Articles Tagged with: resilience

Keep Moving Forward

“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.”

– John F. Kennedy

Every day we are faced with situations that challenge us… do I hit snooze and cancel the PT, do I catch a bus or walk to work, do I push back on an unrealistic request to do more hours so I don’t miss out on seeing my family before they go to bed. Add to this the expectation we will respond to questions and deliver a result quickly, regardless of whether the query is sent during or after office hours. It’s easy to see why there is so much stress, anxiety and overwhelm being openly identified in business. Living in 2019 means social media, smartphones and networking platforms make us accessible 24/7.

So what are the trends?
Kate Carnell, CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce, recently said “Businesses are now seeing the financial and personal cost of stress. More businesses are operating with fewer resources and staff are working often harder and longer hours.” Security of employment, constant workplace change, increased workloads, stronger competition and unclear work processes are all adding to the stress experienced by business owners and workers.

How can we buck the trends?

Build our resilience to get better outcomes and continue to make the challenging decisions. Have the confidence to make a decision and know, regardless of the outcome, there is always potential for an outstanding outcome.

Here are 5 ways to help you make that decision:

Don’t agonise over decisions for long periods of time…make them and get on with getting your outcomes
Back your judgement and make more decisions
Encourage others to make decisions
Take action
Encourage suggestions for improvement with others… makes them more likely to bounce back from making a mistake

This week, look at all the decisions you have been putting off. Are you helping yourself or your business by putting them off, or can you change this and get on the road to bigger and better things. I’m backing you to take the steps and make things happen.

Feel empowered and forward this on to those in your networks who will get value from our regular tips. If you need help being the real and best version of you, send us a note at strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au and we’d love to chat about how we can help.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
Managing Director
http://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

22 April 2019

Ride That Wave – Courage & Resilience

“When we tackle obstacles, we find hidden reserves of courage and resilience we did not know we had. And it is only when we are faced with failure do we realise that these resources were always there within us. We only need to find them and move on with our lives”. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

The past three days has given most of us the opportunity to recharge our batteries and spend time surrounded by quality friends and family. I don’t know about you, but I needed the opportunity to switch off and think about all things not relating to work, schedules and deadlines. It’s been so refreshing to be able to think about the little things that matter… like being 100% present in conversations, reading to develop a new skill and eating well.

So being at the beach it’s meant time in the ocean riding waves and being schooled by others. When it’s been me who’s been on the end of a dumping… I’ve been quickly reminded that I must get up and refocus as there is another wave coming which doesn’t care if you have your goggles on or you’ve taken a full breath.

This is exactly what being in business or in a leadership position is all about. You are going to ride waves in to the beach… this deserves a fist pump and back out in to the water to do it again. Then you will also get battered… and the results you get depend on you choosing to get up as quickly as you can to be ready to take the next wave.

This week, check in on how you deal with successes (ie how many fist pumps you are doing) and also how quickly you get back up after a challenge. Time spent in the game increases your chance of getting even more fist pump moments.

Feel empowered to forward on to those in your networks who will also get value from our regular tips. If you need to build your resilience, send us a note at strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au and we’d love to chat about how we can help.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
Managing Director
http://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

20 October 2018

I Believe – Courage and Resilience

Small Business Mentors help build Resilience…

Every day sees us being challenged by deadlines, timelines, expectations and uncertainty that come at us. Whether you are a business owner or a leader, it seems to be a never ending process of dealing with this. How often do you set out your day so you can be super efficient… then something comes in and changes everything. Dealing with this uncertainty can throw you off track and halt any progress.

Resilience is something that will help you get through these challenges. Having the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties defines the results you are going to get. Spend too long analysing why things happened and the opportunity to keep things moving will elude you…

Here are 3 tips to help build your Resilience:

Focus on what you can control – sometimes things happen that you have absolutely no control over. Accepting things are what they are and turning your focus to those things you can control will remove the exposure to the frustrations of not having control
Know when to ask for help – we are all prone to thinking we need to do everything ourselves and asking for help can be a sign of weakness. Surrounding yourself with mentors and those who have experiences or skills to help is smart and will help keep things moving forward
See the opportunity – when challenged generally we see what can’t be done… yet in every challenge lies an opportunity to use your existing skills to ensure you get the result you want. A no on one front may open up another way to get the same result.

