Gale Weithers’ Post

Today is my friend's birthday. When people tell you that a LinkedIn connection can evolve into a beautiful friend just believe them. Shelley Halligan, DNP, PMHNP-BC is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She's resilient, brave, empathetic, caring and just a great human who regularly engages with others to raise awareness and educate us on the challenges and solutions of substance abuse. But one of the most impressive things about her is that she never ever gives up, not even after having a Near Death Experience (NDE). I remember saving these words below from a post she made after her experience: "The past four months have been very trying to say the least. My accident that left me in a wheelchair & a total life change could have put my life in a total tailspin. I made a decision to not allow it but it was my support #tribe that held me to that decision!! Every week I posted an update on my progress, some big wins, other just small steps (literally) forward. I posted the frustration & fear. My tribe was there! Four and half months post fall, after being told I would never walk, bike, run, or dance again. I’m walking! I’m getting on my spin bike 4 or 5 minutes a day. I workout every day to get better and continue to lean on my support team!" This girl just never gives up! 🙌🏽 As she continues on her recovery journey, join me in shouting: Happy happy birthday Shelley Halligan, DNP, PMHNP-BC! May you be blessed to see many many more birthdays and we can't wait for the video you will share which shows you running and dancing just like you did before. PS: Follow and connect with Shelley to learn more about substance abuse, addictive behaviours and suicide prevention, as well as keep abreast of her recovery journey. ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽   My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳   If this post resonated pass it on; follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on:   #entrepreneurship #traininganddevelopment #humanresources #leadershipmindset #mentalhealth #customerservice

I'm going to be honest 👇🏽 I never ever wanted to be a secretary (says the person who became Barbados' Secretary of the Year in 1994 and first runner up in the Caribbean Secretary of the Year competition a year later) 🤪 For starters, what kind of profession revolved around people making and bringing coffee for their bosses all day long? 🤣 Although a thankless job at times that involved juggling a gazillion different tasks and egos simultaneously, being a secretary evolved into me becoming ➡️ a Certified Professional Secretary ➡️ a Group Office Manager ➡️ a Certified Meeting and Event Planner ➡️ a Certified Instructional Designer and Virtual Trainer ➡️ AN ENTREPRENEUR 💃🏽 Over the years I've had good bosses and bad bosses, coordinated company meetings with 500+ people, booked a million hotel rooms, typed a million emails, created another million spreasheets and designed a billion PowerPoint presentations. It wasn't always easy but the organizational, communication, attention to detail, negotiation and diplomacy skills I now have in my personal/professional backpack today are priceless. Here are a few easy ways you can celebrate our Admin Professionals: 🙌🏽 Personal Thank You Note: Nothing says "I appreciate you" more than a handwritten note highlighting how they make your daily work life smoother. 🙌🏽 Professional Development: Offer to sponsor a workshop or course to help enhance their skills - growth is a gift that keeps on giving. 🙌🏽 Office Celebration: A team lunch or small party can make a big statement of appreciation and boost morale. 🙌🏽 Surprise Day Off: They save your days so often; why not return the favor with a surprise paid day off? 🙌🏽 Thoughtful Gift: Whether it's flowers, a book, a spa day or a gift card to their favorite coffee shop, a thoughtful gesture goes a long way. 🙌🏽 Add your own here ... Join me in shouting a Happy Administrative Professionals Day to those who successfully support their executives and teams every single day; we love and appreciate you mucho! If you're an Admin Professional what's the hardest part of your job? What do you like most? Do you feel appreciated? Let's start a conversation! ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽   My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳   Follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on:   #entrepreneurship #traininganddevelopment #humanresources #leadershipmindset #mentalhealth #customerservice

