BIG DREAMS
GREAT TEAMS PODCAST
with your host
Paula Maidens
PODCASTS
In today’s episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, I am joined by Amy Dawe, founder of Seed Virtual Assistants. Amy is a mentor to many Virtual Assistants (VA) around Australia helping them leverage their unique strengths to launch, grow and scale their business, and is committed to educating and supporting businesses to understand the power of outsourcing. Today we dive deep into the world of Virtual Assistants, and the incredible value and support they can bring to your business.
In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, I delve into the balance between flexibility and structure when it comes to your team. These days, it is really common for businesses to offer flexible working arrangements for both employees and contractors. I talk about how you can make flexible working arrangements work for you, and some of the things to look out for to set your business up for success.
Today’s episode is about staying in control of your business while not staying involved. Have you ever considered if you are a bottleneck in your business? I talk about what this concept means and share some real-life examples to help you understand where this might be happening in your business and some steps on how you can effectively work with your team.
In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, I share my top five leadership traits with you. These leadership traits are ones that I see demonstrated by the best-performing leaders, with the best-performing teams
A few weeks ago, I had a really busy week which made me reflect and think about whether I had set myself and my business up for success, by allowing and planning for space. In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, I reflect upon how I have structured my business and share some reasons why as entrepreneurs, we should be planning for space to support us in weeks when things don’t always go according to plan.
I am so excited to share today’s episode of the Big Dreams Great Teams podcast as I take you behind the scenes and share some of my end-of-financial-year reflections. Dive in with me as I share an overview of my accounts, profitability, revenue, and some of the highlights and lessons I have learned along the way.
Today I go behind the scenes with one of my wonderful clients, Sally Brindle, who owns Total Accounts, a business that provides full-service bookkeeping to small and medium businesses. Sally started Total Accounts 10 years ago and is extremely passionate about helping small businesses thrive. In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Sally and I explore the journey of leading her high multiple six-figure business, and some of the big shifts she has made over the last nine months since working together in both her business and her life.
In today’s episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, I am joined by CPA turned holistic health coach, Jaiana Francis. Jaiana is the Founder & CEO of Boss Babe Fitness Academy and today she talks with me about the challenges of being an entrepreneur growing and scaling a business and not letting our health and fitness journey fall by the wayside.
One of the most common questions I get asked by my clients and business friends is HOW to phrase giving somebody feedback. In today’s episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, I dive deep into this topic and start by discussing how giving feedback is an art, a skill and a science that can be learnt, as for many entrepreneurs it often does not come naturally. I share my three steps to giving useful and robust feedback so that you can get the results you are after with your team.
In today’s episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, I go behind the scenes with one of my incredible clients, Amy Sanders-Robbins, who owns Bespoke Family Lawyers, a family law practice based in Brisbane, QLD. Amy has been a family lawyer for 15 years and started running and managing her own practice five years ago. Today, Amy shares her story with us and tells me how she's evolved and transformed as an individual, and most importantly as a leader and business owner.
Something I notice that is really common with my clients is that when something goes wrong in their business, they try to immediately fix the symptom themselves, rather than taking the time to understand the cause or reason for the problem. When running your own business, it can be really normal that when you see a mistake or something that you don’t like, you jump right in and fix it, rather than pausing and asking why or how it happened.
In this episode I talk about how often I see the common mistake continually fixing the symptoms rather than the cause, and by only fixing the symptoms - it’s like putting a short term bandaid on the situation. Instead, you need to pause to understand the root cause of the problem and work out an effective way to address it and in this episode I explain to you how to know the difference and how to fix the right thing.
One of the big things that I work on with my clients is how they can design a business and team that truly suits them as an individual. So today I've invited Amy Lea onto the podcast to talk about working in coherence instead of hustle, and how understanding your human design can help streamline your life and your business.
Amy is an astrologer, Human Design consultant and somatic business coach who helps her clients uncover their true selves, lead with their strengths and create their most aligned and enriching lives. She also teaches Human Design and astrology to coaches, healers, practitioners and leaders who are looking to bring this transformational work to their own clients.
I recently spoke on the importance of doing a time audit in your business when it comes to managing your and your team’s time. Today, I go behind the scenes and share the surprising results I received from my own time audit. I dive into what I discovered, how my perspective has shifted and what I’m now committed to changing.
It’s true that many of us find joy in attempting to do it all ourselves, not only in our businesses but our personal lives as well. We get a kick out of feeling organised, but it’s important to take a step back and ask yourself some serious questions. Why am I choosing to spend time here? Does it have to be me? Is there another way?
