Evoke Greatness Newsletter March 28th, 2023

Make it an amazing week, friend!

March 28th, 2023

The CEO Test

Have you ever encountered a problem employee or leader in your organization who is “protected”?Someone who doesn’t really produce results, yet doesn’t have repercussions. Sadly, they typically just get moved around.

End of last year I read a book called “The CEO Test” and in Chapter 2: “Can you make the culture real- and matter? It’s about walking the talk”, they discuss the CEO test of upholding and protecting your culture. I believe an exact quote was

“culture felons must be immediately ushered out".

Great CEO’s don’t tolerate this kind of behavior. They don’t allow problems to be moved around…because they know that this will be at the expense of losing some of their A people people who actually do a good job. They find a problem and they deal with it or get rid of it. That’s the commitment a great leader upholds.

CEO’s, do a gut check on yourself. If this post pisses you off, chances are your tolerating things to the detriment of your organization. People are looking to you to lead well. If you’re unsure, ask your leadership team for feedback.

Leadership team, be brutally honest. After all, you have the success or failure of an organization on your shoulders. “The CEO Test” is by Adam Bryant and Kevin Sharer and is the compilation of in depth interviews and studying more than 600 CEO’s across many industries.

Highly recommend this for anyone in a CEO role or hoping to one day get there!

Mindset is everything

What is your narrative?

Your narrative is the story you tell yourself about yourself.

What do I mean by this?

We lug around the weight of our past traumas, failures, insecurities, not only in our mind or heart...it comes out in our thoughts, our words, our relationships, our leadership, and our engagement.

It holds you as a sort of prisoner. Our past, if unresolved or not dealt with, keeps us shackled.

I deal with so much of this in executive coaching. You'd think it would be more focused on the professional aspect of things, but often times the onion has to be peeled back to figure out why people are showing up as they do.

It's an exploratory process. So many of these things have to be unlearned. We have to be willing to forgive ourselves for things we've held onto.

When you are overrun with these types of limiting thoughts and actions, you can do your best, but you cannot grow.

There are parts of you that no longer serve you or anyone else, in any way.

Those parts of you have to die off in order for you to create space for growth and getting to that next version of you.

The Founder of Powerhouse Women, Lindsey Schwartz, said something really impactful and it has stayed with me:

She said:

"Your business will only grow to the extent that you do..."

Sit with that for a moment and chew on it.

You want to grow and scale your business, but you aren't dealing with the very things that are holding you back.

Limitation and Growth:

Those two things cannot mutually exist.

Are you giving yourself the permission to think big?

Are you worth doing this internal work if it would free you up to be the next best version of yourself?

A quote that I've been sitting with this week

Evoke Greatness Podcast: Latest Episode

Jenn Drummond is an entrepreneur, speaker, mom of 7 kiddos, host of the podcast “Take a break with Jen Drummond”, and a mountain climbing phenom who is 1 peak away from becoming the first female to ever complete the seven second summits, the second highest points on each continent.

In this episode she shares:

• How an accident in 2018 would change the course of her life.

• Advice she would give to someone who has a massive climb between them and their goal.

• What her non-negotiable habits and routines are.

• How she controls her focus to not shift into fear and be limited during her climbs.

• What it means to be “breakproof”.

• How being an athlete and having a strong mindset lends to being successful in climbs and life in general.

• What she goes through, emotionally, in the process of writing letters to each of her children before a big climb in case something should happen and she doesn’t make it home.

• What the most defining moment has been in all of her climbs so far.

• What type of resistance, if any, that she experiences as a woman mountain climber.

• What she hopes to achieve, create, or contribute before she goes.

Check out Jenn’s website to find out more about her and the Vertical 40 Challenge. Follow her on IG to see lots of really cool footage of her adventures.

Exploring the idea of getting an executive coach?

If you're looking to level up in 2023 and need someone to help, I have a few spots available in my Executive Coaching program. The purpose behind executive coaching is to help clients overcome challenges and actualize their professional and personal goals. I typically work with leaders who are looking to grow into or were recently promoted into a senior or executive level role. Those who are seeking to develop, refine, improve their skill set in a way that is meaningful in reaching their peak performance.

As Jack Welch once said, “Does coaching work? Yes. Good coaches provide a truly important service. They tell you the truth when no one else will.” If you'd like to set up a call to learn more about it and if it may be a fit for you, you can book a call through this link: