Building Business Coaching News

Builders often approach me with questions about how to account for project management costs in their construction projects. This includes considerations like whether to include the cost of a project manager per site in the bill of quantities, or whether to treat it as one of the fixed costs. The answer to these questions depends on the specific circumstances and needs of your construction business. In this blog, we'll explore different scenarios and how to handle project management costs effectively.Your Role in Project ManagementIf you're a small builder and actively involved in project management, your business is essentially paying your wage for this role. In such cases, it's considered a fixed cost that must be factored into your gross profit margin. Your gross profit margin needs to account for this overhead cost, alongside other expenses.Employed Project Managers or Site SupervisorsAlternatively, if you employ a project manager or site supervisor on a regular salary, their compensation is also considered a fixed cost. This fixed cost needs to be deducted from your overall gross profit for the business. When determining your profit margin for a project, you must ensure it covers these fixed overheads.Contract SupervisionSome builders opt for contract supervision, where they pay a percentage of the job to a contractor to handle project management. In this case, the cost is included in the bill of quantities as a variable cost. Since the overheads are smaller, you don't need as much gross profit to cover them. This approach can provide flexibility in your project costs.Finding the Right BalanceThere's no definitive answer to whether project management costs should be included in the bill of quantities or treated as a fixed cost. The choice largely depends on your business model, resources, and preferences. The key is to ensure that you allocate enough gross profit per job to cover these fixed overheads, whichever method you choose.ConclusionIn the construction industry, managing project costs is essential for the success and profitability of your business. Project management costs are a significant part of your expenses, and how you account for them can affect your profit margins. The right approach depends on your unique circumstances, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. If you need further guidance or have questions about constructing accurate bills of quantities, calculating margins, or optimizing your business's profitability, reach out to professionals who specialize in the construction industry. Your profitability in the building business largely depends on your ability to adapt and find the right balance, as well as the current market conditions.Looking forward to helping you make your construction business a success. If you have questions regarding net profits for a building or new home construction business in 2023, it's important to consider what the market will allow. Typically, a net profit between 5% and 10% is seen as reasonable in the current market landscape.

The longstanding debate within the building industry over whether a worker should be classified as an employee or a contractor has been a source of confusion and concern for builders. However, recent developments have brought about a positive shift, providing greater clarity and certainty for both builders and small business owners. In this blog post, we will explore how a recent High Court decision has made it easier for builders to rely on written contracts as evidence of employment status, offering significant benefits and peace of mind.The Historical ChallengeFor many years, builders have faced challenges in determining whether a worker should be classified as an employee or a contractor. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) provided online tools to help assess this distinction, but the risk for builders lay in the possibility of a worker disputing their classification as a contractor after years of engagement. Such disputes could result in significant financial obligations, including superannuation payments and back holiday pay, potentially posing a threat to the financial stability of builders and small business owners.A Positive ShiftFortunately, the recent High Court ruling has swung the pendulum in favor of builders and small business owners. The court's decision acknowledges the validity and reliability of written contracts in determining employment status. This means that the trade agreements commonly used by builders to engage workers can now serve as strong evidence to support the classification of a worker as a contractor. This shift in the legal landscape provides a crucial advantage, enabling builders to have greater confidence in their decision-making process.Benefits for BuildersThe newfound reliance on written contracts offers several key benefits for builders and the wider building industry. First and foremost, it provides much-needed clarity. Builders can now refer to written agreements to assert the contractor status of their workers, effectively reducing the ambiguity that previously surrounded the classification process. This clarity is essential for builders to ensure compliance with relevant taxation and employment regulations, minimizing the risk of future disputes.Moreover, the High Court's decision requires the tax office to reconsider its approach to these situations. This reconsideration offers an opportunity for the tax office to align its treatment of builders with the new legal framework, further solidifying the legitimacy of written contracts as proof of a worker's employment status.A Win for Small Business OwnersThe positive outcome of this High Court ruling is particularly significant for small business owners operating in the building industry. Small businesses often face numerous challenges, including limited resources and a need for operational certainty. With the increased clarity provided by the court's decision, small business owners can now rely on written contracts as a foundation for their employment relationships. This newfound certainty allows them to confidently manage their workforce and make informed decisions that support the success and profitability of their businesses.ConclusionThe recent High Court ruling has brought about a welcome change in the ongoing debate surrounding employee and contractor classifications within the building industry. By recognizing the validity of written contracts as evidence of employment status, the court has provided builders and small business owners with the clarity and certainty they need to navigate this complex landscape. This decision not only minimizes the risk of financial obligations associated with misclassification but also empowers builders to operate successful and profitable businesses. Ultimately, this positive development is a significant step forward for the building industry, offering a much-needed win for small business owners and fostering an environment of stability and confidence.

As business owners, we continually strive to optimize our operations by maximizing margins and minimizing costs. Throughout my extensive experience spanning over 25 years, I have explored various strategies to achieve this goal, including leveraging offshore labor. Initially, this approach presented significant challenges, as finding suitable offshore resources and establishing connections proved to be arduous tasks.However, the landscape has evolved, and today, there are a few reputable organizations that facilitate introductions to offshore professionals. This model has proven useful in certain cases. Nonetheless, within our business coaching sphere, we offer a more comprehensive solution. We directly connect our clients with offshore estimators trained in utilizing our software. Moreover, we provide ongoing support, fostering a sense of teamwork and integration between these estimators and our clients.This approach offers substantial benefits to our clients. By tapping into offshore estimating expertise, they can significantly reduce their costs while still receiving top-quality results. Additionally, our services encompass the entire recruitment process, from training to ongoing support, easing the burden on our clients. As a result, businesses can achieve remarkable cost savings while maintaining their profit margins, ultimately leading to enhanced net profitability.The provision of direct introductions to offshore estimators is just one example of the value-added services we offer to our business coaching clients. We firmly believe that this particular solution holds immense practicality and potential for those seeking to optimize their operations. By seamlessly integrating offshore resources into their workflows, our clients can reap the benefits of improved cost efficiency and overall business performance.In conclusion, our commitment to assisting businesses in maximizing their profitability has led us to explore innovative strategies such as connecting clients with offshore estimators. This approach not only reduces costs but also streamlines the recruitment process and provides ongoing support. We are proud to offer this valuable service to our business coaching clients, and we believe it can have a significant and positive impact on their bottom line.

When it comes to the sale of a new home build builders can find themselves in a sea of challenges. The struggle of becoming a reputable builder with the tools is magnified by the desire to become a quality business owner.  For most builders, the complexity of balancing sales and the build itself is amplified by builders who neglect to implement quality systems to support their business. Generating, organising and actioning sales leads in between being on the tools is a difficult process. This leads clients to take advantage of a builder’s time and set an unhealthy interaction between you and the client. Thankfully, with iGyro, this doesn’t have to be the case. Clients are happy to take as much of your time as they feel is acceptable. Unfortunately, this is generally more than builders can give. After-hours visits and calls. Meetings on weekends. The time adds up and hinders you from building a healthy business and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Yet, with iGyro and the systems, it includes can take the pressure off the sales process and allow you to focus on being the best builder and business owner that you can be. The less time we spend in the sales journey the more time we can spend building our business or creating healthy lifestyle choices that benefit the builder and the business. How to solve the problem of giving clients an excessive amount of time in the sales journey is to systemise the sales process. Firstly, we recognise that every client is unique, every build varies, and each sales process may take a different shape and outcome. What we outlay below are steps to assist in the typical sales journey and how builders can navigate the process to benefit their business. 1. First Contact Every sales journey starts with a client making first contact with your business. This can happen through personal connections with friends who have just built with you, digital and print advertising, social media, or other creative ways you present your business to the public.  The true test of how successful your first contact is can be measured by what happens after the first contact.  The initial interaction between builder and potential client sets the tone for what the sales process and the build process will look and feel like.  When dealing with other professionals outside the building sector we generally find ourselves making first contact with someone who is connected to sales. This could be a receptionist, administration staff or sales manager.  These people are hired for a multitude of reasons, but one of the significant advantages these employees offer is to gatekeep clients from absorbing your valuable time.  As a builder, your time is more valuable outside of the sales process, yet for most builders, the sales process takes too much of your valuable time.  Engaging clients with valuable time does not often reciprocate that they will value that time.  To create the best environment for the sales process for the client ideally first contact between the client and your business will be with someone other than yourself. This could be administration staff, a sales person or an assistant. These people should be able to take the lead on the next few steps.  2. Survey/questionnaire email The next step aims to qualify which clients your business should invest their time into. Using a survey or a questionnaire allows you to quickly and accurately determine where clients are at in the process, and how much potential there is to build a new home and create a valuable transaction of time, resources and finances between your business and the client.  The iGyro client survey process can be automated every time someone engages you digitally or maybe something a team member can manually send to a client. Either way, you are saving time and receiving important information on where best to invest your valuable time in the sales process. Surveys are generally easy to complete and can be received, filled in and submitted on any digital device.  The survey allows you to see how genuine a sales lead is by allowing the client to take the initial step in investing their time into the sales process.  3. Audition Call Once you receive the survey back you can make the decision to engage the client further or refer them to someone else. The Audition call allows for a team member to connect with the client to assist them in the journey of going to the next step in the sales process. With this Audition call being made by a team member, the aim is to set up a meeting time between the client and the builder. The Audition call’s purpose is to acknowledge that your business has received the survey, building some repour going through the survey questions and booking a time to meet with you, the trusted professional.  These meetings generally happen on the site of the proposed new home or display home, but with a social shift and increase in technology, there has also been an increase of this taking place digital via video call. One of the keys to building our reputation as industry professionals is by presenting ourselves in a professional way. The booking of this meeting and specifically, the timing of this booking is a fantastic opportunity to set the tone with the client that your time as a builder is valuable.  Setting a meeting time, a day or two after the call tells the client that you aren’t very busy. This may lead to feelings from the client that you aren’t a trusted professional because you don’t have work at present.  Giving yourself a 7–10-day lead time for the meeting sends a strong message to the client. My time is valuable, yet I am not so busy that clients are neglected.  It is important for you, the builder, to give the client the timing framework for when this meeting takes place. Tuesday morning? Thursday afternoon? Give options but set the time specifics. This will also solidify to the client that your time is valuable.  4. Send hardcopy of the design magazine One of the other reasons we want to give ourselves some time between the Audition call and the Meeting time is to give ourselves some time to send something physical to the client.  Depending on the nature of the enquiry this will determine what you are going to send. If the client has not made it clear that they have a design selected, then sending through a Design selection booklet would be a great choice. If you know the client is building a custom home, then sending something like an inclusions document may be worthwhile.  A corporate profile or industry information may also be a great physical document to share with the client at this stage of the sales journey.  There are two reasons why it is important to send something hardcopy to a potential client.  a. Most of the sales interaction takes place digitally. Email, phone calls, surveys, video calls. We find it helps the sales journey and shows you are intentional in connecting with this client if something physical is sent to the potential client.  b. Let the physical marketing document do some of the heavy lifting. Sending a physical copy of information creates a presence in the clients home where they can reference your work and your information constantly.  5. Email meeting agenda and confirm meeting time The day prior to your meeting is the perfect time to re-engage your client. We find being intentionally about this interaction yields fantastic results.  Use this interaction to do two things: a. Confirm the meeting time.  b. Send the client an agenda for the meeting.  Setting an agenda allows you to be on the front foot and allows you to be in control of the meeting. It is also a helpful tool to ensure both yourself and client discuss all the necessary things at this stage of the sales journey.  As industry professionals, we want to continue to set the tone within the sales journey. Doing so ensures the client values your time, your level of professionalism and the business.  The intentionality you bring to the sales journey will be expected in the build and allow for higher levels of confidence in you building the clients home.  It also helps to set a finishing time for a meeting. We have all been in meetings that have continued well past their usefulness. An agenda helps bring a conclusion to your time together.  6. Site/video meeting Everything up to this point in the sales journey can – and should – be organised and outworked by a team member. It is now your time to engage the client directly.  As the meeting takes place the aim is to:a. Run through the agenda Have the agenda visible. Have a pen and note pad out and take notes as items are discussed. This is a great communication opportunity to have the client experience your intention for the build ahead.  b. Complete a Site Inspection Report If onsite, this is the perfect time for your initial Site Inspection Report.  c. Take extensive site photos Creating detailed records of the site, and the site inspection is important. It is a normal process for clients to circle back 6 to 12 months into the process with new information and having photos and information from the site visit will be helpful in creating the outcomes required for this build.  d. Signed Preliminary Agreement The key objective of this meeting is to have the client sign a preliminary agreement.  It would be a foolish endeavour to do all this work without giving the cline the opportunity to sign a preliminary agreement and start the next stage of the sales journey for the build.  If you can get a signed preliminary agreement at this stage of the sales process, we believe that there will be an 80% chance of the client signing a building contract and you building their new home.   7. Design – Inclusions – Price Once a preliminary agreement has been signed, we can move into the Design, Inclusions and pricing stage of our sales process.  You are now coming back to the client with a strong position regarding design, what is included in their home and how much this home will cost to build.  We can now start the discussion around creating a beautiful home that is agreed upon by the client and leads them to signing a building contract.  It is at this stage that the time you are investing into the client is truly valuable.  One of the key aspects of the sales approach currently is resolving objections. At this stage the client will be objecting and questioning many aspects to the designs, inclusions, and pricing. This is all part of the process of creating the best out come for yourself and the client.  This is also a valuable time to offer unique points of difference, or unique value propositions that make you a great choice for building the client’s home. Finding and delivering on unique ways to bring value to the client gives you the best opportunity to solidify the transaction of this sales.The client will be continuing to shop other builders at this time. If you can stand out and deliver on unique value propositions it will go a long way to having the client sign a building contract with you. 8. Design – Inclusions – Price (repeat) The process above may take repeating to progress the client to a place of confidence to request a building contract.  9. The Building Contract For our builders, we systemise our building contract through DocuSign. This allows both the client and the builder to have confidence in accessing both digital and if preferred a physical copy of the building contract.  I hope to encourage builders to take the pressure out of new home sales by following this typical sales process, managing your valuable time and delivering fantastic outcomes for clients.              

Trying to estimate the work in progress value of your business is hard, especially if you are an Australian new home builder at the end of the financial year 2022. Your tax accountant will expect a number but where do you start? Its not like a retail shop where you can count the shelves on the 30th June. The bigger your business gets the worse the puzzle gets as there are so many moving parts. What makes things worse is the answer has a material affect on your financial reports so its worth getting an accurate number.You don’t want to be caught out by the Australian Taxation Office, and you want to get it right for your financial statements. Work in progress has such a massive impact on the business numbers and yet is very difficult to calculate as your business grows. The solution is to use gross margin percentage to calculate work in progress over the whole business in one calculation rather than labour through job by job. If you have used an estimating system that produces a complete bill of quantities for each job prior to commencment and you are also tracking the actual gross margin achieved on each job that is completed you will be able to identify your average actual and anticipated gross margin as a percentage of turnover at any time (including 30th June).Once you know your gross margin percentage you can just run the financial reports at the 30th June without a WIP adjustment. Any variance between the gross margin percentage in this report and your actual known gross margin percentage (calculated as described in the previous paragraph) becomes your WIP amount for that date.Sound simple? If this sounds like double dutch to you don't despair. Most builders core skill set is not analysing the numbers, its on the tools. nevertheless the numbers are critical and I'm happy to give you a working example using your own numbers at a time that suits you. Just book a 30 min introductory meeting with me here and I'll show you how.

If you are starting or running a building company, Glenn Leet is your best choice for specialist consulting. Twenty five years of experience in the industry speaks volumes, and Glenn has the knowledge to get your business off the ground and keep it thriving. He offers coaching, advice, and consulting services that are tailored specifically to your needs and goals. With Glenn's help, you can build a successful company that meets your unique lifestyle requirements.If you're looking for help and advice on how to take things to the next level, you need a coach. And there's no one better suited for the job than Glenn Leet. He has been a carpenter, site supervisor, franchise owner, builder, accountant, advisor to the Reserve Bank of Australia and Housing Industry Association Committee Member and he has learned what it takes to succeed. He can coach you and your team on the best practices for your industry, and help you avoid common pitfalls.What's more, Glenn is a businessman and builder himself, and knows what it takes to make a company successful. He can provide valuable insights into what works - and what doesn't - in today's market. So if you're looking for advice on how to grow your business, or just need someone to bounce ideas off of, Glenn Leet is your man. He has won many industry awards in construction world as both an owner and consultant including Professional Builder of the Year three times and Fastest Growing Builder in Australia and knows what it takes to be successful. Glenn can provide you with the advice and coaching you need to get your business off the ground. He will help you develop a plan and stay on track.If you are looking for help to build your business, or advice on how to systemise your delivery and operations, a specialist consultant can be a great resource. Glenn Leet has franchised his own building operations and currently has around fifty franchisees that he personally coaches. Glenn only invoices for results and charges based on pre-agreed performance outcomes.If you're looking to start, or take your current business to the next level, look no further. As a builder and builders accountant, Glenn knows what it takes to be successful. He offers coaching and consulting services that can help you get started on the right foot, or take your business to new heights. Contact Glenn today to get started on building success.

New Years marks a date of a clean slate and new beginnings. For a lot of people, New Years is their opportunity to learn from the prior year and make positive changes in their lives. For businesses, it is a golden chance to be able to launch their products and services to greater heights, increasing engagement but most of all making certain that engagement turns into a long lasting mutual trust between the organisation and the clients. What makes this year extra special, is that it is another step farther from the adversities brought about by the pandemic and another step closer to economic restoration. It is no secret that businesses, no matter how big, have struggled during this time, every effort was exerted just to make the company stay afloat and continue to provide products and services even in the most trying of times. Indeed, adjustments were made and lessons are learned but in this new year, the path to redemption has been reached and the gate to innovation is being opened, most especially for the building industry.  The financial crisis that was experienced by the country and the rest of the world was so severe that there was no way of telling if anyone would even be interested in trying to secure a home or even negotiate of plans of building one but the influx of people that are looking for housing in smaller towns due to flexible WFH setup even led the demands of housing and rent to sky rocket that eventually resulted to a housing crisis says otherwise. Albeit, a little unexpected, there are also families from bigger cities realising how they would appreciate living in a more peaceful setting so they are also setting out to find their own personal haven in the suburbs.  With this alone, you can tell that the building industry in the country will be busy in the next few years to be able to provide the rest of the population with services that may also be a key part in helping the economy. But then again, there are already quite a few established builders in the country so how can you make sure that the same amount of trust will be given to your humble organisation? Well, first, you will have to meet Glenn Leet.  Glenn has been in the building industry for 30 years. He made it his mission to give your business a clear path of innovation and success through encouraging potential customers to engage into your business. He believes that it begins with innovation but should also be followed through with consistency because trust and loyalty are earned not just by revolutionary developments but by being regular and steady. The journey that Glenn took to become the director of Australia's fastest growing residential housing company was a long and challenging one. He first completed his carpentry apprenticeship, building supervision, and a business degree. After completing his education, in hopes to empower others to reach for their own dreams as well, Glenn was inspired to start a building company with his accomplished wife, Angela. Together, they shared their passion to the rest of the building industry with Glenn making himself available  to engage as a building industry Professional Speaker for industry events at no charge. As Glenn Leet used to say, “I believe that using my skills to encourage and help others in a nurturing and inclusive environment is the best way to share my skills and knowledge.”  Take it from a man who started from where you are and is currently at where you want to be. 

Engagement, a word that is casually thrown around especially when one is involved in the field of business. It is the one word that guarantees the stability and continuous improvement of the business, making sure that it is getting enough attention from the target market. One of the best ways to promote customer engagement is to be able to communicate with your potential customers through various initiatives that will allow them to know more about the products and services that you offer. A common yet effective initiative is setting up an event, however this is easier said than done because hosting an event is not an easy feat, you have to plan everything from the theme up to the tiniest details. Of course, you would want your efforts to bear into fruition so you have to be smart with what you include in the programme which should definitely feature a professional whose primary goal is to get people's attention with nothing more than smart words and charming personality.A Building Industry Professional Speaker is the marketing engagement strategy you never knew you needed. He keeps customers engaged giving your business a clear path of innovation and success. He can turn this engagement into a solid long-term partnership that can produce increasing sales numbers and audience engagement.More customer interactions lead buyers to find your brand more valuable and provide you with customer insights. Those customer insights can inform marketing decisions such as retargeting and content development, as well as sales processes such as messaging and outreach methods.The marketing engagement strategy you never knew you needed is Glenn Leet. Glenn is now making himself available  to engage as a building industry Professional Speaker for industry events at no charge. As a building industry expert, he is more than willing to share what has kept him successful in the industry. He will also promote building industry organisations and suppliers that can benefit from his speaking services.Glenn has worked in the building industry for 30 years. Together with his wife Angela, they launched a construction company after finishing his carpenter apprenticeship, building supervision, and a business degree. The company’s mission was to empower others to succeed and to build the dream for hundreds of people. His building and development journey has taken him to many places, honing his skills as director of Australia's fastest growing residential housing company. His experiences enable him to be versatile, having no problem with working in a construction site or speaking in a boardroom in front of people. He is more than eager to discuss what has kept him successful in the field as a building industry specialist. He'll also promote organisations and suppliers in the building industry who could gain from his speaking skills.As Glenn Leet once said, “I believe that using my skills to encourage and help others in a nurturing and inclusive environment is the best way to share my skills and knowledge.” He aims to inspire others and add importance and impactful insights to your business and/or events. Glenn also aims to maximise the value for your attendees. Engage with your clients, engage with Glenn. Be inspired, now.

