Christmas Comes Every Year Whether You’re Organised or Not (WT548)

Christmas Comes Every Year Whether You’re Organised or Not (WT548)

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by Shirley Dalton | 25 Dec, 2020 | Blog, Mindset

WT 548 Christmas comes every year

It’s Christmas morning and I’m a little late with our Weekly Thought.

Firstly, wishing you a very happy Christmas or Holiday Season.

It’s been a big big year for all of us and with all the challenges, there are still so many things to be grateful for.

I’m grateful to be on this journey with you. What an adventure we are having.

This adventure called Life.

It’s not about the destination because we’re all headed to the same place; back to where we came from.

It’s about the adventure; it’s about the journey.

As I reflect on my journey, I am grateful for some wise words of wisdom from a group of amazing ladies that I volunteered with, in a tiny charity called Make Today Count.

Our little charity supported people and their families who were dealing with a life threatening illness.

We each had our special gifts to contribute to the organization and the people we supported.

My gift was the ability to organise things and get things done.

It was during one of our committee meetings that I was beating myself up for not having completed a task.

“Shirl, Christmas comes every year, whether you’re organized or not”, said one of the ladies.

This stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t even near Christmas but she was right.

Here it is today and I’m a little late with the weekly thought.

I was a little disorganized this week and Christmas Day arrived anyway.

My encouragement to you this week is to take the ladies’ advice. The message and the learning I took from them is not to get all hung up about what’s done and not done. Things happen, whether we’re ready or not. Things happen whether we’re organized or not.

It’s called life. You may as well enjoy it.

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Take Some Time For Yourself (WT547)

Take Some Time For Yourself (WT547)

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by Shirley Dalton | 18 Dec, 2020 | Blog, Mindset

WT 547 Take some time for yourself

Do you need permission to take time for yourself?

If so, consider your leave application approved.

I remember, years ago, I was working with an Ayurvedic Holistic Practitioner. At the end of the session she invited me to make another appointment.

“Do you have anything after hours?” I asked.

“Why?”

“Well, I work through the day and I have employees”, I answered.

“Shirley, you own the business, right?”

“Yes.”

“You work late at night, some days?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You work weekends?”

“Often.”

“Then how come you won’t schedule an appointment for yourself during work hours when you know it’s beneficial to your health?” she asked.

“Well, I have employees and I want to be a role model. I have to turn up to work.”

“Some kind of role model”, she said.

“What do you mean?”

“You work all week, you work late at night, you work on weekends, who would want to own a business?”

“Ouch. She had a point.”

“Wouldn’t you rather inspire your team know you had the freedom to work when you wanted and to be able to schedule appointments during work hours?”

Ouch again. “Yes.”

“And besides”, she added.

“I don’t want to work after hours, so how about we schedule 10:00am next Monday.”

<name>, that was the beginning of me taking time for myself. From then on, I never worried about scheduling appointments for myself during work hours. I was so grateful for the lesson.

So it’s your turn now. Take a look at your schedule. Take a look at the hours you are working. Take a look at the type of role model you are.

Take some time for yourself.

If you do, you’ll certainly be happier, healthier and a great inspiration and role model to your people.

As the festive season approaches, please Take Some Time for Yourself.

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The Greatest Gift You Can Give (WT545)

The Greatest Gift You Can Give (WT545)

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by Shirley Dalton | 4 Dec, 2020 | Blog, Leadership

WT 545 The greatest gift you can give

Do you know what the greatest gift is that you can give to someone?

For me, it’s showing them how they can get what they want.

My mission is to inspire, educate and support you to be, do, have and feel what you want.

With that in mind, sometimes the conversations I have with my legends can be perceived as confronting.

I’m okay with that because I know that my intention is to help you get what you want.

It wasn’t until I was 40 years old that I read the secret for getting promoted at work.

I wished someone would have given me the advice when I was 20 and as it happened, I had that opportunity to pass on what I knew to some of my younger colleagues.

It was a Friday afternoon. I called a meeting with half a dozen young guys and said, “Righto boys, Aunty Shirl is going to show you how the world of work actually works. You’ve been demanding pay increases. You’ve been demanding more resources. Here’s the secret: You get promoted and rewarded for what you do and the contribution you make, not on the promise of doing more.”

