Having a deep knowledge of who you are, how you are naturally wired and understanding what your core values are, all are essential to obtaining success as a business owner.  Your best chance at having a thriving business is when you embrace your core strengths, work in your zone of genius and honor what matters most to you.

Pam Ivey talks about learning to understand productivity rhythm and unique skills so you don’t mimic other people and instead, create and run a business that works for you.  Jane Garee discusses how people are uniquely wired as visionaries or implementers and why both are necessary for a successful business. 

In today’s episode, we will talk about: 

• [00:28] - Identifying your productivity rhythm and skills to maximize results: Pam and Jane share their thoughts on the importance of understanding your personal rhythms and skills to improve productivity and get better results without sacrificing your sleep. 
• [03:35] - Are you more visionary or implementer: both are very much needed in a business and you should know how to use the advantages of one and the other to achieve your business’ goals. 
• [12:30] - Find your avoidance mechanism and work around it: default stress or avoidance mechanisms can get you into some tricky rabbit-holes so it is key to identify what they look like to you and how to get out of them. 
• [16:53] - The importance of finding who you are as a business woman and how to build a successful business around that. 

Any doubts or comments on these topics? We would love to chat with you over our Facebook group! We are grateful to listen to your perspectives over on Instagram too, so make sure you subscribe to this podcast for upcoming episodes next week!

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EPISODE 2 TRANSCRIPTION

Pam: (00:01) This is episode two of the Flourish and Grow to CEO podcast.

Pam: (00:28) In today's episode, we're going to talk about knowing yourself to grow a better business, understanding who you are as a business owner. So let us ask you this. Who are you as a business owner? No, there's no need to sit in a darkened room with incense chanting. Ohm. You know, trying to get in touch with your inner self instead, keep it practical and start with the basics. Are you an early bird or a night owl? Do you naturally function better in the evenings or the mornings? I know for me like ipso, facto, I get my best ideas at midnight. What about you, Jane?

Jane: (01:11) Yeah, I'm definitely geared more towards being a night owl. These people who get up at five and six in the morning, I think they're amazing. I'm really impressed by them. But if I'm up at five or six in the morning, it's probably because I haven't been to bed since the night before. So evenings are much more of a sweet spot for me. Well, one of my really close friends, she gets up between four and five in the morning. And I tell her, I am going to call her to say good night to her when she gets up, I'm on the same page with you there. But you know, something as simple as really recognizing and honoring your particular rhythms can be the difference between having a business that is starting to pick up momentum or is starting to grow from previous momentum and enjoying it and feeling like you're just dragging yourself to make everything in your business, move forward with any kind of momentum.

Pam: (02:02) So for me, it took me years before I stopped beating myself up for not being one of the people who gets up at 6:00 AM and accomplishes more by 9:00 AM than what most people do all day. And I just always felt so terrible about it. And I would, I would say, well, maybe I'm not cut out to run a business and maybe I just can't do it because maybe I'm inherently lazy because I really don't like getting up until at least eight 30 sometimes honestly nine. But what I realized is one of the beauties of self-employment is I really can run my schedule and I really can work the hours that are best suited to me being productive and happy. Exactly. You don't have to conform to quote unquote norms. So think about what your key skills are too. So be honest with yourself here. Are you strong in math? Maybe. Can you manipulate language? Are you good at persuasion? Do you function better? When everything around you is ordered and tidy or with everything at your fingertips, even if it's a bit messy, do you make business decisions based on gut feelings? Now just know that none of these are right and wrong right or wrong, but really this self knowledge will help you better understand urinate skills. So let's talk about some other things that can help us better understand who we are and how we can best run our business. One of the things that Jane and I have been talking about lately is understanding if you are part-to-whole or whole-to-part. And I wonder Jane, if you could explain.

Jane: (03:35) Yeah, absolutely. This was one of those key concepts that when I truly grasp it and began to implement it into not just my business, but my life, it created a whole lot of really positive change. So here's the definition of hold apart in park, the whole, uh, hold apart person. So we're saying whole W-H-O-L-E to part P-A-R-T three words, whole-to-parts, a whole-two-part person is someone who very quickly and easily is able to see the big vision of something. The picture, the 30,000 foot view, if you will, this is somebody who, if we use the analogy of a house, they're able to say, Oh, I to see my little mini French cottage or my French shot toe, and it's in a wooded area and it's on a Lake and it's X amount of stories and it's in this kind of driveway and these kinds of colors and the whole entire picture is there the next piece though, to be able to make any vision a reality is you've got to break it down into manageable and implementable steps, and those would be the parts.

