00:08 Hi, I'm Denise Simpson, a master life and leadership coach who helps women step into their authentic and feminine power so they can lead like visionaries, influence with grace, and create a legacy of contribution and service. You'll hear about real leadership clients with real problems navigating their success in life, business and career. If you're ready to become a masterful leader, then this podcast was made for you. So let's get started.00:46 Welcome back leader. I am excited to talk to you about the visionary leader, you being a visionary. Now let of my clients say I'm not a visionary Denise. I'm just a manager, or I'm just a director, or I'm just a supervisor. I don't know what visionary means. I'm just doing my day-to-day job. I'm focused on the operational work, the management work. I don't even know what a visionary is. Anyway, so why would you want me to identify as a visionary leader? Listen to my friend. You're the last person to admit you're a visionary. Visionaries are looking ahead. We are looking at what is to come. We are looking at the possibilities. We're looking at the capabilities. We're looking at ways to improve our teams, improve our culture, improve our organizations. We're always looking for ways to solve a gap. This is why you are leading.01:47 Never mind the title, never mind the day in and day out of your duties. Never mind that. I want for you to step back or maybe even take a 30,000 foot view above where you're at today and the career that you're on. Where are we going from here? Is this it? Are we here for the rest of our careers or are we looking ahead? Are we looking at the improvement we wanna make in our lives? We're looking at the changes we wanna make in our organizations, or are you satisfied with where you are right now? And if you are, turn off this episode. This is not for you. You are definitely not a visionary, but if you are looking ahead at the possibilities because you can't help yourself. Listen, visionaries cannot help themselves, but look forward. We are forward thinkers. We are looking at gaps.02:47 We are solving problems ahead of time. Not only are we looking forward, but we are appreciating the past and we're not dwelling on the past. We're not ruminating on the crap that happened or the what ifs. What if I had done this? What if I had done that? What if I had said that we don't live in the what if we're living in the what now? What now is going to, what can I now do to make this organization better, to make my team better, to make my life better? Where are we going from here? That's the excitement that the visionary leader feels as she is taking inventory of her life today. You know, it's interesting because I'm looking at my past right now, especially the last 11 months of this year, and I'm looking at things that I did bring in from 2021 into 2022, things that I thought I had resolved.03:50 Patterns, conditions, maybe some limiting beliefs that I had. Because as you stretch the boundaries of your neurology, right, you're stretching because you know there's more. You're stretching because you know there's possibilities in front of you and you wanna leverage your brilliance so that you can capitalize on that opportunity. You start then seeing gaps. Sometimes there's things that resurface that you thought you had dealt with and they come gushing up once again. And so for me, looking back at the last 11 months, I'm taking inventory of the celebrations, no doubt, lots of wins, lots of wins, but I'm also taking inventory of what I'm repeating, the habits of thought that I'm repeating, the physical habits that I'm repeating, the emotional habits that I'm repeating, things that I've repeated since 2020 that moved into 2021 and into 2022. And that's okay. I'm not beating myself up for the things that I'm bringing in to 2023.04:59 I am aware of those habits because I'm working on them daily. That's the thing. We get so upset with ourselves when we don't change a habit in 30, 60 days. That's false. It takes more than 200 days to change a habit. And sometimes these very tightly wound belief systems that we have and that we've had since we were little girls are a little harder to unwind. And that's okay because when you know how the brain works and because you are consciously working towards changing a habit, it is okay if it doesn't completely dissolve. And that's the inventory I'm taking right now. I'm taking inventory of the wins and reflecting on the losses. And I wouldn't even call them losses, I would call them setbacks. A lot of us are calling them failures. A lot of us are calling them mistakes. I say a win or a lose, a W or an L, and the L is mostly a setback because I'm still on the journey .06:05 If I have set a goal, either in my personal life, in my health and wellness, in my finances, in my intimacy, in my rest and relaxation, or in my business when I set out to accomplish a goal, I am on that journey until it happens. I don't set timelines. Sometimes my business goals are quarterly, annually, so forth. But for the most part, I just let myself develop the habit in the time that it needs to be developed. Because if it is a long-term lifetime habit, then I'm gonna do whatever I need to do to make sure it sustains, to make sure that it's embedded in my neurology the way it's supposed to. So I'm okay with not fulfilling a goal in 30 days. I'm okay with not getting to the timeline or the deadline by a certain day. That's not how I set goals. That's not what I, what I like to do anymore in my life.07:08 I used to be a nighty day goal setter and I would blow them up, annihilate em, accomplish them, and then I'd be on to the next. I'm at a point in my life and my career where if it takes longer than 90 days, cool, that is okay. Then I set the next 90 day plan, cuz I do have a quarterly planner that I use and that my masters of leadership clients use. We use this to set goals through the O K KR system, which is John Doer's system. It's objectives and key results O K R. And so every 90 days we're reassessing. And so if I don't accomplish a goal in the first 90 days, that's okay. I'm gonna take the next 90 days to reevaluate to see what I need to do, to see what I need to adjust and then keep going forward.08:01 So if you're anything like me, the O K R system is actually a very good system to use to keep you consciously on track, underline, highlight, underscore the word consciously. You are consciously moving towards your goals, you're moving towards creating a new habit because there's, there's a goal that you wanna set, but you have to have habits to help you achieve that goal, especially if it's a impossible goal, , that you've set for yourself a goal that you've never ever tried before. And