Blog
Do The Next Task (WT720)
I just love working with my clients. I learn so much. This week I want to share something I learned from Bob. Bob is a leader who loves to share his wisdom and experience with his team and luckily for us, with me too. Many years ago, Bob trained for the ironman competitions. His mentor at the time told him that if he missed a training session not to worry about it. “It’s counter productive to try and catch it up, so the best thing is to move on to the next days training and do that well”, he said. Bob adapted his training to his work. He mentors his team and reminds them, that if they get...
I Made A Decision (WT719)
We had guests around for dinner the other night. I made a quiche. When we sat down to eat, one of the guests looked at my plate quizzically and then turned to me and said, “You’re eating eggs. I didn’t think you ate eggs”. “I made a decision”, I replied. “You made a decision?” he asked. “That’s right. I decided I wanted to eat eggs again, so I decided I would.” For those of you who are not aware, for about 15 years I’ve had an intolerance to eggs if they were not cooked with flour. I became nauseous if I ate quiche, scrambled or other breakfast eggs or mayonnaise. Whilst I’m not rushing out...
Leaders Are Problem Solvers (WT718)
I’ve got a question for you. Do you think being a leader is innate or a learned skill? I had an interesting discussion recently with a new client on this very topic. He confidently told me that being a leader is innate. You are born with it. I could feel my eyebrows lift. He expanded on his reasons why this was so. During his career, he had often been promoted to leadership and management roles. He had had no formal training and had performed well. “Well, I think we’re going to disagree on this”, I said. “I teach leadership skills.” “Oh”, he replied. “If you think about what you told me...
Watch Out For The But (WT717)
“I don’t want to throw you under the bus but ….” What do you think when you hear that? For me, I think you know what you’re about to say won’t be well received, so you qualify it first. It’s like looking for approval for being the bearer of bad news or feedback. Here’s the thing about using the word “but”. When you join sentences with “but”, you negate the first sentence. “I really like your new hairstyle but I prefer you blonde.” “I think you did a good job but you missed this section of the garden.” If you want to join sentences, use the word “and”. “I really like your new hairstyle and I...
When You’re Short On Time (WT716)
I’m always looking to grow and develop and of course share what I learn with you. This week I learned two things which I think will benefit you. The first is a concept called “Power Pocket Rehearsals” by Lisa Pezik. Lisa attended “World’s Greatest Speaker” training with Brendan Burchard, Bo Eeson and Roger Love. She enrolled with all three for their coaching programs. Bo encouraged the group and asked, “What if you could achieve your 10 year goal in one year?” Lisa didn’t really think this was possible, however she did the work and created her own vision board, by sketching it and then set...
You Don’t Have To Point It Out (WT715)
This week I observed something that triggered me. I was watching a recording of a training video and I noticed that the presenter had spelled one of the words incorrectly on the flipchart. I couldn’t see the message that he received, however he stopped his presentation to address the person who had pointed out the spelling error. Whilst he said “thank you” for pointing it out, he also mentioned that he was dyslexic and didn’t learn to read until he was in his mid twenties. As a result, he spells differently to the rest of us. (A bit of humour.) This triggered me because I didn’t think it was...
That’s Not What I Value (WT714)
Have you ever been shopping and had your mind set on buying a particular thing and the sales assistant appeared to be doing everything they could to talk you out of it? It’s a curious thing. It comes down to what we value. For example, if you’re a salesperson and you want the cheapest price when you buy something, it’s highly likely that you will expect that your clients have the same value. Often they do not. Here’s an example from one of my colleagues. My colleague values his time and efficiency. He went to the hairdresser to get his haircut. The hairdresser thought that the longer she...
Time to F.O.C.U.S (WT713)
Do you struggle to focus at times? I do. I have a plan for the day and often it goes by the wayside. I intend for a task to take 30 minutes and hours later, I find I’m still doing the task. What does it mean to focus? According to Dictionary.com, the meaning of “focus” is “a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity.” According to Cham Tang, co-founder of Authentic Education, F.O.C.U.S. means to “follow one course until successful”. I love this definition because we can use it to help ourselves defeat overwhelm and procrastination. When we have too many things to do and feel...
It’s Boring (WT712)
I was talking with a friend this week. She asked how I was going at the gym. “OK”, I said. “Only just OK?” she asked. “It’s boring”, I blurted out. “Boring?” “Yes, I do the same exercises every time and I find it boring. It’s the same with some yoga classes I’ve attended as well. The same thing week after week after week.” “Hmmm. Do you think that some people might like that? They might like the security of knowing what they will be doing each time and also improving as they practise and repeat?” she enquired. “I suppose so, but that’s not me. I need variety. In one way, that’s why I...
Strengths-Based Selection (WT711)
This week we’re back on the topic of recruitment. It seems that recruitment and retention is the biggest challenge for businesses at the moment so I thought I would share a couple of tips with you. REACH profiling Skills assessment I use the REACH profiling system because it is a comprehensive ecosystem. Not only does it provide a number of different reports such as Personal, Communication and Leadership, we can also generate an Interview Companion. The Interview Companion is gold. It is based on “strengths-based selection”. In other words, we want to hire people in roles that are suited to...