EP12- PODCAST
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[00:00:00] Shelley: Welcome to the regional collective podcast. We're all about sharing stories of success, challenges, and the amazing community spirit in small and micro businesses. Here, we redefine small business with big hearts and determined hustle. Get ready to be inspired by regional entrepreneurs making a big impact.
[00:00:26] Shelley: Whether you're just starting out or already on your business journey, you'll find motivation and practical tips to help you thrive. We believe in the power of community. So let's share, support and celebrate regional businesses together. Tune in and get inspired to thrive.
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[00:00:45] Shelley: In today's episode, we interview HR consultant Leanne Hasting from Leanna J Consulting on how to work well with others in our small [00:01:00] businesses and teams. Leanne shares her tips on overcoming collaboration challenges, how to improve communication and foster teamwork. We'll gain insights on developing a growth mindset and effective delegation.
[00:01:13] Shelley: Let's tune in.
[00:01:16] Shelley: thanks Leanne for joining us today.
[00:01:19] Leanne: No worries, thanks for having me.
[00:01:20] Shelley: So first of all, thought, perhaps, can you give us a little bit of your background? background and how you got into starting your own business. So you came from, a background of working for other people. So what made you, take the leap and make the move?
[00:01:34] Leanne: Well, probably a mixture of family and, and business reasons, I suppose. I've been surrounded by small business owners all of my life. I'm the daughter of one. I'm now the wife of one. And, I've always kind of found myself in a small business type environment. I got to a stage in my job where I had been there for a really long time and I felt like I [00:02:00] was, I was able to achieve great things for them, but I could also see so many other small business owners were really struggling under the weight of HR obligations, not understanding what they needed to do for their people.
[00:02:13] Leanne: And so I guess consulting sort of came out of, A desire to just do something different.
[00:02:19] Shelley: How did you start off, so are you originally from York Peninsula?
[00:02:24] Leanne: No, I grew up on the Eyre Peninsula actually. Met my husband when I was at boarding school in Adelaide. Yeah, oh, I swore I'd never marry a farmer. I told my dad when I was a very wise 13 year old that, I would never be so irresponsible to marry a farmer that would, you know, why would you leave your whole annual income up to the weather?
[00:02:45] Leanne: Yes. It's so unpredictable. So I went into the game of people instead.
[00:02:50] Shelley: Again, everything is unpredictable. Great on paper and then you add people in and you go, well, that's just so many unknowns.
[00:02:58] Leanne: My husband and I often joke about [00:03:00] him being, his business, cause he's a farmer as well. His business is directed by the weather and mine's directed by people.
[00:03:05] Leanne: Two of the most unpredictable commodities getting around.
[00:03:09] Shelley: So you've got to just keep an even keel at home because you've got to learn how to be, you know, Resilient and agile and go with the flow because you, you don't have a control over a lot of things, do you?
[00:03:20] Leanne: No, we don't. And, we just keep our expectations low.
[00:03:24] Leanne: Yeah.
[00:03:25] Shelley: Yeah. And,
[00:03:26] Shelley: and so how did you find starting that business and getting new clients and things like that? Like what sort of, process did you go through when you left your full time role?
[00:03:36] Leanne: Yeah, so I didn't leave it to start with. I was working, I was really, really lucky. I had a fabulous employer.
[00:03:42] Leanne: I'd been there for probably, I suppose by the time I started the business. And I had insane flexibility. It was, I was so lucky. I worked from home. I came and went as, as I could. I had young children at home and. So I [00:04:00] was really, really lucky to be able to do both. I spoke to my employer about it when I was thinking about starting a business, which I recommend everybody does.
[00:04:09] Shelley: Often you're contractually obliged to. And did you do half and half? Like half part time in the business, half part time in your role?
[00:04:18] Leanne: Yeah, that's right. So I was part time, flexible across the week for 20 hours a week in my job. And then the business just started to grow. And I guess after a couple of years, it got to a point where I could really clearly see that the growth of my business was being slowed down because of these hours that I'd committed to my job.
[00:04:40] Leanne: And that's where the turning point came for me. I knew that I could keep going as we were. Okay. But there was no more room for growth. I had no time left. Yeah. To do anything,
[00:04:49] Shelley: did you have the HR yourself outta your own job? ?
