The CEO Elite

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Transition, Loss, and A Reckoning

empty room
Photo by @monisilvestre via @Pexels

We are quickly coming to the end of the first half of 2019. You have not heard much from me this year as I have been dealing with the illness and loss of my father. The amount of emotional strength and mental capacity required to support this transitional time, not just for myself by for all the others affected by this, has been challenging and, at the same time, solidifying for our relationships. This year I have lost one parent to cancer and the other to dementia. One gone from this world and the other quickly leaving their past reality. All I can tell you is that having close family and great friends have made this painful time much, much easier to bear.

I have also been on another path of transition this year, not just the journey of life, love, and loss, but in my business. Almost a year ago I disbanded the last CEO Elite council, even though over the previous two years, 100% of the members that stayed with the program had met or exceeded their goals for their business. It was working for them, but not for me. I could hear the words I use for my students ringing loudly for myself:  “If you are not making money in your business, you basically have an expensive hobby.” By the end of the semester, the students will be completing this sentence as I drill this concept into their minds for their future business launch. And, here I was, creating hundreds-of-thousands of dollars in new business for my clients, but not for myself. So I closed it down to discover what was not working.

This past year has had some great successes, new programs, new clients, new opportunities. It has also had some challenging work, income decline, loss of focus, and feeling like a fraud. Those of you that know me well, know that I look at everything as a possible way to create new learning for others. I learn to teach. For example, everything I have learned to help my children grow up has been lessons I can apply to help my clients grow their business. So here is what I discovered over that last year that changed my business and will help you grow your business as well.

I Couldn’t Do It For Myself

The things I was able to do for my clients I could not do for myself. I could not hold myself accountable, I could not see my path clearly, I could not see what was not working, I could not build my own council and hope someone else would run it for me with the skill I had. My business was failing because I could not do for myself the same amazing things I was able to do for so many other people.

I Need To Listen To My Clients

“I was hoping for more of you,” was the input I got from an introductory meeting I had held for the CEO Elite. This introductory meeting was to help guests feel out what the peer-driven council would be like, but with unvetted guests, it was not as powerful as I had hoped. I thought that getting into the vetted group would help those people experience that expertise, but it was still more of me, the business strategy expert, they wanted. It sounds simple; they said they wanted more and I should have just given them more, but I didn’t believe them. It was my blind spot.

Own It

I am great at what I do and people come to get me to do that for them, but I don’t feel that it is enough. I have the “imposter syndrome”, like so many other people. I have seen this in most of my clients in some aspect of their business or another. In my experience, it shows up as a bigger problem in more women than men. The problem with this is people don’t hire people that don’t believe in themselves to the core. I come across as confident, knowledgable, and experienced. If someone had said to me, “you don’t believe in yourself” I would not have understood how they thought that was true. What I learned is that the core belief is different than the facade belief. I am confident, knowledgable, and experienced, but each step up the complexity level put me on new ground. I had to learn more and I didn’t feel the expert any longer. There was always someone better and more experienced at what I wanted to do or be.

Pulling It Together

So how did I reckon my inner knowledge with my inner beliefs? Like a building with a beautiful exterior, people could see in the windows to my core, and they saw an empty building. “I’m not an empty building, I am full.” That is what I had to work on. I had to fill my empty building with inner work to ensure that I showed up confident, capable and willing to do the work that I was called to do. It’s actually harder work than just getting the details complete. It is harder because it is not visible. I could not see it for myself. I needed to have someone else to give me insight and clues as to what was going to work better. I had to spend time trying new things, learning new concepts, working with new people, investing in me. These are the kind of things that, to me, feel like weakness. But the stronger I became at seeing what was unseeable, the less weak, or incapable I felt about having to do the work. In fact, the people I most respect and admire, spend time doing their inner work too. The people I know that struggle with any part of their lives, often refuse to do any of this work for themselves.

Am I an expert at helping myself grow? No, I leave that expertise to others to help me find my way. Have I learned anything to help my clients? You bet I have. I have new tools, new insights, new stories, and a new perspective on what my clients want and what they need to be even more successful in their business and life. The good part is, now I am growing with them so I can continue to be the expert in their lives too.

