Master the Intrapreneur Mindset
Transcript
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Speaker 1: hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the she builted experience with Melanie you're here because you want to experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it a career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in Nancy Murphy spent her career saying what others are afraid to and learning to say it in ways that others will listen she's the founder and president of CSR Communications and creator of entrepreneurs influence lab her passion is helping leaders of change within established organizations entrepreneurs influence and persuade others so that they can realize their vision for change faster with less frustration and resistance as a trainer and speaker Nancy has shared her expertise from koala lumur to Kansas City and London to Las Vegas she holds a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Minnesota's hump free school a master's in health Communications from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in American studies from University of Dayton please share with us what you do and what you think the most unique aspects of Entrepreneurship versus on
Speaker 2: entrepreneurship I support entrepreneurs in a whole variety of ways whether it's training helping them design strategies that sell and get their change to stick inside their organizations or even Executive coaching and mentoring informally and I do all of that because I believe that entrepreneurs those people who change established organizations from within are really the UN s Heroes of organizational change they're the ones who take the grand gestures the proclamations the public commitments and make them real inside our organizations and so while entrepreneurs tend to disrupt Industries or systems from outside we also need people doing that inside our Legacy organizations so that we can reach the scale of change faster we can get the pace of change that we want because if we can get those organizations that already have reach already have multiple clients customers communities participants then we'll see the kind of equity sustainability more ethical environmentally friendly kinds of change in the world that we want faster what
Speaker 1: you are doing is so great because I have a background in corporate and sometimes you can see things that need to change and it's very difficult to make them because most often companies turn like a ship and not a speedboat as an entrepreneur we want to turn it like a a speedboat but within an organization more like a ship and what you do helps employees to not be so frustrated with the pace of change or to get them to a
Speaker 2: point where they can make change within their their companies and their organizations absolutely and it's probably the largest aircraft carrier you can imagine you know at least that's what it feels like that can be true whether it's a 500 person organization or a 500,000 person organization sometimes they can feel just as unwieldy and in my experience there are some key things that will enable entrepreneurs to be more successful to decrease that resistance and push back they often get or at least to help them feel like they're beating their head against the wall a little bit less frequently than they really are I want to support these un Heroes as I call them in really unlocking their potential because there are specific things they can do that will make a difference in getting change to stick
Speaker 1: and do you work with companies or do you
Speaker 2: work with individuals specifically I tend to work with companies and organizations that said it's usually one leader that brings me in initially and we have through the entrepreneurs influence lab which you mentioned both teams of change leaders also individual leaders who join that six Monon change leadership program but for the most part it's working with the organization to help get them from that proclamation to the persistent practice that make change stick I think a lot about change because as entrepreneurs and Business Leaders we have to grow and change and sometimes that can be hard and at times scary what
Speaker 1: can leaders do to overcome resistance to change and I love how you talk about being a goalgetter and not a goal Setter
Speaker 2: absolutely and a big part of that when it comes to organizational change is the resistance that we often encounter and so you know the first thing I always tell entrepreneurs about overcoming resistance is the one thing that you can control which is your own perception of resistance so the very first thing is to kind of switch the mindset that we have about resistance because resistance is not all bad in fact it's actually pretty important and we want that overt resistance because we can learn from it and do something about it where I think we get into trouble in companies and organizations a lot of times is the resistance will be covert and then that creates all sorts of problems if we think about resistance like strength training at the gym or the track athletes or football players who might run with the giant parachute on their back to create resistance so that when that's gone they can move even faster and feel even stronger and so how do we think about number one we want over resistance number two it's going to make our ideas better it's going to make them stronger and then three how do we understand how do we get smart and get curious about what's underneath the resistance we're encountering so that we can overcome it as opposed to getting frustrated so I often teach about the three common types of resistance and what we can do to overcome them because there's different things underline each of them and once we can see that then we know what to do about it you have five C's of change leadership what are those five C's there
Speaker 1:
- are things like credibility so we as Leaders need to start with again the one thing we can control which is how we show up how we model the new Behavior the new ways of working the new mindsets that it is we're asking from others in our organizations how do we build trust so that first thing is credibility what is it going to take for us as the leader
- of change to be followed the second is I mentioned when it comes to resistance in particular is curiosity so that just being open-minded having that experimentor mindset of testing things out learning from them adapting being willing to fail so that curiosity is
