Virtus Pollet

 

                                                                                       Edition 385 Monday 26/06/17

 

Hi,as a kid one of my fondest memories of winter was Mums home made ham and vege soup!The prep started early on Saturday mornings when secret ingredients were thrown together with a bacon bone then left to simmer while we all headed off to footy.On our return we could smell the aroma wafting down the street and couldn’t wait to get home with our fresh loaf of bread to crack into it!!The large pot and the invitingly homely smell lasted all weekend.This winter is the same at 48 and it brings back a lot of wonderful memories for me and hopefully will have a lasting and similar affect on our son!

Fletcher reckons he likes the taste of winning and player of the day awards (#2 last week) almost as much as birthday parties,fund raising chocolate and Pyjama Days at Daycare!!

Something funny about being careful what you say or wish for is that more often than not you end up getting your wish. Well that’s the theory Christine and Fletcher were working on as they out voted me on the permanent addition of a Cockateil (Tommy) to our family!

Just because I said I sort of enjoyed having the sound around didn’t mean I wanted one!!

Recently at Toastmasters I had to learn and present a fairy tale.I was able to practise and perfect using Fletcher’s expert help.Jack and the Beanstalk is now our # 1 bedtime tale and we take turns presenting our respective versions…some things are priceless!

Loving the sport at the moment with the Lions vs AB’s and Team NZ vs Oracle heading for a dramatic conclusion,roll on another nail biting heart stopping week!!.....Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons the vege soup is a definite winner just like her!!!

 

 

“All kids need is a little help,a little hope and someone who believes in them”.

Magic Johnson

 

Twenty five years ago I was privileged to be involved with a fantastic group of young men.

They were the 1992 Kings College 1st XV and I was lucky enough to be one of their coaches

I say lucky because coaching the College’s premiere team was normally reserved for masters who aspired and competed fiercely for the right to coach the top team. 

I was honoured to be invited to a 25 year reunion of this team last week.

I was blown away to catch up with this group who are now all in their 40’s and busy husbands, fathers, coaches,business managers and genuinely solid citizens to a man.

My step son Stephen was in the team which made me especially proud to be associated with him and his mates….something a lot of Fathers long for but rarely achieve!

At the time all those years ago I remember life as a coach to be a roller coaster of emotions. There was pleasure,passion,elation,disappointment and pain at times but above it all as a group we had one thing in common together…….belief in each other and ourselves.

This above all else at our reunion was reinforced time and time again as we recounted and embellished our favourite memories,the brotherhood was alive,heartfelt and ingrained.

The most humbling thing for me was to be thanked in this forum for shaping the lives, attitudes and behaviours of a group of young men at a formative time of their lives.

Their life experiences since we were last together as a team reinforcing to them the importance of these things and being prepared to some degree by me to handle them.

I gave my time unconditionally because it was my passion and I never sought or expected recognition or praise however my feeling of satisfaction and pride was overwhelming!

  

“A Coach will impact more young people in a year than the average person does in a lifetime”.Billy Graham

One armed paperhanger

 

 

 

                                                                                       Edition 384 Monday 19/06/17

 

Hi,I sometimes refer to being as “busy as a one armed paperhanger” however must apologise to any one armed paperhangers there may be out there.I could never be as busy as you would be after trying with limited success to hang some wall paper this weekend with two hands!Apart from using glue past its used by date and having no clue really I made an honest attempt which my wife (bless her heart )seemed mildly happy withJ.Apologies due also to my Dad who was a wall papering legend in his time but clearly the acorn landed too far away from the the tree in my case!

Fletcher reckons he is happy with internal Soccer Club chocolate sales to date (although yet to see the cash).Dad says “see Mum” and Mum says “see Dad”…so who is paying?He is also concerned that all the good flavours are disappearing and he will be left with berry and fruit and nut to quit externally to Nana, Poppa and extended family…hey kid welcome to the business world! Cash flow and marketing are king!

