I need to sort myself out

Not sure if my business model is really sorted……

I was going to write something here to promote other ways I can help businesses by providing an experienced hand when things are very busy or for a specific project.

  • Administration
  • Systems
  • Writing
  • Number crunching
  • Databases
  • Budgets
  • Financial monitoring

As is often the way however, it got me thinking and my mind took a wee tangent.

The service I love to provide is being a sounding board – listening, throwing around ideas, finding solutions or just exploring alternative worlds. I like to think that the combination of logic and randomness provides a unique aspect to people’s endeavours. To date though, this little side gig hasn’t been a roaring financial success, mainly because I’ve never charged for it. I talk to people, quietly supporting them and this brings me great satisfaction – but no income.

Maybe it’s the imposter syndrome, being an introvert or just a dislike of sales that means I don’t push this as much as I should. On the other hand, it could be the fact that I simply love to help people and I want them to succeed. By supporting others, I’m feeding my soul and it just doesn’t seem right to charge for that.

Random ideas, strategy and writing are my happy places – but looking back, the type of work I’ve charged for is data analysis, creating models, database construction and human resources advice. This is the stuff I can do and do well – but it isn’t my passion. There’s a big difference between enjoying doing this type of work to help someone and doing it because it excites you.

So today I’ve realised that I’m happy to charge for the skills I can offer but I’m still struggling to even think about charging for my passion.

I think I need to sit down and talk to myself about how I can overcome this mindset.

Solutions being lost

Did you see this on Substack?

Last week I attended the graduation of the 2023 Co-creatives programme in Tokoroa run by Impact Hub Waikato. It was inspiring to see so many young people striving to develop their businesses, recognising that they need to know how to be in business as well as knowing their product/service.

One of the entrepreneurs discussed how the programme gave her the confidence to be her authentic self.

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I thought that was a great comment, but it did make me think a bit. We can be very good at teaching process but what about supporting internal resources such as self-confidence? We know that being in business involves putting yourself out there, selling yourself and having the confidence to trust what you’re doing.

This doesn’t come naturally to so many people and don’t be fooled into thinking extroverts automatically have self-confidence and introverts don’t. Volume, or lack of, can hide so much.

It may be that they simple hate the idea of sales and self-promotion; they may wonder who would be interested in their idea (low esteem); or they may not have the courage to follow their dream – eg because they are the sole income earner for a family of five.

How do we support people to be confident in what they do? Mentors and coaches are a great resource for this, and obviously the Impact Hub Waikato programmes also helps. Traditional business courses however don’t really address this so personally I think this is a real gap in our business ecosystem.

It’s easy to say that if you don’t have the confidence for business, you shouldn’t be in business. There is merit in this statement, not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur and run their own business.

The thing that really struck me last week however was the question I ended up asking myself. How many fabulous ideas have been lost to us through their creators not having the confidence to bring them to life?

And that concerns me.

We need peoples’ ideas to be tested and developed. We need to see their ‘aha moments’ come to life – remember that the best business ideas are the ones that solve a problem.

How do we ensure the best ideas get to market, irrespective of the confidence of their creators?

This seems to me to be a good question to devote a few brain waves to.

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Are you recruiting

as previously published on substack

Being “open to opportunities” means that I have been applying for various roles, and it’s already been interesting.

Some organisations are great at recruitment and a joy to work with, but many others just seem, well let’s call it for what it is, rude!

Having done a fair amount of recruiting over the years, I understand the joys and frustrations of the process. I know that there’s likely to be a lot of applicants and weeding through them isn’t fun. Many people will have applied who obviously don’t meet the criteria you’re looking for and that can be frustrating. I also completely understand that you will make the best decisions for the organisation about who to employ and if it isn’t me, I know it isn’t personal, there just happens to be one or more people who are better than me for this specific position.

What I really don’t understand is why so many people seem to treat applicants with such disdain – almost arrogance. This applies to those doing the recruitment themselves and to recruitment agencies. Remember, it’s not the organisation acting this way, it is the person.

We don’t submit applications to a black hole, we send them into people, so why do they just seem to disappear?

Prompt responses, politeness, and honesty – it’s not too much to ask for.

Acknowledge receipt of their application. They’ve spent time preparing their application – including working on their CV and cover letter, surely the least you can do is acknowledge that you’ve received it and thank them for their effort. By submitting the application, they’ve also said that they want to work with you, that must deserve some sort of response.

Let them know promptly if they haven’t made the short list. If they haven’t been short listed, you’re not interested in employing them – just let them know. So many organisations wait until someone is appointed before sending any ‘dear John’ letters out. Why make them hang on for what could be a month or more? Most will have guessed they aren’t going to be interviewed due to the time lapsed, but they may still be clinging on subconsciously hoping they’re wrong. Let them move on.

From a business perspective, they say to treat applicants warmly because while they may not be suited to this position, there may be other roles in future that they’re perfect for. I don’t buy into this approach at all. My view is that you should treat all applicants well for the simple reason – you’re human. Politeness isn’t a cost or a ‘task’, it should just be the norm!

Handsome young man feeling suspicious while isolated on white

They’re not the expert

Have you noticed that everyone is an expert?

Jump onto platforms like LinkedIn and it’s full of people giving you information or sharing their esteemed wisdom. Giving you advice, whether or not you need it.

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Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing these people, I can’t really as I post a lot of this stuff myself. The reality though, is that these people (myself included) aren’t experts in your business. They’ve learnt things in other businesses or through their life journey. Most of what they say isn’t new and it isn’t unique. Tried and tested or recycled depending on your point of view.

This may be a controversial saying if you have seen the news about a certain hunting competition, but there are more ways than one to skin a cat. Most of the advice you get from other people is valid, and they believe it will help you. Each and every one giving you that advice, no matter how many people you ask.

