I was never really interested in networking. It was a bit of a chore for me and something I thought I was just no good at. I felt like there was something ‘fake’ about networking events and this did not align with my belief in authenticity when it came to business relationships. I found that during my corporate career I often declined invitations to networking opportunities because I simply didn’t have the ‘time’ to attend. I had too much important work to do! It was only when I made the transition from corporate life to starting my own business that, out of necessity, I realised the real value of networking. Up until then, my thinking around networking was effectively holding me back from opportunities I wasn’t even aware of.

One thing that surprised me was that I was actually good at networking, I’d just been calling it something else – building professional relationships. When I considered building my network as an opportunity to build relationships all of a sudden the congruency between authenticity and networking appeared. Networking became more than the opportunity of a free glass of bubbles and a chicken satay stick.

Good relationships are the cornerstone of good business. A good professional network is simply a healthy collection of good relationships. Think about how you landed your last few jobs or the last few times you have employed someone either as part of your team or to complete some work for you –How important was a referral from someone else? What role did your network play? A BIG role is probably a good guess.

As the year heads toward another finish line, there will be loads of formal and informal opportunities to build great professional relationships (we won’t call it a network). Consider some of the tips in this month’s e-zine and treat your next business event as more than just an opportunity to indulge in that free chicken (or prawn if you prefer seafood) satay stick. Imagine what else you could achieve?

It is a privilege this month to feature an interview with an inspiring, charming, no-nonsense and driven man, Ken Marslew. Ken’s life and business experience is extraordinary and we can all learn from reading about him and how he turned personal tragedy into achievement and giving.

Looking for a little more energy? Nadene McDougall’s article offers fabulous insight into adopting a healthier lifestyle all year round but especially as we head toward the silly season. Do you have a burning health or fitness question you would like answered? During the month of November, send your question to admin@bravecoaching.com and Nadene will share her insight and experience with you.

Best of life,

P.S - I’d love to hear your ideas on topics of interest for future e-zine articles. Send them to me at: belinda@bravecoaching.com

1. Align your network with your goals. Who makes up your current professional network? If you were looking for a new job tomorrow or you wanted to grow your business further, is your network filled with people you could confidently say would help you to achieve your life and business goals? If your network is not as healthy as you would like it to be, how could you start to invest in building it?
2. Be clear on what you want. Before attending a networking event, spend some time considering exactly what you would like to get out of it. Is it new sales leads? A mentor? A referral? Set up a meeting? Free food? If you’re not clear on what you want to achieve, chances are you will achieve something else.  Being clear on what you would like to achieve will help you clarify the types of people you are looking to meet and what to talk to them about.
3. Ask for what you want. Once you know what you want, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Many people avoid telling others what they want, because they feel self-conscious about asking for something or they assume that the other person already knows what they want. Telling people what you are looking for in a respectful, succinct way makes it easier for people to help you! Take plenty of business cards along to share with appropriate people.
4. Become a natural networker. Attending formal networking events is only one way of building your network. Every single interaction you have is an opportunity to build good relationships. Spend time getting to know others you interact with and tell them about yourself and your business. Share information with others and always act generously – but never expect things in return! People will refer you to others based on what you deliver and how you deliver it, not because you did something for free for them.
5. Do what you say you will do. Many people don’t realise it, but you are building your network everyday, in everything that you do. If you would like people to recommend you to others, build trust through your everyday interactions. Always do what you say you will, plus a little bit more. By recommending you to someone else, people are risking their own reputation, so make it easy for them by always being authentic and operating with integrity.
6. Ask questions. Focussing on learning about the other person is an important part of building rapport. Focus on them rather than yourself and commit to learning something about them. Becoming curious and learning more about the other person will mean you’re much better equipped to respond to them in a relevant and interesting way.
7. Be Intriguing. Being able to summarise what you want people to know about you, your business and what you are looking for is critical. Do you have a 30 second summary of what you do? Does it leave the listener wanting to know more about you or will they switch off quickly? Consider rehearsing this so that it is succinct and powerful. Can you state what you do in terms of the benefits to others rather than just your job title?
8. Be Active. Actively invest in building your network. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Imagine how you could grow your network by spending just 10 minutes a day working on it – it can be as simple as making a phone call or sending an e-mail. At formal networking events, don’t just mingle with your friends. Seek out new faces and opportunities!
9. Be Curious. I left a number of networking events feeling disappointed when nothing really happened. Truth was, I didn’t have the right attitude going into the event, so my results were exactly what I had planned – nothing! As well as clear goals, approach each networking opportunity with optimism and curiosity. After a long day at the office it is often much easier to relax with your friends and enjoy the free hospitality. Challenge yourself to use the opportunity to meet some fantastic new contacts.
10. Follow up. When you make a great contact, follow up! A simple e-mail that re-establishes the common-ground you found and why you would like to keep in touch may be appropriate. If you promise to send someone something, send it promptly. Remember that you don’t need to be best friends with everyone – you will cultivate relationships at different levels. Ensure to spend the time nurturing important relationships.

