I Don’t Always Want A Hamburger (WT725)

I Don’t Always Want A Hamburger (WT725)

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by Shirley Dalton | 17 May, 2024 | Blog, Business

WT 725 I don't always want a Hamburger

Are there things you want to do that you talk yourself out of?

This was the case for David last week.

As we talked he shared that he wanted to become a business coach.

He had experience, results and big achievements in Sales, Systems and Strategy.

He’d worked in the real estate industry and manufacturing.

“What’s stopping you?” I asked.

“Well, I can’t really go into the real estate industry”, he replied.

“How come?”

“There are so many other coaches in that industry already” he said, as he began to list half a dozen names.

I knew the people he was referring to and even added a few more names.

“And they’re not all the same”, I said.

“No”, he agreed. “Some you either love or hate but there’s no room for me.”

“That sounds like a limiting belief”, I offered.

“Yes, but….” He replied.

I remembered the story of Kirsty or Kristy. I can’t remember her name or all the details but what I do remember is that she was a real estate agent in Darwin who moved to Tasmania and absolutely blitzed the industry.

She had had the same thoughts initially.  That there were already too many agents, so how could she be successful and yet she was.  In fact, she became so successful by doing things her way that she ended up teaching others.

So what has this got to do with hamburgers?

As I explained to David, “I don’t always want a hamburger”.

He looked at me quizzically.

“Do you sometimes get takeaway food?” I asked.

“Yes”, still puzzled.

“Do you always get the same thing or do you mix it up? For example, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Fish and Chips, Mexican, Middle Eastern Kebabs, Chinese, Indian?”

“I mix it up”, he said.

“Exactly! You don’t always want a hamburger”, I said.

“All those examples are choices of convenience foods.”

“All the coaches in the real estate industry that you mentioned are choices.”

“Principals and agents don’t always want hamburgers.”

There is plenty of room for everyone.

He is based in New Zealand.

All those coaches can’t serve everyone and everyone doesn’t want the same thing.

I encouraged him to go for what he truly wants and to let go of the things he is telling himself that are stopping him from getting what he wants.

The same goes for you.

Listen to the silly excuses you are telling yourself that are stopping you from going for what you want.

Remember, we don’t always want a hamburger.

People want choice.

Put yourself out there and give them the choice.

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

Strengths-Based Selection (WT711)

Strengths-Based Selection (WT711)

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by Shirley Dalton | 9 Feb, 2024 | Blog, Business

WT 711 Strengths-Based Selection

This week we’re back on the topic of recruitment.

It seems that recruitment and retention is the biggest challenge for businesses at the moment so I thought I would share a couple of tips with you.

  1. REACH profiling
  2. Skills assessment

I use the REACH profiling system because it is a comprehensive ecosystem.

Not only does it provide a number of different reports such as Personal, Communication and Leadership, we can also generate an Interview Companion.

The Interview Companion is gold. It is based on “strengths-based selection”.

In other words, we want to hire people in roles that are suited to their strengths.

We know that interview is the least reliable form of recruitment because applicants tell us what they think we want to hear.

The Interview Companion helps us to clarify the strengths we want for each role, which makes it very easy to see if the candidates’ strengths match the role.

The second tip is to assess the skills either before, during or after the interview.

If touch typing is important for the role, you can test this at https://10fastfingers.com.

If spelling, grammar and formatting skills are important, you can test that too.

Perhaps you need someone who can get their way around Excel. Ask them to complete a couple of tasks in Excel. You’ll soon see how well they can use it, as well as how they interpret instructions.

It’s okay to assess the candidate’s skills, if it’s important to you that they come with skills.

Some companies are happy to train and they need to test for attitude and aptitude. One way to test attitude is to invite the candidate to come to work with you for a few hours or a day.  They get paid, it’s not for free, however it gives you an opportunity to see whether they have initiative.

It allows you to see how they communicate with and relate to team members and customers.

Determining the assessments and criteria can be quite easy if you have taken the time to be clear on what you want from the role and have worked out the K.E.S.A.Q. required for the role.

  1. Knowledge
  2. Experience
  3. Skills
  4. Attitude
  5. Qualifications

And the third and final tip is “don’t be desperate”.  When you’re desperate, you’ll most likely hire the wrong person and then end up having to do it all over again within a few months.

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

Answer The Criteria (WT703) 

Answer The Criteria (WT703) 

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by Shirley Dalton | 15 Dec, 2023 | Blog, Business, Mindset

WT 703 Address the criterior

A while ago I was talking with a client about recruitment. We’ll call him Dave. 

Dave had a need to fill a customer service/administration role in his business. 

I suggested looking for a mum. 

In the past, I’d had great success employing mums who dropped the kids at school, came to work, did an amazing job and then finished in time to pick up the kids. 

The mums benefitted by being able look after their kids and still have some social interaction with adults, make a difference and get paid. 

