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Julianne Kuhlmann Articles
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From amateur to professional - Click To Read Article “What the world needs now is wise leadership.” These were the opening remarks of Peter Webb, Coach Psychologist Consultant, whose lecture I attended at a recent conference for leadership coaches. Move aside emotional intelligence! The next big thing to hit the work place is how to acquire wisdom. Peter’s comments were both provocative and insightful. I should like to share some of them with you. What lies beneath? - Click To Read Article Personal stereos, radios, television, mobile phones. In today’s high-tech world there are so many distractions. All compete for our attention. So what does it take to make you listen? To really understand the issues your child is having, or the problems your staff member is facing? You can learn to listen, not just with your ears, but with your eyes, and by using your intuition as well. Permission to Speak! - Click To Read Article There are many ways to communicate. Do you know how you communicate best? We express ourselves explicitly by speaking in a direct fashion. Yet many of us say one thing and mean another. We illustrate a lot of what we say by hand gestures, and other body language. This is implicit communication, and relies on us being able to observe the speaker at all times. No worries mate! - Click To Read Article Is this your attitude towards your staff? Are you so easy going you assume your team will bumble along rudderless, knowing instinctively which direction to take? Top heavy leadership can be counter-productive. But setting goals is essential. All employees need to feel they are consulted and involved. They must be given the opportunity to contribute their ideas to ensure a successful and cohesively run operation. So how do you do this? Addressing the gender in -balance in leadership - Click To Read Article Do you remember the saying, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”? We all know that men and women are different. While acknowledging that the early feminists made great strides to improve a woman’s lot it is now time to dispense with the rivalry. The focus needs to be on how men and women can work along side one another in the work place, and how they can embrace diversity. Green is the new black! - Click To Read Article Challenge yourself this year! Set yourself some new and exciting goals. Take off your blinkers, and look at what is happening in the wider world. Then see what you can do in your business to make a difference in 2008. Thinking “green”, being sustainable, and looking after the environment are the buzz issues at the moment in business. Some of my clients have already embraced these initiatives. One of them has set up “The Green Police” – a project whereby some staff members are responsible for overseeing all the green waste in the organisation. Another has just set his employees the goal of making the business more sustainable in 2008 by cutting their use of electricity and paper at work. Have you done your fine tuning? - Click To Read Article The digital clock on the wall flashes red. You look up, and realise that it’s seven o’ clock and another hour has gone by. And you are still at the office! Was that you yesterday? And the day before? When was the last time you took a good long look at your work practices? Are you getting the work-life balance right? You may be trying to steer your team through the rough waters of change, but working excessive hours is not the solution. The power of one – amongst all - Click To Read Article “Inclusivity is recognising that my life, my fate, my future is inextricably linked to yours.” Sharif Abdullah. I have just returned from the International Coach Federation Australasian Conference in Melbourne. The guest speaker was Sharif Abdullah who was truly inspirational. His philosophy mirrors a lot of what I do already, but I know I can do so much more. The theme of the conference was Creating the Future Today. We were urged to “think BIG and to use our skills to address BIG issues such as sustainable resources, social inequalities and global disharmony.” Are you ready for change? - Click To Read Article Change can pose a real threat. A lot of managers talk to me when their organizations are going through change, or when their teams are not performing at their best. “How do I get this member of staff to see things my way?” Connoisseur or lay person? - Click To Read Article What happens if you have a tooth ache? You go to a dentist. He fixes the problem, or perhaps sends you to a periodontist, or an orthodontist for further treatment. You go to a specialist in the field of dentistry. You don’t go to a plumber, or a solicitor. And you don’t spend weeks surfing the internet to see if you can find answers to cure the tooth ache yourself. “May the force be with you” – and stay with you! - Click To Read Article Are you an entrepreneur? Do you have huge energy resources? Are you full of stimulating, creative ideas? But does this leave you feeling stressed, and not able to focus? Is this creativity channeled effectively? No time like the present. - Click To Read Article Everywhere I turn I meet people who are tearing their hair out, complaining that they do not have enough time! Time to tie up the loose ends in business before the end of December; time to plan how to start the New Year; time to buy Christmas presents; time to enjoy all the Christmas festivities. If you plan strategically throughout the year, you will create more time for your business and yourself. You will be in control, so that, when the unexpected deadline does arise, you will deal with it without stress and panic. How “Outback” became “Upfront”! - Click To Read Article Australia is unique because of its remoteness from the rest of the world. Our nation is unique because of its remoteness within the continent. We are unique because we make inroads in business relationships by the appearance of being casual, of being friendly. But we are very serious about being professional. United, we stand. Divided, we fall. - Click To Read Article Most of us need other people. Whether it is a good friend, a lover, or an astute business colleague, most of us need to maintain relationships with others. The Secret to Staying Young - Click To Read Article None of us likes change. We become comfortable in our little bubble. But we have to change in order to survive. Three steps to creating a successful team - Click To Read Article How well do you know your staff? Are they happy? Are they heading in the right direction, or is each one following his/her own agenda with no reference point? Listening between the lines. - Click To Read Article Have you seen the tee-shirt with the slogan, “Talk to the hand ‘cos the face ain’t listening?” Do you feel it’s like this sometimes when you are trying to get through to people? But just how good a listener are you? Do you actually “listen between the lines?” Are you employing “Happy Campers” or “Grumpy Grouchs”? - Click To Read Article We hear a lot about diversity in the Press. What a great country Australia is for embracing all our different cultures and promoting “a fair go”! But diversity at work means a different thing. How good are you at recognising diversity amongst your staff? Do you know what their strengths and abilities are? Can you get the best out of them, thus enabling the business to grow and prosper? Want