“The principle is simple: give someone a gift before you attempt to persuade them and they're much more likely to give you something back.”According to psychologist and researcher Robert Cialdini this is one of the most fundamental principles governing human relations,  the Law of Reciprocity. This law states that our brains are deeply programmed to maintain a mental scorecard of giving and receiving. If someone gives us a gift, we feel obligated to do something in return. If we ask a favor, we’re anxious to someday do one in return.This is usually the formula of how business transactions work: you offer your customers products and services and they give you something back in the form of their trust and loyalty. This sounds simple enough, but the actual process of giving and receiving is actually much more complicated than that. As an enterprise, you are expected to be the one that shall initiate the giving through your products and services. Although you can just keep on giving, how can you make sure that your gift will even be well-received? How can you entice potential customers that what you are offering is beneficial to them and are worth their consideration at the very least?Well, it can be through another gift. A Building Industry Professional Speaker is a gift that keeps on giving. He gives your business a clear path of innovation and success through encouraging potential customers to engage into your business. He can turn this engagement into a solid long-term partnership that can produce increasing sales numbers and audience engagement. He is Glenn Leet.Glenn has been in the building industry for 30 years. After completing his carpentry apprenticeship, building supervision, and a business degree, he started a building company together with his wife Angela. This company’s mission was to empower others to succeed and to build the dream for hundreds of people. His building and development journey has taken him to many places, honing his skills as director of Australia's fastest growing residential housing company. Despite his extensive expertise on actual construction, these days he is equally comfortable on a building site with a nail bag as he is in a boardroom wearing a suit, or on a development site with a laser level.Glenn is now making himself available  to engage as a building industry Professional Speaker for industry events at no charge. As a building industry expert, he is more than willing to share what has kept him successful in the industry. He will also promote building industry organizations and suppliers that can benefit from his speaking services.As Glenn Leet once said, “I believe that using my skills to encourage and help others in a nurturing and inclusive environment is the best way to share my skills and knowledge.” He aims to inspire others and add importance and impactful insights to your business and/or events. Glenn also aims to maximise the value for your attendees. Be inspired by a man who is equally inspiring and share this inspiration to others. 

Dale Carnegie, a notable American writer and lecturer once said, “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Numerous people have a plethora of different ideas but are too afraid to share them with the world because being able to carry oneself with certainty really is a major struggle for many of them. Self-doubt and fear of failure can definitely keep a person from achieving their goals, with second-guessing themselves coming to the forefront of their minds rather than acting on their own ideas.Although, they don’t always need to go through this journey to develop self-confidence by themselves. People who have experienced and pulled through the things that they’re facing are out there encouraging others to do the same thing. These individuals need a person who will guide them out of their fear; a person who is unfaltering and sure. They need an example to see and follow. A Builders Business Coach is one of them. The kind that stands tall and never has a single thought of doubt in their minds when they speak to the people that decide to listen; the kind that is credible, knowledgeable, and intelligent in the industry that they excel in. A speaker who brings life into their speeches with the intention to uplift others and potentially change an aspect of their lives, is the kind of speaker that Glenn Leet is. He has worked in the building industry for 30 years. He and his wife Angela launched a construction company after finishing his carpenter apprenticeship, building supervision, and a business degree. The objective of this company was to enable others to achieve and to help hundreds of people realize their dreams. His career in construction and development has taken him to a variety of locations, where he has honed his abilities as the director of Australia's fastest growing residential housing company. His experiences enable him to be versatile, having no problem with working in a construction site or speaking in a boardroom in front of people. Glenn is now making himself freely available to speak at industry events as a professional speaker in the construction sector. He is more than eager to discuss what has kept him successful in the field as a building industry specialist. He'll also promote organisations and suppliers in the building industry who could gain from his speaking skills.As Glenn Leet once said, “I believe that using my skills to encourage and help others in a nurturing and inclusive environment is the best way to share my skills and knowledge.” He aims to inspire others and add importance and impactful insights to your business and/or events. Glenn also aims to maximise the value for your attendees. It’s time to listen to an amazing speaker that will finally bring out the confidence that hides behind your doubts. Don’t second-guess, be inspired. 

Words - by definition, are a single distinct meaningful element of speech or writing, used with others (or sometimes alone) to form a sentence and typically shown with a space on either side when written or printed. However, no matter how many times the definition is read, it mentions nothing about how this single word holds so much power. The intensity of spoken words is probably best explained by Author, Yehuda Berg:“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.”There have been loads of speeches delivered throughout history; some have positively encouraged people to stand up for themselves and fight oppression, while some promoted tyranny that the former intended to fight. At the end of the day, it is always a choice between being constructive or destructive, and a single speech can make all the difference. For a speech to be effective and moving, the one who delivers it should be effective as well. A good building industry professional speaker is a good storyteller and they have to carry confidence, passion, and appeal as their arsenal. But for professional speakers, these characteristics are more than just their weapon, rather these are elements they embody, making them great at what they do. A Building Industry Professional Speaker brings vitality and greater excitement to any event. They are deeply knowledgeable and experienced in a particular industry therefore providing more credibility for the event. This will help promote any event, essentially increasing audience engagement because what they say tends to resonate and stick with their listeners long after the event ends… a feat, Glenn Leet, has achieved. Glenn has been in the building industry for 30 years. After completing his carpentry apprenticeship, building supervision, and a business degree, he started a building company together with his wife Angela. This company’s mission was to empower others to succeed and to build the dream for hundreds of people.His building and development journey has taken him to many places, honing his skills as director of Australia's fastest growing residential housing company. Despite his extensive expertise on actual construction, these days he is equally comfortable on a building site with a nail bag as he is in a boardroom wearing a suit, or on a development site with a laser level.Glenn is now making himself available  to engage as a building industry Professional Speaker for industry events at no charge. As a building industry expert, he is more than willing to share what has kept him successful in the industry. He will also promote building industry organizations and suppliers that can benefit from his speaking services.“ I believe that using my skills to encourage and help others in a nurturing and inclusive environment is the best way to share my skills and knowledge.” - Glenn Leet. Glenn aims to bring value and insight to your business or event and bring maximum value for your attendees. Be inspired, now.

We know all our builders need an accountant that both knows the building game and knows the accountant world. That's why we specialise and only provide accountant services to our clients from the building industry.To further protect the interests of our clients we offer free audit insurance so that if the tax man comes looking at your financial records you won't get a larger bill from the accountant and you'll get all the support you need during that stressful time.So if you're a builder don't lose sleep over Home Owners Warranty insurance, or taxation audits or getting an invoice management solution. Come and have a chat about the solutions we are providing for new home builders all over Australia.

Now that we have been providing business coaching and accountancy services to builders and building trades all over Australia for many years we realise how many of our clients are not aware of the simplicity of accessing their dealing with the Australian Taxation Office via their business portal.Many current and prospective business owners come to us and ask for help to become a builder in New South Wales or Victoria or Queensland and we help them achieve the builders licence and put business systems and processes in place to trade successfully and profitably with their  new building company.One of those systems is access to the ATO Business Portal. Through this portal they can submit their Business Activity Statement, apply for Jobkeeper subsidies and negotiate payment plans and debts with the ATO if required. They can also update their postal details and track the status of income tax refunds and other government support measures and initiatives. 

Builders and trades can operate safely during the COVID-19 era by following the HIA Industry Guidelines on your building sites.We can stay open and we can self regulate if we all adopt and voluntarily enforce the guidelines, make space onsite and ensure our suppliers do the same.Lets actively show government that our industry does not need further regulation and we can be one of the key employers to keep our economy open for business during this time.Your reality during this time is defined by your source of information and what you focus on. Make sure your focus is on the bright future of this nation and our industry and your place in it.

So here's the wrap so far:Builders in NSW get 12 CBP Points for the two day event.Day 1 is four sessions: Financial; Legal; Relational & Marketing.Day 2 is a structured business planning session you complete in a group setting.I will be delivering the fourth session on Day 2 which focuses on Marketing. So many other things fall into place more easily in business if your marketing processes are well planned and systemised and we'll explore what's working and debunk the myths.What you'll come away with is 100% clarity on what you need to focus on to see your marketing efforts yield a result in 2020. The money and time that is wasted in marketing is eye watering and yet the results are usually average at best. I'll show you with certainty what works because there will be clients in the room that it's already working for who can confirm my approach. The conference venue is easy to get to from most locations in Australia as it's walking distance from the Sydney domestic airport terminal and you won't need to leave the venue for the whole event. So you'll not only learn best practice accounting, legal and marketing principles for building trades business but you'll also learn the latest in product innovations and applications for the leading suppliers in the industry. Best of all you'll hear it all in a room full of business owners that care about where their business is going and you can catch the momentum..So if you're tired of chasing your tail in the building game and want to start a journey with lasting and profitable results either with or without a franchise solution come and join us this year for a two day event that will change your approach to your building business for ever.BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE Two day conference attendance includes lunch and snacks both days and a dinner option first day. Extra charges apply for accommodation if required. One Day (Lunch Included) - $80.00 One Day (Lunch + Dinner Included) - $210.00 Two Days (2 x Lunch + Dinner on first day Included) - $280.00 FREE Attendance for current Franchisees and Coaching Clients. (Please follow the booking link below and select the free option).Register for event 

Builders can now be confident in the business coaching and accounting advice we deliver thanks to our provisional membership with Chartered Accountants Australia.Financial Clarity is the basis for all good business decision making and we are committed to delivering this to all our clients. By working closely with not only the accounting professional bodies but also the Housing Industry Association we can deliver the specialist advice that many of our clients have been missing in their business journey.

We are really excited to welcome builders and trades business owners from Western Australia this year. Western Australia has been under represented at our events previously but this year we are expecting a strong showing from the sand-gropers. Frustratingly the Western Australian market has been flat for longer than other states and business owners in the building industry have needed to be better than average to survive.It's really no surprise though that the building industry is cyclical because it has always been that way and always will be. The only difference is how business owners position themselves to thrive in both the ups and downs of the market. We have clients that will be sharing their experiences on how to ensure you can sail through the downside of the market and profit from the upside. This information sharing session will be the focus of our second day together where you'll hear the day to day real life experiences of other business owners just like you.I asked Terry Greedy from Griffith what he thinks of the conference event as Terry has attended every year for the last five years and is arguably our most 'experienced' builder in the room. The audio isn't great but the content is GOLD so I invite you to click on the video link below to have a listen.Finally a reminder to our existing clients to register for FREE below to secure your place. We have an excellent lineup of building material suppliers who generously help sponsor the program and this includes James Hardie, PGH Bricks, Dulux and Bluescope. So you'll not only learn best practice accounting, legal and marketing principles for builders but you'll also learn the latest in product innovations and applications for the leading suppliers in the industry. Best of all you'll hear it all in a room full of business owners that care about where their business is going and you can catch the momentum..You won't be asked to sign up for anything or pushed for a commitment to join our group so please don't be nervous about coming along for the first time. For builders needing CPD points, attendance at this event achieves the 12 points per annum requirement.Register for event  

 We are so pleased to have Glenn confirmed as the guest speaker for the Housing Industry Association Industry Outlook Breakfast on Friday 23 October at the Southport Sharks Function Centre on the Gold Coast (7am - 9.30am).This continues Glenn’s long association with the HIA as firstly a member, and then committee member (volunteer) and now event speaker. The Housing Industry Association (HIA) is the official voice of Australia's residential building industry and supports members in managing and growing their business.https://hia.com.au/Membership    The response from attendees to these events previously has been excellent as we discuss all things relevant to builders and building trades business owners like financial clarity, accounting best practice and the Home Building Compensation Fund, marketing for builders, goal setting and the best legal protections available to protect small business owners that operate building related businesses.  

From Business Goals to RealityNathan and his wife Stacey had their own building business and were making it happen. Slowly but surely they had built up a reputation in a small regional community as the go to builder for renovations and additions. Nathan was detailed and particular and his clients appreciated the value for money and service. The only problem was the financial rewards were not matching the efforts.Nathan knew there had to be a better way but was not sure what to do to change things in the business when he attended a Housing Industry Association Builders Business Coaching event presented by Glenn Leet from Inspired Trades Business Coaching. He listened for the day and realised things needed to change and change fast.New home building had seemed out of Nathans reach until he learnt that anything can be achieved through the power of goal setting and consistent action in the direction of that goal and now, one year after first setting his mind to that task Nathan is about to commence construction on his first new home for a client. Nathan said,' Business coaching has been super helpful but what I didn't expect was all the addons that come with the coaching. I didn't realise I would have access to specialist builders software. I didn't realise how much we would save from the builders buying group. I didn't realise all the marketing and systems support and training and resources we would get'.With Nathans determined and disciplined approach to business and the support of Glenn and the team from Inspired Trades Business Coaching Nathan is setting himself up for a very successful 2020 and the financial rewards of the coming decade will be worth the challenges of the business restructure and new skills he's needed to master.

The Jacobs family were always known as good tradesmen. Work hard, do the right thing, look after people and the work looks after itself. But Ray knew there was more to be had.Ray wanted to double his turnover and profit every year. Fairly simple business goal and one he was on track to achieve after his first three years in business. But Ray was getting outside his comfort zone with the business. He wasn't trained with a business degree and didn't feel like going to university. That's when he met Glenn Leet at a Housing Industry Association business workshop event for builders. Glenn showed him how business improvement for builders is a teachable skill and that by simply getting 1% better each week and using proven and systemised strategies Ray could achieve his business goals year on year.Ray said,'Getting a building industry specialist business coach like Glenn has been amazing for my business. We have regular video calls one on one and I can call him for help any time I need it. I've even benefited from the buying group as well'.Rays eye watering margins are a testament to his overflowing pipeline of work and his commitment to continual improvement. His no smoking on the job site policy has also raised the eyebrows of many of the tradesmen in town but Ray knows its the small things that his clients value and that's why they keep queuing up to do business with Jacobs Building.

Business consultants tell us we must be very clear on the WHY ... but what does that even mean and why does it matter?For Wayne the WHY has been critical in giving him the stamina to reach for business success. Wayne said, 'The reason I decided to step into a systemised business model and get fair-dinkum about being a builder was that I was sick of crawling around roofs and under old buildings. I was working as a pre-purchase building inspector and was just over it. So I had a very compelling 'WHY' to systemise my business'.Like every builder Wayne has had a bumpy road to travel. Learning new skills, adopting new habits and leveraging different resources is challenging and draining. Wayne had heaps of times he just felt like quitting and going back to what he knew best but the WHY always propelled him forward.Now in his second year with the iGyro software system Wayne is starting to see the results of his commitment to the process. Wayne said,' We're now seeing two very solid enquiries every week and we're starting to build a pipeline of work with a profitable and sustainable systemised business'Every builder needs to be clear on the WHY because when you know the WHY you can go the distance through any challenge and reap the reward that successful business ownership can deliver.

When Ralph started business coaching he never new what lasting and impactful results it would have on his wife and children. Ralph knew something needed to change or he needed to get out of the building game but what to change and how?Ralph took his wife Lynelle to a HIA Business Coaching workshop in Armidale NSW presented by Glenn Leet from Inspired Trades Business Coaching. They listened for the day and decided that even if they couldn't afford business coaching they couldn't afford not to!What Ralph didn't expect was the impact business coaching would have on his family. Ralph shares in the video below how his three kids wrote a card to him thanking him for changing and Lynelle shares what it's done to restore harmony to their home.Ralph said,' I've probably wasted the last thirty years of my life trying to figure out my building business without much success. After business coaching for six months Glenn invited me to take on an Integrity New Homes franchise and since then I haven't looked back. I might have been a slow starter in this game of business but I'm going to be a strong finisher and that all comes down to a choice I made to start changing myself. I assure you if I can do it, anyone can do it with the right help and advice'.The results for Ralph have not only been psychological. Ralph shares, 'I've made more money in the first six months of this year, than the whole 12 months of last year and I expect that profit growth to continue year on year'.  

I have been on the professional speaking circuitnow for more than twelve months and I always enjoy visiting the builders andbuilding trades in Western Australia.Today I had the pleasure of being the key notespeaker at the annual Housing Industry Association Building Breakfast event atFrasers Restaurant in Kings Park Perth WA. As is usually the case the delegates in the room werefascinated to hear what is making the difference between successful trades andbuilding businesses and those that struggle or fail. I shared the top threeincluding clarity of purpose, an actionable strategy and a mind that’s closedto negativity.Sadly negative mindset is holding back so manybusinesses that would otherwise thrive if they could get just those threeessentials in place and supported or reinforced by regular business coaching.Tomorrow I continue with a full day workshop inPerth hosted by the HIA and on Thursday I do the same presentation in Bunburywhere I hope to reconnect with some current and past clients.

Pricing work as new home builder in Australia canbe difficult and time consuming as suppliers and subcontractors are constantlymoving their prices (usually upwards) and keeping track of it all ischallenging. Builders and their estimators usually have one of two options: preparea detailed bill of quantities that calculates costs line by line; or throw asquare meter rate at it.Neither of these options for quoting are sensible.Most clients assume you are doing a detailed bill of quantities (although mostare not prepared to pay for the quote) but most builders are throwing squaremeter rates at the quotes because they don’t have the time or the systems to doit any other way.As a residential builder I faced the same problem.I didn’t have the time to quote everything in detail but I knew a square meterrate was dangerous and problematic so what I did over the course of fifteenyears with the help of a software coder was write iGyro. This dedicatedbuilders’ job management software includes a systemised way to produce accurateand fast quotes for all types of new homes without needing to spend days on thetask. We have calculated that the average time to produce accurate quotes fromthe system is twenty minutes (faster on some designs).’Not only are the quotes fast for the builder to preparebut they are also formatted easily for the client to understand. I personally haveproven that a properly trained user of this quoting tool for builders canachieve margins within a two-percentage accuracy range which is exactly thesame margin of error as any other estimating process.This quoting software is the only boutique solutionin the Australian market now that you can be trained and mentored in the useoff by a builder and industry specialist, Glenn Leet. Glenn will personally trainhis coaching clients on the use of iGyro and the quotation module untilmastery is achieved by the user.If you are tired of staying up late and workingweekends to get quotes on unique and custom homes to clients find a system thatis fast, accurate and proven in the Australian building industry and you’ll beonto an invaluable building business solution.

