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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
to.
Hello there, everyone, andwelcome back to the latest
episode of overcome yourself,the podcast.
As you know, my name is nicoleand I'm so excited to be here
today with laura, um.
So, laura, go ahead andintroduce yourself.
Love your glasses, um, who youare and who you help okay, well,
(00:21):
thanks very much, nicole.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
It's a pleasure to be here today.
As you shared, my name is LauraWatson.
My company is Venture CoachingInternational.
I'm based, actually, in thegreat white north of Calgary,
alberta.
So although the calendar saysit's spring, outside, I'm still
staring at snow, so that's justthe way it goes here.
(00:43):
But I am a leadership andbusiness coach for small
business owners and C-levelexecutives, and I work with
owners and executives acrossNorth America, actually so
across the US and Canada, andI've been doing so for over 20
years now because I justabsolutely love the work that I
get to do.
So what I help people do reallyis I help them take their life,
(01:08):
their business, theirleadership to the next level,
whatever that looks like forthem.
So, whether they're a smallbusiness owner, a solopreneur
who needs to manage their timemore effectively, deal with
overwhelm, organize themselvesso they can create more
work-life balance, manage theirmental and emotional mastery
(01:32):
better, so that they're not onthese roller coaster rides all
the time, I do that kind of workall the way through to leaders
with small teams who are oftensubject matter experts, like
engineers, architects,accountants, who know their
field really well and decided tostart a business and have a
(01:56):
team, and now they're leading asmall organization where
leadership requires a new set ofskills than their professional
skills.
And so where I come in andsupport there is, with business
planning again, time andorganization, but also we'll add
(02:17):
on more communication stuff howto delegate more effectively,
how to communicate moreeffectively.
Often I find the owners, whenthey get frustrated and
overwhelmed, they get veryreactive and their communication
skills aren't always the best,and then they get frustrated,
thinking that people just don'tget it, when in fact the issue
(02:38):
lies with themselves.
So I help to summarize it I help, you know, small business
owners and executives be abetter version of themselves,
you know, personally andprofessionally, because although
I'm in the boardroom workingwith them by day, they go home
at night and they've gotrelationships at home to deal
(03:00):
with with their spouse, withtheir kids, their own health
that they're dealing with.
So I'm really a whole personcoach, you know, focused on
business and leadership, butalso able to support at home,
because I, before coaching, Ihave a counseling background.
So hopefully I do a lot ofthings and help in a lot of ways
, hopefully.
That summarizes it a nicelittle neat package.
(03:21):
Yeah, no, that makes a lot ofsense and I know, I know you
mentioned you have a lot of ways.
Hopefully that summarizes it anice little neat package.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense and I know I know
you mentioned you have a lot ofresources available and so I
would like to know, like, whatare some tips that you have?
You mentioned like the, the,the expert.
They're an expert in theirfield and they're branching out
and they're like I want to do myown thing.
Can you give us some of like,maybe like where they trip up
(03:46):
and what tips you have to helpthem really not stumble so much
in the beginning so they can getright to the good stuff?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Absolutely.
You know what this is going tosound cliche, and I find a lot
of people resist it.
But have a plan and work yourplan Right.
I just no matter what the sizeof business or how many years
they've been in business,whether startup or a mature
business for example, I have anengineer here in Calgary who
(04:16):
just celebrated his 15thanniversary of the business.
I find so many owners don'thave a plan and if they have a
plan, it's something they havein their head.
They've never documented it.
And even if they havedocumented it whether it's
virtual or on paper it's maybesome thoughts or some intentions
that they put down one day ormaybe at New Year's as part of
(04:41):
the resolution thinking, andthey're not keeping that plan
alive throughout the year andreally working their plan.
So I find where people struggleis, first of all, a lack of
clarity about what they want.
So there has to be clarityabout what first of all, and
then we have to flush out thatclarity as far as when and how.
(05:05):
So what that looks like is youhave to reverse engineer your
business.
You have to think aboutfoundational aspects like your
core values and your vision,your mission, who you serve as a
target audience, what's mostimportant to you, what makes you
unique from your competition?
(05:25):
Because everybody's going tohave competition of some sort
and there's a special sauce or auniqueness that people bring to
the table that they need to beclear about first so that they
can communicate that to themarketplace.
So those are foundationalpieces of having a business plan
.
And then a plan involves wheredo you want to be in 10 years
(05:48):
from now?
Where do you want to be threeto five years from now?
Where do you want to be oneyear from now?
That's the reverse engineeringpart.
And then, once we've got clarityabout where we want to be a
year from now.
So, for example, I'm working onplans right now with my clients
that we created the 1st ofJanuary and we're at the end
right now.
We're at April 1, we're at theend of Q1.
(06:10):
So I'm reviewing those planswith everybody talking about
okay, here's what we decided wewanted for the year, here's what
we decided we wanted for the Q1.
Now, where are we at in ourprogress?
What have we achieved?
What maybe is still in progress?
And now, based on our goals forthe year, what are we going to
focus on in Q2?
(06:32):
So we have to take that annualplan and break it down into
quarterly bites, because wecan't work on everything all at
once.
And once we have it down intoquarterly bites, then we still
are clear about what we want toachieve for the quarter, but we
may not have clarity yet on howwe're going to achieve it or
when in the quarter.
(06:53):
So that's where I take myclients through the next step of
the process, which is now thatwe're clear on what we want to
accomplish for the quarter.
