The CEO Sage (Formerly Leadership is Feminine)

As an entrepreneur, learning how to manage and lead a team involves a transition from being totally self-reliant to learning how to delegate your abilities and results to other people. FYI - it's totally normal to struggle with that.

Are your employees' mistakes and behaviors really affecting your business or are they just annoyances that are driving you crazy? Let's take a look at the difference and a few suggestions for how to address each one. What you'll find in this episode: Take a step back and look at the mistakes employees are making. Is this a real business issue or just annoying? My advice – say to the employee, "Thi...

Kris talks with Kelly Roach, THE BUSINESS CATALYST, who helps elite business owners become game changers in their field and achieve million-dollar+ breakthroughs in their business. What you'll find in this episode: 1) The biggest differences between leading in a company versus leading your own company. 2) Kelly's thoughts on finding the ideal employee for a female entrepreneur or founder. 3) What...

Are you comparing other people's perceived success to your own and feeling terrible about yourself? That shame can trigger paralysis in your business - which stimulates further shame. Let's talk about your own compass and how to honor that instead. What you'll find in this episode: Knowing the "steps" to take is not the only part of success. The other part in achievement of outcomes is your brain...

Two of the most common things I hear clients say in moments of total frustration are "Who does that?" & "You would think." As your coach, I'm not going to indulge your confusion and perplexity, because it's not serving you. Here's what let's do instead. What you'll find in this episode: "Who does that?" It doesn't matter. The question to ask is, "What are you going to do about it?" "You would thin...

Are you feeling overwhelmed with decision fatigue and emotionally exhausted? Either you haven't built a business brain, or you have, but you don't consult with her. Here's a way to build that relationship and to deal with those unexpected situations. What you'll find in this episode: The role that vision, values and expectations play in building a business brain. Brooke Castillo's Thought Model as...

Do you have an actual relationship with money, or are you just having a one-night stand? Let's talk about money and how your thoughts about it are affecting your business. What you'll find in this episode: The five key relationships you have in your business – time, money, yourself, your team, your business. Today we talk about money. The common relationships I watch my clients have with money. Tw...

Being able to identify the types of people to hire is key to your success. Here's how to create a hiring manifesto that describes the types of people who can hang, and thrive, with you. What you'll find in this episode: Examples of the types of people who can, and cannot, hang and thrive with me. How to make a list of people on your team who you love to work with and those you struggle with. It's...

When you have someone on the team who isn't performing, there's a gap between the outcome you expect and the results you're getting. Here's the formula for fixing that problem. What you'll find in this episode: Reason 1 that performance problems occur – The expectation was not clear. Reason 2 that performance problems occur – You're not holding them accountable to your crystal-clear expectations....

If you're a CEO, you've got to get good at being able to fire someone. You don't have to love it. It's a superpower, and once you have it, you won't feel bound by someone's poor performance again. What you'll find in this episode: There should always be an evaluative measure, that's outside your opinion of someone, that helps you know if this person is contributing so that the business is benefiti...

Being able to give feedback for a female entrepreneur is not negotiable. You HAVE to get good at this. Here is what your responsibility is and a few tools to help you improve at this critical skill. What you'll find in this episode: Your only responsibility in regard to feedback is just to give it. Don't give it when you're angry or don't have all the information yet, and don't base it on other pe...

Kris talks with Kim Hall, founder of Physio2U, the largest in-home physical therapy company in Western Canada. As a trained physical therapist, Kim has worked hard to develop her business acumen and her leadership and entrepreneur skills. What you'll find in this episode: 1) What Kim's business growth has required she learn about herself. 2) Advice for those who feel they don't have time to build...

Leaders today are so fearful of confrontation and giving feedback that they're not holding employees accountable. Here's the big mistake we all make, and how to keep it from being a drag on your business. What you'll find in this episode: Accountability is your ability to account for someone else's ability. If we, collectively, as business leaders, decided to consistently account for our employees...

Gossip is "talking to anyone about anything who doesn't have any control to solve it." It's destructive to your business, and here are the foundational tools you need to fix it. What you'll find in this episode: Why you have to know what your values are in your business. Listen to the previous podcast called "Entrepreneurial Values" here . The importance of setting expectations based on your value...

If you feel exhausted and impatient, it could be burnout. But your burnout is not because of your business. Burnout comes from your brain. Here are 5 things that are likely causing your burnout. What you'll find in this episode: Burnout comes from your brain, and your body follows your brain. What are you indulging in your mind? Another cause of burnout is lack of decisions. Kris' coach used to sa...

Kris talks with Eleanor Beaton, founder of Fierce Feminine Leadership , an organization that helps ambitious women develop the confidence, presence, political savvy and influence they need to smash the glass ceiling. What you'll find in this episode: One of the most important factors for a leader is embarrassability. What Eleanor thinks makes a great team. "For me, the thing that threads a team to...

We recently looked at when to fire a team member. This episode is about when NOT to fire a team member. It's a step by step thought process and it's NEVER easy. What you'll find in this episode: First, you have to do the audit .  Second – question your reason. Are you in a position of emotional reaction to what someone is doing? Third – ask your business. Would you apply this decision to fire this...

Finish this sentence – "I will finally feel relief when …" What is that "thing" that, when finally achieved, will cause the overwhelm and stress to end for you? Good news! Here's how to feel the joy sooner rather than later. What you'll find in this episode: Relief doesn't come from the "thing," it comes from the way that you think. If you're telling yourself that there is relief out there "when,"...

Here are the basics you have to have in place in order to know when to fire someone and when NOT to fire someone. What you'll find in this episode: #1 – Set clear expectations. #2 – Review their work. #3 – Give them feedback. The way you know it's time to fire is you've set the expectations, you've reviewed their work and given them the feedback and they're just not meeting the objectives of the r...

Are you having unsupervised thinking? You're not alone. Many of those thoughts are probably negative in some way. Here's a list of thoughts you can think instead. What you'll find in this episode: Your business is hard because YOU THINK IT IS! Things to think instead: I'm getting better at it every day. Look at what I've built. I'm in the process of figuring it out.  A la Danielle LaPorte Of cours...

Typically, it's a bad idea to make assumptions. But in this one case, I want you to always assume this one thing! It will be better for you, your business and your employees. What you'll find in this episode: Always make this assumption – when someone on your team doesn't do what you want, I want you to assume it's your responsibility. When we see someone not do something the way we thought they s...

If you are a female entrepreneur, and you're either in, or considering getting into, a partnership or working relationship with your spouse, there are some absolute fundamentals we need to address. What you'll find in this episode: 1) A marriage operates very differently than a business.  2) You need to have clearly defined roles in the business for each of you. 3) You need to have a clear definit...

There's a misguided belief among entrepreneurs that team building should be fast and easy and that you shouldn't have to slow down to do it. However, if you're trying to cut corners here, it will be obvious in your outcomes. What you'll find in this episode: Do you feel like Kris' client? "I feel like adding people to my business is slowing me down." If you take the time and do it right, you can m...

What do your employees say about working for you? Do they say, "she's a beast" or do they say, "I feel like I won the lottery"? Here are some things to consider when thinking about your employees' experience of working with you. What you'll find in this episode: If you treat your employees like you treat your clients, you're going to get the most out of them. Think about who are you as a leader an...

Kris talks with Ruthie Schulder, CEO of The Participation Agency and one of Inc. Magazine's top 100 female founders. Here she shares many of the challenges she has faced managing people and one thing people need to know in order to have the best chance at succeeding. What you'll find in this episode: What Ruthie believes was the most startling part of hiring people. What Ruthie considers to be her...