Читать книгу The Net Result - Book 2 - Lucille Jr. Orr - Страница 9

Lynn Champion won the NSW branch award, thus qualifying for the final judging in Adelaide, emerging as the first NATIONAL winner. Lynn is the managing director of Image Communications and the author of “One Minute Markers” and “Messages from the Fridge”. As a warm, caring person, she presents a story reflecting the attributes and achievements which make her worthy of the National Award.

I remember saying to the audience when I was presented with the Telecom Australian Executive Woman of the Year Award in Sydney in November 1992, “if my former husband could see me now!”

That awareness had slipped into my consciousness just as I was finishing my acceptance speech. There it was, one of those memorable and electrically-charged thoughts that stay forever. I immediately tracked back in time to the end of my marriage ten years before, when I said to him, “what will I do for a job?” “Go back to teaching, it’s the job you’re trained for,” he replied.

•I really began my working career at 12. My mother had decided that I could be a photographic model and so together we went to June Dally Watkins in Sydney. She put me on her books and before I knew it, I as making good pocket money advertising school uniforms and other clothes. Looking over people’s shoulders in the bus going home from school I had so much pleasure seeing myself in a full-page spread in the evening newspaper. When my mother told me I had to make the phone calls to the agency, to see if there was any work, my introduction to selling had begun. Mum told me that they were far more likely to give me work and remember me if I made the call myself. I‘m sure that was good advice. How many 12-year-olds do you get phoning you for work?

That career was a reasonably successful one until I was 14 when it became clear that I was not going to be a 5 feet 7 inch teenager.

My next training for life was a series of holiday jobs until I went to university to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree and obtain a diploma in education: I worked in a department store, selling gloves and lace collars; a potato chip factory feeding potatoes through a slicing machine and being saturated with wet potato starch; and moving to a cleaner, drier job, a clerk in a large office.

In hindsight the main benefit of these holiday jobs was discovering what I didn’t want to do in life.

High school teaching was interesting, challenging and frustrating. I knew I was good at it, but didn’t enjoy the disciplinary role forced upon me. At the same time, married, I had a baby and supported my husband financially and emotionally for years while he was at University. Those days were full. We had very little spare money yet they were probably some of the best years of our marriage. When he finished his degree, I achieved my next goal: having another child and giving up work.

For a few years I was the mum I’d dreamed about: I had time to spend with friends enjoy tennis afternoons, and had lots of social involvement with the families living in our small community. However, by the time my youngest was ready for school, I was restless.

I was able to rope in some of this restlessness by being part of my husband’s business. I learnt a lot about running a small business and dealing with customers in a very hands-on way. It was probably this face-to-face exposure to the public that taught me most. It was so different from teaching.

My husband was always supportive of my abilities. He never suggested that I wouldn’t be able to achieve whatever I wanted. Looking back, I was the person who limited my development in those 20 years of marriage.

In 1982 I became a single woman once again.

In the following year, while on a trip to USA, I discovered my new direction. I understood now, and didn’t fully appreciate then, that if I feel lost or faced with a dilemma all I have to do is say to the Universe, “Lead me to where I need to be. Show me the way.” Then I release the problem, stand back and watch the doors open.

Although I didn’t understand those simple rules in 1983, what I did understand was the powerful instinct that made me literally sit up and listen when I found myself on a San Francisco ferry next to the woman who was about to change my life. “Have you heard about colour analysis?” Ellen Hecht asked. By the time I stepped off the ferry I knew what I had to do. Here was a business opportunity that would satisfy my need for creativity and provide an income.

I don’t know about you, but I can make up my mind quickly. There are times, just like that moment on the ferry when the great surges of knowingness, rightness and simple gut feeling are so powerful that I must act on them. I don’t tell anyone else, for that would diminish the power. I do something about them.

At times like this I’m moved by my heart not my head. Almost invariably, everything fell into place just like magic. And so it was in San Francisco.

I had the time and more surprisingly the money, to take part in a colour and image training, before flying back to Sydney scared about my future yet determined to be successful. It wasn’t long before I set up business as a colour and image consultant in my lounge room.

Not having any packets of colour fabrics to give away to customers, I decided to make my own. I learnt that buying 100 colours to make up 4 different swatch packets, having them cut by machine, ordering plastic wallets to contain them, writing useful information to be put on cards in the wallets and then stuffing 25 colours into a packet before I could sell one with a consultation was inordinately time-consuming and left me with 22,000 small squares of fabric taking up most of the cupboard space under the stairs.