That's when I create ascorecard with people and that's
when it really gets nittygritty, where we take the
individual goals for the quarterand we take one or two action
(07:13):
steps that we can work on eachweek in the quarter so that we
know how we're going to achievethose goals.
And then once we have theactions so goal number one might
have one action this week andthat's all we have to do.
But again, we've taken it downinto a sizable bite one action,
(07:36):
and then when, when in the week,is that action going to
actually take place?
Because that's again anotherplace where people stumble is,
if they're not, they might beclear what they probably haven't
figured out how which is theaction, and then they have not
put it in their calendar decideokay, I'm setting aside two
hours on tuesday to take thisaction.
(07:59):
So we really have this how theactions that we're taking, and
when we're taking them, to keepthat plan alive and actionable
throughout the year.
So that's what I mean when Isay have a plan and work your
(08:22):
plan.
That's what it looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I love that.
I love that so much.
Now I want you to talk to meabout when we're setting goals,
because you know we talk a lotabout setting goals, but then we
don't talk about how to makethat happen.
So I want you to talk to meabout the difference between
setting a goal of getting aclient versus setting a goal of
(08:45):
making five calls a day, forexample.
But do you see the differencein the, the action that I can
take, versus what comes out ofthe other end?
So can you talk to me a littlebit about that difference?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Well, yeah, so having a new client, that's called a
lay, that's a goal for sure.
I want one new client, or fivenew clients, whatever that is,
and that's really a lagging,what we call a lagging indicator
of our success, which isimportant.
We, you know, we want thatclient.
But the leading indicator isactually more powerful because
(09:20):
it's the leading indicator.
It's, those are, the actionsthat lead to getting the client.
So the leading and the goalmight be, or the action is I'm
making five phone calls a weekto prospects or to my network
for referrals, or to previousclients that I've had to see if
they are still in need ofservice of some kind, or what
(09:44):
have you.
So the leading indicator isactually what we can control,
because we can't control thelagging indicator.
We can't control that we'reactually going to land those
five new clients, but what wecan control is the actions that
will lead to getting those fivenew clients, which is the phone
calls, for example.
So, absolutely, once we're clearon the goal, how are we going
(10:08):
to do that?
I'm going to make the phonecalls.
When am I going to do that?
Monday morning, I'm settingaside an hour of time to reach
out to my network and make thosecalls, and so sometimes those
actions are a habit that wecreate and they're just
something that we do every week.
Sometimes those actions aregoing to be one-offs.
It really depends on what thegoal is.
(10:30):
But that's how I distinguishbetween sort of goal and action,
leading indicators versuslagging indicators.
So I hope that answers yourquestion.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yes, yes, it does, and I think it's just so
important to remind ourselves tofocus on what we can control
right, and I that happens to mewith a lot of my clients, like
with posting.
You're the, your job is to keepposting right, Like you have to
keep creating content.
You have to make sure that it'sgood content, obviously, that
(11:01):
it's speaking to your clients.
You're not just throwingspaghetti at a wall, but focus
on the posting of the contentand then, we can't focus on.
Oh my God, that post didn't getme a client.
Well, that's not exactly how itworks, right?
It's not one for one.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah absolutely no.
Yeah, it's the habit and theconsistency that leads to the
result.
The habit we can control.
We can take those actions on adaily or weekly basis, whatever
that cadence is going to be, andwe can't control the outcome.
But we can control the leadingindicator going into the outcome
and unfortunately, I find thatso many people get impatient and
(11:43):
give up too quickly.
Yeah, I think our phones andour social media have really
turned us into an instanteverything society and if we
don't get that result right away, then we give up and we jump to
another tactic that and then wedon't stick with that one
either.
So, really, where people getsuccess is choosing a strategy
(12:07):
and an approach that fits forthem.
Not everybody wants to dowritten posts.
I have done a little bit ofthat for a while and I found you
know what I really don't enjoythat Podcasting I love because I
get to meet great people likeyourself, I get to be in an
interactive conversation, I getto share value.
So I found something that fitsfor me, that I enjoy doing, and
(12:31):
when I enjoy doing it, I'mhaving fun and I'm more likely
to do more of it.
So I think that's an importantcriteria as well, as there's
lots of different ways we canget our value and our content
out there, we do need to find atactic and a strategy that fits
for us and feels good for us,because then it's going to be
(12:51):
also easier to stick with it andbe consistent.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, I love that, and my coach always likes to
remind us that the strategies,the frameworks that are out
there, they work right.
Like if you wanna go highticket, that works.
If you wanna go low ticket,that works.
If you wanna go mid ticket,that works.
If you wanna do cold DMs, thatworks.
If you wanna post, that works.
But you have to do something.
(13:16):
Pick one of those thingsaffiliate marketing, whatever it
is but you have to pick it, getin your lane and then stay in
it.
They're not going to work ifyou're trying to do them all at
the same time, right?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So yeah, we'll spread ourselves too thin, yes, right,
and when we spread ourselvestoo thin, we don't get any depth
, we don't get leverage fromthat approach.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
you know, and to your point, we I find people jump
lanes too soon yes yes I agree,and and that's one of the things
that you learn in the trenches,right um, and and and the the
compounded result when you docreate a habit, right, if that's
(14:00):
part of the goal and you'redoing something like that of
doing something consistentlyevery week, like making sure
you're getting on a podcastevery week, I totally agree with
you.
