I Want To Be Micromanaged (WT809)

I Want To Be Micromanaged (WT809)

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by | 26 Dec, 2025 | Blog, Business, Leadership

WT 809 I want to be micro-managed

I trust you enjoyed a nice Christmas day doing whatever makes you happy with people that are special to you.

It’s Boxing Day, so I trust you’ll enjoy today as well.

“I want to be micromanaged”, said no-one ever.

This week I conducted some recruitment interviews for a client.

One of the questions I ask is, “How do you like to be managed?”

The answer to that gives us a clue as to how to work with them rather than taking 6 months to work it out during probation.

In all the interviews I’ve conducted, not one person has ever said, “I want to be micromanaged”.

In fact, most start with “I don’t want to be micromanaged”.

So how do you manage and supervise to give yourself a level of comfort that your people know what they have to do and are doing it correctly?

The answer is a special type of job description known as Key Performance Indicators and Key Behaviour Indicators. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to this in my book, “The Loyal Lieutenant: How The Second-in-Command Brings the CEO’s Vision to Life”.

People want to know what they have to do, to what standard so it’s your responsibility to make it clear for them.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) describe the outcome for the role. Why is the role important? For example, one KPI for a property manager could be “a maximum of 2% of tenants in arrears”.

Key Behaviour Indicators (KBI’s) are the tasks the employee does to achieve the outcome, including the standard to be met. For example, “Generate a Weekly Arrears Report”. The employee will either do it or not. One advantage of using KPIs and KBIs is that you get to set the standard. If you want weekly, then it’s weekly. Another advantage is that it is measurable. They either do or do not generate the report weekly. This takes away any subjectivity for you. Performance is based on competency.

If the report is not generated weekly, look for the reason. Is there a system problem that caused them not to do the report? Are they unable or unwilling? If unable, do they need more training?

If they know what to do and they know how to do it (ie. you have trained them) and there is no system problem, then it’s a case of unwilling.

In my experience, KPIs and KBIs are much better than the generic job descriptions that state responsibilities because job descriptions don’t generally include the specific measure, e.g. responsible to ensure tenant payments are made on time.

KPIs and KBIs also ensure you revert back to your policies and procedures by including something like, “Follow the company policies and procedures to complete the below” before listing the KBI’s.

This way you can change the way you do things (your procedures) without having to update the KPI/KBI. It simply means, in this example, the employee is using a different procedure or app to  generate the weekly arrears report.

That’s how you can make it easy for yourself to supervise and manage without micromanaging whilst making it absolutely crystal clear what the employee is expected to do, to what standard.

Let me know what you think.

Reach out if you’d like more information or some help to prepare your own KPIs and KBIs.

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

Don’t Skip Steps (WT808)

Don’t Skip Steps (WT808)

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by | 19 Dec, 2025 | Blog, Business, Systems and Processes

WT 808 Don't skip steps

This one’s for you if you’ve ever been responsible for training someone new to the team.

You’ve probably learned the hard way that you can’t skip steps.

This came up this week for one of my clients.

We recently restructured and engaged an offshore team member.

The team member is smart and enthusiastic and keen to learn, however she is new to the industry so she needs to learn everything from scratch.

This goes for everyone being trained.

Your students don’t know what they don’t know so you have to assume they don’t know anything.

Here’s what we call the Training Agenda. Follow this and you’ll be fine, BUT don’t skip steps. Teach in the following order:

1. Start with WHY. Why is this important to know? Why do we do things this way? (Team members who need to know “why” can’t get past it and when you explain why, they can usually work out the how.)

2. Next is WHAT. Give some context or definition or history so they can understand a little about the task.

3. Now we get to the HOW. This is where you explain STEP BY STEP what needs to be done. Start your steps with verbs (doing words) because they need to know what they have to DO.

4. WHAT IF? Answer their questions. What if this happens? What if I do that? This is also the part where they get to practice and actually have a go.

What is second nature to you is alien to them.

Start back at the beginning. Follow the Training Agenda and have patience. The more you explain in the beginning, the quicker they will pick it up. If you don’t, you’ll waste time having to go back and clean up your mess because they made a mistake because you missed a vital step.

If you’re training someone, whether it’s at work or home, just don’t skip steps.

And speaking of skipping, I trust you’ll skip your way into Christmas and if you celebrate it, have a merry Christmas. We’ll be here next Friday to celebrate Boxing Day with you.

Happy Holidays!

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

They’re Not Ready (WT807)

They’re Not Ready (WT807)

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by | 12 Dec, 2025 | Blog, Leadership, Mindset

WT 807 They are not ready

This week I wanted to scream.

I’d been talking with some business owners about the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience, coming up in February 2026.

“They’re not ready”, they kept telling me, referring to their team members.

I was so frustrated because I’ve seen the transformation in people who were “not ready” and who absolutely did not want to do the leadership training and yet they did.

The frustration comes from knowing what is possible for people and not being able to help them see it.

I’m guilty of it myself. Years ago, my mother and father arrived one weekend with a mysterious box which turned out to be a barbeque. 

“We don’t need a barbeque”, we thought.

How wrong we were. We ended up using that barbeque about 4 nights a week.

It was a classic example of you don’t know what you don’t know.

Having invested in personal and professional development all my life, I just don’t understand why people don’t rush to take advantage of what is being offered to them, especially when it can make such a positive difference in their lives.

Still, you can’t force people to do something if they don’t want to do it.

So, I will console myself with one of the topics we teach in the Leadership experience: The Cycle of Change by Prochaska & Di Clemente (who originally devised it in the health industry to understand the process to help smokers quit smoking).

