041: How to Embrace a Modern CEO Mindset at Each Stage of Growth!

Get ready, because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time Life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh. Hey there, it's Amber McHugh. Welcome back to the podcast. We are now continuing our series talking about the CEO Must do list and the maturity map. We are really, in this series diving into depending on what level of business you are at right now in your current business or what should you be focused on. In our last episode, we really talked about the signs and the differences between the four levels and we also looked at what should you be focused on? What are those things that you should be paying attention to? But now we're going to shift our focus a little bit and we're going to talk a bit about the mindset that we may want to embrace as we are growing in our business and really as we're growing as leaders. Before we dive into all of that, I just want to check in and share a little bit of an update. The last time that we caught up, we had just been in Chicago for a couple of weeks. We are still in Chicago now that we are back from Ethiopia for an indefinite period of time. We actually don't know exactly how long we'll be here in Chicago before we maybe head back to D.C. a lot of things as you can imagine that are in flux right now and this is just reflective of where I find so many people are. And I'm so curious if you are also finding yourself in a space of change and if you're finding yourself in a space of transition like so many people are, and if that's you, we've got a lot of resources coming up to serve you in that space. And we're going to continue creating resources to support you as as you navigate transition and change and growth in your role as modern CEO, but also how you navigate that with everything that's going on all around you. For those of you that don't know or maybe new, if you've been hanging out here a while, you know that every year in the fall we host something called the Plan A thon. It is the planning event of the year for entrepreneurs. It's a virtual online planning event where we come together and more than 17,000 entrepreneurs came together in the fall and planned together to set themselves up for success in the new year. Because we know when we Plan, it takes less time to implement. When we plan, we increase our chances of success and getting ahead. But recently I had some people reaching out saying, amber, I built these plans and I worked my Fresh Start Workbook, which is a digital planner. And actually it's available in print now as well@fresh startworkbook.com but everything has changed now. What? So if you're finding yourself in this space where you built plans or you had something in mind, or things were even working for you, you were implementing and things were working and now you need to change your plans or you're wondering if those are the right plans. Continue this journey with us because we've got some things, like I said, coming for you to help you revisit those plans, to help you navigate again, these changes and these transitions, and not just these changes and these transitions, because as leaders, as a modern CEO, right? Not the CEO who's on the corner office on Wall street, you know, we're running different kinds of business is right now. And the type of CEO who leads and will move us forward in a big way is very different than what it used to be. And this modern CEO is adaptable. One of the greatest traits that you can embrace and continue to nurture is adaptability. So we're going to continue to focus on that and we continue, like I said, through that today as we step through the CEO must do list and maturity map. And again, this helps us get a context and framework around what it is that you should be focused on based on where you are in your business right now. Now, let's say you've got a very mature business, right? You've been operating your business for a long time, but. And you're a strong leader, right? You might be a strong leader as well. You've been running businesses, you have a high level of business acumen, but you're in startup mode because things have change and you are working with a new product or you're taking a new product to market. So even though you have strong leadership, right? A strong leadership framework, a strong leadership mindset, and strong leadership skills like you who are listening likely do, you may still pull from the startup toolkit on this maturity map simply because that's the state that your business is in right now. I'm running up and down this maturity map, getting my exercise like they are stairs on a regular basis. But this maturity map and framework helps provide clarity based on where we are in business right now. Consider if you're at the startup phase, right? We've got a new product or We've got a brand new business and we haven't sold anything yet. Right? Or if number two, you were at the ramp up phase, you've sold offers, you've sold the product, but it's still a bit of a surprise you haven't systematized the sales yet. Or number three, you're in that scale up phase and you have consistent sales of your offers. But now you know the limitations of your time and you've got to bring the team in to scale. And then finally, the fourth stage in our CEO must do list and maturity map is CEO up. And this is where you need to step into or step back into that leadership role in your business to guide your team to hold the vision so that you can get back to running your business for all of the reasons that you started it in the first place. Right? Get back to is it freedom? Get back to holding the vision and making sure that you are the keeper of the vision and you have visibility and elevation and you're not in the weeds every day. So those are the four levels. So I want you to consider the level that you are at right now as we think about the state of being that we need to be in today as we are growing our businesses and as we are navigating and being adaptable as we move through change. Again, this idea of being adaptable and navigating is so unbelievably right on time and necessary for us as leaders because of the current state of affairs, because of the current global situation we find ourselves in, but also because it is necessary for us to embrace this trait as leaders, because there is very little in this world but in our businesses that is constant. So we must be able to, as leaders, navigate the change and adapt. And that state takes strong leadership skills and it also takes a strong mindset. And that's actually the focus for today. And if you listen to the last episode, actually if you haven't listened to the last episode yet and you're wondering like, what is all this maturity map stuff? Let me back it up. You might want to listen to the last episode because in the last episode we really broke down this maturity map and we talked about based on your level of business, what should your to do list look like right now? Like our to do lists are overflowing. We want to peel back some of that focus and we want to make sure you are dialed in and giving attention to the right things based on what your business needs from you as a leader right now. Modern CEOs, that is what we are here to do. We are here to lead. So the other thing that we ended that episode talking about was about mindset, teeing it up for this time and this episode. And really we're talking about mind growth because it's not just about mindset and being set in our frame of mind, but it's about growing into the next level version of our leadership and of ourselves. So when you think about your mindset, I'm going to give you four frameworks to start to step into and start to embrace in alignment with your level of business and in support of you pulling yourself to the next level of your leadership. Right. We're not pushing, we're not tripping, we're not stumbling to the next level. But I'm inviting you to pull yourself up and elevate as a leader because we need leadership more than ever right now. And I believe in a big