Life is full of surprises… And not all of them are pleasant!

Well, that week certainly did not go as planned!

After rushing back to Australia to be with my Dad for his brain surgery, I arrived at the hospital to be told that I couldn’t go in & see him because I had arrived from NZ & had to isolate myself for 7 days.

Using all my negotiation skills (including lying on the floor crying!), I managed to convince them to let me in if I could get a negative PCR test.

So, off I went to get the test only to be told it could take up to 48 hours. Arrrggghhh.

I begged & pleaded for them to hurry it up if possible & they made no promises… However, it came through within 6 hours so on Monday morning I was finally able to see my Dad.

Nothing could have prepared me for how I found him & it became evident that they had to do something quickly as he was going rapidly downhill.

Sadly, they couldn’t do anything for him & he took a turn for the worse…

I am grateful that I am able to be here with him for his last few days ????

I hope that he can finally Rest In Peace!

I'm grateful that at least it was reasonably quick for him, now all I have to do is work through how I deal with my own grief whilst running a business & trying to sort out his estate & honour him as my father… And it struck me that many people have to do this, so I googled it to see what others had to say. You’ll find this article in the Better Life section.

On Thursday, I did a full day, in-person, MasterClass with over 200 business owners from Australia & New Zealand, who are part of the Business Blueprint community. I didn’t know how I would go, given all that was going on, but I had made a commitment to do this well over a year ago & I didn’t want to let them down. Plus, if I am honest, it was a welcome distraction, knowing that there was nothing more that I could do for my Dad. This community is such a strong & loving community & everyone was so kind. I think the day went well – we certainly got lots of positive feedback.

I of course rushed to see Dad in Palliative care after the presentation finished. I don’t think he can hear or see me anymore, but I spoke with him & I think he would have been proud of me.

In this Masterclass, we looked at EOS & how you can use it in your business to harness the energy of your people. And we also looked at the 10 disciplines that you need as the Business Owner / Entrepreneur to manage & maximise your own energy. These disciplines come from Gino Wickman’s mini book, which is part of the EOS life book. I’ve shared an article on them.

I am in Australia for another week or so & will be back here again later in September, but I’ll be back to Auckland for a week or so in between – I’ve got some awesome podcast guests lined up, so I have that to look forward to, as well as a couple of client sessions.

I hope your week has been a little less 'turned on its head' than mine & I hope some of the things I share will be useful.

Here’s this week’s business tip, life hack & find of the week to help you… And don’t forget the inspirational quote, which you can download as a wallpaper or lock screen for your phone.

As always, if you find great things that you’d like to share then feel free to email me for inclusion in one of my weekly newsletters.

BETTER BUSINESS: Manage & maximise your energy!

In my talk to the Business Blueprint members this week, I spoke about Gino’s 10 disciplines for managing & maximising your energy as an entrepreneur.

EOS is all about harnessing the energy of your team but how do you ensure that you, as the leader of the business, manage & maximise your energy so that you get to live your best life.

I’m sure Gino does a much better job of presenting it than I did… he did write the book after all, so here is a report from someone who saw him give this keynote speech.

BETTER LIFE: Dealing with grief whilst running a business

This story is so similar to mine. I was coming to Australia for a conference & my EOS Quarterly meeting & I was looking forward to seeing my family as a bonus.

And then I got the dreaded phone call that Dad had another fall & was in hospital.

And then 4 days later that they had done some scans & he had brain cancer.

We were in the middle of the West Coast of the South Island in a Motorhome, freedom camping with little to no mobile phone coverage & no way to get back to Auckland any quicker than we had already planned.

So we stopped out holiday & made sure we had 2-3 hours each day in an area that had mobile phone coverage so we could take calls, answer emails & re-arrange flights.

I managed to get a flight here 3 days earlier than planned & not a moment too soon. I got one day with my Dad, where he recognised me & I could speak to him & then he was figuratively speaking, gone.

Brain surgery is no longer an option & in a few days he will be gone from this world.

I am grateful I can be with him in these last days, even if I can’t communicate with him or hug him.

But what's next???

I’ve been through this twice already in the last 5 years – first with my younger brother, then with my Mum & now with my Dad…. It struck me that I can’t be the only business owner that goes through this.

And whilst I could share my experiences, that would take time away from being with Dad, so I decided to google it & came across this excellent article.

Although I wouldn’t wish this experience on anyone, it is inevitable, so I hope you find the article helpful – either now or in the future.

And this one is just 3 simple tips that I love.

FIND OF THE WEEK: Process Mythbusters!

“As a Visionary, I am not naturally process-oriented – so it just won’t happen.”

“We are way too busy with unhappy customers and trying to fill key roles to take the time to document our processes!”

“I want my team to be free. I don’t want to turn them into a bunch of robots mindlessly following some script.”?

If your business is growing and you have entertained any of these thoughts, you are not alone.?And it’s precisely when we need to talk about process.

When a business begins to scale, stress fractures start to develop.

Despite working longer hours to keep all the plates spinning, you may find that you’re just dealing with more and more problems without much success –an experience that companies running on EOS call?hitting the ceiling. What’s even worse is that the passion you originally had for your business begins to diminish as your?Issues List?items and?To-Dos?multiply. Your original vision for more freedom, more money, and more fun feels out of reach.

Ironically, when we bring up a proven approach to these issues, many of these same frustrated leaders resist the conversation. Instead, they nervously check their watches, start pacing, or let out a loud sigh. The great news is that once they engage in this topic, we see a lightbulb immediately turn on, and our leaders are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

These videos from EOS Worldwide, bust those process myths in true MythBuster style!

https://www.eosworldwide.com/blog/we-dont-talk-about-process-no-no-no

BONUS QUOTE:

“Don’t lose hope. When the sun goes down, the stars come out!” - Unknown

You can download this as a wallpaper or lock screen for your phone, here .

This is one of the photos Steve took on our Motorhome trip - isn't it stunning?

Here is the link to our public album of photos from our trip:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KiU4CxBku6jFchtr8

CALL TO ACTION

If you’d like to learn more about any of these tools or would like to find out how I can help you achieve a better life through creating a better business then book a free Discovery Call with me - https://calendly.com/debra-chantry-taylor/eos-vth

Debra Chantry-Taylor

Professional EOS Implementer | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Speaker

You can check out previous newsletters here - https://debrachantry-taylor.com/newsletter/