- really important number three is Clarity so often we have kind of a vision for where we want to go but we don't give people the how or we can't paint a detailed enough picture of where we're going so that others can come on board so that others can see themselves in it
- number four is communication so I often talk about the campaigners commitment as being an important part of change leadership we'd like to all Proclaim our vision for change once and be done but if we think of ourselves instead like the candidate on the campaign Trail where we give our stump speech over and over and over yes yes with the same level of enthusiasm and the questions or the push back we get we have to act as if it's the first time we've heard it and get really curious about it and and understand that when people are hearing something for the first time there's necessarily going to be confusion or uncertainty so how do we think about our communication being like we're hearing it for the first time what are all those things that we just sort of in it now or that we've been processing in the back of our heads for four years and now that we're saying it out loud we might need to start from the beginning where people are new to it and
- then the fifth one it's commitment so oftentimes I see leaders make the mistake of I call it leading change like a New York City cab driver right we're like slamming on the gas we're like jumping out we had to launch Everything at Once then we're slamming on the brakes because oh now we're panicked maybe we're afraid we're breaking the organization we're pushing people too fast is this even the right thing to do at all I don't know so instead of just easing off the gas right we slam on the brake and then everybody feels jerked around everybody's nauseated by the time they get where it causes
Speaker 2: confusion absolutely and fear right you're like oh my my gosh are we going
Speaker 1: to get there safely so being really clear in your commitment to change and not sort of speeding ahead and then pulling back all a sudden and helping regularly assess others commitment to the change and giving people the opportunity to say I'm not Allin yet because I don't understand this or I don't know what my role is or tell me the next step but once I get that then I'm committed or if I'm not committed what does that mean for my future in the organization so those are my five C's
Speaker 2: for change leadership yes and everything you said just made everything crystallize because you have to have those things within any business no matter what industry you're in and you mentioned failure I also think a lot about mistakes and as Business Leaders we have to take chances and risks and that opens us up to make mistakes and we're all human we all make them but what are the most common mistakes that most entrepreneurs make and what can
Speaker 1: they do to avoid them the first one is being afraid to make mistakes we call our program a lab for a reason most of the time it's just getting people to try things out and not be afraid you know most things we do we can come back from they're not going to have such dire consequences that the organization's going to go under and so having that experimenters mindset so the first mistake is being afraid to make mistakes
Speaker 2: so how do we get that experiment
Speaker 1:
- mindset the second one I mentioned the campaigners commitment so the mistake is thinking we can just say it once and be
- done the third one is going it alone I see this so often When leaders feel like they have to carry the burden for change inside their huge organization entirely themselves we talk a lot about really mapping the different stakeholders in your organization or learning what's underneath that resistance and leaders can feel like that's an imposs possible thing when they've got 5,000 employees they're responsible for leaders need a circle of change Champions inside their organization to help carry that burden and a network of fellow entrepreneurs outside their organizations who can
Speaker 2: offer insight and support it's so true and a lot of times it is about communication it's about everyone understanding the direction that they're going and you're right you can't it's like building any brand you can't say at once and expect someone to take it on and trust you or trust your brand or your company absolutely I mean just think about how much information we're bombarded with every day and I think the average adult attention span right now is about four seconds and so thanks to technology and social media yes but we've all become accustomed to that it's just how we live so if we're distracted all of the time then we're never going to pick something up the first time we hear it even if it's coming from our boss as the change leader we need to be willing to say it over and over and over till people really hear it you have so much education and experience with what you do what gave you the courage to make your leap to launch your
Speaker 1:
- business one is something I value most which is autonomy and flexibility so for any listeners who are saying I'm not sure what the right path is for me getting really clear on how you work best and on what you value most will illuminate choices for you that will seem obvious once you get clear on those other things so for me being able to own my own business I know a lot of people will look at that and go oh my gosh that's so risky you know during the pandemic oh my goodness aren't you worried about frankly I'd rather be dependent on my own creativity and hustle than someone else's decisions that I have no control over that will impact my ability to earn a living right so knowing what I valued was really
- important and second I just I felt like having been in that entrepreneurial role inside organizations and using my entrepreneurial spirit inside I just learned so much about what doesn't work about how to do it ways that will be more effective that I felt compelled to share that with others so they could maybe make new mistakes and not repeat my mistakes and I guess the last thing