A fog of burnout surrounds you: You’re perpetually exhausted,annoyed, and feeling unsatisfied and unappreciated. Everything in you wantsto quit your business. But is that the best choice? Various models help to explain and predict burnout, which is nowan official medical diagnosis, according to the WorldHealth Organization. One, called the Areas of Worklife model (drawnfrom research byChristina Maslach and Michael P. Leiter of the University of California atBerkeley and Acadia University, respectively) identifies six areas where youcould experience imbalances that lead to burnout. As a business coach, I’veseen that some individuals can make positive shifts in one or more of theseareas and then happily stay in their current business.Here are the six areas that can lead to burnout.1.Workload.When you have a workload that matches your capacity, you can effectively getyour work done, and have opportunities for rest and recovery. When you chronicallyfeel overloaded, these opportunities to restore balance don’t exist.To address the stress of your workload, assess how well you’redoing in these key areas: planning your workload, prioritizing your work, delegating tasks, saying no,and letting go ofperfectionism. If you haven’t been doing one or more of thesethings, try to make progress in these time management skill areas and then seehow you feel. For many individuals, especially those who have a bent towardpeople pleasing, some proactive effort on reducing their workload cansignificantly reduce feelings of burnout and provide space to rest.2.Perceived lack of control. Feeling like you lack autonomy, access to resources, and a sayin decisions that impact your business life can take a toll on your well-being.If you find yourself feeling out of control, step back and ask yourself, “Whatexactly is causing me to feel this way?” Then ask yourself what you can do to shift this situation. Onceyou’ve considered these areas, you can then see what you can do to influenceyour environment versus what won’t change no matter what you say or do.3.Reward.If the extrinsic and intrinsic rewards for your job don’t match the amount ofeffort and time you put in to them, then you’re likely to feel like theinvestment is not worth the payoff.In these instances, you want to look within and determineexactly what you would need to feel properly rewarded. For example, perhaps youneed to increase your prices. Or perhaps you need to take advantage of therewards you’ve already accrued, such as taking the ability to work your ownhours or take leave when you choose. Experiment to see which rewards would makewhat you’re doing worth it to you and whether there is the opportunity toreceive more of those rewards within your current building trades business.4.Community. Whodo you work with or around? How supportive and trusting are those relationships?In many cases you can’t change your colleagues and clients, but you can improvethe dynamic. It could be as simple as taking the time to ask others how theirday is going — and really listening. Or sending an email to someone to let themknow you appreciated their work. Or choosing to communicate something difficultin a respectful, nonjudgmental way. Burnout can be contagious, so to elevate yourindividual engagement, you must shift the morale of the group. 5.Fairness. Thinkabout whether you believe that you receive fair and equitable outcomes for yourefforts. For example, do you get acknowledged for your contributions or doother individuals get praised and your work goes unnoticed? 6. Values mismatch. If you highly valuesomething that your business partner does not, your motivation to work hard andpersevere can significantly drop. Ideals and motivations tend to be deeplyingrained in individuals and organizations. When you’re assessing this elementof burnout, you need to think carefully about how important it is to you tomatch your values with those of your team.Burnout isn’t simply about being tired. It’s a multifacetedissue that requires a well thought through solution. Before you quit, reallythink through what exactly is contributingto your burnout and attempt to make changes. Adapted HBR July 2019 Saunders

Most building industry professionals recognize the importance of networking for their business.While attending conferences or scheduling meetups are great ways to connectwith others, an often overlooked (or avoided) approach is organizing a larger eventyourself.Hosting your own events enables you to build relationships morestrategically than a conference typically allows, because you’re controllingthe guest list, and as the convener, you get “credit” for the connections yourguests make with one another. Many of my clients who are looking to scale their business havetrailed this approach and find it much easier than initially expected: youdon’t need a special skill set, and the logistics don’t have to be overwhelming.If you’re interested in organizing your own networkinggathering, here are five strategies you can use to curate your attendees andbring a fascinating mix of people together.Think strategically about educating your audience. People will attend your event if it focuses on solving a problemthey already have (or will have in the future). For example, if you want tobuild credibility as a building renovator convene events that educate attendeeson the best practice renovation techniques in your chosen niche.Decide if your event will have a theme. One way to guarantee attendees have something to talk about isto convene guests who may not know each other, but have something in common. Using the previous example, you might focus onall the architects and building designers at one event, and a second eventfocused on retail customers. Consider recruiting a co-host. But what if you feel like you don’t know enough people toinvite? Think about non-competing businesses that have the same customer as youand are also interested in growing their business and reinforcing theircredibility in the market. This will also have the effect of increasing thecredibility and appeal to the audience of the event as it won’t be as easilyperceived as a marketing stunt. This enables us to take pressure off at theevent (there are two people who can make sure the conversation is movingsmoothly), as well as cross-pollinate our social networks and meet new people.Leverage existing contacts to build your guest list. Once you’ve hosted someone at a successful seminar, they becomean ambassador of sorts. They understand what the events are like, so they havea sense of who else would make a good attendee and be eager to attend. You canleverage this dynamic to fill subsequent events with interesting guests. Followup with your guests afterward, asking if they have friends they think wouldenjoy attending in the future, and if they would introduce you. Networking is essential for business success, yet only a small percentageof building trade businesses actually make the effort to host event — oftenbecause they don’t know where to start with assembling a guest list. Byfollowing the strategies above, you can bring together remarkable people anddeepen professional relationships that will prove critical in the years tocome.Adapted HBR Jan 2019 Clark

This is where you will learn how to take your business to the NEXT LEVEL, whatever that looks like for you. We teach you how to systemise your business,  how to market your business, how to achieve the next thing for your business and we show you how to do it. We get what we tolerate, so if you tolerate mediocrity in your own leadership you will see it reflected in your team.  If you put the right Trades Business owner with the right coach,  anything is possible.  Book yourself in to the next workshop in your area, and encourage your mates who are Trades Business owners to do the same. If you don’t see a workshop  in your area, contact us - Glenn is available to attend  events as your motivational, thought invoking guest speaker. Conditions apply. Here’s the link to our BRISBANE WORKSHOP - 13th June ARMIDALE WORKSHOP -  28th June COFFS HARBOUR WORKSHOP - 11th July SYDNEY (Schofields) WORKSHOP - 18th July If for any reason,  you are unable to make it to a workshop but you are keen to move ahead in your business, Coaching may be just the right fit for you. You can book a free strategy session with Glenn here

Motivation — the willingness to get the job done bystarting rather than procrastinating, persisting in the face of distractions,and investing enough mental effort to succeed.There are four motivation traps,they are: 1) I don’t care about whatwe are trying to achieve 2) lack of self-belief, 3) volatile emotions, and 4) blamingsomething or someone else. Here are the ways to release an employee (or yourself) from itsclutches.Trap 1, I don’t care about what we are trying to achieve.Find out what the employee cares about and connect it to thetask. Too often, managers think about what motivates themselves andassume the same is true of their employees. Sometimes it may be necessary to ask an employee to,essentially, hold their nose while carrying out an undesirable task — makingclear to them the future benefit its completion will yield or the problems itwill prevent.When an employee doesn’t value a task at the outset and thevalues mismatch may not be apparent, a manager’s best bet is to try to appealto multiple values. One or more of them may resonate with the employee.Trap 2, Lack of Self-Belief.Build the employee’s sense of confidence and competence. Thiscan be done in several ways. One is to point out times in the past when they’vesurmounted similar challenges. Perhaps share examples of others just like themwho overcame the same challenges in a way the employee can do, too. Trap3, Volatile Emotions.Begin in a setting where you cannot be overheard. Tell them youwant to understand why they are upset and engage in active listening.Do not agree or disagree. Be nonjudgmental by asking what the employee believesis causing them to be upset. Then, briefly summarize what they said back tothem and ask if you have understood. If they say “no,” apologize and tell themyou are listening carefully and to “please try again.” When people feelthey have been understood, their negative emotions soften a bit. It may beuseful to tell them that you want to consider what they told you and schedule atime the next day to discuss. This often helps the person get more control overtheir emotions.Trap 4, Blaming Something or Someone ElseHelp the employee think clearly about the cause of theirstruggles with a task. Helping the employee identify exactly why thetask seems insurmountable can help them move past such avoidance. If theyidentify a cause that’s out of their control (blaming other people, forexample, or a flaw in themselves that can’t be fixed), suggest other causesthat are under their control, such as the need to adopt a new strategy or toapply a greater level of planning.With each of these four motivation traps, the trick is to thinkmore comprehensively about what stops employees from initiating, persisting,and putting in mental effort and then coach, coach, coach. Adapted HBR March 2019 Clark& Saxberg

What do you need to be happy? Of course, we know it’s not stuffthat makes us happy. Instead, real and lasting happiness comes fromsomething different entirely; something elegantly simple and entirelyattainable. So, what’s the answer for lastinghappiness? PROGRESS.If you aren’t growing, you aredying. It turns out that happiness that is true and lasting is quitesimply this: progress. If you are growing and giving, you will be happy. If you are moving forward in your life, if you are progressing personally,professionally, emotionally, spiritually — you will be happy. It is onlyin stagnation that we wilt.Remember the adage “The journey of athousand miles begins with a single step.” We all know it’s true, so thereal question is what have you been meaning to do that you’re afraid to tackle? What journey are you longing to take but can’t seem to get started? Is itthe journey to improve your building trades business, or upskill yourleadership? If you set a goal, and move towards it, step by step, it isin that movement, that progress, that you will find true happiness.What can you do to start along the pathto progress and move toward happiness tomorrow? Find a business coach thespecialises in building trades and book your first appointment. Once you startdown that path, you’re certain to find the joy you desire and deserve.AdaptedTony Robbins May 2019

Genuine recommendations from men who have engaged Inspired Trades Business Coaching and seeing huge benefits to their businesses.

Hereare five of the most important profit strategy considerations I’ve encounteredin a long career using strategy and advising building and trades companiesabout it:Strategy is not about the long-termThinkingabout strategy as some kind of long-term commitment can blind you to the factthat strategy is not about the long term or the short term, but about the fundamentals ofhow the business works: the sources of value creation, the drivers of the costto deliver it, and the basis of competition. To get a grip on strategy,we do not need to lengthen the time horizon of our thinking, but its depth. Farfrom being about things we are going to do in the future, strategy is aboutwhat we are going to do now in order to shape the future toour advantage.Become an InfluencerYourclients will pay you in direct proportion to the amount of confidence they havein you. How can you give them confidence in you and thereby increase your paygrade? The key is to demonstrate your skills and industry knowledge in everyavailable way at every available time in every available forum. Soundchallenging? Your results are a lagging indicator of your habits so if you’renot happy with your results you know what you need to do … become an industryinfluencer. Competitive advantage is essentialThetruth is that you need to rely on multiple advantages rather than just the one.What do you have that allows you to compete at an unfair advantage? Is itlocation, is it skills, is it unique processes, is it cost advantages? Findwhat these things are than focus your business on maximising your unfaircompetitive advantage in the market. Being agile won’t compensate for strategyAgiletrade businesses – especially start-ups – are always turning on a dime and theycertainly don’t seem to be following any kind of plan. Easy enough, then,to assume that what you see an agile firm doing – acting at high speed,maintaining a high tempo, being highly responsive – is all there is.Agilityis not a strategy. It is a capability, a very valuable onewhich has immediate operational benefits, but that cannot permanently affect afirm’s competitive position unless there is a strategist taking the rightdecisions about where to direct that capability. And the seeming absenceof a plan doesn’t mean that successful start-ups don’t have strategies. Astrategy is not a plan, it is a framework for decision-making, a set of guidingprinciples which can be applied as the situation evolves. And moststart-ups fail because being able to turn on a dime doesn’t mean that you’llturn in the right direction. Successful start-upsactually do a lot of hard thinking about fundamentals, questioning and testingbasic assumptions with a rigour that older businesses would do well toemulate. Start-ups have to, because their resources are extremelyscarce. If they don’t have a coherent strategy, they will make poorresource allocation decisions, and for them that will not mean a fall inearnings, but death.You need a digital strategyDigitaltechnology is a way of collecting, storing and using information, andinformation is everywhere. In its early stages, it enabled us to do whatwe did already but better. Then it enabled us to do it a lotbetter. Then it enabled us to do things we had never done before. Buildingtrade businesses without a digital strategy will never maximise their profitpotential.Inour uncertain world, fundamentals are changing so we need to think about them,whether they are valid in the short- or long-term. Think how you candeploy the capabilities you have and build new ones you need to defend yourcompetitive position. Add them in layers to create barriers. Be clear aboutwhat will make a difference so that you can make rapid resource allocationdecisions. Think deep to act fast. Strategy is still what it has always been:the art of taking action under the pressure of the most difficult conditions.Adapted HBR April 2019 Bungay

Let Inspired Trades Business Coaching help you with your profit margins, so that you can work less and earn more. Click on the link, to gain your spot at a strategy analysis session with Glenn

Hereare five of the most important profit strategy considerations I’ve encounteredin a long career using strategy and advising building and trades companiesabout it:Strategy is not about the long-termThinkingabout strategy as some kind of long-term commitment can blind you to the factthat strategy is not about the long term or the short term, but about the fundamentals ofhow the business works: the sources of value creation, the drivers of the costto deliver it, and the basis of competition. To get a grip on strategy,we do not need to lengthen the time horizon of our thinking, but its depth. Farfrom being about things we are going to do in the future, strategy is aboutwhat we are going to do now in order to shape the future toour advantage.Become an InfluencerYourclients will pay you in direct proportion to the amount of confidence they havein you. How can you give them confidence in you and thereby increase your paygrade? The key is to demonstrate your skills and industry knowledge in everyavailable way at every available time in every available forum. Soundchallenging? Your results are a lagging indicator of your habits so if you’renot happy with your results you know what you need to do … become an industryinfluencer. Competitive advantage is essentialThetruth is that you need to rely on multiple advantages rather than just the one.What do you have that allows you to compete at an unfair advantage? Is itlocation, is it skills, is it unique processes, is it cost advantages? Findwhat these things are than focus your business on maximising your unfaircompetitive advantage in the market. Being agile won’t compensate for strategyAgiletrade businesses – especially start-ups – are always turning on a dime and theycertainly don’t seem to be following any kind of plan. Easy enough, then,to assume that what you see an agile firm doing – acting at high speed,maintaining a high tempo, being highly responsive – is all there is.Agilityis not a strategy. It is a capability, a very valuable onewhich has immediate operational benefits, but that cannot permanently affect a firm’scompetitive position unless there is a strategist taking the right decisionsabout where to direct that capability. And the seeming absence of a plandoesn’t mean that successful start-ups don’t have strategies. A strategyis not a plan, it is a framework for decision-making, a set of guidingprinciples which can be applied as the situation evolves. And moststart-ups fail because being able to turn on a dime doesn’t mean that you’llturn in the right direction. Successful start-upsactually do a lot of hard thinking about fundamentals, questioning and testingbasic assumptions with a rigour that older businesses would do well toemulate. Start-ups have to, because their resources are extremelyscarce. If they don’t have a coherent strategy, they will make poorresource allocation decisions, and for them that will not mean a fall inearnings, but death.You need a digital strategyDigitaltechnology is a way of collecting, storing and using information, andinformation is everywhere. In its early stages, it enabled us to do whatwe did already but better. Then it enabled us to do it a lotbetter. Then it enabled us to do things we had never done before. Buildingtrade businesses without a digital strategy will never maximise their profitpotential.Inour uncertain world, fundamentals are changing so we need to think about them,whether they are valid in the short- or long-term. Think how you candeploy the capabilities you have and build new ones you need to defend yourcompetitive position. Add them in layers to create barriers. Be clear aboutwhat will make a difference so that you can make rapid resource allocationdecisions. Think deep to act fast. Strategy is still what it has always been:the art of taking action under the pressure of the most difficult conditions.Adapted HBR April 2019 Bungay

The sales/quoting process with any trade seems to have tyre kickers, people that waste your precious time and have no intention to buy or use your services… if this is something that causes pain in your business, get in touch with us at the link below ➡️https://bookme.name/inspiremenow/strategic-business-analysis .. .Book Glenn Leet: Building Industry Professional

One of our Coaching Clients 👍🏼 Thanks Matt!

Your Business needs to be a Sale-able item so that one day when it suits you, You can retire or move on from what you are…

Is your work andbusiness life sapping the joy out of your home and family?You’re not alone.Stress is a part of most jobs. Here are five ways to operate your businesssuccessfully without adding stress to the lives of the very people who mostwant to support you.Communicate— carefully. When you’re notfully present at home because you’re distracted by work, your family mightinterpret your lack of attention to mean that you don’t value them or that theydid something wrong. Instead, be transparent about what’s going on. But don’t over communicateto the point of worrying young minds with problems that might overly concernthem. Keep it brief and assure them you have it under control. Transition- intentionally. Come up with waysto intentionally make the transition from work mode to home mode. You mightlook at a family photo before you leave work as a way to redirect your focus toyour family.Download- elsewhere. Your familyprovides you with support and is sensitive to your stressors and moods.Although it’s helpful to communicate with them about what’s on your mind, besure not to unload all your pent-up emotions on them. Find a trustedfriend, colleague, or coach — or maybe someone from your personal board of directors — who can support you during times of highstress. Seta day aside – every week. Let your familyknow when you’ll be home and fully present and agree on a day. On thisday, you need to switch off the phone, stay away from the computer and planspecial events and fun.Countyour blessings. Research showsthat gratitude has many benefits, including reduced stress. Before you get home,review your workday to identify one thing — no matter how small — for whichyou’re grateful. By using thesestrategies you will loosen the grip stress has on you and preserve your familylife from work stress.Adapted HBR March 2019 Nawaz

Don’twaste any more time trying to make ends meet. Engage a business coach who willhelp you increase your profitability and take your business to the next level. Formore information head over to https://inspiremenow.com.au/trades-business-coachingandbook a free online strategy session with Glenn, to see if you believe yourbusiness could profit from some Strategic Business Coaching.

How do you achieve goals if you don’t even know how to set them? How do you stay accountable to those goals so that your business reaches the next level? Both great questions, am I right? Inspired Trades Business Coaching is helping Trades Business owners set and achieve goals. If you are stuck in a rut and can’t get off that hamster wheel… profits are low, time is limited and you just can’t seem to get ahead, well, we have good news for you! There is hope. We show you how. Our systems are tried and proven and they workGo to https://inspiremenow.com.au/trades-business-coachingand book yourself an online, free, no obligation strategy session with Glenn to find out how he can help you and your business. 

As employers we surround ourselves with staff that have differentskills to us, but our responsibility as leaders is to provide a workplaceenvironment where they can expand and grow those skills. This has the benefitof our people enjoying their work and has a net benefit to the business as awhole. It always translates into increasedprofitability for the business and business owners. But there are some very specific do’s and don’ts aroundproviding that environment for workplace improvement, and the feedback that yougive can either create great outcomes for the employee or just really stallthem in terms of their improvement. So this is how you help your people thrive: Firstly, it’s all in the language, so essentially criticalfeedback is entirely unproductive. Critical feedback is perceived as a threat,and it actually impairs learning rather than enables it. So when you try to help an employee in areasto improve you need to think about different language. Instead of saying, “Can I give you some feedback”, whichstraight away comes across as a negative, you are looking for a different wayto frame language like that, so you might say “look here’s the way I see that”,so straight away you’re reframing the way you give the feedback so that itdoesn’t come across as a critical. Instead of saying, ‘here’s what you did wrong’, you couldsay, ‘these are the three things that really worked for me when I did that taskor when I tried to get that outcome’.Instead of saying ‘’here’s what you should do’, you could say‘here’s what I would do’, so the language is framing an environment foropenness in receiving information, rather than closing their mind.Instead of saying ‘here’s what you need to improve’, say‘here’s what worked best for me and here’s why’.Or if their communication is not great you could say…’it wasat this point that you started to lose me’, ‘So, you can see that the message you are communicating is thesame but the angle you are coming from is completely changed and opens theemployee up to learning.We are often told that you need to get someone out of theircomfort zone to learn or to be challenged and grow, but the research actuallysuggests the exact opposite, you have got to try and grow people from insidetheir comfort zone. If you take people outside their comfort zone, their brainstops paying attention to anything other than surviving the experience, forexample; of potentially being belittled or told or what they did wrong andthere’s no learning going on whatsoever.So the best outcomes for employee growth and improvement andlearning are creating an environment where the employee feels comfortable, andthen adding to their knowledge base whilst in a place of comfort, then you willfind that they are very open. When they are open, their minds are creative,insightful and productive and that’s where feedback is the most effective interms of moving employees forward in their knowledge and understanding of the learningthey need to achieve the best outcomes.Adapted HBR March 2019Buckingham & Goodall

How do you go from where you are to where you want to be in your business? What’s your NEXT LEVEL? Inspired Trades Business Coaching can help give you systems and strategies to do just that. Book a no obligation free online strategy session today to find out how a business coach can help you move your business forward https://bookme.name/inspiremenow/strategic-business-analysis

Consistency, with the right formula for your business, is key to success. A great Coach will identify your needs, where you are at, where you want to go in your business, and step by step, will help you to set and achieve one goal after another! CLICK HERE to Book an online, obligation free Strategy Session with Inspired Trades Business Coaching today. We will guarantee, coaching can take you to whatever your NEXT LEVEL is, in your business. Or head to this link below:https://bookme.name/inspiremenow/strategic-business-analysisInspired Trades Business Coaching will help you increase your profits so much that the cost of coaching will be the best thing you ever spent on your business growth. 

