GLOSS July 2017 by GLOSS MAGAZINE

BUSINESS | MONEY | LIFE | REVIEWS | YOU

JULY 2017

From the

editor

It was Seth Godin that said, If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try

here is a consistent theme running through businesses large and small • how to remain relevant in an uncertain future • how to be noticed in a sea of sameness • how to become more comfortable with the uncomfortableness of change and disruption. The reality is that change is a constant and anyone thinking that this 21st century world of busyness and resource contraction is going to end some time soon needs to think again - and quickly. But what hasn’t changed is the need to be noticed, to add value, to be wanted, to remain relevant. During times of change and uncertainty it’s ok to experience fear, trepidation and sometimes, we may even experience excitement at the possibility of what could be. It’s what you do next that truly counts. It’s the actions you take that set you apart. In a world of mass, of sameness, of superficial connections each and every single one of you is unique and the world needs YOU. The world needs YOU to make a dent, to leave your mark, to lead in your way, to create the legacy of YOU. And to do this you need to be:

FEAR LESS.

FEAR LESS about conforming and doing what everyone else wants you to do – the life that for whatever reason we all think is laid out for us to follow. When all around is changing it’s more important than ever to own your vision and your dreams, to embrace leadership of self and the leader you want to be. It’s about walking the talk and going for it. The world needs the uniqueness of you to challenge, to innovate, to drive change. FEAR LESS about standing in your spotlight and shining. Speak up. Yes people may disagree, argue with you, may even say things behind your back – but don’t worry. Who has the right to say that X person is better over Y? Don’t compare yourself to others because what you believe and what you say matters. Stand solidly in the space of you and remember that in fact the difference of opinion is exactly what drives change. FEAR LESS about not having all the answers, of not being right, of having to ask for help. Embrace a life of constant curiosity, of questioning, of learning from the masters, from each other, from everyday people. Find your personal network to support your growth because together we are smarter and together we can find the answers. FEAR LESS about believing in and being you. Fear LESS about following your dreams. This issue of GLOSS is dedicated to growth and success strategies from Australia’s leading thinkers and business leaders and I’m super excited to feature an article from my good friend Dominick Quartuccio who is based in NY, works with senior executives and is an expert in taking control. Remember - tomorrow requires you to dig deep, to decide not just what you want to do, but who you want to become.

Janine Garner | Publisher & Editor 2 GLOSS | JULY 2017

The people we connect with can make or break our ideas and future success – Lisa Messenger Networking genius – Kieran Flanagan

Networking matters but it’s YOUR personal network that matters more. Learn to network the right way www.janinegarner.com.au

17-279908

Finally — a fresh alternative to networking that makes sense – Dr Jason Fox

CONTENTS JULY 2017

BUSINESS 17

MARGOT ANDERSEN

Leadership tips to overcoming the silo mentality.

KIERAN FLANAGAN

EMILY VERSTEGE

URSULA HOGBEN Five ‘essentials’ that you don’t need to grow your businesses and succeed… and five you do!

EMMA BANNISTER

FEATURES

PAUL BROADFOOT

06 DOMINICK QUARTUCCIO

An entrepreneurial strategist and the author of Xcelerate: Innovate your Business Model, Disrupt your Market and Fast-hack into the Future.

JO MUIRHEAD

JESSAMY GEE

LISA O’NEILL

A keynote speaker, trainer & author. He teaches successful (and incredibly busy) individuals, teams and businesses how to Take Command of Their Future.

10 DI WESTAWAY

Talks us through 10 rituals of joy, exhilaration and success.

EMMA BANNISTER A powerful presentation is the most critical tool in communication and business today.

46 LISA O’NEILL Juggling in high heels. Oprah famously said “you can have it all – just not all at once”.

GLOSS

MONEY 51

MELISSA BROWNE

LOUISE AGNEW

PUBLISHER Janine Garner EDITOR Emma Hancock

MY WAY 56

TRACIE EATON

DESIGN Magazines byDesign P: 02 8883 5890 www.bydesigngraphics.com.au

YOU 61

NIKKI FOGDEN MOORE

5 Ways Founders, Entrepreneurs and Leaders can Run Their Body Like Their Business for Sustainable Results

JENNY BROCKIS

AH-HA MOMENTS

LBD OUT & ABOUT MONEY

noun 1. a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes 2. coins and banknotes collectively

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Margot Anderson Nikki Fogden-Moore Dr Jenny Brockis Melissa Browne

EDITORIAL / ADVERTISING support@thelbdgroup.com.au MEMBERSHIP / FEEDBACK support@thelbdgroup.com.au PUBLISHED BY LBD GROUP All content in this newsletter is protected under Australian and International Copyright laws. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of The LBDGroup is strictly forbidden. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information

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DESIGN YOUR FUTURE:

STOP DRIFTING AND START LIVING 6

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our enemy isn’t pain. The real enemy is when you don’t feel much of anything at all. As a speaker, trainer and coach to high-performing big shots like you, I often find myself face-to-face with highly successful people who can’t seem to figure out why they are increasingly restless in the lives they’ve created for themselves. On the one hand, you may genuinely enjoy the work you do, you’re compensated handsomely, hold an esteemed position in your work and community, and love/are loved by those around you. Yet on the other hand you’re simply less interested in the life you’ve created for yourself. What once excited you, doesn’t as much anymore. Your highs aren’t all that high, your lows aren’t all that low. And you don’t know why. Other than the occasional frustration or fleeting moment of happiness, you can’t escape the feeling that you’re not feeling much at all. Yet you still want to protect the life you have. And life isn’t painful enough yet to change. So you remain…drifting into a future of More of the Same. TRAPPED This word keeps coming up over and over again when I’m with high performers: “Trapped.” Sometimes it’s spoken explicitly. Other times, it’s lurking back there behind a façade of achievement, a quiet desperation that something is

not quite right, you just don’t know what. There’s a growing inner restlessness, the source of which eludes (and confounds) you. After all, you have so many reasons to be grateful, why would you ever feel discontent? Unsatisfied? Bored? Stuck? Or fearful? Despite your resistance, these unspoken feelings persist. ‘Trapped’ is when you feel like you are living into a future of More of the Same. Stagnation. Lethargy. Blah. Bleh. It’s a death sentence for someone like you. Nothing will extinguish your fire, your drive, or your ambition faster than the idea of living into a predictable, uninspiring future. THE MOST COMMON FANTASY Predictable, uninspiring futures are often the byproduct of a life lived in a perpetual state of busyness. Life is moving so quickly that you don’t have a moment to catch your breath. Your work is never done. You finish 1 thing only to have 20 other things waiting for you. Your inbox taunts you with that red notification label of mounting unread messages. You’ve heard of “inbox zero” but know it’s really just a fairy tale. Your responsibilities at home are never done. There’s always someone else’s needs to take care of. A broken thing to fix. An errand to run. A to-do list that never seems to shrink.

After emptying your tank on everyone else, all you want to do is collapse into a couch and disappear into a stream of Netflix. I can’t tell you how many of my clients have opened up to me in a moment of candor to reveal the same fantasy: “I wish I could just go live on an island somewhere that no one wants or needs anything from me. I can escape. I can finally relax.” One of my clients said he was ready to trade places with Tom Hanks’ character in Castaway. All he wanted was to be assured a couple of coconuts, Wilson (the volleyball and imaginary friend), and complete solitude. When it takes 110% of what you’ve got simply to stay on the increasingly faster hamster wheel of life, no wonder you feel trapped. THERE IS ANOTHER WAY Now that I’ve held you under water long enough, it’s time to bring you up for some air. What if you could design a future that you couldn’t wait to live into? I’m talking about the kind of future where, when you envision it, there’s such a deep, burning sense of excitement to create a reality that it instantly inspires you in this moment, right now. What if you could obliterate the “if I only had more time,” virus that’s infected you and 99.9% of those around you? What if you actually felt you were in command of your time, truly believed you had enough of it and could do

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precisely what you want to with it? What if you could free yourself from your own limiting habits and fears? What if other people’s expectations and judgments slid off you like Teflon? What if you could walk your own path and not give a shit about what anyone else thinks? When you can tap into that kind of feeling, it’s like taking some kind of limitless pill. Your senses are heightened. You become emboldened. You act with urgency, intentionality and conviction. Your mojo meter is on tilt. Intrigued? TAKE COMMAND: DESIGN YOUR FUTURE It’s time to break free from your self-imposed cage. Command of your life is totally within your grasp. I know it because I changed my

life, and I’ve seen my clients transform theirs through the same process. You can harness your own power and Design a Future You Can’t Wait to Live into. How? THE 3-STEP PROCESS IS SIMPLE: 1. Awakening Awakening is when you are ready to take action and make change. Awakenings occur through the cultivation of deep awareness. You cannot change what you are not aware of. The first stage is to uncover the habits that are operating in your blind spots. Once your habits are brought out into the light, you can inspect them, trace their origins and disrupt them. 2. Disrupting Disrupting is the process of interrupting your perpetual

patterns and breaking the stimulus and response cycle. When you do this, you get immediate and profound feedback on why you do what you do, and how these habits may be serving or oppressing you. 3. Designing Once you’ve awakened to and disrupted your habits, you’ve broken the cycle. You’ve created space between stimulus and response. You can now consciously design new habits that empower your future. This is your process for breaking free and take back life on your own terms. For abolishing the future of More of the Same. The process is simple – but it won’t be easy. Take Command.

DOMINICK QUARTUCCIO Dominick Quartuccio is a keynote speaker, trainer & author. He teaches successful (and incredibly busy) individuals, teams and businesses how to Take Command of Their Future. He specialises in high-stress environments such as sales, financial services & small businesses. He spent 15 years in Fortune 100 financial services in sales leadership. Dominick@DominickQ.com | www.DominickQ.com Phone: +1-917-387-5801 Address: 808 Broadway, Suite 4J, NY NY 10003

GLOSS | JULY 2017

ONE OF OUR MOST FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS IS OUR DESIRE FOR CONNECTION. - CAROL YANG

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10 Rituals of

JOY, EXHILARATION AND SUCCESS

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erhaps I’m from a lucky generation. “Go outside and play and don’t come home till dark,” Mum would yell joyfully as she shut the door behind us. Together, we would skip into the great outdoors without a care in the world. Today’s world is very different. Good and bad different. Activities that used to be a natural part of our lifestyle, such as walking, climbing, washing clothes by hand… now require effort. Our modern lifestyle is making us sick. Not bedridden sick, but tired, emotional, flat, bored, overweight, lethargic, stressed out and anxious. It’s taken me 35 years working as a health professional to understand how best to help my clients manage moods and create joy for growth and success. And we do this by engineering healthy lifestyles using the

latest neuroscience and some old-fashioned common sense. I’ve shared the following evidence based practices, underpinned by science and real women’s successes, with thousands of clients. They’ll help you too. LOVE: It all starts with love. Love is the core of our humanity and helping others is why we exist. In his book, Born to be Good, neuropsychologist Dr Dacher Keltner draws insight from gurus such as Charles Darwin and the Dalai Lama, as well as his own research and stories, to show how our emotions make us human. We are born to love and to do good. In doing good we feel good and help others feel good. But if you’re too fried or frazzled to lavish love around, be kind to yourself and hug somebody. It’s fabulicious for both of you.