This message is for you if you've ever been severed or laid-off or let go immediately from a job or KNOW someone personally who has gone through any of the above. Because when you're at your lowest your self-talk can take you even lower. Here are 3 things that kept bumping around in my mind after I was severed: 🙄 "I must not be good enough at my job, otherwise they wouldn't have let me go." 🙄 "I am sure the ones left behind were those that saw it coming and did something different." 🙄 "There is no way I can recover from this setback at my age; my career is practically over." But here's the thing: 📈 Mass layoff decisions are almost always based solely on broader economic/strategic reasons rather than individual performance. 📈 These decisions hardly ever affect one person, but many at the same time. 📈 Setbacks are opportunities for us to learn and grow into something even bigger and better; it's about perspective. It's so important to maintain a positive self-esteem image and keep our emotional well-being in tact during these low moments in our lives. So let's watch that self-talk! YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH. Period. That's the message. If you know someone struggling mentally after being laid off repost this message and let them see they are not alone. If you've been part of a mass layoff and looking for work don't give up. If you can relate to anything said here today let's start a conversation in the comments. We're ALL good enough and we're not alone; we've got this! ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽 My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳 If this post resonated pass it on; follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on: #humanresources #traininganddevelopment #entrepreneurship #mentalhealth #customerservice

This is for you if you are a Job Seeker: Do you have the "Open to Work" circle on your profile? Makes sense if you are looking for work ... right? Well here's a different perspective but no matter what, just go ahead and start working on the 10 steps noted here by Richard van der Blom. They are not hard to implement and the ROI as you build your network is going to be invaluable. In the meantime, drop your career goal in the comments if you're looking for a job. Let's help you get to where you need to be. Cheers!

She died seven months before her 70th birthday. We had been planning a big celebration with friends and family because that's a milestone age right there but it wasn't meant to be. When someone you love is diagnosed with a terminal illness, life and living will take on a whole new meaning. I couldn't breathe when we got the news. Watching her wither away physically and mentally into someone we didn't even recognise was tough. Every minute of every hour became an opportunity to hold on to one more sacred precious moment before there was nothing left to hold on to. Today marks 15 years that my mom passed away but it honestly feels like yesterday. I am forever grateful for her enduring legacy of perseverance, faith, resourcefulness and resilience, love and endless wit. Her ability to turn $1 into $10 to make ends meet wasn't the biggest lesson she taught me; it was that for every problem there's a solution, we just need to find it ... and it can be found. I miss her laughter, wisdom, baked chicken wings fresh out of the oven, hot cups of tea with homemade coconut sweet bread, and her hugs. Most of all I miss our conversations. Even now I still pick up the phone to call her and then I remember that she's not there to answer. Fee free to send a few hearts as I treasure her memory today and if you've lost a loved one to pancreatic cancer or some other horrible terminal disease know that my love is with you 💖 Do you find that no matter how many years have passed, it seems like only yesterday your loved one left you? What would you do differently if you found out that someone you loved only had a short time left with you? Share your story in the comments and let's start a conversation. PS: This is a photo of my mom posing with me for the camera after I had won first runner up (complete with extra chubby cheeks) in a new born baby competition. She was beautiful! I think I was pretty cute too 😎 ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽 My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳 If this post resonated pass it on; follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on: #humanresources #leadershipmindset #traininganddevelopment #entrepreneurship #mentalhealth

A different perspective on AI generated comments ... I don't use AI to comment on posts but prefer to write my own feelings in response, but what do you think after reading this? How do you even determine if a comment is via a human being or a machine (I have no clue)? Do you use AI to comment on content? Yikes ... I have questions!!! 😁

If you wonder about the LinkedIn algorithm and how it works (or doesn't work) take a look at this post by Richard van der Blom. Here he covers 9 Performance Drivers or areas which impact how your post is distributed on LinkedIn - from the size of your network to consistency in posting to influencer engagement on your content. You may have to read this more than once (like I did) but it's really useful in helping you drill down re: your strategic use of the platform. Let me know what you think but in the meantime, make sure to follow Richard for more LinkedIn insights and share this info with those in your network who need it. And that's today's message. ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽   My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳   Follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on:   #entrepreneurship #traininganddevelopment #humanresources #leadershipmindset #mentalhealth #customerservice

Here's an interesting take on mindset which made me ask two questions: Is it good to press down or ignore our negative/fearful/self-doubt thoughts? Or is it better to look these thoughts right in the eye, embrace them for what they are and then press through them to the other side? As Nat Berman says we have zero way of controlling our thoughts. I agree, what about you? How do you stay on top of your mental health and emotional well-being when negative thoughts come up? It's easy to see the glass as half empty rather than half full; some people even dump the glass itself! Let's be different. Something to think about.