If you and your team are working to create your growth path, this is the perfect time to have a business strategist come in and help set that path for you. If you are the CEO of that team, then I am the advisor and confidante you need, that keeps you confident, accountable, focused and able to do the work you are called to do in your business. After all, I didn’t accumulate all this knowledge and experience to keep it all to myself, I am a teacher, let me share my wealth with you. 

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Three Signs Your Business is Ready to Take on Employees

Hire new employee

Small business owners often say to me, “I could really use someone else but I’m not sure I’m ready.” There are so many things to think about when hiring someone into your business, the first being, how do I know I really need someone else. Here are three signs that your business needs employees.

Intended Growth

The most important sign a business will need employees is that the business is actively looking to grow. A small, one person business may never need to take on an employee if growth and leverage are not in their goals. But, if growth is your goal then doing more with no more time means that you will have to start the process of evaluating how you can use another person (or people) to make you more money or save you time.

Turn Down Work

A clear sign a small business is ready to take on employees is when they have to turn down work because they are too busy. I have heard many small business owners complain that they cannot grow because they simply do not have enough time to do their current work let alone take on the extra work of training new people or handling more clients. They want growth, but they stop at actually doing the work to make the growth happen.

The Ownership Role

When a small business needs the CEO to step into their role full time, so that they can do the work that creates more business, the owner then needs to have someone else do the work they had previously been responsible for. This means they need to find other employees to take on their offloaded duties. Often small business owners feel they are the only ones that can do certain work a certain way and therefore cannot offload it to another, less experienced person. The challenge is, when a business is in growth mode and more growth is expected and wanted, the business owner will have to give up more of the work they did as a solopreneur so that they can make the company more money. After all, it does not make sense for a small company to pay the CEO to do work that they can get an employee to do at half the wage.

If more clients, sales, and growth is in your future, then more employees will be the key to accomplishing your goals.

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You Might Have to Walk Alone

sign pointing in two directions

To up-level and take your friends with you is very difficult as each person has their own view of what their future looks like. It is hard enough to grow and change and keep the same life-partner let alone five. It is also important that we appreciate our friends for who they are and what they mean to us. We don’t go into relationships hoping to change people.

So, as to up-levelling and your inner-five, it is not a goal to get rid of the people around you. You will find that, as you change, some people will not fit with your new views, your new goals, your new connections, your new ideas. You, as a person, will not have changed your core ethics or morals, but you will come at them in a different way. Your friends may not or will not see it that way and you will find yourself sometimes in conflict, sometimes in wonder, and sometimes simply exhausted with the work it takes to explain.

When I was in high school, I had friends that were considered “the cool” people. They were known by most in the high school. I was not cool but they liked me anyway. They also did not aspire to the things I wanted to aspire to. They did not do as well in school and all of them were only focused on grade 12 education. I, on the other hand, was in the academic stream. I loved the sciences and maths, and I did well in them. I was going to grade 13 and university. This made me feel equal to them (I’m not cool, but I am smart). As I started my work in high-tech, my friends and I went our own ways. No one had to say anything nasty or hurtful, we just did our own things independent of each other. We still see each other, and laugh about our shared past, but we don’t work together towards our future goals.

To truly reach a new level that you have not been at before, you must travel with people that want to go there, be welcomed by people that have made the trip, and be understood by people who are open to the idea of the journey required. If your current friends are not willing to walk with you, not already on the path, and not understanding of the possibilities, then you will simply find yourself spending less time with them. No apology required. You are walking different paths in life and that is OK.

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Tech vs. Personal Touch – Which Should You Be Using

Call Center Sales

In a meeting recently there was a person that argued that the personal touch was how people should reach out. “I hate when people send me a link to connect. If they cannot take a minute out of their day to call me then I don’t want to talk to them.” It is a pretty powerful statement and many people will feel this way. So how do we successfully use Technology to reduce our workload and make it possible for us to have the time to book calls and make new sales?

First, let me explain the technology that was being discussed when this statement came out. I was telling people to reduce the amount of time it took to go back and forth on an email, trying to find the best time to book a call, or booking their clients, it is better to use a booking software like Calendly, Aquity Scheduling, or TimeTrade. You would send a link in an email to your calendar and they choose the time that fits with their schedule. So here are my thoughts on using this type of tech.