So this week, when you find yourself faced with a challenge apply these three tips and turn the challenge in to an opportunity.

Forward to those in your networks who will get value from our tips. If you’d like assistance to implement these, send a note at strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au and we’d love to chat about adding value for you.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
Managing Director
https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

14 October 2018

It’s Not My Responsibility

“Organizations that empower folks further down the chain or try to get rid of the big hierarchal chains and allow decision making to happen on a more local level end up being more adaptive and resilient because there are more minds involved in the problem”. Steven Johnson

Slopey Shoulders syndrome is where a person consistently attempts to avoid taking responsibility for their own actions or those around them. Most of us associate it with a lack of care factor, a fear of taking on something that may get negative feedback, or an easy way to avoid making challenging decisions relating to work that you may or may not be responsible for. I think most of us have experienced this in one way or another.

Giving others within your teams and businesses the opportunity to take ownership of the workflow is a powerful tool. Being empowered to step up and take on work safe in the knowledge that your team around you have your back, is coming from a place of strength. Feeling you have the support to take on challenging situations, will see you want to take these on. It also allows you to add your strengths to a project and allow the more senior people to spend more time on things at their level.

Here are 3 ways to remove the perception of Slopey Shoulder syndrome:

What is the Ultimate impact – by looking at the potential outcomes and asking what will the impact be on the team/business before the individual, the responsibility stays with the team rather than the individual
It is what it is so how can I make it work – “When life throws you lemons…. make lemonade” is a commonly used quote. By focussing on what you can do now to get a great outcome, means you make a great outcome possible
If I communicate clearly, those ultimately responsible will recognise the effort – true leaders will praise the process as well as the result. Clearly establishing the expectations up front will give opportunity to praise and validate performance & results achieved

Those who choose to “delegate” responsibility also lose the ability to be recognised for potential successes. To most leaders, stepping up to the plate and raising the standard in an effort to get a result is equally as important as the final result. So once you’ve clearly communicated the standards and expectations up front, be that person who takes on a less than stellar project, the “dog with fleas” piece of work and show your willingness to make things work.

Please forward to those in your networks who will get value from our tips. If you’d like some assistance to implement these, send us a note at strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au and we’d love to chat about adding value for you.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
Managing Director
https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

7 May 2018

You too can Build your Resilience

The past week saw some in my immediate circles faced with uncertain and uncomfortable situations, faced with the expectation and pressure to deliver. From the best man at my own wedding nailing a speech to 110 guests when he’s one who doesn’t enjoy public speaking, to the rugby team I coach scoring a 95m try to win the game while being behind on the scoreboard with only the final play remaining. To successfully deliver outstanding performances in each situation shows the Resilience they have developed.

Resilience is the ability to cope and thrive in the face of negative events, challenges or adversity. Resilient individuals have, through time, developed techniques allowing them to effectively and relatively easily navigate around or through crises. Successfully dealing with similar challenges can give you the confidence to get through tough situations.

4 Tips to Build your Resilience

So how do we build our Resilience muscle to help cope and deal with stressful situations? Here are 4 tips…

Know your strengths – “don’t take a knife to a gunfight” is a term I have heard previously in high level corporate situations. If you are looking to get a great result, use your best attributes and skills to your advantage rather than playing to others strengths
Have confidence in your abilities – you are the one who has the skills required to get the job done, whether it be doing it yourself or organising those with the necessary skills to deliver… you have control of this.
Accept circumstances that cannot be changed – stuff happens and sometimes you can’t control it. Wasting time trying to control it will lead to frustration, so accept it and get on with taking options that you can control.
Know when to ask for help – developing the ability to ask for help is crucial. Knowing when to engage experts to help us grow can lead to getting awesome results earlier!