to be a millionaire? - Click To Read Article I would be a millionaire if I had a dollar for every time a client told me this was their aim. When I ask my clients what they want to achieve in life it is often to have more money, or to have more time in their day. Admirable goals, but not as easy as they look. They’re hard to achieve first off. I can do it…….I can do it! - Click To Read Article I should find a way to stamp these words on all my clients’ hands. I strongly believe that the mind is a very powerful tool. Our thoughts send out messages which make us behave in certain ways. Our approach to new situations is often governed by what is going on inside our head, and not by external factors. Getting those processes in place! - Click To Read Article “I meant to do that, but I didn’t have the time. I didn’t get round to it”. I coach a lot of people in business who raise this cry. They then complain to me that their team is not performing productively, or cohesively. It is my job to introduce performance management into the organization, and to get it up and running. Take the plunge! - Click To Read Article Spring is here! It’s time to take a broom, and sweep away all the clutter and detritus of winter! Make a fresh start! Focus on what you really want to do. Don’t use any more excuses! Often, a lack of confidence in your own abilities holds you back. It stops you reaching for what you really want, and encourages you to settle for second best. You decide to test the water first, and get used to the temperature gradually. You paddle, but you do not take that plunge. Chill out – without the snow! - Click To Read Article We need to cancel Christmas! Stop the world going round - I want to get off! Is this what you are thinking at the moment? Are you running just to stand still? At this time of year we are all in danger of becoming over-loaded. More than ever, it is important to take extreme care over your health and welfare. By taking time out to look after yourself you are investing in a strategy to take you through this busy period. Horses for courses - Click To Read Article We hear a lot about diversity in the Press. What a great country Australia is for embracing all our different cultures and promoting “a fair go”! But diversity at work means a different thing. How good are you at recognising diversity amongst your staff? Do you know what their strengths and abilities are? Can you get the best out of them, thus enabling the business to grow and prosper? A lot of the work I do for businesses is to provide clarity when their management team has become dysfunctional. Each team player is at odds with the next, the team leader has no idea how to progress, and the business is stagnant. Is there a secret to “The Secret?” - Click To Read Article You love it, or you hate it! You are either totally convinced by the propositions in Rhonda Byrne’s book, The Secret, or you are a cynic who sees it as the next celebrity hype! But it raises some interesting issues. Do you go around saying that your cup is half full, or half empty? Do you have the power within you to make your dreams come true? Marking time or making time? - Click To Read Article Do you want to have 25 hours in the day? Could you use an extra day in the week? Today we are all time poor. We are so busy that we could not contemplate taking an hour “off” to organise our thoughts. But creating head space is an essential tool to a more productive day or week. The Right Words at the Right Time - Click To Read Article How often do we hear, “But it is not my fault. I told you what time it was on/where to go/how to do it”? One of the biggest problems we face today is a lack of effective communication. This applies both in the work place and at home. Are you losing your focus? - Click To Read Article I can ask the right questions, but it is up to you to provide the answers! I am coaching two clients who are both in the process of establishing new businesses. The first was keen to develop her marketing strategy by seeking out new clients and exploring new markets. Flying high, flying far. - Click To Read Article “What me? Sell myself? You have to be joking!” This was the response I received from one of my clients when I suggested that she needed to get out there and promote herself. She had to “network”. Poisoned Ivy? - Click To Read Article “It’s not fair! I hate my job. Why should I do that?” All too often there is a member of staff in your organisation who is uttering this. He may not say it to your face. Worse, he may be complaining behind your back. Are you a good match maker? - Click To Read Article I’m not referring to your love life, but your recruitment process! Do you get it right every time? Why is it necessary to invest time and money in the recruitment process? You know the situation. You’ve just spent six months training your new recruit. Your number two has invested a lot of her time in this training, and then the employee leaves. You have to go through the entire advertising and interview process again, and you have lost money, not only on the new recruit, but also in the time spent by your experienced member of staff. So how do you get it right? The most important point is to have a firm idea of the job role: the technical competencies required, and the personality fit. “A Perfect 10”? - Click To Read Article As women, we expect to be perfect. We want to be the best at work. We strive to be perfect parents. Our homes and gardens aspire to be in “Vogue Interiors”. We try to present an immaculately groomed persona to the world. The Perfect Fit - Click To Read Article Have you looked at your selection processes recently? What is your staff turnover like? “Let's assume the average salary of employees in a given company is $50,000 per year. Taking the cost of turnover at 150% of salary, the cost of turnover is then $75,000 per employee who leaves the company. For the mid-sized company of 1,000 employees who has a 10% annual rate of turnover, the annual cost of turnover is $7.5 million!” * So how do you go about ensuring you select the right staff, who will fit well with your organisation, and who will stay with you? Do you have the Midas touch? - Click To Read Article How can your mind-set affect the way you are perceived at work? By reflecting on your self-worth can you change the attitude of others? I am called into work places on a frequent basis to help manage members of staff who do not respond well to feedback. Sharynn consistently grew defensive when her boss delivered negative feedback about her performance or attitude. She spent most of the day following a performance appraisal crying in the ladies’ loo. How can Sharynn develop strategies to overcome this, and to create positive comments about her attitude at work? Tipping the scales. - Click To Read Article How do we maintain a good balance at home and at work? Managing a household is not dissimilar to the way we manage our business. In both situations we need to be recognized as a leader, setting a good example, and providing lots of opportunities for our staff – and our children – to develop and grow. For instance, we have family meetings where we can resolve any conflicts that may arise. In the same way, staff meetings are a chance to air any differences and agree on a way forward. It’s OK not to be involved every step of the way. Let your staff - and your children - have their own space. Like this article? Share it with your friends
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