Be inspired by the book “Change the World for Ten Bucks” and do something simple to make the world a better place. Visit We Are What We Do and start checking off fifty everyday actions that will change the world. Learn mouth-to-mouth, smile and smile back, recycle your old mobile phone, buy the book! Share it with someone you care about – at only ten bucks it makes a great Christmas present!

In the spirit of building networks, we’re asking you for referrals. Please forward Brave New World to anyone in your network who you think may benefit from reading it. We want thousands of people to sign up for our free e-zine and you can help! If you have enjoyed reading Brave New World, forward it on to friends or colleagues today and get them to sign up. What a great excuse to touch base with people in your network… Thank You!

In February 1994, Ken Marslew was told by two police officers, that his 18 year old son Michael had been shot dead at Pizza Hut where he worked, during an armed robbery. Through the devastation and loss, Ken became acutely aware of a serious community need and he founded the Enough is Enough Anti-Violence Movement. Ken and his team have achieved some amazing feats with schools, prisons and governments. Ken Marslew sites Mahatma Ghandi as an inspiration. Ken is living proof of one of Ghandis’ most famous sayings “Be the change you want to see in the world”

1. Can you give me a highlights and lowlights summary of the life of Ken Marslew?

   The birth of my two children – A real highlight. Starting my first business – A highlight. The break-up of my first marriage – A lowlight that lead to the failure of my first business – Another lowlight. The murder of my son – A lowlight beyond any imagination. In hindsight, everything that has happened to me has been a highlight. Shakespeare sums it up well, although I don’t know that I totally agree: “There is nothing good or evil in the world, only thinking makes it so”.

2. Describe for me what ‘Enough is Enough’ is all about

   Enough is Enough has become known to some as “the anti violence movement that kicks butt”. We work with the victims of crime, violence, road trauma and anti social behaviour. We sell hope. The hope that life can be better, a community can be better and a world can be better by changing our own actions.

3. What prompted you to create Enough is Enough?

   The murder of my son in 1994. I saw the way that people were being treated by ‘the system’ – by that I mean by the legal system, the government, the judiciary and the broader public. I saw a real need for a holistic approach to dealing with the ills of society.

   Did you know that there are four and a half times more words in the dictionary to describe things negatively than there are positively? Enough is Enough is about teaching people that when you change the way you look at the world, the world begins to change.

   We firmly believe you can change adversity into advantage, bitter into better and conflict in congruency.

4. Can you describe a typical week in your life?

   A typical week for me consists of presentations to schools, prisons and to community groups. It involves attending committee meetings, the management of the Enough is Enough organisation, research, lobbying for policy change and avoiding chocolate where possible. My commitment to Enough is Enough is total, 24 hours a day. I often wake up in the middle of the night and wake my wife Lynette with an idea about how we can do things better, or scribble a note down before I can get back to sleep.

   I do find it hard to prioritise when everything is a priority! If you were to ask me what my biggest failing was, it would definitely be time management. Finding time to relax is always a challenge for me. Fixing my boat has taken me 4 months to complete a job that should have taken 6 weeks!

