February 18, 2024 • 35 mins
Unlock the power of strategic thinking and transform your business leadership approach with us—LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes, Acacia Smith, and Lavonne Shields—as we navigate through the complexities of planning, adaptability, and fostering a strategic mindset. Expect to gain a wealth of knowledge as we argue the need for both detailed plans and mental agility, ensuring you're equipped to lead with confidence. Business owners facing the overwhelm of modern entrepreneurship will find solace and strategies in our discussions, as we balance the scales between meticulous preparation and dynamic execution.
Dive into the trenches of company leadership, where we dissect the CEO's role in system creation and the art of delegation. We share personal challenges and triumphs, illustrating the delicate dance between steering your vision and harnessing the expertise of others. Listen closely as we reveal the essence of a playbook that empowers your team to succeed, with or without you at the helm. Our anecdotes and industry insights will leave you with a blueprint for accountability and the agility to adjust to the rapid pace of business evolution.
Wrap up your listening experience with a masterclass in developing a strategic mindset. Imagine tapping into your subconscious like a chef crafting a culinary masterpiece, blending creativity with business acumen. We emphasize the importance of aligning daily actions with your vision, dissecting strategic behavior change, and the art of communication. This episode promises not only to set the stage for strategic goal setting but to ensure those goals resonate deeply with your core values and are effectively imparted to your team. Join us and step up your strategic game to steer your business to triumphant heights.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (00:29):
Hi, my name is LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes and
I am your overall CEO.
Acacia Smith (00:34):
Hi, my name is Acacia Smith and I am your
marketing expert.
Lavonne Shields (00:38):
And I am Lavonne Shields, the accounting
strategist.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (00:41):
And today we are talking about the
foundations of strategicthinking, so let's get into it.
When you start thinking aboutstrategic thinking, what are
your thoughts?
Acacia Smith (00:55):
Smart goals.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (00:57):
Smart goals.
Jesus, I'm so tired of hearingabout smart goals.
Lavonne Shields (01:01):
If there is a plan, if there is actually a
thought out process which youplan on going through.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (01:07):
Now, does this thought out process have to
be one that is written out oryou just thought about it?
Lavonne Shields (01:14):
I think it can help if it's written out,
especially if you're workingwith a team.
Acacia Smith (01:18):
I mean I would do the best way to do it.
Lavonne Shields (01:23):
I mean we should all be on the same page,
at least in the same book, youknow.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (01:28):
I mean, I think that's like later, though
that's like later in yourstrategic thinking process.
I don't necessarily think thatit's in your initial strategic
thinking process, because youcan't have everything written
down.
You kind of almost have to haveit in your mind, go out and
test it and then, after youfinalize that, then you're going
(01:48):
to.
Acacia Smith (01:50):
I mean, there's smart goals.
No, oh, what you just said,you're making attainable steps
in your business to startaccomplishing.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (02:01):
And then you're building out the plan,
right, but I think most peopleare testing that, though Like
it's not actually written down.
It's not measurable because youhaven't done it already.
Lavonne Shields (02:12):
However, you should have the parameters laid
out as far as okay.
When have we swung too far tothe left and when have we swung
too far to the right?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (02:21):
I mean, I guess.
Acacia Smith (02:24):
What are you hitting?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (02:27):
I don't know.
I don't know because I don'tthink that's necessarily my
process all the time.
I think one I'm more of a doerthan I am a person that's going
to write everything down andthen go do like that.
That does not work for mepersonally.
So I think, and honestly, evenhaving the idea of doing that is
(02:53):
overwhelming.
And I just want to point outthat there's an alternative
board and 71% of business ownersreport feeling overwhelmed with
daily tasks and challenges, andI think this is part of the
reason why Because they have towrite it down.
Acacia Smith (03:08):
That's not why they're overwhelmed and shabby.
I feel like most businessowners are like that.
And because they're overwhelmed, they are being overwhelmed by
the lack of preparationStructure, because if you bring
someone in, how are you going toduplicate that?
How are they going to modelwhat you're doing?
Do you want them to model that?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (03:32):
I mean, I want them to have a bigger.
It's all about bigger picture.
It's all about can you set backand see your business from a
bigger standpoint?
It doesn't necessarily meanthat you have to have everything
written down, but are you ableto visualize where you want to
(03:52):
go and at least be able to tellpeople how to get there?
So I think that's the part thatwe're almost all as a visionary
, as a visionary, absolutely.
Strategic thinking is acornerstone of successful
leadership.
It's about taking a step backto see the bigger picture and
chart the course for the future.
And I think for mostentrepreneurs it's the shift
(04:16):
from being reactive to proactiveand being able to say like,
okay, what is it that I want towork on in my business
strategically, and not only whodo I need to bring in?
And all of that doesn'tnecessarily mean that you have
to write those things down rightat the beginning.
Lavonne Shields (04:35):
It doesn't have to be an essay, but a bullet
point.
I mean, the brain can only holdso much stuff.
Acacia Smith (04:40):
Right, you're not gonna follow a step by step.
Lavonne Shields (04:42):
sometimes the brain can only hold so much
information in it before itstarts to mix stuff up.
I mean, Kelly Bundy is anamazing example of that.
Acacia Smith (04:51):
So I can say from a marketing standpoint right, we
all know they say it takesseven times for somebody to take
action or to see somethingbefore they take action.
And I think that when we talkabout this as a CEO right and
decision making and beingadaptable, the marketing plan
never goes just step by step.
Sometimes the change is basedoff what you're saying, like
(05:16):
what is it Now?
I'm getting engagement, or thedemand is different, or I'm
getting something, the feedbackor a different market is
responding.
Yeah.
So I think that adaptability Ihear in what you're saying like
you have to be adaptable as aCEO.
So how do you be adaptable?
And like what helped you guideyourself?
(05:38):
I would say, well, I'm more ofa.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (05:42):
I think that I'm more of a doer.
So, in order for me to find,I'm also by nature more
scientific, so I'm more of aright, there's a hypothesis.
Lavonne Shields (05:56):
Right, they stuff down.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (05:59):
That's what they teach you inside.
That is not necessarily true.
They go and they try to figureit out, and then they chart the
course.
It's kind of like you know howto tie your shoe right.
Well, the hypothesis gets laidout.
Well, the hypothesis gets laidout, but that's not always the
initial start of it.
Lavonne Shields (06:18):
It's the base, I mean, but it's the baseline.
It's the question, becausethat's what business life all of
that is nothing but a series ofhypothesis Right is.
The goal is to get to this, andthis is what we think is gonna
get us there the theory yeah, socan we make this a theory?
I'm not asking you to do adissertation.
Okay, can you pull up points?
Acacia Smith (06:36):
and stuff out.
Yeah, this is a transparentcommunication, like space and I
feel like communication.
When it comes to CEOs, you haveto be the visionary.
There's levels to this, ofcourse you want, so you don't
have to work on your business orin your business.
You have to work on it at acertain level.
So what is that level that has?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (06:57):
that.
Well, I think it's chaos in thebeginning.
Oh, to be honest, well, it isbecause you don't know what you
don't know.
You're trying to figure it out.
Lavonne Shields (07:03):
You're literally building a plane as
you fly Decision making?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (07:05):
okay, yeah , you're trying to figure out.
Lavonne Shields (07:06):
Do I need the wings first, and the engine, the
speed?
All of that comes into play.
And then you start putting ittogether as you go and then
continuing with the planeanalogy.
Once you get to your firstdestination, which is whatever
your first goal is for yourbusiness, then you're realizing
okay, so we want to put effortinto the wings because they keep
us in the air.
Now we want some seats, but youstill.
(07:29):
There is a good thing aboutgetting it out of your head and
at least getting into a visualstandpoint, to where you're able
to see and see your parameters.
Acacia Smith (07:40):
I mean right here.
It says the Small BusinessAdministration reveals that only
20% of new businesses survivepast their first year and
roughly 50% survive past thefifth year.
