As a CEO and leader, I don’t see myself as a motivator. I’m much more of an educator. The best way I’ve found to lead the people in my team is to teach them how to motivate themselves. Listening, sharing & challenging are the skills I use. How about you?
I love Mondays! And I love surrounding myself with people who love Mondays… Why? Because the people that love Mondays energise, challenge and inspire me. Monday is a brilliant day for three reasons: Because I feel well rested from the weekend, I’m prepared because I make time on Sunday afternoons to plan the week ahead, Because I […]
What happens when there is a clash between close family & work? For me: family. Always. My work is important. My family (including close friends) is everything. How about you?
Having someone accountable for EVERYTHING is a key discipline of successful fast growing businesses. Verne Harnish, a mentor and advisor I have used for years has a very firm view on accountability. In Verne’s words, “If everyone is accountable, no one is accountable!”. At The Physio Co, I’ve learnt the hard way that Verne is spot […]
In my experience, people that are a culture-fit will effortlessly live your core values. How do they do it with such ease? It’s simple: their personal values will be very similar to the core values of the business. Therefore, when they are living, breathing & sharing the core values, they are just being themselves! […]
The annual BRW Best Places to Work edition is out and The Physio Co is the 12th Best Place to Work in Australia for 2011! As the CEO, it’s both humbling and exciting to know that our fast growing team rates The Physio Co so highly. In fact, the results of the independent survey show […]
Short bursts of exercise are an awesome way to recharge the batteries. Getting started is the important part. This afternoon I found myself with an extra half an hour up my sleeve before preparing for an important event. My options were: a) have a rest in the hotel room b) do some work c) go […]
Leaders of fast growing businesses must become masters of delegation. Why? Because fast growth creates more work. More work that continues to land on the desk of the leader is unsustainable (& not much fun!) Delegating is just a fancy term that means asking for help. For example, at home, if you ask your partner […]
Every morning at The Physio Co we run a short, sharp huddle. This stand-up meeting is called ‘To The Point’ and it’s on from 10:05-10:17am without fail. The purpose of To The Point is to keep our team aligned and focussed on bringing our Painted Picture of 2012 vision to life. To The Point to […]
Running a fast growing business is not for the faint-hearted. Every single day there are challenges that test me and stretch me to my limit. Plenty of people might think this is crazy. You might ask: “what’s the rush?”. To me, growing a business fast is fun. I wouldn’t want it any other way! For […]
Saying YES is nearly always a better option than saying no. Check out this great post from Emma Isaacs… Click here to “Just say yes!” Thanks Em!
Helping someone out is one of life’s simple pleasures. Even better is helping someone when you didn’t even know it! In the past week, three of you, yep you, reading this blog, have messaged/tweeted/spoken to me with feedback on my posts. All of these messages have been people saying: “your blog has helped.” Hearing […]
This afternoon as I watched the mighty Richmond Tigers take on Sydney at the SCG, the cameras panned to Richmond’s interchange bench. In that brief shot, huddling from the cold and rain with the players and officials was one of Richmond’s team physiotherapists. At that instant, a 15-year old dream came flashing back.. At school I […]
“I Can Only Imagine” – amazing video of a man carrying his son 226km This 4-minute video shows the story of Dick Hoyt as he completes a full ironman triathlon (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run) with his son, Rick, literally in tow. Rick was diagnosed with cerebral palsy soon after birth and suffers from […]
In the past fifty years there have been three major ways that people in business communicate in writing: 1. Post. Delivered once per day & sorted by someone in the office. 2. Fax. Delivered throughout the day & sorted by someone in the office. 3. Email. Delivered throughout the day & sorted by the recipient. […]
How we all spend the minutes, hours, weeks & years of our lives is purely choice. Very few adults have anyone to tell them how to spend their free time. However, what is chosen really is important.. A couple of hours ago my wife picked up my iPhone 4, checked out the screen and said […]
Ever get a bit worked up when something doesn’t go to plan? From time to time, it happens to most of us. The best part: it’s rarely as bad as it seems. This week I’ve been challenged by a supplier. I’ve found myself feeling frustrated and let down with issues that I thought we’d […]
Answer: Go on a short holiday! Seriously, if you are a Manager/CEO/Business Owner with people reporting to you, going on holiday is a fantastic way to create ongoing time in your diary (even after you get back!). Here’s how I do it… It’s well documented that people work much more productively in the days prior […]
Cash is important in every business. Cash is EVERYTHING for bootstrapped SME’s. I doubt anyone cares about the huge profit projected for the end of the year if you can’t make payroll next week. Out of Cash = Out of Business (OOC = OOB) OOC = OOB is a lesson I learnt from a bloke […]