way. Small businesses are going to be a key piece of our economic future, but also of our future as we create a new normal in so many different facets of our life. I think the modern CEO is primed for success and is primed for growth and again, is most certainly primed to lead. So here's looking at you. You're going to need a strong mindset and mind growth to make that happen. So if you are in the startup phase, if your business is in that startup phase right now, I want you to embrace the key mindset shift of start before you're ready. Simply start over and over again before you are ready. I don't know that thing. I need to learn that thing first. Well, you are going to learn by doing. You're going to learn by stepping into action. So, yes, create the plan. Yes, prepare. But don't get so caught up in the planning and the preparing that you are always procrastina planning. That is a sign that you are in red alert danger zone. If you're like, whoa, procrastina planning, that's me. Okay, red alert. Time to step out of procrastinating and time to step into action. And I want you to start to think about how can I mobilize so I can take this thing that I have to share with people, this thing that I have to sell, this thing that I have to serve people or help people with my product? How can I get this to market quickly as a minimum viable product, and how can I get this into people's hands so that they can start using it and benefiting from it? This is the key mindset shift. I need you to start to make if you are at that startup level, start before you are ready. Next up as we progress through our CEO maturity map and our must do list at the ramp up phase. Oh my gosh. This one gets me every time. Running stairs and get my exercise. I'm constantly reminding myself that this mindset shift powerful and this is slow down to speed up. Slow down to speed up. The number one priority. If you're in that ramp up phase and you're laying foundation so that you can build systemization so that you can have repeatability in selling your offer and scaling your business is slow down to speed up so you can create a strong foundation for your business. It might feel like you're taking a step back, but in actuality this is a necessary step that's going to allow you to speed up and go bigger and be stronger and be better and be more confident in the long run. So you're going to slow down to accelerate. You're going to slow down to speed up at the ramp up stage because you're focused on strengthening your foundation and this is going to enable you to succeed at the next level. And your scale up mindset shift that I want to invite you to step into for growth is. This is one of my favorites. One of my favorites. The mindset shift is to trust and be open to the possibility of what is to come. This might be a space when you're considering or stepping into that scale up phase where you start to feel stuck. You might feel stuck at a particular revenue level. You might be questioning if it's time to change everything. You might be wondering if, if you should just go back and get a job, right? You are only one person. You may be working too many hours, you may not have the team built up. So it's time to start letting go of some of the control and hire people if you haven't already that can support you in serving more people. And I want to let you know that every time I make this shift, every time I trust and I let go a little bit and I open up to this possibility, I see growth. In addition, I might see profit margins dip a little bit to start because we're making an investment here. I'm making an investment in team, I'm making an investment in growth. So we might see profit margin dip a little bit. But if you're strategic and you budget and you recruit and you onboard and you hire well, all of which we have tools and resources to support you in doing so don't worry, we've got your back there. But if you're mindful about all of that, you will see growth and the profit margins will come right back up on the other side of this. So again, trust and be open to the possibility of what is to come. And finally, at the fourth CEO up level, as we think through the modern CEO must do list and maturity map, the final mindset shift I want to invite you to step into continually on this journey of entrepreneurship is to free yourself. Free yourself, keep sacred time in your day to day schedule for CEO work. Hold on and allow for white space, space and time where you have time just to be and to think and to reflect on the vision that you hold for your business. Learning, learning to be in this whole new way of having white space when you've been creating and doing and being hyped productive for so long is incredibly challenging for many of us. But it is also incredibly valuable when you can shift from being CEO slash chief everything Officer to really stepping into the modern CEO role. There's a ton of mindset work or mind growth work to be done in this phase around leadership and detachment and surrender and growth and building up your team and your to do list really starts to evolve and look different at this point. When you reach this stage in the modern CEO list maturity map. And so many times when I'm working with entrepreneurs and they reach this stage, they start to say, hold up, wait a second, I've been working like I've been grinding and I've been productive and I've almost been like a machine up to this stage. Now what? Now what do I do? I have to relearn entirely how I engage and show up and connect in my business. What does that look like? And it is, it's a re learning, it's a retraining and it's going to take some focused attention and effort from you. So that's why the mindset shift here is to free yourself and release some of the attachment to those things that you've been doing for so long. Because at this level it's more about the being. Who do you need to be now? Certainly all the way from startup ramp up scale up to CEO up, we're going to talk about who you're being and how you're showing up. Are you being accountable to yourself? Are you taking ownership? Right? Are you in the weeds? Are you focused on priority items? Are you trying to do all of the things which gets us nowhere fast. We're just running in circles. So certainly that being is important throughout. But I want you to think about these distinctions and these mindset shifts at each level because there are certain times in our lives where certain mindsets that we embrace are more impactful and more necessary than other times. So with that, I'm just going to summarize those mindset shifts and I would love to hear from you on social media. I'd love to hear from you with a shout out or a comment somewhere. Which mindset shift are you embracing most right now? Is it to number one, start before you're ready? Is it number two, slow down to speed up? Or is it number three, trust and be open to the possibility of what is to come because it's going to be good? Or is it number four, free yourself because your leadership is needed more now than ever and you cannot lead us forward if you have an attachment to the past and to your old ways of being and to your old ways of doing so. With that, I want to invite you to step into the role of modern CEO more and more and more. And it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to happen incrementally, step by step. But trust me, it is always going to happen right on time. With that in mind, this brings us to the end of this episode of the Right On Time podcast. I am Amber McHugh, your host. If you have gotten a nugget out of this episode, I'd be so grateful if you give us a review. Wherever you are listening. If you tag me in, share this, let me know the nugget or the mindset shift that you are going to embrace right now and the step that you are taking forward as you embrace your role as a modern CEO. Because we need you and there is change happening and you are perfectly timed to step in to this new role of leadership. So please embrace it and know that we are in this together and we've got your back. Talk soon. Sam.