So this sounds like a criticalissue when it comes to decision
making, especially in your firstone to five years of starting
your business.
(08:00):
So how do you guys believe thatimpacts the company's growth?
From your experience in makingthose decisions in chaos?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (08:11):
Well, I think it's being strategic about
where you want to go right,thinking about all of the, like
I said, the bigger picturethings like where do I actually
see myself talking about it,doing it, practicing it?
Okay, now that we have asolidified system, now going and
(08:31):
saying this is how I wantthings, cause I mean even now
that I think about where I wasas to where I am now.
I didn't write down much in myfirst one to three years.
Lavonne Shields (08:44):
I mean I mean you don't have to shake your
head at me.
I mean, you guys can't see hershaking her head, but she's
shaking her head.
But that doesn't mean that Iwas going to be unsuccessful.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (08:52):
That just means that I had a vision and I
was doing majority of the workand I was getting it done.
And then, once I was able tosolidify those things, what I
think ends up happening is a lotof different people pull from
these different areas ofinformation from other people
and then they don't solidifythemselves because they have all
(09:14):
these different things and thisis how someone so told you to
do it and this is how someone sotold you to do it, and this is
how someone so told you to do it, and they can't bring it all
together for themselves.
And I think that's when youfail is you're trying to look
like all of these other peopleinstead of just saying, okay,
this is what I'm going to do,and then let's dial in and
(09:35):
figure out what are the movingparts and then be able to
explain that to the next person,because it's all about
replication.
And if I can explain it to youand you can do it, then now we
have a system, but I also haveto do it before I can explain it
to you, and that's where otherpeople like that.
Acacia Smith (09:53):
That's what you're saying.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (09:54):
They can't barely do the job, and yet
they're trying to explain how todo the job.
You haven't even perfected it.
Acacia Smith (10:00):
So how are you moving forward If you?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (10:02):
have not perfected what you need to do,
and that's not just writing itdown, that's actually physically
doing it labeling it, that'sinternalizing it and then going
back and refining it.
Lavonne Shields (10:17):
Process Okay, so something to throw out there.
Interesting little thing,because you said to do it and
perfect it from a CEO standpoint, is it to be able to do it to a
point where it can be explainedto somebody and then allow them
to come in and perfect it.
That more so CEO thinking,where you realize, okay, I know
(10:37):
what the vision of what this say.
We're talking about marketing.
I know what the vision of thisis.
This is what I'm looking forand this is what I have done and
based up about being able toreach my market.
And then you find the expertwhere they'd be employee or an
outside contractor to say, okay,I'm going to perfect this for
you.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (10:54):
It could be.
But then what if they're doingit and that's not how you want
your company built?
Lavonne Shields (10:59):
That's where the accountability comes in.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (11:00):
Right, but if I allow, somebody to come in
and then they are putting thesystems in that they know then
what happens to your vision forthe company, and as a new CEO,
you don't know those things, andso you're relying on this
person to come in and providethese services for you, and then
(11:23):
they're not, and theneventually you don't have to
change them anyway because theydon't.
It's not the same vision Inorder to get to perfection.
Lavonne Shields (11:32):
is the testing right?
It is, it's a lot of engagingand testing and monitoring and
the accountability.
So it's just the question offrom where my thought process is
from a CEO standpoint.
You're looking at all of thesesystems that are in go right now
.
You might have identified maybethree that are priority.
Can you be in all three?
Or, especially if all three ofthose need to be need to go at
(11:55):
one time, if it's hiring plusmarketing, plus onboarding of
clients, well, okay, this is thevision, this is the outline of
what I have done.
Now I'm going to come in, andthen someone needs to step into
this, and then theaccountability comes in.
Okay, so we're checking in onthe what's working, what's not
working, right.
(12:15):
It's going to always be aconstant adjustment, whether it
be because of people, because ofthe regulations in your
industry, whether just trends ingeneral.
There's going to be a momentwhere you got to do the step
back with an evaluation of thewhat have we been doing?
But if you don't, you're goingto keep doing the same thing
over and over again withoutrealizing that you're actually
having adjustment, and I thinkthat's where I want, I guess, to
(12:39):
make kind of like thedelineation between the two.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (12:42):
Is that actual doing part versus the
strategic planning part of it?
Acacia Smith (12:49):
Being reactive versus proactive.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (12:51):
Yeah, it's being reactive versus proactive
, so where is it that I will seemy company and moving it 10
years?
I think that's what I loveabout the EOS system that we're
doing right now is you put thevision into play and then you
allow for the people to startfilling in the gaps.
But you can't put them intoplay if you don't have the
(13:15):
actual vision of what that is.
It's like we were just talkingin my EOS meeting the other day
and one of the things that hewas saying is he was like you
know, keisha can leave the roomright now because it's not her
job anymore to actually go outand do.
She's done that for the pastfour to five years.
(13:36):
She's done that.
You guys have the vision.
You know exactly how she wantsthings.
So she does not.
The visionary does not have tostay in that position because
you've already put the visioninto play.
So I think that's the point.
Acacia Smith (13:51):
A playbook is the key though.
Yeah, because like any goodteam and I hate to use sports
analogy like any good team youneed that playbook.
You know if the coach isn'tthere, there's someone leading.
You know there's always someoneleading, but they're in that
responsible right For what we'resaying, an accountable for what
the business or the company orthe CEO's vision is.
(14:13):
But that playbook, I need thatplaybook.
So it's not telephone, you know, because the chain of command
and the communication, right, weall have different dreams, but
when we share a vision, that'swhen the team succeeds, and I
think that's the point.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (14:29):
But you can't put the playbook together
until you run the actual play.
Otherwise you're going to besitting there scratching stuff
off.
You need to run it and see howit's going to operate and then
you can be like okay, this istried and true.
We've ran this four to fivetimes.
We've made adjustments here andhere and there, so I'm not
saying that you don't never haveto write it down.
What I'm talking about rightnow is literally having a
(14:52):
strategic mindset and thinkingpart of it.
Now strategic planning istotally different, so I think
that's where we're kind oflooking at.
Where are we going?
What comes first?
So, strategic thinking,strategic planning, strategic
leadership what's the process?
I?
Acacia Smith (15:11):
really like, in marketing especially.
I do not like to reinvent thewheel, so I'm going to find
something that models or I canedify.
Let me use that wordedification.
I'm going to find somethingthat I can edify and then go for
it there.
But that's thinking as acreative and I think as a
visionary that we are thosecreatives.
(15:33):
So I feel like we always haveto take from something we're
modeling to, you know, edify tothe best abilities that we can
at least like, duplicate thosethings for the team.
It's what I'm thinking, that'show I think.
So, starting with, how can Iapproach the situation?
I'm going to think about whatis the most similar industries,
(15:57):
right, or who's in my niche,competition, if I'm going to
break it down for y'all, butwho's in my competition and who
do I want to surpass or be likeyou know, and then from there
capitalized.
But I don't know.
I can't go from.
I have to take from an idea.
Lavonne Shields (16:15):
Well, me.
But that interesting part if wego back to the importance of
strategic thinking, that justshows where it makes the
argument.
For most people will just goout there and just launch, just
on general principle, yeah, I'mgoing to do this, and then
you're mad that it wasn't.
What was the?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (16:32):
thought you didn't hit the right target.
Lavonne Shields (16:34):
It was a low-flying thought process, you
know.
I was like, oh no, I can do itOkay, based off questions.
You didn't try it.
Acacia Smith (16:42):
You didn't try it, but I get the chaos to part two
, because, being a part of ateam, right, we are going to
keep running that play and thencorrecting it, correcting it.
Lavonne Shields (16:52):
Hey, you're not in the right spot.
Acacia Smith (16:53):
Let's do this.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (16:54):
Let's go here, especially with teams
Sometimes you don't always havethe same people, but that's
frustrating.
I mean, my son has playedfootball his entire youth and
I'm looking and I've seenmultiple and I do mean multiple
teams and they are running thatone dumb ass play that they just
keep running over.