Jane: (04:40) So in general, when people are more geared to see the whole of something, it can be a bit more challenging for them to break anything down into implementable actions, steps in some kind of sequential order that would actually complete what is needed to be completed to achieve the vision or the hole. So that's a whole-to-part person. These are your visionaries. These are people who can describe to you in amazingly great detail, an idea, a concept. And when I say detail, the detail of the imagery, the detail, and the ability to evoke emotional responses, these are motivational types of speakers. Usually they inspire others to do things. That's a whole-to-part person on the flip side, when you have a part that's a whole personality, that's more predominantly part to whole. You are very, very good at seeing what needs to happen now and then next and then next, and then next in order to get to the vision.

Jane: 05:41 So the strength for someone who is a part-to-whole person is these are your implementers. They can listen to an idea and go get out of my way. I know what needs to happen next. And they can come up with an entire action plan that is implementable, that they could actually show someone else how to do. These are the people who get the stuff done. So that is their strength. What can sometimes be challenging for them is they get so involved in the next step. Next step, next step, that they can lose sight of the end division, the end game. What are we actually headed towards? And are we going to achieve those results? So whole-to-part quick starts usually have the big picture and can struggle to get anything completed, hard to hold people, masters at getting stuff done, but sometimes it can get a little wonky or out of alignment with what the original vision was.

Jane: (06:31) The reason why this is so important is when you understand how you predominantly operate, you can surround yourself and, or hire others to pick up the part that no pun intended to pick up the other, the opposite of who you are now. I want it. I want to say something really important about this Pam, because when I have explained this before or taught this really interesting, the people who are part of the whole tend to get a little defensive and say, well, I'm a visionary, but I am a visionary. And I say, of course, you're a visionary. Of course you are. Otherwise you wouldn't have a business. And the people who are more, more whole-to-part tend to get a little defensive and say, well, I do finish stuff I do implement. And I say, of course you do. Otherwise, you wouldn't have a business. So all of us have an element of both in here. However, you need to be able to clearly identify what you are naturally geared to do and how you're predominantly going to operate, because really all of us are more one than the other. So once you can identify that you can get the support that you need for the other part of it.

Pam: (07:37) Exactly. I know I'm definitely that 30,000 foot view gal, a big picture gal. And I really have a hard time. I can do it, but I do have a hard time breaking it down into each step that needs to happen in order to create that big vision.

Jane: (07:54) Right? I'm the exact same way. I see stuff all the time. I start stuff all the time and it can be really challenging for me to reach completion. Same thing. Yes, I can do it. And it was a real relief for me to realize I can do it and I can make myself do it. And when it's really important to me and I'm, I want to do it. And I'm kind of in flow because there are some things that are in flow, then yes, I can do it. But for the most part, it would better serve me. And it would better serve my business. If I got the idea sketched out for somebody else to then start to implement example, Jane

Pam: (08:34) And I in this podcast, because we're such, you know, we're both visionaries. We both see the big picture. We never would have gotten this off the ground without our teams.

Jane: (08:45) So, yeah. And in fact, let's spill a little dirty laundry here really for several months. And by several, I mean, nearly a year, we tossed idea after idea, right? You and I did, we're going to do this. We're going to do that. We'll make it look this way. We'll make it look that way. And we really weren't getting anything off the ground. And then it was really at the moment that you said, you know what, why don't we do podcasts? Because it's more vision focused. It's more kind of in the moment if you will. And what if we hired people to do behind the scenes stuff. And then of course, that's exactly what we did. And just everything kind of took on a life of its own. So that is the very real Testament of identify what you're most geared to do, what you're most likely to do and get the support that you need from the opposite strengths.

Pam: (09:35) Yeah. Or you wouldn't be listening to this right now. I'm just saying...

Jane: (09:39) Totally covered up with all our great ideas and say, meet next week. What else are we going to create?

Pam: (09:44) We met religiously. We were really dedicated, but we weren't seeing anything through to completion. And it's so interesting because I learned that one of my heroes, Richard Branson of Virgin. He’s a complete visionary. He's the big idea guy, but he never could follow through. So that's why he's the one that comes up with the ideas. And he has what he calls quote unquote, finishers, come in and implement and see his vision through.

Jane: (10:17) Yes, yes. Finishers, I think, are just angels on earth. They actually, without them, nothing would get done. And it, to be fair, if finishers didn't have a vision to break down into parts so they could implement, then nothing would get done. So that's really why both types of people are necessary. And why, regardless of which one you are, you're going to need the other piece. So I've got a very dear friend who is a heart to hole. He is amazing. It's amazing what he can come up with. He creates gorgeous architecture and sets and arts, and it's unbelievable what he can actually create and what he will get finished. And then sometimes it's just a little bit challenging because it will be, but we were gonna head here with this. This was the original vision. Oh yeah. I got to go back and look at that again and tighten it up. So we're all needed and we're all necessary.

