Delivering feedback

I’ve made my fair share of mistakes when passing on feedback to someone for something they’ve stuffed up in the workplace. Each one of the below steps is pretty much based on an epic fail of my own.

But in chatting with a new leader in our organization this past week about how she addresses feedback with her own team – I found that given all my failures it had actually mapped out a pretty nice roadmap that works for me on giving feedback.

1. Address things when they happen, don't stockpile them

2. Address things with the person in private as opposed to in front of others in the office

3. Bring up the issue and have the person you're addressing it with come up with the solution

4. Agree on the solution giving suggested revisions if needed and then confirm with them that they can do what they've said and that they think it's fair

5. Stress to them that everyone makes mistakes, but that you just don't want to see these mistakes repeated.

6. End with praise for something they are doing well at the moment and that you want them to continue or build upon

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Who are you cheating?

I was at the gym this morning and I watched a lass pumping iron. Only… there wasn’t much pumping going on. Her movements were only half completed, her weights weren’t challenging, she moved too quickly, her enthusiasm and focus clearly wasn’t there in the gym. She was cheating herself out of the workout she could have had.

It would have been harder for her to move more slowly, to fully extend, to pause in the right spots, to really feel the workout she was doing. Harder in the short term, but at what value long term?

With a couple of weeks of going that little bit harder in her workout her body would have found those same movements easier. They’d be capable of doing more, going harder, lasting longer.

When you’re physically training yourself, it’s not just about the number of repetitions you can do. It’s about the value of each repetition.

In your workplace, are you just going through the motions and completing each task or are you pushing yourself to do that little extra to really get value into each task you do?

In the same way that your bicep, or hamstring is capable of more within a few weeks if you push and stretch them, I really truly believe that your brain is too!

What are you capable of?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Does my butt look big in this?

A client’s wife recently told a customer in her retail store that an outfit she liked wasn’t the most flattering for her figure. Her husband’s face lit ups as he recounted the story proudly to me.

Apparently this customer in his wife’s store was all set to buy the outfit she was wearing, but his wife (a mature and lovely lady who I’ve known for years) pointedly let her know it wasn’t the best purchase for her.

I laughed when her husband told me the story – it’s exactly the sort of thing I would expect his wife to do. She was my travel agent for years and I vividly remember her telling me: “Kirsty, you’re not doing it that way” (usually for my own safety and always for the best in hindsight!)

The best salespeople in my opinion will always overlook the glory of a quick sale in favour of building a lasting relationship built on trust. It’s a lesson usually learned with years of experience.

“How amazing would it be if you could teach an 18 year old sales person that trick eh!” client said proudly of his wife’s actions.

How amazing indeed.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

Eye on the prize

As it rocked backward and forward rhythmically the kookaburra became even more fascinating to me. While the branch it perched upon swayed to and fro in the wind, the kookaburra’s head didn’t move.

As the branch moved backwards, the kookaburra’s body went with it, but it’s head and most importantly it’s eyes remained stationary, many small muscles compensating for each movement in the wind.

While watching for food, or predators the kookaburra always has an unblurred, undeterred view of its surroundings.

It’s a neat genetic ability and one which I’m sure helps many kookaburras survive and thrive (especially in my back yard!)

I’ve known a few kookaburras in my professional life too. Their eye is always on the prize. Regardless of whatever currents or wind or distractions are moving their branch, they remain laser focused.

How can you emulate a kookaburra? How can you block out distractions and keep your head steady when all around you is moving?

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments

This auspicious looking vehicle was, with love, relegated to the rubbish bin today. It’s sat proudly in my home office for the past 6 years serving as a gorgeous memory.

It was lovingly created for me by my husband. As you can see, it’s a cardboard box, with some fairly rudimentary drawn on wheels, personalized glamour license plate and a little name tag saying that it’s the Inconceivable Enterprises company car.

Every time I think about my company car I smile.

If I flash back to when my husband gave me this “box,” it was about 3 months after I sold my real estate agency. I was suffering terrible separation anxiety from this entity I’d created. I missed my team, I missed my workplace, I missed my desk and I was venturing out into the unknown in following new paths and adventures (under my company Inconceivable Enterprises).

I was working from home and feeling completely lost and utterly directionless. Every day for so long I had awoken with a purpose, a corporate home, goals to achieve and things to do. Now, I was waking up and walking down the hallway to my “office” and spending most of the day in my pajamas!

I was coping poorly with the transition and my husband, seeing this (and perhaps hoping to coax me out of my ugg boots), whipped up this gorgeous company car for me.

It had the desired affect. It put a smile on my face. It gave me a kick in the butt and it also left me with something joyous in my office to look up to and smile if I ever felt low or lonely.

Over the following months I ramped up my corporate speaking work, set up a passive online business (www.reallysold.com) and wrote my second book
(http://blog.kirstydunphey.com/p/retired-at-27-if-i-can-do-it-anyone-can.html) and hired my first staff member (making it that little bit more difficult to spend all day in bed-ware).
It was just a simple box that my husband knocked up in a few minutes, but there was love behind it. There was meaning behind it. It inspired me.

I’ll always have the memory of my box car and will always try to remember that little things can sometimes have a profound affect.

By Kirsty Dunphey with No comments