Podcasting makes creating thecontent easier because you want
to do it, you're having fun,you're getting to meet new
people, you're having exactlywhat you said, you're having new
conversations, and then you canpull quotes and you're like wow
(14:22):
, I love that.
I said that, like I wouldn'thave even like written that down
, but like it came out and I canquote myself, um, so, but you
also mentioned that part of thisprocess that you help your
clients with the mindset andit's really like a very holistic
approach, right, because it'sreally hard to come, you know,
to compartmentalize likeleadership.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Leadership's a big umbrella, encompasses a lot of
things.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yes, right, and when you become a better leader in
one area, that hopefully isgoing to reflect in the other
areas.
So I want to know, in thismindset, in this whole process,
what part does gratitude play,you know, in what you do with
your clients and helping them?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, that's a unexpected question, but a great
question.
Yeah, gratitude is superimportant, and and so are, and
I'm going to combine gratitudewith acknowledging our wins.
Yes, right, because gratitudeand appreciation, absolutely,
and the wins and the progresswe're making, and it's super
(15:25):
important.
This is something that Ilearned about actually years ago
from a gentleman named DavidRock, who also is a leadership
expert, who also is a leadershipexpert, and what he talked
about is that when weacknowledge our wins and our
gratitude, it actually rewiresour brain.
And when we're in business, asyou know, we can be so focused
(15:49):
on the problems, what's notworking, what do we got to fix,
what do we got to do next, andthat the list is long and we can
get so focused on what's notworking and what needs fixing
that we can go in a downwardmental and emotional spiral
around all those things.
And whether we're a soulpreneurand it's affecting our own
(16:11):
mental and emotional capacity,or whether we're leading a team
and we're getting grouchy andcranky and with our team members
, which isn't a good way to showup, it's really, really
important that we not justthere's always going to be
challenges, and I'm not sayingthat we're going to put on rose
(16:31):
colored glasses and not addressthe challenges Absolutely.
But before we address thechallenges, we have to
acknowledge our wins and we haveto acknowledge what we're
grateful for so that we can openup the creativity centers in
our brain.
We can give ourselves a momentto acknowledge yes, here's
what's working.
(16:52):
And in fact I'll show you.
I have a little wins jar, andthis is something I have my
clients do.
I'm obviously doing it formyself and I collect my wins
whenever I'm like, hey, there'ssomething here I'm grateful for
or something I've accomplished,write it on a little piece of
paper, I stick it in my wins jarand then every quarter or every
(17:14):
six months, I empty the jar andI read all my wins so that I
can be reminded of theaccomplishments I've made.
So this is a great little wayto do that.
I also start my coachingsessions every week with my
clients about what are the winsthis week, what progress have
you made?
Because they're always comingto a session oh, I got to work
(17:35):
on this.
I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah,we'll get to that.
But before we get to that,let's talk about what you have
accomplished.
Where are what are you gratefulfor?
Because when it shifts ouremotions.
It shifts our headspace, opensup our capacity to be able to
take on the challenges.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I love that and I think it's so important that you
differentiate, because there isjust the act of practicing
gratitude, without it evenhaving to be a win.
We can do that.
That's a whole separate thing,right, because gratitude is more
about being right.
And so we are being gratefuland, like I love what you said
(18:17):
about, you know, in challenges,when things are coming up, I
feel big emotions.
One of the ways that I canredirect myself is like, okay,
let's stop and reframe.
What am I grateful for rightnow?
This situation sucks.
I don't like this at all.
This is terrible, but what canI be grateful for right now?
So, cause I've got to keepmoving, especially for ND people
(18:40):
, we get stuck in this paralysisand this executive dysfunction
and in situations, there aresituations where we don't have
time for that.
Can't get under the rock, and sothat's been super helpful for
me.
And then, at the end of the day, as a separate, totally
separate thing, don't get lostthe rock, and so that's been
super helpful for me.
And then, at the end of the day, as a separate, totally
separate thing, don't get lostin the winds right, because it's
(19:02):
about more than just the winds.
But it's also important that weacknowledge them, and I love
that you have your jar, becauseit's also we are so good at
forgetting.
Yes, all the good things youknow, like we totally you know,
just writing it down and thenI'll be writing down well, what
are some things that I did thismonth?
(19:22):
I'll look through my planner.
I'll be like, oh my gosh, I wasso excited about this and it's
been two weeks and I alreadyforgot about it.
Like I thought this was alreadylike way in the past.
And the other thing I thoughtof when you were talking was
we're so good at moving thegoalpost.
We're like I want to get oneclient and then you get the
(19:43):
client.
You're like, yeah, but I didn'tget five.
We're like wait a second, thegoal was one.
You got one.
Why are you mad that you didn'tget this goal, that you we
didn't even talk about until youhad already set it up?
Like you can't even enjoy theone, so it's so important for us
to really stop absolutely it.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
The stopping grounds us.
You know we're just flying at amile a minute.
Uh, you know, whether we're aparent, whether a business owner
, leader, and it's just we canjust be caught up in that
whirlwind.
And so, yeah, taking a momentof gratitude grounds us, settles
us, and it actually affects usmentally.
(20:27):
And with and with the grounding, then we can, we will be able
to think more clearly andproblem solve more effectively.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I love that.
I love that so much.