Acacia Smith (17:14):
That's a dumb ass.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (17:15):
Thank you, thank you.
Acacia Smith (17:18):
That's a dumb ass you cannot run up the middle.
That's a different game.
You've already seen that 10times.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (17:24):
Why are you following this playbook if
it's not working for you?
Acacia Smith (17:27):
Because there are people who just go by the paper.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (17:30):
But that's what I'm saying.
I think you need to have one,you need to have a strategic
mindset.
You need to have that strategicthinking you need to be able to
adapt.
But those people that are justgoing out and just being like,
yeah, I have the book and thebook says this and I'm going to
follow the book and know yourbook is bullshit.
Acacia Smith (17:48):
So I want to ask what.
You specifically.
Lavonne Shields (17:51):
I want to ask you guys.
Acacia Smith (17:53):
I want to ask you guys, what are practical steps,
then, to the strategic mindsetthat you're sharing?
Look at you trying to bring usyeah, you know, I just want to
make, I want to make it makesense.
So this is a strategic mindset,not the planning portion.
And when we think about havingtaking steps to have the mindset
and not just the plan, whatdoes that look like to you then?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (18:17):
Well, I think it's one starting from
laying out whether you need toput it on a big wall or you need
to put something it's not goingto be in a formal portfolio.
Lavonne Shields (18:31):
Are you still trying to say I'm like no.
Acacia Smith (18:35):
I'm like no, you're trying to say you got it
right.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (18:38):
No, no, you should have it, no, no.
Acacia Smith (18:42):
Whatever, no takers are money makers.
We're not doing that.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (18:50):
Okay, you're saying it's not formal
when I think of writing it down.
It's not a formal write down,it's.
It's chaotic, right down it's.
I have all of my ingredients infront of me.
Lavonne Shields (19:01):
It's kind of like when you learn how to bake,
you don't necessarily have.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (19:05):
I don't think that they started out with
oh I'm going to go ahead andbake some bread, let me go ahead
and get the recipe.
No, the very first thing thatthey did was they tried a little
bit of this and they tried alittle bit of that, and then
they put all of those thingstogether and then somebody said
how did you do that?
And now I have to explain it tosomebody.
Lavonne Shields (19:23):
That's that very first step.
When I coach people, that'swhat I tell them.
That's getting your mostcomfortable space, wherever that
is in the, in the woods and thehot tub, whatever that is and
ask the question because youwouldn't have the thought if it
wasn't meant for you to have itRight.
Acacia Smith (19:37):
Start there.
That's your responsibility,people is, you know.
Lavonne Shields (19:40):
First get into that space, ask your unconscious
mind what does this look like?
Mm, hmm?
And then, if you can, eitherwith the recording it or writing
it down, scribble the thoughtsas they come out, because they
got to get out of your head.
That's the whole thing.
If they're in there, you can'tsee the flow of the connection
of this idea, or this idea, oror you don't realize that you've
been writing the same idea fromdifferent.
Acacia Smith (20:01):
You know what we talk about.
You know what we call that inmarketing Imagination.
Lavonne Shields (20:09):
Get it all out.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (20:15):
Things that you need and for some
people is going to be all ofyour ingredients for candle
making and for some people isgoing to be you.
Acacia Smith (20:24):
So let's write and we have to write it down,
people it's the cook versus thechef, I guess it's a cook versus
the chef.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (20:30):
I don't know.
I think I'm a cooker Now youare a chef.
Acacia Smith (20:33):
Uh oh, If you're a regular cook, you're going to
follow the I like to taste toobut if you are a true chef,
you're going to mix it up.
You might know the foundationsright, the foundations but
you're going to take that andput your own flavor.
Yeah, it's a flavor.
It's what is your flavorAuthentically Chef?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (20:54):
Can I get my head?
Can I get my head?
I'm just saying, I need my head.
Yeah, you're not a cook.
Acacia Smith (21:00):
You are a chef and the chefs lead the kitchen.
They lead the the rest of theteam.
I'm a sous chef.
When I'm not there, they'reable to lead the team as well.
If we want to put it into adifferent realm, that was an
amazing analogy.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (21:13):
I watch a lot of cooking shows and I was
thinking to myself there'snothing written down.
There's nothing written down onthose cooking shows.
They have to turn as I turn toLevan.
There's nothing written down onthose cooking shows.
They have to know, they have to, they have to.
Like I said, imagine they haveto have flavor Relied on their
(21:37):
taste buds, and I believe that'sliterally business.
You have to rely on your tastebuds, you have to rely on your
instincts, and we don't get.
You don't get a lot of that,and so that's your.
That's your first thing thatyou need to do.
You need to take whatever thatinstinctual thing is, rely on it
(21:57):
and then build somethingamazing.
Acacia Smith (22:00):
Yeah, I agree and honestly, if, if you do not know
about in marketing to do yourbrand, get your brand guidelines
, I honestly, I honestly hurtfor you.
Oh, dude, because what she'ssaying is the.
It's the ingredients.
What are my ingredients?
You don't have to have it allplanned out in a document.
(22:24):
You know what I mean.
It's the colors, it's the, theideas, it's putting it all
together, so that way you havesomething that's a chart.
You know, this is what we'refocused on and this is what we
use in this kitchen.
When you open up the cabinets,what are we going to cook?
You know?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (22:38):
so I want to toss our next thing to Levan
so, because you know she likewriting stuff down.
Acacia Smith (22:45):
So what are what?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (22:46):
are going to be our principles of goal
setting.
To make sure you have yourpencil in paper.
Lavonne Shields (22:53):
The principles of goal setting, I mean it goes
back to one the vision.
I mean if you're not clear onthe what it is you're shooting
for, then you've already lostright there.
If there's no clarity and it'snot an alignment with your core
of who you are, then I mean,that's that's where I start.
Right there is understanding.
You know what, what is it, whatare we, what's the vision that
(23:15):
we're looking for in achievingthis goal?
Because if you can't, don'tknow what your why is, you don't
know what all that is andeverything behind that becomes
irrelevant.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (23:23):
Yeah, and unnecessary, absolutely Like
delegating tasks.
Well, she jumped way ahead ofme before I was ready to get
there, but it's all right.
So everything that she said inthe beginning, you guys don't
ever tell her.
I said this, but she's right,you know, I'm gonna.
I'm gonna say that whatever shesaid in the first, did I?
Acacia Smith (23:46):
get cut out, because the first thing I said
was what Smart goals?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (23:50):
No, I still don't like smart goals.
I think we need another wordfor smart goals.
Acacia Smith (23:54):
Strategic planning there you go.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (23:57):
That sounds better, that sounds
better.
Acacia Smith (24:00):
Oh my goodness, I would say no, but this is a true
thing business owners try toget away from.
Don't talk about me, I'm sorry.
I say it for myself too.
I don't want to do thefoundation stuff and put it on
paper.
I'm the creator, I'm thevisionary, and it's tough, but
that's the hard part pushingthrough those emotions right and
(24:21):
being able to be that model andedify those things.
I don't want to do this.
I will, though, but then Okay.
Lavonne Shields (24:26):
So here, here's the interesting little, the end
game, the top out there.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (24:30):
The top.
Lavonne Shields (24:32):
I mean because people attempt to do all of this
by themselves, right?
And if you know you're not thedocumenter of your visionary,
you're having your visionarymoments, then wouldn't it be
great to be able to bringsomeone in and say, hey, I'm
about to throw this up, I needyou to get the strainer.
Acacia Smith (24:52):
Honestly, though, that goes back to what she was
saying at the beginning.
So doing the chaotic part andthen realizing, you know not
opportunity.
Because I'm not good at thatpart.
You know I don't want to dothat.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (25:07):
You can tell who's the visionary at this
table.
We are all visionaries.
Thank you, the implementer.
Lavonne Shields (25:15):
I mean it is.
It starts like that.
