The Latest from Kristy-Lee

“I can’t make a decision because you have presented 2 great candidates – if we hired one of them we’d always wonder whether the other would have been better....”

This was the exact words that came out of the employers’ mouth after we had carefully and meticulously conducted a thorough and rigorous recruitment campaign for them, providing a strong shortlist. So strong in fact that they simply couldn’t (and didn’t) make the final decision. Whilst the team rightly pointed out that we had done such a stellar job we made it difficult for the employer to choose, I found the situation fascinating.

How does it sound to you? Ludicrous? Funny? Typical?

At first I assumed that really they just didn’t want to hire anyone, that it was a total waste of time and resources because they clearly had no intention of hiring – I mean surely one candidate stands ahead of the other for their needs?

But as I reflected on this, I wondered how many other small businesses are letting indecision r...

I love exploring generational differences, both in the workplace and generally in society. Whilst of course there are some generalisations that get applied, and not every member of every generation has the same foundational experiences, but it’s hard to miss the fact that there are certain changes, events and experiences which form the behaviours, attitudes and beliefs of new generations.

Whilst we’ve all heard more opinions than most of us care to imagine about the Millennials (otherwise known as Gen Y), who have really mixed it up inside workplaces, we’ve been a little quieter and more reserved when it comes to Gen Z.

So to you Gen Z – welcome to the workplace, it’s fabulous to have you here, and I for one can’t wait to see the impact you are going to make on how we work, how we approach careers and how we can do things differently and better.

If you’re wondering who Gen Z is – they are the generation born roughly between 1995 and 2009 – so at the time of writing this the...

Don’t you just love those weeks where you have a Public Holiday (especially on either the Monday or the Friday), but any day, and you only need to run your operations, lead your team and be present in your business for 4 days of the week? As a bonus, how much do your team love those weeks?

Interestingly, I’m going to ask you to reflect on something – how much less productivity happens in those weeks? Does 80% of the work get done, or is it much closer to 100% productivity squeezed into less time? I am willing to guess that the vast majority of you are going to say closer to 100%.

Isn’t that interesting … 80% of the time ‘at work’, 100% of the tasks and objectives achieved.

So, should you make all of your team part time, as they’re obviously dilly dallying for around 7-8 hours per week right? The short answer I am going to give you is no, I don’t think you should cut their hours along with their salary and make them part time.

However, I do want to invite you to consider...

• Understand how to measure productivity;
• Build and nurture trusting teams;
• Trial and consult.

No doubt you have heard of the term ‘imposter syndrome’ before, but have you ever heard of it when it comes to our teams, our employees, amongst our staff? Most commonly as business owners, entrepreneurs and leaders we might talk amongst ourselves about this feeling which we refer to as imposter syndrome, but I don’t hear business owners discussing this as something which might be impacting their staff.

Before we consider how this might play out within our teams, let’s first understand what specifically it is we’re referring to here.

The term Imposter Syndrome was coined in 1978 by Psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes who explored the idea that people with this feel like they have only succeeded due to luck, not because of their talent or qualifications. The Oxford Dictionary succinctly defines it as “the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.”

If you’ve exper...

As I have shared in recent weeks, I have spent some time over the last month about the fact that I recently celebrated 15 years of being in the world of entrepreneurship and business. And WOW what a ride it has been!

The things I thought I knew but didn’t, the things I had learnt that I never thought I’d need to use that came in handy, the wins, challenges, fun and hard stuff. There is no doubt that being in business is not dissimilar riding a roller coaster most of the time – except you’ve got the controls in your hands.

In recent weeks I have shared the key lessons that I have really taken on about leaderships and teams – because hey, that’s what I’m all about, but today is a little different. Today is about the real lessons, the life lessons, the things most people don’t talk about, but I’m going to.

Learning to juggle has been imperative, and I’m a pretty good multitasker naturally. But the juggle of business, entrepreneurship and the unrelenting nature of loving what y...

• Work life balance is bullshit;
• No one in your life cares how hard it is, surround yourself by people who get it;
• Self care is not selfish;
• Stop being a martyr;
• Drop the guilt.

As I shared last week, recently I was reflecting on the fact that it has been 15 years since I threw in the towel on a stable, well paid, leadership position with a multi national organisation to set up my own business, and so the Footprint brand was born.

Whilst I may have been anything but the text book approach, I knew what I wanted to do and just went head first in. Whilst I had some skills, plenty of grit and a no nonsense approach to success being inevitable, I can’t say that there hasn’t been hurdles to overcome along the way.

One of the key lessons I’ve learnt in these 15 years is the importance of your team – your employees, the contractors and suppliers you work with, the mentors and advisors you seek support from and everyone else that is part of this journey.

Now I’d been building high performing, successful teams since I was a teenager, so this wasn’t news to me, but there are certainly some lessons that I have needed to take on to truly understand the recipe t...