Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be an author?

Do you have a story to tell? …a story to pass on to future generations?

Does the thought of writing a book feel a little scary?

What if you don’t tell your story?

Is there someone else who would tell your story for you? Or will it leave with you when you leave? Perhaps your story can shed light on an event that, if told from your perspective, could change how we view it. Maybe you have a story told to you by your mother as her mother passed it down. Is it your turn to pass the story along? If you don’t share the story, will the sharing of the story stop with you?

Where do stories come from? Think about stories that originate with Grandma’s recipe books, papa’s bedtime stories, your father’s memoirs, your journey in search of uncovering a hidden truth, or the novel you started to write in your teens, and it is still in that old shoe box.

Your audience can be any age group speaking in any language on any continent.

Think about all the books you have read throughout your lifetime. What if the authors had never written them?

Is there room in the world for your story?

Do you think that your story may not be important? How important is a story? A story can change lives.

Are there stories you read as a child that still stand out in your memory today? Whether you grew up with Dr. Seuss books or Superman comic books, the fact that someone took the time to create characters and share them with you in print offered entertainment that you could capture over and over again. All you had to do was open the book and enter their world. Taking a giant step forward in time, we meet Harry Potter, for one, and Shrek, for another. And there has been an assortment of memorable characters between then and now, not to mention the thousands of movies with stories to tell.

Whether you are young or younger, whether you feel good about your writing or not, whether your story is fiction or nonfiction and whether you can write a sentence or not, your story matters. There are so many ways today to address any shortcomings you may think you have when it comes to getting your story out there.

Is there room in the world for your story? Why wouldn’t there be room?

Does your book have to be a story?

Your book can be fiction or non-fiction. It can be as a story or as wisdom shared or as lessons learned. One of the books that I had fun writing was Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise. I am a huge fan of Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare. It is so incredibly rich with metaphors. The lessons I culled from that original story will apply for centuries to come.

May I challenge you?

Do you feel called to write? I will not challenge you to a seven-day writing exercise or one of those 50,000 words in a month marathon, but I will challenge you to consider the potential importance of the influence of your words.

What helps? Feeling inspired to write. I want you to bring the full weight of your enthusiasm to the project.

There are many who thirst for new knowledge or for the next best-selling fictional thriller by a favourite author. Could that author-in-demand be you?

I often hear words from writers who want to be authors: "I have no idea where to start.” Working with a reputable manuscript coach eliminates the guesswork and gets you on track to write with purpose and by design.

If you have a business, you should have a book. It gives you credibility. It gives you authority. Taking the time to write the book speaks to the level of commitment you are prepared to make to see a project through.

Having your own book makes a difference. How do I know? I launched my business with the release of my first book.

How important is it for you to have your own book? What would having your own book do for you?

Donna Dahl, M. Ed., is more than an empowerment coach. She is a leading executive strategist and catalyst for change, working with leaders, teams, employees, and entrepreneurs. Through her neuroscience-based approach, she is well-poised to disseminate skill development, empowerment, and engagement. Her award-winning track record speaks for itself. She is the author of Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, a five-star rated book designed to gently challenge the reader to consider a change. She welcomes opportunities to discuss your challenges. Check out her profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnadahl/

There is Ground School for pilots in training, so could there be Ground School for geese? Is there even such a thing?

I enjoy being a student of the unexpected. I never know where the next gem of insight will show up. What I am about to share with you is something I learned on the fly . . .  pardon the pun.

I have learned that being open to the gifts that may arrive suddenly and by surprise provides space for opportunities to present themselves. On this particular occasion, I found myself drawn to watch the activity of a group of young geese.

I was having a game of golf and at the fifth hole was a pond of water longer than it was wide. I could not help but notice the considerable number of geese in the water.

“That’s rather odd,” I thought to myself. This did not look like one of those times when the parents of this year’s goslings were out for a swim with their brood. It appeared that all the geese, save for one, looked to be about the same size and likely about the same age.

After a little study, I noted that this was a flock of young geese appearing to be swimming in unison . . . well . . . more or less in unison . . . moving across the length of water. Some of the geese were fast, some were slow, and some needed extra time to get upright in the water after performing unintended head-over-heel style flips. Sound interesting? The synchrony of the geese swimming together . . . or trying to…caught our attention so much so that we joined the pairs of spectator geese that had now gathered around the pond, and we watched.