A common struggle that many leaders and business owners face is knowing how to get the most value out of their people. Getting to a place where you are ready to hand over tasks and delegate to people on your team can feel like yet another thing on your growing to-do list. In today's episode, I’m taking you through some powerful ways to get maximum productivity and value out of people who are working on your team without the worry, guilt or stress that a lot of business owners carry. Delegation is challenging for a lot of leaders, but I encourage you to sit down and really invest the time to create this list and master plan. It might surprise you how much time and energy you can free up!
Creating effective systems or implementing change within your business has the potential to support you and your team in a powerful way. However, doing so can be such an overwhelming concept for busy entrepreneurs, that really nailing down our processes often falls by the wayside. Today I’m joined by Shauna Vassell, who shares her wisdom on improving your systems and processes to help you scale.
A conversation that often comes up with my clients and business friends is around the topic of expectations. How do you know if what you are asking is okay? And what is the difference between having high expectations and being unreasonable? In this episode, I dive into the difference between high and unreasonable expectations and share five areas to consider when determining if your expectations are reasonable or unreasonable.
Have you ever done a time audit in your business before? I know what you’re thinking - this sounds more than a little boring and there are way more exciting ways to spend the precious minutes of your day. But, I’m here to tell you why tracking where your and your team’s time is going will blow your mind and is an absolute MUST for your business. In today’s episode, I address three common challenges that my clients often talk about when it comes to managing their time, and recommend the practical tips and tools I’ve found have really helped get to the heart of these situations and take back control.
Change impacts different people in different ways, and it’s important to know how to deliver information in a way that supports anyone who may be affected by it. Today I’m joined by Mel Loy, who shares with us her top five tips to communicating change to your team effectively. Whether it’s to do with your people, operations, structure or services, change can be tricky to navigate. It can often be challenging to get everyone on board when it comes to implementing new ideas, and having a strategy in place to share new information to your team is vital. We talk about how being prepared and early in your communication will put you on the front foot and keep you in control of the narrative. We talk about owning the decisions we make, even when change is out of our control. Standing strong in your choices will squash any uncertainty that may arise, and reduce the anxiety it can bring to your team.
In today’s episode, I define micromanagement and aim to dispel some unhelpful myths about it only being a bad thing. Micromanaging is almost like a dirty word, and we generally strive to steer clear of leading in this way. But is micromanaging always a bad thing? When is it good, and when is it not? I share my thoughts on this topic and encourage you to examine your own definition of micromanagement. I also challenge you to reflect on the way you’re interacting with your team - are you boosting their productivity or hindering it? Finding the balance in how you lead your team is so important. Providing guidance to your employees, as well as the space to do their work, will allow you the freedom to focus on the things that are important to you.
Today I chat with the amazing Dr Heather Finley, a registered dietician and gut health specialist, about how your gut health may be affecting your performance at work and in life.
We talk about healthy gut bacteria and how it can prevent diseases and infection and how it can make us more resilient to stress - an extremely valuable asset for busy entrepreneurs!
If you haven’t thought about how your gut health may be affecting your productivity, I encourage you to be open and take in the valuable wisdom that Dr Heather Finley has to offer. We share some simple ideas you can use right away to easily create more variety in your life, and I hope that today’s episode will support you to take steps to enhance your performance as you grow your business.
Today we're talking about team values and how having a value statement plays a critical part in building a high performing team. Whether you’re a small business owner or a large corporate, defining your guiding principles is vital and will really support your team to meet and exceed your highest expectations.
In today’s episode, I get personal and give you another behind the scenes look into how I run my business. I share my process for re-hiring a key person, what my hiring mastery method is all about, and the 5 important recruitment lessons I have learnt over the years.
Today’s topic is leadership. In particular, what does a POWERFUL and GRACEFUL leader look like? How do you need to act and react to be both powerful and graceful? In this episode I talk about how to step up into power as a CEO and share 4 common leadership traits that prevent CEO’s leading with authentic power.
I give you a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on for me in my business. In particular, how I’m working through this really strong sense of being busy. I share the questions I’m asking myself to reflect on this state of busyness, and urge you to ask yourself these questions too if you’re in the thick of a busy business.
In today’s episode I’m gifting you, as entrepreneurs and business owners, my top 5 tips to hire right this year. Consider this your cheat sheet to bypass the hiring hassles and nail your choice when it comes to hiring your first (or next) team member. For your business to truly thrive, it’s critical to get your team right.
I’m thrilled to be speaking to the incredible Dr Kristy Goodwin, a digital wellbeing and productivity expert. She shares the top digital distractions all entrepreneurs are facing & practical suggestions for how we can implement digital boundaries, so you can feel less stressed, burnt out and kiss goodbye to the feeling of being ‘always on’.
