The Unassuming Leader (WT505)

The Unassuming Leader (WT505)

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WT505 The Unassuming Leader

This week’s thought is truly inspirational.

It’s the story of one of my clients.

I won’t name names because she would hate that.

She was sharing with me how surprised she was at the reaction of some of her work colleagues in relation to a health goal she had set for herself a few months back.

To achieve the goal takes courage, commitment and dedication, all of which she has in spades.

Unwavering in her actions and commitment over the past few months, she is making real progress towards her goal. 

“It’s more than a goal”, I remarked. “What you have is a vision and your workmates can clearly see the vision, and they have all jumped on board with you.”

She sat with that for a moment.

“I guess you are right”, she said. “I’ve never really thought about it like that.”

True leadership is about appealing to people’s emotions. It’s about getting them on board with your vision. When they are on board, they will do whatever they can to fulfill the vision.

In my client’s case, the entire company has jumped on board with her vision. They see her as a role model and they are inspired by her. Even her family members are on board as well.

She is what I call, The Unassuming Leader. She hasn’t broadcast her vision/goal. She hasn’t cajoled people into helping and supporting her. She hasn’t offered wild incentives to motivate people nor has she threatened harsh consequences.

Rather, she has quietly gotten on with the job. She’s shared her vision when asked and has simply shown up and shown the way.

Leaders are found in all walks of life and in all positions.

As John Maxwell says, “Leadership is about becoming the type of person others trust to take them where they want to go.”

In this case, they are being inspired on a daily basis without a big fan fare and they are all quietly working towards the same goal and it’s impressive to observe.

What Are You Thinking? (WT504)

What Are You Thinking? (WT504)

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WT504 What are you thinking

This week, Ross and I experienced a great reminder of the power of our thoughts and how life is always working for you. 

For the past few weeks, Ross had been thinking he needed to replace the back tyre on Floyd, our motorbike. 

It must have been playing on his mind because at the 11th hour before we were due to catch the last ferry from Bruny Island in Tasmania back to Kettering and then drive 90 minutes to where we were staying at New Norfolk, Ross suddenly pulled over and stopped on the side of the road.

“Why are we stopping?” I asked.

“Flat tyre,” he replied.

“Oh dear! What shall we do?” 

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. 

Quickly, I reminded him that “Life is always working for us”.

It was too late. He went into the un-resourceful Primal State of fight and flight and paced backwards and forwards, angrily asking, “What am I doing to create this?”

It turns out it was his thinking. He wanted a new tyre so the Universe and his goal achieving brain created a situation where we had to get a new tyre.

And life is always working for us; we also enjoyed a complimentary night on the island, courtesy of the NRMA and RACT. Even better, our host provided homemade soup and started a warm log fire for us, not to mention a really comfortable King size bed (Ah! Luxury).

Paul from the RACT fixed the puncture and we were able to get the 6:30am ferry back in time for me to present some online training for a client.

This little situation provided so many great reminders:

  1. Not to go into the Primal State
  1. Ask ourselves empowering questions
  1. The brain is a goal achieving machine
  1. Life is always working for us
  1. Our thoughts create things (and situations).

What are you thinking?

What is it you are creating and are your thoughts in alignment with what you want?

Something to think about. (Pun intended.)

Get a Woman to Check (WT503)

Get a Woman to Check (WT503)

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WT503 Get a woman to check

One of the great things about being on the road is there is no timeframe. We were heading south towards Hobart and came across a lovely little town called Ross.

We didn’t know there was a caravan park in Ross until we chanced upon it when we went walking along the Ross Bridge that was built over 100 years ago by convict stonemasons. They did such a great job they were given their freedom once the bridge was completed because they got it done in 58 weeks, where previous wooden bridges had taken years to build and didn’t last.

We loved the town so much we decided to stay the night.

The caretaker was enjoying his extra long lunch, so over the phone he explained where to park the motorhome. I was on the phone with a client while Ross was hooking up the water and power, etc.

He entered the back of the van. “There’s no power.” he announced.

“Oh dear!”

He tested everything and still no power. 

“Ring the caretaker again.” I suggested.

The caretaker came straight away.

The couple next to us were also unable to get power.

The caretaker checked the mains, rang the council and ran around the park, to no avail.

He transferred our sites and we both hooked up to power which worked perfectly.

We then went exploring.

When we returned, the caretaker came out to meet us.

“You look like a couple who would enjoy a laugh,” he said as he motioned for us to follow him. 

He took us to the power pole of the first site.

“Have a look at this,” he laughed, pointing to an On/Off switch on the power pole.

There were actually three switches; one for each powerpoint and someone had turned them off.

The caretaker said his wife showed him, laughing hysterically.

When I saw it, I agreed, “Get a woman to check”.

I joked, “I would have seen it.”

The lady in the second van also agreed she would have found it too, if she had looked.

So the moral to the story, “get a woman to check”.

What do you think?  Are women better at seeing things and solving problems?

Be Generous (WT502)

Be Generous (WT502)

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WT502 Be Generous

Still travelling, this week we sailed from Port Melbourne to Devonport in Tasmania. We stayed overnight not far from the harbour, overlooking the ocean before heading to Launceston for the city’s annual Festivale. 

Festivale is like an expo of local food and wine, located in City Park, right in the middle of town. It rained almost as soon as we arrived and continued for the most part over the 3 day festival. Having dodged the fires on the south coast of NSW we didn’t mind the rain, even though we were travelling on the motorbike. 