[00:04:53] Leanne: Look, it wasn't easy. By that time. I'd been there for 11 years. Yeah. And I had been really, I worked for family [00:05:00] business, so they did become like family to me and it was a really, really tough decision to leave there.
[00:05:06] Leanne: But the time was right. I think for both of us. I also felt like, you know, we had all the systems set up for them and everything was already in place. And I just felt like it was the time to, to jump. And I was really lucky to have a nice little, long service leave package to take with me and give me a little bit of breathing space financially, to see how the business would go.
[00:05:28] Shelley: I mean, that's also the, and you're talking about unknown things. That's also the unknown. You can have a plan and you can have a strategy in place, but even There's a lot of unknowns, the safety of employment, you know, holds us there sometimes because it's a known and we know what we're going to get, so.
[00:05:44] Leanne: Absolutely. And to be honest, it's still something I really find is a big mindset issue that I need to keep on top of now. You know, nearly five years in, I still, feel like that inconsistency that can come with business [00:06:00] income at times.
[00:06:01] Shelley: Cause it ebbs and flows and there's certainly like with farming, there's seasons and there's, you know, seasons where you're going to be flushing and you think, woohoo, we've made it.
[00:06:10] Shelley: But then there's others where you think, oh, everyone's holding onto their purse strings. They're not making many purchases. It's, you know, you've got to, weather those, don't you?
[00:06:18] Leanne: Yeah, absolutely. And we work with a lot of, allied health. business owners. And a lot of them, work in the paediatric space and so school holidays for them is a really quiet time.
[00:06:30] Leanne: So they tend to happen around about the start of the quarter. And so we have certainly seen, because we work with so many of those sorts of businesses, that that has a flow on impact for our business as well, which is fine. But having that knowledge and oversight over it has been. really key for me managing my mindset around it because now I can go, okay, the first month of the quarter is going to be a bit slower.
[00:06:55] Leanne: The second month is going to be better and the third month is going to build two thirds of our [00:07:00] quarterly billings. And, and that's just how it works.
[00:07:03] Shelley: And that's it. And once you've got that oversight over your business and understand, then you can Absolutely. Just need to wait. Just be patient. It's fine.
[00:07:16] Shelley: It's okay. So I think we'll look, go into looking at, I guess that, you know, how to work with other people, how to enjoy it, how to get the most out of our brands and businesses as we work with other people, because very often we don't work alone. for the entirety of, you know, of our operations. So, maybe if we start by identifying why effective collaboration is crucial for small and micro businesses in particular.
[00:07:48] Leanne: Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's, it's easy for, for people in those, running those businesses to think, oh, employees are not for me. And I remember one of my very first clients [00:08:00] said to me, when she was just bringing on her first employee, she said, Leanne, this will be it. I will only ever need one. And you know, her business was a huge business, but the way it was structured, she thought that she would only need one.
[00:08:11] Leanne: And, she's now got seven or eight. And so often we start out thinking, well, it's just going to be me. I'm just going to create a business for me. And, and that's totally fine, but it doesn't mean that we don't have people around us still, that we need to, almost create our own little culture with, that you would ordinarily expect in the workplace.
[00:08:33] Shelley: And that's it, like people like you may, yes you may be a solopreneur, but you'll still have a bookkeeper, an accountant, you might have someone who helps with social media strategy every now and again, you may be working with people in your local RDL council, there's still interactions isn't there, there's still people.
[00:08:52] Leanne: Absolutely, that's it, and one, a lesson I learned really early on while I was Also thinking it's just going to be me. I don't [00:09:00] want to have a team. I deal with people's, people problems all the time.
[00:09:04] Shelley: I don't want to deal with this for myself.
[00:09:06] Leanne: And one of the, those lessons that I learned was, even though it's really important to bring in expertise.
[00:09:14] Leanne: I mean, firstly, there was this frustration about me. getting lots of advice from people saying outsource all the things that you're not good at. And while I wholeheartedly agree with that, when you're first starting out, you need money to do that. And I, I remember thinking, you know, everybody's telling me to outsource all these things and bring in a team around me.
[00:09:33] Leanne: I can't afford them. You know, how am I going to do that? And so it's okay to do it all yourself to start with, but there'll come a time where it is important to bring in those expertise and The lesson that I learned, was a pretty expensive one at the time. The best ones usually are. I had brought somebody in to do something I had no idea how to do for myself.