5. What achievements are you most proud of?

   That’s a difficult one… Receiving the Order of Australia, the Centenary Medal and the Advance Australia Award touched up the old ego, but it’s the achievements I make with people that really matter to me. It’s the kids that matter. We do a lot of work with schools. After a recent presentation an eleven year old girl shared with me that she had been raped. I know how damaging it is to keep things like that in. When I lost my son, being a macho guy I did just that and it almost killed me. We send the message to kids that there is nothing so awful that you can’t speak to someone you trust about it. My presentation had given her the courage to speak up. When I visited the school two weeks later the child’s mother was waiting there for me. She thanked me and said that she just didn’t know how to handle it. It’s this stuff that matters.

6. In your line of work, I’m sure things don’t always go to plan. How do you remain flexible and effective?

   We’re told when we’re young that we learn from our mistakes – well we don’t! I no longer make any mistakes… I just have lots and lots and LOTS of learning experiences. Rather than ‘poor me’ I now say ‘lucky me’. Whenever things don’t turn out the way I planned I ask ‘what can I learn from what has just happened?’ Changing my thinking from the negative to one of learning allows you to find out why it didn’t work and what could you do differently. In my line of work this is critical.

7. What’s been the toughest time you’ve had at Enough is Enough?

   When we first started, seeing the enormity of what we wanted to achieve - the enormity of the problem was tough. We have had to approach it the same way as eating an elephant… one bite at a time. The key was also being really clear on what our goals were – knowing exactly what we wanted. And never taking no for an answer.

   Despite being a sales person for much of my career before Enough is Enough, I also had difficulty asking for money and this nearly sent us broke. I still struggle with this conflict between head and heart. At a critical point a good friend of mine set me straight. He said “You know exactly what you need to do – you’re just not listening to your heart!” He was right. Has it been difficult? Yes. Has it been fun? Absolutely.

8. What motivates you most to keep doing what you’re doing?

   The victims. The kids. The offenders. All of the team at Enough is Enough wants to make a difference, I am determined to make a footprint in society. How big? I dunno, but I haven’t kicked the bucket yet!

9. If you could choose 5 famous people to have over for a BBQ, who would they be and why?

   Choosing my role models is quite different to choosing 5 people for a barbie. My role models are people like Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jnr, but that BBQ would be boring. I’d like to invite Rudy Giuliani, to discuss the way he handled bringing New York back together after 9-11, Osama Bin Laden. Why? To understand why he does what he does. Steve Irwin, because he was such a great Aussie character, Condoleeza Rice, because every BBQ needs a strong woman and probably Hugh Jackman, because he seems like great fun, but he has his head screwed on.

10. How is coaching playing an evolving role in the work that you do?

    Coaching plays a huge part. Life is a series of coaching situations – Opportunities to stop when you’re too close and actually see the forest for the trees. Coaching is about identifying goals, creating the strategies to get what you want and give yourself the motivation to get off your butt. Coaching is a ‘mental tune-up’ and it’s playing an increasing role in what we do.

11. What is your definition of bravery?

    Doing what you see is right, irrespective of the consequences.

12. What are your top 5 tips to achieving fulfilment in business?
    • Doing what YOU want to do is the key. If you make your hobby your work you will never have to work a day in your life.
    • Be really clear on your intentions – the outcomes you want to see.
    • Get the right people around you.
    • Understand your own strengths and limitations and employ people to fill the voids and then manage them.
    • Believe. Just believe. If you believe, anything is possible.

For more information on Ken and the great work being done by Ken and the Enough is Enough team visit: www.enoughisenough.org.au

By Nadene McDougall

Spring is well upon us, daylight saving is lighting up our lives and the warmer weather is reminding us to ramp up our fitness regime and curb the caloric intake to attain that ever elusive “bikini body” splashed across the covers of almost every women’s magazine. It is this time every year that we start regretting all those winter comfort foods we told ourselves we shouldn’t eat but did… and the cold mornings we stayed in bed telling ourselves that we would start our exercise programs tomorrow, but didn’t!