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Then, when you’re feeling well again, devote yourself to practicing these daily rituals of joy for primary self-care so you can get back your core condition of love. MOVE: We all need to move and puff every day. If you have a sedentary job, this is tough. But if you move and puff every day you’ll not only feel a whole lot better, but your body and mind will work better. You’ll burn more fat, sleep better and heal better. Your body needs to move at least an hour a day because without movement your organs seize up. Just like a car, if you don’t use it, you lose it. Hiking, dancing, sex, cycling, swimming, gardening, yoga, jogging, gym, climbing, scrambling, stretching and wrestling all create happy hormones. But if you don’t fancy these activities, just walk: 10,000 steps/ one hour/5-6km. Every day, no excuses. NOURISH: You need to nourish your body with fresh, whole, unprocessed food 80 percent of the time until you’re 80 percent full. Nutrition rarely comes in a packet, bottle or tin so avoid these. Check labels on everything and avoid food containing numbers. Eat seasonally so you’re eating fresh food that isn’t stuffed with preservatives and chemicals. If you can afford organic, bio-dynamic food, buy it. Hit the Sunday farmers’ market and do a big cook-up on the weekend to ease the mid-

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week rush. Food preparation takes a couple of hours every day, so suck it up and make it fun. SLEEP: Sleep is a key element of success because it helps heal and rejuvenate us. But many of us can’t sleep because we’re out of whack in other ways. If this is you, you might need professional help, but using adventurous physical activity and these rituals of joy will help you get your eight hours every night. You need to go to bed early and wake-up with the birds, cut coffee from 11am, exercise and save wine for weekends. If you’re on

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medication, menopausal, stressed or anxious you might find this challenging, but it’s fixable and wonderfully worth it. You can do it. MINDFULNESS: It’s lasted for thousands of years in the form of meditation because it heals and helps calm the mind, but now it’s also scientifically proven. Mindfulness rituals can be simple or complex but basically, they involve being consciously present, in the moment with your thoughts. Ensure you get at least 10 minutes a day of healing breath or mindfulness. NATURE: Getting outside into nature heals your mind, body and spirit and there are heaps of studies to prove it. Research shows that going wild in the woods is good for physical, mental and emotional health, as well as de-stressing, healing and bringing joy.

Instead of wine, use nature to unwind. If there’s no forest nearby, head for your nearest park, seek the sunrise, hang out in the garden or stare at the stars for ten minutes every day. GOODNESS: We all know how good we feel when we give back because doing good is in our nature. In Born to be Good, Keltner uncovers why random acts of kindness, paying it forward, charity and volunteering connects to our happy hormones. Whether you’re sizzling sausages to raise funds for a Cambodian orphanage or trekking 60km to restore sight, doing good deeds are a sure-fire way to get a happy hop in your day. Even just a smile at a stranger, a hug, or warm handshake can bring joy to you and the receiver. This is hardwired in us and is part of what makes us human.

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GRATEFULNESS: Conscious recognition and delight in moments of happiness, slivers of joy or routine thankfulness throughout your day is your gratefulness practice. In positive psychology, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps you feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve your health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. GIGGLES: Get the giggles because laughter is not only contagious, it’s proven to reduce tension, build co-operation and calm us which makes it a winner in the happiness quest. It just takes a giggle to get this daily medicine. But if nothing funny happens, think of a funny moment, tell a joke, find a funny meme or tickle a friend so you both get the giggles.

TECH-OFF: With 60 percent of us addicted to screens, we must dedicate at least one hour a day to not only unplug but also to connect with people for REAL. Restore family rituals such as sharing meals, walks or games, head massages or bed wrestling. And don’t take your device to bed. The trick to forming habits is to practice the tasks regularly until they become rituals and no longer require conscious effort. It’s like brushing your teeth or fastening your seatbelt. No choice. Just do it. Don’t worry if you slip up. We all do. Just bounce back and start afresh. Every new day, hour, minute and second is a brand-new chance to change.

DI WESTAWAY Di Westaway is the Founder and CEO of Wild Women On Top and Coastrek. Di is an energiser specialising in natural exhilaration, and she knows how to help your teams get wired for wellness to deliver on your bottom line … and theirs. She is an adventure coach, world record holder, mum and author of Natural Exhilaration: Lead an adventurous life you love. Her website is www.diwestaway.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/DiWestawayCEO/ | Twitter: https:// twitter.com/DiWestaway | Insta: https://www.instagram.com/ diwestaway/ | Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diwestaway

GLOSS | JULY 2017

Leadership, with a bold mind and a brave heart is the only way I know, and so far its working! - Ronna Kahn

noun 1. a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s regular occupation, profession, or trade 2. commercial activity

business section

{business}

business

OVERCOMING THE

SILO MENTALITY ‘You are confined only by the walls you build yourself’ -Anon

sk any business leader today what their biggest barrier is to driving innovation, delivering growth or increasing efficiency and they will very quickly tell you it is ‘silos’. Invariably their answer is quickly followed by stories of immense frustration, team hostilities and painful recounts of missed opportunities, damaged relationships and a very real impact to bottom lines. Like grain silos, business silos house precious resources that are separated according to type and are difficult to gain access to. Whilst this might work well in housing and protecting grain from nature’s elements it’s not so beneficial when it comes to driving growth, business innovation, efficiency or collaboration. Unfortunately though too many businesses are losing market share because of their siloed way of working and the employee mindsets that are permeating workplace cultures.

The silo mentality is commonly defined as ‘a mindset present in some companies when certain departments or sectors do not wish to share information with others in the same company’. Often it is evidenced through a ‘them and us’ attitude; an ‘it’s not part of my job’ approach; or situations that see individuals and teams hamstrung and unable to progress because you either have to wait and chase information from others. Not only does it slow outcomes but it damages careers and opportunities. Typically the bigger the organisation the more damaging and impeding the silos can be. With the very nature of work rapidly changing and continuously pivoting, business leaders can’t afford to not examine how silos may be limiting both the success of the business and their own impact as a leader.

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feature business Patrick Lencioni, author of Silos, Politics and Turf Wars describes how ‘silos – and the turf wars they enable devastate organsiations: They waste resources, kill productivity, push good people out the door and jeopardise the achievement of goals’. To overcome them he highlights the need for strong unified leadership that is prepared to look past the behaviours that result from silos and focus on the contextual issues that are often at the heart of the organisation. Whilst it can be very easy to assume that the inefficiencies and lack of collaboration in a team or organisation are a result of employees not knowing how to play nicely together, often the behaviours result from a sense of powerlessness to actually do anything about the problems they have identified. Leadership teams who recognise this and seek to create solutions that remove roadblocks, facilitate new ways of working and empower employees will create long-term solutions that are easy to execute and scalable. The key to silo busting is mobility: getting people and information moving. The reality is if we put the same people, in the same place, doing the same ‘stuff’ for too long, silos form. Creating environments that support this movement and equipping individuals with the skills to manage and navigate it is critical to keeping this flow moving. Without it we simply build up dam like barriers that stop the flow and trap both people and information and all too often see projects and strategies stall.

3 LEADERSHIP TIPS TO OVERCOMING THE SILO MENTALITY: Unify: Silo mentalities are rarely created from the ground up. Leadership teams who are unified in their vision, committed to their strategy and consistent in their communication create high trust environments that empower and enable others. They help break down the barriers that get in the way of success and movement and lay the foundations for high performing cultures. Focus: When leaders and their teams are clear on the vision they are able to focus with crystal clarity on the goals at hand. It is easier for employees to identify the role they play, take ownership for their outcomes and identify any roadblocks or enablers to their success. They support the flow of people, resources and information and welcome the fresh ideas and perspectives generated. When individuals understand the impact that they have and the interconnected nature of their teams, aligning and focusing on the overarching goals is more obtainable. Recognise: In order to successfully deliver on a company vision and strategy, leaders need to understand and recognise what motivates, inspires and incentivises individual employees. They also need to detect where the silos are forming and work with individuals to move and act with confidence. When they do, employees are more likely to stop ‘protecting their patch’ and engage more collaboratively and productively. The ultimate pay off to overcoming the silo mentality and the use of mobility as a tool to do that are the novel insights, ingenuity and innovative thinking that you get from open minds.

MARGOT ANDERSEN Margot Andersen is a global leadership and talent mobility expert. Working with organisations to eliminate siloed ways of thinking and working she essentially helps leaders to get people and information moving to drive innovation and commercial success. margot@talentinsight.com.au | www.talentinsight.com.au 0400 336 318

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be ess fearl

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DESIGN FOR WHO YOU ARE (NOT WHO YOU WISH YOU WERE)

Success isn’t always about changing who we are. Sometimes it is about making the most of who we are.

he self help industry is getting rich off all of us. Our hopes, dreams and more importantly our insecurities. It knows you think that you are not enough. That you have an inside voice whispering that you can be so much more. That you are terrified of getting to the end of it all and feeling like you didn’t do enough. It needs you to see what you are not. Oh, how we do exactly that. We see our flaws, weaknesses and shortcomings. If you work in the corporate environment you may even have the ‘pleasure’ of having them presented back to you in a pie graph or chart. Sure, they throw in some good stuff too to balance out the loosely veiled attack on your character. But there they are, in not so glorious colour. What you are not. Where you are lacking. The theory being if you fix those things you gain eternal excellence (or something of that ilk). Then you spend most your time trying to counter that so called weakness. I remember being told early in my advertising career that I was too girly. That I needed to be more serious if I wanted to be taken seriously. I was even told to try wearing no underwear to feel more like a powerful woman and less like a girl. Uh huh. Seriously. Of course I tried to be less ‘girly’, not the no undies thing but the more serious thing. Which didn’t go so well. Apparently my serious face just looks like a cranky bear who has not had enough sleep.

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In truth you can interpret most things negatively or positively. You can be bossy or assertive. Practical or unimaginative. Diligent or compliant. Confident or cocky. Quiet or a good listener. It’s all down to interpretation. So hey why not interpret in a way you can do something with (besides beat yourself up about it). Ask yourself, how can my weakness become a uniqueness? Often the thing we try and compensate for or even hide is the very thing we should amplify. Growth does not come from fixing it, rather it comes from using it. In one of the small business courses I run with my business partner, Dan Gregory, we met a young guy who was an environmentalist and a tree lopper. Incongruous right? A problem for someone who makes money from cutting down trees? Not really. It turned out he had used his environmental obsession to become a tree lopper with a difference. Now most trees cut down from suburban yards are wood chipped and he thought that was a crime. Beautiful, old trees going to waste, so he decided he would do something different. He would cut down trees and turn them into extraordinary furniture. It gave us the perfect opportunity to give him a unique identity. We called his business Treeincarnation- what will your tree come back as? He is super busy and super distinctive, all because of a could be weakness. A good place to start on this is to think about what you hope no one will find out.

overhead business What are you hoping they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t notice? (Besides the normal imposter syndrome that plagues us all from time to time of course). Usually buried in the last thing you want people to know is a truth you may be able to use to your advantage if you look at it from a different point of view. The thing you keep trying to change is another good place to look for clues to this. My girly approach was distinctive in the ad game. I was one of only 3 percent of female leaders in the advertising industry on the entire planet. So instead of girly I was playful, creative and feminine. I wore cat ears to the office somedays and sparkles more often than not. I stopped trying to be like everyone else and instead decided to be someone different. It attracted clients, the right ones, it attracted people, the right ones. I had a

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haircare client say, “do you know how nice it is to sit across the table from a woman and talk about hair without feeling judged by a bunch of blokes losing theirs?’”. When you embrace who you are and use it in a way that serves others the right people show up.

and live a life that you get to the end of and just like a thrilling rollercoaster you say again, again, I want to go again. You want to do it all again, not to change it, but because it was a grand adventure.

Growth is sometimes about reducing. Reducing our over the top expectations of ourselves. Unrealistic expectations cost us precious time and energy. Energy and enthusiasm that could be directed into action that produces results (not temporary changes or veneers that hide who we are, usually very badly by the way). Accepting ourselves matters. The stuff that won’t go away no matter what we try. The big stuff. The things at our core that drive us. Today, there is no pie graph that will take away my ‘girliness’. I will be playful and feminine and use what I’ve got to make myself distinctive in a male dominated space. Sure you and I can fix some things along the way, find better systems, get great mentors or coaches, tweak around the edges, learn new skills and work our butts off but we can’t change who we are. You can’t fundamentally change you. You have to find a way to apply you. Who you are is enough. You have all you need to do that thing, achieve that dream

Discover the power of working with human nature. Get your copy of Selfish Scared & Stupid at: wiley.com/buy/9780730312789 Please add your review it is the best gift you can give an author

KIERAN FLANAGAN CCO THE

IMPOSSIBLE

INSTITUTE

Kieran Flanagan is a Co-Founder of The Impossible Institute. She speaks, writes about and teaches the power of thinking differently. To learn more or sign up to a course of newsletter go to kieranflanagan.com Ph: 0419 498 772

kieran@theimpossibleinstitute.com

For speaking enquiries contact:

For US speaking enquiries contact:

facebook.com/theimpossibleinstitute

Andrew Ellis

Michelle Carter

au.linkedin.com/in/kieranflanagantii

+ 61 (0)481 387 150

+ 1 877 950 5633

@KieranFTII

info@theimpossibleinstitute.com

+ 1 703 819 2511

@ImpossibleInst

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info@theimpossibleinstitute.com

tio n

At t h e co re

an i n m u h ter ll a a f c o

Gabrielle Dolan

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LOVE THE ONES YOU’RE WITH: HOW CUSTOMER RETENTION DRIVES BUSINESS GROWTH

few years back, I was invited to sing at a friend’s wedding. Music is really important to them. It’s a huge part of their shared history; it makes them smile. They get goofy grins on their faces when they remember gigs with mates at iconic Brisbane music venues that no longer exist. Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan are their Wordsworth and Keats: they find poetry in song lyrics. The artist had to be right (not too commercial, but not so completely niche that their friends and family refused to get onto the dance floor. It had to have the right rhythm: nothing like a five beat bar to confuse a crew who only dances at weddings. And, of course, the lyrics had to be perfect. Finally, they chose a song by Ben Folds Five, about a husband and wife who live until their nineties. The old man passes away, and his wife—rocked by grief—dies a few days later. (No really, it’s a happy song!) To my mates, the song speaks of how lifechanging deep love is and how, sometimes we don’t realise that until it’s too late. There’s a lesson there for brands, I reckon. Too often we are focussed on us, and not properly concentrating on the people

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who matter most to us: our customers. (It’s estimated that 79% of customers take their business to a competitor within week of experiencing poor customer service. The cost is gargantuan: more than $1.6 trillion!) Keeping the ones we love is critical. Retaining our customers—and attracting new ones—means we need to stay relevant and superior. In fact, research shows that developing strong and devoted relationships with your customers follows pretty much the same rules as building a bond with a loved one: you need to be honest, reliable and trustworthy. You need to be a good listener. Just ask Kieran Flanagan and Dan Gregory, the ‘chief humanists’ at the Impossible Institute. Their book Selfish, Scared and Stupid, argues we need to do a better job of understanding humans, how they behave and what they want if we’re going to deliver better products and services. I reckon peoples’ needs fall into four buckets. Individuality: Be a standout People want to know their needs (or desires) matter to you, to feel you’ve got a bespoke solution just for them. There is

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a growing, seemingly insatiable thirst for custom products: driven in no small part by the millennial purse. As Jodie Fox, CEO of Shoes of Prey, says, “We’re heading to a future where customised product is the norm.” According to a consumer study by Deloitte, half our customers want bespoke products. And they’re willing to wait longer for them. To Fox’s point, while most retailers cannot compete with Amazon’s shipping times or price point, they can compete on individuality.

of a holiday or a hotel stay, are emotionally driven. And so, to grow our businesses we must offer truly next-level experiences. This is particularly important for capturing the Millennial market. As Marcie Merriman, Executive Director of Growth Strategy and Retail Innovation at Ernst Young says, ‘Experiences drive (Millennials) more than the products they buy. They don’t want to buy stuff. They’re buying an experience and the product they get through it is kind of a bonus.’ Make it memorable.

Simplicity: Take away the pain of complexity. People want easier lives. We want to buy things that work, all the time, in the way we were promised it would. In his TED talk, Towards A Science of Simplicity, Harvard professor George Whitesides suggests simple things are predictable, accessible and elemental. Simple things have a low psychological barrier of entry, and they just work, intuitively. For example, when developing the first iPod, Steve Jobs applied a rigid test: it had to take no more than three clicks to get to where he wanted to go.

Intimacy: Building connection. For millions of years, humans have lived in groups: we’re wired for social connection and meaning. The brands doing best in the current climate leverage this knowledge, building tribes of loyal followers who share the company’s ethos. Creating a sense of belonging and shared purpose is the basis of customer retention. It’s also driving big bottom line benefits: according to studies by the University of Michigan, engaged customers spend more with each transaction and overall. At its most brutal, this equates to bottom line benefits: the University of Michigan found engaged customers spend more money. We’re in business because of the people we’re lucky enough to work with. We stay in business and grow our business when we remember to put them first and meet their needs.

Legacy: What you leave behind. People want to be surprised, delighted and excited. We buy with our hearts, not with our heads (as much as we’d argue the opposite is true.) Our experiences, whether

DR EMILY VERSTEGE Dr Emily Verstege is a strategist, who makes it simple for people to thrive amongst complexity, stretched purse strings and data overload. By asking the right questions and focusing on what people want, Emily helps her clients build better products, deliver stronger financial returns and make their customers happy.

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FIVE ‘ESSENTIALS’ THAT YOU DON’T NEED TO

GROW YOUR BUSINESSES AND SUCCEED… AND FIVE YOU DO! Growing your own business is often described as a journey… which is like describing decapitation as having a mild sore throat.

rowing your own business is a daring adventure! It’s an adventure that I thoroughly recommend if you yearn to solve a problem with passion, or contribute your skills in a way that is beyond the constraints of traditional employment. Is mythology around what you need to succeed, holding you back? I discuss 5 items you may think you need – an entrepreneurial background, endless great ideas, a detailed business plan, multiple new products and services, and all the expertise – these are not essential. I do however recommend 5 other essentials – a desire to grow, persistence, a scalable MVP, systems, and strong collaborations. These are vital to grow your businesses and succeed.

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1. An entrepreneurial background I marvel at stories of entrepreneurial children and teens. This early familiarity with business risk taking and success is a strong foundation. However if, like me, you didn’t launch a business before you could drive or vote, there’s still hope! Many successful entrepreneurs grow businesses later in life. Martha Stewart was nearly fifty before developing the Martha Stewart Living magazine, Vera Wang began designing clothes professionally aged 39, Colonel Sanders launched KFC at 40, and Ray Kroc scaled McDonalds from age 51. You can grow a business after a traditional career, later in life, and around other priorities, if you have a growth mindset. A growth mindset includes a desire to grow your business to follow your passion or purpose to the extent possible. A desire to grow includes believing that your abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This includes a love of learning and resilience, which are essential for scale and success. 2. Endless great ideas There’s a common perception that successful entrepreneurs have endless great ideas. Good ideas are plentiful. You will have a higher chance of success with one great idea/problem to solve, plus persistence. Success requires persistence, testing, measuring and change. Edison didn’t give up and move from idea to idea, e.g. from electric lights to gas flares to glow worms. He famously made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts before successfully producing a commercially viable light bulb. 3. A detailed business plan VHS versus Beta shows that the best technology doesn’t always win. Kodak’s failure demonstrates that what succeeded in the past may not succeed in the future. You do not need a detailed business plan that operates for years in advance, to grow your business. You need a minimum viable product or service that solves a problem, that the people with the problem are aware

of, and want to buy, from you, now, at your price point. It is important to protect your intellectual property in your minimum viable product or service. This includes keeping confidential information confidential, registering trademarks so that you have exclusive use in specified classes, and ensuring you use your branding widely online, so people know your minimum viable product or service and what you deliver. Your clients or customers want to know what your brand stands for, then be able to obtain the high-quality products and services you sell, when they want them. You then need to scale. This means you can deliver over and over, as demand increases, in a consistent method that others can follow. 4. Multiple new products and services You do not need to keep creating new products and services. If you have been going to the same hairdresser for years, you do not want him or her to now do your tax returns. You don’t go to McDonalds for fine French cuisine. You need products and services that people want to buy, that you can deliver at a viable price, then scalable systems. Scalable systems move away from you providing the products or services, then away from you managing the delivery of the products or services. These constraints limit your growth. If your business is going to successfully scale, you need to develop, implement and delegate standardised and repeatable systems and processes. How might you do this? This requires investment in tech support systems and training. One key tool is a centralised information, including a strong customer relationship management (CRM) tool, where you can collate lead and customer information. A great CRM can obtain website information, email information, data entered by your team, be used as a project management system, include automated reminders and more. For services, you may develop an operations manual, induction training and ongoing training.

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For products you need trusted manufacturing or supply, to deliver the quality you need, in the time-frames you need. Some businesses start with third-party manufacturer, then do it themselves, others make it themselves, then outsource. Your manufacturing or supply contract can protect your intellectual property, give you exclusivity, set out quality and timeframe standards and limit your liability. 5. All the expertise You don’t need to be an industry expert to launch a business in an industry. Richard Branson started selling records then grew his businesses from there. Arianna Huffington had limited journalistic experience before starting Huffington Post. Walt Disney had no formal professional training. You do not need detailed business expertise to grow your business. As soon as possible, obtain bookkeeping, accounting and legal assistance from professionals. These do not need to be expensive and intimidating. If a professional cannot give you a fixed-fee price, a set time frame and a compelling reason why you need their assistance, keep moving. Find a professional who understands startups and scale-ups. They know your time and money are precious. They can share what has worked for other businesses to grow, scale and succeed, to help you do the same. Your growth mindset can then extend to collaborations with other businesses. You can be one of many small suppliers selling through

large retail chains. Many small businesses sell products the independent supermarkets or the large chains. You can form collaborations with other small businesses. For example, we’re assisting a boutique food maker to sell their treats through boutique cafes. You can provide services to large service organisations. The large accounting and consulting firms are building partnerships with many entrepreneurs to provide new services and tech solutions to their existing clients. I started my own business, and have co-founded two businesses, one recently launched, one has scaled considerably. In 4 years we have grown from a team of 5 to 70, assisted over 10,000 business at no cost with online products and services, and over 4,000 businesses with bespoke paid legal services. We have researched and analysed and tested. We have developed robust tech and legal systems. We’ve built strong collaborations. We have a commitment to innovation for all team members and a commitment to help our clients’ succeed. At times, growing your own business will demand more than you feel you have. If you maintain a desire to grow, be persistent, have scalable products and services, invest in systems, and build strong collaborations – you have the foundations to survive, scale and thrive!

URSULA HOGBEN Ursula is a lawyer with legal and investment banking expertise, and an entrepreneur who has co-founded several businesses. She assists companies to launch, scale and raise capital. Ursula works closely with the startup and e-commerce community, including as a speaker, panelist and writer. She is a co-founder of LegalVision, an awardwinning tech startup delivering high-quality fixed-fee legal services and providing flexible work to great lawyers. Founded in 2013, LegalVision has assisted over 10,000 businesses across Australia. Ursula@legalvision.com.au l 02 8197 1641 l Twitter: @UrsulaHogben

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HOW TO PITCH A POWERFUL

PRESENTATION A powerful presentation is the most critical tool in communication and business today.

• • • • • •

hen you communicate clearly articulated messages, you: win multi-million-dollar projects secure buy-in from your team or organisation on your new vision raise much-needed funds for your start-up, project or idea build awareness about life-saving projects inspire change that has the power to move communities communicate new ideas that have the power to spread across the world.

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The issue is that when under pressure it’s hard to think clearly and many people panic during the submission phase of a project. Teams that are working hard and fast to respond to a deadline are the ones most at risk of getting it wrong, especially if you are working on a major pitch that will significantly affect your bottom line – talk about intense! When you have the opportunity for business growth, a new partnership or a dream client, it’s exciting but nerves can become the better of us, not to mention all the late nights. It can

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1. Turn ‘me’ into ‘we Teams often pitch “Why they are awesome” rather than, “Why the client is awesome with them (you) … together”. Don’t spend time talking about how big you are, how long you have been around or how many clients you have, cut to the chase real quick. Explain your point of view, what’s at stake for them if they do or don’t get your help. Explain how ‘we’ are going to work together to solve the problem. 2. Identify your difference Once you have highlighted the problem, you need to work out why you are the right person to solve it. What makes you unique? Your client will hear numerous pitches, from numerous people, so it’s imperative you package your solution distinctively and differently. Show your human side, your passion, and why you believe in what you do. People buy from people they like. Research into neuroscience proves that we purchase and buy based on emotion, not logic. We buy-in based on how we feel about something – and that includes someone.

be a terrifying task of guesswork that chews up time away from billable hours. So how do you avoid being struck down with this state of presentation panic? Here are five powerful presentation techniques to help you.

3. Share the insights not the data Numbers, stats and facts add credibility to your arguments, but it’s important not to drown out your main message with this stuff, which can be very dense and hard to understand. Be clear on how whatever numbers you are showing are relevant to your audience. For any other information that doesn’t support the main message, supply a follow-up document. If you usually use graphs and charts in your presentations, try using a few key infographics and visuals, like photos, instead. The aim is to support what you are saying rather than just repeat it. 4. Cut the cr@p Whether it’s a PowerPoint presentation or a PDF, nothing sends your audience to sleep faster than endless text and bullet points. Replacing heavy text with images and illustrations that support what you are saying will instantly attract attention, create emotional impact and engage your audience.

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Ultimately, your client wants to partner with a company that’s innovative, provides creative solutions and adds value. A creative and wellthought out presentation conveys this directly to your audience. 5. Don’t apologise When you start your presentation don’t kick off with an apology. Nothing annoys an audience

more than a speaker who starts with ‘Sorry, I’m not very good at this. I’m really nervous …’ If you have rehearsed well (which, of course, you will have!) and not tried to memorise your presentation you will be fine. Use slides as prompts with visuals to support what you are saying and embrace any quirky traits you have – be authentic, passionate and remember to have fun.

EMMA BANNISTER Do you have a major pitch in the pipeline? Give the team of writers and designers at Presentation Studio a call now. 1300 699 609 | Presentationstudio.com

GLOSS | JULY 2017

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BE FIRST

AND BE LONELY IBM’s Ginni Rommetty must be feeling the heat.

BM has posted its 20th consecutive quarterly revenue decline. That’s five years of IBM trying to arrest a slide in revenue. To say the pressure is on her would be an understatement. Her ‘legacy businesses’ are falling faster than her ‘strategic imperatives’ can grow. Welcome to leadership in an age of disruption. Let’s put ourselves in her position and feel the heat. Investors are baying for blood and her board must be starting to second guess her. I am in her corner. I think she’s got a great strategy with big bets on cognitive computing, cloud platforms, analytics and bringing social and mobile to

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enterprise. I hope everyone can have just a little more patience. Ginni is no different right now than someone leaving the corporate space to start their own business, from a young Intrapreneur in a large organisation or to a senior exec or CEO in a mid-tier company. Each of you are being assailed by waves of information, unrelenting time demands and change overload. Some of you will have supporters and some detractors. In some cases, it will be yourselves who doubt the most. But it will fall to you to find growth and success strategies just the same.

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Those strategies need to be bolder than in the past for two reasons (1) the way you used to do things may come under pressure from new competition and new customer behaviour and (2) faster change in markets, means you have to shift earlier to new strategies. We know this to be true because we can see industries changing in front of our eyes. From free to air TV (channel 10) to the seven clothing retailers that have closed in Australia this year. How and what we buy is changing and Amazon hasn’t even arrived yet. PAUSE FOR LIGHT REFRESHMENT: Amazon has some impressive new disruption for you. Prime Wardrobe – Try before you buy! Order online, try everything on. Take some photographs on your voice activated Echo Look which will compare two full length pics of new outfits and tell you which one suits you and the fashion trend winner. Powered by the artificially intelligent Alexa and fashion stylists. Return any or all that you don’t want for free. Xcelerate: Innovate your Business Model, Disrupt your Market and Fast-hack into the Future by Paul Broadfoot

To inspire us, Ginni has a couple of phrases she lives by which I particularly like: ‘Growth and Comfort do not coexist’ (personal growth occurs when you are challenged and take some risk, despite your inner critic) and ‘Be first and be lonely’ (into a new market). Startup, SME or corporate, now is a time for being either more Entrepreneurial as an owner or more Intrapreneurial as a leader. The challenges can be different but the leadership that is required looks like this: 1. Market Innovation not just Company, Product or Customer Innovation. Australia has had years of process optimisation, working to lower labour costs, R&D budgets and more lately user centred design. All wonderful and necessary but right now dangerous when not mixed with Market Innovation. New business models, aided by

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technology, are changing the prevailing way both industries and customers are behaving. Lift your eyes to the market horizon and above your Company, Product and Customer views to determine shifts heading your way. A great way to do this is to list and then group trends. 2. Disruption is something you should do, not that happens to you Disruption can sound hard. How do you disrupt? Two quick ways. (A) Write down some of the established assumptions in your market. People go to stores to rent DVDs, people shop once a week and store in a freezer, people prepare dinner after they get home, people buy cars at car dealers etc Then try to flip them to something new. (B) Choose two companies and swap their business models. Airbnb and Uber are often thought to have the same business model, but they don’t. Swap them and you’ll find one has choice, one doesn’t, one launches with the push of a button and the other doesn’t. Try the flip and the swap methods for some quick disruption. 3. Back your intuition but then look hard for reasons to believe, with customers Be first and be lonely says Ginni. What about Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix? ‘Most entrepreneurial ideas will sound crazy, stupid and uneconomic, and then they’ll turn out to be right’. Your ideas for change may be revolutionary and you may not have a lot of

company or support out there at the pointy end of change. Neither of those mean you are wrong. But it also doesn’t make you right, yet – go speak to some customers! 4. Its not about technology and it’s all about technology It’s not about inventing technology. Some of the world’s biggest disruptors and unicorns invented nothing. Many just used the internet to change a markets business model. Cases in point are Amazon, Netflix, Airbnb, Carsales. com.au, realestate.com.au, seek.com.au. So, it’s not about inventing a technology. It’s about using other’s inventions as an enabler of new business models. 5. More Smart Risk is the best option when sands are shifting Make sure you and/or your team is moving. It is easier and faster to react and adjust when you are already exploring and experimenting. Being less anchored to your castle means you can move nimbly in new directions. Defending a castle has never been an effective battle strategy. All castles eventually fall. Get a team on something new today. If you are like Ginni, under pressure but with belief, hang in there. If, however, you feel you haven’t got clarity on your growth strategy, try shifting your scan up to the market, look for trends and business model alternatives. Take a little more smart risk and use some revolution for your next evolution.

PAUL BROADFOOT Paul Broadfoot is an entrepreneurial strategist and the author of Xcelerate: Innovate your Business Model, Disrupt your Market and Fast-hack into the Future. He works with enterprise executives, next level leaders and intrapreneurs to identify high-growth opportunities and create new business models in times of rapid market change. www.paulbroadfoot.com | paul@paulbroadfoot.com.au

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SETTING THE

SCENE A

s a Rehabilitation Counsellor of some 20 years vintage, I have had some insight into communication difficulties that prohibit people from being able to participate in ways that you and I get to take for granted. As an allied health professional here in Australia, what I have also taken for granted is the range of therapies available. And while I know that not everyone has equal access to health care, on balance, in Australia, we are pretty darn lucky with what we have available. As a business owner, I want to be able to give back in ways that are meaningful. Within Purple Co we will always have a client on our clinical case load who receives services at very low or no cost. It’s just a part of how I have chosen to do business. However when I met Weh Yeoh, of OIC Cambodia, I was excited by the grassroots community development that he was creating in Cambodia. It may surprise you to know that there are NO Cambodian speech therapists in Cambodia. NONE. There are speech therapists in other parts of the world, including Bangladesh, but not Cambodia. Weh also had a very different vision for the project he created - that being, he doesn’t

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want OIC to stay in Cambodia forever. He wants speech therapy to be owned by the Cambodian people and to create a pathway for training Cambodian speech therapists. After all, communication and swallowing difficulties are not going to go away just because there is no one to treat them. In February 2017, I embarked on a challenge to help OIC Cambodia - a Day Without Speech. This is one of the significant fundraising campaigns that OIC has created. Essentially, I was sponsored by generous people to NOT speak for an entire day. Now I am a rehabilitation counsellor and coach by qualification and a business owner with a family - NOT speaking is incredibly disruptive. However I also noticed that I felt isolated, stupid and really quite emotional. I started feeling this within the first 2.5 hours of my day. I kept thinking of what it must be like for Cambodian women to NEVER hear their child say “I love you” or for those young children unable to go to school and get an education. This just broke my heart. The LBDGroup community was so generous in their support of me in my Day Without Speech, and the incredibly generous Janine

overhead business Garner asked me if I could interview Weh for the Gloss magazine. I sat down with Weh recently to ask him a few questions. Jo: Who are you and what is OIC Cambodia? Weh: Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m an Australian, with a background in physiotherapy and international development. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve lived and worked in Cambodia for over 5 years and started a non-profit, OIC Cambodia, 4 years ago. OIC is an initiative that aims to start speech therapy as a profession. In Australia, there are over 7,000 registered speech therapists working in schools, hospitals and health centres. These therapists help children communicate better, meaning they can go to school and participate in sport, or simply help their family. There are also some children who have problems with swallowing, because the muscles that affect speech also affect swallowing. Food and liquid can enter the lungs instead of the stomach, they can contract pneumonia and die. So speech therapists help save lives, but also promote communication which is an

essential life skill. However, despite the fact that it affects 1 in 25 people, there are no Cambodian speech therapists in the whole country. It was, and continues to be, such a huge problem that I could not walk away from it. Jo: What is Day Without Speech? Weh: Despite this being such a significant problem, there is a lack of awareness amongst big institutions and foundations who typically address issues like this. Therefore, OIC cannot apply for grants like most non-profits. Actually, there are no grants that exist in the world to specifically address this problem. Day Without Speech is a way to fundraise for an urgent cause, while having children and adults who participate, learn something really valuable. They learn about the value of communication, inclusion, difference, problem solving and isolation. They do so by giving up speech for part of a day, and communicating through other methods like hand gestures, pen and paper and facial expressions. In doing this challenge, family and friends

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sponsor them. Money raised goes to OIC Cambodia which will then help children to access speech therapy. Jo: What is the impact of Day Without Speech? Weh: The impact for participants is HUGE! They get to experience what life would be like without something we take for granted - the gift of speech. It’s really something everyone should try at least once in their life. We’ve run it in schools before and teachers have commented that the children remember more about Day Without Speech than they do about their math lessons. For adults who have participated, it’s an interesting experience because it forces us to stop and take stock of what we have, while being able to make a huge impact in Cambodia. In fact, because the Australian dollar goes very far in Cambodia we estimate you can impact 1 life for less than $35AUD. Recently, Trinity Grammar School Sydney raised over $23,000 which went towards training teachers in Cambodia to include children with communication difficulties better in their classroom. Fort Street High School Year 11 students raised over $2,000, which helped us to advocate the Cambodian government to take up speech therapy as a profession.