For the most part, the advice was ignored, except for one young guy. He took on what I shared and started coming to work earlier. He stepped up and took on more responsibility. He used his initiative and he started improving operations. He got noticed and shortly after was promoted to Manager with a hefty pay increase.

Why am I sharing this with you today? Because, as usual, the theme has emerged. Many of the businesses I have been working with have experienced their workers complaining and blaming and not taking responsibility.

I don’t mind being disliked if it means I can help you get what you want. I’m up for the tough conversation and to confront you and coach you.

How about you?

Are you in a position to help others get what they want?

If so, are you up and speaking the truth?

Are you up for telling it how it is and sharing the brutal facts?

If not, consider this week’s thought as our conversation.

The greatest gift you can give is to show someone how they can get what they want. Not having the conversation is doing them and you a disservice.

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Choose Your Communication Method Carefully (WT544)

Choose Your Communication Method Carefully (WT544)

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by Shirley Dalton | 27 Nov, 2020 | Blog, Business

WT 544 Choose your communication method carefully

One of the services I provide for my legends is a recruitment profile and interview for potential employees.

I have a couple of profiles that I use depending on the outcome we are looking for.

One of the questions I ask to find out their preferred communication style is “If you had a message to give to a colleague at work, would you: a: walk down the hall and deliver it face to face (assuming no Covid restrictions), b: send an email c: send an SMS, d: post it via the interoffice mail or e: call them?”

Just as it’s important for us to know their preferred communication style, I am often flabbergasted at what appears to be such little interest or little knowledge displayed by employees, to understand how best to communicate with their managers.

For example, some of my legends have shared with me how their former employees have simply sent an SMS message to resign.

Others have complained how employees will SMS or email when they are unwell and will not be going to work.  In fact, one company has now implemented a policy for employees to call their manager when they will not be coming to work, so that the manager can find out if there are any urgent tasks that need to be dealt with during their absence.

Another example includes emailing the boss with a list of complaints and an ultimatum, (not in these words but the message was clear), “Fix it or else (I’m leaving)”.

If you want to influence someone to give you what you want, you MUST discover their preferred communication style and use it.

If you don’t, you run the risk of them reacting to the manner instead of the message. It certainly won’t help your message or your request.

I have to ask, “What’s your preferred communication style?” and “Do you know what your manager’s is?”

If you don’t know or are unsure, how can you find out? (Hint: Ask them, or notice how they communicate with you. You’d most likely ask your customers, wouldn’t you?)

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What Game are You Playing? (WT543)

What Game are You Playing? (WT543)

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by Shirley Dalton | 20 Nov, 2020 | Blog, Business

What Game are You Playing? WT543

This week I was privileged to attend Part 1 of Simon Sinek’s leadership training series, based on his book The Infinite Game.

Do you know the difference between a finite game and an infinite game?

I confess, I didn’t know the difference and it seems I’m not alone.

According to Sinek, “leaders don’t know the game they’re in”.

A finite game is a game that has a winner. It also has rules and known players and competitors.

An infinite game has known and unknown players. Its rules are changeable and the objective is to stay in the game, not to beat your opponent.

Examples of infinite games include: business, marriage, global politics, education and healthcare.

Playing the infinite game in business means becoming obsessed with where you are going versus beating the competition.

Sinek outlined the 5 components of the Infinite Mindset and explained that the Infinite Mindset is a “striving”. If we take health as an example, we strive to be healthy. To be healthy we need to exercise, sleep, meditate, drink so many litres of water each day and eat healthy food.  We can’t do them all at the same time. We go in and out of balance, however if our ambition is to be healthy over time, and we focus on each of the components of health, we will eventually achieve health. The same applies to business and marriage etc.

Sinek’s 5 components for business and leadership include:

  1. Advance a Just Cause
  2. Build Trusting Teams
  3. Respect/Study your Worthy Rivals
  4. Develop the capacity for existential flexibility
  5. Have the courage to lead.

What game are you playing?

What game do you want to play?

When will you start playing?

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