[00:09:54] Leanne: And I just let them run with it. I had some clear outcomes that I wanted to achieve [00:10:00] by it, but I had no idea about the process. Yeah. And. I took my finger off the pulse and they didn't achieve those outcomes for me. I didn't get the value or the results that I needed to from that. And it was simply because I just didn't, didn't put in place those checks and balances or measures to be able to have the conversation with them about what success looks like to me in that relationship. And how to bring it back on track. And those conversations are conversations I'm having with my clients and their employees all the time now. And I think they're more, we expect them more in a workplace, but there's, I think there's a real argument for that with our extended supplier network as well.
[00:10:48] Shelley: And especially when you're talking small and micro businesses, there's usually a personal, you know, So we know that this person knows that person, that's fine. And we don't talk about the [00:11:00] expectations, the timelines, the deadlines, the ways of communicating all of those things, which I've learned the hard way as well of, even though we may work together, all right, here's a brief, here's a timeline, here's a budget, here's some outcomes, here's some check ins.
[00:11:15] Shelley: So we still do that. So operating as a larger business may still do, still very, Because, as you said, they're going to be expensive lessons to learn. And also that, like you said, there's no harm in doing the things at the start yourself, because you have to. If you're, you know, financially, not many can outsource straight away.
[00:11:36] Shelley: But if you do it, then you're much more, you know, knowledgeable about what outcomes you want because you've done a little bit of the work yourself. Exactly. And so there's going to be less chance of miscommunication or misunderstanding.
[00:11:48] Leanne: Absolutely. And I feel so much more comfortable now. I've only outsourced my bookkeeping this year.
[00:11:55] Leanne: You know, five years into business and I, Because I've [00:12:00] done it myself. I know when the due dates are. I know that, you know, I have to have paid my super by this day.
[00:12:05] Shelley: Which means you guys are a great partnership there. It does, yeah. And that collaboration works because you've had the, you've been on that end of the arrow.
[00:12:11] Shelley: Now that's your job, but also I'm going to support you so we can achieve these goals together.
[00:12:16] Leanne: And we're all human, right? We all forget from time to time. Sometimes we will fall through the safety net. Yeah. And if I can do what I can to remember, and as you say, and support them to support me, or then everyone we, theoretically.
[00:12:34] Shelley: So I guess also things like, so teamwork. So if we do work, look at that, that network that we have around us, what are some practical steps that business owners can take to improve collaboration and communication within that network?
[00:12:49] Leanne: Yeah, I think, as you mentioned before, really being firm at the start on what you're trying to achieve from that collaboration, whether it's with an [00:13:00] external provider or internally, certainly from an internal perspective when we have clients come to us, who are starting their teams for the first time or expanding their team.
[00:13:11] Leanne: One of the things we make sure we do really well is to establish a really solid foundation of clarity right from the very beginning and, and compliance. Those two go hand in hand and, and that looks like a really well worded, position description. And sometimes I think those sorts of things can work for external providers too.
[00:13:32] Leanne: We don't have to put those labels on them, but what is it that we expect and what is it that you're agreeing to do for me that I want to just keep.
[00:13:42] Shelley: And that's it. And things that you think, oh but, you know, so if it was someone that you were engaging with socially, well they should know that they're going to check my Facebook once a day and have a look at things.
[00:13:51] Shelley: Yeah, but do they? Do they? Is it part of their experience? So having those conversations and then putting it in writing. Yeah. Whether you're friends, [00:14:00] mates, or whatever. Even more so if you're friends or mates. And putting those expectations, yeah, in place. Because then for everybody's sake you've got something to refer to.
[00:14:11] Shelley: Yeah. But like you said, taking the time to get really clear on what outcomes you want is really important. And that also ties back to, You know, from a brand or a business point of view, having clarity on what their values are, their mission, you know, position, and what they want to do. So, how can I guess businesses and business owners in particular, make sure that their teams around that, you know, and on board.
[00:14:39] Shelley: So what are some of those steps that they can take to ensure that that teamwork runs efficiently? You get the outcomes that you want. Yeah.
[00:14:47] Shelley: How can you share your vision?
[00:14:50] Leanne: Yeah, look, I think communication is a huge part of that. And I remember going to a workshop, I'm not sure if it was a workshop or a podcast that I [00:15:00] listened to, from an Australian entrepreneur called Lorraine Murphy.
