Aimme Dover , CEO and founder of Larek Point consulting hosts a regular online livestream asking business leaders about their lives and processes to run great businesses and stay healthy. Her latest guest was Creative Approach CEO Cale Hall , who visited the show to talk about his processes and lifestyle.
We are excited to share what happened on this edition of the Dover Drive as it sheds some light on the thought processes and inner-workings of Creative Approach.
Here’s a partial transcript, and the video below, and a link to Aimme’s blog discussing the issues further:
Hall: Right now we are all learning this new normal and it seems there's a lot of fear out there, and fear means we've lost our connection. Online meetings do a little bit of our connecting but we're still looking for that physical feeling of when we get in front of each other … When you've got 50 people on the screen one person talks and there's no much interaction.
Dover: It's been great to be able to share the connections I've been blessed with, with people who are going through a lot. You mentioned something about online meetings and the connections there - that I really want to touch on. Generally, one tries to remove the emotions from business and show up as the best version of you - but when your life is turned upside down then you become a big ball of emotions … Are you seeing that?
Hall: I am. When you have this fear, then you have suffering. And if you don't transform suffering then you transmit it to others. I try to really relate to the team and everyone around me. You've got to take time for yourself and you've got to center and ground yourself. Or you're going to transmit those feelings to those around you. We all feel those fears and we should take the time to stop and spend time with yourself. I want to tell you this too: I've found the longer my day is the more I need to sit with myself and spend time with myself.
Dover: As business people, you tend to feel like the more you do the more productive you're going to be - but I love that you've said that. What do you do to help?
Hall: A lot of people know I wear mala beads. There's 108 beads on this strand and I wear them while I'm walking and I do them while I'm walking. If I feel something coming on during the day I'll pull them off and do them. And it's amazing how a bit of meditation and pause will help us. We've got to remember how the potential is always bigger than the actual problem.
“Spend time with yourself”
Dover: What does your morning routine look like? You run multiple businesses
, with multiple locations - affected by things happening to marketing and tourism. That means you're very busy. What do you do to go into battle every day?
Hall: It's funny you call it battle. It is somewhat. It's a daunting thing if I let myself think about it too much. I get up at 3 o'clock in the morning and sit with myself for 15 minutes, and I just sit. After that I go out to the belt-line and do an hour's walk with my beads. Each day I pick a new mantra. Then I sit for another 30 minutes. And I realize when I don't do that then everyone around me has a horrible day.
Dover: The transference of energy you mentioned earlier - that's true. People don't realize what level you are in a company, or your status among your friends and family. People don't realize that you are impacting so many other people on an exponential level. Control is elusive but having a sense of stability at least...-
Hall: Yes, especially us being so cooped up, it can be good to have space for yourself - not lonely, but alone. So when families, and I encourage my people and team, to make space for themselves so you can get yourself together and transform that suffering. Because it is suffering. Normally we'd love to not be at work and be at home - but when we're told we can't do anything else - it becomes like a prison!
Dover: So mindset is key? Re-framing the story that you tell yourself and that should transcend through the actions you have that day.
Personal Awareness
The biggest piece of advice for personal awareness and peace is to begin each day with a healthy routine. Do not waiver from it. There are three major components to a healthy morning routine.
- Meditation – clear your mind and allow time for a personal connection – with yourself. This is the heart of awareness.
- Prayer – Connect with God, a higher power or the world around you. Many of us are type-A personalities and like to try to control everything. Control is an illusion. Spend time talking to your source. The tools and resources you need to accomplish your purpose will be revealed to you through a combination of prayer and meditation.
- Exercise – Begin every day with at least a half an hour of exercise. Your body will produce only as much as it is given. Not only is exercise good for the body, it’s also a time to clear your mind. A walk or a run outside is fantastic for connecting with nature and admiring the treasures God has given us. It’s difficult to be upset when you’re surrounded by so many things to be grateful for.
Personal awareness
Professional Awareness & Health
The success of a business begins with the leadership. The leader sets the tone and defines the culture of a company. Many leaders expect their employees to do things that they themselves are not willing to do. Most often, employees follow a leader’s example, not simply their directives. Here are a few ways to create a culture of unity, teamwork and collaboration:
- Create an open line of communication. Speak to your employees, even when you have nothing work related to say. Get to know them. Learn how to they learn. Learn how they want to be lead.
- Be transparent. This one is a bit harder for most business owners. They think that if they show weakness in the business that employees will panic and maybe even look for another job. The truth is quite opposite. If a leader is transparent about issues, good and bad, employees will have an opportunity to see the underlying reasons why tasks land on their desk the way they do and will ultimately have more buy-in for the tasks. This is a great way to begin to lead – mission first – not task first.
- Be vulnerable. This list gets harder and harder. Raise your hand if you find it difficult to be vulnerable? Don’t worry, we can’t see you. The truth is, showing vulnerability is difficult to do in general, non-less with people that you’re supposed to be leading. Here’s another truth, your employees don’t need a robot barking orders, they need a human who can express and receive emotion. Your employees need to connect with YOU before they respect you.
At Creative Approach we hope these tips have been helpful and you can check out more of Aimme’s work. To find out more about how Creative Approach can help you – get in touch through our Contact Us page.