Blog
You Can’t Make Your Team Compete (WT475)
As a leader, it’s your job to get the best out of your team. This doesn’t mean you are a slave driver and that you crack the whip to milk every last minute of productivity. Rather it means that you help your team to reach their full potential. When they are actively engaged and enjoying themselves, productivity will naturally be high. This week one of my coaching clients was sharing how she and her sister have been enjoying an exercise challenge. She was miffed when her sister pipped her at the post before the deadline. She was also miffed when she had finished a workout yet didn’t receive...
You’re Such an Idiot (WT474)
Of course I’m not talking about you. This is what I’ve been saying to myself the past few days; even though I know better than to do that. Sometimes my ability to criticise myself astounds me. I’ve been working day and night to make sure I have everything ready for our launch today for the Leading Yourself and Leading Others Membership Site. I have pushed myself to learn about 4 or 5 new software programs to make sure they all talk to each other. I was setting up the member logins and wanted to simply add their details to the new site. There was an action step that generated a Welcome...
Have Faith – Take Action (WT473)
It was 1am. We were sleeping in a paddock (a free camp), with only two other caravans nearby. We had stayed there the night before with about 20 vans and motorhomes and it was quiet and peaceful. We felt safe. But not the next night. The locals had been partying all night and were starting to get unruly. Walking through the paddock they were singing, dancing, fighting and swearing. I woke Ross. “Do you hear that?” “What?” “There’s people outside and they sound like they’re drunk. I’m uncomfortable. I think we should go.” “It’ll be fine. They’re just loud like Charlie used to be....
Accountability – Your Team Actually Want It (WT472)
As a leader or supervisor, it’s our responsibility to ensure our team are on task. When they lose focus, come in late or produce poor quality work, it’s up to us to find out what’s going on, and if necessary, have THAT conversation with them. It’s often uncomfortable and something we put off and yet it is our job to hold people accountable. The interesting thing though, is that people actually do want to be held accountable. Why? Because it shows we care. Secondly, people do want to achieve and they want to know you are watching and interested in their performance. Thirdly, it’s often...
Are You Burning Energy? (WT471)
I’m guessing you’re well aware of the word “procrastination” and what it means? Today I’d like to look at it from another angle. I was talking with a client this week who was totally distressed by what he perceived as his “lack of achievement” towards his goals. (I can totally relate to that!) It’s not that he is lazy. It’s not that he won’t take action. It’s not that he’s not motivated and it’s certainly not because he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Indeed, he is totally frustrated...
Do It Fat, Do It Thin, Do It Scared, Do It Anyway (WT470)
In a couple of weeks, we launch our new membership site and only that we have Founding Members, I think I would have backed out of it, if I could. It’s a curious thing that many of us experience self-doubt and fear as we embark on something new. Listening to one of my mentors this week, he shared that every year he does something that “scares the crap” out of him. When asked why, he replied, “To condition myself to doing things even though I may be scared. Being courageous is a muscle and it needs to be exercised just like any other muscle.” For me I’ve been making excuses not...
Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)
A few years ago, I was attending a training course with Clinton Swaine of Frontier Trainings. I was in the hot seat. Clinton is a master at training using experiential games. In this particular game I was the CEO. I wasn’t doing very well. The mock company was in chaos and was losing money. Ross was there with me, although not participating in the games or training. He was actually a resource I could have used although I hadn’t thought of that until Clinton reminded me, “Shirley, you are the leader and you have resources available to you and you are not using them. Good leaders are...
Nine Years (WT468)
Have you ever started something on a bit of a whim and then found yourself completely committed to it? Well, this week is the 9th anniversary of our Weekly Thoughts and I’m so excited to share and celebrate with you. I often mention how proud I am of the fact that I haven’t missed one single week in that time. That absolutely astounds me. Why? Because I love change and variety. I often get bored once I’ve mastered something and I’m always looking for the next best thing. In fact, I can say there are only 5 main things in my life that I’ve committed to: Marriage to Ross (30...
Messages From Your Heart (WT467)
This week I want to share some words of wisdom from one of my mentors because it’s a different way of looking at an issue that many of us experience. I am a big fan of “Tapping” (Emotional Freedom Technique) to clear negative emotions. I follow Nick Ortner and his sister Jessica Ortner (www.thetappingsolution.com). They have written a number of books and have created a number of online programs to help educate people about the power of tapping to improve relationships, emotional well-being, abundance, weight loss and more. This week I opened an email from Jessica and...
He Was So Proud of What He Had Done (WT466)
This week we were late travelling to our intended destination so we ended up staying at a different location. Originally booking in for one night, we’ve ended up staying 5 nights. It’s so peaceful and beautiful. We were talking to the caretaker/manager who shared that the owners of the caravan park call in each week to collect the money and how he wanted to show them some of the improvements he had initiated. “Come down the back and see what I’ve done,” he suggested to the owner. The owner looked at his watch and grimaced. “No. I can’t. I have some other places to be, so I’ll have to get...