Sometimes You Just Need a Little Hand Holding (WT598)

Sometimes You Just Need a Little Hand Holding (WT598)

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by Shirley Dalton | 10 Dec, 2021 | Blog, Customer Service

WT 598 Sometimes you just need hand holding

Ross and I have an understanding. From time to time when I can’t work out how to do something on the computer or any task for that matter and I get frustrated, I will ask for help in the form of “hand holding”.

What this means is that I need Ross to stand or sit beside me while I work something out.

He can be literally sitting and reading a book and not paying attention.

There is something about the energy exchange between us or some other phenomenon, but it works.

This week I needed some hand holding as I navigated a software program to add some comments to a Property Management app for a property we are currently renting.

I called the office. Morgan answered the phone.

“I can’t seem to add comments”, I explained.

“Did you click on the link in the email?” she asked.

“Yes. It doesn’t allow me to edit.”

“That’s the Preview link. The link you want is in the second email.”

“I don’t have a second email. Oh, hang on, let me check junk.”

Sure enough the second email was there in the junk box.

“Can you please hold on while I make sure it works?” I asked.

“Yes, go ahead. I’ll wait”, she answered.

I clicked on the link. It opened.

“Great, I’m in. Now let me see if I can add a comment please.”

I clicked the buttons and worked through how to make comments.

“Thank you so much Morgan, I appreciate your patience.”

Morgan didn’t know it; what she had just done for me was to hold my hand as I worked through the process.

She could have easily ended the call and left me to it and I’m so grateful for her patience.

Sometimes we just need a little “hand holding” to get through a task.

What would you do if you were Morgan? Would you find a reason to end the call or would you stay on and hold hands?

How about if you’re the one needing help? Will you put your hand up and simply ask for some hand holding?

P.S. We’ve set the dates for our next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience for 2022. If you’re thinking about embracing change and having some support, check out https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/. Experience starts Thursday 10th February and Early Bird Discount ends 31st December (saving $1,000).

P.P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

Be Open to How it Shows Up (WT597)

Be Open to How it Shows Up (WT597)

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by Shirley Dalton | 3 Dec, 2021 | Blog, Mindset

WT 597 Be open to how it shows up

You know I subscribe to the belief that we are vibrational beings and with that belief, I expect things to show up when I decide I want something.

I set my intention and then become curious about how it will manifest.

This week we decided to buy a lounge. Nothing special about that, except we needed it asap because we are moving into a house and we’d sold just about everything when we decided to travel.

Ross looked online but nothing seemed suitable.

We went to a few furniture places, again nothing was suitable and there was little available.

We drove 2.5 hours to Ikea and we found something that could work but the delivery date would be the end of January.

We needed something in the next few days.

We drove back to Newcastle just in time for Ross to pick up a dining table and chairs from a guy who was moving to another state.

My uncle agreed to store it for us for a few days.

We unloaded the table and chairs and then sat on a sofa chatting with my uncle.

“Would you like to take this too?” he offered.

“Wow!” I thought. “There’s the Universe working for us.”

“Yes please and thank you”.

The next day I was mentioning to a friend that we were moving and had been looking for a lounge and she offered for us to borrow her old one until our new one arrives.

Even though I expect things to show up, I’m still amazed and delighted how the Universe works.

All I can say is, “Be open to how it shows up because it always does”.

P.S. We’ve set the dates for our next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience for 2022. If you’re thinking about embracing change and having some support, check out https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/. Experience starts Thursday 10th February and Early Bird Discount ends 31st December (saving $1,000).

P.P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

A Bath and a Wardrobe (WT596)

A Bath and a Wardrobe (WT596)

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by Shirley Dalton | 26 Nov, 2021 | Blog, Mindset

WT 596 A Bath and a Wardrobe

After almost 3 years travelling and living in a motorhome, we’ve decided to sell Contessa and settle down for a while.

The past few weeks I’ve been getting really excited about having a bath and a wardrobe (closet for our US friends).

Have you ever noticed that we can take so many little things for granted and after a while when you don’t have them you start to crave them?

I’ve been fantasising about hanging my clothes up in a wardrobe instead of having to stuff them into a satchel that sits on the floor.

