Testimonials

LK – Personal Life Coaching

• A truly excellent programme – ideal for anyone feeling stuck or unable to make progress on their own.

• I found it incredibly helpful in shifting my negative outlook and navigating personal struggles.

• The visual tools provided were especially powerful in helping me manage emotions and develop a more positive mindset.

• One key strategy I took away was learning to voice my opinions more and consciously focus on the positives in life.

• I really appreciated the practical tools shared and Debs’ personal stories, which felt relatable and relevant to my own challenges.

• Doing the homework and taking action after each session pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped break unhelpful habits.

• I now feel more capable and confident to handle whatever life throws at me.

• I would highly recommend this programme to anyone facing challenges or needing support and accountability to make lasting change.

‘It’s ALL About Time’ incl iMA communication tool! Kellogg’s Rural Leadership Programme team

Testimonial Statements:

• It was really important for me in my role to identify what iMA High Colours other people and how this impacts my preparation for interactions with those!
• Creating a great work life balance, removing time wasters!
• Great content and communication skills understanding the four iMA quadrants and why High Red means.
• Value my time to use for direction.
• Hearing about other problems.
• We can be in control more if we create more time to complete an activity list with time to better understand how this can help change.
• Utilising the urgent / important matrix to make sure I am working on strategy
• Good information for those who need advice on time management.
• The seminar allowed me to reflect on my own areas to improve on my time management.

Most usable strategies:

• Understanding the expectation of colleagues who have different personalities and communication styles to me
• Call out time wasting! Stone in jar!
• Allocate and stick to time to use email and social media
• Eat That Frog!
• I am in control!
• iMA quadrants for prioritising urgent and important tasks.
• Digital quiet time.
• A couple of little things add up to the big picture.
• Email triage
• Be more organised
• Turning off and / or removing distractions.

What I’ll use in the future following the seminar:

• Planning the week prior on a Friday afternoon then using post notes for daily tasks.
• Creating a great work life balance is very important to me, identifying the issues and gaining the tips and tricks. Creating digital quiet time in evenings; write journals and read instead.
• It is okay to set boundaries around others access to my time.

Would Recommend this Seminar:

• Yes, everyone needs a greater appreciation of time
• Time management is my biggest problem and now I know why!
• People might think time management is simple, but no one really does it well.
• Lots of little tips that added up which made me think how to tackle big long-term projects.
• Great easy tips to streamline life and re-prioritise time.

Ironbridge Christchurch Seminar – Effective Communication & Conflict Resolution with iMA

Would highly recommend because:

• Debs is an amazing facilitator, very engaging, has a great way if getting team involved
• Excellent seminar – interactive, fun and very relatable content
• Would hugely recommend as you gain a great understanding of the team around me
• Beneficial when working and dealing with people
• Good to understand ‘you’ better and everybody else too
• Great insight into how others operate
• Great to watch the different iMA colour types of people interacting with each other
• Extremely informative and insightful
• A very eye-opening personality type seminar with much more
• It’s great to know how other people tick and to understand them better
• Just how differently other people ‘see’ things differently and their reactions and stresses
• Very helpful to learn how to respond to other people in various situations
• A helpful day learning about other people and how they tick, how to work with and deal with them in everyday life; so helpful for people to improve themselves
• Great seminar for large companies and good to understand other team members in the office
• You will learn about yourself and how to handle situations much better
• If you would like a better understanding of how to work with people you don’t relate with this is a great seminar to learn why and what to do
• Great team building and team bonding seminar

Most usable strategy:

• See everyone’s iMA colours and understanding them more
• Learning iMA colours, how to relate this to colleagues and customers
• Learning about other iMA colours
• Learned much more about myself and others
• Information about my colour and understanding myself
• Adapting to other iMA colours for better results
• That we should all be mindful of each other’s strengths and weaknesses
• Just being more aware of everyone’s differences
• Understanding stress behaviours and how they might be misconstrued
• Self-awareness
• Learning more about assertive and non-assertive traits
• Not to take things personally
• Identifying the ‘triggers’ of other personalities

Key benefit:

• Spotting the colours when in stress and being aware of it around me
• Communicating with other iMA colours
• Understood things better from my own perspective and how to manage communicating better with others
• Bonded so much more with my team
• Understanding others better and what makes them tick
• Importance of perspective
• Understanding me better and my personality
• Less emotion, deal with facts for better outcomes

Effective Communication & Conflict Resolution Seminar – IronBridge Auckland

Most usable strategy gained from the seminar:

• How to communicate effectively
• Active listening; identifying others’ iMA High Colour and approaching them accordingly
• Learning about my iMA High Colour and its place in the organisation and how it impacts others
• How the different iMA High colours work, and how my iMA High Colour can improve effectiveness
• Recognising who is assertive and who to speak directly to and not to
• Recognising others’ traits and needs
• Understanding communication types and how to resolve conflict.
• Asking the question “I am sorry you feel that way, how can I help?”
• Better understanding of my iMA high colour and others
• Learning the different iMA high colours and seeing how well you fit that category

Key thing you got out of the seminar:

• Being mindful of my ‘triggers’ and how others may take my reactions
• Understanding everyone’s needs and motivators are different and learning strategies on how better to work together.
• How others see the different iMA colours and to be more patient
• How my iMA High Colour can work effectively with other iMA High Colours
• Understanding myself more and my strengths and weaknesses
• Adapting to each person’s communication needs
• Active listening and being respectful of other iMA colours
• Understanding the different iMA colours and how to approach them
• Better understanding of different iMA colours, and how to help others with different iMA colours

Recommend & Testimonial:

• Excellent seminar and would absolutely recommend this seminar; it was very informative, and Debs is a great presenter and the information was insightful
• Debs is a lovely personable person who can be of benefit for work environment
• Insightful, educational, can use as self-reflection within work and at home
• The seminar is an eye opener into my personality traits and how others perceive me and how our iMA High Colours operate.
• Great way to understand different people’s needs and motivations and ways to improve communication and conflict management; great to ‘understand’ colleagues
• Great insight and learning tool
• Very interesting, good to understand iMA high colours and how it relates to team success
• So interesting to identify and understand ourselves better, and how to adapt to another iMA high colour
• Understand the way others can perceive you and might interrupt what I have said based on their differences
• It was really good and informative with lots of information

Monita Baird

Overall I assessed the programme very high. Debs was professional and went the extra mile to support me while being totally honest regarding my skills and she was patient and empathetic and encouraged me along the way. Debs has a lot of knowledge.

I felt the programme was well organised, professional and well delivered. I learnt my limitations after the 12x sessions, my strengths and weaknesses to work on

It provided an insight into how to start a small business. The correct way to do things in business and highlighted the mistakes that you can make and learn from.

I would recommend the Business Coaching and Mentoring Programme to others especially if they had business experience and knowledge beforehand which would help. If they had no experience in business the process might take a longer than 12 sessions.

It helped me to focus more on key aspects. The programme also presented a realistic view of what I could achieve with the resources I have. Also encouraging thinking big picture, about the future and how I could get there.

I liked how organised the programme was. The homework was delivered promptly after each session and these actions I was given kept me on track and motivated. Debs gave reminders when each session was going to happen.

I liked how I was listened to, and Debs was responsive to what I said I wanted to achieve. If I was way off base with my comments Debs listened and presented a question so I could work towards a solution. She did this in a respectful way.

I appreciated how Debs took time out of her busy day to reply to my questions and emails outside of our session times, this helped keep me on track and motivated.

I would suggest to anyone just go and do the programme! You are more likely to succeed going to an expert who knows a lot about business than trying to do it alone.

Success Factor Speech Coaching Business Programme

An excellent programme, well structured to deliver presentations and learn areas for improvements.