so I give myself that time and that distance so that I get to develop a, a goal or habit that will achieve a goal so that it's sustainable and that it is part of my neurology once it is accomplished. That's what I do for myself. And I highly recommend you try doing that too. So back to the visionary leader, my friend, why you press play on this particular episode?09:01 It's because you identify yourself some way somehow as a visionary. But if you are saying, I, I don't, I don't think I am. I actually, I don't at all foresee myself as that. You know, I'm not, uh, my duties at work aren't that grand and I'm not an innovator and I'm not, you know, using my creativity or my, my imagination to, you know, create new products, to create new services. I, I don't know what you're talking about. Denise. I want for you to stay with me on this episode. Especially if you are thinking you are not a visionary leader. I want for you to start looking at yourself as someone who is looking ahead. This is technically a visionary. We are looking ahead and yes, like I said earlier, we're taking stock of our past because when we look at our past, we are looking at trends, we're looking at patterns, we're looking at systems that are status quo.10:07 We're looking at why we are repeating a pattern and why that is our baseline. That's what a visionary does. We take stock of the past and looking at patterns, and we're looking at disrupting some of those patterns that are not serving us or our organization. And what we are supposed to do as visionaries is establish a new pattern, a new way of doing things so that we elevate status quo, we move the baseline even further. We're moving it up. We're elevating that baseline. So we're starting at a whole new level of how we lead, of how we perform as a team and the return on our investments as an organization. We're always looking at the roi, but as visionaries, we're always looking forward. But taking into account our past. If you take anything away from this episode, it is that statement. We are looking forward, but we are taking inventory of our past because we're looking specifically for patterns that we want to disrupt, patterns that we want to keep.11:16 And in moving that baseline, like I just said to a new level, this is a visionary my friend. And if you're not doing this as a manager, then this is something for you to challenge yourself on. A visionary is not just looking at the day-to-day of her operations, she's looking at ways to improve the systems, looking at ways to improve policy, looking at ways to disrupt neurology in her employees. This is a visionary leader. Now on today's episode, I'm gonna go very quickly through what I believe are the five most important qualifiers of a visionary leader. Are you ready for this? Good. Take pen to paper or listen to this later, but especially if you're driving, don't do that. But I want for you to take these five qualifiers and I want for you to start embodying these qualifiers. This is now a new identity.12:13 It is the visionary leader identity. You're now moving from a manager, supervisor, or director into a visionary leader status. Number one, my friend, is being open-minded. Open-minded, I believe is the number one qualifier. You are open to higher levels of consciousness. You are open to seeing what your blind spots are. You are open to seeing patterns. Patterns that maybe someone else hasn't been able to see. You, my friend, are open-minded because you're not tied emotionally to any of this work. You are curious, you're inquisitive, you are open to seeing how you can improve the systems, how you can change policy, how you can modify, you know, work procedures. That's what you're doing as an open-minded visionary leader. And something else I wanna share with you here before I move on to the next one is that a lot of us think that leadership is done in a vacuum, especially some leaders who aren't asking for help, they don't know how to ask for help.13:29 I, I have to admit, I'm one of those, not until recently did I realize I needed help with my business. And yes, I have a business coach, but you know, that's not the same as learning a new skill like let's say marketing. And just recently I've had to ask for help and I'm getting help now so that I can build the skill of marketing. And so it's not done in a vacuum, my friend. None of this is done in a vacuum. So if you are in a vacuum, I mean, think about what that does to you. It limits your ability to see mistakes, to see possibilities even. So know that this is not done in a vacuum. So be open to receiving feedback, be open to collaborating with peers. Be open to the possibilities. So that was number one, open-minded. Now let's move to number two, solution focused.14:24 So I hate to break it to you, my friend, but you are already doing this. And think about what you do every single day. You are either anticipating, avoiding, or mitigating problems. That's what you do every single day as a manager, supervisor, or a director. You're doing this already. And a visionary is looking again at those patterns, looking at ways to avoid any mistakes or any failures or any setbacks. And so you're anticipating, you're trying to avoid or you're mitigating a situation and a visionary does that so well, they're already predicting a problem ahead. They're already looking at ways to solve what could possibly happen. And so you are already doing this, so pay close attention to your actions every day and know that this is what a visionary does very, very well. So that's number two, solution focused. Now, number three, innovative slash imagination.15:28 You are an innovative leader using her imagination. So I, I put these two together because I feel like innovation to be an innovator, you are using your creative mind, you're using visualization, you're using your imagination, you're looking at, again, ways of solving a problem that maybe someone else isn't able to do, only because you have your own unique filtration system. I love this idea because innovators have developed over time the skill of foresight. And that's just again, looking ahead and they're looking again at ways to improve the future, looking at ways to better the future. So I, if you're now seeing a common thread here, with these qualifiers, a visionary leader is very open, very solution focused and very innovative. These are people who are using their imagination to look forward. And this is what sets them apart is this right here. Now listen, you probably have the, the basic leadership principles down, right?16:46 You probably have that under your belt. But what sets you apart is this is, I believe this qualifier number three, the innovative slash imagination qualifier. I