So tell me a little bit aboutbecause, like I had mentioned
the beginning of this episode,you had talked about some
resources that you haveavailable, so can you tell us a
little bit about those and howwe can stay in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Oh, absolutely yes, I'm a bit of a tool lady.
Love it, and, you know, one ofthe things that I really love
helping clients do is bridgetheory to practice.
You know, the theory is great.
We have to know what to do, butif we can't put it into
practice, then we're not goingto get the value out of it, and
so I've been.
(21:16):
So that's a real passion ofmine is helping people to bridge
that, and one of the ways I dothat is by offering free
resources.
So my website isventurecoachingca, because I'm
in Canada and right there inVenture Coaching, in addition to
(21:37):
having an opportunity to reachout to me for a free coaching
session if someone wishes, thereis a free tab.
Free tab has a number of freedownloads.
They are e-books that cover anumber of leadership topics.
So, whether you're wanting towrite that business plan and
reverse engineer your business,like I talked about earlier, I
have an e-book there thataddresses that.
(21:59):
I've got e-books that talkabout how to give feedback
effectively, communicateeffectively, manage your time
effectively, manage your motions, so all those things that fall
under that big leadershipumbrella.
I've got a number of freedownloads that people are
welcome to take advantage of sothat they can actually put these
things into practice and reapthe benefits.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yay, that is amazing.
And tell us how can we stay intouch with you, laura?
Like social media.
Can we follow you?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, of course, linkedin.
I'm there Usually posting somesort of resource or tip or trick
that's going to help withbusiness development or
leadership development.
I'm on Facebook under LauraWatson as well.
That tends to be a little morepersonal side, but people are
welcome to follow me there.
(22:49):
Youtube, venture Coaching I'vegot a number of other podcasts
that I've done and I've done,like I said, a number of these
podcasts and so other topicsthat I've talked about with
other podcasters like yourself.
I have those on my website.
So really, if people want tostay in touch, the best place to
go is my website,venturecoachingca.
(23:09):
They can get the free tools,they can check out the other
podcasts and then, if they wantto have a conversation with me
which I'm always happy to dothey can reach out directly me,
which I'm always happy to do.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
they can reach out directly.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for that.
Now, as we're signing off, welike to sign off with your
biggest tip.
So what is the biggest tip thatyou have for the audience?
They're working on overcomingthemselves, they're stepping out
as this expert that they're in,but they're in a whole new
arena where they get to show offthis expertise.
So what's the biggest tip youhave for those, for those new?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
entrepreneurs.
I think my biggest tip is gethelp.
Yeah, don't do this alone.
It's it's too big, it's toomuch.
Whether the help looks likereading a book, getting free
resources like my own resourcesjoining a mastermind group, a
(24:09):
network of some kind, or havinga coach, there's just so much
involved with building andgrowing a business, no matter
what level you're at, and sodon't think you have to do it
alone.
People yes, they're an expertin their area.
They probably have lots ofvalue to bring to the table.
(24:29):
But when we take on running andgrowing a business, there's a
whole new set of skills thatneed to be embraced and mastered
, and we just it'll go too slowif we try to do it by ourselves.
So get help.
Think about where you're strongand pursue what you're strong.
(24:51):
Be clear about where you're notso strong and where some of the
challenges lie, and get somehelp to address those challenges
.
Barter services if you have toDo whatever it takes to get some
help to address thosechallenges.
Barter services if you have toDo whatever it takes to get some
help, because with help, you'regoing to move forward faster.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I love that and I think it's so important what you
mentioned that you don't haveto go all in in the beginning.
Go with the lower costresources.
Reach out to experts who havelow cost resources or even free
resources, or hit up the thriftstore and grab yourself some
books or go to the libraryLibrary.
(25:31):
Yes, exactly, and in my book Italk about how that is an
inexpensive way to get to spendtime with your mentors, really
learn from them, get to hear,like their inside stories and
really right, you're spendingtime with them and you don't
have to pay thousands of dollarsto learn what they're teaching.
But it does take you taking theaction of going and getting the
(25:54):
book and implementing it, whatit is that they're talking about
.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Absolutely Reading the book a great first step.
Absolutely, that's the theory,and then you got to put it into
practice, and so, whether youcreate a system or a process for
yourself, or you talk tosomeone else who can help you,
it's going to be the practice ofwhatever theory they're
(26:18):
learning about or skill thatthey are adopting that will make
all the difference.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, and that's that's how you learn to ask the
right questions, because whenyou're just starting, you don't
know, so you don't even knowwhat the right questions are to
be asking.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Absolutely no.
There's blind spots out thereand often we don't know what we
don't know.
So, again, books, resourceswhether they're podcasts, eBooks
, whatever YouTube videos yeah,there's going to be blind spots,
that's inevitable, and there'sgoing to be things that we can't
know everything that'simpossible.
(26:53):
But the knowledge is out thereand we've got this incredible
thing called Google and AI nowwhere we can ask questions and
discover and learn what we don'tknow.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
I love that.
Yeah, that changes everything,doesn't it?
And it's just getting started.
Oh my gosh, this has beenabsolutely wonderful.
Laura, thank you so much forjoining us today and thank you
guys for joining us.
We'll see hear you guys nexttime, on the next episode of
Overcoming Self-Depth Podcast.
Bye, bye for now.
to.
Hello there, everyone, andwelcome back to the latest
episode of overcome yourself,the podcast.