I’d encourage everyone to just go ‘do it!’ It may be daunting but you will absolutely be glad you did it.

I learned that practice practice practice gives you more confidence.

I loved using the mind maps to write speeches and being able to talk just from an outline, mind map and / or slides without writing everything out.

I’d recommend this programme wholeheartedly. It’s a fast way to upskill yourself in giving presentations / speeches.

My biggest gain was being able to throw away the written notes rather than having everything written word for word and to trust myself to talk to my topic.

Loved the mind map session for speech structure and memory and learning how to pause rather than use gap fillers.

Awareness of how to use body language was another useful skill learned.

Definitely worth participating in and a great opportunity to practice in a safe environment, get feedback and learn how to improve.

I felt a lot of useful experience was gained in only five weeks. I could see big improvements in myself and others.

Biggest learning was to ditch writing a speech and use mind mapping instead.

A great learning for me was to be myself and to use appropriate humour and smile.

Success Factor Speech Coaching Business Programme – WDC

The programme provided a great opportunity to become more comfortable with public speaking

I would recommend this programme to anyone who wants to gain good skills and practice them as well as providing an opportunity to present in a safe environment

This programme teaches you a great way to structure presentations and help improve your skills

Each session had comprehensive feedback and evaluation which was extremely helpful

I enjoyed the practice at each session and to see each participant’s skills increase

I understood the importance of eye contact, losing the gap fillers and the importance of structuring a presentation

I loved the programme, its structure and the ability to practice in a safe environment

The self-critique and feedback provided helped me a lot within the programme

I liked receiving the feedback and having the practice to give presentations I learned the importance of structure and losing gap fillers

I learned how to prepare a speech more quickly using the speech template and mind mapping

It was a great supportive environment with positive constructive tips, and tools to improve on each week

It was great to see everyone’s confidence grow along with the quality of the speeches

It was a great programme with valuable tools learned for public speaking

The programme is great for people wanting to improve their presentation skills

It definitely gives you more confidence in public speaking

I loved learning how to structure my presentation and how to use mind mapping

I loved the use of mind mapping and how to present and prepare a speech more effectively

The skills I learned will be hugely beneficial for me and my team as we all need to communicate effectively

This programme was great providing me with all the foundational skills to be a great public speaker

I learned what skills to focus on and had the ability to practice in the programme

It was a very well structured programme with useful and helpful practical tips

I learned how to control my pace, and use pauses in my presentation, use eye contact, and gestures to help my presentation come across more professional

It was an amazing programme where all the participants worked well together and were able to practice and improve in a safe environment and in a non-judgmental environment

I felt the programme was great and each session helpful on knowing how to present more effectively and professionally

We all gained confidence and became better speakers during the programme

It made me much more confident about presenting and speaking to an audience

The tools I learned were very helpful and the mind maps were great

The importance of an introduction and conclusion in a presentation was helpful

The programme well organised, professionally run and presented well with fantastic feedback on how to improve my presentation skill including how to use body language, structure and managing nerves

I learned that to practice, practice, practice and prepare, prepare, prepare is one of the most important things

The programme gave me an opportunity to practice and train for presentations and become a better speaker

iMA Seminar – Communication Styles and Team Building – Kendons Accounting

I feel the seminar was very useful and will help me deal with people in the real world
iMA not only provided an eye-opening look at my team but it was also an exploration of who I am and how I interact with others
It was a fun and collaborative seminar and a great way to get to know my team
It gave me a different perspective to how different high colours work and how different communication styles relate to each other as well as what approach to take
It was great to identify stress symptoms and the likely behaviour of different people
I loved understanding how everyone has different behaviours to me, and I need to be mindful of this when communicating with others
I understood different iMA colours, behaviours and stress traits in others
The seminar was a great way to learn self-awareness and how to communicate with others it gave me better self-awareness
I learned more about different personality traits and iMA high colours
Learning different personality traits and different ways to communicate was very helpful to improve my communication style
iMA was much easier to understand and relate to than DISC
The seminar was very informative and great to find better ways to communicate and listen and to have a different approach to communicate with different high colours
I recommend others should just do this seminar it will definitely help you and might help others
I’ve found out more about my own characteristics and in which areas I should improve
I learned how to communicate more clearly and manage my own stress
I understand different people, different personality types and different communication styles much more
The seminar helped me think about the problems that people have and how to understand them
I now understand how to relate to others and how to communicate better
I understood what makes people tick and how better to communicate with others more effectively
I understand others in my team much better knowing how other team members have different communication styles
It was great to understand what makes us all tick
It was good to understand and manage different team members and how a good team could work even better together
I understood how everyone is different and how to understand each other better and how I can make work go better
Learning different iMA communication styles and how to deal with them and that everyone is different was very informative, helpful and great fun too
It helped me take a step back and see that not everyone is the same and learning other people’s differences was a massive eye opener knowing that all personalities are needed in every team and to identify other people’s personalities and adapt our communication styles will improve communication; invaluable tools and skills learned and very informative
The iMA process is simple and easy to use; I understood my team much better after the seminar and found the different personality types much easier to identify and relate to their communication style more easily
Knowing myself and others was great to learn at this seminar; it was great for team building and I would encourage anybody to take the iMA questionnaire to understand yourself and others better
I learned how to be able to interact with my colleagues without pressure and how to communicate more effectively and understand my team much better I know myself much more too

Kimberley Coleman – Lady Lash

Debs got to know me and my business really well right from the start which made it easy to discuss what was going on in my head and business each time we met.

I enjoyed being held accountable for my own actions and plans each session and Debs was great at bringing ideas I had with me out into the light. I liked how personal and business goals were just as important and broken down into manageable chunks.

I enjoyed listening to Debs’ alternative ideas and suggestions for my business and life. I liked being accountable and having something checked off each session.

Key areas which helped was addressing and making decisions or taking actions around issues I don’t feel like dealing with. Not rushing things or expecting them to happen right away.

Some useful strategies I learned was not to jump at the first offer, and to not get too side-tracked by other things or other people; break things down and complete tasks to move onto the next.

what I liked with the programme was how Debs got to know me and my business and staff very well, and how Debs could see how my brain worked. She celebrated my wins with me and held me accountable.

The sessions made me more businesses minded when it came to selling, organising my business for sale, hiring staff and negotiating.

I loved having a coach that kept my ideas in the front of my head and kept me accountable to follow through tasks, especially with experience.

Julie Fast – Speech Coaching Business Programme

I found the Success Factor Speech Coaching Business Programme excellent. I loved the structure and the ability to play with that while practicing with Debs.

I feel more confident and know now I can reach out if I need further support in the future.

My experience with the programme was that it was tailored to my needs.

I would wholly recommend Debs and this programme and would say that we can only improve when we make mistakes in an environment where we are fully supported, and then the growth is inevitable.

Working with Debs has been an incredibly valuable experience! I’ve gained a solid framework for structuring my speeches, which has made a huge difference in my confidence and clarity. English is not my mother tong. Not only did I learn how to express my ideas effectively, but I also developed new strategies for staying committed to my goals.

The sessions were engaging and enjoyable, and I felt fully supported every step of the way. I truly appreciate the balance of skill-building and encouragement – it’s transformed my approach to speaking!

I highly recommend Debs to anyone looking to elevate their performance skills in a fun, constructive and supportive environment.

Julie Fast – Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner

ob@juliafast.nz

Pip Rowbotham – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

I gave the programme 10 out of 10! I found it very helpful both personally and professionally and learned a lot about myself and my personality, coping mechanisms and helpful ways to assist me in dealing with confrontational or stressful situations.

I understood better how I react to a situation, how I react to stress and how to decompress before attacking the situation. I have also learned a lot about me and why I am the way I am, and how the time constraints on my work are normally of my own making and not that of KPIs.

