Meet Priscilla Dakin

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Priscilla Dakin. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Priscilla, so glad you were able to set aside some time for us today. We’ve always admired not just your journey and success, but also the seemingly high levels of self-discipline that you seem to have mastered and so maybe we can start by chatting about how you developed it or where it comes from?

From observing my parents, I learned self-discipline. When I was living as a girl, until going off to college, it was clear on a day-to-day basis my parents took responsibility to fulfill the duties they had. One was a physician working out of our home, with hours in the day, some evenings each week and on Saturday. She would stay until the patients needing care were all seen, answering the phone in off hours, going on house calls if coming in did not make sense, and going out to pronounce people dead after horrific accidents. My father was an engineer working in a large-corporate research environment. Here he developed new technologies that were significant in his discipline – sticking to the project until complete and sharing expertise with others. He might have worked elsewhere but made a decision to stay put, allowing my mother’s practice to develop, this rather than continuing to move to yet more advanced opportunities.

From this, I learn the responsibility of taking care of others, fulfilling commitments, doing my job and being a responsible life partner.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

Rather than speaking to gainful employment or my non-profit volunteering, it seems best to speak generally about professional engagement. Having worked and volunteered in a number of industries, now for many decades, what is most satisfying to me is to help people find a means of gaining the end they believe is best for them. Sometimes this is my directly providing insights or assistance and other times it is engaging another professional who could assist more effectively than I. It truly delights me to see others then succeed.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Being both inquisitive and willing to learn has always been a benefit – not assuming.
2. Listening to others both helps one learn but also helps to build relationship and trust.
3. Work at something you both like and can contribute to.

Particularly for #1 and #2 it can be overdone: Sometimes, it is better to back off and accept the expert’s advice, knowledge and come back to learn more at a more appropriate time. And, listening without talking can make another uncomfortable. Sharing too can be important in building rapport.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

Stop.

Being overwhelmed often results in my making mistakes. I would rather be better by either pausing or asking for additional time or both. I usually bake additional time into my promise to allow for the time out to tend to something else that is important or to get beyond the road block that might come.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dakinbusinessgroup.com/