[00:15:04] Leanne: And she was talking about communication and how it's not, the verbal stuff that that communicates. And she told a story about, an employee. She had, she had this really big meeting with an investor in her offices. She's based in Sydney. So, you know, she paints the picture of this amazing office and bringing in this big deal investor that she was asking, you know, to invest a lot of his money into her business.
[00:15:30] Leanne: And. Her receptionist offered him a tea or coffee and he said he'd have a coffee and she comes in and puts down a cup on the boardroom table of black coffee. She didn't ask if he needed milk or sugar or whatever and he said to her, do you mind if I have some milk in this? And she trots off to the kitchen and comes back with the two litre container of milk from the kitchen fridge and slopped a bit of milk in his coffee.
[00:15:56] Leanne: The end. Nothing was said at the time, but when he went to [00:16:00] leave, he said to her, Lorraine, everything communicates. And what that communicated to him was. Do you really, were you well prepared for this? You know, if you had milk and sugar in a jug and a pot and you know, this was all that communicates to me that you've got your shit together.
[00:16:16] Leanne: Yeah. And, that this is a business I want invest in. And it's a story that's really stuck with me since
[00:16:21] Shelley: Do you always have milk and sugar already? Don't give the two, the three liter jug outta it. .
[00:16:27] Leanne: I think what it does though, is it really highlights. That it's not just the communication structures that we put in place.
[00:16:34] Leanne: You know, we can have regular team meetings, or toolbox meetings, or staff meetings, or trainings, or whatever.
[00:16:40] Shelley: You can have signs up that say, Teamwork makes the dream work.
[00:16:43] Leanne: Exactly! But if you get somebody, and particularly the business owner, if they're coming into work, and they're a bit flat, or they're grumpy, or something may have happened for them in the morning, and they're bringing that into work, whatever their role modelling [00:17:00] is, that's communicating something to their team as well.
[00:17:02] Shelley: People will be walking on eggshells around the rest of the day thinking, oh, is there something wrong with what we're doing?
[00:17:07] Leanne: Yeah, that's right. And so, what we don't say and how we show up in the silence, I think sometimes has a greater impact than the things that we do in the day. So while I'm absolutely an advocate for strong communication in the way that we communicate things, you know, from an employment point of view, we want to make sure we've got all of those foundational documents in place to, to explain the arrangement that we've agreed to.
[00:17:34] Leanne: But it's those sorts of things that I find are the biggest challenges we're called in to come and fix.
[00:17:41] Shelley: Yeah. And that's the end when there's a misalignment. . It's a weird misalignment. Yeah, isn't it? Absolutely. So when there's a And I, yeah, I can think of a few different, go back into a few different situations where there was a lot of unrest at a particular workplace, and then let's all get together and have a [00:18:00] morning tea.
[00:18:00] Shelley: And it was a very mood, yeah. Uncomfortable morning too, because there were lots of things that weren't being said that everyone was having issues with, but then trying to put on a face of have. Just gathering. Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't work. And it can be felt, you know, like,
[00:18:16] Leanne: yeah, that's right. And that, I mean, going, going back to your point around values.
[00:18:20] Leanne: Yeah. That's the real importance I think, of not just setting your values right at the very beginning and, and putting them aside and
[00:18:27] Shelley: going, yeah, that's tick box done.
[00:18:28] Leanne: Yeah. I've done that. When you are bringing on your team, and, and in a workplace situation, pulling those out and reviewing them because.
[00:18:36] Leanne: While I'm not saying that they need to necessarily change, we need to talk about them and we need to be bringing in people who are really well aligned.
[00:18:45] Shelley: And let them evolve as well.
[00:18:47] Leanne: Exactly, that's right. And one of the things we do quite often with some of our bigger clients is we, we come in and pretend that we've got none of that in place already.
[00:18:57] Leanne: And we reestablish what their mission is, we [00:19:00] reestablish why they're there to do what they're doing.
[00:19:02] Shelley: Because they can change. Over time. Absolutely. It, it should, you know, if we're, you know, looking at it from a branding point of view, like a business, it's not set in stone. It's actually continually evolving.
[00:19:13] Shelley: Yeah. The same as with, and that's why Yeah. Having those regular points of contact and communication to, to look at, that means that your team comes along with you, you know, comes on board with you and, and even from. You know, and my perspective with a different, you know, change in business, style and structure, I've worked with Ange, who's a copywriter.
