Rik Rushton - The Power of Connection: How to Become a Master Communicator in Your Workplace, Your Head Space and at Your Place

First published in 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064
Ofce also in Melbourne

John Wiley & Sons, Australia Ltd 2018

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design by Kathy Davis/Wiley

Cover image phipatbig/Shutterstock

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

To the Beautiful One. Thank you for walking into my life all those years ago, and, more importantly, thank you for walking back into the room after our first spirited debate. As good as it has been since 1983, I know that the very best is yet to come.

Rik Rushton is an international speaker, life coach and high-performance sports coach who works with individuals, corporations and multinational companies, sharing his success drivers with audiences across Australasia and around the globe.

Rik is a recognised authority on communication, relation-ships, growth, leadership and peak performance. As an educator, he takes complex topics and concentrates the learnings into simple, empowering messages to generate instant improvement and lasting change in the lives of his students. His insightful programs stimulate, motivate and inspire his audiences.

Rik lives with his wife, Gai, and their three children in the pristine Dandenong Ranges in the outer east of Melbourne.

If you are looking for a powerful keynote presenter, conference emcee/host, workshop facilitator, retreat leader or coach, connect with Rik at insightpd.com.au.

Its easy to trace the steps to this book coming to life, but its much harder to acknowledge everybody that played a part in this journey. While the book took only a few months to write, it is based on many decades of connecting with others and gaining the real life experiences that are documented within these pages.

This was a project on my mental to do list for more than twenty years but it was a twenty-minute conversation at a conference I was hosting in Hamilton Island, where it finally crystalised. Thank you to Matt Church for providing the missing piece of the puzzle, S.A.M. I AM, I still have the coaster you wrote that diagram on. From that moment, my business manager, Katie, ensured I kept the writing coming and challenged me to get the daily word count to her, as well as providing support and encouragement throughout the whole process.

Once the manuscript was completed, I sent a copy to my friend and celebrated UK author Paul McGee for his review. Two weeks later he contacted me to ask if I had actually written the book personally or if it had been written for me professionally. I took it from that curious line of questioning that it had surprised him in a positive way; a point he clarifies in his foreword. Without Pauls connection to this project, I doubt it would have gone much further, but his introduction to Wiley Australia proved the vital piece to this publishing puzzle.

I have been so fortunate to connect and collaborate with the creative team at Wiley. Thank you to Lucy Raymond for challenging me to take a good book and make it a great read! Thanks to Jem Bates, Ingrid Bond and Chris Shorten for tightening up the words and putting the real polish on the book, and to Theo Vassili for his astute and valuable marketing ideas. I owe a debt of gratitude and have a deeper appreciation for the power of publishing from working with this outstanding group.

So thats the short-term acknowledgements, but this book has its long-term roots dating back to my primary school years. I actually liked writing short stories and never struggled to find topics to pen! The disruption to our family unit back then and my journey through that painful time gave me more than enough inspiration and motivation to document the lessons learned today. To that end I have to thank my big brother for taking me in after our mother re-married, and practically raising me and continuing to educate me on the important disciplines of life, with none more important than to always say please and thank you.

My brother was my hero growing up and in many ways he still is today, and together with Geoff Everett, I had the two most important male role models in my life at a time when I needed them the most. At this time, I also met my best friend Louis, who is my other brother. He has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders, in partnership with my brother and Geoff. Whether that be professionally or personally, these three men know exactly what to say and do and exactly when to say and do it. I love our weekly chats and laughter.

My workplace changed significantly in 1993 when I was asked to share my success strategies with our companys wider sales team. I prepared for these talks knowing I had only three years of experience while many of the professionals I was presenting to boasted three decades. That day started my professional speaking career and has allowed me to connect with like-minded professionals throughout Australasia and globally. Thank you to all of my professional connections, fellow business owners, trainers, speakers, collaborators and students that have made up my audiences over the journey, giving me the chance to share what I know, learn and do my most rewarding work!

To my mentors including my beautiful godmother Judy Parkinson, Pat Mulligan (nothing is more important than family), Chris Bell, George Hateley, Tony Robbins,
Dr Denis Waitley, Dr Stephen Covey, David Knox, Bob Wolff, John McGrath and the late, great Jim Rohn, I wrote this book in part to honour you all and to continue to share your wisdom. For Jim Rohn in particular, he made me promise I would write at least one book when the time was right; knowing that would lead to follow up ones, and I hope Mr Rohns prediction of a book series comes to fruition. According to Jim, The magic was that I wrote
5 books the mystery was, why didnt I write 25? He told me that sometimes the book and timing choose the author, and that was certainly the case for me.

Finally, I need to acknowledge the most important person in my life. This book accomplishment is no surprise to my beautiful wife, Gai, who tells me she knew I had a talent for writing from the very first letter I penned to her way back in the early 1980s. She has kept every note, card and letter I wrote to her. We have also written a pretty special story together in the wider journey of life. Her contributions to our story continue to shine at our place with our three amazing kids, Lockey, Chris and Amelia. We could not love you three more and we are proud of the people you are and who you are becoming. I know there are more exciting chapters of love and laughter for us to write together. I will look forward to recording the magic moments that will happen at our place in the years ahead.