Show Them the Big Picture (WT493)

Show Them the Big Picture (WT493)

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by Shirley Dalton | 6 Dec, 2019 | Blog, Leadership

WT493 Show Them the Big Picture

This week, I’ve been focussing on leadership. I’ve been creating training videos for the next launch of our membership site as well as the quiz I invited you to take.

It’s amazing to me how things show up at exactly the right time.

Leadership is about knowing yourself and knowing your people. It also requires you to develop great people skills so you can communicate well and influence your team so that they can cooperate and achieve the outcomes.

As I was talking with one of my colleagues recently, I mentioned how important it is to share the big picture with the team.  Some will call this “vision”, however that’s not exactly what I’m referring to.

What I mean by this is to help your team understand how what they do is important to the success of the business. Show them where they fit in to the workflow. Point out the critical tasks and measures they need to achieve for the overall outcome. 

It occurred to me that often the team are taught to focus on the tasks they have to do and they may not understand why the tasks are important. 

If we don’t show them, how can we expect them to think and to problem solve if they can’t see the big picture. 

So, something to think about this week.

Have you shown your team the big picture?

Have you taught them how to think?

It’s a Set Up (WT492)

It’s a Set Up (WT492)

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by Shirley Dalton | 29 Nov, 2019 | Blog, Mindset

WT492 It's a Set Up

When Ross was employed as a Site Supervisor, one of his team members used to joke that it was a “Set Up”, when things didn’t go according to plan. 

This always amused and impressed me because he was able to make light of the situation. 

In my recent studies to become a certified coach of David Bayer’s Phenomenal Coaching Methodology, he too referred to the concept of being set up.

David’s take on the set up is that it is part of what he calls The 4 Blessings of Failure: 

  1. Education (we learn something from the experience) 
  1. Redirect (life’s infinite intelligence is pointing out that we are off course) 
  1. Reflection (time to look more deeply into ourselves and understand more about who we are) 
  1. The Set Up (all of the above). 

You might be wondering where this is going and why I am sharing it with you, so let’s digress for a bit. 

Steve Jobs is often quoted as saying, “You can’t join the dots going forward” but if you look backwards you can always see how perfectly life has worked out. 

Both of these teachings really hit home to me this week as I realised for the first time on a really deep level that my life (and yours) has been one big complete Set Up.

You know my purpose in life is to inspire, educate and support you to be, do, have and feel what you want. I couldn’t live into that if I was like everyone else. I couldn’t travel the world and learn and share with you if I had had children. I couldn’t learn as much as I have and share it with you if I had maintained the same job or lived in the same place for the past 30 years. I couldn’t be there for you if I had a big family that needed support. 

If I look at my life (and yours too) from a different perspective, I can imagine myself on the other side deciding to come to planet earth to fulfil on my mission. In order to fulfil on this mission I’d have to have certain experiences. Whilst I’m here living the experience I don’t necessarily have the insight and certainly don’t enjoy all of them, however if I (and we) join the dots, we can see how life is always working for us and it is one big giant set up. 

So my objective for this week’s thought is to have you reflect on your life. Join the dots. Look back and see how things have always worked out for you, even when you might not have enjoyed the experience and if you’re not enjoying the experience right now, have faith, that this too is all part of the set up and that you are right where you are meant to be and that this too, shall pass.

Take Advantage of It (WT491)

Take Advantage of It (WT491)

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by Shirley Dalton | 22 Nov, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT491 Take Advantage of It

This week’s thought is a reminder to take advantage of opportunities as they are presented.

I host an online membership site, Leading Yourself and Leading Others, which focuses on Developing People, Processes and Possibilities.  (I will be opening the membership site up again in a few weeks for new members.) Every two weeks I host a LIVE Q&A call for members to receive coaching on any topic.

Last week, one lucky member took advantage of the opportunity. She was the only member on the call so she received dedicated one on one coaching for her particular topic.

It was a very interesting and engaging call as we looked at what makes her unique in what she does and how this benefits her customers. What else was interesting was that because she is unconsciously competent with all these skills and strategies, she didn’t understand that these were unique to her. In fact, I find this a lot, that people are totally unaware of their expertise or value and when that’s the case, they are unable to unpack it. It often takes someone objective to hear the value and then reflect that back. If you become a member, you’ll be able to access the recording and see how that could apply to you. 

And speaking of taking advantage, I attended a networking event recently where the host offered a new person the opportunity to introduce themselves and what they do. I immediately raised my hand with a strong and straight arm. What a golden opportunity to get known. As a result, I got to speak with some of the regular members at the end of the meeting who were interested to hear more about what I do and who I help.

What would you do? Do you take advantage of the opportunities presented to you or …

And if your answer is “or”, I encourage you to say “yes” and take advantage of the next opportunity as soon as you can.

Taking advantage of opportunities is a muscle you can develop.

Keep Your Head Clean (WT490)

Keep Your Head Clean (WT490)

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by Shirley Dalton | 15 Nov, 2019 | Blog, Mindset

WT490 Keep Your Head Clean

I’m not talking about having a shower or washing your face when I say, “Keep Your Head Clean” but of course, knowing me, you know that.