I refreshed my earlier 11 lessons episode and am sharing my top 13 lessons on all things hiring, leadership, creating your dream team and general tips for being in business. From creating an ‘always improving’ culture to never underestimating the power of systems, I dive into the big lessons that have really made an impact on my life and business. I talk about using time wisely, the value of a great mentor, why specificity is the secret to success, and loads more.
Today’s episode is a recast of my super popular chat with the fabulous Melissa Froehlich. We discuss what to do when the operations side of your business feels heavy after the initial buzz of growing fades and overwhelm creeps in, as you're "too busy" juggling all the balls. It's the perfect time of year to revisit this important conversation so you checkin and reset to avoid the heaviness in 2023.
Leading a team well, innovating in business and getting the growth profit you desire, doesn’t come without the ability to look in the mirror and challenge yourself to be the best leader you can be - powerful and graceful as you lead your business and team. So in today’s episode I share the common challenges my clients experienced last year and the lesson in each of them.
As we settle into a new year, many entrepreneurs dream of finally creating a high performing, rockstar team to support them. Yet often hiring is left well past when it’s needed and rushed decisions are made - having far reaching impacts on their business. So in this episode I share the benefits of hiring strategically, and why hiring early provides the discipline needed to grow your business.
It’s that time of year when everyone is reflecting, planning & strategising. So I’m taking you behind the scenes of my own business & sharing my reflection process, including what’s working and where the opportunities to improve may be. This checkin process is super helpful to ensure your dream business is facilitating your dream life!
In today’s episode, I discuss how important it is to make your team members feel great about themselves and their work as they close out the year with you. I share the 5 key things you need to impart to your team before the holiday period so they are looking forward to returning in the new year.
Every entrepreneur & CEO running a business wants to maximise their time and feel a sense of space and flow. So when the team you’ve hired to support this goal isn’t cutting it, you start to ask the question - is it worth it? So I’m diving into the 2 best ways to get your time back and supercharge your team.
When it comes to hiring a team member, there are a lot of misconceptions around how to interview - what to say and more importantly, what not to say, how formal an interview should be, and is it ok to use the same interview questions across all of your roles? So in this episode I’m going to separate the myths from reality and prepare you for rock solid interviewing.
In today’s episode I chat with the amazing Dr. Krystal Connor, a life coach helping women ditch the status quo so they can thrive in business and life without stress, overwhelm and 24/7 hustle.We dive into how to live better, more fulfilling lives whilst chasing our big goals.
I chat with Tina Tower, an incredible 7 figure entrepreneur and business coach, author, mum and happy wife! We go behind the scenes for a raw conversation about team. With Tina’s latest mission to help 100 women build million dollar businesses by 2025, this is one conversation not to be missed.
You’ve hired your support team & finally you can relax into your genius zone without all the interruptions. But that’s not actually happening is it?! You’re still feeling interrupted and you’re wondering why your team isn’t just getting the job done. So I’m diving into four possible ways you may accidentally be limiting your team’s potential - and as a result, messing with your space and flow, and theirs too.
If listening to one entrepreneur and ex-corporate recruiter’s hiring tips is useful, let’s amplify the impact and try two! I chat with Mim Jenkinson, mother of two, planning-obsessed, multi-award-winning Business Mentor, Author, Podcaster and Course Creator, who I affectionately call the Digital Products Queen!
We all want effective, high performing teams working in our business. So I take you behind the scenes on the framework for my powerful team coaching, so you can get a sense of what might be missing in your team, especially if they're not feeling awesome right now. Tune in to learn about my 6 Pillars to Building Awesome Teams
As an entrepreneur & CEO the idea of hiring friends may seem like the perfect solution to needing instant business support from someone you trust. We’ve all fantasised about the fun to be had - office chats, bestie breaks & post work margs - but is it really as idyllic as it sounds? Dive in for the good, bad & ugly when it comes to hiring friends to support your business.
In this episode I share the reason most people hire the wrong people and how you can ensure as a CEO and entrepreneur that you don’t. So if you’ve found yourself asking “where are all the good people hiding”, made some less than amazing hires or you’re simply too scared or unsure where to start with hiring, this episode’s for you.
I'm sharing the secret to avoiding difficult conversations with your team. As a business entrepreneur and CEO managing a team, those awkward conversations often feel inevitable and like a thorn in your side. So if you have frustrations or resentment building about how someone on your team is performing, this episode is for you.