You know, when I'm meeting withpeople, they're like well, what
should I do First is talk, yeah, talk, and then I will feed
back to you what I'm hearing.
I think she just said I wasright.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (25:28):
I think that's what I think.
I will take some notes.
Acacia Smith (25:31):
As I'm taking notes about what they're saying.
Lavonne Shields (25:33):
Someone take some notes, I will feed back to
them what I'm hearing, and thenthat allows their vision to
start to take better shape.
Yeah, so that's how we've got ashape.
Yeah, we know what it is thatwe're.
We can we have a starting pointat that point?
Other than that, that's usuallywhere most visions die is that
they don't know how to turn itinto a tangible something.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (25:55):
So having the end so that's what, that's
where that first year doesn'tlike.
Acacia Smith (25:59):
The end game matters the most.
Lavonne Shields (26:02):
But it is definitely want to begin with
the end of mind.
What is it you're?
Acacia Smith (26:06):
shooting, for that's a vision right.
Lavonne Shields (26:07):
But at the same time it's the being able to
turn the idea into somethingthat has some sort of structure
of creating the mission,stability to it.
So where you can, you canconnect to it, because in your
brain it's just floating aroundwith everything else.
Did I breathe where thechildren?
Acacia Smith (26:24):
So you need actions, yeah, feeling the
storyline, yeah.
Lavonne Shields (26:28):
And then now it's something tangible that you
can, whether you're youphysically wrote it down, so it
literally is tangible, or it'sjust out of your head and
someone else is now helping youform it, but it's got to come
out of here.
So I think step one is toreflect.
Then right, Absolutely.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (26:44):
So one, it says, to reflection and
planning Self reflection.
Step two is defining yourbusiness vision, breaking it
down to attainable goals.
I guess smart goals, that'swhat you want to call it, that's
what you want to call it.
That's the specific, bemeasurable be, achievable, be
(27:05):
relevant, be time bound.
Now, don't get me wrong.
I love smart goals.
I think that they're amazing.
I'm just, you know, beingfacetious right at this point,
because everybody says it andnobody really understands it,
and I think that's my.
My issue is the world willstart talking about smart goals
(27:27):
and we, as behavior analysts, wedon't necessarily call them
smart goals.
You need to have an operationaldefinition of what you're doing
.
You need to be clear, concise,right and it needs to be
measurable.
So we don't necessarily callthem smart, but there's only
three things that you need toremember.
What's the operationaldefinition Like?
If I'm going to say, you know,drink your water, then what?
(27:51):
What does that even mean?
Am I going to scoop it up withmy hands?
Am I going to grab a cup?
Lavonne Shields (27:57):
Am I going to I'm like you're combining
specific and the measurable intoone.
Acacia Smith (28:04):
Absolutely Relevance.
Lavonne Shields (28:06):
Yeah, so what are we doing?
Yes, we're drinking water.
How much water.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:10):
How much water Exactly?
Lavonne Shields (28:12):
And what?
What form are we using to dothat?
Acacia Smith (28:14):
Ye s, Again your hands, your cup, are you yes?
So you said operational, andthen Operational definition Be
clear, concise.
Clear, concise, so it has to beachievable.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:25):
Yes.
Acacia Smith (28:26):
Okay.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:26):
And it needs to be achievable, and then
it needs to be measurable.
Acacia Smith (28:29):
Measurable.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:30):
So when we look at, those three different
things as far as behaviorchanged and those are the three
areas that we're looking at tosee where you can have the most
impact on your behavior change.
And then the last part isobviously establishing those
priorities and figuring out youknow what, what's going to make
(28:50):
sure that what I'm doing isimpactful and it's going to be
worth my time, that I'm actuallydoing it.
And I think once you get intoyou know, visualizing and then
putting it down on paper andthen making sure that somebody
can understand it, then you canstart getting into delegation.
Because if you start delegatingat the visualizing part, you
(29:15):
you missed it.
You missed it.
That person is not going toknow what you're talking about
and then you're just going to befrustrated.
I tried it a couple of times.
I'm not going to lie, I don't.
You know I want to lie or tease.
Lavonne Shields (29:27):
I want to lie to y'all.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (29:29):
I tried it a couple of times where I
thought that that's what Iwanted.
I tried at least two to threedifferent times to get an
assistant, and I'm thinking thatthis person is understanding me
, but I'm not necessarily beingclear this is called dating.
Acacia Smith (29:43):
Yeah, are they dating or courting you?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (29:46):
Right, right.
I need you to read my mind.
Acacia Smith (29:49):
I'm sorry husband yeah Work husband, work wife.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (29:53):
I do apologize, right, because as a
visionary you can get stuck inthinking that you said something
that you actually did not evensay and you did not prepare them
for what was happening next.
So just want to put out there.
So how do you get in?
Sync with that longterm visionbeing this in that daily the
(30:16):
hard, knock life of it, becauseyou're going to find people and
be like.
I didn't say that, like what?
Lavonne Shields (30:22):
are you doing?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (30:23):
Why are you doing that?
And then you'll find people whoare overly eager, so they go do
stuff that you definitelydidn't ask them to do, and then
they went and did that shitwrong.
Acacia Smith (30:34):
Her vision was not aligned.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (30:35):
Like no.
So what I've learned is there'sa healthy balance of being
clear, asking for clarification,asking for that person to
regurgitate back what you saidto them, survey and then being
able to say yes, that is what Isaid.
And if you are working with avisionary, if you are the
visionary, you may want to stopwhat you're doing right now and
(30:59):
assess how you're communicating,what your needs are, Because
you can get caught up in astrategic mindset and thinking
and thinking that you're givinginformation that you're actually
not giving.
So my advice would be to remainopen to learning and growth,
(31:20):
embrace your challenges and makesure there are opportunities.
Don't hesitate to seek guidancefrom mentors and peers.
Like I said, I have this stage.
I have a therapist.
That's number one.
I have a life coach, I haveanother CEO group, I have and I
(31:42):
have a group of friends that Imeet with on a regular basis to
tell me like hey, you're doingthings right and you might want
to be strong, but I'mremembering that just because
you went into business foryourself doesn't mean that you
have to do all of this byyourself.
Lavonne Shields (31:56):
Yes, this is not natural, because that's what
you miss as an employee.
You got all your other employeeco-workers that you're able to
talk about, and it's all underthe same umbrella of this is our
job and this is how things aregoing.
But once you make thattransition to the other side of
the fence, it gets lonely untilyou realize but there's all of
these resources that aredesigned to prevent you from
(32:18):
feeling that isolated feeling.
But if you don't have anyonewho can help you bounce that
idea back off whether it be amentor or someone in your peer
group or just even someone thatbecause you learn a lot when you
teach, so you have someonewho's behind you that you're
also coaching and mentoring thenit becomes full circle and it
gets embedded in.
But if you're just out there,just willy-nilly, just out there
(32:40):
just doing it, then you wonderwhy your results are hitting
this.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (32:47):
So we'll end with.
Strategic thinking isn't aone-time event.
It's a habit that needs to benurtured.
So stay committed to yourreflection, your goal setting
and aligning your actions toyour vision.
Did you hear that?
Align your actions to yourvision by being strategic?
(33:08):
Thank you for showing up todaylistening to us banter back and
forth.
Hopefully you got something outof that.
My name is LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes.
You can find me.
You can find me.
You know see.
Acacia Smith (33:21):
I can find me.
Lavonne Shields (33:23):
You can find me .
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (33:25):
Strategic underscore behavior.
Or you can find me.
I mean, if you really just wantto know who I am, I advise it.
I'm fine.
You know why not?
You can find me at LaKeysha,Cobbs- Hayes.
Or you can look us up ontrueceolifecom if you want to
join our accelerator program,and I'll bounce it to LaVon.
Lavonne Shields (33:47):
LaVonne Shields , the accounting strategist, and
you can find me at theaccounting strategist on all
platforms.
Well, can we?
Linkedin, instagram andFacebook?