I longed for the day when the colour company I’d trained with in the USA, Beauty for all Seasons, would come to Australia. In the meantime I was busy practising: practising my skills as a colour consultant, practising my skills to learn to enable me to sell extra products.

Those were anxious days.

In February 1984, Beauty for all Seasons set up in Australia and I was their first consultant. The company was involved in multi-level-marketing and so began a new phase of my business and social life.

It was about this time that I heard the phrase passive income and fell in love with the concept. What a joy! To think someone else would be working for me while I was cleaning the house or at a party. Wow! I began recruiting, eventually having 125 in my consultant down-line, and organising monthly meetings and newsletters. I’d also set my sights on progressing within the company ad very soon became one of three national trainers to reach the status of executive director in terms of my selling. By 1987 I was running my own image consultant business, working with companies on the image of their staff and also accepting the position of Business Development Manager for the colour company.

Isn’t it interesting how life leads you from one path to the next; the professional image part of my work had slowly evolved. I remember so clearly being on a plane travelling from United States back home after a conference in 1984 and reading from cover to cover John Molloy’s book Dress for Success, heavily underlining sentence after sentence. The concept that there was a psychology behind the message we give others at conscious and subconscious levels, fascinated me.

That book began my quest for the meaning of image.

Looking back it’s easy to see now that what I was doing was allowing my interest in anthropology to surface. At university I’d majored in that subject, as well as history, but had never thought that it would be useful in my career. Now in hindsight I can see that this was exactly my fascination. Body language, communication skills, personal presentation even self-esteem all reflect our social upbringing and cultural expectations. I was involved in my own anthropological discovery of our 20^th century western society!

By establishing my own company, Image Communications, I was able to follow that fascination. I read voraciously. I attended seminars and workshops, searching for my own personal path and honing my speaking skills along the way. Now when others ask me how I market myself, I tell them about my public exposure. You see, I decided at the very beginning of my image career that the way for me to sell my services, is to be seen to be out there. By speaking at SWAP, Rotary, Apex and women’s clubs, I practised my presentation skills and became known. I never turned down an opportunity to present before the public.

It was after one very successful SWAP club speaking presentation that a member said, “you should join National speakers” and so began the next and very significant chapter of my speaking and communication career. Nine months before this I’d resigned from Beauty for All Seasons as Business Manager and had been spending 6 days a week and often 12 hours a day working my own image and colour business.

Joining the National Speakers Association of Australia and almost immediately becoming a committee member was instrumental in placing me where I am today. Every meeting resulted in an almost sleepless night afterwards. Ideas, strategies and new points of focus would swim in my mind. There was one particularly memorable meeting in 1989, when Alan Pease discussed the value and importance of speakers writing books. Even though my mother had written several text books, I’d never thought about being an author myself.

After listening to Allan, I knew that everything would change.

What to write about? It took some time and some false starts but I worked it out three years later. The most obvious and significant things in life often sit in front of your nose.

What you write a book about is the topic that you live, breathe and think about every day. It usually is something you are learning about in your own life. “You teach best what you need to learn yourself” is a favourite thought of mine. So eventually my first book consisted of the inspirational messages that sit in my mind and on my refrigerator and which guide my life. They centre on self-esteem and confidence as well as daring to be different.

What will potential speakers choose as their topic of expertise? It is only when we’re prepared to share the lessons tossed up to us that we really have something worthwhile saying and sharing.

Find your own path as a specialist on life. You certainly don’t have to be a professional speaker to do that. Search out your truths. Tell others what you have learnt along the way. And never stop learning.

In February 1993, at a dinner meeting in Sydney I gave a speech to the Australian Executive Women’s Network as the winner of their Award. The title of my presentation was The Keys to Business Success and this was an opportunity to analyse just what had worked for me, and why, since deciding to put aside my husband’s well-meaning advice.

In thinking about success in business and relationships, I realised I use the experiences of my life, positively, to understand others. I can see myself in everyone I meet: their fears, their ambitions, their disappointments and their searchings. I have probably experienced most of them myself or will in the future. I can appreciate what is going on in their lives without living it. Emotions and desires are remarkably similar in every culture and in every age. The experiences of my life make me a more rounded and sympathetic onlooker and someone who can recognise integrity very quickly.