One of the most useful strategies I learned was taking a breath before I attack a stressful situation, decompressing before I attack the workload, and realising the pressures I place on myself are my own rules and not that of the company or KPI based.

I loved the programme, all aspects of it,. and learned so much and felt so comfortable discussing work and personal. All the resources provided wre so helpful, especially the iMA results! (iMA is a personality profile used as community tool which improves communication and reduces conflict).

What I liked most about the how the programme was delivered was that it was personal to me and my situation, and that one-on-one time away from the business to improve myself is essential.

The difference the programme made for me was realising that the time I spend with my family is precious, and activities are not done without phone / work distractions, with full focus on family. I also learned how to get some of my time back by asking a question with a question to empower staff to make an find decisions for themselves. which gained some uninterrupted time back for me.

I would definitely recommend the Success Factor Business Coaching and Mentoring Programme. This programme would help anyone trying to improve their personal life and stresses in work, be it a difficult staff member or coping mechanisms for stress. Learning about iMA has opened my eyes to others within the office and how they work / tick.

During the programme I felt relaxed and at ease every session with Debs, and could speak openly and not feel silly. I had some real WOW moments that opened my eyes, and made me realise why I am the way I am.

I learned so many coping mechanisms in coping with stress and how to empower my staff to make decisions.

Debs was very helpful in leading me to conclusions without out rightly saying it! I loved iMA as a tool and refer to it a lot. It’s great to see where everyone slots into the high colours, such a useful tool.

All in all it’s a fantastic programme, set at your own pace focusing on anything you personally or professionally need or want to focus on.

Ashton Jack – Personal Life Coaching Programme

I was able to find out the type of person I am, using iMA (personal profile and communication tool) i.e. I’m a High Green, which was both interesting and informative. Learning what my comforts are and what my conflicts are really helped me understand how certain situations had impacted my life and way of thinking and how I can better roll with them or twist them into a a positive light. It’s still certainly difficult to break certain habits and implement the tools given to me at times, but at least I’m able to understand why something might be affecting me the way it is and how I can disarm it if I need to.

My overall assessment of the programme enabling me to dig deeper into why I had developed certain habits and developing new ways to break the old and build the new.

The key points I gained was reflecting on my negative thoughts and reconstructing them into positive thoughts and focusing on the importance of a daily routine.

The most useful strategy I gained was reconstructing my negative thoughts into positive ones. A useful tool which I have developed a bad habit of negative thinking over the years and being able to flip them is, and will be beneficial going forward.

What I liked most about how the programme was delivered was how informative and personal the information was and how tools and strategies were used to work in with my way of thinking and my way of living.

The programme made a difference to me personally in that it helped me identify and counter negative thoughts as well as develop a more structured lifestyle making it easier to navigate what used to feel like a mess.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the Personal Life Coaching Programme. It really helped me understand why I think the way I do and how it affects my way of thinking and how that affects my day-to-day life. After finding that out and being able to work around it made things a bit easier every day.

Signs of a Toxic Culture and Their Antidotes

We hear of too many toxic cultures in the workplace which lead to trust issues and result in high turnover rates. The effect on our emotional wellbeing is huge creating poor work-life balance with behaviours of micro-management, lack of recognition and appreciation being apparent. With a few changes here and there, a workplace can be changed to a healthier environment.

Here’s some signs of toxic cultures and their antidotes:

1. Lack of Trust and Transparency

• Sign: Employees are reluctant to share ideas or concerns, there’s a prevalence of secretive behaviour, and information is hoarded.
• Antidote: Foster an open communication environment. Implement regular transparent updates from leadership and encourage open forums where employees can voice concerns without fear of retribution.

2. High Turnover Rates

• Sign: Constant hiring and resignation cycles, employees frequently leave for better opportunities, indicating dissatisfaction.
• Antidote: Conduct exit interviews to understand reasons for leaving. Invest in employee development programs, offer competitive benefits, and create clear career progression paths to retain talent.

3. Poor Work-Life Balance

• Sign: Employees are often working late, feeling burnt out, and there’s an expectation to be available beyond normal work hours.
• Antidote: Promote a healthy work-life balance by setting clear boundaries for work hours. Encourage taking breaks, offer flexible working arrangements, and ensure workloads are manageable.

4. Lack of Recognition and Appreciation

• Sign: Employees feel undervalued, accomplishments are ignored, and there’s a general sense of unappreciation.
• Antidote: Implement regular recognition programmes, celebrate achievements publicly, and provide both formal and informal appreciation. Ensure managers regularly acknowledge and reward team members’ contributions.

5. Micromanagement

• Sign: Employees have little autonomy, managers excessively control and monitor work, leading to decreased morale and creativity.
• Antidote: Empower employees by giving them more responsibility and autonomy. Train managers to trust their teams, delegate effectively, and focus on outcomes rather than processes.

6. Office Politics and Favouritism

• Sign: Decisions are influenced by personal relationships rather than merit, leading to a divided workplace and decreased morale.
• Antidote: Promote a merit-based culture by implementing fair and transparent policies for promotions and rewards. Encourage teamwork and collaboration and discourage cliques and favouritism.

7. Poor Communication

• Sign: Information is poorly disseminated, misunderstandings are common, and there’s a lack of clarity on roles and expectations.
• Antidote: Enhance communication channels by using collaborative tools, holding regular team meetings, and ensuring clear, concise, and consistent messaging from leadership.

8. Resistance to Change

• Sign: Employees and management resist new ideas, innovations, and changes, leading to stagnation and frustration.
• Antidote: Cultivate a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging innovation and being open to new ideas. Provide training on change management and involve employees in the decision-making process for changes.

Addressing these toxic culture signs with targeted antidotes can transform a workplace into a healthier, more productive, and positive environment, leading to higher employee satisfaction and better organisational performance.

Ask about the Success Factor one-hour complimentary consultation today.

Want to improve your communication and reduce or remove conflict?

Why not complete the iMA Questionnaire and see what colour you are? http://successfactor-ima.com/questionnaire.html

#successfactor

Common Perceptions of Empathy

People often think empathy is feeling sorry for someone.

Empathy actually is:

• Sensing other people’s emotions
• Mirroring someone’s feelings
• Image what someone is thing
• Identify how a person is feeling
• Feeling overwhelmed by others’ tragedy
• Really listening to what others have to say
• Understanding another person’s feelings
• Imaging how someone is feeling
• Seeing things from another point of view

Common Perceptions of Empathy

Many people view empathy as a simple act of kindness or sympathy. They often believe empathy is merely feeling sorry for someone or showing concern for their troubles. This perception is largely shaped by everyday interactions where expressing empathy might involve saying comforting words like, “I’m sorry you’re going through this,” or “That must be really hard for you.” While these expressions are well-intentioned and valuable, they only scratch the surface of true empathy.

Another common misconception is that empathy requires experiencing the exact same emotions as another person. People might think they must have gone through a similar situation to truly empathise, leading them to equate empathy with shared experience.

This can sometimes limit their ability to offer genuine support, as they might avoid trying to empathise if they haven’t faced the same challenges.

What Empathy Actually Is

True empathy goes beyond surface-level sympathy and involves a deeper, more nuanced understanding of another person’s experience. It encompasses three main components: cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, and compassionate empathy.

Cognitive Empathy: This is the ability to understand another person’s perspective or mental state. It’s about recognising and intellectually grasping what someone else is going through. Cognitive empathy involves putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and seeing the world through their eyes, even if you haven’t experienced the same situation.

Emotional Empathy: Also known as affective empathy, this is the capacity to share and deeply feel another person’s emotions. It’s not just about recognising their feelings but actually resonating with them on an emotional level. Emotional empathy creates a connection that goes beyond mere acknowledgment, fostering a sense of shared emotional experience.