As entrepreneurs & CEOs we all want to hire A-Players. However, so many accept the status quo, always waiting for a ‘better time’ to hire. This happens in two ways - managing the workload yourself because it's easier or hiring ad hoc support & crossing your fingers. So in this ep, I cut through these limiting stories & share why they might be costing you.
When growing a team I often see people making fast hiring decisions to #getitdone, yet it often results in emotional or accidental hiring decisions that ultimately don’t work out. So in today’s episode, I discuss the difference between making a strategic hiring decision versus the emotional or accidental ones.
It’s easy to overlook how our beliefs and intentions influence how we operate in our role as leaders. Your beliefs and intentions show up in your hiring, delegating, rewarding, acknowledging, performance and communication - so it’s essential to check in and ensure they are working for you, not against you. Tune in to dial up both your leadership and your team’s productivity in no time.
If you’re a CEO or entrepreneur who is building your team and scaling your business, then this episode shares the kind of behind the scenes insight that is priceless. I chat with 7 figure entrepreneur, Sarah Parkinson, who has not only scaled her business from 9 to 22 team members, but also acquired two new businesses within the last 12 months. Listen in for all the juicy details so you can benefit from Sarah’s experience and minimise possible pitfalls for yourself.
If you feel disappointed or frustrated with the way someone on your team - or maybe your whole team - are performing, this episode is for you. I dive into the 4 different styles of management - and how and when you should shift in between these styles to bring out the best in each individual on your team.
I welcome back 7 fig business coach, Jazze Jervis to riff on all things investing in team, balancing profitability and why business is not one size fits all. Jazze believes we are here to take up space and not be confined by the boxes society can put us in and wants to empower more women to lead lives they not only desire, but deserve. So if you’re in need of a megadose of business truthbombs that will elevate your awareness and shift you into greater alignment, tune in.
You’ve taken the plunge, decided to hire & posted your ad. The anticipation for adding support & scaling your biz is high. You check the ad often, excited to see who applies. Yet…nothing. If this is relatable, you have no doubt asked “where are all the awesome people hiding” or “how do I get people to see my ad & apply?” This episode answers those questions & more, dive in.
As a busy entrepreneur, you’ve done #alltherightthings, hired support and yet it’s still feeling hard. It can leave you asking “is it me or them?” This is such a common question, so you’re not alone. In today’s ep I dive into the details of whether it is hard or if it’s simply normal and if so, what can you do about it.
I am going behind the scenes of my own hiring experiences from my time in business and as a leader in corporate, to share 4 big hiring lessons from my best and worst hires. These lessons will support you on your own entrepreneurial journey of learning how to hire great people who feel great to you. Learning to hire well is no mean feat so tune in for my tips so you can get strategic, prepared and arm yourself to make great decisions for your business.
In this episode, I answer the two most common questions I am asked - when is the right time to hire and how to hire well for success. So as business entrepreneurs, this short, powerful ep will answer these questions so you can avoid procrastinating on moving your business forward and avoid experiencing potential disasters from hiring too late.
Life (and business) might be easier if it came with a manual outlining the pitfalls to avoid & importantly, how to avoid them. We'd all love the insider secrets - especially when it comes to hiring and managing teams. So consider this ep your cheat’s guide to the most common mistakes made with teams & how you can absolutely avoid them.
If you’re tired feeling like your nervous system hits overdrive every time a notification pops up from your team…this episode is for you. It’s time to reset your nervous system and learn to navigate your team’s (and your) emotions from a place of solutions focused objectivity - drama free.
The third anniversary of my dear Dad passing away is coming up in August.
So this episode is a very raw personal share about how my 2 x businesses were managed during that 12 month period when I had to step away.Dive in to hear this heartfelt share from Paula.
I’m opening up my ‘recruitment diaries’ and sharing my most interesting, wacky, surprising, weird, funny experiences and the hiring and business lessons I have learned along the way, that have shaped my signature hiring process I now teach.
We all dream about hiring a unicorn to do #allthethings in our business. An instant solution to the juggle. #Truthbomb - Unicorn team members don’t exist. In this ep I’ll share why plus how to people-proof your business and elevate at the same time, no unicorn needed.
Scaling fast to 7 figures and finding the TEAM part tricky? Dive in to find out how you as the leader & CEO may be accidentally contributing to your team challenges and the actions you can take to help your team get into a flow that makes it feel easier for you both... ASAP.
If the idea of more peace, pleasure and ease on your entrepreneurial journey appeals, then this episode is for you. I chat with Ana Kinkela, a somatic business mentor and energetic alchemist for driven, visionary women. Ana supports women to heal the receiving wound with money and guides them to expand with nervous system business growth.