Don't be looking for mesomewhere else.
I ain't there, so you can findme on LinkedIn.
Instagram and Facebook.
The accounting strategist, orLaVonne Shields Again if you
want to see things that are alittle interesting about me?
(34:08):
What?
Acacia Smith (34:10):
about TikTok.
Lavonne Shields (34:12):
No, you don't want to climb on it.
Acacia Smith (34:14):
Oh, okay, never mind.
Well, my name is Acacia Smith.
I'm a marketing expert, so ifyou want to work with me, you
can find me at blckmgmt, onInstagram and Facebook All right
Till next time.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (34:29):
Yeah, thank you for joining, thank you
(34:59):
.
Hi, my name is LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes and
I am your overall CEO.
Acacia Smith (00:34):
Hi, my name is Acacia Smith and I am your
marketing expert.
Lavonne Shields (00:38):
And I am Lavonne Shields, the accounting
strategist.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (00:41):
And today we are talking about the
foundations of strategicthinking, so let's get into it.
When you start thinking aboutstrategic thinking, what are
your thoughts?
Acacia Smith (00:55):
Smart goals.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (00:57):
Smart goals.
Jesus, I'm so tired of hearingabout smart goals.
Lavonne Shields (01:01):
If there is a plan, if there is actually a
thought out process which youplan on going through.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (01:07):
Now, does this thought out process have to
be one that is written out oryou just thought about it?
Lavonne Shields (01:14):
I think it can help if it's written out,
especially if you're workingwith a team.
Acacia Smith (01:18):
I mean I would do the best way to do it.
Lavonne Shields (01:23):
I mean we should all be on the same page,
at least in the same book, youknow.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (01:28):
I mean, I think that's like later, though
that's like later in yourstrategic thinking process.
I don't necessarily think thatit's in your initial strategic
thinking process, because youcan't have everything written
down.
You kind of almost have to haveit in your mind, go out and
test it and then, after youfinalize that, then you're going
(01:48):
to.
Acacia Smith (01:50):
I mean, there's smart goals.
No, oh, what you just said,you're making attainable steps
in your business to startaccomplishing.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (02:01):
And then you're building out the plan,
right, but I think most peopleare testing that, though Like
it's not actually written down.
It's not measurable because youhaven't done it already.
Lavonne Shields (02:12):
However, you should have the parameters laid
out as far as okay.
When have we swung too far tothe left and when have we swung
too far to the right?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (02:21):
I mean, I guess.
Acacia Smith (02:24):
What are you hitting?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (02:27):
I don't know.
I don't know because I don'tthink that's necessarily my
process all the time.
I think one I'm more of a doerthan I am a person that's going
to write everything down andthen go do like that.
That does not work for mepersonally.
So I think, and honestly, evenhaving the idea of doing that is
(02:53):
overwhelming.
And I just want to point outthat there's an alternative
board and 71% of business ownersreport feeling overwhelmed with
daily tasks and challenges, andI think this is part of the
reason why Because they have towrite it down.
Acacia Smith (03:08):
That's not why they're overwhelmed and shabby.
I feel like most businessowners are like that.
And because they're overwhelmed, they are being overwhelmed by
the lack of preparationStructure, because if you bring
someone in, how are you going toduplicate that?
How are they going to modelwhat you're doing?
Do you want them to model that?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (03:32):
I mean, I want them to have a bigger.
It's all about bigger picture.
It's all about can you set backand see your business from a
bigger standpoint?
It doesn't necessarily meanthat you have to have everything
written down, but are you ableto visualize where you want to
(03:52):
go and at least be able to tellpeople how to get there?
So I think that's the part thatwe're almost all as a visionary
, as a visionary, absolutely.
Strategic thinking is acornerstone of successful
leadership.
It's about taking a step backto see the bigger picture and
chart the course for the future.
And I think for mostentrepreneurs it's the shift
(04:16):
from being reactive to proactiveand being able to say like,
okay, what is it that I want towork on in my business
strategically, and not only whodo I need to bring in?
And all of that doesn'tnecessarily mean that you have
to write those things down rightat the beginning.
Lavonne Shields (04:35):
It doesn't have to be an essay, but a bullet
point.
I mean, the brain can only holdso much stuff.
Acacia Smith (04:40):
Right, you're not gonna follow a step by step.
Lavonne Shields (04:42):
sometimes the brain can only hold so much
information in it before itstarts to mix stuff up.
I mean, Kelly Bundy is anamazing example of that.
Acacia Smith (04:51):
So I can say from a marketing standpoint right, we
all know they say it takesseven times for somebody to take
action or to see somethingbefore they take action.
And I think that when we talkabout this as a CEO right and
decision making and beingadaptable, the marketing plan
never goes just step by step.
Sometimes the change is basedoff what you're saying, like
(05:16):
what is it Now?
I'm getting engagement, or thedemand is different, or I'm
getting something, the feedbackor a different market is
responding.
Yeah.
So I think that adaptability Ihear in what you're saying like
you have to be adaptable as aCEO.
So how do you be adaptable?
And like what helped you guideyourself?
(05:38):
I would say, well, I'm more ofa.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (05:42):
I think that I'm more of a doer.
So, in order for me to find,I'm also by nature more
scientific, so I'm more of aright, there's a hypothesis.
Lavonne Shields (05:56):
Right, they stuff down.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (05:59):
That's what they teach you inside.
That is not necessarily true.
They go and they try to figureit out, and then they chart the
course.
It's kind of like you know howto tie your shoe right.
Well, the hypothesis gets laidout.
Well, the hypothesis gets laidout, but that's not always the
initial start of it.
Lavonne Shields (06:18):
It's the base, I mean, but it's the baseline.
It's the question, becausethat's what business life all of
that is nothing but a series ofhypothesis Right is.
The goal is to get to this, andthis is what we think is gonna
get us there the theory yeah, socan we make this a theory?
I'm not asking you to do adissertation.
Okay, can you pull up points?
Acacia Smith (06:36):
and stuff out.
Yeah, this is a transparentcommunication, like space and I
feel like communication.
When it comes to CEOs, you haveto be the visionary.
There's levels to this, ofcourse you want, so you don't
have to work on your business orin your business.
You have to work on it at acertain level.
So what is that level that has?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (06:57):
that.
Well, I think it's chaos in thebeginning.
Oh, to be honest, well, it isbecause you don't know what you
don't know.
You're trying to figure it out.
Lavonne Shields (07:03):
You're literally building a plane as
you fly Decision making?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (07:05):
okay, yeah , you're trying to figure out.
Lavonne Shields (07:06):
Do I need the wings first, and the engine, the
speed?
All of that comes into play.
And then you start putting ittogether as you go and then
continuing with the planeanalogy.
Once you get to your firstdestination, which is whatever
your first goal is for yourbusiness, then you're realizing
okay, so we want to put effortinto the wings because they keep
us in the air.
Now we want some seats, but youstill.
(07:29):
There is a good thing aboutgetting it out of your head and
at least getting into a visualstandpoint, to where you're able
to see and see your parameters.
Acacia Smith (07:40):
I mean right here.
It says the Small BusinessAdministration reveals that only
20% of new businesses survivepast their first year and
roughly 50% survive past thefifth year.
So this sounds like a criticalissue when it comes to decision
making, especially in your firstone to five years of starting
your business.
(08:00):
So how do you guys believe thatimpacts the company's growth?
From your experience in makingthose decisions in chaos?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (08:11):
Well, I think it's being strategic about
where you want to go right,thinking about all of the, like
I said, the bigger picturethings like where do I actually
see myself talking about it,doing it, practicing it?
Okay, now that we have asolidified system, now going and
(08:31):
saying this is how I wantthings, cause I mean even now
that I think about where I wasas to where I am now.
I didn't write down much in myfirst one to three years.
Lavonne Shields (08:44):
I mean I mean you don't have to shake your
head at me.
I mean, you guys can't see hershaking her head, but she's
shaking her head.
