This Connected Life with Mel Kettle

Last week I spoke about how to work from home. This time I’m speaking about how you, as a manager or leader, can stay connected with your teams when you are all working in different locations. There are three main things we need to consider when we work from home – ourselves, our people and our space. In this episode I talk about: · Show self-compassion· Being more effective communicators· Curiosi...

Blog copy #34 Staying connected when working from home In this episode Mel talks about: Coping with changing routines Hope and opportunity Needing to work from home The benefits of working from home 7 tips to make working from home easier Set clear boundaries around the hours you work. Try and set clear boundaries around WHERE you work. Create some rituals around working from home. Make time to ta...

Dr Justin Coulson is one of Australia’s most respected and popular parenting authors and speakers. He is sought after for his expertise in family life, relationships, and wellbeing and resilience; and he is the founder of ‘Happy Families’. Justin has a PhD in Positive Psychology, is the father of six daughters (!!!), has written five books, and is a three-time bestselling author. Justin's latest b...

This episode is about morning routines. I talk about: · the many benefits to having a morning routine and how it can help set our day up for success.· Steve Jobs used to ask himself every morning “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”, while looking in the mirror. If he said no on too many consecutive days then he made some changes. This was one of...

Kim Stockham and I first met about 14 years ago through our local chamber of commerce. We bonded over the challenges of working from home and staying sane! We also bonded over our shared love of travel. Today Kim is based in Singapore, heading up Corporate Communications for the Expedia Group in the Asia Pacific. Her role is dedicated to communications which help elevate the Expedia Group brand an...

I turn 50 next week - eek! Where have the last ten years gone??? Obviously I'm older, hopefully wiser, and I have definitely learned A LOT. I thought I would share my top ten learnings of the last ten years to commemorate the end of my 40s. Which, let's face it, has been pretty damn good, which a few fairly awful exceptions! Top ten things I learned over the last ten years Fill your own cup first...

I first met this week’s guest, Tony Ryan, about 12 years ago when I joined Professional Speakers Australia. Back then Tony was a bit of a legend in Australia’s speaking community, and today is no different. He is a lifelong educator, parent, and futurist, and has worked with over 1000 education, business and parent groups in 10 different countries throughout his career. Tony is also an internation...

In this episode I talk about · self-awareness and how as leaders, most of us can improve this element of ourselves· Being self-aware is about understanding what motivates you, the impact you have on others, what you do well and where you struggle.· Stephen Covey says that self-awareness involves deep personal honesty and that it comes from asking and answering hard questions.· What self-awareness...

Andrew Short AFSM is the Assistant Commissioner for the State Emergency Services for Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES). Andrew is no stranger to the challenges associated with providing effective emergency management, having worked for QFES for over 20 years. He is passionate about lifelong learning, especially when it comes to investigating how organisations can improve how they lead,...

When you know your purpose, it’s easier to plan, to set goals and then take relevant action to achieve them. In the past I’ve found that when my goals are connected to my purpose, I’m far more likely to achieve them. In this episode I talk about: · Simon Sinek Start with why· Stephen Covey – begin with the end in mind· How knowing our purpose can help us in life· The Japanese concept of Ikigai· Fo...

Christmas and the holiday season can be a really difficult time for a lot of people. And even for those who love it, there can be pockets of stress and overwhelm. One of the things I’ve learned from life, and from horribly fraught Christmases, is that it’s so important to look after yourself. While it’s not always possible to avoid stressful times – at Christmas and at other times of the year, it...

In my last solo episode I spoke about the importance of sleep. Today I want to talk about rest. Our brains thrive when they have time to rest. We make over 30,000 decisions a day, so the cognitive load on our mind is immense. If we don’t take some time during the day to rest our brains, our performance, moods and physical and mental health all suffer. The risk of fatigue is well known. When we are...

Lisa O’Neill is feisty, funny and fabulous. She has been described as a human version of Berocca and is one of my favourite people for her energy, her positivity and her ability to cut the shit and tell it as it is – always with love. Lisa wants us all to live big lives and to become the best version of ourselves. She is the former fashion editor of NZ Women’s Weekly and today is the author of thr...