To be successful in business, especially in your own business, you must be practical. This was my second point. When I began my career in colour and image, I thought that the world was my oyster and that everyone would need my services. Well that’s true, they probably do, however they don’t realise it yet or more to the point, are not ready for it. So the masses of humanity did NOT come knocking on my door. I quickly worked out how much money I needed each week to live on, not to flourish on, just to exist on, and worked out a plan of action to achieve that amount. Don’t be airy-fairy about this, be very practical and if you have to take another job to bring in the rent, do it.

I set goals to work towards, dreams to believe in for my career and the kind of life I saw myself living. I thought about where I wanted to be in the short term, 12 to 18 months, and where I saw myself in 5 to 10 years-time. I worked towards those goals.

On reflection, I’ve achieved all those dreams and more. The most significant factor, however is that some of them didn’t come when I thought that they should: they came in the Universe’s time. I realise these days a very important lesson: my time is not Universal time. So now I say to my higher self, “this or something better, at the right and appropriate time.” And it never fails.

Another key to success in business is realising what being professional MEANS. To me, if you are not totally 100% professional all the time, you’re an amateur playing at professionalism. Some of the actions that to me are very basic to being a professional in business are:

•I walk my talk and do what I say I will do. Always.

•I answer my telephone cheerfully and with a smile and return all phone messages on the day or within 24 hours.

•I’m dependable. I turn up for appointments when I say I will; I have the submission on the desk of the person who requested it, on the day we decided on or earlier.

•I ask customers and other staff, “how can help YOU?” I know that I’m always part of their team too.

•I make others look good. We all bask in the radiated glory.

•I’m creative and different in many of the things I do. Although I’d never thought of myself as being particularly creative in the past, it’s amazing what happens to your inspirational faculties when you have creative friends and then decide to solve problems by using lateral thinking yourself.

•Last year, for instance, I wanted to send Christmas cards that weren’t like everyone else’s. I also didn’t want to pay a lot since I had more than 130 to send. I came up with the idea of using some of the publicity emanating from my Award, having it photocopied than made into a card y the local instant printer and including a message thanking that person for being part of my success. I love it. As it’s easy and so different, I intend creating a card each year that tells my clients something about my company and myself.

•I’m aware of some aspects of the private lives of my clients. How? I ask.

•I’m not nosey but when someone mentions that, for example, she played tennis at the weekend or was on holidays in Queensland we discuss that a little and I store that information away in my mind. I often make short notes about those leisure activities or business occasions in my diary or on their card. Social interaction is the name of the game. It gets business working smoother and faster and I have a reference point to start conversations next time.

•In terms of making phone calls and difficult decisions I follow this advice: “Walk up to the lion and it disappears: run away and it runs after you”. I know that we’re all inclined to put off the tasks we see as being difficult. The longer I find excuses, the worse the situation becomes. When I decide to be fearless and walk up to the lion the power that I’ve given it seems to melt away and the lion becomes a pussy cat. Without fail, I wonder why I’d built up the situation into a major event. So it is in all aspects of business. Sometimes we turn from professional to amateur because we’re frightened to speak out.

•In a world that sometimes loses track of basic values in business and personal relationships, I keep ordinary in an extraordinary world. By ordinary I mean, being honest, trustworthy, reliable, persistent, caring, compassionate and pleasant.

You can no doubt think of many other actions which professional have that others don’t.

In my speech I then went on to discuss some of the other keys to success that open doors for me. One of them is saying “yes” when I’m asked to help others or take on a difficult job. I say “yes, of course” and later work out how on earth I’ll do it. There is always a way. I find that if I’m open to new things, new opportunities occur.

A quote I came across several years ago expresses one of the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of my life, both in a business and personal sense: “dare to love all you meet”. This is the key to understanding yourself and your path in life. The people I find the most annoying, unprofessional, careless, and uncaring are exactly the people who present my biggest lessons. I know there’s much truth in the belief that what you don’t like in others is what you don’t like in yourself. So how do you dare to love all you meet?

Each time I deal with someone who annoys me, on the phone or in person, I remember that I don’t know the circumstances behind their behaviour. As I haven’t had their life’s experiences, how can I judge what causes them to behave the way they do? After all, everyone is doing the best they can. How can I criticise someone for their best?