Compassionate Empathy: This is the drive to take action to help someone in distress. Compassionate empathy moves beyond understanding and feeling to include a willingness to provide support and alleviate another’s suffering. It’s about channelling your empathy into positive, constructive actions that make a difference.

True empathy is a dynamic and multi-faceted skill that requires active listening, emotional intelligence, and a genuine desire to connect with and support others. It involves being present, withholding judgment, and offering both emotional and practical support. Empathy enriches relationships, fosters deeper connections, and cultivates an environment of understanding and compassion. By striving to understand empathy in its full complexity, we can better support those around us and build stronger, more empathetic communities.

Ask about the Success Factor one-hour complimentary consultation today.

Want to improve your communication and reduce or remove conflict?

Why not complete the iMA Questionnaire and see what colour you are? http://successfactor-ima.com/questionnaire.html

#successfactor

The Power of a Pause Plan to Be Proactive for Success

In today’s fast-paced world, we are often encouraged to keep pushing forward, to keep working, and to avoid slowing down. However, there’s a growing recognition that sometimes, the best way to achieve success is by incorporating strategic pauses into our plans. A ‘pause plan’ is a proactive strategy that allows individuals or teams to take intentional breaks, reassess their goals, and realign their actions with long-term objectives. Far from being a sign of slowing down, it is a key to sustained growth, creativity, and productivity.

Why a Pause Plan is Essential

Pauses are not the same as stopping. A well-designed pause plan offers several benefits, both personal and professional. First, it provides time for reflection. In the whirlwind of daily tasks, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture. Pausing allows individuals or organisations to evaluate progress, assess challenges, and make informed decisions on how to move forward.

Secondly, a pause plan mitigates burnout. Many people operate at full capacity until they reach a breaking point. By proactively scheduling pauses, they can manage their energy levels more effectively and maintain a higher quality of work over time.

Lastly, it enhances creativity. Often, our best ideas come when we step away from a problem. A proactive pause plan allows space for new ideas to emerge, fostering innovation.

How to Implement a Pause Plan

Schedule Regular Breaks: Set aside specific times to pause, whether it’s weekly, monthly, or quarterly. This ensures you don’t forget to step back.

Set Clear Objectives: Know what you want to accomplish during your pause. Whether it’s reflection, brainstorming, or relaxation, having a clear intention keeps the pause productive.

Review and Adjust: Use the pause to review progress and adjust strategies as needed. This flexibility helps you stay aligned with your goals while remaining adaptable to change.

A proactive pause plan isn’t about slowing down; it’s about moving forward with clarity and purpose. By building intentional breaks into your workflow, you can work smarter, maintain focus, and avoid the pitfalls of burnout.

Ask about the Success Factor one-hour complimentary consultation today.

Want to improve your communication and reduce or remove conflict?

Why not complete the iMA Questionnaire and see what colour you are? http://successfactor-ima.com/questionnaire.html

#successfactor

How to Make the Most of Your One-On-One Meetings

We all have meetings with people every day, with work, business and sometimes personal. We might always intend to be organised and prepared, however, often we’re not.

This week I thought it might be helpful to look at how we might nail one-on-one meetings in three different areas, the preparation, management of the meeting and follow-up afterwards. Hopefully some of these tips for nailing one-on-one meetings are helpful for you.

Preparation

Understand the Purpose: Clearly define the purpose of the meeting. Is it for performance review, project update, feedback, or career development? Knowing this helps tailor your approach.

Gather Relevant Information: Collect data, reports, or any pertinent information that may be required. This includes performance metrics, project statuses, and any notes from previous meetings.

Set an Agenda: Outline the key points to be discussed. Share this agenda with the other party in advance so they can prepare as well.

Anticipate Questions and Concerns: Think about potential questions or concerns the other person might have. Prepare answers and solutions to address these effectively.

Schedule Appropriately: Choose a time when both parties are likely to be most alert and productive. Avoid scheduling back-to-back meetings to ensure there’s enough time for a thorough discussion.

In the Meeting

Start with a Friendly Tone: Begin with casual conversation to build rapport. This helps in creating a comfortable environment.

Follow the Agenda: Stick to the agenda to ensure all important topics are covered. However, be flexible enough to deviate if a significant issue arises.

Active Listening: Pay close attention to what the other person is saying. Show understanding by nodding, summarising points, and asking clarifying questions.

Encourage Openness: Create a safe space for honest feedback and discussion. Encourage the other person to share their thoughts, concerns, and suggestions without fear of judgment.

Take Notes: Document key points, action items, and any decisions made. This ensures nothing is forgotten and provides a reference for future meetings.

Post-Meeting

Review Notes: Go over the notes taken during the meeting. Ensure all action items are clearly outlined and understood.

Follow-Up on Action Items: Assign responsibilities and deadlines for each action item. Send a summary email to the other party, highlighting the key points discussed and the next steps.

Provide Resources: If any resources, such as documents or tools, were mentioned, make sure they are provided promptly.

Schedule the Next Meeting: Set a date for the next one-on-one to keep the momentum going and ensure continuous communication.

Reflect and Improve: After the meeting, reflect on what went well and what could be improved. Seek feedback from the other party to enhance future meetings.

By meticulously preparing, actively engaging during the meeting, and diligently following up afterward, you can ensure your one-on-one meetings are productive, effective, and beneficial for both parties.

In conclusion, selecting some of the areas above which you feel you’ve lacked in the past and work on practicing how you can make the most of all your one-on-one meetings in the future.

Ask about the Success Factor one-hour complimentary consultation today.

Want to improve your communication and reduce or remove conflict?

Why not complete the iMA Questionnaire and see what colour you are? http://successfactor-ima.com/questionnaire.html

#successfactor

Lararose Clement

A really great process to have gone through. You have a whole lot of insightful advice and knowledge which you always delivered in a way that was on par with what I needed to be doing.

My key takeaways were the development of three key personas – pain points, root cause and desires. Key the concepts for my coaching programme

The key points I took away from the programme:

• Working on self – Process for addressing negative thoughts – fact/feeling true or untrue. Start with myself and practice what I preach. Read my coaching notes as a client. It all starts with myself
• Process for market research and point of difference
• Soft start launch process and creating content to use in multiple ways
• Strategy to have a more flow business – less stress and more enjoyment

The most interesting and helpful strategy I received was:

• The matrix I developed that mapped pain points and desire and which key concept they related to. This was a super helpful exercise to do – it got everything out of my head an into a format that was easy to understand. And I love spreadsheet! 🙂
• Process for market research and point of difference – haven’t completed yet but think this will be very beneficial to do.

I liked that there was a scheduled session every month where I knew I would be able to speak to you and receive guidance. It gave me accountability to ensure I got actions completed before the next session

I really appreciated that you were compassionate and encouraging when things got tough personally and you were supportive of putting my business on hold when I needed to focus on myself.

The sessions made a huge difference to me both personally and professionally. To have a mentor who was in my corner especially when things got tough personally was really beneficial. I think if I had not had the support of you during that time I my have given up on my business entirely or taken a lot longer to get started again. The mentoring really helped unstick me and move me forward with my business offerings development and getting ready for a soft launch.

I would absolutely recommend Debs! The support and guidance received over the past 7 months has been invaluable in getting me moving forward

Undertaking business mentoring over the past months really helped me structure all the ideas I had and distill them down so that I can develop offerings for my health coaching that are aligned authentically to me and where I want to be working. The knowledge of my mentor, advice she gave and the accountability the sessions provided have been invaluable in not only moving me forward into launching my offerings but also in developing myself personally.