Now to the point of the story. As we walked around, sampling the local food and wine, chatting to various visitors and sharing our table with others who were also doing their best to escape the rain, sitting under an enormous tree, we noticed the effect that stall holders had on the number of customers they attracted. 

To sample the wine, we first had to buy a plastic wine tumbler, which the stallholders would fill (for a fee, of course). 

The server at the first stall I went to was “stingy” with her sampling. Inwardly raising my eyebrows, I wasn’t surprised at all to see Ross’ reaction when I gave him his glass and told him what I paid. Later that night, one of our new friends came back from the same stallholder and complained how little wine she poured. Unlike me, she mentioned it to the server when she noticed another customer had received almost double in his tumbler, to which the server grudgingly poured a little extra. We all agreed, it didn’t matter whether the wine was the best there was, we wouldn’t return to that stall. 

When it was Ross’ turn to choose a sample, he had the exact opposite experience. His server, who also happened to be the winemaker chatted with him and was extremely generous and gracious with his sample.  

As a result, Ross told lots of people about the stall and the generosity of the winemaker, referring people to this stall. We also went back to sample some of the different wines they produced and ended up buying a bottle of wine to celebrate our upcoming 30th wedding anniversary. 

Being generous is easy to do. It’s also good for business. The hospitality industry requires workers to be hospitable. Being generous is a major factor. 

Now to you. Whether or not you are in the hospitality industry, would your customers say you are generous? Are they referring others to you because of your hospitality or gracious way of serving them?  

Remember the Law of Reciprocity; in other words what you give, you get (although not necessarily from the same person).

It’s Just an Experience (WT501)

It’s Just an Experience (WT501)

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WT501 It's Just An Experience

I recently travelled to Orlando, Florida to graduate as a Transformational Mindset Facilitator for David Bayer’s Phenomenal Coaching Methodologies – in other words Mindset 2.0 but that’s not what I want to talk about. I just want to give you the context for this week’s thought.

On my return flight from Orlando to Los Angeles I was waiting in line at the Security Checking stations. I wasn’t paying attention and like a sheep, I simply followed behind the people in front of me, until …. a hand waved in front of my face, gesturing that I should move back behind a sign (that I hadn’t seen). 

“Step back”, he yelled. “Ma am, read the sign. It says ‘Wait here until I call you’. I’ve got two lines to check and you have to wait.” 

Inside I was fuming. I was embarrassed. My heart was racing and I could feel myself blush the colour of a ripe red tomato from my neck to my forehead. I went into what we call a Primal State. 

I did as I was told. I know better than to upset the American Security Guards, especially at an airport. 

As I stood there, I remembered my training from David Bayer; it’s only an experience. There is no suffering in the experience, only the meaning we give it, so I decided to let it go. There was no need to make anything more of it. Let it go.  

We have hundreds of experiences every day. We don’t need to attach meaning and suffering to something that is over. 

With that I carried on with my journey home and entertained myself with positive happy thoughts of my reunion with Ross and visualised the things I want to create in my life. 

I would be silly to waste my energy on the negative and cut myself off from the creative inspiration and infinite intelligence, that is only available when we are in, what we call, a Powerful State. 

How about you? 

Would you have carried it or let it go, realising it is just an experience?

There is no suffering in any experience; only the meaning we attach to it.

Your challenge this week, and every day of your life, is to maintain living in the Powerful State rather than the Primal State.  (Just to clarify, from David Bayer – the Powerful State aligns to the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system which is rest and relaxation.)

Make Me Feel Welcome (WT500)

Make Me Feel Welcome (WT500)

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WT500 Make Me Feel Welcome

Last week I joined Lee Woodward, Creative Director and CEO at Real Estate Academy, for an interview to discuss onboarding new employees.

I thought I would share the highlights with you because this is such a critical task for every organisation.

Here are the top 5 things you need to manage, according to me:

1,Make them feel welcome.

Most new employees don’t know anyone when they first start apart from the people who interviewed them. It’s a daunting thing to walk into a new workplace where the other employees have established friendships and ways of doing things. It’s critical to make them feel welcome and that you are happy for them to be there. 

2. Have their “stuff” organised.

This fits in with point number 1. It’s not a good look and doesn’t feel good for the employee if their email address isn’t organised; they don’t have a place to sit; they don’t have stationery, etc.  or uniforms, etc.   I’m astounded at how many organisations miss this point. Make it someone’s role to make sure everything is organised BEFORE they start. 

3. Tell them what they are there to do.

I remember receiving a list of about 70 items when I started in the franchise organisation and rather than feeling daunted, I was excited. I had to somewhere to start and I knew what I was meant to be doing. I felt important and needed.  Make sure you give them a job description and more importantly give them something to start with (and that doesn’t include sitting in the corner reading the company manuals). It could also require a little training, however the sooner you train them and get them started, the sooner they will be productive and confident and comfortable. 

4. Show them where they can find things.

Remember they don’t know where you keep the stationery or the cups and tea and coffee and what the rules are for the fridge and the washing up and garbage.  Give them a little tour and show them around; show them the things they will most likely need. 

5. Introduce them to their immediate and higher level supervisors and managers.

This is important because it shows the boss is interested and cares. It also helps them to know who to go to if they need any assistance.  It’s a security and comfort thing, relating back to step number 1 – Make them feel welcome. 

Here’s your task this week. Rate yourself on the above 5 points.  If it’s not 5/5, identify what you can improve and work on that.

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