enough to be in a suite with a number of fabulous South Australian businesswomen and we were all aware that there were soon to be new owners of the Adelaide Lightning and that they would need sponsorship and funding in order to remain a part of our state’s sports representatives. We had also been fully appraised, by our hosts, that consideration of providing assistance, was a substantial part of this invitation.

I am hardly the world’s best athlete, either on the ground or on the couch, but I am aware of the recent conversations and media around the gender funding disparity we are struggling with when it comes to men’s and women’s sporting teams.

There has been enormous support for Women’s AFL and for equity in changeroom facilities at sporting venues. It was therefore quite exciting to be approached, as a local small business owner and asked to contribute an initial $500 sponsorship to help the team keep going. I realised that this presented me with that rare opportunity to put my money where my mouth is and move from the coffee meeting conversations about how inequitable the situation was, to being a part of the solution.

So, I did my maths, and the pros and cons list of whether it was a good business decision or not and guess what? I realised that I would only need to sacrifice 1 cup of my favourite brew, latte, cappuccino, chai or even tea, for 6 months in order to cover that small outlay.

I sat down in front of my laptop and in 10 minutes had honoured the commitment made to the people who had provided me with the hospitality for that memorable game and who had asked the favour of me.

Last week I was invited to have a photo taken and to say a few words about my decision to sponsor Adelaide Lightning. I was extremely excited and asked how many of my female business colleagues had answered the call for support for the team. I was crushed to be told that less than five South Australian business owners had responded. 

We have so many successful women business owners in South Australia; entrepreneurs, startups, SME owners and so many womens’ networking groups. I am astounded that there has been such a limited response. Then I wondered if people had forgotten to reply or had pushed this request to the bottom of the Inbox, simply because they are “too busy” or were uncomfortable saying “no”.

So here it is Business Women of South Australia:

There is still time to make a contribution to womens’ sport. It only takes 6 months of substituting one of your favourite coffees with a glass of water! So, I challenge at least 10 colleagues in my network to contribute and then challenge at least 10 colleagues in your networks to contribute. Contact Titanium Arena or to the WNBL and help make that change for our state team.

Disclaimer

I acknowledge that we can’t support every single cause or request that comes our way. I also acknowledge that many South Australian businesswomen are already supporting some amazing and worthwhile causes in our state. This is purely my opportunity to assist in driving something a little close to my heart, due to the recent experience I had with the Adelaide Lightning.