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Jo: What is the point, the end goal of OIC? My experience tells me that development goes on forever and ad nauseum. OIC is different and it’s one of the reasons I was so attracted to the cause. Weh: We don’t want to be in Cambodia for ever, nor do we want to keep on asking for donations year on year. We believe it is the responsibility of the Cambodian government to take up this profession for its own people. On the back of this belief, we developed our Exit Strategy, which says we will leave Cambodia when there are 100 speech therapists employed by government in the year 2030. Hopefully this kind of clarity makes it impossible for us to perpetuate our own existence, and that true ownership comes from those who are in the position to sustain the work. Jo: You’ve also mentioned that you, yourself, are also stepping back and that leadership has been an incredible growth journey for you. Can you share some of this with us? Weh: Sure. At OIC, we have a rule that all positions should be hired locally where possible, I also believe that Cambodian leadership is really important to ensure cultural relevance, sustainability and

overhead business ownership. So even though I’ve only been leading OIC for 4 years, I will be stepping back from a leadership role by July 2017, and will have a female Cambodian leader take over. I won’t be disappearing though - I will be basing myself in Australia growing our Day Without Speech base here. I think this is a huge step forward for the organisation. Jo: It’s interesting that you mentioned a female leader. Allied health and community development are both female heavy industries, but in the implementation of goods and services, there are definite lack of women in leadership positions. What makes a woman a great leader for OIC? Weh: In Cambodia, it’s much of the same. Most of the management will be male and the implementation will be female. However, I personally believe that there are many advantages to having female leadership, particularly in a country where this is uncommon. I’ve been lucky to work with lots of brilliant women in my career, and what I notice is that they have a different style of leadership to mine. It’s more emotionally intelligent and nuanced. Women tend to be more able to face reality and facts, instead of acting on bravado, which is really important when you are working in an extremely unpredictable and changing environment . By comparison, I’ve noticed that people listen to me because I am not only the founder but also male. The problem is simple: who is to say my opinion is worth more than anyone else’s? It’s for this reason that I need to step back from the leadership role.

We want to make sure that we have the best person for the job. It’s a bonus for me if this person also happens to be female. Jo: This can feel like such a huge problem, I know when I first chose to do Day Without Speech my initial thought was, what difference can I really make? So, what difference can we really make from Australia? Weh: The good news is you don’t need to fly to Cambodia to make a difference. I’d encourage everyone to do Day Without Speech at least once, to not only support our work, but also to learn something really valuable for themselves. We also have over 50 volunteers doing great work for us, and most of them are based in Australia. Small organisations like ours really rely on volunteers to perform a lot of the key functions that exist in all organisations like marketing, HR and graphic design. We are always looking for more volunteers to help out. We are very lucky to have some excellent ambassadors in Cambodia to promote this worthy cause and we are always looking for more in Australia as well. So, connections to people of influence are hugely valuable. Lastly, donations to our work go a looooong way in Cambodia and provide a tangible impact. All donations over $2 in Australia are tax deductible. You can find out more information about OIC Cambodia on their website: oiccambodia.org, and Day Without Speech at: daywithoutspeech.org

JO MUIRHEAD Founder, Director and Principle Consultant of Purple Co, a team of specialist allied health consultants dedicated to helping people who have experienced injury, illness or trauma reclaim their lives through work. Passionate about the health benefits of work and truly believe that everyone has the right to meaningful and rewarding employment. Purple Co grew out of this belief - a truncated form of PURpose for peoPLE. I also mentor and coach services health professionals in private practice. www.purpleco.com.au | jo@purpleco.com.au

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LISTEN… THE WORLD IS

CHANGING

I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. Technology is progressing at an exponential rate. There’s been a power shift in customer / client / employee expectations. Automation is leading us to a knowledge-based economy… and THE ROBOTS ARE COMING.

ell fear not, humble human - for in this brave new world where data rules and cars drive themselves… our “humanness” is actually more valuable than ever.Young people entering the workforce today are expected to have 17 different jobs in 5 different industries in their working life. What were once thought of as “soft skills”, like problem solving, adaptability, collaboration, and of course listening…are now key skills to future success. To keep up with an ever-changing world, we need to be good listeners. Not to confirm our

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opinions, and not just wait to talk. Really listen. The rise of social media, the shared economy (e.g. Uber, AirBnB) and peer-to-peer ratings (e.g. Yelp, TripAdvisor), have all impacted the power shift that has seen everyone from grass roots community organisations to international corporations talking “customer centricity”. We all now find ourselves needing to actually listen and respond – rather than decide and dictate. The way successful companies are listening internally to their employees is changing, too. Things like idea jams, hack-a-thons and innovation competitions are challenging

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traditional workplace hierarchy. More organisations are recognising that all the good ideas don’t sit at the top, and anyone could have a valuable contribution to make – if you know how to listen. So investing in developing solid and practical listening skills makes sense at not only an individual level, but also an organizational one. SO – WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GREAT LISTENER? There are different styles of listening, of course. The style you use when attending a conference is probably not going to be the same as when you’re coaching a mate through a breakup over pizza and beer. Some situations may require a purely empathetic lens. Others may be more practical, or context-specific. Most are probably some combination of all three. In these situations, where a specific and practical outcome is required, listening with purpose is central to being a great listener. Purposeful listening is all about getting the most out of the information you receive for the people it matters to most, and it breaks down into three elements: 1. INTENTION Setting a listening intention is the foundation of purposeful listening. Knowing why you’re there sounds obvious, but taking a moment to really think about it can make all the difference to the quality of your listening. Here’s a simple checklist: 1.

ho are you listening for? W Who is the end user / beneficiary of the information that you’re listening to? This could be multiple people or groups (and could include the speaker). If you’re attending a meeting or conference, try writing them down at the top of the page/s in the notebook or sketchbook that you’ll be using to take notes. What’s important to them? What is important to your user/s about this specific information? What are their priorities? Be concise and simple. The

idea of this exercise is to simplify your listening, not complicate it. 3.

ow will it be used? H Consider what this information is being used for after it leaves your hands. Will it inform your planning? Teach a new skill? Share someone’s story? It’s helpful to understand where this stuff will end up in knowing what you should be paying attention to.

What are you listening for? Based on points 1, 2 & 3, what sort of information will be most useful to capture? This could be specifics and statistics, stories and emotional reaction, opinions & suggestions, big picture themes, etc.

o you have any personal biases that D could help or hinder your listening? While some lenses we can choose to employ for certain purposes, we all have some inherent lenses (e.g. gender, age) that are also worth considering. Don’t drive yourself nuts with this, but it’s always worth just checking in with yourself. Do you have any prejudices that might affect the way you hear certain information? And conversely, are there elements of your background that might be helpful in your listening? No one is completely neutral, and there’s no need to pretend you are. Your inherent lenses, when used with awareness, bring authenticity to your listening.

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2. ATTENTION Commit to the interaction you’re in, and give it your full attention. Be present. Listening is not waiting to talk, or for the next break. Ask yourself what you can do to help commit entirely to your listening. Do you need to turn your phone off? Ensure you’ve eaten before hand? At a conference, maybe it’s sharing sessions with a colleague so you’re not overloaded? Set yourself up for success. Your intention checklist will inform what information you prioritise and focus on while listening. Attention also means tuning into the speaker’s style, listening for clues like tone/ emphasis, body language, repetition and reaction to understand what’s important. 3. RETENTION Retention is how you plan to capture information in the most useful way. Using visual techniques in your note-taking is a really effective way to group, connect and summarise information on the go, as well as greatly increasing your likelihood of remembering the content. According to a study by molecular biologist & NY Times bestselling author John Medina, when it comes to memory recall you’ll get 3 x better recall for visual information than for verbal, and 6 x better recall for information that is simultaneously oral and visual.

You don’t have to be an artist to use visual note-taking either. Think of how you could use templates, simple models (e.g. timelines, matrices), colour, shapes, arrows and symbols to group and connect ideas, or add more meaning to your notes. Purposeful listening takes some practice, but it’s worth it. Great listening means great learning. In the words of the Dalai Lama: “When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new”.

JESSAMY GEE As one of Australia’s leading Graphic Recorders, Jessamy Gee has developed a unique skill set in listening, synthesising, capturing and communicating information visually. Internationally renowned for her work, Jessamy services a diverse range of clients across the corporate, community, education and government sectors to help leaders and teams communicate well, and communicate differently. “Jessamy does with colorful markers what Yo-Yo Ma does with a cello and Julia Childs did with butter.” Ron Kaufman, NY Times Bestselling Author and Speaker www.jessamygee.com.au | www.think-in-colour.com.au | @jessamyg_draws enquiries@think-in-colour.com.au

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I CAN & I WILL.

WATCH ME - CARRIE GREEN

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JUGGLING IN

HIGH HEELS OPRAH FAMOUSLY SAID THAT ‘YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL — JUST NOT ALL AT ONCE.’

have always wanted it all. I guess that I am greedy by nature. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be everything, have everything and do everything. I love the idea of being limitless. I love doing what I want, how I want, with who I want. My nickname as a child was Princess Iwanta. I was told by so many people that I couldn’t do have and be what I wanted. To that I say bollocks. I believe that it is our right as humans to be what we want. That we owe it to the universe to live the grandest, shiniest

and most stunning life that we can muster — unless you don’t want to be grand, shiny or stunning. You need to be what you want. Not what others want. Not what your teachers and parents wanted. What you want. You need to be yourself. All of yourself. Fully you. I have spent the past 10 years coaching women to be more of themselves - to be more interesting, more energised and more engaged in their own lives. Now, if you are anything like me, being fully yourself is a huge job. It is a 24/7 hangingonto-the-rail-trying-to-keepthings-vertical kind of job. My life is big. It is tiring but it is amazing. But it is exactly how I want it: fabulous and full. Now, you may not want a huge, full life. Maybe you want to go and lie under a rock

and hide. Or maybe you do not know what you want — in which case I suggest you have a really big think about it. In the busy-ness of life we often stop thinking. We stop wondering. We stop being curious about ‘what if?’ and ‘maybe . . .’ We are so busy doing boring, everyday stuff that we have lost our ability to open our minds to huge and beautiful possibilities. ‘Can’t’ becomes our default setting. I can’t afford it. I can’t find the time. I can’t be bothered ‘What would you do if you knew you could not fail?’ is one of my favourite questions. It is a great question, because it gets rid of all the crap. It takes away the thoughts like I don’t have time, I am not good enough, it might not work, I’d probably fail, and I don’t have the talent, and it lets

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us imagine. Imagine a limitless world. Just for a minute! If you were guaranteed success, what would you choose to do? There is gold in your answer. There is something there worth looking into further. I have a deep belief that I was born to succeed. I am pretty sure it came from my father. He has spent my whole life telling me that I can achieve anything. ‘You can do anything you put your mind to’ was his mantra, and one I will be forever grateful for. It wasn’t until I reached my thirties that I realised just what a bonus it was to have been marinated in self belief from such a young age. Both my brother and I look at things and think ‘how can this work?’ rather than ‘will it work?’ It is a slightly different angle but one that makes all the difference. As a child I remember wanting to be a florist. Mostly I remember just wanting to do everything. I would see a woman with a large family and I would think ‘I want to have lots of kids’. I would see a women wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase and I would think ‘I want to be a businesswoman’. I would watch the TV and I would think ‘I want to be on TV’. I literally wanted it all. And I have it. I have a huge, full and fun life. And I have this life because I made it happen. I didn’t listen to the people who said I couldn’t. I just

thought about how could I do things. I believe that anything you have an urge to do, you can do. As Jesse Jackson famously said, ‘If my mind can conceive it and my heart can believe it, then I can achieve it.’ I believe that if you have a desire to do something then somewhere inside you is the ability to make that thing happen. It may not happen instantly, it mightn’t happen tomorrow — but if you stick to it, it will bloom. The things we want to do hold clues for us. The answers are in the doing. Doing things that we want. That is what will lead you to your life’s pot of gold. Maybe you want to be a famous singer, but you can’t sing. But the fact that you want to sing is gold. Go get some singing lessons. Join a choir. The point of the question ‘What would you do if you knew you could not fail?’ is not that you are going to be a famous singer. The point is that when you took away all the reasons why it wouldn’t work you came up with the realisation that you want to sing. I wrote my book Juggling In High Heels to encourage women to do more - not to ditch the fun stuff when life gets hard but to do what you want. It was written for women who want to do a lot. I hope it helps them to do more. To be more. To have everything that you want. But first you just need to work out what exactly that is…..