Thanks for your time, energy and support Debs. I am very grateful to have had you as my mentor.

Leith-Anne Mangoes – Mentoring

I liked how it was tailored to what was going on for me in business at the time and it was able to be tailored to my specific needs.

Key points I gained was to run my business sounding like ‘me’, coming from an authentic place of ‘me’. Identifying and getting clarity on my ideal client was very helpful

The most useful strategy was the circles exercise in relation to the ideal client because it helped me see where the gaps were easily, as I’m a visual person this worked well for me.

The mentoring got me to see things from another perspective that I hadn’t seen before, had me thinking in different ways about my marketing, my business and my industry. Even just working with a coach and seeing how you operate your business, being a coaching business.

I would recommend, Debs, Success Factor. If I saw the needs and thought the solutions were suitable, I would recommend to others. I believe there is a lot of knowledge to access which can help people grow their business

Being a one-gal band, I feel it’s important to have someone on your side who you can go to for trusted support and advice in building your business, outside of friends and family. Someone who has no emotional connection or vested interest in your business. It was great being able to drive the conversation with Debs for what I needed for the session.

For me it was about having a safe space to talk about the challenges openly and come up with solutions collectively and have Debs steer me in the right direction to get results. Support is one of the biggest challenges in business.

Working with Debs, I was able to gain support from someone who is further down the road than I am, who has experience and holds knowledge that I have not yet experienced or gained.

It was helpful for me to work with Debs knowing she has been through the beginning stages of business before and was happy to share her knowledge.

Hayley McLachlan – Peacock Projects – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

At 53 years’ old, I feel like I have grown up during this programme. I believed I had a great business idea / service, but I was also very scattered in my thinking, ruled by anxiety and struggling to get things going.

My business and I are still a work in progress but I am calm, have clarity, confidence, can articulate what I do, why and for whom.

I have lots to build on with the tools and tasks covered in the programme and I will be back when I am ready to go to the next level.

I would recommend this programme because you don’t know what you don’t know and you can’t see yourself properly.

I really enjoyed the programme. Many of the benefits I received are intangible personal growth and confidence rather than direct measurable business metrics, but I am happy to have addressed those as a priority.

The benefits of having someone question some of my beliefs or theories and to push me to examine them closer and readdress what I believed to be true.

The accountability of showing up and explaining what I have been working on and why or why not. That being vulnerable enables honesty and that even when that is uncomfortable it is where the growth is.

What I liked the most was feeling accountable and this pushed me to be better.

The most interesting and useful strategy was how much I am in my own way and the changes I need to make to achieve my goals.

www.peacockprojects.nz

Developing Your Business Purpose Seminar

I would recommend this seminar because it forces us to step back and evaluate what the real things are that matters.

I would high recommend this seminar to anyone looking to develop their business purpose.

Very helpful to find our core values.

the key thing for me was focusing on and striving forward to develop our key values and why we do what we do.

I learned to accept others priorities on what is important to them.

Great seminar, very helpful to fain more clarity.

Engaging – there was purpose and value in today’s seminar.

Loved working together and being proud of us.

Debs is amazingly good at what she does.

Really enjoyed breaking down what the vision, purpose, mission and values actually mean.

Great to develop a common purpose and mission.

I have learned to so much about myself and working as a team.

Excellent seminar – eye opening!

The ‘togetherness’ and learning was great!

Great value!

I found the seminar engaging, brings teams together to find common ground.

Informative, knowledgeable and engaging.

Really enjoyed breaking down the different parts of the work sheet.

Loved working in groups with my colleagues.

It brought our team together more!

Debs was great at prompting us.

It was great to have an agreed vision, purpose, mission and core values.

I would recommend this seminar for other businesses particularly if they don’t have this in place.

Loved the result!

Liked how collaborative the session was and how informative.

This seminar gave me and my business more clarity on the reasons for why we operate as we do.

Would have loved more time!

Excellent thank you!

Effective Communication, Conflict Management, Defining Culture, Building Resilience, Developing Boundaries Seminar

Helped me to reflect and account for my actions.

Made me reflect on myself and where I’m headed.

Recognising everyone’s different personalities and boundaries and respected them more.

Accepting the difference between us all and how we can best work in harmony in the office.

Made me reflect and consider what’s around me and where I’m going.

I understood the need to be accountable for our actions.

Enjoyed the conflict resolution section.

The most usable strategy for me was learning about iMA as a communication tool.

I learned some interesting concepts more about my team.

I enjoyed learning more about team culture and team work.

Enjoyed building on our core values within our team.

I learned to understand others better by using iMA as a communication tool.

I would recommend this seminar to others as it has broadened my understanding of different personalities in the workplace.

I loved learning about the personality types and how this can have a huge bearing on communication and recognition of others styles.

Great to have a new perspective on business.

I loved getting to know my team better.

I would recommend this seminar to others and feel it would help them think and question themselves and what they want and need within their teams.

Define and developing our personal values is important.

Loved Debs facilitating this!

Debs you are awesome at what you do!

Would recommend the seminar, the content and delivery was very good.

Every organisation or business could learn a lot from this seminar – great content and delivery.

Very worthwhile seminar.

Debs is inspirational!

I learned I can listen more.

Mary & Rick Jopson – Personal Life Coaching Programme

I would definitely recommend this programme and have already referred Debs’ services to others.

I would recommend this programme to others. If you are looking for self-improvement and having difficulties communicating or understanding people in their lives this would be a great start.

I had a better understanding that we all communicate differently and that we need to identify people in our lives far better to understand them.

It allows you to explain your emotional points and that work and personal life overlaps.

I realised what really matters!!

The programme reignites parts of your life you have taken for granted and become too relaxed with.

Loved learning about iMA Personalities and people’s ‘colours’ as well as the left / right brain thinkers and how we relate to each other.

The biggest takeaway was to take time evaluating situations first.

I loved Debs’ personal approach and that she listened.

Debs helped me hard decision-making.

I found the programme interesting and educational.

A useful takeaway was thinking about life after retirement and how to plan for the future and how to be on the same track as my partner.

I gained a better understanding of why we communicate differently and how to support my partner when under stress.

Springfield School – Learning about iMA

Excellent seminar!

I think everyone should do what we did and learn about the different personality groups / types and what best works for them either in a work situation or anywhere – that we aren’t all the same and a different approach works for different personality types.

Would recommend this seminar – if you do it as a team and adopt this in the workplace it will make things much easier.

How fascinating the different criteria are between personalities.

Enjoyed learning and understanding my personality better and how others might perceive me.

I found it helpful being able to adapt how I interact with differing personalities.

My key takeaway was adapting one of my traits to be more assertive.

I would recommend the seminar to others; it is so good for working and personal relationships.

Very interesting and informative – learning people’s ‘colours’ and how that relates to how they work / deal with situations and how they are.

I feel the seminar will enable me to come out of my shell more.

It was helpful seeing what stress looks like for different personalities.

The best thing was simply knowing and understanding my own personality better.

I learned why I have an inability to make quick decisions and easily adapt to change – this is my future goal!

Knowing my personality type and being able to understand more about myself was the most useful takeaway.

I would definitely recommend this seminar if you are having ongoing issues (communication etc) within a team environment.

Great for team bonding and building.

I liked how we unpacked iMA Personality colours and how that works for us as a team.

Christchurch City Council – GCP Team – ‘Understanding Our Why’ Seminar

Thought provoking and challenging.

Excellent seminar thank you.

Learned lots by really looking at tools to understand self better; also really liked the drawing exercise.

Enjoyed focusing on goals and digging deep into the goals.

Really helped me to have a different perspective.

Loved learning about different communication styles.