Without warning and without so much as a whisper, something interrupted the geese in the water. The geese began to gather at one end of the pond and then began to make their way across the pond to the other end. They appeared to be following an older lead goose and imitating what the lead goose was doing.

When moving in one direction, they seemed to be floating like hovercraft without moving their wings or creating a ripple in the water. When they arrived at the pond’s edge, some would simply turn around in preparation to go back the way they came. Some would attempt underwater somersaults . . . where . . . more often than not . . . they would tip over sideways, scrambling to keep their bodies upright with their feet in the water. It was funny to watch them trying to carve out a space for themselves . . . not unlike trying to make a space for yourself in a crowded tai chi class.

When the geese were in position in the water and comfortably separated back at the original end of the pond, the leader began flapping his wings and making noise until they were all following along. Then the class began to move across the water with feet propelling them as though they were getting ready to walk on water. When the lead goose reached the other end of the pond, the flapping stopped. The bodies of the goslings settled into the water as they simultaneously turned around and headed back to the other side of the pond in preparation to repeat the exercise. This carried on several times.

From where I was standing, it felt like I was on the observation deck during Goose Ground School training exercises. After all, a few minutes of distraction from playing golf couldn’t hurt.

It became apparent that there was only one explanation for what we saw. This had to be Goose Ground School. The geese born this year were being groomed for their long-haul flight. They were being trained in important goose migration skills like formation take-off, wind-direction assessment and wing muscle-mass development. When the instructor goose leading the pack thought the students had had enough practice for one day, flight class abruptly ended with all the young geese stepping out of the water to join their parents for grazing snacks.

I wish I had had my phone with me so I could have recorded the whole event. How many times have you said, “I wish I had . . .” or “I wish I would have . . .?”

It takes a particular mindset to be open to observing the gift or receiving the information that appears in only that one single moment. Being able to attend a lesson at Goose Ground School that day was an unexpected pleasure. No one minded that we took a few extra minutes at Hole Five to savor the sight.

What does Goose Ground School have to do with getting your business off the ground? For me, it all boils down to an attitude of being open to receiving unexpected gifts that may show up from time to time. Sometimes those gifts are in the form of opportunities happening right before our eyes. We have but to pay attention.

Opportunities to do business are everywhere. Sometimes you simply have to get in the water. Sometimes you have to take flight lessons to get your business off the ground . . . and sometimes you find ways to delegate certain tasks to others who are experts at what they do and who can lighten your load.

Sometimes in business and in life . . . that’s all it takes . . . a consultant, an expert, a teacher, a mentor, a coach—someone who will share their experience and enrich our abilities to take advantage of life’s unexpected gifts and achieve success.

By Donna Dahl

Donna Dahl, M. Ed., MNLP, is a leading executive strategist and catalyst for change. Through her neuroscience-based coaching, she is well-poised to disseminate skill development, empowerment, and engagement. Donna has an award-winning track record, and she is the author of Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, a five-star rated book designed to challenge the reader to consider mindful change.  She welcomes discovery calls.

The definition of leadership is “The action of leading a group of people or an organization” Leading is primarily based on the skills and knowledge of the leader. 

I've always considered myself a leader.  The first to step up, I don't shy away from a challenge. I help others in need of guidance or offer suggestions for an approach to a task or problem. As an extrovert, this comes naturally but there are those who find leading a challenge. Sometimes as a leader, we need to know when not to be the one to be the first to jump up, speak, or raise our hand. 

I had the opportunity to lead and manage people early in my career.  To be honest I wasn't very good at it at that time. I had not realized that I couldn’t make people do things my way or bully them into it.  I had to leave them to determine their own path to achieving tasks.  Demanding just did not work, and as a result, I was not a very effective sales manager.    It was somewhat like leading a horse to water and trying to make it drink, and we all know how that turns out.  It did show me that I could use my leadership skills in other ways.  Thankfully, I learned through experience better ways to lead a team. 