When I dare to love all I meet, I’m a kinder, more loving person who is coming to terms with herself.

It isn’t always easy. I’m working on it constantly and still I find myself judging from time to time. At least I’m now aware of it happening. When it does work, everything in my life falls into place and small miracles happen.

I was advised when I started out in business to get to know well, and be on very friendly terms with my accountant, my bank manager and my legal advisor. So I pass this tip on to you too. Perhaps you’re lucky and don’t need to know a bank manager or lawyer well. This was not the case for me. From the very beginning my accountant showed me how to set up my business, organise my books and maximise my tax deductions. He gave me excellent advice on matters more legal than financial because he was a good sounding board for me.

Several times I had to speak to my bank manager and rearrange my finances. I always went along well prepared and looking very professional, and knew exactly the look I wanted since that psychology of subconscious messages is my business, and although my heart was in my mouth, we always found a way around my problems and turned them into opportunities.

I keep in touch on a more personal level with both of them, sending them cuttings from newspaper and cards. My bank manager even turned up to hear me speak one day and asked lots of questions.

Another key to succeeding in business is to have a circle of supporting friends. Most of mine are women and when the going gets tough, it’s so good to be able to talk over frustrations even if they don’t fully understand the situations. Therapy and perspective are achieved in one phone call.

My very best friend, however, is my intuition. I listen to my inner voice when I’m puzzled about an action to be taken or when I‘m looking for a solution. To help my intuition along a little, I occasionally say to myself “what would my higher-self do in this situation?” I always get a good answer.

Do you write thank you and congratulatory notes regularly? It’s an excellent habit to perfect since so few people bother to do it. I’ve so appreciated the letters and cards I’ve received after presentations and some of my radio broadcasts. They’ve touched my heart.

Whenever I see someone I know mentioned in the press or in a trade magazine I drop them a note congratulating them on their achievement. Faxing a quick “well done” is another heart-warming experience for the recipient and for me.

Keys to business success you’ll notice come at you from every direction. Here’s another important one: “To live in fear, is to live only half your life” is a line often repeated in the movies, Strictly Ballroom. There have been times when I have been fearful, very fearful, around money and following my dream, even when all the evidence told me that it would be better to change tack. I have learned to trust. Trust, that somehow the way would open up for me, and in the meantime I would get on and do my very best to ensure my success. And almost inevitably, it did: in its own time, not mine.

I don’t half live my life. What a waste that would be.

A wonderful tip for establishing excellent communication with those you work with and everyone in your personal life is this one: acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge - support, support, support. Avoid envy.

One more key is that I practise loving what I do no matter how small the job or tedious it might seem to be. I make it worthy of my love. Every task in life can be made more interesting and challenging whenever you decide.

A particularly powerful action is one I realised quite a few years ago. When you’re well dressed and groomed the good things happen faster. I’m reasonably sure it relates to sending subconscious messages about confidence and self-worth. Who doesn’t want to be around positive and confident people? To be in their company is to bask in that golden light.

My father told me many years ago never to close doors on relationships. Always leave the door open or at least slightly ajar. This means for me that I never have blazing rows with others, or say “I never want to see you again” or “that’s it … that’s the end of the relationship”. Everything changes. Life evolves and who knows when that person may come into your life again? Better to be reasonable and mature than full of regrets and embarrassed. Time and time again this philosophy has worked for me. I am to stay on good terms with everyone I meet.

People ask me how I stay so focused on the positive. Well, not only do I attend seminars and meetings that teach me to stretch myself, I also spend about half an hour each day reading inspirational books and focusing on love in action. I need this quiet time to give me perspective.

I need that inner time to listen to my intuition and to be guided by my higher self. Some days the only time I get to achieve this is the time I spend in my car. So that’s the time to pull out the gentle music, with no lyrics to distract, and take the stress out of my day. Only in the last few years have I stopped talking about pampering myself and actually started doing it. This for me is another key to success: having a balanced life.

What is the point of developing one aspect of your business so you are successful if you forget the main reason you’re doing it, which most probably is to fulfil a need in you? For quite a while, I thought I couldn’t afford the time or the money to have facials, get my legs waxed, have my nails done, visit the podiatrist and go to the hairdresser very regularly. A funny thing has happened. Nice I decided to do these things there was enough time and money. And I feel so good about myself and my attitude now is that I deserve all these things. Sometimes the martyr in me attempts to stop this process, but I speak sternly to that part of my persona and tell it to go jump in the lake. I love looking and feeling good.