Dianna Koorey – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

Debs has been supportive and adaptable, and I have gained a greater knowledge of my own strengths and weaknesses. Debs has equipped me with the tools to tackle some challenging situations, and I am grateful for the knowledge and professionalism from Debs. Thank you.

I would definitely give the programme 10 out of 10!

It’s a very supportive and empowering journey.

The key areas I’ve taken away are the strengths and communications with others and learning how to be more assertive.

the most helpful strategy has been learning about my own strengths and how to best use them.

I liked the one-on-one coaching – it has an adaptable approach.

I was better able to understand different personalities and adapt my approach for better outcomes.

Allegion Christchurch – Speech Coaching Business Programme – Brian Hockly & Vaiana Low

An excellent programme. Loved the structure of the programme particularly the mind mapping and how to structure a speech.

The biggest thing I learned was less is more. the key thing I got out of participating in the programme I’ll use in the future is confidence. Public speaking isn’t bad if you’re prepared.

I would hugely recommend the programme. If you are speaking to people daily, you will find value in this programme.

Through structure, I learned how to relax while presenting.

Public speaking can be easy. The affirmations we did helped and now I feel like i have the tools to be able to present to anyone.

Five-week programme; wanted another week; will miss the weekly sessions.

Craig Davies – Personal Life Coaching Programme

My overall assessment of the programme was that I was happy because it gave me another point of view and at times reinforced my thinking.

The key points I took away were the areas for me to work on so that I handle my bad personal traits better.

The most useful strategy I took away was using iMA to better understand other people’s personalities as we tend to focus on ourselves. I didn’t even consider that people have different ways of seeing and reacting. I feel understanding this in other people will be an ongoing thing that I will need to remind myself off regularly.

The Personal Life Coaching Programme helped me to better understand me better, I still have doubts, but I feel better about how and I address those and deal with other people much better than I did before.

I would hugely recommend Debs, Success Factor. Not everyone sees value in something like this, it isn’t a magic bullet so I would recommend to people I know who have the same attitude to improve.

I gained a better understanding other people and learned not to be focused on just yourself. If you understand how other people work, then it will make life a lot simpler in your personal and working life and it will help you to appreciate other people.

Ran Paenga – Modwell

For me, already having a full- time business and personal life, I required extra motivation in targeted aspects of my business plan. I found some of the homework and actions were simple and some were challenging, however, these all were needed to be done and were all achievable . The programme had adaptable, scheduled sessions, and workload given fitted with my work and time commitments. Debs also gives some great advice, tips and techniques that helps you manage your time personally and professionally. I found the sessions were delivered in a friendly and respectful manner.

As an overall assessment, I felt the Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme was friendly, effective, adaptable, communicative and in a handy location providing some great contacts for me to progress the setting up of my new business.

The key points I took away was how to plan ahead and document a ‘to do’ list effectively.

The most useful strategy for me was being given great time management skills.

What I liked most about the programme was being given relevant actions to complete between each session.

The programme made a huge difference for me in that it took incomplete business plan and applied the appropriate advice and direction towards the launch of my new business.

They key skills I gained during the programme were: To Do List; Time Management; writing things down to action i.e. To Do List; prioritising; getting stuff out of my head onto paper; gained confidence; changing mindset from negative to positive.

iMA Seminar – Quinovic Riccarton

Excellent seminar- thank you

The most usable strategies and tips I learned were:

• Not to take anything personally and the difference in personality types
• Knowing my iMA colour, my work colleagues and family iMA colours
• Being and staying present and active listening
• Understanding how each other ticks and thinks
• To listen more and be understanding of my colleagues
• Tailor conversations around the person’s iMA colour

Key Takeaways:

•  Quick steps to identify the different ‘colours’ of personality
• Being more aware of others
• Communicating with people as per their iMA colour
• Understanding others and their thought processes and WHY they think like that
• Take time to really listen to others

Testimonials / Recommendations:

• Very insightful on how to get along with others in all aspects of life
• Everyone should attend so they too can be more aware
• Attending the seminar helps to understand yourself and those you interact with
• It’s great to know who you are working and dealing with; iMA helps the way the conversation goes
• Very beneficial and informative especially being able to identify ones’ personality traits
• Definitely would recommend as it’s very beneficial to and for a team
• Very well presented and a fun seminar that would benefit any business
• I would recommend this seminar to others as the session was non-confronting or judgemental – all were included and valued
• The seminar was enjoyable, interactive and with a very relaxed equal opportunity to express their feelings and learnings etc
• I found the seminar very informative
• It was very easy to listen to and informative and interactive

Teena Anderson FMG – Speech Coaching Business Programme

An excellent programme – 10 out of 10!

Debs was recommended to me because of my fear of public speaking, I still don’t love it but with your advice I do now put my hand up to formally speak whenever possible to normalise it.

The tools you have shared will help me in my role to deliver key messages and PowerPoint presentations, I am excited to share what I have learnt with my Team Leaders so they can also deliver more powerful messaging.

The most usable strategy for me was the mind mapping tool along with speech structure and know your audience.

The key thing I go out of participating in the programme i will use in the future is using pics and less words in PowerPoint presentations, seeking feedback on presentation learnings from audience and keep telling myself I can do this and breathe through the fear.

I would recommend this programme. Knowledge is confidence. I had a true fear of public speaking before attending. I still get nervous but having tools to deliver speeches and give presentations professional, I can keep my nerves under control.

Thanks Debs for delivering such an amazing speech coaching programme.

iMA Seminar – Waimakariri District Council – July 2023

I would recommend this seminar as it was informative and interactive

A key element I learned was how to be more assertive.

One of the biggest things I learned was understanding my personality traits and being aware of iMA colours and the traits of my team.

I loved gaining an insight on the iMA colours and how they reflect personalities.

The result was so accurate, and I understood how I can be more effective by being more patient and less critical of others who are different to me.

I would recommend this seminar to all other WDC teams, it was hugely beneficial and relatable.

One of the most useful strategies I learned for me was the benefit of goal setting and learning how to improve and adapt my communication techniques.

I really learned the importance of identifying my team strengths and weaknesses and the ability to modify and adapt my behaviours to obtain a better outcome.

A great opportunity to understand the behaviour of teams. I also enjoyed comparing different iMA colours of my team members and have learned how to more fully appreciate and accept others’ differences.

Debs is a great presenter and facilitator and knows a huge amount about communication and personalities.

I gained a better understanding of people’s different needs and being mindful how I interact and operate with others and now have a higher awareness and understanding of my team member’s personalities and that adjusting my responses to fit others communication style will provide better results.

The perfect seminar for my professional and personal future development.

I would recommend that everyone should attend this seminar to better understand, interact and communicate our teams, and peers.

One of my best takeaways was being able to better understand other’s differences and how to interact with those who are opposites.

Such a great and easy way to better understand ourselves and others and what makes people tick.

Speech Coaching Business Programme – ENATEL

ENATEL had five participants who attended the Success Factor Speech Coaching Business Programme and here’s what they said.

The most useful tip and tool I gained from the programme was:

• Being aware of things to improve on
• Being aware of gap fillers and not using them
• Being self-aware of my presentation skills
• The importance of voice projection and eye contact
• Getting feedback in a positive way

The key thing I got out of participating in the programme was:

• Looking around at each person in the audience and pausing to improve engagement
• How to give a more effective presentation to an audience
• Being more self-aware of what I’m doing and how I am coming across to the audience
• The difference of presenting to different audiences
• Be prepared before you present

I would recommend this programme to others because:

• It gives you more experience giving speeches and presentations
• I would definitely recommend this programme to others – gained heaps
• It helps you to greatly improve your presentation skills
• Most people will have presentations to give and need to improve their skills
• Great to build your confidence in your presentation skills

Testimonials:

• Getting constructive criticism on speeches given is very useful to help improve speaking skills
• It’s a great programme to build your speaking and presenting skills
• the programme was very informative and pushed me out of my comfort zone
• Gained loads of confidence in my presentation skills
• Speech Coaching Programme was great. Different to what I expected and learned so much. I feel much more confident
• Excellent programme – learned lots

iMA Team Seminar – G&T Catering

Excellent seminar – gained a greater understanding of other team members.