- is just this is probably true for a lot of women even though I don't have children I had other responsibilities and interests and passion and felt like inside organizations it was just sort of feeding my workaholism but then I'm doing all of that for someone else's vision and someone else's future and I just really wanted again to have that flexibility to sort of be a three-dimensional person and not a onedimensional person and to feed my passion through my business through my job versus sort of having to do that for 12 hours a day and then find space and energy for other things in my life it's
Speaker 2: so beautiful that you say think about what you value the most because we get up and we go to work every day but you are so right if we do what we value it's not going to feel like work absolutely it can be really fun something we look forward to every day versus that thing on Sunday evening where we start to get the pit in our stomach and we've all been there it's so much better to think about what we value I love that you said that how have your early career experiences influenced you as a business leader and leading your company and how does that experience help your clients your leadership style and assist you in managing your business today
Speaker 1: I guess I'm a hard driver you know some people would say what that's a type A personality I have evolved so much since the early days of my career I think I learned a lot about balancing relationships and results and going back to what we really value getting really clear on what matters and what doesn't and again sort of learning that the hard way and so now one of our core values in my company is healthy active lifestyle and how do we help each other make those choices and how do we support our clients and that and we're not a wellness business but how does that show up and if somebody says oh that time slot is outside my normal working hours so I'd prefer not to absolutely we don't question that meeting slot time I am a recovering perfectionist for sure so I think that also goes to to what matters and myself a lot of what I teach for entrepreneurs the best thing for me in teaching that is that I have a daily reminder for myself about that experimentor mindset about we're never going to be perfect so how do we get a high standard and high quality of Excellence but not strive for perfection in a way that prevents us from acting so true because we can not do something because we're afraid to fail and you mentioned being a hard driver and type A personality I'm guessing that many listening have those exact same qualities and health and wellness is so important and I'm going to admit before this recording today I didn't have time to work out but I thought to myself I'm going to go up and down my stairs 20 times because just doing and and I've recently implemented 20 minute to hour every morning workout but it just depends sometimes if you're a type A you can think oh I have so much I need to do in a day I don't have time to work out but getting in that health and wellness aspect and it can be as small as drinking water starting your day with water or lemon water but it's so important to go through the day with energy and feeling good and you can you can be so much more productive at work when it's approached that way so I'm
Speaker 2: really glad you you brought that up yeah and I think too I will tell you the times where I convince myself that sacrificing certain things like my morning routine which includes exercise or my regular Sunday reflection and planning for the week ahead when I sacrifice those things because I think oh I should just dive straight into the deliverable today or prepping for that phone call or whatever I pay the price so true in creativity in energy in presence all so true and I have learned
Speaker 1: I used to think because before my twins were born I ran marathons and I used to think I could only work out an hour a day and if I didn't do that it didn't matter but I've learned that even like I can't believe I just admitted I went up and down my stairs 20 times but I've learned that even doing those small things to your point brings that creativity back to you and it it gives you that added lift of energy and you don't have to go out and run a marathon or work out for an hour it can just be that 20 minutes that gets your day started yes absolutely because we're not one-dimensional people we are full three-dimensional humans magic happens when we focus on the part of our business and ourselves that brings us joy what is one tip that you can leave
Speaker 2: with us today about how you find and live your joy paying really close attention to those moments when the hair stands up on my arms in a conversation with somebody or where I leave an event a meeting a conversation and I'm so energized and I can't stop thinking about it and not just saying wow wasn't that great but paying attention to what was it that triggered that response for me and how do I create more of that every day how do I make choices that allow me to spend more of my time in those kinds of activities every day I
Speaker 1: love that being mindful about that feeling and then acting on it like how beautiful is that and that's really looking at the things that you value like you mentioned earlier absolutely investing in the clarity for
Speaker 2: ourselves first make the one decision that eliminates a thousand other decisions I'm a firm believer in that and we can get so busy that we don't really think about those moments thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us and me today can you please tell our listeners how
Speaker 2: and where they can find you absolutely so our website is csrc communications.com and if you do forward weekly you can sign up for our ingenious weekly actionable gems for influential entrepreneurs and on LinkedIn I'm very active there and would love to connect with folks
Speaker 1: there if you are new to Sheil it we'd love for you to join us we offer a community memberships masterminds Innovative virtual events and meaningful connections to entrepreneurs and corporate leaders please also check out our Sheil it shop curated products from women-owned businesses who put their heart and soul into their beautiful and Innovative products we offer Sheil tip business Consulting and the Sheil tip blog thank you to everyone around the world who joined today thank you to my editor Rich stalino please download And subscribe wherever you get your podcast and until next time together let's let nothing stop us from experiencing the life that We crave
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