The EO Mentorship Program runs for 12 months where mentors and mentees have regular monthly catch-ups, which usually last for only an hour or more. But for mentees like Jeni Clift, Owner and Co-founder of Otto, those regular conversations with her mentor, Anthony Closter, Director at Urban Land Developments, were precious to her.
Managing conflicts within your business
Disagreements, miscommunications and misunderstandings are never absent in any organisation, even in business teams. There will always be varying opinions and work styles because each individual is different and you cannot always control how they respond to certain situations. But when all these arise into a conflict, how do you handle them so that the entire team is not affected and work will not be jeopardised?
The importance of innovation in business
Competition is getting fiercer, technology is advancing faster, and market preferences are leaning towards newer products and services. For enterprises to have a continuous upward curve in their performance and remain relevant to the changing times, they need to look for ways to constantly innovate themselves and consistently improve their business.
President's Update - February 2022
Best practices on building good teamwork while working remotely
In this era of working remotely, getting your team to stay constantly connected and build a stronger relationship and dynamics is important to keep everyone going and motivated. The big question, however, is how? What are the things you need to do to enable you and your team to work together to achieve your business goals despite the challenges and limitations of distance and time?
The value of training in organisational development
How do you nurture your organisation’s human resources? Every member of your team is valuable on how to bring your business forward and achieve its goals. But as you take in new challenges, aim for greater heights and expand your horizons, how do you equip your people to ensure that you can all move towards the same direction and at the same speed?
Taking mentorship to a different level the second time around
Mentorship is a significant factor in one’s entrepreneurial development. Having a guide along the challenging path of the entrepreneurial journey helps accelerate one’s growth, progress and momentum. The good thing about mentorship is that it can be done over a specific period or can be repeated at certain points of the journey or can be done continuously, depending on one’s need.
President's Update - November 2021
From the President
The festive season is suddenly upon us and it is in full swing. The lead up to the end of the year has kept our Board busy planning and executing events. November kicked off our first face-to-face gathering after a long while with a twilight event at the Prince, which included our AGM. Our guest speaker Craig Harper reminded us that high-performers are generally willing to get uncomfortable, so I challenge you all to reflect on whether you are getting out of your comfort zone. Craig also challenged us to reflect on why we do what we do if we haven’t defined what success means to us. It’s quite a philosophical question to grapple with, and for me, the answer typically changes from year to year. I will be attempting to answer this again at the start of the new year.
Corporate values and nurturing them in your business
Corporate values are important in every organisation because they provide a strong foundation for decision-making, team building, customer relations and driving your business forward. It is your company’s compass that directs you which way to go and the backbone on how to run your business successfully.
How to have continuous learning along the entrepreneurial journey
Knowledge is not static. It constantly expands. Each day always brings something new to the table, which is why growth and learning are essential parts of human nature. Continuous development builds up a person, and many leaders and entrepreneurs get to where they are right now because of their thirst for learning.
Becoming a polished gem through mentorship
Although he already has over a decade of experience running their family business, Edric Taing, CEO of SH Jewellery, still finds ways to polish himself further so that he can be a sparkling gem in the entrepreneurial space. He thought that having a mentor would help him become a finely cut entrepreneur, someone whom he could bounce ideas off, just like how a gem would bounce light to produce a beautiful masterwork.
Becoming part of EO Melbourne’s Mentorship Program, Edric found that “The biggest value for me is really being able to have a solid person to share my thoughts and ideas and current progress and also being able to talk without judgment about the challenges that are rising.”
Retrospection along the entrepreneurial journey
“Experience is the best teacher, and the worst experiences teach the best lessons.”
- Jordan Peterson
In a challenging world of entrepreneurship, you can learn a thing or two from experience, may it be from your own experience or from the experience of others. When you retrace the steps you’ve taken and look into your past actions, you can see what you could have done earlier, what you shouldn’t have done at all and what you should have done better. Even in driving, you have to glance at your rearview mirror once in a while to ensure you move forward safely. It helps to look back to the journey taken or observe what others have done and bring the lessons learned to help you go forward in achieving your goals.
President's Update - October 2021
From the President
What’s Coming Up
As we slowly emerge from lockdown, the Board and our Chapter staff are looking forward to hosting members in person again.
One of the most significant realisations from my decade-long EO Journey is that the learnings I have acquired from the informal discussions with other members are invaluable.
Before joining our ranks, I assumed that the majority of my learnings would be gleaned from external experts presenting at events.
Making your office space conducive for work
The physical space where you conduct your business or day-to-day tasks plays a major role in your productivity at work. How do you make it conducive to your job and your team?
Nowadays, most people work from home. Whether you work in the comforts of your residence or you work with your colleagues in your company’s office space or you share working space with others, it is important that you take into consideration the overall environment of your work area and how it contributes to your efficiency. We’ve put together some pointers that you might want to consider to make your space more conducive for work.
Dealing with burnout and work fatigue
When your days are filled with tonnes of emails to check, meetings to attend, fires to put out, and many responsibilities to take care of, it won’t be surprising to find yourself feeling weak, tired, anxious, irritable, exhausted, drained, depressed, forgetful and the list goes on. How do you manage burnout and work fatigue so that you can sustain yourself for the long haul?
Mentorship as a game-changer in the entrepreneurial journey
For most business owners, the entrepreneurial journey is full of challenges, but the experience is very rewarding. There are moments when they hit an obstacle or arrive at some crossroads along the way. Having someone to guide them can be a huge help in leading them where they want to go. And that’s what mentorship does.
“It's been the biggest game-changer for me,” said EO Member and Davidson Technology Consulting Director Gary Lorden regarding the EO Mentorship Program. He continued, “It has provided me with a lot of value around growth. It has added an even further challenge on how I approach things and look at things in terms of connecting the key rocks in my life.”
Business habits to help you run your business successfully
Every little thing we do leads to something big, whether they are good or bad. Even in business, our small actions, if done regularly, become habits and these habits build the corporate culture and accepted realities of the organisation. Thus, it is important to build good habits early on to be able to achieve huge successes in the entrepreneurial journey.
Discussing business and work with your life partner – how much do you reveal?
When it comes to your business, how much do you share about it with your life partner?
The life of an entrepreneur is a challenging one. The demands and responsibilities at work may often be overwhelming that you will sometimes feel the need to be supported at home by your spouse or life partner when it comes to your business endeavours.
President's Update - August 2021
From the President
As I write this update for our newsletter, Victoria clocks up 205 days of lockdown. Apparently, “lockdown” is the word of the year for 2020, according to Collins Dictionary. It’s pretty crazy to think we are going through this again, however, I am supported by the fact that we all belong to a great community of like-minded people where we are ready to lend support to each other.
I think that if we can learn from some of the shortcomings of our current Government, it’s that we need to be transparent in our business dealings and take accountability when things go wrong. Maintaining the trust of those that are closest to you, including family, staff, customers, friends and forum will ensure you remain viable in the long term.
Filling a gap: what is the purpose of your business?
A sense of purpose is what every individual and business chart their path as to where they want to go. Without it, it’s like losing one’s direction in the journey. Businesses thrive because they provide a solution to a problem or responds to a certain demand in society. Many enterprises were established because the founder has experienced or witnessed a particular need that has to be filled in.