There are four ways we need to look after ourselves physically - we need to get enough of the right food, water, exercise and sleep. Sleep is often the one that is ignored. This episode is is part 1 of a 2-parter – talking about sleep and rest. Rest is more than just sleep at night. Most of us are aware that we need enough sleep (which doesn’t mean we get enough!), but too many of us go hell for l...

I first heard of Lara Bourguignon when we received an email she sent to all SuperConcepts clients, introducing herself as the new CEO, and inviting us to get in touch via her direct email if we had any concerns or otherwise. I was incredibly impressed so reached out to her on LinkedIn to say so. I loved how she was so keen to connect, as well as to listen to clients in her early days in the role....

I’ve been thinking a lot about kindness lately. And how a small, kind gesture can make such a mammoth difference to someone’s life. Kind is possibly my favourite four letter word. Being kind is one of easiest things we can do, and it can have life‑changing consequences. Kindness doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive or time consuming. I feel as we become “busier” we are becoming less kind. If...

I think I first "met" Dani Valent on Twitter about ten years ago, around the time I first bought a Thermomix. #bestkitchengadgetever Dani describes herself as a writer, eater, traveller and cook. Everything she does is linked by a simple idea: leading people to great food experiences. Like me, Dani is passionate about food because she loves connecting with people, and especially connect with peopl...

Today I’m talking about marketing to women. A lot of people don’t realise that women are responsible for 90% of consumer purchases. Which equates to over $20 TRILLION in global spending. In Australia, women own just over one third of all businesses, and this number is rising. Australian women are also becoming more educated – in 2014 almost 45,000 more women graduated with tertiary qualifications...

Dominick Quartuccio is a NYC based international speaker, author, mentor who focuses on Elevating Performance and Short-Circuiting Burnout. He is also the co- host of his own podcast, Man Amongst Men. You can connect with Dominick via his websites www. DominickQ.com and Do Inner Work . You can also: Watch his TedX Talk: The Bold Journey Women Want Men to Take Buy his excellent book: Design Your Fu...

In this minisode I talk about the health checks we should be having on a regular basis. I recorded this episode about an hour after having my biannual mammogram and ultrasound, and it prompted me to have a chat about looking after our health. A big part of being connected with self is knowing what’s going on with our bodies and looking after ourselves from a medical perspective. Did you know that...

Julie Trell tells me she is a human API. Of course, I’m immediately curious! Of course, once she explains to me what that is, it all makes total sense. And no, I’m not giving a spoiler alert – you can listen to this episode I first heard of Julie when I became involved with SheEO last year, and we met earlier this year and the fabulous s p a c e event at Byron Bay. Julie is Head of Telstra’s start...

We know that creating collaborative teams, whether in your organisation or more broadly across your industry, can increase ideas, save money and result in better project outcomes. And yet, too often we sit independently within our siloes, frantically working on projects with looming deadlines, wondering if we’re doing the right thing. I’ve been really fortunate to have worked on a number of collab...

Cameron Schwab is mostly known for being a former CEO of the Richmond, Melbourne and Fremantle AFL Clubs, and for being the youngest CEO in the history of AFL when he was appointed CEO of the Richmond Football Club at age 24. Today Cam is a leadership coach and strategist, working with CEOs and emerging leaders to achieve high levels of trust – personally, culturally, strategically and organisatio...

What does it mean to connect authentically? It can sometimes be confusing as authenticity is one of those words a lot of people use – and often overuse. I think it’s one of those concepts we recognise when it’s really obviously there – or not there! The Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as “the quality of being real or true”. Brené Brown tells us that “authenticity is a collection of choices...

Dr Kelly Windle is one of the smartest people I know, with five (!!) degrees. She is also very human, as she is a psychologist who is passionate about helping people and businesses evolve. Kelly works with people to align, curate, and accelerate their personal and organisational capability. Currently, she is the VP of Organisation Capability and Corporate HR for BlueScope, a top 100 ASX listed com...