They were honest, reliable, had a great work ethic and were skilled and experienced. 

As I shared my experience, Dave asked if I would help him recruit for the position. 

Initially, I was a little shocked at his request, however I agreed. 

We advertised. 

The selection criteria included a typing speed of 40 words per minute, 95% accuracy. 

Only one of the applicants addressed the criteria in their application.  

We know that interview is the least reliable form of recruitment so we included a few activities to test typing speed and accuracy, spelling, grammar and mathematical skills. 

We held off some of the interviews because one lady was away at the time we planned to conduct the interviews and her resume indicated that she was a good match for the role so we waited a few weeks. 

I confirmed the night before the interview. 

The next morning, (the day of the interview) she sent an SMS saying that she was no longer available for the position. 

I have to say, this has been an interesting journey. 

The world has changed. 

Forty odd years ago when I applied for my first full-time job, I would have done anything the potential employer asked me.  

I would have made sure that I addressed all the selection criteria. 

I would have made myself available to attend the interview at their convenience, and would have considered myself very lucky, if I made it to an interview. 

For me, not addressing the selection criteria tells me you can’t follow instructions. I might be wrong but remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. 

Answer the criteria. 

So what’s this got to do with you? 

If you’ve got good staff, hang on to them. 

If you’re applying for a position, if you answer the criteria, you’ll go to the top of the list.  

Recruitment and staff management have changed over the last few years, especially since Covid. More and more people are assessing what they want to do for work and how they want to live their lives. 

As employers, we need to accept the changes and adapt so that our businesses can thrive with less people and better systems, including much more automation. 

I’m curious to hear your experience? What’s happening in your industry? 

Have you got certain criteria that you need applicants to meet or can you adjust to accommodate the changes? 

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.  BRAND NEW 10 Week online Leadership Fundamentals experience starts Tuesday 15th January 2024. Sessions are LIVE and led by myself. There’s absolutely no reason why you can’t find 90 minutes a week to improve yourself and your leadership skills.  You don’t have to be in a formal leadership position at work. These skills are life skills.  If you’re interested, reply and let me know and we’ll organise a time to chat. Be part of another great team and get the results you want. 

The Awe of Expertise (WT701)

The Awe of Expertise (WT701)

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by Shirley Dalton | 1 Dec, 2023 | Blog, Business

WT 701 In awe of expertise

When I first started my business, I was blown away by the knowledge and expertise that people have in their respective industries.

Seventeen years later, I’m still in awe of your expertise.

I was coaching with a client and he was sharing the challenges he was experiencing with designing and fitting out a new retail shop.

He had engaged a builder and an engineer and was thankful for their expertise and advice.

The builder advised that new supports were required to hold up the roof. He encouraged the retailer, by explaining that it was “now or never” because he thought the retailer would be very unlikely to add the supports once the shop had been fitted out.

Of course this added additional time and expense to the project, however it could have been a lot worse had the builder not shared his expertise.

Another example comes from a landscape gardener. The home owner wanted to bring the garden back to life. The gardener surveyed the surrounds and asked whether the home had been painted a particular colour in years gone by.

“Yes, it was. How do you know that?” asked the home owner.

“See this part of the garden, where the soil has been compacted down, we can see the old paint, which would have been covered by the soil”, answered the gardener.

Fascinating! Simply fascinating.

And here’s a curly example. Talking to an employee in the marine industry, she shared that when scheduling boats to be serviced, they had to be aware of the relationships between the boat owners and not schedule services for boats where the owners did not like each other. Yes, that’s a thing.

This week, I want you to think about all the intellectual property you have. Become aware of how much you know and how your expertise is so helpful to those of us who don’t have it.

This is the reason for business. Businesses provide the solutions for things we know nothing or very little about.

According to Benjamin J. Harvey of Authentic Education, businesses exist to eliminate thoughts and feelings for their customers. For example, “The garden is overgrown. It’s full of weeds. It will take me months to get it back in order. I don’t have the time. I don’t know what to plant. I’m embarrassed that it looks like this.” 

You get the idea.  By providing the solution to fix the garden, the gardener eliminated all the negative thoughts and feelings for the home owner.

How about you?  What thoughts and feelings are you eliminating?

For me, as a leadership coach, my interest, passion and expertise is in helping leaders and managers to eliminate feelings of stress and overwhelm and lack of confidence when it comes to leading and managing their teams.

I am constantly amazed at what people know. How about you?

Think of any service you need and think about the level of expertise the supplier has, from your accountant to your cleaner to your grocery shop or pharmacist.

This is one of the things I love about working with such diverse businesses and people. I get to learn a little about what they know and do and I’m so impressed with the level of expertise people have in their chosen field or industry.

What do you know that people outside your industry don’t know?

Be proud of that.

Be grateful for what you know.

The world needs you.