Does your Building or Trades Business need a kick in the pants… Do you need someone to make you accountable for the HOW and WHY in your business? Contact Inspired Trades Business Coaching today for a FREE no obligation ½ hour online call to see how we can help your business to be better… even 1% better everyday is better than stagnation. https://bookme.name/inspiremenow/strategic-business-analysis

We all make mistakes in business - the fewer thebetter but life and business have this as a common denominator. The question isnot if you’re going to make a mistake, the question is how you recover from onewhen you do. Here are some strategies to help:Firstly, identify what steps can be taken to remedythe mistake both immediately and then medium and longer term. A bad decision is no reason to become indecisive,but rather an opportunity to learn from the mistake and grow stronger from it.When you have identified what can remedied, share both the mistake and what canbe remedied with your team, so they are empowered and not afraid to makemistakes themselves from time to time.Armed with the best remedies you can muster, reachout and apologise to anyone affected by your mistake. This may include your staff,your colleagues and your customers but this process will be the best thing youcan do to restore any relationships damaged by the error.Whatever the mistake, you can become a better businessowner with this knowledge. Don’t ever become despondent or distracted. Learnfrom it and you can get better at anything but you will not get betterif 1) you don’t want to and 2) you aren’t willing to feel the discomfort ofdoing things differently.If you’re tired of learning from your mistakes andwould prefer to learn from training and education, find a business mentor orcoach and come under their instruction to point you in the right direction.Ideally find someone from the building industry with heaps of experience undertheir belt and then ask them to teach you and hold you accountable to theoutcomes.

I often talk to business owners in the trades who think thatthe key to a successful and profitable business is to work yourself to the boneand never take a break. Sometimes they wear the pain like a badge of honour andcelebrate the fact they haven’t had a holiday for years.This is both a terrible mistake and false. The best businessowners (and all of our longstanding clients) understand that there is a directlink between successful and profitable building trades business ownership anddisciplined time off. The best leaders are very good at working hard when itstime for work, and forgetting about work to connect with friends and family andthemselves so they can rejuvenate their mind.To start this discipline the first step is to aim for 24consecutive hours break per week. The same time every week is ideal, and a timethat allows connection with your family is better still. If business owners adoptthis one simple discipline and commit to it firmly, massive mental clarityfollows.With mental clarity you can assess your business properly andrealise that the steps to sustainable profit are really summarised as follows:1. Financial and time management clarity.2. Identifying a Profitable Niche.3. Marketing to that niche using educational marketingtechniques.4. Systemising every aspect of your sales, administration anddelivery.5. Employing a great team.6. Having a mentor or business coach to keep you on track.

Do we have the golden touch? Not really, we apply proven strategies that work to businesses and the results speak for themselves. To watch the video and learn how Ben Rees systemised his sales process ~ click HERE To stay in touch connect with us at www.inspiremenow.com.au

Business owners often tell us that their team is“dysfunctional” (their word, not ours) and ask us to help identify and fix theissue. When we dig deeper and ask them to describe what they are observing indetail, we typically hear that certain team members are problematic and need tochange their behaviour. We also hear vague statements about “them” (everyoneelse) not knowing how to operate effectively. As experienced business coaches,we know that these are not accurate or helpful assessments of the situation.Teams are complex systems of individuals with differentpreferences, skills, experiences, perspectives, and habits. The odds ofimproving that complex system in a meaningful and sustainable way are higher ifevery team member — including the leader — learns to master these three foundationalcapabilities: internal self-awareness, external self-awareness, and personalaccountability.Internal self-awareness Internal self-awareness involves understandingyour feelings, beliefs, and values — your inner narrative. When we don’tunderstand ourselves, we are more likely to succumb to the fundamentalattribution error of believing that the behaviors of others are the result ofnegative intent or character (“he was late because he does not care”) andbelieving that our own behaviours are caused by circumstance (“I was latebecause of traffic”). Teammates with low internal self-awareness typically seetheir beliefs and values as “the truth,” as opposed to what is true for thembased on their feelings and past experiences. They can fail to recognize thatothers may have equally valid perspectives.The good news is that internal self-awareness canbe learned. To start, you — as a leader of the team or a teammate — can pause, reflect, and consider your responses to thesequestions when you find yourself in challenging or emotionally-chargedscenarios.· What emotions am I experiencing?· What am I assuming about anotherperson or the situation?· What are the facts vs. myinterpretations?· What are my core values, and howmight they be impacting my reactions?If you take the time to consider your responses andresist the impulse to rush to an answer, you can learn a great deal aboutyourself. As William Deresiewicz, author of Solitude andLeadership, said in an address at West Point, “[The] first thought is never[the] best thought.”External self-awareness External self-awareness involves understanding howour words and actions impact others. Most of the business owners we work withhave no idea how their behaviours are impacting their colleagues. As a result,it’s difficult for them to recognize and leverage the strengths that make thema productive teammate, as well as identify and correct behaviours thatnegatively impact the team. Without this knowledge, they can’t improve.One way to start building external self-awarenessis to observe others’ reactions during discussions. Did someone raise theirvoice? Stop talking? Gesture? Sit back from the table? Smile? You cancollect some valuable information this way. You should also be mindful of thefact that you will reach some inaccurate conclusions. In these situations,remember that you are interpreting why colleagues react the way they do,and those interpretations will be influenced by your personal beliefs andexperiences. Paying attention to your internal self-awareness and consideringhow you reached your initial conclusions will help.A more direct approach is to ask teammates for specific, straightforward feedback:· What am I doing in team meetings thatis helpful?· What am I doing that is not helpful?· If you could change one part of how Iinteract with the team, what would it be?This may feel risky and uncomfortable, but it’s theonly way you can get accurate data about the impact of your words and actions.In terms of timing, you should carefully assesswhether it is additive to the discussion at hand to ask for feedback in themoment, or whether it is better to ask later. For example, in a one-on-oneconversation with a trusted colleague, it’s probably OK to pause and ask.However, in a big team meeting, pausing the conversation to get personalfeedback can be disruptive to what your team is trying to accomplish.Personal accountabilityWhen we think of accountability, we typically thinkof holding others accountable. But the most effective leaders and teammates aremore focused on holding themselves accountable.Like self-awareness, this sounds easy, though itrarely is. When confronted with a challenge or discomfort, many of us haveestablished unhealthy patterns: blaming or criticizing others, defendingourselves, feigning confusion, or avoiding the issue altogether.If a team is not working well together, it’s highlylikely that every team member is contributing to the difficulty in some way,and each of them could be taking personal accountability to make the team moreeffective.To be a personally accountable leader or teammate,you need to take these steps:1.Recognize when there is a problem.Sometimes this is the hardest part because we’d rather look away or talk abouthow busy we are instead. Resist the urge to do so.2.Accept that you are part of theproblem. You are absolutely contributing to the situation.3.Take personal responsibility forsolving the problem.4.Stick with it until the problem iscompletely solved.A small shift in mindset will directly impactbehaviors and can have a significant positive impact on an entire team.Taking actionIn most teams, a typical response to frustration is“my teammate is annoying.” But when an effective leader or teammate becomesfrustrated, she will put the above tips into practice instead:· Explore her reactions by consideringher emotions, beliefs and values, and asking herself what in her is causingthis reaction (internal self-awareness).· Consider the impact she may be havingon others by observation or inquiry (external self-awareness).· Assess how she is contributing to thesituation and make a conscious choice about how to react to improve the team’soutcomes (personal accountability).Most teams we work with learn to operate moreeffectively by building and strengthening these three capabilities over time.Changing how we process information and respond requires not just learningthese new skills, but also demonstrating them long enough to form new habits. Effective teammatesbelieve that, sometimes, you have to go slow to go fast. They invest the timeand energy needed to build these foundational skills, so they can be better attackling the difficult business opportunities and challenges that they face.Adapted HBR JenniferPorter January 2019

Business managers have a huge effect on how employees spend their time. Onecomment in a meeting or quick email can drastically sway a schedule, and evenruin a weekend. But when leaders are deliberate and thoughtful with theirchoices, they can create opportunities and time for their teams to do valuablework. To master the art of making intentional choices, leaders should focus onthree things: the work environment they create,the expectations they have, and the examples they set through theirchoices and actions. Environment1. Treat new tools as debt. Before you add a new product, process, or platform to your company, askyourself if it’s worth it. There will always be new technologies and processesyou can adopt — an app promising better communication, a service promisingsmarter collaboration. But these products don’t always deliver. And when you’reovereager about trying shiny new things, it can hurt your team more than ithelps them. People may become bogged down incorporating a new tool into theirworkflow, or scattered while attempting to learn a new process. Of course thesethings can be useful if the timing is right and the strategy is solid, but theyalso come at a cost.2. Block as a team. Blocking your calendar is a simple and defensible way to make time forthe work that matters. You can supercharge this tactic by agreeing to blockyour calendar as a team. When everyone in a group or department has the same“do not schedule” blocks on their calendar, it’s much easier to spend that timefocused on work.3. Make your workplace a place forwork. Ironically, mostoffices are not great for getting work done, and open floor plans deserve most of theblame. Moving walls may not be realistic, but you can change thedefault behaviour of your team by instituting Library Rules. JasonFried, co-founder and president of 37signals and co-author of Rework, has abrilliant suggestion: Swap one default (you can talk to anyone anytime)with a different default, one that everybody already knows (act like you’rein a library).4. Keep it small. Large teams have more overhead than small ones. Complicated projectshave more unknowns than simple ones. Long timelines encourage people to take onunnecessary work. This probably seems obvious, but my experience is that mostleaders make things bigger than they need to be. Keep teams, projects, andtimelines as small as possible.Expectations5. Reward the right behaviors. The 21st Century workplace is full of rewards for long hours and fastresponses: compliments, promotions, and cultural badges of honor. If you wantto get better, more valuable work from your team, think about which behaviorsyou reward — even if those rewards are small and unconscious. 6. Have a contact contract. We have so many ways to keep in touch at work — writing emails, sendingchats, scheduling meetings, hopping on calls. Which form of communication isthe most appropriate, and when? You can help your team decide by having an opendiscussion about everyone’s preferences and then making guidelines that workfor the majority. Think about timeliness, thoughtfulness, interruption, andsynchronicity. The decisions you come to don’t have to be a literal contract,but they should create an understanding about when and how to communicate.7. Don’t ask for updates. Nothing triggers anxiety like an email from the boss late in the day:“Hey, can you send me a quick update on Project Alpha?” This kind of messageappears urgent — even if it’s not — and it will likely take time for youremployee to respond. They may have to run numbers or ask collaborators forupdates. A better way to keep tabs on projects is to ask your team forsummaries. Explain to them that summaries come at the end of a project, or marka milestone, and include: the results, the lessons learned, and what needs tohappen next. 8. Be mindful of what you say,because everyone’s listening. Whenleaders make careless comments or suggestions, they can unintentionally changethe workflow of their teams. It takes great restraint as the leader not to keeplobbing ideas at everyone else. Every such idea is a pebble that’s going tocause ripples when it hits the surface. Throw enough pebbles in the pond andthe overall picture becomes as clear as mud. Leaders need to recognize theweight their words carry, and practice speaking with thoughtful intention.9. Don’t expect consensus. Gettingeveryone to agree before moving forward with a decision can waste time ifconsensus is not realistic. In fact, a little conflict often inspires learning and innovation, especiallyon diverse, thoughtful teams. The key, then, is to collectinput from everyone, consider your options, and then make a decision based onwhat you think is best given the information you have. Be transparent with yourteam about how you made the decision — what you considered, and why — and settime aside to answer questions. People should walk away with a clearunderstanding of your choice and how it affects their work. This will save youtime later on.Examples10. Turn off the phone. Your decisions about how you spend your time sets the example for youremployees. As a leader, you might want them to know you’re available whenthey need you — but if being logged in and responsive at all times becomes yourdefault, it might become theirs too. Projecting this kind of presence sends themessage that it’s okay for people to interrupt you whenever you’re needed, orworse, that the company values the appearance of availability over the time andfocus needed to do great work. The solution is to create boundaries. Bestraightforward about your time, when you need to focus, and when you are free.A good option is to create “office hours” — periods when anyone can drop in orschedule time with you . These meetings will allow you to give people yourundivided attention when you’re available to do so.11. Be thoughtful, not reactive. When leading new initiatives, take the time to thoughtfully write yourideas down and consider them. Try not to “think out loud” in meetings. Even ifyou are brainstorming with others, avoid making a decision on the spot. Giveyourself the mental space you need to feel confident that the decision you makeis the best path forward. This will save time down the road, and help your teamavoid unnecessary road blocks or last minute changes. Ask: How can I make this— product, service, or company — better right now? What are the first steps?12. Take real breaks. Leave work early. Take a weekend getaway. Go on a long holiday. And whenyou do, tell your team you’ll be out of the office and offline. Delegate peopleto make decisions while you’re out, or defer those decisions until you comeback. Real breaks can make you a better leader, a happier person, and set thestandard that people need, and deserve, time off.If you’ve ever wished for betterwork, greater job satisfaction, or less stress for your team, you have thepower to make those changes by rethinking the decisions you make about time.New behaviours have a funny way of becoming habits. What sounds crazy and newright now will seem normal and inevitable in a couple of years. Take theseideas as experiments you can run with, and start testing them tomorrow.AdaptedHBR Jan 2019 Zeratsky

Many people believe that being a good manager onlyrequires common sense, and that it is therefore easy to be done. If this weretrue, good managers would be commonplace and as a result, employee engagementand retention would be high. However, only 13% of workers worldwide are engaged at work. As these statistics suggest,either most managers lack common sense, or good management is, in fact, quitechallenging in practice.When managers subscribe to the “common sense” viewof management, they see little value in exerting effort when it comes toleading their teams. In turn, they become lazy managers. There are at least twosymptoms associated with lazy management: 1) a tendency for managers to blamelow performance and turnover on employees, rather than on oneself or on theorganization, and 2) a tendency for managers to look for quick fixes to complexretention problems.Psychologists have long recognized that peopleoften overestimate the role of personality and underestimate the power of thesituation in shaping human behaviour. When managers become lazy, they tend tomake this fundamental attribution error more frequentlyand on a larger scale, believing that employees act the way they do because ofwho they are. By blaming employees for performance problems or retentionissues, lazy managers free themselves from doing the hard work of consideringhow their own management style affects employee satisfaction, performance, andturnover.Also, because lazy managers believe that goodmanagement is simple, when things go wrong, they are drawn to simple solutionsthat are easy to find. For example, when employee retention becomes a problem,lazy managers may be quick to suggest pay raises or bonuses as the antidote — acostly solution that may fail to address the underlying issue(s). The latestmanagement fads may also be more appealing to lazy managers. Indeed, the sheervolume and availability of solutions to employee engagement and retentionproblems through blogs, books, podcasts, and other sources is greater thanever, and the reality is that much of it targets lazy managers seeking quickfixes.First, when employees are disengaged, rather thanasking what is wrong with them, managers should instead start by consideringthe possibility that management is doing something wrong. After opening theirminds to this possibility, managers can determine whether this is the case bycollecting data. For instance, quick, frequent “pulse surveys” may be useful for keeping tabson how employees feel about their own jobs and the job that management isdoing; likewise, self-development tools, such as the Reflected Best Self exercise, a tool thathelps people understand and leverage their individual talents, may provideleaders with feedback that can help them use their strengths more effectively.In short, managers need to take the uncomfortable and intentional step of gatheringevidence from others to inform what they can be doing to re-engage theiremployees. The good news is that by simply signalling to employees that amanager is willing to work hard and make meaningful changes, some employeeswill feel more supported and inclinedto stay.Second, managers who are willing to make the effortwill find that there are ongoing advances in the practice and study ofmanagement which offer an ever-expanding set of tools for diagnosing andaddressing employee retention challenges. Not every toolfit a given manager’s style and the organization’s circumstances. Therefore,good managers must not only continually learn, but also must have thediscipline to verify whether the advice they do receive, even when based onstrong evidence and best practices, will apply to their team. For example,before providing employees with customer feedback in order to stoke their prosocial motivation — that is,their interest in helping customers for altruistic, unselfish reasons — a trialrun with a subset of employees can provide evidence regarding whether it willimprove employee attitudes and performance, and if so, by how much.Fortunately, there are resources available to managers who want tolearn more about “people analytics” and how to use it to improve theirorganizations.Finally, when retention issues crop up, leadersshould consider whether lazy management is contributing to the problem. Ifmanagers are just going through the motions when it comes to employeeengagement and retention, it could indicate that they lack the necessary time,resources, and motivation to do more. Since effortful management requiresenergy in the short-term, but does not pay off until down the road, somemanagers forgo their responsibilities to their people because they are toofocused on meeting short-term objectives. To discourage lazy management, then,managers must be given the support, incentives, and direction needed tomotivate them to dedicate time and energy toward more actively managing theirteams. Management is not easy, and it takes a lot morethan common sense to develop and retain a highly motivated workforce thesedays. By abandoning the “just common sense” mentality associated with lazymanagement, managers can learn how their actions influence employees, stoplooking for easy fixes, and exert the thought and effort that is uncommon intoo many workplaces.AdaptedHBR Jan 2019 Bolino & Klotz

The key to any successful relationship is effectivecommunication. In the business world, this means trying to understand whatconsumers and clients are saying, and responding to them in ways that persuade.It is now clear, that some of the time-honored truthsof customer service interactions fail to hold up to scientific scrutiny. Youcan, for example, saying “sorry” to a customer too many times. Even if you’re amember of the company’s team, it is often better to say “I” than “we.” And notevery piece of communication needs to be perfect; sometimes, a few mistakesproduces a better result than flawlessness.Here is the latest on the fast-growing, insightful,and sometimes surprising new world of business language research.Be Human…The body of research analyzing language use betweenemployees and customers, suggests a personal touch is indeed crucial.Speak as an individual, not part of ateam. For instance, saying “How can Ihelp you?” outperforms “How can we help you?”. For one company, an analysis ofover a thousand email interactions with customers found that switching to firstperson singular pronouns could lead to a potential sales increase of over 7%.Share the same words. People who mimic the language of the person they’reinteracting with are trusted and liked more, whether this mimicry entails how theytalk (pronouns like “I” or “we,” articles like “it” or “a”) or what theytalk about (nouns like “car,” verbs like “drive,” adjectives like “fast”). Forexample, in response to a customer inquiry such as “Will my shipment arrivesoon?” an agent would be better off saying “Yes, your shipment will arrivetomorrow,” rather than “Yes, it’s being delivered tomorrow.” First, relate. Expressing empathy and caring through “relational”words is critical, at least in the first(opening) part of service interactions. Relational words are verbs and adverbsthat demonstrate concern (e.g., please, thank you, sorry) as well as signalagreement (e.g., yes, uh huh, okay). While this may not seem surprising, whatmay be for some is that front-line employees shouldn’t necessarily offer acaring, empathetic touch over the entirety of the interaction.… And Then Take ChargeMore sophisticated analysis of the language ofcustomer interactions suggests that once they’ve shown they’re listening,front-line employees should quickly shift gears towards language that signals amore assertive, “take charge” attitude.Move from relating to solving. After an initial period in which the employeedemonstrates their empathy for the customer’s needs, hearing employees say“sorry” and other “relating” words had little effect on customer satisfaction. Customersatisfaction is higher when front-line employees dynamically shift fromdeferent words (e.g., afraid, mistake, pity) to more dominant language (e.g.,must, confirm, action).Be specific. Customers see employees as more helpful when theyuse more concrete language. For example, for a builder or tradesman, “expansionjoint” is more effective than “crack”.Don’t beat around the bush. Subtle variations in the words used to endorse aproduct or action can have substantial effects. For example, people are more persuasive when theyuse words that explicitly endorse the product to the customer (“I suggesttrying this one” or “I recommend this paint”) rather than language thatimplicitly does so by sharing the speaker’s personal attitude (“I like thisone” or “I love this paint”) towards a product or service. This is becauseexplicit endorsements signal both confidence and expertise on the part of therecommender, a perception that could be particularly important in personalselling contexts.As more and more consumer-firm conversation movesonline or to other text-based media, the importance of utilizing languageproperly is greater than ever. Adapted HBR Oct 2018Moore, McFerran & Packard

