TO START CREATING YOUR SHIFT, LEAVE YOUR DETAILS BELOW.
The truth is that you already are what you are seeking.
In 2008, I woke up in a hospital bed after spinal surgery. Despite being on a high dose of pain medication, I suddenly had full, confronting clarity on how my life had got to that point.
There were a number of reasons I was in hospital.
The heavy and at times unsafe weight training I’d been doing had damaged my vertebrae.
I’d experienced a series of stressful events that had deeply affected my physical health and some of my relationships.
I had sold my successful property investment portfolio because I allowed fear about the ‘end of the property boom’ to feed into my psyche of self-sabotage – and my new investments failed. I went from having a successful investment portfolio and no mortgage, to having no investments and a big, chunky mortgage.
As I lay in my hospital bed, I could see how all these factors had crashed down on me. They crashed so hard, my back had literally given way and I needed spinal surgery.
I recalled what I had said so often to my kids:
‘Nothing is unachievable for you because you are amazing.’
I realised I hadn’t been listening to my own advice.
Fast forward to 2017. I became unwell again, physically and mentally. I caught a virus which led to Bell’s Palsy and became partially blind. For the few years prior, I’d spent varying amounts of time in high-profile leadership roles at different organisations and felt unfulfilled. I believe this illness was my body telling me I was not leading the life I was meant to lead.
My illness was a catalyst for personal change. For a long time, I’d wanted to set up my own business. But rather than empowering myself to achieve this goal, I spent my time empowering others. I set up my organisation and went from strength to strength. But as the business grew, I wasn’t making my health a priority and again, my body started to break down.
I realised I needed to create a Shift in my life.
I overhauled my diet, started to exercise every day and rewired the way I thought about, dealt with and managed work and life challenges.
It was a painful process. Shifts often aren’t easy. But they are always positive. After six months, I lost six belt holes and felt more able than I had for a long time.
This shift was not a single event – it is a continuous process that is now part of who I am.
To survive and thrive in this disruptive world, we need to create a shift – a shift in our way of thinking, living and leading.
Nowadays, we are in an age of major disruption to the domestic and global economy – to our ways of doing business. Leaders need to prepare and position their organisations for the future. This means creating a shift in thinking, a shift in approach to leadership and a shift in capability. A shift in themselves and their people.
I have spent more than 20 years in leadership roles, delivering organisational development programs and leading transformational change. I’ve built teams from the ground up that had the capability to deliver programs competently and safely, often in short timeframes and high risk environments.
I have also spent more than 20 years developing my private investment portfolio, and I rebuilt it over the last decade during dynamic changes in the economy and housing market.
I learned to create my SHIFT over a decade of challenge and change. Change in business, in the economy, and in my own health and wellbeing. Through this, I developed ways of managing change that I believe can be useful and helpful for others to use as they journey through their own change.
I work with CEOs and C-Suite teams who want to transform themselves and their organisations. I coach and mentor them to create their shift and build trust in their business and their leadership, create a monopoly in their industry, and increase their revenue ten-fold.
In 2020, I published my first book, Create the Shift – Book 1: You. This is first of 4 books that will help leaders and businesses manage change at every level and ensure every person is competent, skilled and safe. I also speak at conferences and events across Australia and the Asia Pacific region.
I am also the CEO of The Deering Group, Australia’s leading experts in large organisational transformational capability and change programs in the resource industry. An innovative and forward-thinking group of experts, my team and I have delivered programs to organisations and teams across Australia.
I work with people who are ready to create their shift. I have criteria for the people I work with in this way:
- You need to be willing to go on this journey and recognise that best is the enemy of better. There is opportunity to be a better version of you. We will go there.
- We need to connect so I can support you through your shift. We don’t have to be mates but it is important that trust and relationship can form to enable this work to have all the powerful outcomes it can.
- I only work with people where I can add value to where you want to head and what you want to achieve. I
- I don’t dance. I believe life is too short and your time too valuable to dance around the work that needs to be done.
- I strive for excellence. Our work is to continually strive for better. Best is the enemy of better so if you think you are already the best version of you
- You need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Some interesting highlights…
- I scaled a team from 0-90 people in 24 months while still delivering all milestones for a mega project capability readiness and an organisation ongoing assurance need.
- I started my business, The Deering Group, during the oil slump of 2016 and successfully grew it within 18 months from 1 to 12 staff while delivering 5-fold growth in both turnover and profitability.
- I recovered from Bell’s Palsy and regained my health – and my sight.