I was recently intereviewed on a local radio programme after being asked to speak about Life After Layoff. DM me if you want the link to the recording because it's short and sweet and I drop a few important golden nuggets. Side note: Looking back I think I would much rather someone had talked to me about Life Before Layoff! Back to the present: I remember crying after signing off from the show because the magnitude of how tough that time in my life really was actually hit me. I knew deep down that everything would work out eventually because everything happens for a reason, especially if you are a woman of faith, but that didn't make the daily struggle of looking for work which then turned into starting your own business and a whole host of other stuff any easier. If you're struggling right now with being tough, I'm here to remind you of this quote by Bob Marley which says: "You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice." Your circumstances do not and will not define you unless you let them; it's what you do with what happens to you that builds your character. Stand firm, stand tall, ask for help, see who else you can help, and never forget that this too shall pass (it might pass long and hard and painful like a kidney stone but it WILL pass) 🤣 That's the message. What hard thing are you currently facing? Are you trying to get to the mountain top while struggling down in the valley? WHAT HELP DO YOU NEED? It's time to start a conversation. ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽 My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳 If this post resonated pass it on; follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on: #entrepreneurship #traininganddevelopment #humanresources #leadershipmindset #mentalhealth #customerservice

Sorry if you missed it but this live event was on fiya! Karen Frazer and I felt it was time to take a moment to talk about Policies and Procedures for small business owners, the benefits of which are: ➡️ Consistency in operations ➡️ Legal compliance ➡️ Improved efficiency and productivity ➡️ Better risk management We dug deeper to cover the need for mobilisation and priority fees, payment schedules, termination clauses in contracts, and why it's important to load the stamina so we can face the tough conversations with clients who received services/products but fail to pay. A special thanks to Tiffany Castagno who joined us on stage and dropped some insightful golden nuggets which entrepreneurs can easily apply going forward. Thanks as well to Katherine Fasanella, MHA, BA for supporting us; we can't wait to hear your entrepreneurial stories too. My biggest takeaway is that you may be a small business owner on paper, but mentally you should be running your operation as if you own an international conglomerate. Here are 7 tips to bear in mind when thinking about policies and procedures: 🎯 Be clear in how you want your business to run, step by step by step. 🎯 Be detailed in explaining these steps to your client, in your proposal and contract - get legal advice from an attorney. 🎯 Do your due diligence on clients you are not familiar with or know nothing about; research is your friend and can save you unnecessary angst. 🎯 Put everything (and we mean everything) in writing. 🎯 Consider including specific operational timelines, payment schedules and termination clauses - the latter gives you and/or your client a way out if the relationship breaks down. 🎯 Communicate regularly, clearly and concisely to manage everyone's expectations whether it be via email, telephone or WhatsApp message. 🎯 Do not be afraid of the hard conversations but keep them real and professional (without too much emotion), because at the end of the day bills have to be paid. To all small business owners in these LinkedIn streets: do not ever think you will not need Policies or Procedures; the time to create these are now if you do not already have them in place. No joke! But that's a wrap until our next Sunday Chat Live; go out there and be super awesome friends, and see you again soon. Does your business have policies and procedures documents? Did you make sure to have these in place from the very start? Do you need help creating one or both? Let's start another important conversation in the comments. ----------------- Hi, I’m Gale 👋🏽   My super-power is helping businesses profitably grow their teams through customized training and coaching programs, but I help individuals grow too. Maybe that’s why my clients call me the #talentwhisperer 🥳   If this post resonated pass it on; follow, connect, and ring my profile bell for more content on:   #entrepreneurship #traininganddevelopment #humanresources #leadershipmindset #mentalhealth #customerservice