As you know, my name is nicoleand I'm so excited to be here
today with laura, um.
So, laura, go ahead andintroduce yourself.
Love your glasses, um, who youare and who you help okay, well,
(00:21):
thanks very much, nicole.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
It's a pleasure to be here today.
As you shared, my name is LauraWatson.
My company is Venture CoachingInternational.
I'm based, actually, in thegreat white north of Calgary,
alberta.
So although the calendar saysit's spring, outside, I'm still
staring at snow, so that's justthe way it goes here.
(00:43):
But I am a leadership andbusiness coach for small
business owners and C-levelexecutives, and I work with
owners and executives acrossNorth America, actually so
across the US and Canada, andI've been doing so for over 20
years now because I justabsolutely love the work that I
get to do.
So what I help people do reallyis I help them take their life,
(01:08):
their business, theirleadership to the next level,
whatever that looks like forthem.
So, whether they're a smallbusiness owner, a solopreneur
who needs to manage their timemore effectively, deal with
overwhelm, organize themselvesso they can create more
work-life balance, manage theirmental and emotional mastery
(01:32):
better, so that they're not onthese roller coaster rides all
the time, I do that kind of workall the way through to leaders
with small teams who are oftensubject matter experts, like
engineers, architects,accountants, who know their
field really well and decided tostart a business and have a
(01:56):
team, and now they're leading asmall organization where
leadership requires a new set ofskills than their professional
skills.
And so where I come in andsupport there is, with business
planning again, time andorganization, but also we'll add
(02:17):
on more communication stuff howto delegate more effectively,
how to communicate moreeffectively.
Often I find the owners, whenthey get frustrated and
overwhelmed, they get veryreactive and their communication
skills aren't always the best,and then they get frustrated,
thinking that people just don'tget it, when in fact the issue
(02:38):
lies with themselves.
So I help to summarize it I help, you know, small business
owners and executives be abetter version of themselves,
you know, personally andprofessionally, because although
I'm in the boardroom workingwith them by day, they go home
at night and they've gotrelationships at home to deal
(03:00):
with with their spouse, withtheir kids, their own health
that they're dealing with.
So I'm really a whole personcoach, you know, focused on
business and leadership, butalso able to support at home,
because I, before coaching, Ihave a counseling background.
So hopefully I do a lot ofthings and help in a lot of ways
, hopefully.
That summarizes it a nicelittle neat package.
(03:21):
Yeah, no, that makes a lot ofsense and I know, I know you
mentioned you have a lot of ways.
Hopefully that summarizes it anice little neat package.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, no, that makes a lot of sense and I know I know
you mentioned you have a lot ofresources available and so I
would like to know, like, whatare some tips that you have?
You mentioned like the, the,the expert.
They're an expert in theirfield and they're branching out
and they're like I want to do myown thing.
Can you give us some of like,maybe like where they trip up
(03:46):
and what tips you have to helpthem really not stumble so much
in the beginning so they can getright to the good stuff?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Absolutely.
You know what this is going tosound cliche, and I find a lot
of people resist it.
But have a plan and work yourplan Right.
I just no matter what the sizeof business or how many years
they've been in business,whether startup or a mature
business for example, I have anengineer here in Calgary who
(04:16):
just celebrated his 15thanniversary of the business.
I find so many owners don'thave a plan and if they have a
plan, it's something they havein their head.
They've never documented it.
And even if they havedocumented it whether it's
virtual or on paper it's maybesome thoughts or some intentions
that they put down one day ormaybe at New Year's as part of
(04:41):
the resolution thinking, andthey're not keeping that plan
alive throughout the year andreally working their plan.
So I find where people struggleis, first of all, a lack of
clarity about what they want.
So there has to be clarityabout what first of all, and
then we have to flush out thatclarity as far as when and how.
(05:05):
So what that looks like is youhave to reverse engineer your
business.
You have to think aboutfoundational aspects like your
core values and your vision,your mission, who you serve as a
target audience, what's mostimportant to you, what makes you
unique from your competition?
(05:25):
Because everybody's going tohave competition of some sort
and there's a special sauce or auniqueness that people bring to
the table that they need to beclear about first so that they
can communicate that to themarketplace.
So those are foundationalpieces of having a business plan
.
And then a plan involves wheredo you want to be in 10 years
(05:48):
from now?
Where do you want to be threeto five years from now?
Where do you want to be oneyear from now?
That's the reverse engineeringpart.
And then, once we've got clarityabout where we want to be a
year from now.
So, for example, I'm working onplans right now with my clients
that we created the 1st ofJanuary and we're at the end
right now.
We're at April 1, we're at theend of Q1.
(06:10):
So I'm reviewing those planswith everybody talking about
okay, here's what we decided wewanted for the year, here's what
we decided we wanted for the Q1.
Now, where are we at in ourprogress?
What have we achieved?
What maybe is still in progress?
And now, based on our goals forthe year, what are we going to
focus on in Q2?
(06:32):
So we have to take that annualplan and break it down into
quarterly bites, because wecan't work on everything all at
once.
And once we have it down intoquarterly bites, then we still
are clear about what we want toachieve for the quarter, but we
may not have clarity yet on howwe're going to achieve it or
when in the quarter.
(06:53):
So that's where I take myclients through the next step of
the process, which is now thatwe're clear on what we want to
accomplish for the quarter.