LISA O’NEILL Lisa is an Author, Speaker & Mentor who lives in New Zealand. For the past 10 years Lisa has been motivating and inspiring women, running public events and writing books. Her second book ‘Juggling in High Heels’ was released in March this year and she is bringing her events to Melbourne & Sydney this August. www.lisaoneill.co.nz

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e b s y a w l A n i k r o aw s s e g o r p Emily Lillian

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money

noun 1. a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes 2. coins and banknotes collectively

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THE SECRET TO BEING

EXCEPTIONAL

y husband was the physiotherapist of a National Rugby League (NRL) club for many years and he came home one day, shaking his head and told me a story which I retell often. It was just after players had returned from a State of Origin Campaign. One of the senior players was being treated by my husband upon his return and was talking about his experience away at camp. During this conversation, he talked about a well-known player who at that point was arguably the best and most talented player in the NRL. This senior player told my husband how surprised he was that this incredible player, during the breaks when other players might be resting or sleeping, would take himself off and kick for sixty to ninety minutes most days. Practising over and over very basic moves. My husband was curious and asked what he learned from observing this behaviour. The player he was treating thought for a moment, shrugged and said something along the lines of, ‘I guess he just needs the practise’. The reason I retell that story so often is because most of us realise the player who told the story completely missed the point. That’s because the exceptional player understood if he was excellent in the basics, it meant he could concentrate on being, well, exceptional.

If he could rely on muscle memory to perform those basic functions other players needed to concentrate on, he would always be one step ahead of the rest of the players on the field. If he knew that when he wanted to place a tricky kick in a particular part of the field while being charged down by four players, he could do it, knowing it would land there. Now, you may be shaking your head in wonderment that the player missed the point so completely. But the truth is you’re probably doing it yourself. I’m not talking about your ability (or lack of it) on the sporting field. Instead, I’m talking about our ability to sit back and wonder at how lucky others are while neglecting the basics ourselves. Especially when it comes to our finances and our businesses. That’s because I see so many people who tell me how unlucky they are when it comes to their money and their businesses. How if only they went to a better school, if only they had a better job, if only they were better connected or if only they were born twenty years earlier so they could take advantage of the property market. Which gives them an excuse to throw up their hands and not try as hard or alternatively act like they’re entitled to more because they started with less.

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But the truth is, just like the player in the story, when it comes to our finances and our businesses, many of us are focussing on the trick pass and forgetting about the basics. What are the basics I’m talking about here? They’re the simple things such as: Understanding where your money is going. With so many free apps available there is no excuse any more to not be mindful about our finances. I’m not talking budgets which just like diets are restrictive and we’ll abandon them at the first opportunity. Instead I’m talking about being conscious around where you spend your money and owning the fact that you are in charge of your finances and your wallet. Spend less than you earn. It seems so basic and yet so many of us aren’t. I can give you so many examples of people who have slowly and surely grown wealth because they lived by this simple principle. It’s not rocket science but it’s necessary if you’re going to try any type of financial trick shot. Become educated. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking business or finances. You can complain that you didn’t receive a great financial education at school, at uni or from your parents or you can begin your own financial literacy program. You can complain that you don’t know anyone who models great business acumen. Or you can go and sort that out for yourself. Yes, you might feel like you’re learning a whole new language but it’s a language that will potentially repay you with security, freedom and cash. Practise like you mean it. Anything is an easy game from the grandstand but eventually you’re going to have to take the field. If you’re nervous about the stock-market then

educate yourself and practise with monopoly money and a bunch of dummy stocks for six months. If you’re nervous about taking a risk in business, find a great mentor, speak to an accountant or surround yourself with people who are further down the road then you are. Don’t give up when you have a financial setback or a business hiccup. It’s all about dusting yourself up and choosing to master the basics. Which will take time. Create your own old boy’s (or girls’) network. You can complain that you didn’t have the easy ride others had that went to the right school or you can do something about creating your own incredible tribe. Figure out what you can give, what you need and then put yourself in positions where you can create your own network of people who will push you further. Understand the numbers. I know it’s not the sexy or exciting side of business but neither is practising the same kick for an hour on a cold paddock. By understanding the numbers side of your business, you can start to make great, strategic decisions that will potentially both save and earn you more money. It’s easy to look around and find reasons why we’re not in a better position financially or creating the success you’d hoped for with your business. It’s also easy to look at others and tell ourselves how much harder we have it. Which might make us feel better but it’s not helpful. Instead, if we want to improve our financial position and create profitable businesses we can’t afford to ignore the basics. If you want to develop exceptional finances and businesses it’s essential you’re grounded in the basics – which means practising them daily.

MELISSA BROWNE Entrepreneur, accountant, financial adviser, author, speaker and shoe addict. melissa@byata.com.au | 1300 692 228 www.melissabrowne.com.au

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ACHIEVING THE ULTIMATE LIFESTYLE A COLLABORATIVE GAME PLAN

We all know you can’t be a success alone and it takes a village to raise a child. Even Branson has quoted several versions of this being attributed to his success.

o who are your key people, key players, advisers and friends that you are listening to and believing? Let’s face it, we all know how to grow our savings and create more money, spend less than you earn, right? Easy! No, for many it’s not so easy or straight forward. However in the confusion of which pathway to take to create this lifestyle, you have to know what you want. So that’s a great place to start. What’s important to us? Why are we doing what we do? And where do we ultimately want to end up? How long is realistic for this to take because we can do this quick or slow - it all depends on your money and mindset. Think like the wealthy, understand your tolerance for loss and you are sure to get to your end point faster. To grow your money, you first have to grow your mind and think differently. Think in a way that makes money before it actually happens. Education, expertise, who you associate with and who you know, are major factors in achieving a wealthy lifestyle. Is it time to move your circles of associates, friends and career to achieve more success and lifestyle? The Money Makes Money Syndrome! It’s true – Its really quite easy to turn 25k into 2Million in 7 years if you have a clever options trading strategy with a cautious view, but

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many Australians can’t fathom 60% returns a year nevertheless half this at 33% return. So it therefore would be hard to ever see these kinds of returns if it means a risk of losing $25k. Internationally, however these returns are the norm in many investment conversations and so they should be here too. Seems it still Taboo?! The Truth Behind the Investing Game My good friend Graham Bibby – a Global Markets Specialist wrote about this topic in that the government and institutions don’t really want us to know how the wealthy or how they (the government) invest. He’s spent many years around the globe advising CEO and Bankers on how they should invest. His process being vastly different to how the masses are taught, advised and educated on this subject. So if mainstream feels comfortable and indoctrination is easier then a long term comfortable ride to growth is the right strategy for you. That is perfectly acceptable. Returns vs tolerance This is possibly the hardest conversation to have with clients especially those that are opposed to the share market and fixated on property and believe me there is nothing wrong with a great long term property strategy, but you invest in alternative strategies with less which may produce equal if not better

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results. No more is it a question of risk vs returns. These days it’s a lot more about tolerance. The question being what loss are you willing to tolerate? Only then can the real conversation begin. Bridging the gap How do we bring together the right strategy for the right client? One that provides comfortable sustainable growth with a little rapid growth the side to fuel the investing bug/ fire. Like having your cake and eating it too, but only on a Sunday! Those clients that have hit what I call the “Ceiling” in investing (a lucrative business/ practice, a share portfolio of blue chips, several brand new properties in varying cities, an SMSF and well-constructed financial plan) – much like the glass ceiling in corporate, these investors do actually have further alternatives, they just don’t know about them, nor do they have access to those that are able to offer these platforms and products. Let’s call it, the next level investing if you will. Ultimately we bridge this gap from the everyday lifestyle investor model to the ultimate lifestyle investor model, by helping these clients step into the next level. Our Consumer Matrix Many of our clients either, have the know-how but lack the time, or have the time but lack

fundamental knowledge on leveraging these opportunities and then there are those that have had significant losses or been burnt by weekend boot camps or tired from taking uncalculated risk. Whichever one you might be, there are solutions to every angel and with alternatives as the next level offer then these are a sure way of recouping losses in smaller timeframes from what mainstream media might have you think. Determining the best direction / Your Destiny Rather than going it alone it’s always beneficial to have a group of likeminded wealth achievers who have your back. A group who drive you, challenge you and ensure your decisions are well calculated and thought out. These groups rarely exist in the investment world. But the ones that do, take their members to a whole new level. Growth and Success culminate in these groups and through action, collaboration and commitment these investors are flourishing in backing one another’s business, development projects and hearing from experts about new private equity deals and those investments that are inaccessible to the public. Investments and strategies that will help you leverage and grow further than a regular financial plan will. These are not for the faint hearted but for the disrupters and doers. These are for those who want to take more control and accountability of their money and choose their own destiny.

LOUISE E AGNEW Having been a licenced financial adviser for over 15 years, Louise runs a financial planning and property services practice LyfeGroup with her husband Jason, know on the Gold Coast for their exclusivity. Louise believes her way of financial planning is different to the current market in that they offer an array of investments across property, development, option strategies, etf etc. Being one of the markets more progressive firms, with experience in boutique, banking, funds management, Louise has also worked overseas in the UK and USA. Her passion in financial literacy is key to changing the perspectives of financial planning and what this means to clients. She has recently established the Investor Lounge, driving change for her clients and industry associates. Louise@lyfeacademy.com.au | 0414 168 327

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{you}

pronoun 1. used to refer to the person or people that the speaker is addressing

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In Her

Own Words.. Q&A

TRACIE EATON 1. Where were you born and where did you spend your childhood. I was born in Masterton, New Zealand. We moved to the Hawkes Bay at the age of 6. My Dad was a farmer, so I spent my childhood (until age 12) playing with the neighbours kids – building forts and tree houses, playing war, helping on the farm, spending all day outside creating all manner of fun things to do. And if I was not on the farm we were at the beach. 2. Where did your professional dream begin. I have always been creative and someone who has done my own thing…my way. I spent years in retail management, corporate sales and then running my own

businesses …most recently in digital marketing. The spark of my professional dream becoming an internationally known artist started 10 years ago when I picked up a paint brush for the first time. But is wasn’t until December last year that I actually took my HUGE passion and desire to paint seriously. I became incredibly clear that being an artist was not only a possible and viable business…but also an incredibly motivating & insanely interesting life. My world changed at that point of acceptance. 3. Tell us more about what you do. I am an artist, specialising in the use of mixed media to create modern artworks. I use colour to create original, unique and bespoke paintings for both residential and corporate clients. I have a very unique, raw and passionate painting style and I use colour very specifically to enhance and most often change people’s environment and mindset.