But that doesn't mean that Iwas going to be unsuccessful.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (08:52):
That just means that I had a vision and I
was doing majority of the workand I was getting it done.
And then, once I was able tosolidify those things, what I
think ends up happening is a lotof different people pull from
these different areas ofinformation from other people
and then they don't solidifythemselves because they have all
(09:14):
these different things and thisis how someone so told you to
do it and this is how someone sotold you to do it, and this is
how someone so told you to do it, and they can't bring it all
together for themselves.
And I think that's when youfail is you're trying to look
like all of these other peopleinstead of just saying, okay,
this is what I'm going to do,and then let's dial in and
(09:35):
figure out what are the movingparts and then be able to
explain that to the next person,because it's all about
replication.
And if I can explain it to youand you can do it, then now we
have a system, but I also haveto do it before I can explain it
to you, and that's where otherpeople like that.
Acacia Smith (09:53):
That's what you're saying.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (09:54):
They can't barely do the job, and yet
they're trying to explain how todo the job.
You haven't even perfected it.
Acacia Smith (10:00):
So how are you moving forward If you?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (10:02):
have not perfected what you need to do,
and that's not just writing itdown, that's actually physically
doing it labeling it, that'sinternalizing it and then going
back and refining it.
Lavonne Shields (10:17):
Process Okay, so something to throw out there.
Interesting little thing,because you said to do it and
perfect it from a CEO standpoint, is it to be able to do it to a
point where it can be explainedto somebody and then allow them
to come in and perfect it.
That more so CEO thinking,where you realize, okay, I know
(10:37):
what the vision of what this say.
We're talking about marketing.
I know what the vision of thisis.
This is what I'm looking forand this is what I have done and
based up about being able toreach my market.
And then you find the expertwhere they'd be employee or an
outside contractor to say, okay,I'm going to perfect this for
you.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (10:54):
It could be.
But then what if they're doingit and that's not how you want
your company built?
Lavonne Shields (10:59):
That's where the accountability comes in.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (11:00):
Right, but if I allow, somebody to come in
and then they are putting thesystems in that they know then
what happens to your vision forthe company, and as a new CEO,
you don't know those things, andso you're relying on this
person to come in and providethese services for you, and then
(11:23):
they're not, and theneventually you don't have to
change them anyway because theydon't.
It's not the same vision Inorder to get to perfection.
Lavonne Shields (11:32):
is the testing right?
It is, it's a lot of engagingand testing and monitoring and
the accountability.
So it's just the question offrom where my thought process is
from a CEO standpoint.
You're looking at all of thesesystems that are in go right now
.
You might have identified maybethree that are priority.
Can you be in all three?
Or, especially if all three ofthose need to be need to go at
(11:55):
one time, if it's hiring plusmarketing, plus onboarding of
clients, well, okay, this is thevision, this is the outline of
what I have done.
Now I'm going to come in, andthen someone needs to step into
this, and then theaccountability comes in.
Okay, so we're checking in onthe what's working, what's not
working, right.
(12:15):
It's going to always be aconstant adjustment, whether it
be because of people, because ofthe regulations in your
industry, whether just trends ingeneral.
There's going to be a momentwhere you got to do the step
back with an evaluation of thewhat have we been doing?
But if you don't, you're goingto keep doing the same thing
over and over again withoutrealizing that you're actually
having adjustment, and I thinkthat's where I want, I guess, to
(12:39):
make kind of like thedelineation between the two.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (12:42):
Is that actual doing part versus the
strategic planning part of it?
Acacia Smith (12:49):
Being reactive versus proactive.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (12:51):
Yeah, it's being reactive versus proactive
, so where is it that I will seemy company and moving it 10
years?
I think that's what I loveabout the EOS system that we're
doing right now is you put thevision into play and then you
allow for the people to startfilling in the gaps.
But you can't put them intoplay if you don't have the
(13:15):
actual vision of what that is.
It's like we were just talkingin my EOS meeting the other day
and one of the things that hewas saying is he was like you
know, keisha can leave the roomright now because it's not her
job anymore to actually go outand do.
She's done that for the pastfour to five years.
(13:36):
She's done that.
You guys have the vision.
You know exactly how she wantsthings.
So she does not.
The visionary does not have tostay in that position because
you've already put the visioninto play.
So I think that's the point.
Acacia Smith (13:51):
A playbook is the key though.
Yeah, because like any goodteam and I hate to use sports
analogy like any good team youneed that playbook.
You know if the coach isn'tthere, there's someone leading.
You know there's always someoneleading, but they're in that
responsible right For what we'resaying, an accountable for what
the business or the company orthe CEO's vision is.
(14:13):
But that playbook, I need thatplaybook.
So it's not telephone, you know, because the chain of command
and the communication, right, weall have different dreams, but
when we share a vision, that'swhen the team succeeds, and I
think that's the point.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (14:29):
But you can't put the playbook together
until you run the actual play.
Otherwise you're going to besitting there scratching stuff
off.
You need to run it and see howit's going to operate and then
you can be like okay, this istried and true.
We've ran this four to fivetimes.
We've made adjustments here andhere and there, so I'm not
saying that you don't never haveto write it down.
What I'm talking about rightnow is literally having a
(14:52):
strategic mindset and thinkingpart of it.
Now strategic planning istotally different, so I think
that's where we're kind oflooking at.
Where are we going?
What comes first?
So, strategic thinking,strategic planning, strategic
leadership what's the process?
I?
Acacia Smith (15:11):
really like, in marketing especially.
I do not like to reinvent thewheel, so I'm going to find
something that models or I canedify.
Let me use that wordedification.
I'm going to find somethingthat I can edify and then go for
it there.
But that's thinking as acreative and I think as a
visionary that we are thosecreatives.
(15:33):
So I feel like we always haveto take from something we're
modeling to, you know, edify tothe best abilities that we can
at least like, duplicate thosethings for the team.
It's what I'm thinking, that'show I think.
So, starting with, how can Iapproach the situation?
I'm going to think about whatis the most similar industries,
(15:57):
right, or who's in my niche,competition, if I'm going to
break it down for y'all, butwho's in my competition and who
do I want to surpass or be likeyou know, and then from there
capitalized.
But I don't know.
I can't go from.
I have to take from an idea.
Lavonne Shields (16:15):
Well, me.
But that interesting part if wego back to the importance of
strategic thinking, that justshows where it makes the
argument.
For most people will just goout there and just launch, just
on general principle, yeah, I'mgoing to do this, and then
you're mad that it wasn't.
What was the?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (16:32):
thought you didn't hit the right target.
Lavonne Shields (16:34):
It was a low-flying thought process, you
know.
I was like, oh no, I can do itOkay, based off questions.
You didn't try it.
Acacia Smith (16:42):
You didn't try it, but I get the chaos to part two
, because, being a part of ateam, right, we are going to
keep running that play and thencorrecting it, correcting it.
Lavonne Shields (16:52):
Hey, you're not in the right spot.
Acacia Smith (16:53):
Let's do this.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (16:54):
Let's go here, especially with teams
Sometimes you don't always havethe same people, but that's
frustrating.
I mean, my son has playedfootball his entire youth and
I'm looking and I've seenmultiple and I do mean multiple
teams and they are running thatone dumb ass play that they just
keep running over.
Acacia Smith (17:14):
That's a dumb ass.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (17:15):
Thank you, thank you.
Acacia Smith (17:18):
That's a dumb ass you cannot run up the middle.
That's a different game.
You've already seen that 10times.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (17:24):
Why are you following this playbook if
it's not working for you?
Acacia Smith (17:27):
Because there are people who just go by the paper.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (17:30):
But that's what I'm saying.
I think you need to have one,you need to have a strategic
mindset.
You need to have that strategicthinking you need to be able to
adapt.
But those people that are justgoing out and just being like,
yeah, I have the book and thebook says this and I'm going to
follow the book and know yourbook is bullshit.