Something funny about Blue Bottle Jellyfish is they don’t take kindly to being stood on as I found out yet again to my extreme discomfort last week.Swelling is subsiding although the rash is still ragingly angry and itchy but the ointment is helping.I am pleased to say the affected area is contained to my ankle although I touched my face after clearing the poisonous tentacles and paid the price……lucky I didn’t have to visit the toilet at the time!!!

Crikey that’s enough of the ‘too much info’ stuff I hope you are enjoying the ruggers and the sailing like we are and that you are primed for another huge week ahead….Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson reckons we will win the sailing and the ruggers…just saying!

 

 

Success is no accident.It is hard work,perserverance,learning,studying,sacrifice and most of all love of what you are doing or learning to do”. Pele

 

I have always believed there is a lot of similarities between the sporting and business world.

Top performers in both are the ones who prepare the best mentally and physically.

You might be scratching your head a bit about this however if you stop for a minute…..

You will agree that physical fitness is important to everyone in order to perform.

An old rugby coach of mine used to say ‘fit in body fit in mind’ and he was right I reckon.

Preparation is also critical to success in both fields. Sports people prepare themselves physically and then spend more time than ever these days on their mental preparation.

As business people we are no different…we need to be fit and focused on our professions.

Without wanting to rave on I think I am a pretty good example of a ‘business athlete’.

I commit at least one hour a day to preparing physically and I try to commit at least the same to preparing myself for the day and week ahead in business.

Some of the things I do to assist me are to ensure I have a daily/weekly plan,a clean car, clean shoes and favourite shirts.I feel good about these things which primes me for success.

I plan my day via my outlook calendar to ensure I make the best and most profitable use of my time all day/every day.

I find this creates the best opportunity for me to have ‘in the zone’ experiences and days!

These are the days when physical and mental preparation combine to produce sales Utopia!

It’s a bit like dropping on to a good fishing spot, everything seems to come together!

It is then and only then that you know you have developed your own formula for success.

Nothing is ever achieved without lots of hard work…ask any athlete or business person!!

 

“Before anything else preparation is the key to success”. Alexander Graham Bell

Moments like these you need Mentee's !!

                                                                                       Edition 383 Monday 12/06/17

 

Hi,who doesn’t want their own flying fox …right?We knew we had to check out that property so off we went to the open home full of expectation with no idea really!No idea why we were doing it or how we would buy it if we fell in love with it….as you do!Fletcher didn’t care all he wanted was the treehouse and the zip line escape running from the top deck 200m into a distant paddock…bliss for a nearly 5 year old adventurer. I am happy to say the jostling with other would be ‘lifestylers ‘convinced us we were better off where we were much to our sons disappointment…no harm in looking, dreams are free just like the Bayleys blue lollipops!!

Fletcher reckons we could hook up a flying fox zip line from our place to the beach (like that TV ad) quite easily so why not?Also he wanted me to mention he has 36 bars of premo Whittakers fund raising Soccer club chocolate for sale…get in quick before his Mum and Dad!

Something funny about kids is they never fail to make you laugh….our son got his clothes wet at the local pool so he had to plunder the lost and found stuff for a dry outfit.These oversized garments are now his favourite ensemble!!.......finders keepers J

Two days to CJ car signwriting and loss of anonymity….”how is my driving?”….bring it on!!

On the sporting front we are in for a fascinating Lions tour after losing to our so called worst team and then beating our so called best team……and what about the sailing?Go Team NZ!!!

Something for everyone coming up, have a great week ahead……..Cheers Jonesey.

 

Kate Henderson loves the extra attention but misses having someone to blame!

 

“If you light a lamp for someone it will also brighten your own path”.

Buddhist Proverb

 

I volunteered again to be a business mentor for the Y.E.S. (young enterprise scheme).

It involves mentoring year 13 high school students who as part of their business studies program form a company and develop an entreprenurial product or idea.

Coincidentally the high school I am assisting is my old school which makes the experience even more relevant and rewarding.

Mentoring is one of the most rewarding things you can do to share knowledge and give back something to others be it colleagues, peers or in this case the next generation.

