Name: Sharon Connell

Title: Divisional Franchisor

Organisation: Jim's Dog Wash

I have been involved in Jim's Group for 8 years when I started as a Jim's Cleaning Franchisor

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Sharon's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

The most challenging part of my role has been helping business owners to continually look for "what's next" in their business, to keep growing and challenging themselves

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I love the part of my job where I can help others to improve their lives, it's very satifying to see Franchisees grow and develop

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

When you are passionate about your work, it's not really a job. My day starts early, catching up on social media and doing all the behind the scenes things before everyone else wakes up. It's the best time of the day to get a lot of work done without interruptions.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

In my role, I care about a great deal of people. I watch over them and help them in any way that I can, however I am not their friend and they don't want me to be. Being a leader is almost like being a parent, you need to be able to make the tough calls for the betterment of the person that you are supporting and it's very difficult to do that when you are friends

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

The Mountain Is You. This book not only helped me in my leadership, but it assists me every day when I am mentoring and supporting franchisees to be the best version of themselves.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Listen to people, hear what they are saying. Understanding what motivates them, will help you to help them

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

A good day is one where I am reminded how satifying my job is. When I receive a call from someone that has taken on changes and set goals to improve their life and made things better