For most of us this seems to be the annual cycle we follow, as summer approaches we look forward to the warmer weather but dread exposing our overfed bodies. In winter we dread the colder weather but look forward to feeding our covered up bodies. Now most of you will read this and nod your head in agreement or worse…acceptance. My worry with accepting this process is that there are “things” that present themselves that may steer this cycle downwards.

Say about this time of the year when you are getting all geared up to start the run (literally) into your bikini body, an obstacle presents itself…..work, illness, relocation, changing metabolism from constant yo-yoing of previous years. Add to this another period of inactivity and possibly higher caloric intake and the cycle really starts to take shape, a much bigger shape! Before you know it you are looking down at the scales at a figure you previously didn’t even know existed and health issues that you thought only happened to others.

Well, before this happens to you, or even if it already has… take the opportunity this summer to break this cycle once and for all, increase your health, vitality and longevity and prepare better for life all year round!

Following are a number of ways to approach this change and break though to success.

1. "The secret of success is consistency of purpose." --Benjamin Disraeli

   Leading up to and during the warmer months we tend to eat less and exercise more to look better. As it gets colder our motivations change, we turn to food to make us feel good and tend to only exercise because we know we should and we know what will happen if we don’t. It is time to align your summer and winter health purposes. Eat so you don’t need that coffee to kick start the day, or that chocolate mid afternoon. Exercise so that each day you leap rather than drag yourself out of bed, or simply exercise because it is fun!! Find your own purpose that you can apply through all seasons and incorporate consistency as much as you can.

2. Internalise your motivation

   Our eating and exercise goals are quite often driven by external motivations, what we think we should look like, mostly based on others opinions. When setting your goals, be they long or short term, really take the time to think about what it means to you. Remember, feeling good or improving/stabilising your self esteem is a lot more sustainable than a size eight for most of us!! Any motivation, or lack of it, you feel can be internalised. Keep this in mind when setting your goals and engage specialists in other fields if need be (eg psychologist, life coach). There may be underlying issues driving your eating/health patterns which need resolving before any consistency is achieved.

3. Be goal SMART!!

   Use the principles of goal setting for all your health and exercise goals. The August edition of “Brave New World” is a great reference for these.

4. Exercise with friends

   Exercising with friends is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Talk to your friends about breaking the cycle together. Form a team and enter a comp in a sport that runs year round or start your own regular recreational game in a local park or field. If you can’t find a sport, form your own group and approach a company that does group personal training. This can be very cost effective and fun. Alternatively, you can create your own sessions together by each supplying locations to run to and/or activities to perform. If you can’t get your friends to engage or have recently moved, enrol in an established outdoor training group. Commonly known as “boot camps”, these arrangements are a great way to meet people, they cater for all fitness ranges with varied and interesting locations and activities. Enrol now and by the time winter comes, missing boot camp won’t even be a consideration (for the exercise as much as for the gossip!).

5. Start exploring recipes that can be adapted for winter.

   Invest some time in thinking about how your eating habits change between summer and winter. Identify issues and develop workable strategies. Research seasonality of fruits and vegetables and look for how a vegetable or fruit in summer may be exchangeable for one in winter. This will help you to adapt your favourite recipes. Look at your eating and cooking routines, how can you improve these and make them more consistent across the seasons?

   Good health is vital to us in all seasons of our lives, we all purport it as the most important thing but often fail to really value it until it is taken away. This summer break the cycle and attain a year round approach and long term investment in your health.

Nadene McDougall specialises in helping people achieve their health related goals. Nadene is dedicated to motivating and helping others achieve optimal health.

A Special Offer from Brave New World

Do you have a burning health or fitness question you would like answered? Send your question through to admin@bravecoaching.com and Nadene will share her insight and experience with you.

More information on Nadene McDougall

Brave Coaching and Consulting offers a no-obligation, free trial coaching session either in person or by telephone. During the session you will find out about how coaching can help you achieve your potential and you and your coach will set some inspiring goals together. What goals would you set if you knew you couldn’t fail? Simply e-mail us at: trialsession@bravecoaching.com and we will contact you to arrange a convenient time to meet.