 If you asked your children ‘would you like three holidays a year and see little of your parents, or have one holiday a year and have your parents there for the big events in your life’, what would they say?
I read an article the other day on work life balance that highlighted an initiative by one bank to try to reduce the workaholic image of banking. Credit Suisse introduced ‘Protecting Friday night’, encouraging their people to leave work by 7pm and not return until at least Saturday lunchtime unless there was an urgent client request. Makes you wonder how many of their employees were working seven days a week if this was an improvement! There are many businesses that encourage this ‘only long hours prove your worth’ culture and of course as a business owner, you may feel that you have no choice in the matter. But just think of the effects this has on you and your team. Food on the go, little time for exercise, the stress of needing to be seen, all take a toll on both your mental and physical well-being. And then there’s your relationships… Research shows that 55% of marriages with workaholic spouses end in divorce, compared to 16% when a spouse has the balance right. If you have children, the missed birthdays, school sports days, prize-givings, all add up, and you will never have those days again. Constantly disappointing those closest to you takes its toll on them and you. Many business owners will tell you that they’re working these hours for their families, to give them a great lifestyle. But is that what they want? If you asked children ‘would you like three holidays a year and see little of your parents or have one holiday a year and have your parents there for the big events in your life’, I wonder what they would say? I love Richard Branson’s, ‘First your People then your Customers’, but for many that should be ‘First family then work’. You're building a life here, not just a business. Do one thing: Take time to think about what’s really important in your life, and adjust your priorities accordingly. ps If you feel you’ve been sucked into the black hole of working every hour God sends and would love to escape, then check out our McFreedom Secrets Workshop, and get yourself along to the next one. For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk
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 I’m not a great one for reality TV, but I found myself watching ‘Lose weight for love’ the other day (don’t ask).
If you haven’t seen it (and why would you have), the show is based around the concept that in order to lose weight, couples need to spend time apart to work on their individual issues, then come back together to move forward as a team. It was quite an uplifting watch, and I found myself willing them to succeed. What’s amazing is that each person knows they are slowly, or in some cases quickly, killing themselves, yet they haven’t succeeded in changing their habits. Some had been yoyo dieting for years and some you felt had given up, until this tv opportunity came along. What the consultants had to do was find out WHY these individuals continued to do what was bad for them, and then adjust their mindset away from the idea of ‘a diet’, a programme they had to suffer through, an add on to their already busy lives, to focus on building a new and sustainable way of life. To make eating well and exercising, ‘just how we do things round here’. I come across a lot of successful small business owners who operate in a similar way to our ‘weight loss lovers’. They talk about wanting to change, wanting to have an easier life, wanting to spend more time with those they love - but what do they actually DO about it? They know that they don’t need to work such long hours; that there is a way to keep their commitments to their partner, their children, their friends; that they can have a business that runs like a well-oiled machine - but just like our overweight friends, they see the remedy (systemising their business) as something they have to do ‘in addition to the day job’, something that’s going to cost them, something that’s going to be a whole heap of pain and effort. So they do nothing, and plough on with the fourteen hour work days, grabbing a few days holiday when the business that’s running their life, allows them. And the truth is that systemising does take effort, possibly as much as 12 months’ effort. It takes time to build a High Performing Team and a business that runs like a well-oiled machine whether you’re there or not. And yes, if you wanted to be guided down the simplest route to systemising, you have to invest in support from those who’ve been there and done that, many times. But isn’t it worth it for the rewards you would reap? Don’t you love yourself and your family enough to make the changes? Don't you want that ideal future? Why wait another 12 months? Why waste another 12 months? Today is the day to change your MINDSET, to think about your big WHY, to take ACTION. Do it for Love. For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk  You know when you read a great book or see a good film and you’re just bursting to tell people? Well I’m a bit like that with service. Bad service I try to forget, but with good service I just get the urge to tell people about it, so here goes…
I had the pleasure of staying in the new-ish St Pancras hotel recently, as part of my sister’s birthday celebrations (it was a big one!). Wow! What a stunning place, matched I was delighted to find, by equally stunning service. Waiters, receptionists, cleaners, porters - excellent service right across the board - all, without exception, smiling, friendly and helpful. They all looked like they were enjoying their work too, rather than having been told to smile - you can tell the difference. I chatted to quite a few staff over the couple of days we were there, and despite the number of different nationalities represented, you could tell they had all bought into the hotel’s vision and their values. Such a diverse workforce all singing from the same hymn sheet. It was a real pleasure to stay there, and when they brought a lovely birthday cake to the room, it really was the icing on the cake! So many hotels, and businesses in general are often great at the frills, but they haven’t got their basic service right. You know what I mean, you get the lovely birthday cake but then have to deal with an unsmiling waiter or an impatient receptionist and you think, actually, stuff the cake I’d rather just have good basic service. We often talk to clients about getting the cake right before you start messing about with icing, and this was a great example of a business who did just that - focused first on the consistency of the day to day, and then looked to add the extra unexpected frills to delight their customers - like my sister’s birthday cake. What was really clear to me, because I look for things like this…was that this hotel had a followed a set of simple, logical, and repeatable systems, that their staff knew simply as ‘the way we do things round here’. They’d clearly got their recruitment and training right too. Each person knew what they were doing, they knew what was expected of them and they ‘owned’ their little piece of the business. I’m betting the manager had spent time not just explaining the importance of the role and where it fitted into the bigger picture but also that each person, whatever their role, was the face of the the hotel every time they interacted with a Customer. It was a joy to behold, and something for every business to aspire to. Do one thing: Ask yourself how you compare to the St Pancras Renaissance. Do your team all sing off the same hymn sheet? Do your customers love doing business with you? Do you have the systems that make you as consistent as they are? If your answers to those questions aren't what you'd like them to be, then join us for our next McFreedom Secrets Workshop, and take your first small steps towards consistency. Click this link to hear from past participants and sign up. For more information on how MPL can help you visit www.mariannepage.co.uk or contact me on hello@mariannepage.co.uk |
AuthorMarianne is the author of three books, and is currently working on her fourth, whilst regularly writing her blog, we hope you enjoy it :-) Archives
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