Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)

Make Use of Your Resources (WT469)

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by Shirley Dalton | 21 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 469 Make use of your resources

A few years ago, I was attending a training course with Clinton Swaine of Frontier Trainings. I was in the hot seat. Clinton is a master at training using experiential games. In this particular game I was the CEO. I wasn’t doing very well. The mock company was in chaos and was losing money.

Ross was there with me, although not participating in the games or training. He was actually a resource I could have used although I hadn’t thought of that until Clinton reminded me, “Shirley, you are the leader and you have resources available to you and you are not using them. Good leaders are resourceful.”

Of course I felt embarrassed at the time and it was one of those lessons that we learn the hard way.

Interestingly for me, the same concept has reappeared this week.

Earlier this year we completed 3 Leading Yourself and Leading Others experiences training about 30 people.

The experience includes some 1:1 coaching with me. As the coach, I am a resource that is available to participants. I was amazed that not all participants made use of this resource.

The time frame for coaching had an expiration but not all participants have booked their sessions, despite receiving friendly reminders.

So you get the learning this week.  Make use of your resources. Good leaders are resourceful.

It’s a great reminder to take stock of the resources that are available to you and perform an audit for yourself.

Are you using your resources? Are you being resourceful?

Nine Years (WT468)

Nine Years (WT468)

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by Shirley Dalton | 14 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 468 Nine Years

Have you ever started something on a bit of a whim and then found yourself completely committed to it?

Well, this week is the 9th anniversary of our Weekly Thoughts and I’m so excited to share and celebrate with you.

I often mention how proud I am of the fact that I haven’t missed one single week in that time. That absolutely astounds me. Why? Because I love change and variety. I often get bored once I’ve mastered something and I’m always looking for the next best thing.

In fact, I can say there are only 5 main things in my life that I’ve committed to:

  1. Marriage to Ross (30 years in February 2020)
  1. Completing my University Degrees in Education and Psychology
  1. Successfully continuing my business for the past 10 years
  1. A handshake agreement with former employer for 5 years of service
  1. Weekly Thoughts

If I dig into it, there are most likely more things that I’ve committed to however these are the standouts to me. What about you?

What are or have you committed to?

Commitment is a big word with a big responsibility and an even bigger impact.

I’m committed to completing another year of Weekly Thoughts to make the 10 year mark and then we’ll see what happens.

It’s been such a great journey over the years. We’ve self-published our Weekly Thoughts book which was a huge learning curve. We’ve managed to find a topic every week, even when I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired. We’ve also managed to ensure we made the deadline for Friday mornings, although not always meeting the 3:00am timeframe. 

As I reflect back on the years, the thoughts started as a whim; a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings, sort of like journaling and for me, it’s also all about self-reflection and education.

I remember a flat mate of mine saying to me once, “You’re not much of a talker are you? You’re a real thinker.” Up to that point I hadn’t realised that about myself.

Self-awareness and knowing myself and then knowing others has always been a passion of mine as has sharing what I know with others.

This week I’d like to combine all three. As a celebration I am offering 9 complimentary Reach Profiles for the first 9 people to reply with a “Yes Please”.

These profiles will help you to see how you show up in the world and the degree to which you can influence the 3 other personality types.

Normally retailing for $200 each, it is my gift to you to say “Thank You” for being on this journey with me. If you’ve already completed the profile, don’t worry, the offer is transferrable so you can nominate a team member or spouse or friend, etc.

Simply reply with “Yes Please” and I’ll send you a link for the profile. You can download the results when you complete the quiz.

Here’s to another year of thoughts, feelings, education and support.

Woohoo, we made it to 9 years!

Thanks for being on the journey with me.

https://reachquotient.com/Participants/TakeSurvey/Start?code=QTKBUAIM

Messages From Your Heart (WT467)

Messages From Your Heart (WT467)

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by Shirley Dalton | 7 Jun, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 467 Messages from your Heart

This week I want to share some words of wisdom from one of my mentors because it’s a different way of looking at an issue that many of us experience.

I am a big fan of “Tapping” (Emotional Freedom Technique) to clear negative emotions.

I follow Nick Ortner and his sister Jessica Ortner (www.thetappingsolution.com). They have written a number of books and have created a number of online programs to help educate people about the power of tapping to improve relationships, emotional well-being, abundance, weight loss and more.

This week I opened an email from Jessica and was thrilled to read her words: “I easily begin to care less about what other people think, so I can more clearly hear the messages from my own heart.” 

I love this. Why? Because I often struggle with worrying about what other people think of me and up until now I have not had a way to frame it to be able to effectively embrace changing.

I know on a logical level that I “shouldn’t” care about what others think of me. Like you, I’ve heard the saying, “What others think of me is none of my business” and yet the words didn’t make any difference.

However, from Jessica’s point of view, I can see clearly that there is a far greater reason not to be concerned about what others think. 

The more I worry about what others think and might say about me, the less I can hear what my heart really wants to tell me. Now this is something I do want to hear. This is something I do want to know so I am now motivated to free up that line of communication and of course the added benefit is releasing the pressure and worry of being good enough to only ever be thought about or discussed in a positive way.