Here’s an example to explain what I mean: Two people go for a promotion at work. Neither of them succeed. Max gets depressed and angry and full of negative self talk such as “I don’t know what I have to do to get ahead in this company. Why does this always happen to me? How come I never seem to get the promotion?” On the other hand, Wendy feels disappointed, however quickly shrugs it off and asks her supervisor, “What can I do to be promoted? What do you need to see in order for me to be recognised and promoted?”

Which of the two do you think has the best chance of being promoted in the future, Max or Wendy?

I trust you answered Wendy. Why?

It’s because Wendy kept her head clean. She stayed open to possibility and she asked empowering questions. 

Our brain is like a Google search engine. Its job is to find the answer to your questions, so it’s imperative that you ask empowering questions.

If you look at the questions Max asked, “Why does this always happen to me? How come I never seem to get a promotion?” It’s easy to see how his brain will come up with all sorts of reasons why it’s most likely not his fault; the supervisor doesn’t know what she’s doing, this company is hopeless, you have to suck up to the boss to get ahead; you can see where this line of thought will end up.

When you understand how the brain works and you understand that it is just another organ in the body, you can put it to work to find you the answers you need, to help you get what you want BUT you have to keep your head clean. You have to ask empowering questions. You have to notice when your thinking is off and correct it as soon as you notice it.

That is how you keep your head clean and create the life you want.

Are You or Your Team Entitled (WT489)

Are You or Your Team Entitled (WT489)

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by Shirley Dalton | 8 Nov, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT489 Are You or Your Team Entitled

This week’s thought might be a bit provocative.

I was chatting with a colleague recently who had just returned from a trip to the Philippines. We’ll call her Leanne. 

She had been investigating outsourcing some work to a company over there and had visited some of the outsourcing companies.

As we chatted she remarked how surprised she was to hear how much the employees of the companies wanted their companies to do well. They really wanted them to become massively successful on a global scale. When she enquired about the reason, they said simply, “It means we have a job for life and can take care of our families.”

Leanne was taken aback. The workers were so grateful and had simple needs. They valued their families and they enjoyed music.

Leanne couldn’t help but notice the difference between the Filipino and Australian culture when it came to work.

“The only word I can think of to describe some of the Aussie workers is entitled,” she said.

“There is little accountability and I might get taken to a tribunal if I dare to ask someone what they’ve been doing for the day or the week, or worse, the more the success the company enjoys, the more the workers want a cut. It’s almost like they question helping you build the business. Contrary to what most people believe, the majority of business owners work very long hours and are not rich.”

Wow, I could see that this trip had really affected her and as much as I hate to admit it, I too have seen that entitled attitude appear from time to time.

How about you, are you or your team entitled?

How about we all make a conscious effort to be grateful for what we have. Being grateful for what we have, even if we don’t particularly like where we’re at, is the quickest way to move out of it onto something better.

My challenge to you this week is to notice and record all the things you can be grateful for right now.

Planning is Essential (WT488)

Planning is Essential (WT488)

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by Shirley Dalton | 1 Nov, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT488 Plannning is Essential

Ever have one of those weeks or months when you keep hearing or seeing a message? 

I’ve had a few of them lately. 

The first message came from a member of our online membership program, he reminded us that Planning is Essential but Plans are Useless. 

The reminder was appropriate for the discussion we were having at the time and I left it at that. 

Fast forward a week or two and one of my mentors mentioned it in his weekly training, Planning is Essential but Plans are Useless. 

Three times lucky, this week I heard it again when we had to evacuate the park we were staying in to escape the north coast fires. 

“Ok, maybe I need to have a look at this,” I thought to myself. Let’s dig in. 

Here’s what it means to me. Let me know your thoughts and experiences. 

Without a plan, I have no idea where I am going. I have no focus, no direction and certainly no timeframe. I don’t know what action to take nor what to prioritise, or who to work with, so planning is essential. 

However, plans are useless because much of the time we find ourselves not sticking to a plan or changing a plan before we’ve achieved our outcomes. 

The curious thing about this is that the universe always has our back and at times when it seems like we aren’t getting what we want, the universe knows better and in the long run, it always turns out for the best. 

I remember years ago we went away for a weekend to develop our 5-year plan for our carpet cleaning business. We were really happy with where we wanted the business to go and were excited to implement the plan.

A few weeks later we met with some friends and were sharing our 5-year plan. They asked us a couple of key questions and by the end of the meeting we had decided to sell the business.

“Whoa! How did they happen?”

Turns out it was the exact right thing that needed to happen in order for us to move forward with some other goals we had. Planning is essential, plans are useless.

At the time I was upset and disappointed and I think I gave up on planning. Over the last few weeks I’ve been reminded of the importance of planning and getting into some sort of action, in order for the universe to work with us, to help us achieve our goals, even if they turn up in a different way to what we envisioned. 

How about you?  Do you have stories where this has happened for you?

Are you a planner or an avoider?

If you’ve been avoiding, perhaps this is the message you need to hear (read) to get you into action so the universe can work alongside you to give you what you want.

And for Ross and I, we’ve made a clear decision to find our piece of paradise on the Australian East Coast. I also have a vision for being a Lead Trainer in Australia for David Bayer’s coaching. It’s one of the most exciting transformational methodologies I’ve come across – ever. We’ve worked out a plan, and we’re working the plan. I can’t wait to see how the universe tips that upside down in order to deliver on our vision.

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