Kenny Research Institute
This is Kenzo (but his friends called him Kenny) our faithful, humorous and highly intelligent Akita. He came to us as an 8 week old pup and settled in as though he was always meant to be part of the family.
Last month and with heavy hearts we had to let him go after spending 10 years and 8 months with us. It was devastating to say the least.
My previous career path required long hours, dedication and focus that meant spending less time with Kenny than I liked. It was not possible to have him at work with me as doggie crèches are not known to exist within my employer’s workplace.
It pretty well sucked as this was not an ideal arrangement if an organization wants the best out of their people.
I then thought about so many of my female colleagues, married with young children who are also pursuing a career in science. So many women in the workforce especially in science are faced with the stark choices of having to return to work soon after having their children in order to salvage their careers in what is a highly competitive industry.
Not withstanding the fact that in science the term “job security” is an oxymoron, there are still many women who are passionate about what they do and are willing to stick their necks out.
The predicament I faced has led me to my vision of building the Kenny Research Institute aimed specifically at supporting women in science. In doing so, Australia will not lose a highly educated and talented workforce that is vital to staying prosperous and relevant as a nation. (Take that onboard, politicians of ALL persuasions when you are considering cutting the budget to science and education).
In any endeavor there are good reasons and then there are the real (“selfish”) reasons. Do not for a moment think I am driven only by lofty, altruistic and philanthropic ambitions; in part I am also doing for my personal satisfaction.
The 7 foundation pillars of the Kenny Research Institute
- Bright and talented postdoctoral fellows will have a guaranteed 5 year salary (virtually unheard of) and a research assistant to pursue their particular specialized research niche. It allows them time to develop their area of expertise instead of chasing short term grants. That is counter productive as it takes their time and energy away from the main game
- Each postdoc will be matched with a mentor. The mentor is there to help them navigate through the politics that exist within any industry and temper any naivety about how the real world works
- Participation in personal development courses is compulsory; this includes being taught emotional intelligence enhancement skills. Gee, I wish I was taught that at school, how about you?
- Attendance in financial literacy courses is mandatory. Financial literacy equals financial freedom
- The Kenny Research Institute will be equipped with a human crèche, infirmary and a pet crèche. Happy mothers who can have regular contact with their human or fur kids are more likely to be focused and productive
- A 24 hour gym on site to cater to the irregular hours worked Notice the emphasis on health and wellness?
- A 24 hour cafeteria onsite that serves healthy meals. Junk food and soft drinks will not be available from the vending machines. If they want to eat crap they have to go elsewhere to forage for it. Good luck!
This is my promise to you Kenzo; RIP 25 June 2003- 24 February 2014
Richard Branson’s Enlightened Corporate Management Style
I attended a Q&A session with Richard Branson as the main attraction at the National Achievers Congress 8-9 May 2013 in Adelaide.
I came away with the conviction that I am on the right track because he confirmed my beliefs about how people tick and therefore how to get the best of people in organizations of any size.
The notes below are a summary of his personal and professional work ethos that I furiously scribbled down; get ready to pump your fist into the air and go Yes! as you read the points that you too agree with.
- Don’t go into business solely with the aim of making money-it probably will not survive the process.
- Go into business because you want to serve people or make a difference in peoples’ lives eg, you have identified a large gap in the market that’s crying out to be filled.
- Think British Airway’s monopoly and cheeky upstart Virgin Atlantic offering prisoners er I mean passengers a choice.
- Have fun creating the product or business. He figured that since most people spend from 8-10 hours at work, it should be a fun place. I was literally jumping for joy when he listed the following initiatives:
- Allow staff to work from home
- Encourage them to take time off
- Be flexible in working arrangements
- Job share
- Create a product or service that your people can believe in and by inference they put their heart and soul into too. Build a brand that is respected, provides great value and quality. It is your job as the MD/leader/CEO to instill that 100% belief of the product/service in your staff.