What is Leadership

Part of leading is letting others find their own way.  Leadership isn't about being the smartest person in the room.  Successful leaders listen to their team and guide them towards achieving results.  Brian Scudamore Founder and CEO of OE2 Brands, https://www.o2ebrands.com/about-us posted about the growth of his company is guided by three leadership principles;

• Accountability—to each other and our contributions.
• Collaboration—working together, harnessing the power within our system.
• Innovation—perpetually challenging the status quo.

With the success of Brian’s business, you can see that it works.  It is an excellent foundation for any leader or manager.  This approach is like the Wardell philosophy and management strategy leading your team with the following factors.

• Accountability -Ensure staff have a commitment to a proposed result
• Authority - Empowering team members, with the ability to make decisions necessary to complete a task autonomously
• Responsibility - Assurance that the work that needs to be done will get done according to plan.

We liken these three key factors to a three-legged stool.  If you cut one of the legs the stool will fall over unless someone else is holding it up.  It is best to support your team, but not do the work for them.   Leaders must give up control to let others flourish.  Applying this management strategy provides employees with the ability to do their work and move the company forward.

Team Members

Confidence in yourself and your abilities as a leader along with confidence in your team when you empower them with this strategy is the best way to have your vision come to life.   Finding team members that share your values and support your vision and mission, is key to the growth of a company.  Your mission is the reason for the existence of your business.  Sharing it provides a solid statement that the team can all get behind and push forward.

“Be the leader you wish you had”, one of my favorite quotes from Simon Sinek says it all.  Are you the leader you wish you had?

Click to Discover Free Leadership Tools

https://bit.ly/FreeWardellBizTools

Overall, health and fitness always played a part in Michelle’s life and continue to be part of her consulting approach today, differentiating her from others in the industry. Michelle guides business owners to develop a self-sustaining business, generate more revenue, and take back time to do things that excite them!

Raised by a strong, independent single mother, Michelle’s vision and values were instilled early. Michelle’s entrepreneurial journey started in the 90s in event planning and speaking. In addition to Michelle’s over 30-year Corporate career in Media, Logistics and Financial Services, her passions shaped Michelle’s experience, providing innumerable opportunities to give back as a volunteer.

Passionate about making a difference, Michelle is on a philanthropic foundation, “Board of Advisors,” building sustainable schools in developing countries and supporting Digital Samurai’s efforts, an entrepreneur focused on reducing youth unemployment in Africa through apprenticeships.

Michelle’s 35 years as an Account Executive spanned credit card processing and financial services, transportation, logistics, media, and consulting, with many projects including managing consultative alliances, live event management, and sales team leadership. In 2021 Michelle completed Wardell International Advisor training and had recently undertaken S.O.S. Sales Objection System group training with renowned trainer Joe Marcoux. Her career and entrepreneurial ambitions have taken Michelle outside Canada, providing extensive experience in multiple markets in North America and beyond.

You can find Michelle Ricketts on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/michellericketts 

Cheryl Erickson for CIBN

Overwhelmed and Stressed

Lack of Money

It wasn’t that long ago I was working 16+ hours, seven days a week, wishing I had help and definitely “needing” to find more money. I did not realize that my lack of money thoughts affected my abilities, confidence, and other areas. It just added to the pressure, and I made more mistakes. I know I need to focus on my clients, marketing and sales, or there is no business. It sounds strange since that is what I do for others. But focusing on lack of money was the only reason that prevented me from getting help.

Make Changes

Once I realized that I needed to change my focus from lack to having money flow freely towards me, I started to think differently, and my business changed.

No miracle happened where I had the money come to me, but adjusting my living expenses to accommodate an assistant allowed me to focus on what matters with my business so the money would flow freely.

Good Things Happened

I have been able to get the final part of my business up, more time for marketing and sales, and some me-time, which is very important for maintaining good health. If I am unhealthy, my business will be too. Best of all, my confidence grew, and I got my reasoning back for doing the things I do—this business isn’t about me.

When looking for an assistant, I had to ensure my values and standards were a part of it. I wanted to help someone starting out and hopefully from my networking groups. I knew this meant I would pay a bit more, but having that connection has other benefits.

