BIG DREAMS
GREAT TEAMS PODCAST
with your host
Paula Maidens
PODCASTS
As Paula shifts into reflection mode for 2023, she shares in this episode three common lessons that emerged across her clients throughout the year. You’ll be able to listen and reflect on your own leadership and take nuggets of wisdom for yourself into 2024.
Before you dive into that well-deserved Christmas break, I’m sharing a simple yet impactful strategy to elevate your team's performance ready to kick off 2024!
And that is... by having an effective end-of-year catch-up with each of your team members.
In todays’ podcast episode, we delve into the art of how to have that conversation and how to make it meaningful, spark motivation and retention and you’ll learn the 5 strategic questions to ask to unlock the insights you need to enhance performance and kick off a successful 2024.
In this episode of the Big Dreams Great Teams ™ , I am joined by Bonny Marsh, a multi-passionate entrepreneur, and the co-founder of Truii, a Brisbane-based technology and consulting company that creates data-driven web applications. She is also a Speech Pathologist, Mother of four, and mentor to mothers. In this candidate behind-the-scenes share, we discuss Bonny's experience of running their hybrid team of 12 staff, the challenges and practicalities of their family-friendly ethos, and the various evolutions they've faced growing to a $ 2 million plus revenue business - that is continuing to grow rapidly.
In this week's podcast episode on the Big Dreams Great Teams™ Podcast, I'm revealing the 7 Priceless Truths that my Private Clients discover when they work with me. These gems are from my 17-year journey in the industry, working with businesses of all sizes on hiring, growth and team development.
In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, we dive into the vital distinction between Expectations and Inspections. High expectations are common, but true success lies in actively Inspecting and monitoring progress, particularly in business and team management.
In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, I interview Dr Lutza Ireland (Autistic/ADHD/she/her) a psychologist, multi award winning designer, researcher and international speaker who is passionate about neuro-inclusion. In this episode Dr Lutza shares best practices for neuro-inclusive workplaces including universal design principles, focusing on clarity, collaboration, and effective tool usage.
In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, I finish off my two-part series on the essential elements of building a lean team in your business. I share the last two critical strategies and elements that you need to have in place; effective time management and prioritisation. Today I share some examples of areas you can assess to see how effective time management is within your business, as it is a pivotal element in making your team a well-oiled machine.
In today’s episode, I kick off a two-part series on the essential elements of building a lean team in your business. Having a lean team is not only about minimising your costs, but is also about optimising efficiency to maximise returns with your existing team. Whether you're an emerging entrepreneur or an experienced business owner, the insights I share will prove invaluable in enhancing your team's effectiveness.
In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, I am joined by Tracey Mylecharane, an unconventional business lawyer who delivers confidence to small business owners. Tracey founded her business with an empower ethos and a commitment to educate and empower small business owners to back themselves, legally. Today, we discuss the legal side of hiring people and having a team in your business.
In today’s episode, I delve into the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and how you can use it in relation to your team. I talk about the ways in which AI can simplify your hiring and team management processes, and I provide some valuable insights and recommendations on how to use AI in your business.
In this episode, I am joined by a great friend and previous client of mine, Jazze Jervis. Jazze is an entrepreneur, investor, and seven-figure business coach. Today, we go behind the scenes of her incredible business to gain some insight into how she works with her Online Business Manager (OBM) and team. Together, Jazze and her OBM have built a powerful team that operates with autonomy and efficiency.
In today’s episode, I talk about how to have difficult conversations with someone on your team and share 10 of my top tips with you. One of the most common questions I get asked by current and potential clients is how to have difficult conversations, as for most leaders this skill does not come naturally. Having difficult conversations is something that needs to be practiced and learned time and time again. I know that difficult conversations can be challenging for you as you grow and scale your business and in this episode, I share some valuable insights and tips on how you can make difficult conversations feel totally normal.
In today’s episode of Big Dreams Great Teams™, I am joined by the inspiring Jenny Stilwell, author of The 7% Club. Jenny sheds light on the challenges faced by businesses as they aim to grow their revenue beyond 2 million dollars, with only 7% of Australian businesses achieving this milestone. We delve into the complexities that arise during business growth and share some valuable insights on how to overcome common obstacles many entrepreneurs face growing and scaling their business.
In this episode, I delve into an important aspect and topic of business; how to build business sustainability into your team. I dive deep into this common challenge many entrepreneurs face, which is being over-reliant on key team members. I talk about how you should have established systems and processes in place that ensure your business's continuity, regardless of individual circumstances.
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.
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.
