This week our printer packed it in.

We are running the leadership experience so we needed to print handouts etc.

Ross went to Officeworks, armed with a thumb drive and a list of a files.

Ross’ personality type is that of a Driver.

Drivers are interested in the big picture. They aren’t into details. They just want to know what the result is to be achieved. They aren’t interested in small talk.  Let’s just get it done, preferably directing you to get it done.

I was happy for Ross to take on the task because I didn’t have the time.

He left the printing on the table for me to sort.

The black and white copies were perfect. Not so the coloured one.

The coloured copies had a big block of yellow colour running across the centre of the page.

I’ve been working on not being so critical, so I wasn’t sure how to handle this.

“Did you notice the coloured copies”, I asked.

“Yes, they are there”, he replied. “I did them all.”

“Yes, they were there, however they had a big yellow block printed across them.”

“What?”

He went into the room to check.

“Oh!, I had a look”, he said. “I thumbed through them”, demonstrating to me how he thumbed the top left corner of the pages. 

The blocks were in the middle of the page.

I couldn’t help myself, “Attention to Detail” I said.

“Yes”, he admitted.

“Lack of attention to detail costs you. Now you have to go back and do it all over again.”

And he did.

It’s the little things that trip us up.  It’s little things like not taking the extra minute to thoroughly check that can mean hours of rework.

We both laughed.  As a Driver we understand he isn’t into details. It wasn’t really a job a Driver should be doing, so I told him how grateful I was that he did do the job because I have learned over the years,  that the happiest people are those that are the most grateful.

So moral to the story.  Stick to your lanes as much as possible.  Play to your strengths and do work that you are most suited to and be grateful.

You’ll be a lot happier.

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Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

Something I learned from my mentor, Kip McGrath was the difference between employees being unable to do something and unwilling to do something.

This helps immensely when leading and managing your team because it guides the conversations and/or training required.

One of my clients, Mark Kentwell, takes it a little further.

He makes a distinction between being “happy” to do something or “willing” to do something.

I was reminded of this last week, when I was working onsite at a client’s office and I was asked to take a phone enquiry.

“I’m happy to take the call”, I said.

As soon as I heard myself say that, I stopped for a second.

Was I really happy to take the call, or was I just willing?

Truth is, I was willing.

I really didn’t want to take the call because it was interrupting the work I was focussing on.

How often do we say, “I’m happy to <fill in the blank”, when we’d rather not?

Let this week’s thought be an encouragement to you to speak your truth.

Be assertive.

If you’re willing, say you’re willing.

If you’re happy, say you’re happy.

Let’s not confuse the two.

Happy or willing? Write back and let me know what you find.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

Go to https://shirleydalton.com/Weekly-Thoughts.

With the start of the new year and many of us making New Year’s Resolutions and decisions about what we want to achieve this year, I’m prompted to remind you to “keep yourself accountable”.

Gretchin Rubin has a free quiz you can do to discover your tendency to keep yourself accountable.

Check it out here: https://gretchenrubin.com/quiz/the-four-tendencies-quiz/

Rubin discovered that people fit into Four Tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behaviour, so understanding this framework lets us make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress and burnout, and engage more effectively. The Four Tendencies explain why we act and why we don’t act. (Source: Gretchen Rubin)

The Obliger – You can count on me, and I’m counting on you to count on me.

The Questioner – Keeping an eye on why

The Upholder – Discipline is my freedom

Rebel – You can’t make me and neither can I.

Knowing your tendency can help you keep yourself accountable.

I’m an Obliger. I can’t keep myself accountable, however I will be accountable to you. When I learned this about myself, I understood why I always committed to clients.  I was relying on them to keep me accountable. For example, if I told a client they would have their documents by 3pm on Thursday, I would deliver. Sometimes it meant pulling an all-nighter on Wednesday, but I got the job done.  If I didn’t commit, I would find 1000 reasons to procrastinate.

So, what are you going to do to keep yourself accountable this year?

Will you write a list and tick off things as you go?

Will you engage an accountability buddy?

Or are you like some of my very successful clients – the Upholders and just rely on your sheer discipline to do what you say you will.

Regardless of your goals for the year, the important thing is to keep yourself accountable and take action. Even just 5 minutes towards your goal is action.

Just get started.

Keep yourself accountable to start.

One of my sayings to get me going is, “It’s not going to do <insert action I need to take> by itself” and up I get and get going.

Let me know what your tendency is and how you are going to hold yourself accountable?

I’ve registered with an exercise physiologist – not so much for exercise tips – but for the sheer accountability of having to report in. 

P.P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

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This week I wanted to scream.

I’d been talking with some business owners about the next Leading Yourself and Leading Others experience, coming up in February 2026.

“They’re not ready”, they kept telling me, referring to their team members.

I was so frustrated because I’ve seen the transformation in people who were “not ready” and who absolutely did not want to do the leadership training and yet they did.

The frustration comes from knowing what is possible for people and not being able to help them see it.

I’m guilty of it myself. Years ago, my mother and father arrived one weekend with a mysterious box which turned out to be a barbeque. 

“We don’t need a barbeque”, we thought.

How wrong we were. We ended up using that barbeque about 4 nights a week.

It was a classic example of you don’t know what you don’t know.

Having invested in personal and professional development all my life, I just don’t understand why people don’t rush to take advantage of what is being offered to them, especially when it can make such a positive difference in their lives.

Still, you can’t force people to do something if they don’t want to do it.

So, I will console myself with one of the topics we teach in the Leadership experience: The Cycle of Change by Prochaska & Di Clemente (who originally devised it in the health industry to understand the process to help smokers quit smoking).

The cycle goes like this:

1. Pre-contemplation (not ready, not aware, not even thinking about it or in denial)
2. Contemplation (aware that change might be beneficial, starting to think about it)
3. Preparation (getting ready to take action, planning)
4. Action (making the decision, taking some steps toward change)
5. Maintenance (keeping on with the new behaviours, thoughts or attitudes)
6. Relapse – what most of us suffer from at one time or another. Start again.
7. Transcendence – having changed, it would feel strange to “go back to the old ways”. Change is most likely permanent.

If you’re in business you too can apply this to your customer decision making process as well as your team.

Are they ready or are they getting ready?

And if they are getting ready, DON’T GIVE UP ON THEM.

As frustrating as it can be, one day “They’re Not Ready” will turn into “They’re Ready” and then the change can begin.

P.S. Invite your friends to get the Weekly Thought delivered directly to their inbox.

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