Do you have two monitors on every computer at your work? Perhaps you should? We’ve been doing it at The Physio Co for the last couple of years. Our team loves them and it’s one of the cheapest ways for all of us to be more effective. Why do we pay twice as much for […]
Listening is undervalued. Compared to being a powerful speaker or writer it doesn’t sound sexy to be known as ‘a great listener’. But it’s much more important than many people think. From what I’ve learnt, there are three R’s to becoming a great listener.. 1. Receive To understand it, you have to hear it. Be […]
A list of things ‘not-to-do’ is a super effective way to get more done. I have some bad habits. You know, stuff I choose to do when I should be getting real work done. A not-to-do list helps me focus. It includes all the stuff that distracts me. The stuff I should not do. If […]
Every year 3,300 Australian blokes die of prostate cancer. In 2006, my old man was one of them. In August this year, I’m going to don my lycra, join 4 mates from my MBA and ride 200km to help conquer cancer. And I’d love your support.. The Ride to Conquer Cancer is a 2-day, 200km […]
Today we had a bit of a problem at The Physio Co: instead of a few reminder emails heading out to our clients, about 40 emails were sent with the wrong content. Bummer! But an opportunity to chat… The guys in my accounts team were honest and upfront that they’d made a mistake and planned […]
Do you still buy music on CD’s? I doubt it. So why do you still buy books off the shelf? It’s old fashioned, slow and clutters your life. The reasons I have Amazon’s Kindle on my iPad and iPhone: I can carry ALL of my books in my pocket I can read whenever I have […]
The words I use play such a huge part in my life. Positive thoughts and positive words usually means a positive result. Negative words, negative results. Pretty simple. I had a conversation about this with a friend a couple of days ago. She loved the concept of choosing more positive words and made a decision: […]
‘A while’ is not something I say, but I’ve noticed that many people do. I’ve also noticed that ‘a while’ has an infinite number of meanings. I’m not very good at reading minds and when I guess how long your ‘a while’ is my strike rate at guessing right is pretty low. So… I ask. […]
“If you don’t have an assistant, you are one.” – Cameron Herold, Backpocket COO In 2010, I hired my first Executive Assistant. It was one of the better moves I’d made for quite a while. It gave me focus and time to work on the important stuff. In 2011, I’ve promoted that assistant to a […]
Do you have a list of things you’d rather be doing? Like learning how to fly a plane, training a guide dog, running a marathon or travelling to Tunisia? Perhaps you should… About 18 months ago, KW and I created separate lists of things we’d rather be doing than working. We shared them with each other and […]
“I’m sure you’d do the same for me” are the eight words that can make anyone more influential. Here’s how.. What happens when I do a favour for someone? That person usually says “Thanks”. And then what? Well I probably do one of three things: Say “That’s OK”; or Say “No worries, I’d have done […]
Are you attached to your email account? Do you HAVE to check it every 10 minutes? Why? Email can be helpful. It’s a cool way to transfer photos, files and ideas at work and at home. But it’s not as important as you might think. In an emergency, would you email for an ambulance? […]
I love feedback. I love receiving it so that I can reflect and improve. I also love helping my team mates by providing constructive feedback that challenges their thinking. Today I got it wrong… This morning I gave feedback to someone when I was annoyed (getting annoyed – a bad choice. I should’ve re-read this […]
Starting a new project can be fun. Getting most of the work done, easy. But finishing, that can be the hard bit. A good mate of mine loves starting projects. Finishing them is another story. I admire his energy and enthusiasm. But a shed that doesn’t have a door attached or a spotlight in […]
I used to get annoyed, frustrated and irritated. It barely happens anymore. Here’s how I do it… In late 2009, during a negotiation role play at QUT I leant over to my mate Istvan and whispered, “this is getting frustrating”. His response: “only if you let it”. And he was right. Getting frustrated is a […]
Avoiding someone will only have a positive outcome if you never, ever have to see them again. You can choose your friends. You can’t always choose who you work with. Learning to work with difficult people is a skill we all need. If you have to work with someone you find difficult, it’s […]
Tonight I heard an interesting observation from the eternally logical and analytical brain of the fictional Temperance Brennan (aka Bones). While solving another disturbing and seemingly impossible murder, Bones quipped “elite members of communities know each other”. And she’s right. Do you think that Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg know each other? Of course they do. […]
…Reading & reviewing a book a week. Since 1 January 2011, I’ve been creating a blog post here every day. I thought it would be tough to find content. 52 days in, content is the least of my concerns – I have 29 drafts written and ready to post! My daily blog is now a […]