Q&A@beBee with Lance Scoular

Image credit: steveoatesblog - WordPress.com

With Q&A@beBee, I ask some of the most interesting people on this network 7 questions. The result, unedited, is the most fascinating answers. Q&A@beBee is an ongoing series that gives us the opportunity to hear and learn from, and be inspired by, some of the most successful people, as they speak for themselves! 

1. What motivates you to get up in the morning? 

To see what has transpired on social since I went to bed and then get into the activities and projects for the day.

2. How do you spend the first hour of your day? 

I awake without an alarm, and take out the ear bud from my right ear, having gone to sleep with an Audible audio book playing on my Smartphone. (A habit I started many years ago due to the onset of Tinnitus)
If my wife Sandie is awake, I get up, go to the kitchen and make toast with jam and a cup of tea for her and a coffee for me.
I then check beBee on my Samsung S8 (back in bed) and share recent content that comes across my path or that I have been tagged with and start sharing that content to 3 relevant Hives on beBee, Tweets to Twitter via my extensive Twitter Network and posts to LinkedIn. (All done from my Smartphone and often with emojis)
Next I check my LinkedIn Invitation requests, accept them and respond with a personal note (with emojis) to each person. I receive about 5-10 invitations per day.
Occasionally, I receive a notification of someone following me on beBee. I will also respond with a personal note (with emojis).
I will then take a few steps from my bed to my home office and my desk top computer, to check the flood of emails. (I choose not to have access to my main email address on my phone so as not to clog it up ;-)
After that, I then get on with the current project/s I am working on.

3. What are you passionate about?

I see my role as an educator, helping people to learn practical concepts whether that be business, personal or spiritual.
This includes a variety of courses I have provided over many years including Importing and Exporting and Social Media for Small Business.
I am also a Special Religious Education (SRE) Teacher at a local Public Primary School on Wednesday mornings
(BTW, this may be unique in the world, having access for SRE in State Schools in the State of New South Wales, Australia, since the first British colony was established 26 January 1788).
Note: The new South Wales Government approves this service to many faiths and organisations and they are listed here:
https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/learning-across-the-curriculum/religion-and-ethics/approved-sre-providers

4. What is the most practical advice you can offer someone in business? 

See what appear to be failures as character building exercises and learning experiences.
We learn more from experience than we do from theory.
A positive attitude and patience are invaluable personal attributes in business.

5. If you had the opportunity to ask a great mind any question, what would it be? 

I would ask Abraham Lincoln, what enabled him to have such patience and forbearance with people and circumstances in his time as President of the USA.

 “How To Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie.
Next to the Bible this has become an invaluable guide for me in dealing with people in all manner of situations.
I am soon to read the book again and then produce a series of 30 short videos on each of the key points made by Carnegie.

“Unless we change direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.” Chinese Proverb
When I first came upon this quote, I think it was in the foreword of a book, I had to pause and think about its meaning. At first it seemed rather simplistic but the more I pondered it, the more profound it became.
It then became the motto of my business, Key Directions.
I developed my visual brand, of me holding a globe of the world.
I also incorporated a stylised compass into many of my graphics.
Later on, this simple quote morphed into:
My personal brand tag line, “The Savvy Navigator”
My business tag line, “Navigating the Future”
And my personal 7 word elevator pitch:
“I’m Navigating the Future. How about You?"

Links to past interviews:

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-ali-anani

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-javier-bebee

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-deb-helfrich

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-ian-weinberg

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-netta-virtanen

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-brigette-hyacinth

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-david-b-grinberg

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-john-white

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-renee-cormier

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-michele-williams