But they’re not the expert in your business.

They’re experts in what they know.

Someone might give you great advice about cashflow monitoring but chances are, their sales advice isn’t the best you can find – but it might be.

You know your business, if you need advice or support, you need to take responsibility for finding the right information for you and your business.

  • Don’t assume that the loudest expert is the best, sometimes the quiet achiever has seen and learnt more.
  • For some, there is comfort in having a great relationship with a single trusted advisor who is a generalist while others hunt for people who specialise in just one area.
  • Some people are happy to pay well for the right advice, while others seek support from friends and colleagues.
  • You can keep it simple and trust one source or you can hunt around and test their thinking

Find what works for you and take control.

You are the expert in your business.

Reconsidering scalability in the not-for-profit-sector

I wrote this over six years ago and it still rings true today. Growing the new wave

It was interesting to reconsider the point I made about scalability and infrastructure:

“There is a place for mergers and joint ventures. We need to look past our own brands and ‘local solutions’ if we wish to make significant differences beyond our own backyards.

Local service solutions are also a valid option, but we need to identify opportunities to share or leverage infrastructure. Duplicated infrastructure dilutes funding and diverts our focus from achieving our shared goals.”

We have seen more mergers and collaboration within the not-for-profit sector and that’s great. There will never be enough charity funding, so it simply makes sense – especially if we’re avoiding unnecessary duplication of infrastructure.

Having seen the power of locally led initiatives with the Census, I’m wearier than ever about large-scale mergers and centrally controlled operations. It makes sense from a financial perspective but at the cost of tailored support for our communities.

So how do we overcome this apparent conflict in my thinking?

Smaller organisations still need to find ways to make their infrastructure more efficient. This may mean contracting for the services, collaborating with similar organisations, or even setting up shared services. It can be done.  We need to remember that every dollar saved on infrastructure is another dollar we can spend on supporting our core purpose.

It’s surprisingly easy to do ‘locally led’ within a large organisation. It’s simply about giving up control and empowering your local leaders. Obviously there will be national guidelines and expectations but trust your people – let them do their mahi in a way that works for their communities. It’s also a case of trusting your communities to guide you and engage in a way that will be effective. They know what works for them.

Vulnerability is not limited by ethnicity

*** Trigger alert warning. If this post seems like I’m challenging you, rest assured that I am definitely doing that.

With all of the current ‘noise’ about prioritising Maori and Pacifika health interventions, I thought I’d add my two cents worth – and as usual, it’s slightly off the main thread.

Firstly let me just say, we absolutely need to improve the health outcomes for those groups. Despite throwing resource and desire at it for years, we’re still not making a real difference so something needs to change. Personally I would favour more work at the primary health level but that’s a topic for another day.

What really concerns me is that yet again we’re talking about poor health outcomes and seemingly only focused on ethnicity. There is a vulnerable group within our community that has a much shorter life expectancy and overall poorer health outcomes than Maori and Pacifika yet they never get talked about. No other group would incur this neglect without people raising a hue and cry, yet health professionals, politicians, advocates and the general population remain mute – almost as if they don’t care.

People on all sides of the current debate are sitting on their high horses, oblivious to who may be trampled beneath them.

If you know me, you’ll be aware that I’m talking about our intellectually disabled community. That small group that gets tagged onto the description of vulnerable communities and then forgotten about.

Just for the record, ask yourself what other groups in our community would you allow to receive such poor health outcomes before you spoke up?

and how much more likely are people with an intellectual disability to need care and treatment compared to people without?

ConditionPeople with an intellectual disability
Cancer1.5 times more likely
Heart disease2 times more likely
Diabetes2 times more likely
Mental health3 times more likely
Cervical screeningless than half as likely
Use emergency department2.5 times as likely
Dental15 times more likely

This isn’t a health or government issue, it’s our issue. The powers to be will only act if we we stop allowing them to ignore it.

Why do you want to be redundant?

Before leadership was such a buzz word, I attended a first level supervisory course that left a piece of advice forever embedded in my brain. Your key job as a manager is to make yourself redundant.

This pearl may date back to the ‘80s but it’s still a key fundamental for leadership. It’s about building systems, processes and more importantly your team so that your role simply isn’t needed anymore. The team, all capable leaders in their own right, basically take over.

I’ve used this thinking in many situations over the years and not just about being a leader of teams.

If you’re a business advisor, isn’t your goal to make your clients so knowledgeable, confident and networked that they don’t need you anymore? If not, do you really care about your clients or are they just a meal ticket?

I presented a paper at a conference of disability support organisations titled “my ambition is the demise of your organisation”. The argument I raised was that if these organisations really accomplished their goals, people with disability would flourish without needing ‘bought’ support. Sure, it may never happen but if the organisations has a strategy of making themselves redundant, then everything they do would be about fostering independence, empowerment and inclusion.

Seeing the discussions around AI made me think more about this. Is our move for AI:

  • Just the shiny new toy?
  • The ultimate attempt to make ourselves redundant?
  • or have we simply given up on our ability to empower others to have the skills to do so?

This is all hypothetical and in reality, it’s a mixture of all three points plus the lure of fame and fortune.

Thinking about this issue has made me realise that we really do need to explore our personal ‘why’ for making ourselves redundant. Simply replacing us with a machine will never empower our teams or the people we support without that intent being part of the machines DNA.

Those magic words

Having been head down for 12 months, I’ve missed networking (drinking coffee) with a range of people.

I’m slowly getting back into it and realise how much I’ve missed hearing people say “thanks, I’ve never thought about that” or “wow that’s a different way to look at it, thanks”.

I really do love sharing random thoughts to help people.