I’ve been imagining immersing myself in a bathtub full of warm water and bubbles or relaxation salts.

Oh, the joy of these small things.

And now to the real message, when it’s time to change direction, you know.

You start focussing on all the things that are going wrong.

You start to complain about things that didn’t bother you before.

You find yourself cranky and short tempered.

Take notice of how you feel because your feelings are merely guideposts.

They catch your attention and tell you it’s time to change.

It might be to change something about yourself or it might be to change your home or work environment.

Change is a necessary part of life.

Change gives us the opportunity to learn and grow and develop.

Do not fear change.

Change happens whether you like it or not.

For example, on some level you may not be happy in your work, or not like the people on your team, and yet you are unwilling to embrace the change, so what happens? The Universe steps in to nudge you along. You find your work conditions change without your input and not necessarily to your liking. New team members show up. You get a new boss. You get retrenched.

When change is needed, in fact, required, I urge you to take action. By taking action, you give the Universe or Infinite Intelligence an opportunity to co-respond with you.

When it’s time to change, stop holding on to the past. Let go and embrace the new.

I’m looking forward to a bath and a wardrobe. What are you looking forward to?

P.S. We’ve set the dates for our next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience for 2022. If you’re thinking about embracing change and having some support, check out https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/. Experience starts Thursday 10th February and Early Bird Discount ends 31st December (saving $1,000).

P.P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

Manage the Risk and Make Quicker Decisions (WT595)

Manage the Risk and Make Quicker Decisions (WT595)

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by Shirley Dalton | 19 Nov, 2021 | Blog, Leadership

WT 595 Manage the risk and make quicker decisions

Last week I mentioned I would share a little tip with you to help you make quicker decisions.

It’s something I came up with during a recent coaching session.

My client, we’ll call her Trudy, had been given feedback from her boss that he was frustrated with the length of time it was taking for some of the projects he had asked for, to be completed.

Trudy was committed to the projects, however when she went to action them, her brain kept posing different “What if” questions. What if this happens? What if that doesn’t work out? What if so and so doesn’t like it?  The list of What if questions was endless and it was preventing her from taking action.

As often happens when I’m coaching, I saw a picture. The picture was the Risk Assessment Matrix that is used to eliminate or reduce work health and safety risks. (See below.)

I shared the Risk Assessment Matrix with Trudy and asked her a “What if” question.

“What if, for every question you come up with, you ask yourself two more questions?”

She leaned in.

“What is the likelihood of this happening and what are the possible consequences if it did?”

“Wow!” she exclaimed. “That could really work.”

We tested it out on a couple of her “What if” questions, e.g. “What if John makes a mistake with the task?” (This was preventing Trudy from delegating.)

“What’s the likelihood of John making a mistake?” I asked.

“It’s possible”, she said, “but probably unlikely”.

“What is the consequence if John makes a mistake?” I asked.

“It’s not really a big deal”, she answered. “After all, he knows the software and uses it all the time.”

With that she made an instant decision to let go and let John do the work.

She was on fire. All she had to do was ask the two questions in the Risk Assessment Matrix to help her make quicker decisions.

It’s your turn. Have a go and let me know some of the questions you ask and what you decide as well as if it helped to make your decisions more quickly.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox.
Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

P.P.S.  Dates have been confirmed for our next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience:  Thursdays – 10th, 17th, 24th February and 3rd March 2022. Early Bird Discount finishes 31st December 2021. More information click here

It’s Not the Number of Tasks You Do (WT594)

It’s Not the Number of Tasks You Do (WT594)

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by Shirley Dalton | 12 Nov, 2021 | Blog, Leadership

WT 594 It's not the number of tasks you do

As we drive around in the motorhome we like to listen to audio books.

One book that I can highly recommend is Measure What Matters by John Doerr.

The book is all about what he calls “OKRs” – Objectives and Key Results, why and how to use them.

But that’s not what I want to share in this thought.

One of the points that stood out for me was a little sentence for managers.