As a leader, much of what you do is relativelyforgettable. I don’t mean to insult, but your routine actions on routine daysare experienced by your team as, well, routine.But for non-routine days — the days when you areunder the gun, feeling the heat, or pushed to your limits — how you respondunder the pressure makes an indelible impression on the people around you. Researchshows that your temperament in these crucial moments has a tremendous impact onyour team’s performance.When the hammer comes down, are you calm,collected, candid, curious, direct, and willing to listen? That would be ideal,wouldn’t it? Or would your team describe you as upset, angry, closed-minded,rejecting, or even devious?Whenunder pressure:· 53% of leaders are more closed-mindedand controlling than open and curious.· 45% are more upset and emotional thancalm and in control.· 45% ignore or reject rather thanlisten or seek to understand.· 43% are angrier and more heated thancool and collected.· 37% avoid or sidestep rather than bedirect and unambiguous.· 30% are more devious and deceitfulthan candid and honest. And while you can be great 95 percent of time, thenon-routine behaviour leaves a lasting impression. The five percent of momentswhen stakes are high, and the heat is on —reveals the truth about who you reallyare.The research found that when leaders buckle underpressure, it doesn’t just hurt their influence, it also hurts their teams.Respondents said that when their leader clams up or blows up under pressure,their team members have lower morale; are more likely to miss deadlines,budgets, and quality standards; and act in ways that drive customers away.When leaders fail to practice effective dialogue understress, their team members are more likely to consider leaving their job thanteams managed by someone who can stay in dialogue when stressed. Team membersare also more likely to shut down and stop participating, less likely to goabove and beyond in their responsibilities, more likely to be frustrated andangry, and more likely to complain.Let’s walk through an example to see how a fewsimple skills can help a leader be at their best even when the pressure is on. · Determine what you really want. Focus on a positive destination like “Showing mybest self” or “Making sure the team understands my appreciation for thesacrifice I’m going to ask them to make,” for example.· Challenge yourstory. The best leaders challenge their stories. So youcould ask, “Why might a rational, reasonable, and decent person make themistake that she made?” and “What role did I have in allowing her mistake to gounnoticed and uncorrected?” These questions move us from angry judge to curiousproblem solver, and make us far more effective as leaders.· Start withfacts. When we’re angry, we lead with our emotions,instead of with the facts. Skilled leaders tamp down the temptation to levelaccusations, and gather the facts. Specifically, focus on what you expected:the commitments, standards, policies, or targets that were missed. Then, addwhat you observed: the specific actions with dates, times, places, andcircumstances as necessary. Don’t add your conclusions, opinions, or judgments.Because facts are neutral and verifiable, they become the common ground forproblem solving.· Createsafety. When you’re under pressure with your job orreputation on the line, how do you light a fire under your team without showingthem your anger? Can you get your team to put in the overtime you’ll need fromthem without threatening them? The short answer is yes. The study showed thatteams work harder and more effectively if a boss doesn’t lose their temper withthem. So you don’t have to threaten. Share your positive intent by sayingsomething like, “This is not about blaming, it’s about fixing. I want us to focuson how we can solve our immediate problem. Then we can circle back to find waysto prevent it from happening again.” By framing your intent, you get your teamfocused on what they need to do, and not on how they are being mistreated. When the heat turns up at work, most of us aren’tat our best. If you’ve lost your temper in the past, be easy on yourself. Youmay do it again. But don’t be discouraged – or complacent. Ask yourself, “Whenit matters most, who am I?” While it isn’t easy to step up to your best selfunder pressure, it is incredibly important. These are defining moments for youand for your team.AdaptedHBR Dec 2018 Maxfield & Hale

When thinking about how to develop our business,most of us tend to focus on projects, courses, and certifications. We overlookone very key piece of the learning puzzle: proactively surroundingourselves with people who will push us to succeed in unexpected ways and, in sodoing, build genuinely rich, purposeful lives of growth, excellence, andimpact.We typically spend at least two decades in ourformal education and, in developed countries, hundreds of thousands of dollars.However, few of us engage in a deliberate, determined search for those wiseindividuals who, through their inspiration and advice, can literally make usnew.How can you find this group? The followingguidelines should help:Think about the people who inspire you. These can be teachers of certaindisciplines; inventors; entrepreneurs; business, social, or publicleaders. I have always been moved and inspired by specific people,not just abstract professions. I “met” them originally in many cases byreading their work or about them, but also via social media and at conferences.Don’t be afraid to chase. Conferences are a great place to getinspired, approach, and start a relationship with some of the people you’veidentified. Other cases may require a much more determined investment. Butthink how little time commitment it is compared to what we invest in oureducation, or to the opportunity cost and frustration of a poor career choiceor wrong job decision.Aim for a mix of people inside and outside your industry. External contacts can potentially have thebenefit of greater independence, a broader perspective with radically newhorizons, as well as potential connections across both worlds which willbenefit everyone.Be candid about the reason for your interest. Most truly great people live their liveswith genuine passion and want to expand their missions. Most times, theywill be delighted to both inspire you and help you see how to close the gapbetween dream and reality.Ask them specifically about how to get started. Some invaluable advice about what I had todo: You need three Cs: capability, which you have; connectivity, which atleast initially you can do through the global network of social media; andcredibility, which you don’t have yet. Have crucial conversations in the right settings. Meeting face-to-face with no distractionswill help you reach a level of intimacy which simply can’t achieveremotely. Don’t hesitate to ask the truly big questions. What shall I do with my life? What reallymotivates me? What am I doing that I really don’t like to do? Whilepondering these questions, in addition to checking my capability, connectivityand credibility, I also engage my friends in conversation about three otherCs: contemplation (Am I in touch with my inner compass?), compassion (DoI show it for myself and others?), and companions (Who else might inspire me tonew growth?)Proactively seeking out and cultivating those whowill help us become better versions of ourselves is, by a wide margin, the keyfor living a truly happy and meaningful life. Adapted HBR Sept 2018Fernandez-Araoz———————————————————————————————To learn more about Inspired Trades and the work we do, please don’t hesitate to go to our website and download our FREE ebook “10 Steps to a Million Dollar Trades Business” www.inspiremenow.com.au

Motivating yourself is hard. But effectiveself-motivation is one of the main things that distinguishes high-achieversfrom everyone else. So how can you keep pushing onward, even when you don’tfeel like it?To a certain extent, motivation is personal. Whatgets you going might not do anything for me. And some individuals do seem tohave more stick-to-itiveness than others. However, after 20 years of researchinto human motivation, the following strategies have been identified that seemto work for most people.Design Goals, Not ChoresAmple research has documented the importance ofgoal setting. Studies have shown, for example, that when salespeople havetargets, they close more deals, and that when individuals make daily exercisecommitments, they’re more likely to increase their fitness levels. Abstractambitions—such as “doing your best”—are usually much less effective thansomething concrete, such as bringing in 10 new customers a month or walking10,000 steps a day. As a first general rule, then, any objectives you setfor yourself or agree to should be specific.Find Effective RewardsSome tasks or even stretches of a career areentirely onerous—in which case it can be helpful to create externalmotivators for yourself over the short- to-medium term. You might promiseyourself a holiday for finishing a project or buy yourself a gift for quittingsmoking. A common trap is to choose incentives thatundermine the goal you’ve reached. If a dieter’s prize for losing weight is toeat pizza and cake, he’s likely to undo some of his hard work and re-establishbad habits. If the reward for excelling at work one week is to allow yourselfto slack off the next, you could diminish the positive impression you’ve made.Research on what psychologists call balancing shows that goal achievement sometimeslicenses people to give in to temptation—which sets them back.Sustain ProgressWhen people are working toward a goal, theytypically have a burst of motivation early and then slump in the middle, wherethey are most likely to stall out. Fortunately, research has uncovered severalways to fight this pattern. I refer to the first as “short middles.” If you breakyour goal into smaller subgoals—say, weekly instead of quarterlytargets—there’s less time to succumb to that pesky slump.A second strategy is to change the way you thinkabout the progress you’ve achieved. When we’ve already made headway, the goalseems within reach, and we tend to increase our effort. Another mental trick involves focusing on whatyou’ve already done up to the midpoint of a task and then turning yourattention to what you have left to do. Research has found that this shift inperspective can increase motivation. Harness the Influence of OthersHumans are social creatures. We constantly lookaround to see what others are doing, and their actions influence our own. Evensitting next to a high-performing employee can increase your output. Listening to whatyour role models say about their goals can help you find extra inspiration andraise your own sights.Interestingly, giving advice rather than asking forit may be an even more effective way to overcome motivational deficits, becauseit boosts confidence and thereby spurs action. A recent study found that peoplestruggling to achieve a goal like finding a job assumed that they needed tipsfrom experts to succeed. In fact, they were better served by offering theirwisdom to other job seekers, because when they did so, they laid out concreteplans they could follow themselves, which have been shown to increase drive andachievement.A final way to harness positive social influence isto recognize that the people who will best motivate you to accomplish certaintasks are not necessarily those who do the tasks well. Instead, they’re peoplewho share a big-picture goal with you: close friends and family or mentors.Thinking of those people and our desire to succeed on their behalf can helpprovide the powerful intrinsic incentives we need to reach our goals. CONCLUSIONIn positive psychology, flow is defined as amental state in which someone is fully immersed, with energized focus andenjoyment, in an activity. Alas, that feeling can be fleeting or elusive ineveryday life. Self-motivation is one of the hardest skills to learn, but it’scritical to your success.Adapted HBR Dec 2018 Fishbach———————————————————————————————To learn more about Inspired Trades and the work we do, please don’t hesitate to go to our website and download our FREE ebook “10 Steps to a Million Dollar Trades Business” www.inspiremenow.com.au

You’ve left an important task undone for weeks.It’s hanging over you, causing daily anxiety. And yet instead of actually doingit, you do a hundred other tasks instead.These self-sabotaging patterns maintain a cycle ofalways having too much to do (or at least feeling like that’s the case). If you’re chronically tapped out of the immenseamount of mental energy required for planning, decision making, and coping,it’s easy to get lured into these traps. Let’s unpack the problems inmore detail and discuss solutions.1. You keep ploughing away without stepping backand prioritizing.When we’re busy and stressed, we often default toworking on whatever has the most imminent deadline, even if it’s notparticularly important.Stress causes our focus to narrow to the point where we’re just keeping going,like a hamster on a wheel. We go through the motions of getting things done,without actually stepping back and considering what’s most important to workon. You might find yourself spending several hours on a task that wasn’t thatimportant to begin with, even though you have a mountain of other things to bedoing.The solution is to step back and work on tasks thatare important but not urgent. Use the “pay yourself first” principle to doitems that are on your priority list first, before you jump toresponding to other people’s needs. You might not be able to follow thisprinciple every day, but aim to follow it for several days of the week.2. You completely overlook easy solutions forgetting things done.When we’re stressed, we don’t think of easysolutions that are staring us in the face. Again, this happens because we’re intunnel vision mode, doing what we usually do and not thinking flexibly.Especially if you’re a perfectionist, when you’re overloaded it’s likely that you’llfind yourself overcomplicating solutions to problems. To get out of the trap of overlooking easysolutions, take a step back and question your assumptions. If you tend to thinkin extremes, is there an option between the two extremes you could consider? On a broader level, breaks in which you allow yourmind to wander are the main solution to the problem of tunnel vision. Evenshort breaks can allow you to break out of too narrow thinking. Sometimes, abathroom break can be enough. Try anything that allows you to get up out ofyour seat and walk around. This can be a reason not to outsource some errands.They give an opportunity to allow your mind to wander while you’re physicallyon the move, an ideal background for producing insights and epiphanies.3. You “kick the can down the road” instead ofcreating better systems for solving recurring problems.When our mental energy is tapped out, we’ll tend tokeep doing something ourselves that we could delegate or outsource, because wedon’t have the upfront cognitive oomph we need to engage a helper and set up asystem. Remedies for recurring problems are often simple if youcan step back enough to get perspective. Always forgetting to charge your phone? Keep anextra power cord at the office. Always correcting the same mistakes? Ask yourteam to come up with a checklist so they can catch their own errors. Travel forwork a lot? Create a “master packing list” so that trying to decide what tobring doesn’t require so much mental effort. Carve out time to create and tweakthese kinds of systems. You might take a personal day from work to get started,and then spend an hour once a week on it to keep up; author Gretchen Rubincalls this her once-a-week “powerhour.” When you start improving your systems, it creates a virtuous cycle in which youhave more energy and confidence available for doing this further. By graduallyaccumulating winning strategies over time, you can significantly erode yourproblem, bit by bit.4. You use avoid or escape methods for coping withanxiety.People who are overloaded will have a strongimpulse to avoid or escape anxiety. Avoidance could be putting off an importantdiscussion with your team. Escape could be rushing into an important decision,because you want to escape needing to think about it further. This can lead toa pattern of excessively delaying some decisions and making others impulsively.Avoidance and escape can also take other forms — an extra glass of wine(or three) after work, binge-watching TV, or mindlessly scrolling throughFacebook. It might even be ticking less-important things off your to-do list toavoid the urgent task that’s making you anxious.If you want to deal constructively with situationsthat trigger anxiety for you, you’ll need to engineer some flexibility andspace into your life so that you can work through your emotions and thoughtswhen your anxiety is set off. With practice, you’ll start to notice when you’rejust doing something to avoid doing something else.If you can relate to the patterns described, you’renot alone. These issues aren’t personal flaws in your character ordeficits in your self-control. They’re patterns that are very relatable to manypeople. You may be highly conscientious and self-disciplined by nature butstill struggle with these habits. If you’re in this category you’re probablyparticularly frustrated by your patterns and self-critical. Be compassionatewith yourself and aim to chip away at your patterns rather than expecting togive your habits a complete makeover or eradicate all self-sabotaging behavioursfrom your life.Adapted HBR Sept 2018Boyes———————————————————————————————To learn more about Inspired Trades and the work we do, please don’t hesitate to go to our website and download our FREE ebook “10 Steps to a Million Dollar Trades Business” www.inspiremenow.com.au

I have two questions for you.One: Do you want to do better?Two: Are you willing to feel the discomfort of putting in more effort and trying new things that will feel weird and different and won’t work right away?I believe — and my experience coaching leaders in different circumstances proves — that anyone can get better at anything. But in order to get better — and in order to be coached productively — you need to honestly answer “yes” to both those questions.Maybe you want to be a more inspiring leader. Or connect more with others. Maybe you want to be more productive or more influential. Maybe you want to be a better communicator, a more impactful presenter, or a better listener. Maybe you want to lead more effectively, take more risks, or become a stronger manager.Whatever it is, you can become better at it. But here’s the thing I know just as clearly as I know you can get better at anything: you will not get better if 1) you don’t want to and 2) you aren’t willing to feel the discomfort of doing things differently.One senior leader I worked with became defensive when people gave him feedback or criticized his decisions. He wanted to get better, he told me, and he was willing to feel the discomfort. So I gave him very specific instructions: Meet with each member of your team and acknowledge that you have struggled with accepting feedback and tell them that you are committed to getting better. Then ask for feedback — especially ways you can be a better leader — and take notes. Don’t say anything other than “Thank you.”“It took every restraint muscle in my body not to get into a conversation about their comments,” he told me afterwards. “Especially because I felt they misunderstood me at times. It was beyond uncomfortable. And I messed up a few times and had to apologize. But I did it — and they haven’t stopped talking about what a welcome change it’s been.”Learning anything new is, by its nature, uncomfortable. You will need to act in ways that are unfamiliar. Take risks that are new. Try things that, in many cases, will be initially frustrating because they won’t work the first time. You are guaranteed to feel awkward. You will make mistakes. You may be embarrassed or even feel shame, especially if you are used to succeeding a lot —and all my clients are used to succeeding a lot.If you remain committed through all of that, you’ll get better.I now ask those two questions before committing to coach any senior leader. It’s a prerequisite to growth.Adapted HBR Nov 2018 Bregman————————————To learn more about Inspired Trades and the work we do, please don’t hesitate to go to our website and download our FREE ebook “10 Steps to a Million Dollar Trades Business” www.inspiremenow.com.au

Human beings crave coherence.We long to be true to ourselves and to act in a way that’s consistent with whatwe believe and value. We want to live and work authentically. This quest forcoherence is hardwired; psychologists often refer to human beings as “meaning-making machines.” Our brains create coherence by knitting togetherour internal experience and what we observe in our environment, through anautomatic process of narration that explains why we and others do what we do. Aswe repeat the resulting stories to ourselves (often unconsciously), they becomescripts and routines that guide our actions. And instead of recognizing ourstories for the constructions they are, we may mistakenly interpret them asimmutable truths, as “the way things are.”We’ve encountered countless stories among ourcoaching clients that shape the way they think and lead, such as, “Everythingis always a battle around here.” For better or for worse, our stories shapewhat we notice and how we interpret it. They inform our decision making and behaviour.If, for instance, you see your workplace as a battlefield, you expecthostility. You’re primed to attack and defend. You may assume that casualtiesare inevitable. You may misinterpret people’s intentions and overlookopportunities to collaborate. There may come a time when you need to shift yourguiding story to one that enables you to pursue new goals or do thingsdifferently.The first step to authoring liberating stories isto identify and examine the stories you tell yourself and others. This helpsyou understand what you stand for and why you act and react the way you do.Identify a personal or collective challenge you’re facing. What is the basicstory you tell yourself about this issue? Our stories are rarely created inisolation; they involve our relationships with others. Therefore, working withthe interpersonal aspects of our stories is an essential step toward authoringstories that support our desired development. If you find that one of your guiding stories limitsyou, the next step is to consider what you’d like to change and how your storywould need to shift to help you achieve the transition. Do you want to adopt ahealthier lifestyle, find a new sense of purpose at work, and build strongerrelationships with family members? Making this change requires choosing whichelements of your story to bring forward and which to let go of. Once we realize that our behaviour stems fromstories we construct and repeat until they seem fixed in stone, we become morecapable of authoring liberating stories. Reconstituting our stories so thatthey help us move in the direction we want to go is a process of choice andintentional sense-making. Any leader can begin to develop this powerful skillby learning to recognize the stories you live by — individually andcollectively as a team or organization — examining their effects, and refiningthem to emphasize empowering elements. The rewards of doing so include anincreased sense of humanity, coherence, and liberation.Adapted HBR Aug 2018Valcour & McNulty—————To learn more about Inspired Trades and the work we do, please don’t hesitate to go to our website and download our FREE ebook “10 Steps to a Million Dollar Trades Business” www.inspiremenow.com.au

The 6 Leadership SkillsEvery Building Trade Business Owner Should KnowResearch haspointed to six leadership skills that are particularly important. These are notmysterious and certainly aren’t new. However, the leaders we talked withemphasized that these fundamental skills really matter. Aspiring leadersshould focus on practicing these essential basics:· Shape a vision that is exciting and challenging for your team (ordivision/unit/organization).· Translate that vision into a clear strategy about what actions to take,and what not to do.· Recruit, develop, and reward a team of great people to carry outthe strategy.· Focus on measurable results.· Foster innovation and learning to sustain your team (or organization)and grow new leaders.· Lead yourself — know yourself, improve yourself, and manage theappropriate balance in your own life.No matter where youare in your business, you can find opportunities to practice these six skills.You’ll have varying degrees of success, which is normal. But by reflecting onyour successes and failures at every step, and getting feedbackfrom colleagues and mentors, you’ll keep making positive adjustments and findmore opportunities to learn. Eventually, as youprogress, you’ll reach a level of capability in these areas such that you’llstart seeing results: you’ll successfully make things happen through the peoplewho work for you on your team. As you succeed, these results will begin tobuild upon one another. You’ll have become a leader, capable of rallying anorganization of people around a meaningful collective goal and delivering theresults to reach it.Adapted HBR Oct 2018 Ashkenas &Manville

At some point in your career, you likelyencountered a boss you believed was unfair. You probably thought to yourself, “WhenI’m a boss, I’m never going to be like that!” Sadly, there is no objectivemeasure of fairness. Instead, each time you attempt to level the playing fieldon one dimension, you throw it off balance on another. You can start with the most standard measure offairness, which focuses on the outcomes of your decisions. Did yourdecision-making process lead to a fair distribution for everyone involved? Youcan apply this test to common decisions such as how you allocate workload,offer development opportunities, and dole out rewards and recognition. You canbe sure that your team is scrutinizing the outcomes of these high-profiledecisions. If one person is disadvantaged by your decision making (e.g.,assigned a less desirable shift or given a more difficult assignment) multipletimes, it’s likely that they will perceive your decision-making as unfair.Unfortunately, there’s more to it. In addition tothe fairness of the outcome, your team will be judging the fairness of your process.Was your decision-making process inherently fair, regardless of the outcome? How you arrive at your decision will carryas much weight in how you are perceived as the decision you ultimately end upmaking.The challenge is that when you try to optimize oneversion of fairness, you can inadvertently taint the other. As a simpleexample, imagine assigning workload based on a flip of a coin. Because acoin-flip is random, it can be considered a fair process. Now imaginethat you flip the coin ten times and seven of those times it comes up heads.Now the person who chose heads gets 70% of the workload — an unfair outcome.The takeaway is that you need to be mindful about both your decision-makingprocess and the resulting outcomes. One interesting side note: researchhas suggested that the relative importance of the fairness of the outcomeversus the fairness of the process depends on which an employee hears about first.The research looked at a hypothetical hiring process in which some applicantswere evaluated with a fair process and some with an unfair process. Some of theparticipants were told about the process that was used to make the selectiondecision before hearing whether or not they got the job, whereas others weretold about the process after.For those who heard about the process before theoutcome, the fairness of the process (rather than whether they got the job ornot) predicted their overall satisfaction. For example, people who heard aboutthe process of evaluation, but found out that they were ultimately not hired, were OK with that outcome because theybelieved the process leading to that decision had been fair. Forthose who learned about the outcome first, the fairness of the outcome was moreimportant. For example, when people first heard that they were not hired,without any explanation of the process used to arrive at that decision, theyimmediately assumed that the decision was unfair. The study provides animportant lesson: when you’re using a fair process that might lead to an unfairallocation, be sure to provide details about the process before your teamlearns of the decision.Even once you invest considerable effort indeciding fairly, that’s no guarantee that it will be perceived that way by yourteam. Don’t make the mistake of assumingyour decisions will speak for themselves. If you are focusing on anequitable process for choosing who gets promoted, where you will weigh certaincompetencies or styles more positively than others, make your intentions knownto your team. If you’re emphasizing an equal sharing of the bonus pool toreinforce the importance of every member of the team, be upfront about it.You are the boss and you have the discretion tomake those calls. Regardless of how you choose to make the difficult calls, it’s critical that you communicate whatyou’re thinking. Transparency increases trust in the process and has valuefor your employees above and beyond the specifics of the decision-makingprocess.In the end, we all learn that life isn’t fair. As aboss, you’ll learn this much sooner than others. You’ll face difficultdecisions where no resolution seems ideal and where the outcome will beperceived as fair by some and unfair by others. Don’t be too hard on yourself.As long as you have thought carefully about what the business needs and madeyour assessment of the best answer as objectively as possible, you have doneyour job. You will always have an opportunity to restore balance with the nextdecision.Adapted HBR Oct 2018Davey