- Dream big because you never know where this may lead
- In the case of Virgin Galactic it will be commercial space travel; now that’s a first in anyone’s book
- As a bonus it has opened up the potential of this business to launch satellites for other telecommunications companies (can you already hear the cash registers ringing?)
- Listen to your people; they probably have great ideas
- This makes a lot of sense as your staff members are at the coalface, factory floor, frontline service desk…you know what I mean.
- Be big enough to take criticism from them. Acknowledge that you have heard them and then take the appropriate action.
- Keep your word. If you say you’ll get back to them DO so within a reasonable time frame
- Carry a notebook (which he does). Speaking with his many staff in different businesses and locations can cause things to blur. He writes them down rather than depending on his memory recall.
- An interesting aside was his comment that he did not think much of Managing Directors (he called them “weak”) who just flapped their gums. In his own words he wondered about the benefit of attending meetings where nobody took notes. The implication was that these people were not serious about the outcome of said business meeting (and the unsaid is why bother doing business with them).
- Treat people well; praise lavishly (I loved this one!)
- Learn the art of delegation; because he has surrounded himself with good people it has allowed him to spend time on Necker Island connecting with his wife and kids as his trusted people have his back
- Find time to be fit; prior to coming on the Q&A session he had had an hours bike ride around the city of Adelaide. Later it emerged that he received a caution from the local constabulary for riding without a bike helmet but that’s a story for another day.
- Do not be embarrassed by failure, but learn from them. Give it a go, if it floats other people will get on board with your business idea and maybe even become a source of finance
- Do not hide your talents under a “bushel” but share them. He recounted that he was shy as a child and his mother’s words were something to the effect that shyness was a form of selfishness. Go out and contribute to the world was her advice.
- Make friends with people you have fallen out with; in his case it was inviting the Chairman of British Airways to lunch after their protracted and acrimonious court battle.
- And finally, screw it just do it.
Beverly Flaxington: Seven Steps to Hiring and Retaining the Right Person
An organization will only function like a well oiled machine when we have the right people for the right jobs. Sounds logical but the stats don’t lie. According to the Dept of Labor, 50 percent of all employees leave their job within the first six months of being hired. 
And in a recent survey by Right Management 86 percent of employees polled said they plan to actively look for a new position in 2013 (http://www.right.com/news-and-events/press-releases/2012-press-releases/item24318.aspx).
To say that the correct candidate selection process for a specific role is crucial is an understatement. So why does the recruitment process go so wrong sometimes.
Beverly Flaxington a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA), hypnotherapist, and career and business adviser explains in her latest best seller Make Your SHIFT: The Five Most Powerful Moves You Can Make to Get Where YOU Want to Go how to get it right so that it doesn’t end in tears but instead increases the bottom line.
Beverly Flaxington Interview Part1 5Feb2013
Beverly Flaxington Interview Part2 5Feb2013
In this short excerpt Beverly shares a tip on how to deal with a difficult boss!
Find Beverly at http://www.
Dina Proctor: Madly Chasing Peace: How I Went From Hell to Happy in Nine Minutes a Day
It is when we make time to be still will we meet the best version of ourselves; this version we long for is calm, happy, generous, compassionate, highly productive, wealthy and healthy.
Question: How do we then get to and stay in this state (of grace) when in the busy lives we lead we are continually bombarded with external stimuli, demands and deadlines coming at us from every angle leaving us no time to just be.
Answer: By meditating.
This is not a trite answer to some of your most pressing concerns; if you think I am suggesting you go sit under a tree and contemplate your navel or the meaning of life.
For Dina Proctor finding that inner core of peace that turned her life around isn’t hard work as she explains in her best-selling book “Madly Chasing Peace: How I Went From Hell to Happy in Nine Minutes a Day”. She went from hitting an emotional rock bottom through struggling with addictions, food issues and depression, to finding a consistent happiness by (get this) meditating for 3 minutes 3 times a day.