Acacia Smith (17:48):
So I want to ask what.
You specifically.
Lavonne Shields (17:51):
I want to ask you guys.
Acacia Smith (17:53):
I want to ask you guys, what are practical steps,
then, to the strategic mindsetthat you're sharing?
Look at you trying to bring usyeah, you know, I just want to
make, I want to make it makesense.
So this is a strategic mindset,not the planning portion.
And when we think about havingtaking steps to have the mindset
and not just the plan, whatdoes that look like to you then?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (18:17):
Well, I think it's one starting from
laying out whether you need toput it on a big wall or you need
to put something it's not goingto be in a formal portfolio.
Lavonne Shields (18:31):
Are you still trying to say I'm like no.
Acacia Smith (18:35):
I'm like no, you're trying to say you got it
right.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (18:38):
No, no, you should have it, no, no.
Acacia Smith (18:42):
Whatever, no takers are money makers.
We're not doing that.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (18:50):
Okay, you're saying it's not formal
when I think of writing it down.
It's not a formal write down,it's.
It's chaotic, right down it's.
I have all of my ingredients infront of me.
Lavonne Shields (19:01):
It's kind of like when you learn how to bake,
you don't necessarily have.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (19:05):
I don't think that they started out with
oh I'm going to go ahead andbake some bread, let me go ahead
and get the recipe.
No, the very first thing thatthey did was they tried a little
bit of this and they tried alittle bit of that, and then
they put all of those thingstogether and then somebody said
how did you do that?
And now I have to explain it tosomebody.
Lavonne Shields (19:23):
That's that very first step.
When I coach people, that'swhat I tell them.
That's getting your mostcomfortable space, wherever that
is in the, in the woods and thehot tub, whatever that is and
ask the question because youwouldn't have the thought if it
wasn't meant for you to have itRight.
Acacia Smith (19:37):
Start there.
That's your responsibility,people is, you know.
Lavonne Shields (19:40):
First get into that space, ask your unconscious
mind what does this look like?
Mm, hmm?
And then, if you can, eitherwith the recording it or writing
it down, scribble the thoughtsas they come out, because they
got to get out of your head.
That's the whole thing.
If they're in there, you can'tsee the flow of the connection
of this idea, or this idea, oror you don't realize that you've
been writing the same idea fromdifferent.
Acacia Smith (20:01):
You know what we talk about.
You know what we call that inmarketing Imagination.
Lavonne Shields (20:09):
Get it all out.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (20:15):
Things that you need and for some
people is going to be all ofyour ingredients for candle
making and for some people isgoing to be you.
Acacia Smith (20:24):
So let's write and we have to write it down,
people it's the cook versus thechef, I guess it's a cook versus
the chef.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (20:30):
I don't know.
I think I'm a cooker Now youare a chef.
Acacia Smith (20:33):
Uh oh, If you're a regular cook, you're going to
follow the I like to taste toobut if you are a true chef,
you're going to mix it up.
You might know the foundationsright, the foundations but
you're going to take that andput your own flavor.
Yeah, it's a flavor.
It's what is your flavorAuthentically Chef?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (20:54):
Can I get my head?
Can I get my head?
I'm just saying, I need my head.
Yeah, you're not a cook.
Acacia Smith (21:00):
You are a chef and the chefs lead the kitchen.
They lead the the rest of theteam.
I'm a sous chef.
When I'm not there, they'reable to lead the team as well.
If we want to put it into adifferent realm, that was an
amazing analogy.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (21:13):
I watch a lot of cooking shows and I was
thinking to myself there'snothing written down.
There's nothing written down onthose cooking shows.
They have to turn as I turn toLevan.
There's nothing written down onthose cooking shows.
They have to know, they have to, they have to.
Like I said, imagine they haveto have flavor Relied on their
(21:37):
taste buds, and I believe that'sliterally business.
You have to rely on your tastebuds, you have to rely on your
instincts, and we don't get.
You don't get a lot of that,and so that's your.
That's your first thing thatyou need to do.
You need to take whatever thatinstinctual thing is, rely on it
(21:57):
and then build somethingamazing.
Acacia Smith (22:00):
Yeah, I agree and honestly, if, if you do not know
about in marketing to do yourbrand, get your brand guidelines
, I honestly, I honestly hurtfor you.
Oh, dude, because what she'ssaying is the.
It's the ingredients.
What are my ingredients?
You don't have to have it allplanned out in a document.
(22:24):
You know what I mean.
It's the colors, it's the, theideas, it's putting it all
together, so that way you havesomething that's a chart.
You know, this is what we'refocused on and this is what we
use in this kitchen.
When you open up the cabinets,what are we going to cook?
You know?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (22:38):
so I want to toss our next thing to Levan
so, because you know she likewriting stuff down.
Acacia Smith (22:45):
So what are what?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (22:46):
are going to be our principles of goal
setting.
To make sure you have yourpencil in paper.
Lavonne Shields (22:53):
The principles of goal setting, I mean it goes
back to one the vision.
I mean if you're not clear onthe what it is you're shooting
for, then you've already lostright there.
If there's no clarity and it'snot an alignment with your core
of who you are, then I mean,that's that's where I start.
Right there is understanding.
You know what, what is it, whatare we, what's the vision that
(23:15):
we're looking for in achievingthis goal?
Because if you can't, don'tknow what your why is, you don't
know what all that is andeverything behind that becomes
irrelevant.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (23:23):
Yeah, and unnecessary, absolutely Like
delegating tasks.
Well, she jumped way ahead ofme before I was ready to get
there, but it's all right.
So everything that she said inthe beginning, you guys don't
ever tell her.
I said this, but she's right,you know, I'm gonna.
I'm gonna say that whatever shesaid in the first, did I?
Acacia Smith (23:46):
get cut out, because the first thing I said
was what Smart goals?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (23:50):
No, I still don't like smart goals.
I think we need another wordfor smart goals.
Acacia Smith (23:54):
Strategic planning there you go.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (23:57):
That sounds better, that sounds
better.
Acacia Smith (24:00):
Oh my goodness, I would say no, but this is a true
thing business owners try toget away from.
Don't talk about me, I'm sorry.
I say it for myself too.
I don't want to do thefoundation stuff and put it on
paper.
I'm the creator, I'm thevisionary, and it's tough, but
that's the hard part pushingthrough those emotions right and
(24:21):
being able to be that model andedify those things.
I don't want to do this.
I will, though, but then Okay.
Lavonne Shields (24:26):
So here, here's the interesting little, the end
game, the top out there.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (24:30):
The top.
Lavonne Shields (24:32):
I mean because people attempt to do all of this
by themselves, right?
And if you know you're not thedocumenter of your visionary,
you're having your visionarymoments, then wouldn't it be
great to be able to bringsomeone in and say, hey, I'm
about to throw this up, I needyou to get the strainer.
Acacia Smith (24:52):
Honestly, though, that goes back to what she was
saying at the beginning.
So doing the chaotic part andthen realizing, you know not
opportunity.
Because I'm not good at thatpart.
You know I don't want to dothat.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (25:07):
You can tell who's the visionary at this
table.
We are all visionaries.
Thank you, the implementer.
Lavonne Shields (25:15):
I mean it is.
It starts like that.
You know, when I'm meeting withpeople, they're like well, what
should I do First is talk, yeah, talk, and then I will feed
back to you what I'm hearing.
I think she just said I wasright.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (25:28):
I think that's what I think.
I will take some notes.
Acacia Smith (25:31):
As I'm taking notes about what they're saying.
Lavonne Shields (25:33):
Someone take some notes, I will feed back to
them what I'm hearing, and thenthat allows their vision to
start to take better shape.
Yeah, so that's how we've got ashape.
Yeah, we know what it is thatwe're.
We can we have a starting pointat that point?
Other than that, that's usuallywhere most visions die is that
they don't know how to turn itinto a tangible something.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (25:55):
So having the end so that's what, that's
where that first year doesn'tlike.