Perseverancehas received lots of support in recent years from a variety of schools of business.One is from psychologists studying grit. They have found the capacity to stickto a task — particular when faced with difficulties – is a crucial factor in explaining the successof everyone.Thenthere’s the idea that persevering in the face of adversity can prompt learningand improvements of skills. Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindsetshas found that those who treat challenges and limitations as an opportunity todevelop and learn tend to perform better in the long term. They persist whenthey face challenges, and the reward is a deeper and wider skill set.How Good Are You at Quitting?For eachquestion give yourself a score from 1 (almost never true) to 5 (almost alwaystrue).If I hadto stop pursuing an important goal in my life…1. It’seasy for me to reduce my effort toward the goal.2. I find it easy to stop trying to achieve the goal. 3. I am not committed to the goal for a long time; I can let it go. 4. It’s easy for me to stop thinking about the goal and let it go.5. I think about other new goals to pursue.6. I seek other meaningful goals.7. I convince myself that I have other meaningful goals to pursue.8. I tell myself that I have a number of other new goals to draw on.9. I start working on other new goals.10. I put effort toward other meaningful goals.Onceyou’ve completed the test, add up your score of questions 1-4. This will giveyou a sense of how good you are at disengaging from an existing goal. Theaverage score is about 10. If you scored 13 or more, then you are very good atdisengaging from old goals. If you scored 7 or less, then you are very bad atdisengaging from old goals.Now addup your scores for questions 5-10. That will give you a sense of how good youare at setting new goals. The average is 21-22. If you scored 26 or more, theyou are very good at setting new goals. If you scored 17 or less, then you arevery bad at setting new goals.Source: Carsten Worsch ET AL., 2013A final benefit of perseverance is that we don’tknow when our luck will turn. A recent study of the careers of nearly29,000 artists, filmmakers, and scientists found that most of them had a hotstreak in their career when their work received wide acclaim. These hot streakshappened at a random time in their career, however. They weren’t related toage, experience, or even being more productive. They just happened. Thissuggests that if you’re thinking about quitting, you should remember a hotstreak could be just around the corner.Otherresearch challenges these findings, however. One recent meta-analysis of studies ofover 66,000 people found that there was actually a weak link between grit andperformance. And a recent study of over 5,600 studentstaking scholastic aptitude tests found that there was no link between growthmindsets and scores on the test. People with a growth mindset were not morelikely to improve if they took the test again, nor were they more likely toeven try to take the test again. And the research on the artists’ hot streaks?It turns out most people had only one; second acts were comparatively rare,particularly for filmmakers. So if you’ve already enjoyed a streak of success,the odds are against you enjoying another one.In fact, there’s a large body of work showing thatperseverance may have a harmful downside. Not giving up can mean people persisteven when they have nothing to gain. In one study, people working on an onlineplatform were given a very boring task. The researchers found those who saidthey were very persistent continued to do the task despite the fact it wasboring and there was little to be gained in terms of monetary reward. So whileit might be valuable to persist with worthwhile and rewarding tasks, people whodon’t quit often continue with worthless tasks that are both uninteresting andunrewarding, ultimately wasting their time and talents.Remaining fixated on long cherished goals can alsomean people ignore better alternatives. Being unwilling to let go can lead topeople being perpetually dissatisfied — even when they end up getting whatthey thought they wanted. This was nicely illustrated in a study of graduating college students searching for a job.The researchers found students who had a tendency to “maximize” their optionsand were fixated on achieving the best possible job possible did end up getting20% more in terms of salary. However, they were generally more dissatisfiedwith the job they got and they found the process of getting the job morepainful.An unwillingness to quit can be more than justunrewarding. In some situations, it can become downright dangerous. Thishappens when people’s persistence leads then to continue with, or evendouble-down on, losing courses of action. One study found that people who wereparticularly gritty were less likely to give up when they were failing. Thesesame people were more likely to be willing to suffer monetary losses just sothey could continue doing a task. Another study of would-be inventorsfound that over half would continue with their invention even after receivingreliable advice that it was fatally flawed, sinking more money into the projectin the process. The lesson: people who tend to be tenacious are also those who get trapped intolosing courses of action.Being unable to let go of cherished but unachievablegoals can also be bad for your mental and physical health.People who struggle to disengage with impossible goals tend to feel morestress, show more symptoms of depression, be plagued by intrusive thoughts, andfind it difficult to sleep. They have higher rates of eczema, headaches, anddigestion issues. Being fixated on unachievable goals is also related to highlevels of cortisol (which over time is linked with things like weight gain,high blood pressure, negative mood and sleeping problems) and higher levels ofC-reactive protean (which is linked with inflammation in the body).So when you ask yourself whether to stick with atask or goal, or to let it go, weigh the potential to continue learning anddeveloping incrementally against the costs, dangers, and myopia which can comewith stubborn perseverance.Adapted HBR Oct 2018 Spicer

A friendrecently returned to his parked car to find it had been sideswiped. Now, everytime he calls the insurance company, he hears a message saying: “Can’t takeyour call right now. Leave a message. All calls will be returned by the end ofthe day.”So far,he’s called over a dozen times; his calls have been returned only twice.Why wouldan insurance company have a voicemail message assuring callers that “all callswill be returned by the end of the day” and then return only 20% of the callsit committed to returning? Probably for the same reasons most of us promise “towrite back to your email on Monday” but don’t, or promise “to send out thatmemo by Friday” but don’t.Why do any of us say we will dothings and then fail to do them?Weovercommit ourselves. We don’t like todisappoint people, so we tell them what we think they want to hear. We feelpressure in the moment and don’t stop to consider how much pressure we’ll feellater. We don’t think through how much time things will actually take —and we don’t leave enough slack time in our days to handle the (inevitable)emergencies and delays.When you fail to fulfilcommitments that you freely make, trust is not the result.Never hascancelling, for example, been easier and less painful for us than it is in theage of the text message. We can cancel without ever having to speak with, muchless meet, someone. We can cancel five minutes ahead and without explanation.Just tack on an emoticon to our message, and we can convince ourselves thatit’s almost the same as if we’d met our obligation.But thethought process still isn’t pain-free. We feel guilty about it. We waffle overwhat to do — and the indecision is draining. Finally, we cancel, and weundermine our confidence in ourselves. It reinforces our conviction that wecan’t do it all — that we can’t control our schedule, or even our effort.There areconsequences for our personal lives, and there are certainly consequences inthe workplace. Keeping commitments is a sign of maturity. Employees who don’tfinish assignments, for instance, or finish them late or poorly, or arethemselves routinely late, miss meetings, and cancel appointments, are animposition on other team members and a liability to their employers.Becausethese bad habits are nearly ubiquitous, they inevitably hitch a ride with someof us as we climb the ladder into leadership roles, where the workplacedysfunction they generate is magnified. It’s difficult to hold yoursubordinates accountable when you don’t hold yourself accountable. It’s hard totrust others when we know we can’t be counted on. How do we inspire commitment in those we lead when it’s obvious to themthat commitment is a negotiable principle for us? It’s impossible to be agood leader if we don’t govern ourselves.If youreally mean no when you say yes, then say no in the first place. We are all inthe same boat — we have finite time and a seemingly infinite number ofworthwhile things to do with it. Commit yourself to not agreeing to do thingsunless you’re going to follow through. Ask for time to think things over ifyou’re unsure. Don’t overschedule yourself. If you’re truly overextended, youmay require a transition period to weed some things out; after that, once yousay yes to something, stick to the yes. If the commitment seemed like a goodidea at the time, it still is — even if thevalue is found not in the activity itself but in being trustworthy andfollowing through.Adapted HBR Sept 2018Whitney Johnsom

Since atleast the time of Frederick Taylor, the father of “scientific management,”control has been central to corporate organization. It feels like what amanager should be doing: Setting targets, monitoring adherence to procedures,directing, shaping the future of the business. Control feelsessential—especially if you are the boss.Except itturns out that far from being vital, top-down control carries serious costs,many of which have been hiding in plain sight. What is more, there is analternative. And not a pie-in-the-sky fantasy conjured up on a whiteboard, buta real, working alternative. It has been practiced to varying degrees in companiesaround the world for decades. Thisalternative has never had a name because—fittingly, as you’ll see—it hasn’treally had a guru. Its principles have been passed from business leader tobusiness leader like samizdat. But more recently it has started to comeinto the open. We call it corporate liberation.The ideacan be stated simply enough: A liberated company allows employees completefreedom and responsibility to take actions that they—not their managers—decideare best for their company’s vision. That doesn’t mean that these firms areunmanaged. On the contrary, the specific actions that we observed in close toone hundred liberated companies prove the opposite.Forexample, every morning, a liberated company’s manager would ask whether there isanything preventing their team from doing their best. That may not soundunusual, but here’s the first twist: When their team shares a problem or anopportunity with them, they will not offer a solution. Instead, they askthem to find their own—after ensuring that there isn’t something she’s doingthat would get in the way.Humanbeings have certain universal psychological needs: The need to be treated asintrinsically equal, the need for personal growth, and to exerciseself-direction. Each of these needs is frequently and systematically denied bytraditional command-and-control managerial hierarchies. Perhaps the mostimportant benefit of liberating an organization—because it leads in turn to allthe other benefits—is the creation of an environment that feeds these universalneeds, rather than stifling them. - Glenn LeetThus oneof the most striking findings about liberated companies is the extremely highlevel of engagement and intrinsic motivation among employees. The collateralbenefit of this high engagement is that the liberated organization outperformsthe traditional one. The reason for it is not in some top-management talk aboutserving the “whole person.” It’s simply that feeding psychological needs leadto higher engagement and—as a consequence—to higher team productivity andinitiative and increased corporate performance.If youmanage a business or plan to do so, here are practical steps to build afreedom-based workplace in your own company right now.Steps for building a freedom-based teamLose yourego. Youremployees won’t believe you trust their intelligence if you are always the onewith the “best solution.”Share thecompany’s vision. Thisisn’t specific to building a liberated workplace. Yet, given the discretion allowedin freedom-based companies, a shared vision is fundamental since it provides acommon criterion for the teams to make their decisions. Qualified people don’tneed to be told how to do their jobs, but especially when you set them free,they need to know why they’re doing what they’re doing—so they can do itbetter.Createthe respect tide—the climate in which most manager-leaders show through their actionsthat they respect and trust employees. It requires the manager-leaders toremove the obstacles preventing teams from doing their best.Ask yourteam what’s in their way. If any organizational practice or structural element is mistrustingtheir intelligence, limiting their growth, or hampering their self-direction.If yes, ask them to redesign it. Be prepared to see the majority of controlpractices and structures—both in the hierarchical and in the supportfunctions—gradually replaced. The respect tide will stimulate teams’willingness to set their own work schedules or to make their own hires, and thesedemands affect organizational processes.Becomethe guardian of the liberated team. When teams assume more responsibilities and makemore decisions on their own, fewer remain for all levels of managers. Managerswho accept this will be busy serving their teams while abstaining from usingtheir formal authority.Youremployees will be willing to come to work every day to do their best, yourmanager-leaders will spend their days revealing employee potential, and youwill enjoy dinner every night with your family knowing that your business issucceeding.Adapted HBR Sept 2018Carney & Getz

To Cope with Stress, Try Learning Something NewStressed. Anxious. Exhausted. Drained. This is how many business owners feel at work due to stressors like longer work hours, more-frequent hassles, the need to do more with fewer resources, and so on. Such work stress has been shown to induce anxiety and anger, unethical behavior, poor decision making, and chronic exhaustion and burnout — all of which impair personal and organizational performance.There are typically two ways people try to deal with this stress. One is to simply “buckle down and power through” — to focus on getting the stressful work done. The other common tactic is to retreat — to temporarily disconnect from work and get away from the stressful environment.Unfortunately, both “grinding through” and “getting away” have potential pitfalls. Research has long established that we humans have limits in handling heavy workloads, which restrict our ability to always grind through. Continuing to exert effort while stressed and fatigued will simply tax us and lead to depletion and impaired performance. And while a reprieve from work can provide temporary relief, it does not address the underlying problems that cause stress in the first place. When we return from a break, we are not only faced with the same issues, but we may also experience additional guilt and anxiety.So what else can we do to temper the ill effects of stress? Research suggests a third option: focusing on learning. This can mean picking up a new skill, gathering new information, or seeking out intellectual challenges.Evidence of Learning as a Tool to Ease StressIn two complementary studies, in the face of stress, people experienced fewer negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, distress) and engaged in less unethical behavior (e.g., taking company property, being mean to coworkers) on days when they engaged in more learning activities at work compared to other days. In contrast, relaxing activities did not buffer the detrimental consequences of stress. Relaxation thus did not appear to be as useful a stress buffer as learning was.Strategically Using Learning at WorkWhat specifically can you do to increase learning when faced with stress at work?First, start internally. Practice re-reframing stressful work challenges in your mind. When stress emerges, change the message you tell yourself from “this is a stressful work assignment/situation” to “this is a challenging but rewarding opportunity to learn.” Reframing stressful tasks as learning possibilities shifts your mindset and better prepares you to approach the task with an orientation toward growth and longer-term gains.Second, work and learn with others. Instead of wrestling with a stressful challenge solely in your own head, try to get input from others. Getting out and discussing a stressor with your peers and colleagues might reveal hidden insights, either from their experience or from the questions and perspectives they raise.Embracing learning can be a more active way to buffer yourself from negative effects of stress at work. - Glenn Leet Third, craft learning activities as a new form of “work break.” Alongside purely relaxing breaks — either short ones like meditating or longer ones like taking days off — consider recasting learning itself as a break from your routine tasks at work. Viewing learning as “more work” will make it less attractive in an already stressful situation, but approaching it as a form of respite can make it more appealing and more likely to create positive, enjoyable experiences.At the same time, there is no need to wait for stress to arise before seeking learning opportunities. Even without pressing problems, engaging in learning as a central feature of your work life will help you build personal resources and equip you to be resilient and prepared in navigating future stress at work.Adapted HBR Sept 2018 Zhang, Myers & Mayer

Are you a Trades business owner and living in Canberra or the surrounding area? Join us for a One Day Workshop Style Presentation for Trades Business. It’s our passion to help Australian trade business owners take things to the NEXT LEVEL. ——–Held at the HIA Training Rooms - 28 Collie Street, FYSHWICK ACTCome and learn the no-nonsense ways that Australia’s best trade businesses are optimising their profit, workflow and cash-flow by adopting simple, structured and proven business strategies.If you’re a trade business owner that say’s any of the following, you need to be at the workshop: ‘I’m ready to get serious about my business success’ ‘It feels like I’m on a treadmill and I don’t know how to get off’ ‘I need some business advice from someone who talks my language’.——-WHAT YOU WILL GET:1. Easy to understand strategies you can implement in your business 2. Real life industry examples that you can learn from 3. Straightforward advice from someone who has done it.COST: $39.00 Register Here ~ https://bookme.name/inspiremenow/optimising-profit-workflow-cashflow-canberra-workshop LIMITED TO 15 ATTENDEES ONLY! Get your tickets now to avoid disappointment. https://bookme.name/inspiremenow/optimising-profit-workflow-cashflow-canberra-workshop ——–WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:https://www.productreview.com.au/p/inspired-trades-building-coaching.htmlAbout Glenn Leet: https://inspiremenow.com.au/about-glenn-leet 

Got issues with your staff or Boss? We have a solution for you. “If I added up all the time I’d spent listening to people complain about each other last week: 3 hours and 45 minutes. And that was just the time they spent complaining to me.” - Glenn LeetThis is, unfortunately, not unusual. The legendary executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, interviewed more than 200 of his clients and what he discovered matched previous research he read but found hard to believe: “a majority of employees spend 10 or more hours per month complaining — or listening to others complain — about their bosses or upper management. Even more amazing, almost a third spend 20 hours or more per month doing so.”And that doesn’t even include the complaining they do about their peers and employees. Which would be hard to believe if not for the fact that, if you pay attention to what you experience during your day, you’d find it’s pretty accurate.Imagine the productivity gain of reducing all those complaining hours.Why do we complain about other people?Because it feels (really) good, requires minimal risk, and it’s easy.Here’s what happens: Someone annoys us. We’re dissatisfied with how they’re behaving. Maybe we’re angry, frustrated, or threatened. Those feelings build up as energy in our bodies, literally creating physical discomfort (that’s why we call them feelings — because we actually, physically, feel them).When we complain about someone else, the uncomfortable feelings begin to dissipate because complaining releases the pent-up energy. That’s why we say things like “I’m venting” or “I’m blowing off steam” (But, as we’ll see in a moment, that dissipation doesn’t just release the energy, it spreads it, which actually makes it grow).Additionally, when we complain to people who seem to agree with us — and we almost always complain to people who seem to agree with us — we solicit comfort, camaraderie, connection, support, and justification, which counteracts the bad feelings with some fresh, new good ones.Complaining changes the balance of negative/positive energy and, for a brief moment at least, we feel better. It’s actually a pretty reliable process. Addictive even.Which is the problem (beyond even the wasted time): Like just about all addictions, we’re feeding the spin of a destructive, never-ending cycle. The release of pressure — the good feeling — is ephemeral. In fact, the more we complain, the more likely the frustration, over time, will increase.Here’s why: when we release the pent-up energy by complaining, we’re releasing it sideways. We almost never complain directly to the person who is catalyzing our complaints, we complain to our friends and families. We’re not having direct conversations to solve a problem, we’re seeking allies. We’re not identifying actions that could help, we’re, almost literally, blowing off steam.Why is complaining about such a bad move?Complaining creates a number of dysfunctional side effects (again, beyond the time wasted): It creates factions, prevents or delays — because it replaces — productive engagement, reinforces and strengthens dissatisfaction, riles up others, breaks trust, and, potentially, makes the complainer appear negative. We become cancer we’re complaining about; the negative influence that seeps into the culture.Worse, our complaining amplifies the destructiveness and annoyance of the initial frustration about which we’re complaining.Think about it: someone yells in a meeting. Then you go to the next meeting (where no one is yelling) and you complain about the person who just yelled. Now other people, who weren’t at the initial meeting, feel the impact of the yelling and get upset about it too. Encouraged by their support, your brief, momentary release transforms into righteous indignation and, becoming even more incensed, you experience the initial uncomfortable feelings all over again.In other words, while the energy dissipates, it expands. The amount of time you spend thinking about it extends for hours, sometimes days and weeks. And you’ve multiplied the people who are also thinking and talking about it.Meanwhile, our complaining improves, precisely, nothing.In fact, that might be the biggest problem: Complaining is a violent move to inaction. It replaces the need to act. If instead of complaining, we allowed ourselves to feel the energy without needing to dissipate it immediately — which requires what I call emotional courage — then we could put that energy to good use. We could channel it so it doesn’t leak out sideways.In other words, let the uncomfortable feeling you have — the one that would otherwise lead you to complain — lead you to take a productive action.What’s a better move when we feel like complaining?Go ahead and complain. Just do it directly — and thoughtfully — to the person who is the cause of your complaints.“Talk to the person who yelled in the meeting. If that person doesn’t listen, talk to their boss. If you don’t like that idea, then, when it actually happens, say “Hold on. Let’s respect each other in this conversation.” If you missed the opportunity in the moment, then meet with them afterwards and say, “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.” - Glenn Leet That, of course, also takes emotional courage. It’s a scary, more risky thing to do. But it’s why it’s worth developing your emotional courage — because, while scary, it’s far more likely to be highly productive. It holds the potential for changing the thing that’s the problem in the first place. And rather than become the negative influence, you become the leader.If you want to brave this route, let your urge to complain be the trigger that drives you to take action in the moment (or, if you missed the moment, then shortly after):Notice the adrenaline spike or the can-you-believe-that-just-happened feeling (e.g., someone yelling in a meeting).Breathe and feel your feelings about the situation so that they don’t overwhelm you or shut you down. Notice that you can stay grounded even in difficult situations (e.g., feel, without reacting).Understand the part about what’s actually happening that is complain-worthy (e.g., it’s not okay to yell and disrespect others in a meeting).Decide what you can do to draw a boundary, ask someone to shift their behavior, or otherwise improve the situation (e.g., “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”)Follow through on your idea (e.g., actually say: “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”)It’s not nearly as easy as complaining. But it will be far more productive and valuable.It won’t always work like that, but you may be surprised how often it will.Thanks for Reading, we hope you got something positive from this. If you want to know more about Inspired Trades Coaching Visit us here www.inspiremenow.com.auBest Regards, Glenn Leet, Inspired Trades Adapted HBR Bregman Aug 2018