This week reflect on your levels of resilience. Do you see your strengths, do you back yourself, do you get on with things and do you know when to ask for help? If not then I’m pretty sure we’ve just identified where to start your building process.

If this resonated, please share with your networks so they can grow and get better results earlier. To develop these skills, send “Let’s get Resilient” to strategy@mentorisgroup.com.au and we can help you and your teams become truly resilient.

Have an awesome week!

Cheers
Paul Farmer
CPA, MAICD
https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

19 October 2017

Resilience – Build your Bounce-Back-Ability

Over the past month i’ve spent a lot of time surrounding myself with some resilient inspirational people. Whether it was a CEO, Professional sportsman, Men’s Coach or a Farmer…. each had their own story of their journey. Talking to each of these people, it became clear that they all had a common message… challenges happen, it’s how you deal with them that determines your levels of success.

Resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from stressful or challenging experiences. It involves being able to adapt to changes and approach negative events, sources of stress and traumatic events as constructively as possible.

So how do you develop your Resilience? Here are 3 ways to help you:

Have the courage to be imperfect – waiting for everything to be perfect before taking action will delay or even prevent you getting that momentum you need
Build your Self Awareness – by knowing yourself and your strengths, you become more confident in your ability to deal with uncertainty and make decisions to get the results you want
Adopt a growth mindset – focus on building your a skillsets, allowing you to continue making decisions and taking action required to get even better results

So this week, consider how you handle bouncing back after facing a challenge. Do you stay in the problem, or are you like the people i’ve spoken to and and use the courage you have to get on with creating a solution?

Have an awesome week team!

Cheers
Paul
0401610666

https://www.mentorisgroup.com.au

20 March 2017

Being fully present to build your Resilience

How can we adjust to being fully present to build our Resilience? “Are you listening to me” or “did you hear what I just said” are phrases that we hear all too often as we are growing up. Is it intentional that we are not focussing on the person in front of us, or is it simply somewhere else we would rather be than doing our homework?

Being fully present means having your focus, your attention, your thoughts and feelings all fixed on the task at hand. If you are speaking to somebody, then your attention and energy is focused on them and what they are saying. If you are doing a task, then your entire being is focused on the task.

At the same time we are also encouraged to multitask, something us men traditionally struggle with, to get more achieved in the same timeframe. The classic image of someone having simultaneous conversations on multiple phones comes to mind. Being fully present means you hear all the information, make others feel like you are actually listening and allows your decisions to be based on facts, rather than your interpretation of the facts.

A couple of tips to help you be fully present:

take an open mind in to meetings rather than just your view, freeing you up to process all the information and ideas
focus on hearing what someone else has to say, rather than what you are going to respond with
leave “your views” in their box and use the other person’s thoughts, ideas, information to help clear challenges

You will find that the quality of your decision making will reflect this renewed focus. Have better information, build better rapport with your colleagues and who knows…. others may leave your meetings feeling special because you have taken the time to actually listen.

Let me know how you go on paul@mentoriscoaching.com and have an awesome week !

Cheers
Paul

paul@mentoriscoaching.com

http://www.mentoriscoaching.com

About Paul Farmer, Mentoris CEO and Business Coach

With a background in finance, business strategy and leadership, Paul has built a reputation as a business mentor responsible for getting the best out of business owners and leaders. His calm and measured ways help create an environment where quality results are created, and growth is delivered for any business or large organisation.

For the best business mentor Brisbane and the Gold Coast has to offer, contact Paul Farmer at Mentoris. If you are a business owner seeking business mentoring support from someone with many proven years experience, you’ve come to the right place.

Find Out More

Read more about how we work with you for:

Keep Moving Forward

Ride That Wave – Courage & Resilience

I Believe – Courage and Resilience

It’s Not My Responsibility

You too can Build your Resilience

Resilience – Build your Bounce-Back-Ability

Being fully present to build your Resilience

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