That's when I create ascorecard with people and that's
when it really gets nittygritty, where we take the
individual goals for the quarterand we take one or two action
(07:13):
steps that we can work on eachweek in the quarter so that we
know how we're going to achievethose goals.
And then once we have theactions so goal number one might
have one action this week andthat's all we have to do.
But again, we've taken it downinto a sizable bite one action,
(07:36):
and then when, when in the week,is that action going to
actually take place?
Because that's again anotherplace where people stumble is,
if they're not, they might beclear what they probably haven't
figured out how which is theaction, and then they have not
put it in their calendar decideokay, I'm setting aside two
hours on tuesday to take thisaction.
(07:59):
So we really have this how theactions that we're taking, and
when we're taking them, to keepthat plan alive and actionable
throughout the year.
So that's what I mean when Isay have a plan and work your
(08:22):
plan.
That's what it looks like.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I love that.
I love that so much.
Now I want you to talk to meabout when we're setting goals,
because you know we talk a lotabout setting goals, but then we
don't talk about how to makethat happen.
So I want you to talk to meabout the difference between
setting a goal of getting aclient versus setting a goal of
(08:45):
making five calls a day, forexample.
But do you see the differencein the, the action that I can
take, versus what comes out ofthe other end?
So can you talk to me a littlebit about that difference?
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Well, yeah, so having a new client, that's called a
lay, that's a goal for sure.
I want one new client, or fivenew clients, whatever that is,
and that's really a lagging,what we call a lagging indicator
of our success, which isimportant.
We, you know, we want thatclient.
But the leading indicator isactually more powerful because
(09:20):
it's the leading indicator.
It's, those are, the actionsthat lead to getting the client.
So the leading and the goalmight be, or the action is I'm
making five phone calls a weekto prospects or to my network
for referrals, or to previousclients that I've had to see if
they are still in need ofservice of some kind, or what
(09:44):
have you.
So the leading indicator isactually what we can control,
because we can't control thelagging indicator.
We can't control that we'reactually going to land those
five new clients, but what wecan control is the actions that
will lead to getting those fivenew clients, which is the phone
calls, for example.
So, absolutely, once we're clearon the goal, how are we going
(10:08):
to do that?
I'm going to make the phonecalls.
When am I going to do that?
Monday morning, I'm settingaside an hour of time to reach
out to my network and make thosecalls, and so sometimes those
actions are a habit that wecreate and they're just
something that we do every week.
Sometimes those actions aregoing to be one-offs.
It really depends on what thegoal is.
(10:30):
But that's how I distinguishbetween sort of goal and action,
leading indicators versuslagging indicators.
So I hope that answers yourquestion.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yes, yes, it does, and I think it's just so
important to remind ourselves tofocus on what we can control
right, and I that happens to mewith a lot of my clients, like
with posting.
You're the, your job is to keepposting right, Like you have to
keep creating content.
You have to make sure that it'sgood content, obviously, that
(11:01):
it's speaking to your clients.
You're not just throwingspaghetti at a wall, but focus
on the posting of the contentand then, we can't focus on.
Oh my God, that post didn't getme a client.
Well, that's not exactly how itworks, right?
It's not one for one.
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Yeah absolutely no.
Yeah, it's the habit and theconsistency that leads to the
result.
The habit we can control.
We can take those actions on adaily or weekly basis, whatever
that cadence is going to be, andwe can't control the outcome.
But we can control the leadingindicator going into the outcome
and unfortunately, I find thatso many people get impatient and
(11:43):
give up too quickly.
Yeah, I think our phones andour social media have really
turned us into an instanteverything society and if we
don't get that result right away, then we give up and we jump to
another tactic that and then wedon't stick with that one
either.
So, really, where people getsuccess is choosing a strategy
(12:07):
and an approach that fits forthem.
Not everybody wants to dowritten posts.
I have done a little bit ofthat for a while and I found you
know what I really don't enjoythat Podcasting I love because I
get to meet great people likeyourself, I get to be in an
interactive conversation, I getto share value.
So I found something that fitsfor me, that I enjoy doing, and
(12:31):
when I enjoy doing it, I'mhaving fun and I'm more likely
to do more of it.
So I think that's an importantcriteria as well, as there's
lots of different ways we canget our value and our content
out there, we do need to find atactic and a strategy that fits
for us and feels good for us,because then it's going to be
(12:51):
also easier to stick with it andbe consistent.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, I love that, and my coach always likes to
remind us that the strategies,the frameworks that are out
there, they work right.
Like if you wanna go highticket, that works.
If you wanna go low ticket,that works.
If you wanna go mid ticket,that works.
If you wanna do cold DMs, thatworks.
If you wanna post, that works.
But you have to do something.
(13:16):
Pick one of those thingsaffiliate marketing, whatever it
is but you have to pick it, getin your lane and then stay in
it.
They're not going to work ifyou're trying to do them all at
the same time, right?
Speaker 2 (13:30):
So yeah, we'll spread ourselves too thin, yes, right,
and when we spread ourselvestoo thin, we don't get any depth
, we don't get leverage fromthat approach.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
you know, and to your point, we I find people jump
lanes too soon yes yes I agree,and and that's one of the things
that you learn in the trenches,right um, and and and the the
compounded result when you docreate a habit, right, if that's
(14:00):
part of the goal and you'redoing something like that of
doing something consistentlyevery week, like making sure
you're getting on a podcastevery week, I totally agree with
you.