inspiredbusinesscoaching:The Next Time You Want to Complain about your Staff (or Boss), Do This InsteadIf I added up all the time I’d spent listening to people complain about each other last week: 3 hours and 45 minutes. And that was just the time they spent complaining to me.This is, unfortunately, not unusual. The legendary executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, interviewed more than 200 of his clients and what he discovered matched previous research he read, but found hard to believe: “a majority of employees spend 10 or more hours per month complaining — or listening to others complain — about their bosses or upper management. Even more amazing, almost a third spend 20 hours or more per month doing so.”And that doesn’t even include the complaining they do about their peers and employees. Which would be hard to believe if not for the fact that, if you pay attention to what you experience during your day, you’d find it’s pretty accurate.Imagine the productivity gain of reducing all those complaining hours.Why do we complain about other people? Because it feels (really) good, requires minimal risk, and it’s easy.Here’s what happens: Someone annoys us. We’re dissatisfied with how they’re behaving. Maybe we’re angry, frustrated, or threatened. Those feelings build up as energy in our bodies, literally creating physical discomfort (that’s why we call them feelings — because we actually, physically, feel them).When we complain about someone else, the uncomfortable feelings begin to dissipate because complaining releases the pent up energy. That’s why we say things like “I’m venting” or “I’m blowing off steam” (But, as we’ll see in a moment, that dissipation doesn’t just release the energy, it spreads it, which actually makes it grow).Additionally, when we complain to people who seem to agree with us — and we almost always complain to people who seem to agree with us — we solicit comfort, camaraderie, connection, support, and justification, which counteracts the bad feelings with some fresh, new good ones.Complaining changes the balance of negative/positive energy and, for a brief moment at least, we feel better. It’s actually a pretty reliable process. Addictive even.Which is the problem (beyond even the wasted time): Like just about all addictions, we’re feeding the spin of a destructive, never-ending cycle. The release of pressure — the good feeling — is ephemeral. In fact, the more we complain, the more likely the frustration, over time, will increase.Here’s why: when we release the pent up energy by complaining, we’re releasing it sideways. We almost never complain directly to the person who is catalyzing our complaints, we complain to our friends and families. We’re not having direct conversations to solve a problem, we’re seeking allies. We’re not identifying actions that could help, we’re, almost literally, blowing off steam.Why is complaining such a bad move? Complaining creates a number of dysfunctional side effects (again, beyond the time wasted): It creates factions, prevents or delays — because it replaces — productive engagement, reinforces and strengthens dissatisfaction, riles up others, breaks trust, and, potentially, makes the complainer appear negative. We become the cancer we’re complaining about; the negative influence that seeps into the culture.Worse, our complaining amplifies the destructiveness and annoyance of the initial frustration about which we’re complaining.Think about it: someone yells in a meeting. Then you go to the next meeting (where no one is yelling) and you complain about the person who just yelled. Now other people, who weren’t at the initial meeting, feel the impact of the yelling and get upset about it too. Encouraged by their support, your brief, momentary release transforms into righteous indignation and, becoming even more incensed, you experience the initial uncomfortable feelings all over again.In other words, while the energy dissipates, it expands. The amount of time you spend thinking about it extends for hours, sometimes days and weeks. And you’ve multiplied the people who are also thinking and talking about it.Meanwhile, our complaining improves, precisely, nothing.In fact, that might be the biggest problem: Complaining is a violent move to inaction. It replaces the need to act. If instead of complaining, we allowed ourselves to feel the energy without needing to dissipate it immediately — which requires what I call emotional courage — then we could put that energy to good use. We could channel it so it doesn’t leak out sideways.In other words, let the uncomfortable feeling you have — the one that would otherwise lead you to complain — lead you to take a productive action.What’s a better move when we feel like complaining? Go ahead and complain. Just do it directly — and thoughtfully — to the person who is the cause of your complaints.Talk to the person who yelled in the meeting. If that person doesn’t listen, talk to their boss. If you don’t like that idea, then, when it actually happens, say “Hold on. Let’s respect each other in this conversation.” If you missed the opportunity in the moment, then meet with them afterwards and say, “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”That, of course, also takes emotional courage. It’s a scary, more risky thing to do. But it’s why it’s worth developing your emotional courage — because, while scary, it’s far more likely to be highly productive. It holds the potential for changing the thing that’s the problem in the first place. And rather than become the negative influence, you become the leader.If you want to brave this route, let your urge to complain be the trigger that drives you to take action in the moment (or, if you missed the moment, then shortly after):Notice the adrenaline spike or the can-you-believe-that-just-happened feeling (e.g., someone yelling in a meeting).Breathe and feel your feelings about the situation so that they don’t overwhelm you or shut you down. Notice that you can stay grounded even in difficult situations (e.g., feel, without reacting).Understand the part about what’s actually happening that is complain-worthy (e.g., it’s not okay to yell and disrespect others in a meeting).Decide what you can do to draw a boundary, ask someone to shift their behavior, or otherwise improve the situation (e.g., “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”)Follow through on your idea (e.g., actually say: “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”)It’s not nearly as easy as complaining. But it will be far more productive and valuable.It won’t always work like that, but you may be surprised how often it will.Adapted HBR Bregman Aug 2018

If I added up all the time I’d spent listening to peoplecomplain about each other last week: 3 hours and 45 minutes. And that was just the time they spent complaining to me.This is, unfortunately, not unusual. The legendary executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, interviewedmore than 200 of his clients and what he discovered matched previous research he read, but found hard to believe: “a majority of employees spend 10 or more hours per month complaining — or listening to others complain — about their bosses or upper management. Even more amazing, almost a third spend 20 hours or more per month doing so.”And that doesn’t even include the complaining they do about their peers and employees. Which would be hard to believe if not for the fact that, if you pay attention to what you experience during your day, you’dfind it’s pretty accurate.Imagine the productivity gain of reducing all those complaining hours.Why do we complain about other people?Because it feels (really) good, requires minimal risk, and it’s easy.Here’s what happens: Someone annoys us. We’re dissatisfied with how they’re behaving. Maybe we’re angry, frustrated, or threatened. Those feelings build up as energy in our bodies, literally creating physical discomfort (that’s why we call them feelings — because we actually, physically, feel them).When we complain about someone else, the uncomfortable feelings beginto dissipate because complaining releases the pent up energy. That’s why we say things like “I’m venting” or “I’m blowing off steam” (But, aswe’ll see in a moment, that dissipation doesn’t just release the energy, it spreads it, which actually makes it grow).Additionally, when we complain to people who seem to agree with us — and we almost always complain to people who seem to agree with us — we solicit comfort, camaraderie, connection, support, and justification, which counteracts the bad feelings with some fresh, new good ones.Complaining changes the balance of negative/positive energy and, for a brief moment at least, we feel better. It’s actually a pretty reliable process. Addictive even.Which is the problem (beyond even the wasted time): Like just about all addictions, we’re feeding the spin of a destructive, never-ending cycle. The release of pressure — the good feeling — is ephemeral. In fact, the more we complain, the more likely the frustration, over time, will increase.Here’s why: when we release the pent up energy by complaining, we’re releasing it sideways. We almost never complain directly to the person who is catalyzing our complaints, we complain to our friends and families. We’re not having direct conversations to solve a problem, we’re seeking allies. We’re not identifying actions that could help, we’re, almost literally, blowing off steam.Why is complaining such a bad move?Complaining creates a number of dysfunctional side effects (again, beyond the time wasted): It creates factions, prevents or delays — because it replaces— productive engagement, reinforces and strengthens dissatisfaction, riles up others, breaks trust, and, potentially, makes the complainer appear negative. We become the cancer we’re complaining about; the negative influence that seeps into the culture.Worse, our complaining amplifies the destructiveness and annoyance of the initial frustration about which we’re complaining.Think about it: someone yells in a meeting. Then you go to the next meeting (where no one is yelling) and you complain about the person who just yelled. Now other people, who weren’t at the initial meeting, feel the impact of the yelling and get upset about it too. Encouraged by their support, your brief, momentary release transforms into righteous indignation and, becoming even more incensed, you experience the initialuncomfortable feelings all over again.In other words, while the energy dissipates, it expands. The amount of time you spend thinking about it extends for hours, sometimes days and weeks. And you’ve multiplied the people who are also thinking and talking about it.Meanwhile, our complaining improves, precisely, nothing.In fact, that might be the biggest problem: Complaining is a violent move to inaction. It replacesthe need to act. If instead of complaining, we allowed ourselves to feel the energy without needing to dissipate it immediately — which requires what I call emotional courage — then we could put that energy to good use. We could channel it so it doesn’t leak out sideways.In other words, let the uncomfortable feeling you have — the one thatwould otherwise lead you to complain — lead you to take a productive action.What’s a better move when we feel like complaining?Go ahead and complain. Just do it directly — and thoughtfully — to the person who is the cause of your complaints.Talk to the person who yelled in the meeting. If that person doesn’t listen, talk to their boss. If you don’t like that idea, then, when it actually happens, say “Hold on. Let’s respect each other in this conversation.” If you missed the opportunity in the moment, then meet with them afterwards and say, “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”That, of course, also takes emotional courage. It’s a scary, more risky thing to do. But it’s why it’s worth developing your emotional courage — because, while scary, it’s far more likely to be highly productive. It holds the potential for changing the thing that’s the problem in the first place. And rather than become the negative influence, you become the leader.If you want to brave this route, let your urge to complain be the trigger that drives you to take action in the moment (or, if you missed the moment, then shortly after):Notice the adrenaline spike or the can-you-believe-that-just-happened feeling (e.g., someone yelling in a meeting). Breathe and feel your feelings about the situation so that they don’t overwhelm you or shut you down. Notice that you can stay grounded even in difficult situations (e.g., feel, without reacting). Understand the part about what’s actually happening that is complain-worthy (e.g., it’s not okay to yell and disrespect others in a meeting). Decide what you can do to draw a boundary, ask someone to shift their behavior, or otherwise improve the situation (e.g., “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”) Follow through on your idea (e.g., actually say: “Please let’s respect each other in our conversations.”) It’s not nearly as easy as complaining. But it will be far more productive and valuable.It won’t always work like that, but you may be surprised how often it will.Adapted HBR Bregman Aug 2018

Super-Productive People….How They Do It? Super-productive people are in every industry.  Seven consistent habits and skills have been identified that the most productive people regularly practice.Here’s how… 1. Set stretch goals. A big project encourages you to pick up your pace and eliminate all distractions. There is some great magic that occurs when people become riveted by the thought of achieving a stretch goal. 2. Show consistency. We all know people who are 100% reliable. If they say, “It will be done,” it will get done. The most productive people not see their productivity ebb and flow over time; they don’t procrastinate only to pull all-nighters later on. Instead, they figure out how to consistently deliver results, week after week and month after month. 3. Have knowledge and technical expertise. Few things kill productivity faster than a lack of knowledge or expertise. When you know what you’re doing, you don’t have to sacrifice quality for speed. You can get things done both quickly and well. You don’t need to spend time searching online for a good tutorial, or asking a colleague for advice. The most productive people don’t hesitate to ask for help when they needed it…but they don’t need it that often. They also intentionally acquired new skills and worked to expand their expertise. That helped them be skilful, exacting, and quick in their execution.4. Drive for results. Most people are willing to accept responsibility for accomplishing goals and to work at a reasonable pace to achieve expected results. But there are a few people who have a great desire to accomplish results sooner and quicker. They are overjoyed to be able to check something off their to-do list. They’re competitive — and they compete not only with their colleagues but also with themselves. They like to set new records for performance and then beat their own best. 5. Anticipate and solve problems. The most productive people are great problem-solvers. They come up with innovative solutions and accomplish work more efficiently. They also tend to anticipate roadblocks and begin working on solutions in advance, and so avoid some of the problems that other people run into. Social psychologists call this mental contrasting — thinking about what you want to achieve and what might get in the way of your achieving it — and have found that it helps people achieve their goals.6. Take initiative. For many people, the hardest part of getting a job done is starting. The most productive people start quickly, and they never wait to be told to begin. They ask for forgiveness, not permission. And indeed, their bias for action can get them into trouble sometimes — they might start executing a project before all parties have bought in, say. But their results tend to speak for themselves.7. Be collaborative. So far it might sound like we’re describing a person who is a brilliant individual worker but can’t work well with others. The most productive people are highly collaborative and work well with others. They don’t have to spend a lot of time soothing ruffled feathers, because they don’t ruffle many feathers in the first place.If you want to be more productive yourself, take a look at this list and ask if there’s something you can improve. The most productive people might seem to get it all done through magic — or cutting corners — but as it turns out, extreme productivity is just a set of skills. Skills that more of us can acquire and use.Connect with us to learn more www.inspiremenow.com.au Adapted HBR Zenger & Folkman April 2018

Glenn is one of Australia’s most experienced building and development professionals with 25 years of business expertise and experience.Glenn is passionate about empowering others to succeed! Glenn honed his skills as director of Australia’s fastest growing residential housing company. The building and development journey has taken Glenn to many places, facing and overcoming many challenges.These days he is equally comfortable on a building site with a nail bag as he is in a boardroom wearing a suit, or on a development site with a laser level.Government and Industry also recognise Glenn’s skills by appointing him as Advisor to the Reserve Bank of Australia and HIA Board Member.Glenn is now working with the tradies, property developers and large project owners he knows best as a coach and consultant.Want to know Glenn’s “10 Steps to a Million Dollar Trades Business?” Go to www.inspiremenow.com.au to download the FREE guide.#inspiremenow #inspiredtrades #champion #winner #successcoach #businesstips #staymotivated #motivatedmindset #hustlemode #setgoals #dreambig

Who’s ready to work smarter?We’ve all heard the quote to “work smarter not harder”There are so many incredible, available tools, technologies, and strategies to find better ways to do your work. Working harder often means sitting down and getting that work done, with that passion and perseverance to find out how to work smarter, however, we’ve already done that hard work for you. Glenn’s ready to chat with you on our new website about how to work Smarter, not harder. Just go to www.inspiremenow.com.au and start chatting on our Drift Bot.Hit us up with your questions, it would be a pleasure to chat#inspiremenow #inspiredtrades

What if we could have more hours in the day? It’s one thing everyone wants, and yet it’s impossible to attain. But what if you could free up significant time—maybe as much as 20% of your workday—to focus on the responsibilities that really matter?The answer is simple: Eliminate or delegate unimportant tasks and replace them with value-added ones. Research indicates that we spend a great deal of time—an average of 41%—on discretionary activities that offer little personal satisfaction and could be handled competently by others. So why do we keep doing them? Because ridding oneself of work is easier said than done. We instinctively cling to tasks that make us feel busy and thus important, while we missing focusing on the top 20% of tasks that will optimise profit, workflow & cash flow.]There is a way forward. We can make themselves more productive by thinking consciously about how we spend our time; deciding which tasks matter most, and dropping or creatively outsourcing the rest. By simply asking ourselves to rethink and shift the balance of work, we can free up nearly a fifth of our time—an average of one full day a week—and focus on more worthwhile tasks with the hours saved.Why It’s So Hard ~ There are many reasons why this happens. Most of us feel entangled in a web of commitments from which it can be painful to extricate ourselves. Also, those less important items on our to-do lists are not entirely without benefit. Making progress on any task—even an inessential one—increases our feelings of engagement and satisfaction, research has shown. Identify low-value tasks ~ Look at all your daily activities and decide which ones are (a) not that important to you and (b) relatively easy to drop, delegate, or outsource. Research suggests that at least one-quarter of typical work falls into both categories, so you should aim to find up to 10 hours of time per week. Decide whether to drop, delegate, or redesign. Sort the low-value tasks into three categories: quick kills (things you can stop doing now with no negative effects), off-load opportunities (tasks that can be delegated with minimal effort), and long-term redesign (work that needs to be restructured or overhauled).Allocate freed-up time ~ The goal, of course, is to be not just efficient but effective. So the next step is to determine how to best make use of the time you’ve saved. Write down two or three things you should be doing but aren’t, and then get stuck in. You should also be able to go home a bit earlier to enjoy time with your family.

  If you’re thinking about hiring a friend here’s how to do it. Don’t start a conversation about hiring if saying no isn’t an option. Ask yourself, “If I open the question about hiring this person, can I imagine myself saying, ‘I’m not giving you the job’?” If you can’t, you’re doomed at the outset. If you wouldn’t say no — because of your own insecurity or your doubts about the emotional maturity of your friend — if no was the right answer, don’t even consider becoming this person’s boss. Otherwise, you will rationalize or cower yourself into a yes that you’ll probably regret. If you can’t turn your friend down for the job, you’ll never be able to manage them once they’re on your team. If your friend has already opened the question, shut it down honestly. Say, “I don’t think I’m strong enough to do what it takes to be both your boss and your friend.” You may have to deal with some resentment, but if they do resent you, then they’d be the kind of person who would despise you when things cratered. Give yourself an off-ramp. If you decide to entertain the possibility, set proper emotional expectations by explaining that no is the likeliest result. If the other person’s hopes begin to gallop at the prospect of being hired, you’ve lost already. Don’t conspire in their choice to set their expectations high. Say something like, “I can see some advantages to working together. And yet I think there are more reasons it won’t work than reasons it will. I’d like to explore the possibility with you, but I want to be clear I think it might not be a good idea.” Rehearse the boundaries. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that being a good friend is a good predictor of being a good employee. Someone who is congenial as a friend can show up as lazy, petty, resentful, dishonest, or even political as a colleague. Let’s face it, you occasionally show up in some of those ways as well. Before you explore the candidate’s qualifications, give yourselves a chance to mutually consider how you’ll deal with some difficult situations. For example, ask your friend how they will feel when: You override a decision they made. You give them a negative performance review. You disagree with them publicly. They disagree with you publicly. You press them to achieve an uncomfortable goal or deadline. You give a plum assignment they wanted to someone else. You deny them a raise. Rehearsing these scenarios helps the two of you think through some of the challenges you might face in your new relationship. This helps both parties set the psychological boundaries you’ll need if you’re to be a boss rather than a buddy. If you can’t imagine yourself holding these boundaries, then don’t proceed. In fact, doing so would mean, in essence, agreeing you will subordinate your duty to your company to the interests of your friend. You’ve sold out before you even begin. Hiring friends is risky. But if approached correctly, you can avoid threatening the relationship and possibly even enrich and strengthen it. Adapted HBR July 2018 Grenny

A habit is just a behavior that becomes a pattern: something we’re so used to doing that it becomes baked into our subconscious. That’s what makes bad habits so dangerous (we can’t stop doing them!) and good habits so powerful (we don’t have to decide to keep doing them — at a certain point, they become automatic). As Charles Duhigg points out in The Power of Habit, a habit “loop” is made up of three pieces: the cue or trigger (whatever prompts you to engage in your habit), the routine (the habit itself), and the reward (the payoff that rewards and reinforces your habit). Your tech tools can help you with each of these components. Trigger Tech is most useful with the first part of this loop — creating a dependable trigger that prompts you to follow your routine. Routine More and more people use apps to guide or structure their habit routines, particularly when it comes to reading and exercise. Reward The same logging apps that can serve as triggers may also serve as a reward. There are a lot of habit-logging apps that can work for this purpose, but if you’re using them as your reward as well as your trigger, take the time to test out a few until you find one that is pleasurable to use. You need to get a rush from logging your latest routine if you want this to reinforce your reward loop. Breaking Bad Habits  The reality is that technology is now central to many of our habit routines. The whole reason we spend so much time fretting about our phones is because technology makes it so easy to develop new, undesirable habits. But the same qualities that make tech a hazard zone for the development of bad habits also make it a very promising ally for the development of the habits we want. Adapted HBR March 2018 Samuel