The cycle goes like this:

  1. Pre-contemplation (not ready, not aware, not even thinking about it or in denial)
  2. Contemplation (aware that change might be beneficial, starting to think about it)
  3. Preparation (getting ready to take action, planning)
  4. Action (making the decision, taking some steps toward change)
  5. Maintenance (keeping on with the new behaviours, thoughts or attitudes)
  6. Relapse – what most of us suffer from at one time or another. Start again.
  7. Transcendence – having changed, it would feel strange to “go back to the old ways”. Change is most likely permanent.

If you’re in business you too can apply this to your customer decision making process as well as your team.

Are they ready or are they getting ready?

And if they are getting ready, DON’T GIVE UP ON THEM.

As frustrating as it can be, one day “They’re Not Ready” will turn into “They’re Ready” and then the change can begin.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

The Two Currencies (WT806)

The Two Currencies (WT806)

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by | 5 Dec, 2025 | Blog, Business

WT 806 The two currencies

This week’s thought was inspired by a friend and colleague of mine – Robyn Gray. Thank you Robyn.

Robyn and I were catching up this week. Robyn lives in Victoria so that means we either What’s App or call each other.

This week she shared a video with me that she had prepared for one of her clients.

I loved the message so much, I want to share it with you.

Robyn is an amazing coach, helping businesses with their sales strategies and conversation scripting etc. as well as coaching people to success by focusing on improving their mindset.

In the video she mentioned to her client that there are only two currencies you need, to succeed in business:

1. Relationships

2. Results

BOOM!

It got me thinking and I want you to think about your business or organisation. What are your relationships like?  When we say relationships we’re not only talking about relationships with customers, but also suppliers, other stakeholders and of course your team.

The better the relationships, the happier and more productive your people and customers are and the more your suppliers will do for you.

I’ll give you an example. I was sitting in the waiting room of the doctor’s surgery while Ross was getting some skin cancers cut off his back. An elderly patient came in demanding to see a doctor. He didn’t have an appointment. The receptionist did what she could but there were no doctors available. He abused her. It was painful to watch. She handled it well and I couldn’t help think that most people would shutdown when abused and not be that helpful. Rather, they may be tempted to be unhelpful. 

So currency number one – Relationships. The better you treat people, the better relationships, the more success you’ll have.

The second currency – Results. If you’re in business, your success depends on the results you are able to provide for your customers.  The skin doctor is measured by his ability to stop cancers growing. The coach is measured by her ability to help clients get what they want.  The retailer is measured by being able to supply what customers want.

This week, do a little stocktake.  Are you enjoying the success you’d like and if not, perhaps look to increasing the value of your two currencies.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

P.P.S. EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT ENDS 31ST DECEMBER. If you plan on attending the Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience in February 2026, get in early to save. More information here: 
https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/

Don’t Quit Today (WT805)

Don’t Quit Today (WT805)

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by | 28 Nov, 2025 | Blog, Mindset

WT 805 Don't quit today

“I just feel like quitting Shirl,” she said, wiping the tears away.

“I’ve had enough. I’m over it.”

“I’ve put so much work into this and my creativity is being squashed. I’m at the point where I just can’t be bothered.”

Ever feel like this?

If so, here are a few mindset tips to help:

Remember, some days just feel heavier than others.

On those days, quitting can feel like the quickest way to stop the pain.

But most of the time, we don’t want to quit the goal.

We just want the negative feelings to go away.

Years ago, I attended a couple of Vipassana meditation retreats. One of the things we learned was, “This too shall pass”.

Keep that in mind. Our emotions don’t stay the same.

Here’s another great mantra, “Don’t quit when you’re tired. Quit when you’re done. And you’re not done yet”.

When it all feels too much, and you’re feeling overwhelmed, shrink it down.

Don’t look at the whole mountain. Just look at the next 10 minutes.

What can you do in the next 10 minutes to distract yourself?

I know it’s hard when you feel like this, however, please reach out before you walk away.

Hard moments soften when shared.

A breakdown isn’t failure. It’s feedback.

It’s a message that something needs rest, support or a reset.

You started for a reason. The reason hasn’t changed.

You are stronger than you feel today. Hold on. Pause if you need to.

Just don’t quit today.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

It’s A Thin Line (WT804)

It’s A Thin Line (WT804)

Blog

by | 21 Nov, 2025 | Blog, Leadership

WT 804 It's a fine line

This week I was talking with a colleague about giving feedback to employees.

As he was telling me about his recent success with coaching an employee, I agreed it’s a thin line between feedback that feels like a threat and feedback that feels like support.

“Do this or you’re fired” shuts people down.

It triggers fear. It builds walls. It hurts trust.

Versus, “We’re investing in you because we see your potential.”

This opens people up. It builds confidence. It grows trust.

As we discussed the options, we agreed, both messages talk about change.

Both messages ask for improvement but they land very differently.

One creates resistance. The other creates possibility.

One says, “You have no power.”

The other says, “You have a choice.”

Leaders walk this thin line every day.

At the end of the conversation we both agreed it had been very productive and enlightening.

If you find yourself having to have those conversations, you don’t have to threaten, instead you can empower.

Invite people to step into their growth.

Let them know the decision is theirs.

Remind them that every choice has consequences.

Not punishment, rather consequences.

When people feel threatened, they protect themselves.

When people feel supported, they expand.

It’s a thin line.

I’m curious, which side of the line are you standing on?

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

P.P.S. Our next Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience has been scheduled for February 2026.  Thursdays 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th.  Save the dates now.

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