[00:19:35] Shelley: So we've evolved. I mean, there's still the same Shelley that's working here, but the business, you know, the businesses have evolved, but she's been brought along each time to understand how that, you know, how that impacts the messaging that we have, or the,
[00:19:49] Shelley: To be able to communicate that with teams and the network is important.
[00:19:54] Leanne: Yeah, and I think one of the, the steps that gets missed when we are planning these, these values [00:20:00] and, and our mission statement and everything is the part that really addresses the fact that we're asking for some behavioral change after that point.
[00:20:09] Leanne: And we've committed to this mission. We've committed to the values and how we're going to execute that mission. Yeah. But that behavioural change takes time, you know. It's really hard to re establish those new habits. And the next step that we like to include in a session like that is, well, how are we going to agree to hold each other accountable?
[00:20:31] Leanne: So, when one of us falters, and I say when, because it will happen, like, we need to be realistic here. We will fall back into, our regular habits, but how do we agree as a team that if somebody sees me falter, how do I want them to let me know that we didn't agree to this? But I want you to know, you know, I still value you as a human.
[00:20:54] Leanne: You just, we just agreed to do it like this instead and we come up with some group [00:21:00] norms. And I think that's something that you can do with your external providers as well is how do we agree that when something goes wrong. We've got a way of being able to send up a flare. Yeah. Or we've got a, a, a, a way of addressing that issue, addressing that elephant in the way, just drawing the, the relationship.
[00:21:20] Leanne: You know, maybe it's a friendship between people who know each other externally to the business arrangement that you've got. How do we do that without,
[00:21:28] Shelley: my mum used to always say it's about the process, not the people. So when you are addressing things like that, so it's again, you know, saying. We'd agree to this, you know, so it's not bringing it personally.
[00:21:38] Shelley: You didn't listen to me of what I was going to say, like not attacking. What is the process that we want to see going forward? Yeah. And let's just talk about that for the, you know, for the moment, some circumstances, but setting up a, an environment where those kind of difficult conversations can be had is a challenge.
[00:21:57] Shelley: Yes. How can smaller businesses, you [00:22:00] know, and it may be getting some some confidence to be able to speak to suppliers, to be able to speak to you know, thinking of like with, you know, local council members or being able to approach other businesses. What are perhaps some, some tools that they can have in their belt to keep those conversations?
[00:22:18] Shelley: positive and get an outcome that they, they are looking for.
[00:22:22] Leanne: Yeah, I think addressing it quickly is the first tip I have. And there's some really alarming statistics around about the, the impact of not having difficult conversations at work or in any kind of business setting. And So many, I don't have the numbers on me, but the number of people who have either quit their jobs or have changed business direction because, or just to avoid a difficult conversation is outrageous.
[00:22:55] Leanne: And so I think, and so often we are brought in to deal with [00:23:00] issues that if we had been seen them when they were the small issue that started the whole thing, we would have been able to deal with that really easily.
[00:23:10] Shelley: I was going to ask, have you got an example and you can't obviously pay charge of, you know, of a, of a situation where that has turned around and what the outcome has been.
[00:23:21] Shelley: So like a difficult experience or something was not going right. But then yeah, how that through communication and being open how that kind of turned around? Yeah,
[00:23:34] Leanne: yeah. Loads of examples.
[00:23:36] Leanne: But one that does come to mind actually was a situation where I hadn't worked with this client before.
[00:23:44] Leanne: There was a situation that a manager addressed with an employee. It perhaps wasn't dealt with in the way that it could have been for a whole lot of reasons. You know, when we are certainly not brought in to judge and we would never judge a way [00:24:00] that a situation has been handled without us. But it, it fried the relationship between the manager and the employee because of the way that it was handled.
[00:24:09] Leanne: And there was then a whole lot of fallout. The employee was talking about leaving, he wouldn't work with the manager, you know, lots of things that. that really became quite difficult to deal with in a workplace. And has a
[00:24:21] Leanne: ripple effect, doesn't it?
[00:24:22] Leanne: Oh, it absolutely does. Yeah. And interestingly, we, when I was brought in to help them deal with it, I said, I said to them, how about we just sit down and listen?
[00:24:34] Leanne: And so often we give this advice, have you actually sat down and listened? And ask questions like, what else? Or how, you know, is there anything more to that? How did you feel? We're often in those situations, particularly when we've been involved in the incident. Our egos pop up and we want to try and justify our behavior, we want to justify our actions, and this is [00:25:00] why I did it like that, or you said this and that set me off.