Acacia Smith (25:59):
The end game matters the most.
Lavonne Shields (26:02):
But it is definitely want to begin with
the end of mind.
What is it you're?
Acacia Smith (26:06):
shooting, for that's a vision right.
Lavonne Shields (26:07):
But at the same time it's the being able to
turn the idea into somethingthat has some sort of structure
of creating the mission,stability to it.
So where you can, you canconnect to it, because in your
brain it's just floating aroundwith everything else.
Did I breathe where thechildren?
Acacia Smith (26:24):
So you need actions, yeah, feeling the
storyline, yeah.
Lavonne Shields (26:28):
And then now it's something tangible that you
can, whether you're youphysically wrote it down, so it
literally is tangible, or it'sjust out of your head and
someone else is now helping youform it, but it's got to come
out of here.
So I think step one is toreflect.
Then right, Absolutely.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (26:44):
So one, it says, to reflection and
planning Self reflection.
Step two is defining yourbusiness vision, breaking it
down to attainable goals.
I guess smart goals, that'swhat you want to call it, that's
what you want to call it.
That's the specific, bemeasurable be, achievable, be
(27:05):
relevant, be time bound.
Now, don't get me wrong.
I love smart goals.
I think that they're amazing.
I'm just, you know, beingfacetious right at this point,
because everybody says it andnobody really understands it,
and I think that's my.
My issue is the world willstart talking about smart goals
(27:27):
and we, as behavior analysts, wedon't necessarily call them
smart goals.
You need to have an operationaldefinition of what you're doing
.
You need to be clear, concise,right and it needs to be
measurable.
So we don't necessarily callthem smart, but there's only
three things that you need toremember.
What's the operationaldefinition Like?
If I'm going to say, you know,drink your water, then what?
(27:51):
What does that even mean?
Am I going to scoop it up withmy hands?
Am I going to grab a cup?
Lavonne Shields (27:57):
Am I going to I'm like you're combining
specific and the measurable intoone.
Acacia Smith (28:04):
Absolutely Relevance.
Lavonne Shields (28:06):
Yeah, so what are we doing?
Yes, we're drinking water.
How much water.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:10):
How much water Exactly?
Lavonne Shields (28:12):
And what?
What form are we using to dothat?
Acacia Smith (28:14):
Ye s, Again your hands, your cup, are you yes?
So you said operational, andthen Operational definition Be
clear, concise.
Clear, concise, so it has to beachievable.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:25):
Yes.
Acacia Smith (28:26):
Okay.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:26):
And it needs to be achievable, and then
it needs to be measurable.
Acacia Smith (28:29):
Measurable.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (28:30):
So when we look at, those three different
things as far as behaviorchanged and those are the three
areas that we're looking at tosee where you can have the most
impact on your behavior change.
And then the last part isobviously establishing those
priorities and figuring out youknow what, what's going to make
(28:50):
sure that what I'm doing isimpactful and it's going to be
worth my time, that I'm actuallydoing it.
And I think once you get intoyou know, visualizing and then
putting it down on paper andthen making sure that somebody
can understand it, then you canstart getting into delegation.
Because if you start delegatingat the visualizing part, you
(29:15):
you missed it.
You missed it.
That person is not going toknow what you're talking about
and then you're just going to befrustrated.
I tried it a couple of times.
I'm not going to lie, I don't.
You know I want to lie or tease.
Lavonne Shields (29:27):
I want to lie to y'all.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (29:29):
I tried it a couple of times where I
thought that that's what Iwanted.
I tried at least two to threedifferent times to get an
assistant, and I'm thinking thatthis person is understanding me
, but I'm not necessarily beingclear this is called dating.
Acacia Smith (29:43):
Yeah, are they dating or courting you?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (29:46):
Right, right.
I need you to read my mind.
Acacia Smith (29:49):
I'm sorry husband yeah Work husband, work wife.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (29:53):
I do apologize, right, because as a
visionary you can get stuck inthinking that you said something
that you actually did not evensay and you did not prepare them
for what was happening next.
So just want to put out there.
So how do you get in?
Sync with that longterm visionbeing this in that daily the
(30:16):
hard, knock life of it, becauseyou're going to find people and
be like.
I didn't say that, like what?
Lavonne Shields (30:22):
are you doing?
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (30:23):
Why are you doing that?
And then you'll find people whoare overly eager, so they go do
stuff that you definitelydidn't ask them to do, and then
they went and did that shitwrong.
Acacia Smith (30:34):
Her vision was not aligned.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (30:35):
Like no.
So what I've learned is there'sa healthy balance of being
clear, asking for clarification,asking for that person to
regurgitate back what you saidto them, survey and then being
able to say yes, that is what Isaid.
And if you are working with avisionary, if you are the
visionary, you may want to stopwhat you're doing right now and
(30:59):
assess how you're communicating,what your needs are, Because
you can get caught up in astrategic mindset and thinking
and thinking that you're givinginformation that you're actually
not giving.
So my advice would be to remainopen to learning and growth,
(31:20):
embrace your challenges and makesure there are opportunities.
Don't hesitate to seek guidancefrom mentors and peers.
Like I said, I have this stage.
I have a therapist.
That's number one.
I have a life coach, I haveanother CEO group, I have and I
(31:42):
have a group of friends that Imeet with on a regular basis to
tell me like hey, you're doingthings right and you might want
to be strong, but I'mremembering that just because
you went into business foryourself doesn't mean that you
have to do all of this byyourself.
Lavonne Shields (31:56):
Yes, this is not natural, because that's what
you miss as an employee.
You got all your other employeeco-workers that you're able to
talk about, and it's all underthe same umbrella of this is our
job and this is how things aregoing.
But once you make thattransition to the other side of
the fence, it gets lonely untilyou realize but there's all of
these resources that aredesigned to prevent you from
(32:18):
feeling that isolated feeling.
But if you don't have anyonewho can help you bounce that
idea back off whether it be amentor or someone in your peer
group or just even someone thatbecause you learn a lot when you
teach, so you have someonewho's behind you that you're
also coaching and mentoring thenit becomes full circle and it
gets embedded in.
But if you're just out there,just willy-nilly, just out there
(32:40):
just doing it, then you wonderwhy your results are hitting
this.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (32:47):
So we'll end with.
Strategic thinking isn't aone-time event.
It's a habit that needs to benurtured.
So stay committed to yourreflection, your goal setting
and aligning your actions toyour vision.
Did you hear that?
Align your actions to yourvision by being strategic?
(33:08):
Thank you for showing up todaylistening to us banter back and
forth.
Hopefully you got something outof that.
My name is LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes.
You can find me.
You can find me.
You know see.
Acacia Smith (33:21):
I can find me.
Lavonne Shields (33:23):
You can find me .
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (33:25):
Strategic underscore behavior.
Or you can find me.
I mean, if you really just wantto know who I am, I advise it.
I'm fine.
You know why not?
You can find me at LaKeysha,Cobbs- Hayes.
Or you can look us up ontrueceolifecom if you want to
join our accelerator program,and I'll bounce it to LaVon.
Lavonne Shields (33:47):
LaVonne Shields , the accounting strategist, and
you can find me at theaccounting strategist on all
platforms.
Well, can we?
Linkedin, instagram andFacebook?
Don't be looking for mesomewhere else.
I ain't there, so you can findme on LinkedIn.
Instagram and Facebook.
The accounting strategist, orLaVonne Shields Again if you
want to see things that are alittle interesting about me?
(34:08):
What?
Acacia Smith (34:10):
about TikTok.
Lavonne Shields (34:12):
No, you don't want to climb on it.
Acacia Smith (34:14):
Oh, okay, never mind.
Well, my name is Acacia Smith.
I'm a marketing expert, so ifyou want to work with me, you
can find me at blckmgmt, onInstagram and Facebook All right
Till next time.
LaKeysha Cobbs-Hayes (34:29):
Yeah, thank you for joining, thank you
(34:59):
.
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