Podcasting makes creating thecontent easier because you want
to do it, you're having fun,you're getting to meet new
people, you're having exactlywhat you said, you're having new
conversations, and then you canpull quotes and you're like wow
(14:22):
, I love that.
I said that, like I wouldn'thave even like written that down
, but like it came out and I canquote myself, um, so, but you
also mentioned that part of thisprocess that you help your
clients with the mindset andit's really like a very holistic
approach, right, because it'sreally hard to come, you know,
to compartmentalize likeleadership.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
Leadership's a big umbrella, encompasses a lot of
things.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Yes, right, and when you become a better leader in
one area, that hopefully isgoing to reflect in the other
areas.
So I want to know, in thismindset, in this whole process,
what part does gratitude play,you know, in what you do with
your clients and helping them?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Oh, that's a unexpected question, but a great
question.
Yeah, gratitude is superimportant, and and so are, and
I'm going to combine gratitudewith acknowledging our wins.
Yes, right, because gratitudeand appreciation, absolutely,
and the wins and the progresswe're making, and it's super
(15:25):
important.
This is something that Ilearned about actually years ago
from a gentleman named DavidRock, who also is a leadership
expert, who also is a leadershipexpert, and what he talked
about is that when weacknowledge our wins and our
gratitude, it actually rewiresour brain.
And when we're in business, asyou know, we can be so focused
(15:49):
on the problems, what's notworking, what do we got to fix,
what do we got to do next, andthat the list is long and we can
get so focused on what's notworking and what needs fixing
that we can go in a downwardmental and emotional spiral
around all those things.
And whether we're a soulpreneurand it's affecting our own
(16:11):
mental and emotional capacity,or whether we're leading a team
and we're getting grouchy andcranky and with our team members
, which isn't a good way to showup, it's really, really
important that we not justthere's always going to be
challenges, and I'm not sayingthat we're going to put on rose
(16:31):
colored glasses and not addressthe challenges Absolutely.
But before we address thechallenges, we have to
acknowledge our wins and we haveto acknowledge what we're
grateful for so that we can openup the creativity centers in
our brain.
We can give ourselves a momentto acknowledge yes, here's
what's working.
(16:52):
And in fact I'll show you.
I have a little wins jar, andthis is something I have my
clients do.
I'm obviously doing it formyself and I collect my wins
whenever I'm like, hey, there'ssomething here I'm grateful for
or something I've accomplished,write it on a little piece of
paper, I stick it in my wins jarand then every quarter or every
(17:14):
six months, I empty the jar andI read all my wins so that I
can be reminded of theaccomplishments I've made.
So this is a great little wayto do that.
I also start my coachingsessions every week with my
clients about what are the winsthis week, what progress have
you made?
Because they're always comingto a session oh, I got to work
(17:35):
on this.
I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah,we'll get to that.
But before we get to that,let's talk about what you have
accomplished.
Where are what are you gratefulfor?
Because when it shifts ouremotions.
It shifts our headspace, opensup our capacity to be able to
take on the challenges.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I love that and I think it's so important that you
differentiate, because there isjust the act of practicing
gratitude, without it evenhaving to be a win.
We can do that.
That's a whole separate thing,right, because gratitude is more
about being right.
And so we are being gratefuland, like I love what you said
(18:17):
about, you know, in challenges,when things are coming up, I
feel big emotions.
One of the ways that I canredirect myself is like, okay,
let's stop and reframe.
What am I grateful for rightnow?
This situation sucks.
I don't like this at all.
This is terrible, but what canI be grateful for right now?
So, cause I've got to keepmoving, especially for ND people
(18:40):
, we get stuck in this paralysisand this executive dysfunction
and in situations, there aresituations where we don't have
time for that.
Can't get under the rock, and sothat's been super helpful for
me.
And then, at the end of the day, as a separate, totally
separate thing, don't get lostthe rock, and so that's been
super helpful for me.
And then, at the end of the day, as a separate, totally
separate thing, don't get lostin the winds right, because it's
(19:02):
about more than just the winds.
But it's also important that weacknowledge them, and I love
that you have your jar, becauseit's also we are so good at
forgetting.
Yes, all the good things youknow, like we totally you know,
just writing it down and thenI'll be writing down well, what
are some things that I did thismonth?
(19:22):
I'll look through my planner.
I'll be like, oh my gosh, I wasso excited about this and it's
been two weeks and I alreadyforgot about it.
Like I thought this was alreadylike way in the past.
And the other thing I thoughtof when you were talking was
we're so good at moving thegoalpost.
We're like I want to get oneclient and then you get the
(19:43):
client.
You're like, yeah, but I didn'tget five.
We're like wait a second, thegoal was one.
You got one.
Why are you mad that you didn'tget this goal, that you we
didn't even talk about until youhad already set it up?
Like you can't even enjoy theone, so it's so important for us
to really stop absolutely it.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
The stopping grounds us.
You know we're just flying at amile a minute.
Uh, you know, whether we're aparent, whether a business owner
, leader, and it's just we canjust be caught up in that
whirlwind.
And so, yeah, taking a momentof gratitude grounds us, settles
us, and it actually affects usmentally.
(20:27):
And with and with the grounding, then we can, we will be able
to think more clearly andproblem solve more effectively.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
I love that.
I love that so much.
