How “Outback” became “Upfront”!

Australia is unique because of its remoteness from the rest of the world.

Our nation is unique because of its remoteness within the continent.

We are unique because we make inroads in business relationships by the appearance of being casual, of being friendly. But we are very serious about being professional.

Australians will let you have a go – we encourage entrepreneurs. But we do have a tendency to the “tall poppy syndrome”, where we criticise our high achievers rather than celebrating them.

I lived in an isolated part of rural South Australia for twenty years. When I went from being a city girl to this rural community, I experienced a huge cultural shift. I quickly learnt that, to succeed, I needed to develop a tolerance of other people, of other cultures, and of other lifestyles.

I began working with the indigenous community, and with isolated rural women- in- business. In the early 1990s I broke new ground by taking training programmes out to them, including twenty laptops which enabled me to run computing workshops. I broke down the barriers between the wider world and the small community.

There was another gap in the locality. There were a lot of government workers in the town, removed from their extended families. For the women to be able to work, they needed reliable and safe childcare. I set up the first Early Childhood Centre in the town, in the face of opposition from those who thought it would become a dumping ground for women to leave their children there.

When living in isolation it takes great energy to develop strategies for overcoming problems not found in towns and cities. Recognising there are better ways of doing things leads to improved outcomes in people’s lives.

These training programmes brought together like-minded women, who could then share their problems and frustrations. As their skills improved, so did their confidence.

When I moved back to the city I was able to transfer what I learned in rural Australia to Kool Results. I began networking, talking to other women in business, identifying any gaps.

With my background in Adult Education I discovered there was a need for life-style coaches. But I needed to gain further professional training that would be recognised by the International Coaching Federation. At the time there were very few accredited courses available in Australia, so I studied online with “Coach U” from the United States.

Today it is much easier to do business or to study “remotely” through the Internet. But getting feedback is essential for the promotion of your business, and to encourage growth. Sometimes that only comes with face-to-face encounters.

Women need to network aggressively within Australia to maintain a dialogue. The exchange of ideas and information is essential. With this happening it is possible to reach out to the wider world.

Julianne Kuhlmann

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Kool Results
..putting you first
Personal & Business Coaching
Phone: 08 8376 3492 Fax: 08 8376 3493 Mobile: 0438 017 873
Email: fiona@koolresults.com.au Web: www.koolresults.com.au Blog: http://kool-results.blogspot.com

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