Surely, if you value your health, sanity and well being, adopting this practice is an investment in time that will be repaid a thousand fold.
Just do it!
Find Dina at www.dinaproctor.com
Dorinda Hafner Interview: Honey, I Shrunk The Chef
Dorinda Hafner is a remarkable human being whose career evolution can be summed up as “diverse” which as you read and listen to this interview is an understatement. Leaving Ghana at 18 and bound for the United Kingdom as a trainee nurse, she made stops along the way as a model, dispensing optician, actor, and is best known in Australia as a celebrity chef, civil celebrant and author of her latest book Honey, I Shrunk The Chef. 
At 65 and still going like the clappers, she is testament to the fact that you change careers not just once but many times and at this rate I would not be surprised to see her doing something else in the coming years.
As Dorinda so succinctly puts it, “We are all multi talented beings, and it is only when we nurture and grow these talents that our magnificence shines”. I got a sense of fun and enthusiasm and most importantly passion and authenticity. To me that is a sign of someone honoring her talents.
The original intent of this interview was to discuss her newly published book, but as we talked what unfolded was a chronicle of one woman’s rich and varied life as told through her book. Yep, it included all the triumphs and setbacks and what led to overeating as a means of compensating for perceived shortcomings.
I don’t know about you, but I like happy endings; Dorinda shares how she shed 80 kg (over 160 pounds!) by firstly being internally motivated to continue living a vibrant healthy life. The subsequent external actions she took included getting a (good looking) personal trainer, reassessing her eating habits, understanding and modifying the internal dialogue which lead to overeating.
I am not in the habit of endorsing cookbooks but Honey, I Shrunk The Chef is about self respect and shoring up self esteem by literally nurturing our bodies with good food simply because we have discovered we are lovable as we are.
Some of the topics covered:
Fending for myself-The emotional and psychological management of a food addict; Public image-Dorinda talks about how weight loss changed her relationships with friends, family and others; Exercise Issues-Dorinda’s road to making friends with regular exercise and how it affected her progress; Portion Adjustments-Fun ways to permanent portion control.
Get the book at http://www.honeyishrunkthechef.com
Benjamin Harvey: Living Your Love (And Making More Money)
Have you ever wondered how you can share your passion, make a difference to the world and as a bonus make a bucket load of money doing what you love?
Through no fault of our own, we are told to lower our sights when we dare to entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe we can do what really inspires us rather than settle for a life of compromise. 
We settle for less than what we are put on this earth to do which by the way is to be the best version of ourselves.
We rob ourselves (and the people around us who could benefit from our unique gifts and skills) of a life of magnificence, wealth, health and happiness.
But the good news is that you don’t have to resign yourself to living an average life, with an average wage and average expectations.
So if you want to know how you can make your passion an integral part of your life purpose and earn a truckload of cash doing just that, allow Benjamin Harvey founder of Authentic Education-Live Your Love to share his know how in this interview.
And believe it or not it is as simple as making a list! Get the lowdown from Ben the man himself in this excerpt.
Full interview below:
Find Ben at:
http://www.authenticeducation.com.au
Mike Handcock Interview: Rock Your Life
Mike Handcock walks his talk as an entrepreneur, speaker, rock and roll musician and author whose business is his passion. In that sense, he doesn’t have to work to make a living as he sees his work as play.
STOP PRESS STOP PRESS STOP PRESS!!!!!
Become the ROCKSTAR of your industry in 2013
Use the promotional code XFACTOR009 when booking.
You will save 25% on the standard ticket price.http://www.rockyourlifeevents.com/x-factor
The top people in any industry are the Rockstars. They make all the money, get all the offers, have all the luck and have brilliant careers and businesses. But is there a formula to being a Rockstar?
Yes there is. In fact it’s all about having and creating ‘X’ Factor. It’s like the talent shows. You can have all the talent, do all the hard work, but you need something else and that is MAGIC when it counts. What is MAGIC?