And whilst we’re sharing mentors’ quotes, here’s another from Stu McLaren, Founder of Tribe (my membership mentor), he says, “Love me or hate me, there’s no money in the middle.”

“OMG. What might you think about that? Am I being mercenary? Maybe I shouldn’t mention money?”

Wow! How freeing these quotes have been for me. Worrying less about what others may think enables me to hear my heart and that is to create an awesome experience for the people I work with to guide and support you through change, transition and transformation.

How about you? Is this a message you needed to hear?

Bargain Fruit (WT462)

Bargain Fruit (WT462)

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by Shirley Dalton | 3 May, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 462 Bargain Fruit

If you were driving past a shop sign, as we did recently in a little country town, for a fruit shop that read “Bargain Fruit”, what perception would you have of the fruit being sold? 

Immediately I thought the fruit would be of lesser quality than fruit sold in other shops.

The word “Bargain” means “a thing bought or offered for sale much more cheaply than is usual or expected”.

The point I want to make is that words, especially in a business name, can make or break your business.

Based on the name alone, I wouldn’t go to that shop. Would you?

The words you use impact on your brand and your positioning.

If you offer a premium service and want to charge premium prices you have to deliver a premium service and all your advertising and marketing (including your business and product or service names) should reflect the premium brand. 

I found it fascinating that someone would name their shop “Bargain Fruit” and then have a tagline that read, “Best quality fruit”. For me the two are contradictory. 

What does your business name and tagline say about you and your business? 

Where do you want to position yourself in the market? 

Conduct a little audit. Is your brand, advertising and marketing supporting the position you want? 

I Googled to find Quirky Names and found this site on Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com.au/Marie_Edge/quirky-names/?lp=true 

Take a look at some of the names.

It’s interesting to me to see some, that I imagine the owners thought were either extremely funny or clever, which totally put me off, like this one for a pet shop salon “Pussies and Bitches – Pet Shop and Grooming Salon”.  

Maybe the title of this week’s thought should have been “What’s in a Name?” 

What’s in YOUR business name? What does it say about you?

What are You Missing? (WT457)

What are You Missing? (WT457)

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by Shirley Dalton | 29 Mar, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 457 What are you missing

This week I’d like to share a concept that came up during this week’s Leading Yourself and Leading Others workshop and that is the question, “What are you missing?”

The question arose because of the absolute focus the team has on a particular issue.

They are all united in their thinking and very focussed on their perception of how things should be.

To generate discussion I shared the following videos, (it will take you less than 3 minutes in total to watch the two of them): 

The videos are a pragmatic way to introduce the concept of focussing so intently on one thing that you miss other things which could be just as or more important than what you are focussing on.

For example, have you ever missed a turn or driven past where you were supposed to be going because you were focussed on the conversation you were having with a passenger or someone on the “hands free” phone?

It’s easy to do. Sometimes we become so focussed on our solution that we are unable to see any other possibilities.

This week I encourage you to watch the videos and ask yourself, “What other options or solutions am I not seeing?”

Information or Transformation (WT451)

Information or Transformation (WT451)

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by Shirley Dalton | 15 Feb, 2019 | Blog, Business

WT 451 Information or Transformation

This week I contracted to another training company to deliver a course on Business Etiquette. 

The course was written by the training company and was to be delivered to government employees. 

It was a fantastic opportunity for me because it helped me to understand that my calling in life, my passion, is to help those who want transformation, not simply information. 

My leadership experience, Leading Yourself and Leading Others, provides numerous opportunities for participants to become more self aware as well as gain skills to improve communication and understand people. 

At times some of the activities can feel confronting and participants don’t always “like” me or the feedback they are exposed to. 

At the end of the experience though, most participants express their gratitude for the transformation. To be clear, transformation in this context is what happens in the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. It’s the process of change and the outcome. 

Transformation is different to information. “Information applies to facts told, read, or communicated that may be unorganized and even unrelated. Knowledge is an organized body of information.” (www.Dictionary.com) 

I can give you information such as The ABC of Business Etiquette: Appearance, Behaviour and Communication, but it’s up to you to do something with that information. 

For me the greatest joy is working with people who want to learn and grow; people who are open and willing to change; people who want the feedback. Remember, you can’t see the label from inside the jar. 

Teaching Business Etiquette using a powerpoint presentation instead of my standard colourful flipcharts was difficult for me. I was also limited in the number of activities I could do and the room was arranged differently to the format I like to use and not all of the participants were excited to be there. 

Doing the training according to someone else’s rules afforded me the opportunity to reflect on what it is I do and how much I love working with those who keen and interested and excited to learn and grow. 

Ah. It feels so good to be so clear about my mission. 

How about you?  Are you clear or do you need to do something else to find out exactly what it is you do and don’t want to do. 

If you’re up for the challenge and want to step up to lead yourself and others, I’ll be holding a second program in Newcastle in April. The early bird price finishes on 21st February. For more information go to https://shirleydalton.com/leading-yourself-leading-others-2019-2.

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