Finding Proof with Dr Tess Crawley Dr Tess Crawley

Staffing stress? You’re not on your Pat Malone!

Many of you have recently brought on your first staff members, and I hear you. YOU. ARE. STRESSED.

Building a team can be a truly exciting and rewarding time in any business, but it often comes with traumatic growth on the part of the business owner. This isn’t because you’re a bad leader or a bad business owner …

You’re a great “technician” (skilled clinician, in the case of most of my clients), with no training on how to recruit and retain staff or how to build a great team culture.  You’re so great at what you do, that you’ve built a wonderful reputation and are now swamped with work. That’s why you’ve recruited staff to help out.

Trouble is, you can’t sustain your usual work load AND manage your team. Something’s gotta give!

And that triggers fear. Big time.

Clients mean dollars. Fewer clients means fewer dollars. How will you afford to reduce your client load so you can support your team?

What if I told you that most of my business coaching clients move from this state of fear and end up in a place where they not only see fewer clients themselves, but their practices generate MORE revenue to support business sustainability?

What if I also told you that a mark of a successful business is when the business owner is paid a salary but is not the primary source of revenue?

These are things we’re not taught how to do at uni.

I remember my early days of practice ownership, bumbling about in the dark, figuring it all out by trial and error (or more accurately, error and error!). I’ve gone from traumatic growth to consolidated stability to strategic growth over the years.

It’s no accident that my clinic’s team culture was recognised as a finalist in the Allied Health Awards last year. Or that we’ve been awarded contracts worth over a million dollars.

Team culture, team stability, and team ambassadors all feed into business success and reduce burnout risk for you and your team … And it’s all achievable, without having to resort to dark magic!

I’m running some training on exactly these concepts … And here’s where you can find out all about it:  https://bit.ly/NurtureCourseInfo

Remember, we all learn how to do this, hopefully you’ll avoid some of the mistakes I made early on!

Much love,

Tess x

Why exactly am I so excited? Well some of it is a secret for now, but here’s what I can tell you … EXCITING NEWS! In addition to new online courses (announcement coming next week), I’m putting together a series of in-person events in Melbourne!

It’s been such an incredibly long time since I’ve been able to run workshops, and I can’t wait to get back into that space again.  I’m planning something incredibly spoiling … think stunning views, expert catering, and a whole day of indulgence (which is how I think of time spent working ON our businesses instead of IN our businesses).  If you keep your eye out, you might see a sneak peak of the venue when I inspect it next Wednesday!

What’s coming? … Workshops and working days … I’m planning at least a couple of events for the second half of this year. At least one will be a training day (think CEO Mindset on steroids) and at least one will be a working day (think No Quarter on speed!). They’ll be priced at around the $440 per head mark for a one-day event, and $880 for a two-day event. There’ll be a maximum of 20 people per event. 

SO … if you’d like to be added to the waitlist for these events (I know you want all the details, be patient!), shoot a little email to my assistants Jess & Josie (hello@tesscrawley.com.au) to be first in line for a place at the table (literally) … we’ll add you to the priority list once all the details are on hand. I am genuinely so excited to be back in the room with you (and to meet some of you for the first time). The very thought of it makes my heart sing! 

Much love,

Tess x

This week I’ve been speaking about this with my Like A Boss members (in BIG detail) and also introduced the concept to my No Quarter members. The key issues everyone is weighed down by seem to be: (i) A need to work “smarter-not-harder” after our past brutal couple of years; (ii) The need for several changes to how their businesses function in order to achieve this (time management, fee structure, recruitment, etc); and then (iii) complete overwhelm at how much work needs to be done with so little time and energy.  

But here’s what’s a given … no one will achieve anything if their diary doesn’t have dedicated time set aside each week for them to work on these things. Hence the diary reshape. And that triggers a cascade of fear: 

What if I can’t afford to take that time away from income generation? (Cue: fee structure discussion) 

What if my clients can’t get their preferred appointment time if I take time away from client work? (Cue: discuss guilt-induced over-availability)

What if my team think I’m slack for not seeing enough clients? (Cue: discuss the role of being the boss)

Most business issues can be addressed in an orderly structure fashion when we have time to focus on them. But time doesn’t grow on trees. We need to TAKE it. We need to make it happen.  So, have a look at your typical week. Identify how many hats you wear each week (business owner, client service provider, partner, parent, etc) and make sure there is a structure within your diary to support you to reliably be able to know which hat you’ll be wearing when, AND when you’ll reliably have time to work on your business (and no, NOT at 11:00 at night or on weekends!).  Meanwhile, please be gentle on yourself. Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Much love, Tess x

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What’s it like to be a member of Like A Boss?

Well, for starters the retreats are just magic - so much work ON your business, so much support, so much problem solving! This is Day Two of our current retreat, and this one’s a hybrid with some members on-site and some members zooming in. And it’s still magic!
I’m only admitting ONE more member to this special group this year, so if you’ve been thinking about taking the plunge and joining us, now's the time to reach out. Visit https://bit.ly/LikeABossInfo for more details, or send me a message, I’m happy to answer all your questions.  

Tin tacks:
-12 month program
-$3,300 a month
-Extreme level of support (1:1 and group)
-Personal valet service from my assistants
-Four retreats a year (including MidWinter Retreat)
-Regular training sessions
-Access to all my stuff and all my people!  

Would love to have you on board!

You already know what works to put you into a better frame of mind.

Do more of that.

And if you can’t find motivation, override it and take opposite action.

* Don’t feel like walking? Go anyway.

* Not in the mood to talk to anyone? Call a friend.

* Feeling miserable? Watch a movie that always makes you laugh.

You get the idea.

You know what works for you. It’s just that sometimes we just can’t be arsed, right?

Decide. Then do.

Best wishes,

Tess x

p.s. If you need help with your mental health, my team at The Crawley Clinic (Melbourne and Launceston) can help - www.thecrawleyclinic.com.au - as can our colleagues at Crawley House - www.crawleyhouse.com.au

One of the main stressors in modern life is not having enough hours in the day. Trying to juggle working from home and remote learning for those of us in lockdown magnifies the problem. It stirs up the background noise of stress around getting things done at all (let alone on time).

How’s your email inbox looking?

What about your bills?

How are you juggling remote schooling?

I find the biggest time bandits in my day are common to most people:

* Distraction (including constant interruptions)

* Procrastination (including social media)

* Perfectionism (not getting anything finished unless it’s “good enough”, or not starting because it “can’t” be good enough)

* Overwhelm (too much to do, no idea where to start)

What to do?

Use apps to simplify your day AND remove any apps from your line of sight that will interrupt your flow

* Electronic shopping lists

* Voice messaging and voice-to-text apps

* “Hide” interrupting apps (social media, email, etc) off the front page of your phone (in a folder is best) … even better, remove them from your phone completely if you’re brave

* Use Google plug-ins like the Facebook “newsfeed eradicator” so you can’t doom scroll when you’re working

* Pomodoro apps like “Focus” to keep you focused (cos there’s nothing like a deadline, right!)

Structure your week into blocks so you can be focussed on certain things on certain days (this is my absolute sanity saver). Make sure you add uninterruptible time. I have a day each week where nothing is allowed to be booked in, so I’m free to think, plan, focus, or even (gasp) take a day off.

Take control of your time in simple ways to feel organised and less overwhelmed. This will help you balance your time at work and at home … even in lockdown!

Best wishes,

Tess x

p.s. If you need help with your mental health, my team at The Crawley Clinic (Melbourne and Launceston) can help - www.thecrawleyclinic.com.au - as can our colleagues at Crawley House - www.crawleyhouse.com.au