So tell me a little bit aboutbecause, like I had mentioned
the beginning of this episode,you had talked about some
resources that you haveavailable, so can you tell us a
little bit about those and howwe can stay in touch with you.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
Oh, absolutely yes, I'm a bit of a tool lady.
Love it, and, you know, one ofthe things that I really love
helping clients do is bridgetheory to practice.
You know, the theory is great.
We have to know what to do, butif we can't put it into
practice, then we're not goingto get the value out of it, and
so I've been.
(21:16):
So that's a real passion ofmine is helping people to bridge
that, and one of the ways I dothat is by offering free
resources.
So my website isventurecoachingca, because I'm
in Canada and right there inVenture Coaching, in addition to
(21:37):
having an opportunity to reachout to me for a free coaching
session if someone wishes, thereis a free tab.
Free tab has a number of freedownloads.
They are e-books that cover anumber of leadership topics.
So, whether you're wanting towrite that business plan and
reverse engineer your business,like I talked about earlier, I
have an e-book there thataddresses that.
(21:59):
I've got e-books that talkabout how to give feedback
effectively, communicateeffectively, manage your time
effectively, manage your motions, so all those things that fall
under that big leadershipumbrella.
I've got a number of freedownloads that people are
welcome to take advantage of sothat they can actually put these
things into practice and reapthe benefits.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yay, that is amazing.
And tell us how can we stay intouch with you, laura?
Like social media.
Can we follow you?
Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, of course, linkedin.
I'm there Usually posting somesort of resource or tip or trick
that's going to help withbusiness development or
leadership development.
I'm on Facebook under LauraWatson as well.
That tends to be a little morepersonal side, but people are
welcome to follow me there.
(22:49):
Youtube, venture Coaching I'vegot a number of other podcasts
that I've done and I've done,like I said, a number of these
podcasts and so other topicsthat I've talked about with
other podcasters like yourself.
I have those on my website.
So really, if people want tostay in touch, the best place to
go is my website,venturecoachingca.
(23:09):
They can get the free tools,they can check out the other
podcasts and then, if they wantto have a conversation with me
which I'm always happy to dothey can reach out directly me,
which I'm always happy to do.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
they can reach out directly.
Awesome.
Thank you so much for that.
Now, as we're signing off, welike to sign off with your
biggest tip.
So what is the biggest tip thatyou have for the audience?
They're working on overcomingthemselves, they're stepping out
as this expert that they're in,but they're in a whole new
arena where they get to show offthis expertise.
So what's the biggest tip youhave for those, for those new?
Speaker 2 (23:45):
entrepreneurs.
I think my biggest tip is gethelp.
Yeah, don't do this alone.
It's it's too big, it's toomuch.
Whether the help looks likereading a book, getting free
resources like my own resourcesjoining a mastermind group, a
(24:09):
network of some kind, or havinga coach, there's just so much
involved with building andgrowing a business, no matter
what level you're at, and sodon't think you have to do it
alone.
People yes, they're an expertin their area.
They probably have lots ofvalue to bring to the table.
(24:29):
But when we take on running andgrowing a business, there's a
whole new set of skills thatneed to be embraced and mastered
, and we just it'll go too slowif we try to do it by ourselves.
So get help.
Think about where you're strongand pursue what you're strong.
(24:51):
Be clear about where you're notso strong and where some of the
challenges lie, and get somehelp to address those challenges
.
Barter services if you have toDo whatever it takes to get some
help to address thosechallenges.
Barter services if you have toDo whatever it takes to get some
help, because with help, you'regoing to move forward faster.
Speaker 1 (25:08):
I love that and I think it's so important what you
mentioned that you don't haveto go all in in the beginning.
Go with the lower costresources.
Reach out to experts who havelow cost resources or even free
resources, or hit up the thriftstore and grab yourself some
books or go to the libraryLibrary.
(25:31):
Yes, exactly, and in my book Italk about how that is an
inexpensive way to get to spendtime with your mentors, really
learn from them, get to hear,like their inside stories and
really right, you're spendingtime with them and you don't
have to pay thousands of dollarsto learn what they're teaching.
But it does take you taking theaction of going and getting the
(25:54):
book and implementing it, whatit is that they're talking about
.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Absolutely Reading the book a great first step.
Absolutely, that's the theory,and then you got to put it into
practice, and so, whether youcreate a system or a process for
yourself, or you talk tosomeone else who can help you,
it's going to be the practice ofwhatever theory they're
(26:18):
learning about or skill thatthey are adopting that will make
all the difference.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, and that's that's how you learn to ask the
right questions, because whenyou're just starting, you don't
know, so you don't even knowwhat the right questions are to
be asking.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Absolutely no.
There's blind spots out thereand often we don't know what we
don't know.
So, again, books, resourceswhether they're podcasts, eBooks
, whatever YouTube videos yeah,there's going to be blind spots,
that's inevitable, and there'sgoing to be things that we can't
know everything that'simpossible.
(26:53):
But the knowledge is out thereand we've got this incredible
thing called Google and AI nowwhere we can ask questions and
discover and learn what we don'tknow.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
I love that.
Yeah, that changes everything,doesn't it?
And it's just getting started.
Oh my gosh, this has beenabsolutely wonderful.
Laura, thank you so much forjoining us today and thank you
guys for joining us.
We'll see hear you guys nexttime, on the next episode of
Overcoming Self-Depth Podcast.
Bye, bye for now.
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