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

To AI or Not to AI (WT679)

To AI or Not to AI (WT679)

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by Shirley Dalton | 30 Jun, 2023 | Blog, Business, Systems and Processes

WT 679 To AI or not to AI

You’ve probably heard all the hype and excitement lately about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ChatGPT4 in particular, so I thought I’d trial ChatGPT4 to write my Weekly Thought.

Here’s what I asked:

“i write weekly thoughts. they are a dose of inspiration, education and support. Please write me a 200 word article on the difference between having ai write my thought and me actually writing the thought.”

I can’t help myself. Even though I know it is a machine, I still use my manners. Mum would kill me if I was impolite at any time.

The article that came back was too long, so I asked for it to be reduced to 100 words.

Here’s the response:

Title: The Essence of Thought: AI Assistance versus Human Expression

In the realm of thought creation, a juxtaposition arises between AI-generated and human-written musings. While AI can produce coherent content, the distinction lies in the authenticity and emotional depth present in human expression. Human thoughts are infused with personal experiences, unique perspectives, and genuine vulnerability, fostering connections on a deeper level. The act of personal creation taps into imagination, intuition, and introspection, allowing for exploration, inspiration, and cognitive growth. Collaborative synergy further enhances human-written thoughts, as diverse perspectives and feedback foster evolution and innovation. Embrace the symbiotic relationship between AI and human creativity, combining their strengths to shape a world where thoughts thrive with a harmonious blend of technology and the human spirit.

Wowza!

That’s certainly not something I would write.

Firstly, there are too many polysyllabic words (words with more than two syllables). When writing in Plain English, we want to use less syllables, e.g. instead of “receive” use “get”.

Sentences should be limited to no more than 14 words, which is why my Weekly Thoughts often have one sentence to a line.

When communicating, you need to write for your reader and the Weekly Thoughts are not meant for publishing in an academic journal.

They are simply my thoughts that I share in the hope they inspire you or educate you and certainly encourage you to think about the topic.

Whilst I am a fan of ChatGPT4 for creating checklists and giving me content, I won’t be using it to write my Weekly Thoughts. Afterall, writing the thoughts is like journaling and it’s a form of therapy for me.

And just in case you’re wondering what GPT means, it’s “Generative Pre-trained Transformer” and it’s used to generate human-like text, complete sentences, or even whole articles based on a given prompt or context. GPT models excel at tasks such as text completion, language translation, question-answering, summarization, and generating conversational responses. They leverage the knowledge and patterns learned during pre-training to generate creative and contextually relevant outputs. (Source ChatGPT4)

There you have it, to AI or not to AI. For me, it’s a blend of both, just like ChatGPT4 said:

Embrace the symbiotic relationship between AI and human creativity, combining their strengths to shape a world where thoughts thrive with a harmonious blend of technology and the human spirit.

P.S. Today is the last day to save with the Early Bird Discount for the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others Experience in August. Find out more here https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-may2020/.

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

Get Yourself Organised (WT670)

Get Yourself Organised (WT670)

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by Shirley Dalton | 28 Apr, 2023 | Blog, Business, Mindset

WT 670

Get yourself organised or get someone to organise you.

That may sound harsh, however it’s not meant to be. It’s meant to be practical and encouraging.

The past few days Ross was preparing to get ready to go away for a few days on his motorbike. He was heading for a rally with some friends interstate.

He decided he wanted to leave by 3:30pm.

We were getting down to the wire.

“Have you seen my gloves?” he yelled.

“What sort of gloves?  Aren’t your riding gloves next to your boots?” I answered.

“No! Not those gloves. I want the waterproof gloves.”

I had no idea what gloves he was referring to, however I did get that they were important so I dropped what I was doing to look for the gloves, and his tiny flashlight. That was missing too.

“Have you checked the storage box with our other motorbike gear?” I asked, walking towards it.

“No, what’s that?” he asked.

I found the container. Opened it. No joy.

We searched through other shelves and boxes in the garage.

Underneath his workbench was one of the motorbike paniers.

“What’s in that panier?” I asked.

“I don’t know”, he replied as he pulled it out from under the workbench.

“Hello!”, said Ross, surprised.

Here were the gloves and other bits and pieces that he needed for his trip.

The panier was also supposed to be on the bike that he was taking.

Panic over, problem solved, I shook my head, smiled and walked away.

Being organised is both a skill and a talent.

Some of us have it. Some of us don’t.

You can learn it.

Even better though, if you’re not organised, hook up with someone who is. They love to help and it’s easy for them.

Even though I consider myself to be somewhat of an organised person, I still call for help when I need accountability or someone to help organise me to get going and do tasks that need to be done.

How about you?

Are you organised or do you need help from someone who is?

In the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), the organised person is referred to as The Integrator. The Integrator helps bring the Chief Vision Officer’s vision to life.  We need to have a dynamic duo, no matter what you call it.

We all have our strengths.

How about you play to yours.

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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