Pam: (11:07) And it's not to say that one is better than the other either. I really want to stress that. Absolutely not. We have a mutual friend who we both really admire and she's super successful doing nearly some figures if she hasn't hit it yet, she is definitely an implementation check. Yeah. Yeah. So there is no right or wrong, really take that away from this. But understanding what strength you have, which side do you tend to, will really help you to get a partner or admin support, maybe a virtual assistant or a team to help you where you're not as strong. That's all. Yep. You got it. Cool. You know, another thing that's really, really important in understanding who you are to grow your, to really make that business sustainable is understanding your default stress. And this is something you and I, again, figured out while we've been working on flourish over all these months.

Jane: (12:05) Yeah. This is also telling you about the value of getting into business with somebody you trust somebody you genuinely enjoy as a person and the ability for both people to have these grownup conversations when things are going well, or there's a different definition from each person about what should be happening or what has already happened. So absolutely. So the whole understanding of your default stress. So you want to share with them what yours is. Yeah.

Pam: (12:34) My avoidance mechanism as we call it as well, the understanding or default stress is definitely, I get busy if I can get into busy-ness. I feel like I'm getting somewhere, even though oftentimes it's taking me nowhere, I'll tell you, I love to research. Oh my God. But those rabbit holes, I could be there all day. I blink and it's dinner time and I haven't got anything.

Jane: (13:00) Yeah. I remember when we were going through this because mine is the other one, which is planning. Your default stress is usually they're going to get busy doing or get busy planning and mine's planning. So I was having a ball over here with my different highlighters and my multi-colored pens and color coordinated, everything and mapping it all out. But really that is an avoidance mechanism of doing anything, just like getting busy for the sake of being busy. So that you're feeling a sense of accomplishment is an avoidance mechanism for needing the strategy in place. First. It definitely created an interesting situation where I'm thinking, but I'm really busy planning. I think you were thinking, correct me if I'm wrong, I'm really busy doing. And the reality was there just nothing was kind of happening. Although both of us felt like we were working on something. Exactly.

Pam: (13:49) And then we both came to each other. Like, I feel like I'm working harder than you.

Jane: (13:56) That was the grownup conversation though. Really? We didn't certainly didn't say it in those words, but we did have that conversation and that's how we figured out, Oh my God, I get into busy work and you get into planning. So I thought that was, I mean, that was a big light bulb moment for me,

Jane: (14:13) Huge for me too, because the person that gets busy doing they're naturally going to feel, which I know is what you felt. You shared it with me is I'm working harder than you. And really you could make an argument that in fact you were cause you were doing work. And I really wasn't doing work per se. It was more the strategy, but that was moving us forward. Your work wasn't really moving us forward. And neither really was all my strategizing because there was no implementation. So it's this delicate dance for some of you, you're probably thinking, yeah, I get busy taking action and I start doing, and then it kind of all blows up. Cause I'm not really sure where I'm headed or I changed my mind. And then for those of you who get busy with the strategy and planning, you think, wow, I spent a lot of time coming up with a lot of plans that never see the delight today.

Jane: (14:58) So revising what's your default stress. If you're a true solopreneur and you don't have a team yet, or you don't have a business partner, it's going to be easier to course correct. As long as you become very vigilant about making sure you're noticing if you're in your default stress, if you already have a team, then you're going to need to have a conversation about this is what I need. And then certainly if you have a business partner you're going to have to have those grown up conversations, come to Jesus. I think you really have to look at it now. Hopefully, you know, some people are going, Oh my God. Yeah, I do busy work or I do planning. What are you avoiding? What are you using? This stuff that you're doing, the planning or the busy work to procrastinate from. So what did it feel like for you, Pam, when you were busy doing it now in hindsight, what do you think you were trying to avoid and why? Oh, good question. Thank you to this round of stump, your business partner.

Pam: (16:01) There was a little bit of a fear of failure in there. Yeah. Yeah. So if I'm really being honest, I was fearful that we weren't going to get enough of an audience around. We took a big how to launch your program course together. And I don't know, I was really nervous about it. So I wonder if that's what I was kind of avoiding. Yeah. Yeah. I know for me, mine usually stems back to, it's not going to be good enough. The work isn't going to be good enough, which ultimately same thing, because we were wanting to be really transparent with everything it turns into. I'm not good enough. So when I'm defaulting to let me create the plan, let me create the strategy and it's code for. Cause I don't want to do the work is that if the work is finished and they have to get put out there and if it gets out there and people can look at it and judge me, which is too, Ooh, it's not good enough. Therefore I'm not good enough. Well that

Pam: (16:53) A topic for a whole other episode, man. That's inner game and we're totally going to be covering that in great detail in upcoming episodes. For sure. That's going to be some good stuff there. That's for sure. You know, something else that you should look about, you know, understanding who you are is really understanding what lights you up and then what drains you to, yeah, that's a really big deal. And again, we've, we've mentioned a few unintentional key phrases today, but grown up having the grownup conversations, sometimes the grownup conversation is with yourself, understanding who you are and the delicate dance of lots of stuff, the delicate dance of the conversations you have with yourself, the delicate dance of...