My consultations ensure I understand what is important to the people I work with, what is going on for them, and ultimately how I can use colour and imagery to help give them what they need. 4. What have you learnt about yourself during your career? I am a very driven and very passionate person. I’m an ‘all in’ kind of girl and see the excitement and the positivity of life. I work hard with an ‘off switch’ that is faulty! I think big and get others excited about my ideas, visions… but have a tendency to overlook the practical, analytical process steps to achieve my goals. I love challenge, am inspired by change and always look forward. 5. What 3 key gems of advice would you share? Never hesitate to follow your passion…even when you feel fear. Absolutely follow your gut instinct…it is never wrong. Ever. And when you second

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guess it with your logic…your thoughts…that’s when things can get somewhat derailed. Surround yourself with people who possess better skills than you in areas you are not as strong in. 6. What are some of the mistakes you made and learnings from them? Oh…wow…how long have you got! ☺ One of my biggest mistakes was to not trust in myself, my instinct, my abilities. I had a tendency to trust unconditionally and hold onto people in my life – Despite my internal alarm bells ringing. My business partner at the time was one of those relationships and this led to me

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losing everything financially – in business and personally. My learnings from this experience were significant. I have a complete understanding that I have an inner strength I had never seen before, and one that will always ensure I am successful in my own right. It led me to the realisation that it is my fear, my judgement, my expectation – and mine alone – that will stop me achieving and being the best person I can be. And that through believing in myself…I capable of anything. 7. What keeps you going? Knowing that I inspire others to make a change in their lives – no matter what that change

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is. I love that fact that every painting I create, funds are donated to empower women in creating their own business. Knowing that the more artworks I create, the more I am touching someone’s life… and the more that my husband and I create the life we have always planned to live.

in 2018. I am launching in August a new corporate initiative to use colour psychology and the creative process to facilitate mindset change for business/career growth. My intention is to be selling internationally consistently within the next 18 months.

8. What’s next in the journey of BRAND YOU? Most immediately I am finalising negotiations to establish a community movement to encourage and support women into business…including financial assistance. I am finalising partners and dates for a significant artistic event for the Commonwealth Games

9. Your favourite things: Destination: any beach… anywhere Drink: Champagne… preferably French App: Spotify...LOVE music 10. If you were a hashtag what would it be? Oh..can I have two…. ☺ #livepassionately #dowhatyouloveandlovewhatyoudo

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Match Fit - being mentally and physically ready to deal with

GROWTH AND SUCCESS 5 Ways Founders, Entrepreneurs and Leaders can Run Their Body Like Their Business for Sustainable Results

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hilst profit is key when it comes to performance - the stress related to building, growing and developing a business, sector, team or leading a large organisation is creating some serious collateral damage. The annual cost of burnout to the global economy has been estimated to be the equivalent of $428billion AUD. Such costs have led to the World Health Organisation predicting a global pandemic within a decade. The preventative measure to all of this is to realise that YOU are accountable for your personal wellbeing as well as your commercial wellbeing. Whether you are in a role as part of an organisation, or leading others inside your own company and start up. The same facts apply. Fedex is not sending you a new body tomorrow - you must nurture and respect the one you’ve got. Commonly we all know that health, fitness, ME time and mindset are crucial for success. So what stops the general “we” actually making wellbeing part of their weekly work and life? • Not enough time • Old school ideas on what fitness should look like • Thinking it takes an hour a day to workout • Laziness and lack of focus - let’s face it you’re great at pitching for a new piece of business but you’re too tired to get up and go for a walk? I understand that there are many ‘reasons’ why you may not be fighting fit or feeling mentally agile to deal with the large loads of stress in business and balancing life - however being “busy” is not an excuse. It is what we do with our time that matters. Ultimate sustainable vitality and success comes from being the CEO of your business as well as your life. Here are my 5 quick tips on getting back in the driver’s seat to create healthy habits for

sustaining the growth and success personally and commercially. 1. Start with the 1 percent rule – 15 minutes a day No time – nonsense! If you spend 15mins a day working on your fitness or wellbeing you will be 100% better off in 100 days. You cannot argue with that. So just carve out some time and stop telling yourself you need an hour to workout. It’s as simple as that. 2. Throw out the old script of hour long workouts, gym visits and having to flog yourself for fitness. Be inspired and have variety. So you’re running a business, balancing a family or transitioning with some new funding to work with a board of directors and shareholder results? Great! A perfect chance to revisit your health and fitness habits and give them a renewal that fits your lifestyle at the moment. Use your time in your agenda wisely. Replace long drawn out sessions with express sessions. Ensure you are getting fitness at many levels into your week – flexibility, strength, cardio and agility are crucial for total wellbeing. Ultimate Vitality is being 360 Fit. • Try yoga, get into a new sport just for fun but ensure you are working all the different elements of your body. Don’t just do what you have always known. • We get the greatest results when we do things outside the norm. If you sit a lot for work then look at swimming, yoga, crossfit and functional fitness activities. Go to experts, certified trainers and group sessions where those leading it REALLY know their stuff. Do your research and start slow. Good PT’s will intuitively ensure you are building a solid foundation before getting injured and taking yourself out of action for weeks.

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3. Consistency is key. Exercising regularly in smaller amounts every day (whether that’s a bit of yoga, a jog, swim or some core exercises) – create better results than binge workouts. If you’re still expecting to do the same workout regime you did at university then best rework that. New life, new responsibilities, new game plan. Start simple. 4. Food is Your Fuel: Be Conscious of what you’re fueling your brain matter and your muscles with. Load up on extra salads, greens etc at lunch and dinner meetings, pack healthy snacks and bars you can travel with. Prepare for the week ahead. Even if you need to send your PA to get some basic snacks and healthy options at the start of each week. Do not leave your food choices to chance. 5. Fresh Air is Your Friend Nature is your gym and pretty much our playground. Getting out the door for walk and talks, ditching air conditioned

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environments and taking movement outside is crucial for vitality. • Our bodies need healthy doses of vitamin D and our minds need to see different landscapes and stimulus. • “I wish I did this earlier” One of the biggest things my clients always say to me 7 days into the Fresh Air Challenge is HOW SIMPLE it was and that they totally forgot they were working out. It’s not about needing to run either, there are a myriad of activities you can do from walking to cycling, swimming, stand up paddle, crossfit, bootcamps, stretching and yoga – the list is endless. No swipe card required. Nature is your fitness place Pack your workout gear while you’re travelling and explore a new city on foot before meetings. Build in weekend exercise time with your family if that’s the only moments you get to spend together - put the digital devices down and head outdoors. Sign up for a fun run or challenge your whole family can do together. Lead by example.

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Overall - we are not defined by our age or stage in life but our attitude, actions and mindset. Have fun, try new fitness ideas, go and do handstands or pick up squash again. Fitness and wellbeing have an immediate connection to creativity and mental agility. As the ultimate leader in life you know you can start to INTEGRATE not negotiate wellbeing and vitality into your week. What is your why? You can’t lead others if you do not apply resilience, balance and wellbeing into your life by example. Get fit again for you and your family, demonstrate wellbeing to your teams by ensuring you are clearly creating priority moments for this in your time as part of you running your business. This goes for start ups to large organisation CEO’s. People watch you and learn from you so if all else fails remember your actions create your legacy. Plan fitness into your Winning Weeks. Make the time transparent. Start small, keep it simple, pick a shared goal, stay with the 1% rule and try something new. If you don’t leap you won’t fly. We are all athletes as leaders - we need to look after our greatest assets - body and mind as your health is your wealth. Get my Wake Up Workout PDF here to help you reignite feeling fit without turning your life upside down. Yours in Mojo and Vitality @nfogdenmoore

NIKKI FOGDEN MOORE Nikki Fogden-Moore Speaker, Author and Global Coach | Aka The Mojo Maker, specialises in working with CEO’s, entrepreneurs and high achievers in creating the life they want. She divides her time between private coaching, Corporate Vitality programs, Boardroom Bespoke retreats, workshops and presenting on an international stage for world class companies. nikki@thevitalitycoach.com.au | www.thevitalitycoach.com.au

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CHEERS TO

YOUR SUCCESS It’s something many of us yearn for, and doggedly pursue. We set our goals high and fail to be satisfied until they are complete and then set some more. But what does success really comprise and what does it take to achieve it?

t any given moment our clever brain has three things on its mind, • To keep us safe • To help us find reward • To conserve (mental) energy

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When it comes to success, oh boy, does our brain know how to celebrate! It’s that sense of exhilaration, joy and wonderful extra swoosh of dopamine triggered by the brain’s reward circuitry that makes us feel so good and want more.

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subconscious. Planning for success includes accessing all those other unconnected thoughts and ideas by allowing your mind to wander, accessing your imagination and natural creativity. Alert vs. Asleep Being alert to what is happening around you helps you to stay focused. This keeps you safe, and helps you to notice those nuances of what others are saying and doing (or not). You may be wondering how being asleep promotes your success? Well, I’m yet to meet a highly successful person who hasn’t appreciated the value of getting enough sleep. Unless they happen to be one of those highly annoying people with the short sleep gene who really can get by with 4-5 hours of sleep at night, but they are rare. The rest of us mere mortals do much better by attending to our physiological need for 7-9 hours of good quality uninterrupted sleep for better attention, memory, cognition, creativity, accuracy and mood. Did I mention that getting enough sleep is more than a good idea for your future success?

Achieving success begins by recognising how your brain is set up to guide you to the reward you seek. While being focused, having a plan and the momentum to take action is important, true success requires a number of complementary interrelated and opposing forces. Focus vs. Uncoupling from focus Focus requires your full and undivided attention. This is hard work for your brain and consumes a lot of mental energy. While staying on task is an essential cognitive skill, so is the time spent on unfocused work. While we assume our conscious mind is doing all the heavy lifting thinking, it’s easy to overlook the important role played by our

Connection vs. Disconnection We are hard wired to connect with others. It’s another safety feature, but the added advantage is that working with a support team amplifies results, because it allows for the sharing of ideas and knowledge. With technology advancing so fast it’s hard to keep up, so sharing data makes sense and helps conserve precious mental energy. But taking time to be alone with your thoughts is also part of the critical path for success. This is the mental sorting required to determine what you’re looking to achieve, what it might look like, how you’re going to get there and who you need to come on the journey with you. Finding your thinking space starts with scheduling in your 15 to 30 minute daily appointment. If you’ve no time to think, how can you possibly know you’re heading in the right direction?

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you

Move vs. Be Still Many entrepreneurs and successful business people credit their success to the fact they stay physically fit and healthy. When designing your success making exercise part of your normal schedule makes perfect sense because all the studies have shown how aerobic exercise (the huffy-puffy sort that gets your heart rate up) primes the brain for better mental performance. Better still it helps reduce stress, boosts your feel-good hormones and zoups up your memory and cognition. Stilling our chattering mind can be harder than corralling a troop of monkeys with ADHD, but is an essential component to better thinking. Thinking hard all day long and interacting with our technology leads to those hyper stimulated, hyper connected minds that find it difficult to switch off. That’s why practicing some form of meditation or mental relaxation, restores and refreshes minds for greater clarity and focus. Mindfulness has been shown to increase the brain’s level of neuroplasticity leading to an increase in the cortical density of grey matter in the hippocampus (the area used for learning and memory) and the prefrontal cortex in just eight weeks. Logic vs Intuition Many of us have become used to driving a lopsided brain that is heavily weighted to the left. The left hemisphere is primarily concerned with logic, analysis and reasoning,

so when working with the numbers, calculating your expected return on investment and implementing your plan this is very helpful. But sometimes it’s good to tune in to your intuition or “gut-feeling” This is especially true if you’re well experienced and have accumulated expertise and wisdom. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s always right, but ignoring your gut can occasionally come with a painful cost. That’s why thinking critically and listening to that inner voice can facilitate better decision-making. Success vs. Failure It’s great to savour our success, but important also to embrace our failures; to be grateful for the opportunity they provide to assist our understanding of what matters to us, to stay curious and develop possibility thinking. As Thought Leaders we are encouraged to ‘Fail Fast’, to try lots of things out, to discover what works, what doesn’t and move on quickly. Failing fast is a great way to accelerate our way forward. Your success encompasses all your social, emotional, spiritual and intellectual needs. The success journey is designed to help us appreciate the setbacks, obstacles and challenges we face along the way as part of the instructional guide to personal and professional growth. Because just like playing “pass the parcel” it is that delicious anticipation of reward, rather than the final prize that gives us the greatest pleasure of all.