Has the sacrifice been worth it? At this time, definitely. Time will tell if I do have the right individual, but I won’t go back to carrying the entire load myself.

Cheryl Erickson

Imagine having your emails/calendar handled efficiently, a professional presentation, and business-wide assistance.

As an Executive Assistant and Professional Organizer, Cheryl helps individuals protect and grow their business efficiently. With her broad range of skills and high standards, she is ready to handle the details freeing up your time.

Cheryl Erickson
Website: https://cherylerickson.ca
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/visionary-business-organizer/

What Is The Size Of Your Heart?

Lesson Learned:   Small groups can really pay off!

In my early days of networking, I volunteered to host a group that was taking place about two hours drive away from my house. I had to get up very early and drive on a remote country highway to get there.  In retrospect it was not the wisest decision that I ever made. The group started at 7:30 a.m. and I'm not a morning person so I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to this. I guess I was so desperate for new business I was willing to do just about anything.

Once a month on a Thursday morning, I would get up before the roosters at 5 o'clock and I would sing to myself on the drive there so I wouldn't sound like a frog that was choking on hair balls when I started to speak. I even considered taking my coffee intravenously while I was sleeping to give me an edge. If you can imagine a stunned and grumpy woman trying to think through the fog, you may be starting to understand the obstacle course I had created for myself.

One morning in February I woke up earlier than usual to discover that a raging snowstorm was delivering the angriest of tantrums. There was a good two feet of snow on the ground already and it was coming down sideways in 3 inch chunks. I thought about not going very seriously, but I was the organizer and I was worried about my reputation, so I didn't want blow off my obligations even if it meant I might blow off the road. There was no way to send out a message to everybody to cancel the meeting because nobody was going to get that message so early in the morning. I reluctantly put on my heaviest sasquatch fur coat and trudged out into the blizzard to scrape the mountain from my car, and pry the frozen doors loose before I could even begin.

The drive there took an hour longer than usual and I arrived 15 minutes late with white knuckles and PTSD. I had been so ridiculously concerned that people might show up and not have my precious leadership, when in reality I was just overly invested. Imagine my horror to discover there were only four people in total who had braved the elements.

Of course my heart sank. One of the other four was another organizer, and I already knew that he was not going to be my client. I desperately needed new business. Finances were so tight that I did not even have the gas to spare. It would have been easy to sink into anxiety and to focus all of my energy on the negative. We could have even just sat around complaining about all the people who were supposed to be there that did not bother to show up. It's a good thing that I'm just not that person. I always try to focus on the positive, and besides the other organizer was a mentor of mine, so I had to keep my chin up.

The positive of this story is that we had four people who were basically locked in together for many hours with no place to go. We got to drink all of the coffee and eat all of the donuts ourselves.  We also had way more meaningful conversations then normally would be had at any networking meeting.

We were able to talk more extensively about the services that we could provide each other. We were able to tell stories, and give examples. In those days I was selling online marketing services, and this was a great environment for me to share the outcomes of previous clients. Within a couple of hours two of the attendees signed up for my services. Then one of them had the idea to call a friend of theirs who only lived a couple of blocks away. They surmised that this person was likely snowed in and possibly would be willing to walk over to where we were.

As it turned out, their friend was indeed willing to trek through the snow. They were stuck at home bored with themselves. In total I was able to write $70000 worth of annual business that morning.

Imagine if I had stayed home and gone back to bed!

More importantly I learned a valuable lesson that day and I have never forgotten it. Many times I have heard people complain that a networking meeting had too few participants. Many times have I heard people talk about how they prefer only large networking meetings. These people do not know the lesson that I learned that day.

The size of the meeting does not matter. It is the bigness of your attitude that will win out in every circumstance. I kept my attitude in a good and happy place, and I was therefore positioned to capitalize from the experience. I did not give up. I kept going. It was the size of my heart that made this a success, not the size of the meeting.

This is a lesson that has served me well in networking and as an entrepreneur.

What is the size of your heart?

Do you truly have a heart for networking?

Kerry George
CEO, CIBN Connect

As the CEO at CIBN Connect, Kerry George inspires business owners with vision and passion and allows them to thrive in every circumstance.