You see, lately I’ve been coaching a number of Chief Operating Officers at various companies as well as having been the COO for Kip McGrath Education Centres, an Australian international franchise organisation and currently COO for a start up business, this sentence really resonated for me and if you’re a COO or manager or you aspire to be, then I really want you to take notice of it and assess yourself.

Are you ready?

I forget the name of the person to quote, so we’ll say “source unknown”.

If you’re a manager, you don’t get paid for the number of tasks you do, you get paid for the quality of the decisions you make.

I’ll repeat that. If you’re a manager, you don’t get paid for the number of tasks you do, you get paid for the quality of the decisions you make.

To illustrate my point, when I was working at Kip McGrath Education Centres, Kip walked past my office one day and poked his head in and said, “Shirley, if I walk past your office and you have your back turned away from the door and are staring out the window with your feet up, I’ll be really pleased.”

“Ok, I’ll bite”, I said. “What will you be really pleased about?”

“It will mean you’re thinking about how you can improve my business” and with that he walked back to his office.

So, what does this mean for you? Are you running around doing everything? Do you have the mindset that only you can do it?

If so, you are severely limiting your career options and chances for promotion.

What any business owner or senior leader wants to see is people stepping up. People thinking about and acting on how the business could be improved; how processes could be streamlined, how expenses could be reduced, how customers could be wowed. The list is endless.

And if you have trouble making decisions, next week I’ll share a little tip with you that will make all the difference and help you feel much more confident to make those decisions.

Now you have a decision to make. What will you do with this week’s thought? Will you read it, think about it and then forget about it or will you read it, think about it, discuss it with your mentors, other managers and colleagues and find ways you can delegate some of those tasks that someone else can do just as well, if not better than you?

Let me know what you decide. Remember, it’s not the number of tasks you do. It’s the quality of the decisions you make.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts.

That’s How You Do Customer Service and Sales (WT593)

That’s How You Do Customer Service and Sales (WT593)

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by Shirley Dalton | 5 Nov, 2021 | Blog, Customer Service

WT 593 Customer Service

Ross and I went for a walk on our penultimate night in South Australia before heading back to Newcastle for a whirlwind 3 day drive.

As we left the motorhome I asked Ross if we needed to take an umbrella. The sky looked threatening.

“We’ll be right”, he said.

We walked the kilometre or so into the town village and came across the art gallery.

It was still open and we met the curator, Sarah. Sarah was so enthusiastic about the artwork and the artists and we ended up staying much longer than we anticipated.

Of course, when we left the gallery it started to rain.

What to do?

“Let’s keep walking up further for a bit”, I suggested.

We didn’t have to go far before we found the Adelaide Hills Wine Bar and Wolf Blass Gallery and Museum.

Since it was almost 6:00pm we walked over to take shelter out of the rain.

The Cellar Master looked like he was packing up.

“Are you closing?” we asked.

“At 6:00pm, but you’ve got time for a glass of wine if you like”, he invited us in.

He talked to us about the wine and the museum which is owned by Wolf Blass.

Wine is a passion of Ross’ so he was very interested to look around and learn all about the history of wine etc. especially as Wolf Blass was personally acquainted with Murray Tyrrell, whom Ross worked with for 10 years as a casual cellar door bar person. (I digress.)

As we sat and enjoyed the wine, we noticed a barista coffee machine and salt and pepper shakers and plates neatly arranged on shelves.

As we left we asked if they provided food.

“Yes, mostly lunch, although we’re open til 9:00pm on a Friday.”

Ross and I looked at each other.

Ross asked if we needed to make a booking.

“Yes, particularly for Friday evening”, he replied.

“That’s how you do it”, I thought.

That’s how you do customer service and sales.

He stayed back a little past closing time, made one more sale for the day, having had a quiet day with few interstate or international tourists and at the end of it, we booked in for dinner and who knows how much that will cost.

What would happen at your business?

Would you or your team simply shut the doors and say, “Sorry, we’re closing in a few minutes”, or would they demonstrate hospitality, welcome the guests and without pushing, upsell for a bigger sale?

That’s how you do customer service and sales.

Thank you Matt.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering. We missed the rain.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thoughts delivered directly to their inbox. Go to https://shirleydalton.com/weekly-thoughts

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