[00:25:04] Leanne: None of that's important.
[00:25:05] Shelley: No. And it won't help you
[00:25:06] Shelley: move forward, will it?
[00:25:07] Leanne: No. What is important is being able to park our ego and just let them say what they need to say. And at the end of that particular meeting, the employee got up and said to me, you know, I just really appreciate the opportunity to be heard.
[00:25:22] Leanne: And it's free. It's really simple. And in that meeting, we made no commitment to change. It's really just about getting that opportunity to get it out on the table. And, and when we keep asking questions like what else, what else we usually get to the real issue here, which isn't.
[00:25:42] Leanne: Not really the stuff that they spent the first 10
[00:25:44] Leanne: minutes of the meeting talking about.
[00:25:46] Leanne: There's really an underlying issue that often has nothing to do with work, but is exacerbated by something that's happened at work and then we can actually provide the support to the person that they need.
[00:25:57] Shelley: Which is really interesting as well to sort of take it [00:26:00] back to you know, to think about it as Yeah, your business is your workplace, so we have an obligation to ourselves to give ourselves a good environment to work in, you know, so nobody's really managing us.
[00:26:14] Shelley: Yeah. So really interesting to, and that's why I think, you know, this has still got, I think, a lot of benefits to small and micro businesses who we're working with. Yeah. To make sure that. Yeah. Yeah. Don't bitch and moan about that person. There's just gonna drain your energy and not move you forwardly.
[00:26:32] Shelley: If there's a real problem with it, talk about it. Yeah. Have a good conversation. Learn how to have difficult conversations. Yeah. Google it . But, you know, but also have, give someone a chance and to, to get it all out there. Yeah. And then you'll find that you'll have, you know, an easier way forward or you go, look, I'm not gonna bother anymore.
[00:26:50] Shelley: Okay. Yeah. And you move on because then. Yeah, worrying about it, stressing about it, avoiding it.
[00:26:55] Shelley: Yeah.
[00:26:56] Shelley: Because like you said, I'm only going to
[00:26:57] Shelley: exacerbate it.
[00:26:58] Leanne: Absolutely. And I think, [00:27:00] I think it works well at home too. Yes.
[00:27:02] Leanne: Well, and that's it. It's, you know, that's, like I said, that's your, that's your workplace.
[00:27:06] Leanne: Yeah, yeah. And so what role does leadership play in fostering a collaborative and enjoyable workplace?
[00:27:12] Leanne: Yeah, look, I think it plays a leading role, to be honest. And we, we really need to be the role model and we need to show the behaviors that we expect from the people around us. And, you know, that's a really shitty part about leadership actually, is that when we win, we give away the praise and when we lose, we accept the responsibility.
[00:27:35] Leanne: And I feel like it's a bit the same with business owners when we bring a team in around us too. that when there's a win, it's usually because somebody else has helped you with something, or there's been support that has helped you to achieve that. And, and we celebrate the people that are, that have helped us to get there.
[00:27:52] Leanne: But when we don't get there, we're the ones who are going, okay, this is my fault, I've got to fix this. And all those people who [00:28:00] were there helping me before now seem to have gone. But so I think that role modeling is really, really important. Yeah. And Doing what you say you're going to do, you know, following through is really important too.
[00:28:13] Shelley: And having that accountability to yourself, to your business and your brand, and knowing what that flow and effect is, I think, is what and, you know, and it is a process to get there. Like, not everybody is a board leader, but there's certainly, there's lots of skills that we can take on board. You know, we cover things like just being authentic.
[00:28:34] Shelley: Yeah. And that's also being who you say you are and showing up as that person. So it's actually, it doesn't take a degree. You don't have to do anything super special, but but certainly, and like you said, if you've got a team around you and you're showing that this is the level of acceptable behavior.
[00:28:51] Shelley: They'll either rise to it or they'll stick to it.
[00:28:54] Leanne: Exactly. And it will become really obvious who's on your bus and who's not, whether they're [00:29:00] employees or not. It will become really obvious to the people who are not going to rise to the level that you need them to be at.
[00:29:07] Shelley: Yeah. And in the end, if it's your business, you have the responsibility and the right to say, this is where I expect it to be and if you can't come along.