M is for Mindset. Most people have too much negative self talk, limiting beliefs and values that don’t serve them
A is for Alchemy. It’s creating something from nothing and all the best people can do it. There is a formula to alchemy as well. It’s when all is lost to then create an amazing win-win environment.
G is for Game. You have to be Game. Step outside the boundaries. Shift your comfort zone. No one who did anything amazing was in their comfort zone, but the key is to treat life as a game. Make it fun.
I is for Intuition. Billionaires use Intuition more than anyone else. You don’t learn this at school. It has to be crafted. It’s an art that has to be practised and rehearsed.
C is for Connections. Most of us never learned it at school, but connection is where it is at. It’s not about having 5,000 friends on Facebook, it’s about how you connect with those people, from your heart to theirs.
Want to know more
Don’t miss out then on Entrepreneur ‘X’ Factor coming to you soon. One day – two profound hosts – multi millionaire guests – a formula to create ROCKSTARs in any industry – profound new technology not taught by mediocre entities. This is the pinnacle of learning. High results and high vibration learning in one day.
To make it a no brainer for you the tickets are cost effective and if you use the promotional code XFACTOR009 when booking then you will save even 25% on the standard ticket price.
http://www.rockyourlifeevents.com/x-factor
Mike Handcock Interview Part 1
Now wouldn’t some of you good people reading this article like to be in a similar position? However, there’s the all too familiar voice that screams “Caution-do not get out of your comfort zone”. Be honest-there is a pervasive underlying current of unease or even fear we rationalize as being conservative.
Lets’ get you our of your comfort zone because in this interview, Mike and I talked about having the courage to walk away from a highly lucrative job in the finance industry and taking his leap of faith into a business called Rock Your Life; with a tagline “”Entrepreneur – Change your life, improve your health, wealth, soul and business – with purpose” you kind of get the idea what Mike is all about.
He shares how a person can find out what really floats their business boat and have fun whilst being in their favourite business.
What I really love is the fact that I am meeting more heart centered entrepreneurs who find a spiritual practice in their business. I think we are at the pointy end of our current civilization (as we know it) and for us to evolve as a species, we need a new breed of business men and women who have a passion and wholistic approach to entrepreneurship.
If you are reading this, you may well be one of them.
Find Mike at
Preparing for a Brilliant Career in 2012
Even if you are hanging out for your Christmas holiday break and a chance to relax, as your coach I urge you to continue forward planning your career and future NOW.
I use the analogy of a tomato seed that is not much to look at but when is in fertile soil and with the requisite water, warmth, right amounts of sun and shade will emerge from the soil firstly as a tiny seedling but eventually bear lots of summer fruit. Pay day!
Consider yourself the tomato seed and the coming holidays the equivalent of the fertile soil, water, sun and shade where you plan and sketch your career path for 2012.
If you have been toying with the idea of changing careers or becoming an entrepreneur and have procrastinated, NOW is the time gather intelligence about your new venture and also do the inner work (on yourself) to prepare for the big leap.
Firstly the inner work
Below are a number of ways to get clear on the whys and then why not and how to’s; the list is by no means exhaustive but it will give you a starting point.
Top 5 Reasons for Changing Careers:
- Job dissatisfaction- Is this all there is?
- Burn out- Tired all the time
- Mind your head on the Glass Ceiling- You want a promotion?
- Not challenging anymore- It’s the same old song
- Better pay- Is the grass greener yonder?
Top 3 Tips for a Smooth Career Change
- Know why you want a change-See above
- Know where you want to go-Stock take your current skills
- Plan how to get there- You have the keys to unlocking the golden handcuffs
Top 5 Reasons for Not Changing Jobs:
- Fear of the unknown-I’m crap at managing my money
- Fear of the unknown- Do I know enough?
- Fear of the unknown- Can I make it on my own?