This year my teams idea is particularly technical and whilst I have been able to assist by referring our team to contacts I have it has also extended and challenged me personally!

This is the great thing about putting yourself forward for something like this,it is a learning experience for both you and your mentees.

I find that it is at times like these that I realise that I actually know a lot more than even I realise which I can pass on to a younger group eager for knowledge and information.

Interestingly being a mentor is more about listening and guiding than it is about taking control and leading….that is for the students or mentees to do.

This in itself is good for me as I do tend to like the sound of my own voice and often don’t stop to listen when I should….so maybe it is me being mentored rather than vice versa??

All I know is that the experience is as good for me as I hope it is for my team.

So I urge you to also put yourself out there as a mentor, volunteer,give unselfishly and you will find that you too will also receive…this to me is good Karma!!

 

“True joy comes when you inspire,encourage,and guide someone else on a path that benefits him or her”. Zig Ziglar

Underdogs

 

                                                                                       Edition 382 Tuesday 06/06/17

 

Hi,long weekends rock and whilst it is always good to get away I reckon it is equally as good staying close to home.I love the simple stuff like sleeping in,reading the paper from cover to cover and just hanging out in the hood!We headed off on pine cone hunting expeditions, filled sacks and had epic family soccer encounters on the village green to cap off fun afternoons in the sun!Impromtu adventure and fond memories. Nothing beats that cosy pine fragrance as the flames dance merrily across the cones!!(see hunter gatherer pic).

Fletcher reckons family footy is hard to beat even if him and Mum vs Dad is a tad unfair!

No complaining from the underdogs though they know they have to do better next time!

Speaking of underdogs how about those Baa Baas taking on and nearly taking down the so called mighty Lions?? Cant wait for the rest of the tour, bring it on, Go the All Blacks !!

Something funny happened when I visited the launch we salvaged and almost weakened and took possession of! I realised what a good(lucky) decision it was when the true extent of the damage became apparent once on shore, we dodged a bullet there that’s for sure!

Crikey speaking of dodging bullets London was yet again NOT the place to be over the weekend!We are certainly lucky to seemingly be so far from the evil craziness however cant afford to ever be complacent to the point where we think it will never happen here!!

God forbid that happen here and be with all the millions of people in the world suffering or living in fear……a long way indeed from laughing and playing while wandering aimlessly and free in the forest collecting pine cones.We are the lucky ones,make the most of it.

Cheers Jonesey.

Kate Henderson reckons she will play family footy but will never be the ‘underdog’!

 

“The more you undersell yourself,the more others will undervalue you”.M Williams

 

Interesting thing happened to me the other day that made me ponder this……”Why sell yourself short?” Does it really benefit you or matter in the long term??

As a sales professional we are always taught that price isnt everything however more often than not it does prove to be a major influence in a won or lost deal.

So there are a few schools of thought here and two main ones in my humble opinion….

Firstly you can choose to build a good sales case and sell quality based on getting what you pay for.Your customers shouldn’t mind paying extra for a better ‘quality’ product or service!

Secondly you can go in with your sharpest and lowest deal to win the sale in the face of stiff competition and then the theory is that you will be able to leveridge the price upwards when your new customer accepts they are getting a premium service and/or product?

The reality is that the first scenario is where we would like to be however the second is where most of us end up especially these days where there is no real loyalty anymore?

I am beginning to wonder however after I discovered a number of customers that I had worked for at bargain rates are now using other companies and individuals at much higher rates?At the time I sold myself short I thought I was doing the right thing to A) win the work and do a ‘mates rates’ favour & B)ensure continuity of repeat business in the future?

The reality of this situation is that my customers saw me and my offer as cut-price and therefore inferior in some way. Whilst it was nice for them to use me when perhaps their budget didn’t run to a more expensive option they soon opted for the so called deluxe model when their business and their turnover grew?The cruel irony is my product was always far superior!......so todays lesson sizzlers is…..DONT EVER UNDERSELL YOURSELF !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

“Don’t downgrade your dream to match your reality.Upgrade your faith to match your destiny”. Mona Habesh