Excellent – gained an understanding of each of the team members colours and how they might respond.

Very informational and helpful the team understanding of each other.

Learned how others might feel and respond so I can work more cohesively my team and be more understanding.

I liked the breakdown of what happens under stress.

My biggest takeaway was to take time to listen and delivery communication appropriately.

I was able to take time to learn about each member of the team.

I learned that all iMA colours make a team, and different colours for specific roles.

Learned how iMA colours depict the way people are and so know not to take offence.

I gained a better understanding of the people I work with.

Understood more how to manage my reactions with other staff.

Understanding others’ communications styles will help me improve my communication and time management skills.

Very informative and interesting learning about communicating better and differently.

I learned a lot about myself and how I can communicate and do things differently.

The session made me more aware of other people’s personality types.

It was interesting to learn about everyone’s needs going forward.

Great team-building session.

Charlie Crummett – Speech Coaching Programme

I felt the Speech Coaching Programme was excellent and consisted of ways to make speeches more interactive.

The programme gave me more confidence and found it really helpful.

The programme took the myth and unknown aspects of giving speeches away with practical tips and suggestions and helped me become more interactive with my audience.

I would highly recommend Debs for this programme to help you with your public speaking.

Julie Hassall – Fabric Fusion & Sycamore Sewing School – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

I thought the Business Coaching & Mentoring 12-Session Programme was excellent and scored it 10 / 10.

It has been really beneficial to have your support Debs to coach and mentor my business ventures.

Debs provided me with some great tools for planning my direction and workflow. Which has really helped me to have a clearer focus and manifest my goals

What I found most interesting was the importance of networking, having coffees with the right people has really opened doors for me and provided opportunities that I dreamed of. Your personal introductions have fast tracked me towards the right people, thank you.

What I liked the most was the flexibility was great you were able to pivot to which ever area I need coaching or mentoring in.

The Business Coaching & Mentoring Coaching Programme made a difference in that it gave me support to confidently make the connections and changes I needed.

I would recommend Debs at Success Factor and I believe everyone can improve their business skills and practices.

Debs is a great Business Coach and Mentor. She is really supportive and helps provide useful tools to elevate your business direction and practice.

Due to her vast experience in business and wide sphere of contacts she is able to connect you with the right people, which can lead ultimately to achieving your goals and manifesting your dreams.

A huge thank you for your business coaching and mentoring services, your advice and guidance has been invaluable.

PRESENT Seminar – ENATEL

Testimonials / Feedback:

• This was an eye opener to what techniques are available to help presenting more natural for all involved
• Good to know the skill of creating and presenting a PowerPoint presentation in a way that comes to life
• I got loads more confidence and felt better to present afterwards and realised that just small things can make a big difference
• The way you present can make a massive difference to how the audience receives it
• Excellent seminar – thank you!
• 10 out of 10!

The most useful strategy was:

• The mind map
• The content and description in a presentation is so important
• Less means more
• The doing, feedback, strategy and then the redoing

The reason I would recommend the PRESENT Seminar to others is:

• It will help you improve and identify things you didn’t know
• It will provide a massive improvement in a short time
• It was very good and very effective

The key thing I got out of participating in the PRESENT Seminar is:

• Posture, timing of the pause and eye contact
• Pausing, as well as the psychological and positive thinking aspect
• ALL of it!

Effective Communication and Conflict Resolution Session – Building Unit – Waimakariri District Council

Excellent seminar thank you!

Great subject matter; enthusiastic presenter; real life applications

Well organised, thoughtful and challenging

Simplicity of the iMA communication tool and concept in terms of understanding it and applying it in practice

iMA is helpful and easy to understand

Great depth of knowledge shared

What I learned the most was not making assumptions

The most usable strategy was understanding the difference between listening and hearing and how we deal or not with conflict

Ian Walford – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

I would give a 10 out of 10 for the business coaching & mentoring programme.

This programme has given me more self confidence in myself and given me better skills at looking inward at myself and my strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes.

The key points I took away having completed the programme were:

• Positive thinking
• Affirmations
• Working to your strengths

The most interesting and useful strategy I gained was the affirmations. It was an effective positive method to quell the negative thoughts.

I was impressed with Debs’ ability to read and clarify what I was saying and her ability to re-align the various parts of a conversation into positive perspectives and tasks.

The programme made a difference to me in that it gave me the confidence to move to another job. It promoted self-reflection as to what is important to me and what I want in a career.

I would recommend Debs’ business coaching & mentoring programme. I feel that Debs took time to listen to me and the various issues that I was dealing with and was able to give me small but simple strategies to help overcome many of the hurdles I was facing.

The biggest thing that I have found with this programme is I have had the ability to talk about many issues and problems that have been troubling me for many years. It gave me a chance to download, reflect and analyse these from a different perspective, and make meaningful progress to deal with and overcome these obstacles. I appreciated Debs’ attentive demeanour and her ability to listen and make meaningful suggestions every session.

Malvern Kahui Ako in Canterbury – Seminar: Understanding our What & Why – Determining our How & When

A group of 12 principals from Malvern Kahui Ako in Canterbury participated in the Success Factor seminar entitled: Understanding our What & Why – Determining our How and When

The most usable strategies were:

• Understanding my why
• Acton brainstorm sheet
• Vision, values, goals – everything
• What’s in my backpack
• Everything was interactive and instructive

The key thing I got from the seminar was:

• Self-reflection
• Clarity of vision
• My mindset is the key to change
• Thinking what I need to unpack from my backpack
• Positive – setting systems up for success
• Looking after me, taking time to reflect

Summary of Testimonials:

• Excellent seminar – great to reflect
• A well-presented, informative and meaningful topic; very good seminar – relevant and important
• Would recommend this seminar to support your own wellbeing as a leader; hugely recommend this seminar for wellbeing for leaders with a focus on why you are doing what you are doing and setting a vision
• Excellent seminar and great for leaders to focus on themselves and their wellbeing
• Excellent seminar, great for anyone who wants to take time out for yourself to realign and restructure where needed

Shaun Denholm – Personal Life Coaching

My overall Assessment of the programme was that I found the personal  life coaching sessions valuable. I learned a lot about how to deal with negative issues that come up in my life. I struggle with a lot of negative thoughts and these sessions have helped a lot with that.

My key takeaways were don’t make assumptions about what others are thinking; everyone is not out to get you; your thoughts do not define you; bad things may happen from time to time but they will pass.

I loved the SAVERS (Hal Elrod) Debs introduced me to – Silence, Affirmations, Visualisation, Exercise, Reading, Scribing which I now do each morning.

What I liked the most was having the freedom to do the sessions when it suited me. I liked just sitting down on the couch and essentially having a chat. I liked being given some direction and suggestions as this is something I struggle with.

The programme made such a difference to me personally. I feel I get less stressed at work, and when I do get stressed or down on myself, I can come out of it a lot quicker than in the past.

I would definitely recommend Debs, Success Factor as I think a lot of people have struggles in their lives that life coaching could help with.

Before starting my sessions with Debs, I was struggling with my mental health quite a lot. I didn’t know what I would get from these sessions, but as I walked out the door after my first session, I knew I was going to find some benefits from them. Each session, Debs would check in with me to see how things had gone since the past session. If anything had gone wrong (which usually was the case), She would work through these scenarios and give me different techniques to try next time something similar arose. Not everything worked but most techniques helped out in some way. After six sessions I can say I feel much better in my head. I still get stressed, and down on myself; however, in the past these feelings used to last for days, weeks, and months, and now last for only a short period.

