The Latest from Kristy-Lee

Hello and welcome to Episode 267 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today I am sharing a conversation I had with Juliet Robinson over on our Grow Your Influence podcast about the power of owning the problem as a leader in our business.

We’ve all had that feeling when someone behaves badly: maybe if I just leave it, they will sort themselves out/the problem will just go away…

Juliet and I talk about an example of a client who knew they needed to deal with a toxic person in their team but had been avoiding the issue. As soon as they decided to deal with the person, they felt so much better about themselves. The team’s morale was almost instantly improved and the manager gained so much confidence from realising their response didn’t need to be perfect, they just needed to need to do it.

We talk about the importance of leaders being aware of boundaries, both personally and within the team, and tackling issues directly when people are pushing those boundaries.

As managers we can f...

No less than once a week I’ll get a call, or question online, that goes a little like “I have a problem with a staff member, they are getting their job done but they aren’t being a great team member, I can’t quite put my finger on it but every time I raise an issue with them they have an excuse, there is always some reason things haven’t gone to plan”.

Does this sound familiar to you? Have you had someone like this on your team before?

Sure enough, after a few questions my typical conclusion is – you have someone who is below the line. What line? Great question!

The Above the Line – Below the Line Framework

I first became aware of this framework close to 20 years ago, I’d heard about it conceptually but when I really noticed this as a powerful framework for teams when I worked with a business who really embraced the concept so much that their team used the language in their day to day operations – this is when I really started to pay attention to this concept.

Who conceptualise...

Hello and welcome to Episode 266 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

In this episode we are talking about the 80/20 rule and how it applies to your team.

There are two sides to this coin.

Firstly, are 20% of your people responsible for 80% of results in your business? Look around your team, who are you high performers? Who drive things forward? What would happen if they weren’t there? As your teams grow, you may find yourself here – where a small portion of your team are responsible for a lions share of results. They might not the doing all the things, but without them things will fall apart. I want you to check in, are these people getting your time, attention and recognition?

Conversely, are 20% of your team taking up 80% of your time? The other way this shows up is in the opposite, where the bottom 20% are ‘problem children’ and they are taking up 80% of your time. You’re constantly training, mentoring, coaching, performance managing and course correcting. It’s exhausting ri...

Ever felt like you were literally drowning in resumes? Recruiting the right people for your business can be both time-consuming and overwhelming.

With hundreds—sometimes thousands—of applications flooding in for a single job posting, filtering through resumes can quickly become a full-time job.

One of my favourite tools to use to make this process not only more efficient, but also more effective, is SEEK’s screening question functionality.

If you’re hiring staff and using SEEK to advertise roles, leveraging its built-in screening tools can help you save time, reduce hiring overwhelm, and identify the best candidates faster. In this post, we’ll explore how to use SEEK’s screening questions effectively and share some insider tips to optimise your recruitment process.

Why SEEK is Still Australia’s Top Job Board

SEEK remains the most dominant job board in Australia, with over 160,000 job ads live at any given time and more than 32.8 million site visits in January 2025 alon...

Hello and welcome to Episode 265 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

In this week's episode we are chatting about the Federal Governments recent Budget announcement around their plan to ban non-compete clauses in employment contracts.

Today we will break down what non-compete clauses actually are and what they do, what is the Government saying they plan to do and what this means for your business.

Put simply, non-compete clauses are clauses in employment contracts that prevent an employee from working in competition with the employer after they leave. Also referred to as non-poach or restraint of trade agreements, they are largely designed, or at least in part to protect an organisations Intellectual Property and aim to protect the livelihood of the business.

The Federal Government recently announced their plans to ban these clauses from sometime in 2027. They have suggested the ban will employ to employees who earn under the high income threshold, currently $175 000.

So what ...

As business owners, we often find ourselves spending our entire day dealing with people, managing their needs, and navigating the complexities of teamwork.

As a business owner we need to step into the role of ‘leader’ in our business. However, many entrepreneurs and managers find themselves reluctant leaders, struggling to embrace their role as "the boss."

Instead of providing direction and leadership, they fall into what can be called the "non-boss mindset"—a hands-off approach where they hope their team will figure things out independently. While autonomy is important, a lack of leadership can create confusion, inefficiency, and frustration among employees.

If you've ever avoided making decisions, shied away from conflict, or found yourself reluctant to manage your team, you might be operating in this non-boss space.

Overcoming the Fear of Leadership

When we started our journey into entrepreneurship or embarked on our careers, we may not have anticipated that managing people ...

Hello and welcome to Episode 264 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today I have a question for you: What if I told you that your business could completely change with just ONE key hire?

So often I see business owners feel stuck in the day-to-day grind instead of leading.

They’re answering every question, fixing every problem, putting out fires.

They think hiring more people will fix it, but somehow, they’re still overwhelmed.

If this is you, the truth is there is a missing piece on your team. You’ve got growing pains, you know that, but you don’t know who to hire to solve it.

You could duplicate a role, and add another member to a key team, and that might stop the bottleneck there and let you service more customers.

You could create a role, and add skills to your team to improve your customer experience and reduce the need to outsource.

But neither of those solutions solve the key problem: they won’t stop you being overwhelmed, spending 10 hours + per week managing people...

Hiring the right people is one of the most critical decisions a business owner or manager can make.

Yet, so often, interviews are filled with bad questions—the kind that don’t actually help assess a candidate’s suitability for the role.

If you’ve ever left an interview feeling like you didn’t get any real insights into an applicant, your questions might be to blame. Let’s explore the worst types of interview questions, why they fail, and how you can ask better ones to make smarter hiring decisions.

Why Interview Questions Matter

Many employers assume that candidates will volunteer all the important information they need to make a decision. But in reality:

• Candidates only answer what’s asked—if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t get the right answers.
• A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work—questions should be tailored to the role and your business needs.
• Poor questions lead to poor hires—hiring mistakes are costly, time-consuming, and disruptive to your bu
...

Hello and welcome to Episode 263 of the People Powered Business Podcast!

Today we are joined by special guest James Brown from BizTech Guru to talk all things systems and processes in your business.

James is a Certified Master SYSTEMologist® | SME Technology Expert | Time-Saving Specialist | Business Systemisation Pro.

James stands at the forefront of business operation simplification, with a rich 20-year history spanning from manufacturing to tourism, currently specialising in construction and building trades.

Through his venture, BizTech Guru, he introduces business owners to SYSTEMology and works closely with David Jenyns, the founder of systemHUB and the SYSTEMology movement, diving deep into the methodology and building out course curriculums.

James has presented to over a thousand people about SYSTEMology and has worked directly with over a hundred business owners himself to implement this methodology.If you’d like to connect with James, you can find his website here: https:...

At the time of writing this, it’s Employee Appreciation Day!

Whilst this day is a great opportunity to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of your team (despite not being widely recognised in Australia), it’s not just about recognising your team on one day each year.

I thought this day was a great opportunity to discuss the value and importance of recognising our people more generally.

Taking the time to celebrate your employees can boost morale, improve engagement, and create a more positive workplace culture. Embedding gratitude and recognition into your daily leadership style will have a far greater impact than a single celebration.

Let’s explore why employee recognition is crucial, creative ways to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day, and how to foster a culture of appreciation year-round.

Why Employee Recognition Matters

It might seem like a small thing, but showing appreciation has a significant impact on workplace morale, engagement, and productivity.