Blog
The Dash (WT682)
This week I had a really interesting conversation with a participant in the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience. Participants complete a profile and we spend 2 hours together understanding the report and identifying what works and what gets in the way of achieving what they want. Participants share their life stories and I feel very privileged to hear what people have done and experienced in their lives. In our meeting this week, I commented about the poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis, that is often read at funerals and which is about the metaphor of the hyphen that separates...
There Are Always More Options (WT680)
This week’s thought is for those who may get disheartened thinking that you only have one option and if you get a “No” that it’s the end of your desire. Not true. There are always more options. I’m in the midst of writing my next book, “Leaders are Listeners”. I wanted to make sure that I don’t infringe copyright and that I acknowledge my mentors and coaches and other great resources. The book includes some concepts and activities from the Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience. You might be thinking, “Why would you include activities from your Leadership experience in your book?...
To AI or Not to AI (WT679)
You’ve probably heard all the hype and excitement lately about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ChatGPT4 in particular, so I thought I’d trial ChatGPT4 to write my Weekly Thought. Here’s what I asked: “i write weekly thoughts. they are a dose of inspiration, education and support. Please write me a 200 word article on the difference between having ai write my thought and me actually writing the thought.” I can’t help myself. Even though I know it is a machine, I still use my manners. Mum would kill me if I was impolite at any time. The article that came back was too long, so I asked for it...
You Gotta Keep At It (WT678)
You may have heard the term “overnight success story” in the media from time to time. The interesting thing is that most “overnight” successes have taken 10-20 years. Now, that’s not to dishearten you, rather I want to encourage you to keep going. If you’ve started something, don’t give up if it’s not an overnight success. I’ve been running the leadership experiences for over 10 years and there were times when I could have called it quits and now we receive so many referrals from past students, we would be doing our clients a disservice if we stopped. Same with the Weekly Thoughts. You gotta...
My Beautiful Bookcases (WT677)
Firstly, congratulations to Joanne Danckwardt. Joanne is the lucky winner of The Loyal Lieutenant Masterclass Series to celebrate our 13 years of Weekly Thoughts. Secondly, thank you for your beautiful messages last week. I appreciate and enjoy receiving your feedback. Now to this week’s thought – my beautiful bookcases. Well, they will be when they’re finished. There’s a couple of messages to this week: How to lose a customer The power of teamwork A lesson in patience The beauty of craftsmanship When I packed up my books before we went travelling, I had 500. I think that number has now...
Are You Shirleying Me? (WT676)
Thirteen years Lucky! Today we celebrate 13 years of Weekly Thoughts. I can hardly believe it myself. Cancel Cancel that negative thought. I am so proud to say I have not missed one week in all that time and today is no exception, so here’s your thought. I was coaching this week with a client, we’ll call him Jack, who was explaining how he did his best to reassure one of his employees that everything would be alright. The business is undergoing some changes. The client is a Coach personality and the catch phrase of the Coach is “we’ll figure it out”. The employee is a Counsellor type...
If You Want It, Let People Know (WT675)
When it comes to goal achievement, I’ve been taught a couple of different philosophies. Some say tell everyone, others say tell no-one. The reason, they say, for not telling anyone is that you don’t want the naysayers dampening your enthusiasm or sabotaging your efforts, or worse, talking you out of what you want. My mum used to say, “Opinions are like bums, everyone’s got one”, reinforcing the idea that we shouldn’t share our hopes, dreams and goals for fear that others will have an opinion about it. For me, it depends on the goal. Some goals are worthy of letting others know, so they...
The Goal Isn’t Big Enough (WT674)
Ross and I have been thinking about and discussing our goals since we completed The Silva Method Mind Control course a few weeks ago. We’ve been keen to implement our new tools to create and manifest what we want. Something I discovered as I was working on my goals was that they were not big enough to be motivating or exciting. I was discussing this with a colleague and mentioned that having a goal of 12 people in my August Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience wasn’t a big enough goal. I recalled the goal we had of buying the motorhome and going travelling. We visualised. We acted...
Mind Control – Yours or Mine (WT673)
You know how Ross and I love to learn and grow and develop. Last weekend we travelled to Sydney to complete the 4 day immersion into The Silva Mind Control Method. I was surprised and fascinated at how many people backed away from me a little, when I mentioned what we were studying. “Who’s mind control?” they would ask. Smiling, I replied, “My mind. I can’t control your mind, nor would I want to.” The Silva Method was developed by Jose Silva back in the 1940’s and he began teaching in the mid 1960’s. Since then, millions of people, ordinary people, business people, medical people, academic...
Me Too Is A Roadblock (WT672)
Ever have one of those conversations where you regret not listening more? That happened to me this week. I was on a call with a colleague and I asked how she was. “I’m feeling quite overwhelmed today”, she said with a sigh. “Oh, tell me about it”, I jumped in. “Me too.” The conversation moved on to other topics. We hung up. I heard this voice in my head, “Me too is a roadblock.” O.M.G. I then spent the rest of the day belting myself up for not doing the one thing I am supposed to be good at and that I teach and that is, active listen. Without thinking I used a roadblock. A roadblock stops...