believe this is what really is the crux of it all for a visionary. And you are doing this already just by planning, doing your annual planning meetings. You set your goals and objectives with your team ahead of time. You are setting projections, you are moving towards meeting these measurements. So you are already doing this. You have goals and you've got a target on those goals. And you have measurements that help you reach that target. You are looking at deadlines, timelines for your team to meet. You are already using your imagination during this process. So don't rule yourself out yet my friend, if you are doubting whether you're visionary or not. Okay? So that was number three, innovative slash imagination.17:50 All right, let's move to number four. Goal oriented. My goodness, I just talked about that. You've got, you've got targets, you have objectives, you've have measurements to move you towards meeting those objectives and finally reaching your goals. So goal oriented is who you are. I won't say any more than that. That's pretty self-explanatory. So let's move to number five, emotional awareness. Wow, listen, emotionally aware leaders have a very strong self-awareness skill. Emotional awareness means you know your own triggers. You know what sets you off. You know what gets your nervous system either fleeing, fighting or freezing or fawning, right? You know yourself so well. You know that when you enter a meeting with so and so. That is the person that has said some things to you before that have triggered some kind of emotion or emotional response in you. So you know this, you also know that when an employee comes to you who has a concern, a personal challenge at home, that you get emotionally wrapped up in whatever they're going through.19:10 So you already know what triggers you. And if you're unconscious to this, get conscious with me right now. I want for you to take ownership of how you are feeling about these circumstances or situations. I teach this to my clients every single day. We neutralize circumstances, we pull the facts out of a situation so that our brains can logically assess the situation. Because remember, when a emotion is high, logic is low. I am not at all sane for you to go into the workplace as a robot. That's impossible. We are humans with brains and hearts. This is something that we cannot avoid. So I want for you to find ways to regulate yourself when there are situations that are high with emotional charge. And I get to teach my client sat and I have a very specific system on how they get to do that so that we can make logical, rational decisions from the facts, not from the stories that our brain has created.20:22 Period. . So emotional awareness is also about taking into consideration the person in front of you, their emotional connection. Now for me as a leader, I advise all of my leadership clients to use compassion instead of empathy. There's a big difference between the two. Compassion is what social workers, what psychotherapists, what counselors use when they are with their patients. I like to take the same approach because empathy, which is one of the constructs of emotional intelligence, is you jumping in the pool with someone who's drowning. And think about it. When an employee comes to you and it's devastating you, something tragically has happened. It's, it's hard for us to separate compassion from empathy in these situations. Compassion is understanding what they're feeling. However, pulling yourself back to remain objective and neutral so that you are able to lead without drowning in the pool with your, with your employee.21:35 And I do that with my clients all the time. They'll tell me a story and I get worked up in my brain and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, how dare this person treat my client this way. And then I rattle off some, you know, very inappropriate things about that other person. And there goes my objectivity, there goes my neutralizing in the situation. So I'm human just like you are my friend. But in order for us to serve and lead our employees at the best of our abilities, at the highest levels of leadership, we need to understand how to find emotional awareness during this, these situations. So either you are throwing the life preserver, in the pool to help your client save themselves or you're jumping in the deep end with them and they're pulling you down so that they can save themselves. That is the difference that I see between empathy and compassion.22:33 We're still coming to the organization with heart. We're still coming to the organization with, with understanding. But what we're not doing is we're not falling into the trap of of the deep end. We're not doing that. And so emotionally aware, leaders, visionary leaders are able to stay objective during the situations because it's gonna get interesting, especially if you're a visionary, right? Especially if you have big goals, especially if you're looking into the future. And you know there's some major changes that you can contribute to. That is when you need to understand failure, losses, setbacks are going to happen on this journey. And that means you're going to need to find ways to regulate your emotions, to balance them out. Not a robot. That's not what I'm saying my friend. It's for you to remain compassionate, to remain objective so that you know how to lead your employees during the most difficult challenging times.23:39 So if you're not doing this for yourself yet, you need to start doing that now. Alright? Right? So those are the five qualifiers of a visionary leader. These are my top five. Listen, you Google this and there's like 50, a hundred qualifiers on a list. I chose the top five for us. Number one, open-minded, number two, solution focused. Number three, innovative slash imagination. Number four, goal-oriented. And number five, emotionally aware. All right, leader, I believe in you. I got your back. I know you're a visionary. No matter where you are in the organization, no matter how long you've been in this field or in your industry, I know you're a visionary. This is why I created this episode just for you. All right, my friend, go do great work in this world. I believe in you and I'm here for you and I cannot wait to serve you on next week's episode. Take good care. Bye for now. Hey, leader, do you want weekly leadership tips, coaching and training straight to your email inbox? Yeah, I thought so. Head over to dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Again, that's dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Just submit your name and your email address and we'll get started right away. I look forward to serving you inside your email inbox. See you soon.