How can you support staff to take care of themselves emotionally while also making sure they are doing their work (or as much of it as they are able to)? Make yourself availableOften a manager’s first challenge is simply recognizing the warning signs that an employee is going through a difficult time. Invest time in building good relationships with employees so you’ll be able to detect any problems early on. If you maintain an atmosphere of compassion in the workplace, people are more likely to proactively come to you when they’re going through a tough period. Don’t pry As a leader, you need to be able to show empathy and care, but you also must avoid becoming an employee’s personal confidante. “You want to build a caring relationship with employees, not a friendly relationship,”. Many managers make the mistake of confusing being liked with being trusted or respected. A good manager “has the ability to read and understand other people’s needs and concerns,”  while still keeping everyone focused on the major task at hand: accomplishing work. Listen first, suggest secondAsk what both of you can do together to address the issue of performance during the difficult period. “Try to use the word ‘we,’” as in “How can we support you?” The employee may have an idea for a temporary arrangement — some time off, handing off a project to a colleague, or a more flexible schedule for a few weeks — that is amenable to you. Check in regularly to make sure they’re doing ok  Whether you’ve settled on a solution yet or not, check in with your employee occasionally (keeping their privacy in mind). Not only will your employee appreciate that you care, you’ll get a better sense of how they are coping. Consider workloadWhatever arrangements you make, be crystal clear about your expectations during this time period. Be realistic about what they can accomplish and set goals they can meet. For this to be useful it’s got to be specific and it has be grounded in reality. Be transparent and consistentBe conscious of the fact that other employees will take note of how you treat the struggling colleague and will likely expect similar consideration if they too run into difficult times in the future. Principles to Remember Do: Set a tone of compassion in the workplace. It will not only give your employees confidence to approach you with struggles, but also give you the ability to spot warnings signs. Be creative with solutions. A flexible schedule may allow a person to maintain their output without much disruption. Check in from time to time, both to reassure the employee and to make sure that further adjustments or accommodations aren’t needed. Don’t: Act more like a therapist than a manager. Your heart may be in the right place, but don’t get involved in your employee’s personal problems. Make promises you can’t keep. Treat similar situations among employees differently. Employees will note — and resent — the inconsistency. Adapted HBR July 2018 O’Hara

No matter your age, your role, your position, your title, your trade, or your status, to get your most important work done, you have to have hard conversations, create accountability, and inspire action. In order to do that, you need to show up powerfully and magnetically in a way that attracts people to trust you, follow you, and commit to putting 100% of their effort into a larger purpose, something bigger than all of you. You need to care about others and connect with them in such a way that they feel your care. You need to speak persuasively — in a way that’s clear, direct, and honest and that reflects your care — while listening with openness, compassion, and love. Even when being challenged. And, of course, you need to follow through quickly and effectively. To lead effectively — really, to live effectively — you must be confident in yourself, connected to others, committed to purpose, and emotionally courageous. Most of us are great at only one of the four. Maybe two. But to be a powerful presence — to inspire action — you need to excel at all four simultaneously. If you’re confident in yourself but disconnected from others, everything will be about you and you’ll alienate the people around you. If you’re connected to others but lack confidence in yourself, you will betray your own needs and perspectives in order to please everyone else. If you’re not committed to a purpose, something bigger than yourself and others, you’ll flounder, losing the respect of those around you as you act aimlessly, failing to make an impact on what matters most. And if you fail to act powerfully, decisively, and boldly — with emotional courage — your ideas will remain idle thoughts and your goals will remain unfulfilled fantasies. Adapted HBR July 2018 Bregman

Do you get to the end of the day and feel that you’ve met your most pressing deadlines but haven’t accomplished anything that’s fundamentally important? If you’re like most people, important priorities slip to the back of your mind while you work on low-importance, time-specific tasks. Here is a list of practical strategies and tips to move you in the right direction. Schedule Important Tasks Research shows that scheduling when and where you’ll do something makes it dramatically more likely that the task will get done. Isolate the Most Impactful Elements of Important Tasks If you habitually set goals so lofty you end up putting them off, try this: When you consider a goal, also consider a half-size version which feels doable. Anticipate and Manage Feelings of Anxiety Many important tasks involve tolerating thinking about things that could go wrong, which is anxiety-provoking. Examples: managing difficult staff, succession planning for your business, actually reading your insurance policies, or creating that crisis management plan. Acknowledging and labeling the specific emotions that make an experience emotionally challenging is a basic but effective step for reducing those emotions. Spend Less Time on Unimportant Tasks Unimportant tasks have a nasty tendency of taking up more time than they should. Having strategies for making quicker decisions can help too. When you’ve got a pressing decision to make, it can be better to make a quick decision than a perfect one that takes more time. Adapted HBR July 2018 Boyes

A to-do list can help you stay organized and focused, in fact they are foundational to achieving optimal profit, workflow and cash flow in your trade business. But it can also become overwhelming when it gets too long and you’re not sure what to tackle next. Try keeping three lists — and a calendar. To start off, think about all of the tasks assigned to you. Which of them truly have to get done (chances are, some don’t)? And which are truly urgent? On the first to-do list, write down your projects that are important but aren’t time-sensitive. On the second, write the things that are important and need to get done today. The third list is a not-to-do list, to remind you which things aren’t worth your time and which can be done by someone else. Then use the calendar to block out time for each important task according to its deadline. Once you get control of your priorities, you’ll feel liberated to focus on what really matters to your business. Adapted from HBR June 2018 Rimm

Your attention determines the experiences you have, and the experiences you have determines the life you live. Or said another way: you must control your attention to improve your business. To be consistently productive we must strengthen our skill in attention management. Attention management is the practice of controlling distractions, being present in the moment, and maximizing focus, so that you can unleash your genius. It’s about being intentional instead of reactive. It is the ability to recognize when your attention is being stolen (or has the potential to be stolen) and to instead keep it focused on the activities you choose. Rather than allowing distractions to derail you, you choose where you direct your attention at any given moment, based on an understanding of your priorities and goals. Better attention management leads to improved productivity, but it’s about much more than checking things off a to-do list. The ultimate result is the ability to create a life of choice, around things that are important to you. It’s more than just exercising focus. It’s about taking back control over your time and your priorities. Adapted HBR Mar 2018 Thomas

Change your thinking and you change your life ...#inspiredtradesbusinesscoaching #inspiredcoaching #tradies #tradieslife #coachingfortradesmen #businesscoachaustralia #australiantradies #carpenter #plumbers #electrician #sparky #betterbusiness

Most business plans are to big on the numbers and far too small on the information that really matters. William Sahlman suggests that a great business plan is one that focuses on a series of questions. These questions relate to the four factors critical to the success of every new venture: 1.the people, 2. the opportunity, 3. the context, 4. and the possibilities for both risk and reward. The questions about people revolve around three issues: What do they know? Whom do they know? and How well are they known? As for opportunity, the plan should focus on two questions: Is the market ready for the trades product or service large or rapidly growing (or preferably both)? and Is the market structurally attractive? Then, in addition to demonstrating an understanding of the context in which their venture will operate, trades business owners should make clear how they will respond when that context inevitably changes. Finally, the plan should look unflinchingly at the risks the new venture faces, giving would-be backers a realistic idea of what magnitude of reward they can expect and when they can expect it. A great business plan is not easy to compose, Sahlman acknowledges, largely because most entrepreneurs are wild-eyed optimists. But one that asks the right questions is a powerful tool. A better business, not to mention a better shot at success, awaits entrepreneurs who use it. HBR Aug 1997 Sahlman

So here’s the question: How can you inspire your team to achieve the impossible when you yourself are feeling afraid and uncertain about how — and whether — you can achieve it? Often trades business owners think they have a staff problem or a sales problem. But that isn’t quite right. What they really have is a leadership problem. You need to inspire people to loosen up, try new things, experiment. You need to get people thinking out of the box at the precise moment that they are huddling together in a small corner of it. How do you get out of this conundrum? Build Emotional Courage Your first step is to build your emotional courage — your ability to act thoughtfully, strategically, and powerfully while feeling afraid. Why not just overcome your fear? That’s what most people try to do (and what many coaches try to help people do), but it’s a huge mistake. You can feel scared without acting scared. It isn’t ignoring fear — you still felt scared — but it doesn’t control you. Focus on the Process When we’re scared or intimidated or pursuing something so big that we don’t even really know where to begin, we need to focus on the process that will get to the outcome. A good process will guide you along the path to get you where you want to go, and you can follow a good process no matter what you’re feeling. Communicate Clearly Once you bolster your emotional courage and target your focus, you need to direct the attention of your team. Vision. People need to have a clear sense of where they are headed. You should articulate the vision so that it’s succinct, simple, palpable, and clear. Empathy. People need to know that you are not out of touch and that you can feel what they are feeling. You do not need to drag this part out — it should be short but connected and heartfelt. This is where you can also own your part in the challenge. Direction. People need to see the path that they can believe will get them to the ultimate objective, the vision. Like the vision, your direction should be succinct, simple, palpable, and clear. Proof. People need a reason to believe they can walk the path, so you should offer proof for your direction and optimism. You should be specific, be personal, and reflect the work that the team is already doing. This will build your team’s confidence. Adapated from HBR June 2018 Bregman

Queenslanders who work in the building and construction industry make an invaluable contribution to their communities and the economic prosperity of the state. They deserve to be paid for the work they do. The new Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017, passed by the Queensland Parliament on 26 October 2017, will help give them the confidence that this will happen. These new reforms, including Project Bank Accounts, are not just important for subcontractors and their families, they are important for Queensland’s economy and productivity. During extensive consultation the building industry it was discovered that in some cases, trades were not getting paid for their work, putting livelihoods and lives at risk. The Queensland government have responed to stakeholder concerns with a set of reforms that will help assure payment, make it easier for subcontractors to navigate the claims process, and strengthen the powers of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) so the action it takes will be meaningful and effective.

Now, a common complaint that I hear from business owners is “I can’t find good people.” Here’s the truth: you get the team you deserve. Your team is a direct reflection of your leadership. Sometimes I hear people say, “Well he’s just lucky. He’s got the right people, he’s got a good team.” It doesn’t work that way. The best leaders attract the best people. Remember, neither your business nor the team you develop will ever outperform your leadership#leadership #inspiredtradesbusinesscoaching #bisinesscoaching #inspiremenow #tradies #trades #tradesbusinesscoaching #tradesbusiness #betterbusinessskills #profit #moreincome #engageacoach #coaching #australianbusinesscoach

‘ Learners inherit the earth ‘ Eric Hoffer How are you going to take your business to optimum performance ? Profit / workflow/ cashflow In the January 2009 issue of Harvard Business Review we find an article regarding businesses finding value by hiring a Coach. Someone who ‘gets’ you. A person who has walked the walk! The article also asks what kind of person would get the most out of engaging a coach.. the answer ‘persons who get the most out of coaching have a fierce desire to learn and grow’ It may cost you money but the rewards will be a hundred fold ... #inspiredtradesbusinesscoaching #tradeskills #tradesbusinesscoaching #businesscoaching #livebetterlivelonger #betterbusiness #lightbulbmoments #beabetterboss#australianbusinesscoach #tradieslife #tradescoaching #learnmoreaboutbusiness #systems #accountability #mentor #businessbuilding #earnmoremoney #teamwork

Be Accountable for Performance! Does your favourite sporting team have a coach? Of course they do! The reason is accountability.Once a coach and the team agree what it is they’re trying to achieve, the coach points everyone in the right direction and then holds everyone accountable for the outcomes.Trade business is no different. If you want the best outcomes possible for your business, find a coach that:1. Knows your industry2. Has business experience and qualifications. 3. You feel like you can form a connection with. 4. Offers a program that fits your business.Once found, agree with your coach on what the desired outcomes are and then let them resource and guide you. Most importantly let them hold you accountable to the agreement and watch your business achieve profit and lifestyle outcomes you never dreamed possible....#tradesbusinesscoaching #coachingfortradies #inspiredtradesbusinesscoaching #tradesbusiness #tradesbusinesscoaching #australiantradesman #tradieslife #livebetterlivelonger #coachingenergy #betterbusiness #lightbulbmoments

One of the Mid North Coasts best plumbing businesses now working with us. Thanks for the great feedback: “The meeting was very productive and thought provoking”

Early morning flight for our Inspired Trades Business Coaching team ...#trades #tradesbusiness #tradesbusinesscoaching #coachingfortradies #australiantradesman #tradies #welovetradies #aussiestradies #ohs #tradieslife #betterbusiness #lifestyle #teachingyoubetterbusiness #creatingbusinesssystems

Areyou someone that knows what the next step for your business is after each coaching session but getting started on the next step is always a challenge? Perhaps you never get to that important but hard thing, accomplishing all sorts of smaller tasks but avoiding this one. Or perhaps you’re simply sluggish getting to it, wasting valuable time in the process. The most productive people I know move right through these moments, wasting little time and getting to their most important work and conversations quickly, without hesitation.Our minds and bodies have an incredible capacity to adapt to just about anything. The hard part is rarely being in the new normal, it’s adjusting to the new normal. The hard part is the transition.Start with willpower: willpower in a moment is much more reliable than willpower over long stretches of time. Commit to repetition:pre-decide that you’re to do it, taking out the uncertainty and deliberation, and therefore the hesitation.Benefit from adaptability:the mental and physical challengecan so diminish that the transition is no longer experienced as pain. What was, previously, extreme discomfort, will become refreshing.[Adapted from HBR May 30 2018 by Peter Bregman]

Where would we be without our Tradies!? The world needs skills in trade jobs.The biggest forecast shortages in skills are in trades.#tradies #tradiesofinstagram #tradielife #lifeskills #australiantradesmen #weneedmorequalitytradies

Conflict in the building industry is sadly somewhat inevitable. Clients will sometimes view things differently to those of us in the industry. So rather than pretend that conflict isn't coming lets develop strategies to deal with it when it does.Disagreements are an inevitable, normal, and healthy part of relating to other people. There is no such thing as a conflict-free work environment. You might dream of working in a peaceful utopia, but it wouldn’t be good for your company, your work, or you. In fact, disagreements — when managed well — have lots of positive outcomes. Here are a couple:Opportunities to learn and grow. As uncomfortable as it may feel when someone challenges your ideas, it’s an opportunity to learn.Higher job satisfaction. When you’re not afraid to constructively disagree about issues at work, you’re likely to be happier at work.The good news is that it’s entirely possible to get more comfortable with conflict. Here are some ways to start.Let go of needing to be liked. Respect the other person’s point of view, and expect them to respect yours. If you model that you’re comfortable and that respect is more important than likability, you’ll take a lot of tension out of situations and feel less dread for conflict.Focus on the big picture. Disagreements are hard when you think of them as personal jabs, but remember you are the industry expert and the success of the job often relies on your opinion being heard.  How will it help the the project you’re working on? Wanting to be liked is about you; wanting what’s best for the build is far less selfish.Don’t equate disagreement with unkindness. When I talk with people who are afraid of conflict, and I ask why they are hesitant to disagree, I most often hear, “I don’t want to hurt her feelings” or “I don’t want to be a jerk.” Yes, there are some people who genuinely don’t want to be disagreed, but most people are open to hearing a different perspective if you share it thoughtfully and respectfully. Remember, the best way to respond to a difficult client or conflict situation is to be respectful, and shower them with kindness.[adapted from HBR Why We Should Be disagreeing More At Work by Amy Gallo Jan 2018]

Every building project needs an actively involved client and builder to be a success. Projects that are left simply to the builder, no matter how good the builder, will never achieve the same results as an actively engaged client can achieve.Client side project management can deliver the same results for clients that do not have either the time or skills to engage in their building project.Because Glenn and Angela  have  worked on both sides of the fence in this process they bring unique insight into the decision making. Builders need clear instructions and sustainable prices. Clients need fair pricing and quality construction outcomes.Glenn knows how to navigate a fair outcome for both whilst delivering client sided representation in the best interests of their project.Angela has designed and managed the building of dozens of Award and Multi Award Winning homes throughout her 15 years actively involved in the building industry. She has worked with trades and builders to provide the best outcome for clients. Her eye for detail when it comes to the finished product is second to none.Glenn will get the job done. Angela will make sure it looks good.  Perfect winning combination to ensure that YOU, the client, has the home of your dreams at the end of the process.

Builders and trades often complain about work life balance and the all consuming task that a trade based business becomes. Research suggests that the impediments to greater work-life balance and satisfaction lie not only in the workplace but also within individuals themselves through learned dispositions. A gap often exists between conscious ambitions related to career and parenting and unconscious attitudes and expectations. If we want to reach our full potential, we have to be aware of how who we are has been shaped by our earliest experiences [HBR Ioana Lupu October 30, 2017]. A business coach can help you understand how this gap is affecting your business and lifestyle choices and realign your attitudes to allow ensure your work is both profitable, enjoyable and sustainable.  

Builders know they need to give their staff the opportunity to make smart decisions and function within their role effectively without being directed constantly. It’s been said so often that it’s a cliché. But here’s the problem: We have trouble resolving the tension between employee empowerment and operational discipline. This challenge is so difficult that it ties companies up in knots. That may be because we cling to the notion that freedom and control are zero-sum, often oscillating between the extremes. However, after working within heaps of building and trade businesses I’ve learned that guidelines are not the death of freedom if they’re well designed and well implemented. They actually support and nurture it by giving people a clear, positive, galvanizing sense of where the organization is trying to go.Builders who have made this basic but counter intuitive discovery have essentially cultivated freedom within a framework, embedding the company’s purpose, priorities, and principles into a functional system. Once they’ve laid out the framework, they commit substantial resources to helping employees understand it and thrive within it.[paraphrased HBR May 2018 Structure That's Not Stifling by Ranjay Gulati]

https://www.dulux.com.au/colour/colour-trends/2018Check out the latest Colour Trends from Dulux Australia.  Beautiful palates made easy.   

Have you ever thought about the spaces in your home.... what is actually IN them?  If you take a look around,  there are MANY different colours and textures that make the space feel the way it does.  Texture is defined by the feel,  appearance or consistency of the surface.  If you were speaking specifically about fabrics or floor coverings you could say the character or appearance of a textile fabric is determined by the arrangement and thickness of its threads.  In the design world,  we LOVE texture!  It is what makes a space feel like a home,  it creates atmosphere and feelings.  Choosing a floor mat that has texture is an example of adding instant texture to a room that might otherwise be very clinical. My next blog is going to go into floor mats more.  Make sure you sign up to keep up to date. :) I look forward to bringing LOTS of ideas, inspiration and COLOUR into your world.  Ange X  

Building & Trade business go through many cycles. Startup is an exciting time with many worries.Periods of growth bring new and unique challenges. Downturns are difficult to manage.But where does a builder turn for advice? Competitors won't help, staff are busy, accountants are running late with tax compliance work!Glenn can help with these many business cycles and provide coaching and strategic direction and advise that will be invaluable for the direction and success of your business.Glenn gets alongside his clients and provides insight into their business and the industry that comes from decades of hands on experience.As a coach Glenn will help you:1. Create an amazing Brand for your business that is saleable.2. Structure your Staffing so that your business is profitable. 3. Implement Marketing strategies that are low cost and effective.4. Manage Legal Disputes and recover bad debts.5. Develop Systems and Processes that allow you to be free of the daily grind.6. Approach your Purchasing decisions like a major builder.7. Review your Contracts and documents to improve your negotiation position with clients & subcontractors.8. Advise on techniques for business Growth, Decline and Crisis Management.9. Understand your Financial Reports and make them useful for decision making.10. Be Accountable for the performance targets that are agreed.Call Glenn on 0428 536021 now for a chat about what we can do to help.

Inspired Building & Development Consulting was pleased to partner with Integrity Franchising at their 2018 National Conference.A comprehensive program was well received by all the Integrity New Homes franchisees who attended the conference in Sydney.Representative from the gold sponsors, Dulux and James Hardie, both provided entertaining and information packed presentations.James Hardie also provided a prize of a $200.00 Red Balloon gift voucher to a lucky conference attendee as part of the company’s presentation. The silver sponsors BlueScope Steel, CSR and PGH, are all companies which have had a long association with Integrity New Homes over many years.In addition to supplier presentations, conference sessions were held around maximising web site visitations, “emarketing”, and improvements to the iGyro building business management system as well as a range of legal case studies. Attendees were given the opportunity to interact in sessions and ask questions from the floor.Bronze sponsorship was provided by B&D Garage Doors and Openers and Beaumont Tiles.The conference achieved a record with all franchisees able to attend.For more information about the Integrity New Homes franchise system please call Glenn Leet on ph: 0428 536 021 or contact us.