- Fear of the unknown- What if I fail?
- Fear of the unknown- I don’t have a Plan B
I suggest journaling what comes to mind based on the follow on phrases I have included after each point.
You will be very surprised at what pops out of your head. You will have before you the internal dialogue that has kept you from moving towards your goals. If you feel stuck and afraid, there is only one remedy-TAKE ACTION
As a gentle reminder, I’d like to leave you with the Law of Action summed up in one sentence;
The only time you have the chance to show courage is when you are afraid–Dan Millman Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Making Decisions: Seize the Day
I was again struck by how our internal dialogue can keep us stuck in what it perceives to be certainty and security.
What has given me so much personal satisfaction in coaching my clients as they transition from their old job to a new career is watching their true selves re emerge after being suppressed for so long.
I see the light in their eyes,
I notice the change in their general demeanor.
Yes, they stand taller and prouder and walk with their heads held higher.
Were they apprehensive when they made that first decision to get out of the “holding pattern”? Yes, they were but they made a commitment and promise to themselves and did not accept second best.
They just knew there was much more for themselves and chased down their dreams.
Just in case you are procrastinating, vacillating and thinking of all those “cons” instead of focusing on the “pros”, I’d like to share with you the late Steve Job’s thoughts.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.
Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Steve Jobs
1955-2011, Co-Founder of Apple Computer
Expert Advice From Female Entrepreneurs Part 2
Following on from Part 1 where I posted excerpts from a webinar hosted by Amanda Gome, founder and publisher of the business E-newsletter Smart Company (www.smartcompany.com.au) called “Women on Top-How to Get There”.
In this installment, we examine how your skills can make or break the deal
Here are the 3 tips on the subject of Skills:
TIP 4:
USE YOUR SKILLS TO CLOSE THE DEAL
I think you have to have that bit of ruthless streak in you. You have to train yourself to do that ‘take someone by the throat’ kind of move in a nice way. But I think women are quite good at it. I think women are often seen as having these great powers of empathy and introspection and I think that they can use those in dealing with people.
If you’re in a meeting where you want someone to do something or you want to close the deal, you use those tools to close the deal, to read body language and understand where that person is coming from and use it. Diana Gribble
TIP 5:
DEVELOP YOUR OWN SKILLS
Treat yourself as if you’re a product of a business. If you are responsible for a brand in a business, you would sit down and say what’s my business plan for the brand?
So it’s doing the same thing with yourself. I want to achieve this position, so I need to have financial skills, I need line management, I need strategic thinking. Then you ask how am I going to collect those along the way? What are the different types of roles?
And actually talking about it and planning it with your respective family and with your respective employees.
If you want to be promoted and want to have a long-term view, really think about yourself and how you’re going to develop yourself and then go out and negotiate and get people to share that vision with you and agree to take you on that journey. Gillian Franklin
TIP 6:
IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE SKILLS, DON’T PRETEND
People shouldn’t try and pretend that they have skills that they haven’t because you will be caught out. I think what you should do is say this is what I love doing, this is what I think I’m good at. If I’m not good at it, I would like to be. I’ll go out and figure out how to get those skills.
This brings in the whole role of mentors that I think women do particularly badly. So you need to go and talk to people who have been there, done that and say give me advice. Ask them how they did it. Gillian Franklin
My 2 cents worth:
Regarding Tip 5 where Gillian Franklin poses the question of branding with respect to you the person, I am with her 100% of the way.
As a female executive, do you actively and consciously project your brand.
So my question to you is, What do you stand for?
Do you make yourself known as the person who wants the job every other person is vying for, and what have you done to distinguish yourself from the rest of the herd?
The reality is that even if you have done a terrific job to date, you still need some shameless self promotion to get your message heard and your brand noticed by the powers that be.
Ask yourself if you are up for it.
If not, email me and I can suggest some techniques that will get you over your self -consciousness.
Until next time, keep your eye on the prize.