[00:29:16] Leanne: Yeah, that's okay to work. That's okay.
[00:29:18] Leanne: Yeah. Often people will say to me, Oh, I don't want to, I can't sack this person because they're so nice and that's fine. You know, it's okay to, to feel like that. It's great that you're, that you're There's a human behind behind what's going on, but at the end of the day, we have a responsibility to the other people that are involved in our team as well to make sure that we've got people who are invested
[00:29:47] Shelley: and
[00:29:47] Shelley: working
[00:29:47] Shelley: together.
[00:29:48] Leanne: Yeah, yeah. And terminations don't need to be really uncomfortable and awful either. I view them as an opportunity to help somebody to find a better place. for them. Look, I'm not [00:30:00] naive enough to, to realise that they don't always go like that. Sometimes they are unpleasant. And, and I'm also not naive enough to know that the person on the receiving end of something like that doesn't feel that way, at least initially, but spending time in a working relationship or in an employment relationship that you hate.
[00:30:22] Leanne: Yes, for sure.
[00:30:23] Shelley: That's it. And that's the thing of, yeah, you've got to put that lens on. I think you do if there's There will be something better fitted, better suited for you. Absolutely. And it's okay that it's not this.
[00:30:33] Leanne: Yeah,
[00:30:33] Leanne: exactly. That's it. And we'll be okay with that. It's fine.
[00:30:36] Leanne: So just finally,
[00:30:40] Shelley: I guess Many small business owners struggle with self doubt or feeling like they're overwhelmed.
[00:30:49] Shelley: And we've spoken a bit about this in our blog that you helped us with as well. But how can developing a growth mindset, as challenging as it may be how can you better handle those challenges? [00:31:00]
[00:31:01] Leanne: Look, I don't know that I'm a great person to be giving advice on these things. And I was only saying to my husband the other day, I've been asked this question and at the same time got an email that just sent our life into complete disarray for a little while.
[00:31:14] Leanne: Self doubt and, you know, that overwhelmed sort of feeling is, they're probably two different things for me. I don't know that I deal with overwhelm particularly well, but I guess the things that I, the tips and tricks that I kind of use to hack that for myself, certainly from a self confidence point of view often you'll get little pieces of feedback from clients or from, from people that you're working with and you just gloss over them as if they're nothing.
[00:31:41] Shelley: We focus on
[00:31:42] Shelley: the negatives a lot more.
[00:31:42] Leanne: Exactly, that's right.
[00:31:44] Leanne: And so I've started keeping the emails where somebody might say, You know, they might just quickly flip back an e mail and say, Oh, I'm so pleased we found you or thanks so much, you're the best. And I just put them [00:32:00] into a little folder in my inbox.
[00:32:02] Leanne: It's actually called to pick me up. So when I'm feeling like I need to be picked up, I just hop in there and have a look. And what that has done has helped me to be more aware, I suppose, of the little bits of feedback that we get along the way. Just recently I was doing some interviews for a client and we take a pretty relaxed sort of approach to interviews rather than the stuffy corporate style ones that you might expect to get with a job interview.
[00:32:30] Leanne: And as she left, one of the candidates said, that's the best job interview I've ever had. And I was like, Oh, awesome. And it's then, taking on that feedback and actually believing it because for so long I would be like, Oh, surely not. Like, I'm sure you've had a better job interview. But now I use those as a way to remind me that, yeah, actually we do good work.
[00:32:55] Leanne: And And people really do value what we do and that does help to keep [00:33:00] the imposter syndrome at bay. But yeah, certainly we need to, to keep a mindset that's, that's open to Receiving that feedback.
[00:33:09] Shelley: Yeah,
[00:33:10] Shelley: and that's it. And not, I think I did it just the other day, someone gave me a compliment and then I went, Oh no, but dah, dah, dah.
[00:33:16] Shelley: Yeah. I was like, and afterwards I was like, shall we do this? No, we need to accept it and put it in and start storing up those, you know, and actually taking them on board and saying, thank you so much for that. That's great. Great to hear your feedback.
[00:33:30] Shelley: Yes. And then
[00:33:31] Shelley: stop
[00:33:31] Shelley: talking .
[00:33:33] Leanne: And look, I, like I said, I don't think I'm a, a great person to give advice because I, I do that too, and I'm not one to, to sit back and celebrate the wins and to, to recognize the growth or to give myself any credit for,
[00:33:48] Shelley: but we should because that's,
[00:33:50] Shelley: that gives us that balance.