Ewan Hall – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

The Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme was great to get clarity on yourself and what you want to achieve.

The key thing I learned that I would use in the future is using iMA at work to best approach and talk to fellow workers.

The most interesting aspect as that iMA gave me a better understanding of people’s behaviour and why they are the way they are and the best tools to work with different personalities and their opinions.

What I liked most about the programme was the personable approach that was given at every session.

The programme gave me a better understanding of myself and helped me get direction in my career.

I would recommend the business coaching & mentoring programme.

The programme has given me a whole lot more self-belief in myself and the direction I am taking in my career is the ‘right’ one.

P-R-E-S-E-N-T Seminar – Enatel

Excellent seminar!

I learned that mindset is very important as well as prepare, prepare, prepare!

I thought the seminar provided a great opportunity to practice presentations in a safe environment and receive tips and tricks on how to work on improving your presentations.

The most useful tool I took away was the use of the speech template and eliminating ‘filler’ words.

I would hugely recommend this seminar who wants to learn valuable information to help improve their presentation skills. The content was great, seminar informative, full of great tips!

I learned how to handle ‘filler’ words and how to quickly plan presentations.

So many useful tips!

My biggest takeaway was making the presentation more of a conversation than a speech as well as less is more on PowerPoint i.e. using bullet points and talking around them, and how not to use ‘filler’ words!

A very valuable and informative seminar helping with both preparing and executing a presentation.

The seminar provided great practical advice and information for preparing presentations as well as effectively presenting them.

Excellent seminar with my useful strategy being not to learn script to present, how to avoid fillers and not to be afraid of pauses

I would definitely recommend this seminar to anyone who wants to be clear on how to improve their presentation skills and have fun at the same time!

Philippa Murphy – Babycues

It was great to have the space each week to download my business, and sometimes personal concerns. I loved the accountability and felt that the sessions became more productive as the weeks went on. Debs has a great way of ‘seeing the wood for the trees’ to help you decipher your next strategy and goals, along with setting up some great organisation practices.

My overall assessment of the Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme was that it has been most helpful and got better as time passed and Debs both learnt more about me and my vision of what I needed from her, and I about how she worked.

The key areas I took away from completing the Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme was the organisational skills for tasks. Being more proactive about asking for what is required and making sure the instructions are clear and favourable to me, not always following what the other person puts in front of me.

The most useful strategy I received was the weekly meeting and check-ins on progression, and the iMA Personal Consultation colours as these helped me understand myself more which gifted me a little freedom within my self-talk, and my partner, thus teaching me more ways to interact and work with him. Very valuable.

There was an opportunity for feedback halfway through the programme where I made one comment about Debs being more direct with communication with me so we can get through the lists and achieve more together, and Debs responded beautifully to this with me from that point and that’s when I began to feel we were getting through enough to make it financially worth it.

What I liked most about how the programme was delivered was meeting Debs and having her support.

The programme has kept me going on the task through a very busy and transformative time of my life. The accountability has been a life-line and will continue to be as I learn to have confidence that I can keep on track with Debs. Personally, it gifted me more perspectives and awareness.

I would definitely recommend Success Factor Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme as with guidance, others will know how to get the value out of the investment.

www.babycues.info

Barb – Speech Coaching Business Programme

I’ve just completed the Success Factor Speech Coaching Business Programme which consisted of five personalised one-hour sessions.

After being advised by management, I was to present a 10-minute informative, educational speech to management and my peers on a given subject which they had chosen.

I went into panic mode, and I thought ‘oh no’! how am I going to do this? I need some help to do this in a professional confident manner.

Guided by Debs’ training, I was able to present a well put together professional speech by forward planning with the use of my newly learned tools, which included mind mapping and the use of a speech template. I was learned how to consider where I was doing the speech, my audience and my environment.

As a result, I’ve enjoyed the whole experience and I’m really looking forward to the next challenge.

Thank you Debs

Ms P – Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme

The programme has a solutions-focused approach which requires you to take action and work towards your goal. Debs makes you accountable to reach your goal which is done in a very professional way.

My overall assessment of the business coaching & mentoring programme was that it has a solutions-focused approach which requires you to take action and work towards your goal. Debs makes you accountable to reach your goal which is done in a very professional way.

Debs worked on so many different areas starting with the iMA Questionnaire, giving me an increased confidence to spread my networking far wider in my job search. I’m looking forward to the next stage of my career.

The most useful strategy I learned was for interviews, for example, when in an interview situation use the STAR technique. Having prepared for different questions with this technique, I feel more confident in my approach to an interview. I’ve also enjoyed revisiting the book The Secret and adapting these strategies.

What I enjoyed most about the delivery of the programme was that the theory behind what we discussed was provided and then a strategy to use. The weekly actions then worked towards the strategy. I liked the transparency of this approach.

The programme has made a difference to my personal and professional role in that I was able to get back on track with my career search and the renewed confidence that has come with this.

I would definitely recommend Debs as she knows her area of expertise and is extremely professional in her mentoring of this.

Name requested to be withheld

Roberta McIlraith – Ocula Optometrists Merivale

I found the Success Factor Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme very helpful.

The programme showed me how to manage my time, delegation skills, conflict resolution skills, both internally and externally.

I felt the programme was relaxed and organic.

The programme improved my confidence in business and management skills.

I would recommend the Debs, Success Factor Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme – it really builds confidence in developing and utilising your own strategies and it provided great guidance.

Thanks Debs!

https://www.ocula.co.nz/christchurch/merivale/

Phil Hunt FENZ

Excellent service and very insightful; it has given me a better understanding of how I react in situations and strategies to reduce negative reactions / interactions.

The three biggest points I’ll take away for me are, what hat am I wearing here and now, what is in my ‘backpack’ – what’s in yours, and ‘can I get back to you’; not every situation requires an immediate response.

The most useful strategy I learned was to take a pause to collect myself. Saying to a person “I will get back to you after I have had a think about …” giving me time and space to digest and formulate a response without the emotion.

I like the relaxed and natural flow of the sessions; I knew what I wanted to discuss, and I think most people know what’s bothering them and if not, the situations we discussed Debs was able to identify talking points from her experience.

I liked that the programme is not formal, and we were able to use everyday language, some of this higher level of thinking can be off putting for people and I enjoyed how examples of situations where a strategy was used made it easy to understand.

The coaching support allowed me to understand different personalities and how they interact and what baggage we all carry and how that influences our day-to-day interactions and to develop communication methods that reduce conflict and encourage understanding.

I would recommend Debs, Success Factor. Having an independent voice to bounce ideas off is important. I feel at times we are driven by the heart in business and that approach clouds judgement and decision making. My age and experience have provided me with plenty of examples of good leadership and bad leadership, mentoring has provided a framework to apply the good traits and tools to develop my leadership style.

A mentor is like a coach of a professional sports team or athlete, you have one because you want to get better at your sport or game. Business is like that as well, your coach helps develop your game plan, strategies, and helps to identify aspects of your performance that need improvement so you can be the best version of yourself at any given moment.

Robyn & Graeme Paget – Challenge, Oxford

My overall assessment of the Success Factor Business Coaching & Mentoring Programme was that it gave me the techniques and guidance along with reassurance.

The key points I took away was the importance of communication have good systems.

The most useful strategy I gained were the useful tips on staffing issues.

What I liked the most was Debs’ honesty and knowledge and receiving support.

I would wholeheartedly recommend Debs at Success Factor – we can all get stuck in a rut and the programme gives you encouragement and strategies.

Michal McCracken – Petschool Academy