Kerry is a professional networker who has attended over 6000 networking meetings and has been a keynote speaker for hundreds of online and live events.

As you can imagine, a few things have gone wrong in running that many events. Kerry always keeps a sense of humor during the chaos, which has allowed her to continuously be in good spirits to help other entrepreneurs work through their stuff.

Our Founding Member, Barbara Hemphill, shares her 3 strategies for how to thrive during this Pandemic:

Barbara began her career in the organizing industry in 1978 with a $7 ad in a New York City newspaper. Often referred to as the "Paper Tiger Lady" from her bestselling book Taming the Paper Tiger, she founded the Productive Environment Institute to train and certify consultants in her unique organizing methodology.

Barbara's most recent book, Less Clutter More Life, reveals that physical and digital clutter is emotional and spiritual clutter symptoms. The most common question she gets is, "Where do I start?" The first step to go from Overwhelmed to Optimized is an Assessment — she invites you to visit www.ProductiveEnvironment.com to get your Productive Environment Score in less than 5 minutes.

You can also locate Barbara on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin/in/barbarahemphill/ or her website at https://barbarahemphill.com/

Learn about how and why one of our members, Michelle Ricketts, started her business amongst a Pandemic:

"Having been in the corporate world for 30+ years in three different industries and had the opportunity to be downsized, resized, or released 3 times in my career, what do you do during a pandemic? Why launch a full-time business, of course! Well, let me start from the beginning and take you back a few years. I've always loved my career as an Account Executive, primarily sales-focused, but I've got to admit I was never the best salesperson. Still, I was great at working with my clients, guiding them to align with what they needed and what we offered, relationship-building to move forward. One of my colleagues once said I was “like a dog with a bone.” I saw things through to the end, so I had longevity in my career.

Then, with the opportunity to be resized again I didn't want to go back into the corporate world. Every bone in my body told me I needed to do something different, but I was still searching for where I could add more value. After coordinating my "3day Weekend Lifestyle" event series in 2017-2018, for entrepreneurs to use the expertise of various successful business owners, I wanted to take that concept further. It was time to listen to the universe and do my own thing. I sought an expert who I had been introduced to 16 years earlier, and I embarked on a journey to launch my business spring 2020. Yes, we were in a pandemic, which is why using Wardell International’s Value Program, absolutely made sense.

Now is when business owners need what Mark Wardell spent the last 20 years developing and implementing, with thousands of clients in 15 countries. Not a single Wardell client has gone out of business during this challenging time. They have survived, some have even thrived by pivoting to meet the moment. This is primarily due to the self-sustaining, strong foundation the Wardell system has helped them build. In our mastermind format, we use the collective expertise of the group, but we also bring the Wardell perspective to the table. We provide education and tools for clients to build, systemize, strategize and scale their business while increasing profitability and value. We have been able to help business owners get clear on one thing, and one thing only… no process, no profits! The money is in the Systems! Some owners think they don't have systems, but whether you sell widgets or watermelon, McDonald's or Microsoft, everyone needs processes and systems. That is how small companies grow into large, profitable corporations. Everyone is a small corporation just waiting to grow.

We start clients with our “Business Strength Test” so they can understand where they are now. Then we work on four stages, and six key areas of business, helping owners understand that processes and systems directly impact their bottom line. We have found clients see early success as they work through our Process to Profits (P2P) success formula, part of our Value Program.

When people ask me if I am crazy starting a business during a pandemic, I say, “Of course not, in times of great upheaval, all things are possible! Entrepreneurs who see possibilities and take decisive action will succeed!” So, what do YOU see? Obstacles or Opportunities? Do you need to jump-start your business? Ask me how you can take advantage of the opportunities all around us."

Michelle Ricketts

Michelle's Mission transforms her client's business to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and do a happy dance regularly. 

Her services include building a business that contributes to the entrepreneur's personal and professional growth and even the growth of their adjacent communities.

Her focus is on growth, and community originates from childhood. Michelle was raised by a strong, independent, single mother who instilled the necessity of having a vision and strong values from an early age. These values shaped her experience, providing innumerable opportunities to give back to her community.

You can find Michelle Ricketts on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/michellericketts