This being-kind-to-Lynn attitude has evolved as part of a larger framework. About two years ago, my sister gave me a small card that describes my name.

This is what it says: LYNN – Gaelic origin, meaning, “clear pool; generous spirit”

Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on three: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26.3

Suddenly I knew that I had to live up to this! So ever since I’ve done everything possible to fit the name: to be absolutely trustworthy in business and in my relationships; to be absolutely honest, as honest as a clear pool, and to be generous. The generosity extends to others, in my actions, my love, the time I give, the help I give, the gifts I choose, the meals I plan and many other day-to-day aspects of my life. I’m also generous to Lynn.

As a result of these very deliberate actions, generosity is flowing to me from others. You know that wonderful law, I’m sure: “what you give out you get back.”

Sometimes it takes a simple tool, in this case a small plasticised coloured card, to give you a life direction. Keep your eyes and ears open for inspiration.

I always expect the best in relationships. Do you? I always expect that others will treat me fairly, professionally and in a very friendly manner. We won’t disappoint one another is another way of looking at it. So that is what happens. I expect the best in every aspect of my life. And I get it. Somerset Maugham, that great English writer put it like this: “It’s a funny thing about life. If you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”

Being successful is not only about thinking that you are. Actions must be initiated too. Successful people start early and work late. I’ve often thought about the components of success. What does make one person more successful than another? It’s not just hard work. It’s not just following through. It’s not just doing what you say you’ll do. It’s not just listening to your intuition and following your dream. I’ve realised that it’s doing what average people do PLUS more. If you do what average people do your life will become average. I look at average people coming home from work and having dinner and getting on with household tasks, watching TV and going to bed to arise next morning and follow their routine for getting ready for work and think how bored I would be with their lifestyle.

I have to do all those things too, and more, to move from average to special there is another part of the equation. I must add another element. For me it’s getting up earlier than many others to work at my computer writing articles for magazines and the books I‘m creating. It means not watching as much TV as others, since this is the time to attend seminars, do more work or develop friendships. It means sandwiching some physical exercise and children and my partner in amongst all of that. If that’s too difficult for you at the moment, work towards it. As my children are adults now and don’t live with me anymore, I have time to work the equation the way I want to. If it means that I have to find time on weekends I do.

Most Saturdays I work on catching up or planning the next week. I keep Sundays free whenever possible. Sometimes I would love to live a normal life. What a joy. There is a voice inside me however that tells me to go the extra mile so I can reap the benefits soon. If you want to be successful you have to live life differently from average people.

What is the way to accomplish all of this? I’ve found that with some things, going that extra mile translates as thinking laterally about a problem and being smart about its solution. What helps me enormously is that at the centre of this strategy, I have a clean and tidy desk each morning. There is something about turning up to work with a neat and organised selection of work to be completed in front of me instead of mess and clutter, which immediately enables me to feel ready for work rather than ready for a cup of coffee a sifting through process. I regularly clear away the clutter in my life. I tidy my desk, my office, my home and especially my car. They are all an extension of my personality and give me a very powerful insight into my thought patterns and behaviours.

I’m ruthless. I toss out. I rearrange. I clean and polish. I tidy. And I keep tidy. How can new ideas, new people, new beginnings occur if I don’t let my inner self know that I am ready? Things don’t change. They evolve.

Probably the most important key to success that I can offer you is that, successful people pay attention to detail. It’s the same as being an excellent host. Imagine a very, very important person is making a visit to my home or business. Imagine the running around and fussing that would take place over the way things look; the greeting process; the choice of the food and drinks for morning tea or lunch; the discussions between others and myself about how to do things best. Then when the VIP arrives the tension is probably greater. There is a constant checking and in my mind a timetable of events that will occur so that everyone is happy and comfortable.

Well, having a successful business and successful relationships is just like that too. The people who think ahead, plan well, ask for co-operation, have the flexibility to alter and reassess, watch other’s reactions and aim to please, will be the ones who live the success they desire.

Sometimes it is scary. As Tim Macartney-Snape conqueror of Everest, said: “It wouldn’t be a worthwhile mountain if you didn’t experience some fear”.