Use Tech Instead of a Personal Call When…

  • People are expecting to connect with you and need to book a time to talk.

When people know you and are reaching out to connect with you it is totally appropriate to use an online scheduling system to book clients, prospects, suppliers, and peers. It saves on back and forth emails or phone tag trying to reach a consensus on the best time.

  • When you are trying to reach someone else.

When you have an issue and you need to speak to your supplier, or you are trying to reach a client, time may be a factor. Call first. If you do not get the person then leave a message with your return phone number and alternative instructions stating you will be sending a link to your calendar to set up a time to discuss your issue.  They will choose what works best for them. If they don’t, you always have the phone to reach out again.

  • When you don’t have their phone number.

Since cell phone numbers are not published in a centralized place, if the person you are trying to connect with has not given you their number and it is not posted on their website, you will be required to start with email. This is not ideal for potential sales leads. I rarely have this, but the time I did was an introduction from a client to someone they thought would be a good lead for me. They only had their first name and email address, so I had little to research on to find more details, like their phone number. Even though she introduced us via email, the person would not connect via email as our first touchpoint. My client could not get them to connect either, so it was less than ideal outcome for me – and based on my success rate for my clients – for him as well.

  • Push Sales – Call centres and telesales.

I don’t know about you, but getting a phone call on Sunday evening at 8:30 to sell me duct cleaning is a little too intrusive for the personal touch. It is a legitimate sales process, but it does not feel personal.

Use The Personal Touch

  • When you are trying to qualify a lead, you should always call first.

These are your sales calls. I would love to tell you that calling prospects and leads are now not required because of online automation, but that is simply not true, especially if you are in a service based business. Think about it, if you were to receive an email from someone you don’t really know, or maybe don’t know at all, and they ask you to “take this link to my calendar” are you likely to do that? No, in fact, you should never click links in emails from people or business you have not previously vetted.  Even though most would be legitimate, this is where viruses come from.

  • When returning someone else’s call.

If someone is expecting you to call, then make the call. An email with a link is not the response they are expecting and may not be appropriate timing for them. If you cannot call and have their cell number, then text them a time you will return their call.

  • When you have a meeting.

When you have booked a time to have a personal conversation, you should be on time and show up where they expect to connect with you (on the phone, in person, or on a video conference call). Don’t email someone 15 minutes before a meeting to let them know you cannot make it. Email is too slow. Some people may have Facebook messenger available to them all the time, but if you have not arranged a process for cancelling or being late, then call. The timing for personal connections is more precise then sending emails, messages, or even texting.

 

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Finding The Way To Success – It Is How You Look For It

buddha meditating

Who knew that meditation was going to help me find success? It was Not because I learned to meditate, but because I learned how to look for success.

For a long time, I was told that meditation was a great way to find my center, relieve stress, get focused, and become more successful. I could not afford, at the time, to hire someone to teach me meditation so I thought I would have to wait until I found another way. Surely I would know someone that could help me find what I needed or teach me.

Then someone said to me, I could find a guided meditation using free apps on my phone. I was so excited. I looked, and I could not find guided meditations that did not cost money. I was disappointed because I was sure this was going to be the way to my success. I mentioned my disappointment to someone else and they then gave me the name of a free app I could download and use. It was perfect because it was only 2 – 5 minutes long, and for someone that did not know how to meditate it was a great learning platform.

After some time I became bored with the same few meditations. I wanted more and I still did not want to pay for apps on my phone. Then another person told me that there were hundreds on YouTube. That may be obvious today, but a few years ago it was not. I started finding one, two, three… I had a few I liked and listened to often. They taught me how to meditate for longer times and in different ways. As I became better at self-meditation I continued to find more videos to listen to and follow. With my growth came an opening that allowed me to see and find more of what I had. I subscribed to one channel and two more would pop up as recommendations. The more I listened the more channels became available. There are literally thousands of sites with free meditation music that I now take advantage of and at one time I could not find one.

There is an old saying that I’m going to paraphrase here, and I think you will get the gist of the meaning:

–To those that have much, much will be given & and expected– 1

You have a lot and there are literally thousands of places for you to share what you have. The way to success is to ensure that you don’t give up looking for what you need.

 

1 Partially based on Luke 12:48