JENNY BROCKIS Dr. Jenny Brockis is a medical practitioner, speaker, trainer and author of the best-selling Future Brain (Wiley). She specialises in high-performance thinking that brings out the best of all brains at work. jenny@drjennybrockis.com | www.drjennybrockis.com | 0408 092 078

GLOSS | JULY 2017

The trick to self-publishing

more work, faster New

New

The internet has unleashed an insatiable appetite for content. Words power so much of that content. The online revolution has given us all the opportunity to easily self-publish and share our writing, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction. It has also given businesses the opportunity to create powerful websites, blogs and other marketing material in order to communicate their offerings to customers in a more comprehensive and detailed way than ever before. There are so many avenues for self-publishing now, from publishing an eBook through to setting up your own blog site. The publishing tools available are plentiful and powerful, from DIY website builders through to social media publishing platforms and beyond. The only thing left for most aspiring writers and bloggers to do is to actually write the content. Sometimes, that’s the trickiest bit. As a blogger, you want to produce great content, and ideally lots of it. But writing can be a time-consuming labour of love. There’s the research bit, the staring at a blank page bit, and the bit where you grind out word after word in the hope it all comes together as a piece of work someone will read. There’s a way you can put more words on the page without compromising on quality. You think and speak a lot faster than even extremely proficient typists type. The average speed of a decent typist is around 40 words per minute. The average number of words spoken in a minute is anything from 110 to 160 words per minute. That’s a big difference. Professional writers and others with ready access to someone who can transcribe their spoken words are able to get more words out to

their audience, more work published, than those who rely on typing their thoughts to the page as they go. But if you’re doing a lot of writing, secretaries and transcription services become prohibitively expensive. That’s why speech recognition software is the not-so-secret weapon of highly productive writers. Speech recognition software like Dragon Pro has become even faster and more accurate in recent years. It’s mobile, works on Windows and Mac, and there are specialised versions for the medical, legal, and other professions. For the busy blogger with their hands full, voice recognition software like Dragon is heaven sent. It can be a bit of a shift in mindset to go from writing out your work to dictating it, but the gains made make it incredibly worthwhile. Those who dictate their work into software like Dragon can greatly boost their productivity, increasing the number of words they get on page every day. Many writers and bloggers who have shifted to dictation also say that it is a less mentally taxing process, frees them up creatively, and helps reduce the incidence of neck, shoulder, back and hand injuries that comes from long periods spent at the keyboard. Whether you’re an author, blogger, lawyer, journalist or anyone else who wants to get more writing done in less time, you owe it to yourself to take a look at speech recognition software like Dragon Pro. It’s the key to getting more work published, faster.

*Terms and Conditions apply

We are giving away one copy of the software and headphones for one of our lucky readers. Simply tell us in 50 words or more about your favourite podcaster or blogger and why. Send your response with your name and contact number to emma@thelbdgroup.com.au

www.dragonpro.com.au

We will select the winner on 21 August 2017

feature ah-ha

H AMOMENTS MELBOURNE

Van Gough at the National Gallery.

QUEENSLAND

Scenic Rim Winter Harvest Festival.

SYDNEY

Bottomless Rose at Nour Surry Hills.

GLOSS | JULY 2017

OUT

ABOUT

out & about

OUT

ABOUT

GLOSS | JULY 2017

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no bigger networking skill, than being a giver. - Arianna Huffington

CONNECT, INSPIRE, SUCCEED.

WHERE ARE WE. Our members are based in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

WHO WE ARE. Looking for your tribe? LBDGroup is a unique exclusive networking group developed for female business leaders and entrepreneurs. Its about connection, contribution and collaboration It's about business leaders, senior executives and entrepreneurs building commercial and personal success for themselves and each other. It's about never having to make critical decisions alone

EVENTS. Members enjoy exclusive events including private dinners, quarterly Immersion Days, networking nights, annual Retreat plus access to The HUB - an informative learning environment

JANINE GARNER. Founder and CEO of LBDGroup Janine Garner is known as one of Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most insightful experts on leadership, networking and collaboration. Janine is also a Partner at Thought Leaders Global which helps clever people become commercially smart. She is the author of Wiley published books "Its Who You Know" and "From Me to We"

CONNECT. Want to find out more? Visit TheLBDGroup.com.au or email us info@thelbdgroup.com.au.

“Dragon Pro” PROMOTION TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1.

Information on how to enter and the prize(s) form part of these Terms and Conditions. Participation in this promotion is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.

Entry is only open to Australian residents who are aged 18 or above.

Employees (and their immediate families) of the Promoter and agencies associated with this promotion are ineligible to enter. Immediate family means any of the following: spouse, ex-spouse, de-facto spouse, child or step-child (whether natural or by adoption), parent, step-parent, grandparent, step-grandparent, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister or 1st cousin.

Promotion commences 21/07/2017 and ends 11:59pm AEDST on 21/08/2017 (“Promotional Period”). To be eligible to enter, eligible individuals must tell the promoter in 50 words or more about your favourite podcaster or blogger and why. To enter, eligible individuals must, during the Promotional Period, email the response with their name and contact number to emma@thelbdgroup.com.au.

Entry and continued participation in the promotion is dependent on entrants following and acting in accordance with The LBDGroup Terms and Conditions which can be viewed at www.thelbgroup.com.au/terms-and-conditions/.

Without limiting the generality of the above, entries must not contain any material determined by the Promoter in its absolute discretion to be obscene, offensive or inappropriate. The Promoter reserves the right, at any time, to refuse to accept any entry that it deems, in its absolute discretion, to be obscene, offensive or inappropriate, or infringing upon the rights of any third party. Entries must comply at all times with the provision of clause 18.

The Promoter reserves the right, at any time, to verify the validity of entries and entrants (including an entrant’s identity, age and place of residence) and reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who the Promoter has reason to believe has breached any of these Terms and Conditions, tampered with the entry process or engaged in any unlawful or other improper misconduct calculated to jeopardise fair and proper conduct of the promotion. Errors and omissions may be accepted at the Promoter’s discretion. Failure by the Promoter to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights. The Promoter’s legal rights to recover damages or other compensation from such an offender are reserved.

Incomplete, indecipherable or illegible entries will be deemed invalid.

Multiple entries are not permitted.

10.

If there is a dispute as to the identity of an entrant, the Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to determine the identity of the entrant.

11.

This is a game of skill and chance plays no part in determining the winners. Entries will be individually judged based on literary merit and originality.

12.

The winners will be notified in writing by email and a Facebook post on the LBDGroup Facebook page and then asked to contact the LBDGroup to provide a postal address.

13.

The Promoter’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

14.

The best valid entry, as determined by the judges, will win a copy of the software valued at $475 and headphones valued at $199. Total prize pool value $675.

15.

If for any reason a winner does not take a prize (or an element of the prize) by the time stipulated by the Promoter, then the prize (or that element of the prize) will be forfeited.

16.

If any prize (or part of any prize) is unavailable, the Promoter, in its discretion, reserves the right to substitute the prize (or that part of the prize) with a prize to the equal value and/or specification.

17.

Prizes, or any unused portion of a prize, are not transferable or exchangeable and cannot be taken as cash, unless otherwise specified.

18.

Entrants agree that they are fully responsible for any materials they submit via the promotion including but not limited to comments, stories, letters or articles (“Content”). The Promoter shall not be liable in any way for such Content to the full extent permitted by law. The Promoter may remove or decline to publish any Content without notice for any reason whatsoever. Entrants warrant and agree that: (a)

they will not submit any Content that is unlawful or fraudulent, or that the Promoter may deem in breach of any intellectual property, privacy, publicity or other rights, defamatory, obscene, derogatory, pornographic, sexually inappropriate, violent, abusive, harassing, threatening, objectionable with respect to race, religion, origin or gender, or otherwise unsuitable for publication;

(b)

their Content shall not contain viruses or cause injury or harm to any person or entity;

(c)

they will obtain prior consent from any person or from the owner(s) of any property that appears in their Content;

(d)

the Content is the original literary work of the entrant that does not infringe the rights of any third party;

(e)

they consent to any use of the Content which may otherwise infringe the Content creator’s/creators’ moral rights pursuant to the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and warrant that they have the full authority to grant these rights; and

(f)

they will comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including without limitation, those governing copyright, content, defamation, privacy, publicity and the access or use of others’ computer or communication systems.

Without limiting any other terms herein, the entrant agrees to indemnify the Promoter for any breach of the above terms. 19.

As a condition of entering this promotion, each entrant licenses and grants the Promoter, its affiliates and sub-licensees a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and sub-licensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish and display their entry (which shall include Content) for any purpose, including but not limited to future promotional, marketing or publicity purposes, in any media, without compensation, restriction on use, attribution or liability.

20.

Entrants consent to the Promoter using their name, likeness, image and/or voice in the event they are a winner (including photograph, illustration, film and/ or recording of the same) in any media for an unlimited period without remuneration for the purpose of promoting this promotion (including any outcome), and promoting any products manufactured, distributed and/or supplied by the Promoter.

21.

If this promotion is interfered with in any way or is not capable of being conducted as reasonably anticipated due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter, including but not limited to technical difficulties, unauthorised intervention or fraud, the Promoter reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to the fullest extent permitted by law (a) to disqualify any entrant; or (b) to modify, suspend, terminate or cancel the promotion, as appropriate.

22.

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions limits, excludes or modifies or purports to limit, exclude or modify the statutory consumer guarantees as provided under the Competition and Consumer Act, as well as any other implied warranties under the ASIC Act or similar consumer protection laws in the States and Territories of Australia (“Non-Excludable Guarantees”). Except for any liability that cannot by law be excluded, including the Non-Excludable Guarantees, the Promoter (including its respective officers, employees and agents) excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of the promotion.

23.

Except for any liability that cannot by law be excluded, including the Non-Excludable Guarantees, the Promoter (including its respective officers, employees and agents) is not responsible for and excludes all liability (including negligence), for any personal injury; or any loss or damage (including loss of opportunity); whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, arising in any way out of: (a) any technical difficulties or equipment malfunction (whether or not under the Promoter’s control); (b) any theft, unauthorised access or third party interference; (c) any entry or prize claim that is late, lost, altered, damaged or misdirected (whether or not after their receipt by the Promoter) due to any reason beyond the reasonable control of the Promoter; (d) any variation in prize value to that stated in these Terms and Conditions; (e) any tax liability incurred by a winner or entrant; or (f) use of a prize.

24.

The Promoter collects personal information (“PI”) in order to conduct the promotion and may, for this purpose, disclose such PI to third parties, including but not limited to agents, contractors, service providers and prize suppliers. Entry is conditional on providing this PI. The Promoter will also use and handle PI as set out in its Privacy Policy, which can be viewed at http://www.thelbdgroup.com.au/privacy-policy/. All entries become the property of the Promoter. The Promoter will not disclose entrant’s personal information to any entity outside of Australia.

25.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Entrants understand that they are providing their information to the Promoter and not to Facebook. The information an entrant provides will only be used for the purposes outlined in these Terms and Conditions. Any questions, comments or complaints about this promotion must be directed to the Promoter and not to Facebook. Facebook will not be liable for any loss or damage or personal injury which is suffered or sustained by an entrant, as a result of participating in the promotion (including taking/use of a prize), except for any liability which cannot be excluded by law.

26.

The Promoter is The LBD Group a subsidiary of Curious Minds Pty Ltd (ABN 78 094 035 354) of PO Box 4216 Balgowlah Heights NSW 2093