[00:33:52] Shelley: Well, absolutely. And I'm probably also looking for. other ways to improve, solutions, things that, where things are going wrong. So that's my [00:34:00] mindset kind of goes to problem solving.
[00:34:02] Shelley: But
[00:34:02] Shelley: sometimes it's just a little reminder, isn't it? To go, Hey, look at these things that we did
[00:34:07] Shelley: and be proud of
[00:34:08] Shelley: it.
[00:34:08] Leanne: Absolutely.
[00:34:10] Leanne: It's actually a question that we've added into our performance review process that we run with our clients. The last question is always something like, Tell us two things that you've achieved in the last 12 months or six months that you're really proud of that we might not know about. And I don't care what those things say.
[00:34:30] Leanne: What I care about is the reflection time that that gives that person to go back and, and really recognize those moments where they achieved something that may be really small. Yeah, that. And they've perhaps glossed over it at the time, but it gives us then a chance to say, actually, that's incredible.
[00:34:49] Leanne: Good on you. And we have that little celebration together. And I think particularly when you're on your own in business or You know, you might not have people around to share [00:35:00] those wings with. Finding somebody.
[00:35:02] Shelley: And your husband's like,
[00:35:03] Shelley: great, well done. I feel like I've finished my tax returns. And I'm like, woohoo!
[00:35:09] Shelley: And so I've messaged some businesses, and they're like, woohoo,
[00:35:12] Shelley: give
[00:35:12] Shelley: my taxes!
[00:35:13] Shelley: Yeah, exactly. Cause they're like,
[00:35:15] Shelley: high five, that's great.
[00:35:16] Leanne: Yeah, it is so important, right? And I think, you know, when we talk about collaboration, there's another element of that, around having those people on your side.
[00:35:26] Shelley: To celebrate.
[00:35:27] Shelley: And
[00:35:30] Shelley: that's it, they get it and it may just be, I think I've sent messages going, Hey, I'm out of my pyjamas today. Do you know what? That was a high five and that was worthy of a good message. So yeah, and it's celebrating as a balance of, you know, we're looking to always improve ourselves and work on you know, or get through to do this and things like that.
[00:35:51] Shelley: building in some time and some space to and a bit of a process yeah to recognize and acknowledge the good things
[00:35:57] Leanne: absolutely yeah i think other [00:36:00] people are a lot better at helping us to yeah to recognize and and to see the things that we have achieved whereas we're more focused in on what are the problems i need to fix next
[00:36:12] Shelley: excellent so thank you so much for your insights today and i guess is there one Final piece of advice for listeners to help improve their teamwork and collaboration and communication
[00:36:25] Shelley: with others more.
[00:36:26] Leanne: Yeah, look, I think it's just to trust the process and to realize that it's not all going to be smooth sailing. I think the people, if you ask the people that you can see in business who look to have it all together and that they've got a team that's ticking along really well, or they seem to be.
[00:36:45] Leanne: announcing these huge collaborations with other businesses, I think all of them will tell you that that part of their business is probably what takes them the most time is nurturing those relationships and, and putting the energy into those people.
[00:36:58] Shelley: Yeah.
[00:36:59] Shelley: It's [00:37:00] not always
[00:37:00] Shelley: culture.
[00:37:01] Shelley: Yeah. Around them.
[00:37:02] Leanne: And it's not always going to feel nice.
[00:37:04] Leanne: There's going to be times where you think, Oh, I'm just wasting my time or I'm banging my head against a brick wall here and yet yesterday this felt really good. But just trusting that the work that you're putting in is, is an investment. You're putting credits in the bank every day you show up and and it will pay dividends in the future.
[00:37:23] Shelley: Excellent. Well, thank you so much.
[00:37:26] Thanks for having me.Well, thanks for tuning in to the Regional Collective Podcast. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Don't forget to subscribe and follow us. And you can join our community each year to get exclusive resources, expert advice and connect with other regional business owners as a member of the Regional Collective.
[00:37:47] Check out our website to learn more. There you can also find free tools like Strategies to Grow Locally and the Ultimate Business Startup Checklist. Stay connected with us on social media for more tips and [00:38:00] updates. Let's thrive together and make your business shine. Keep pushing forward. You're not alone on this journey.
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