0103: How to Conquer Limiting Beliefs and Transform Your World with Unconscious Mind Expert in Leadership and Professional Performance, Author, Speaker and CEO of Velocity Leadership Consulting Karen Brown

Ea interviews. Episode 103, Inspiration, Transformation, Success Stories and the Imperfect Action Round. Seven days a week, join Mario Ficcini for today's Expert Authority Effect interview. Have you ever wanted to get farther than where you are? Do you want to get to that next level? Maybe it's a course, maybe it's a conference. Maybe, maybe, just maybe, if you work your bones out 24 hours a day, you can get more clients. That's what it's going to be, right? Maybe not. Maybe it's diving deeper. Maybe it's diving within. Maybe there's limiting beliefs holding you back. I am so excited because I have Karen Brown here today, author, speaker and leadership coach. And she's going to be diving into how all of this comes together and unlocking those limiting beliefs not just on a surface level, but on a neuroscience level. We're going to bring her up right after we thank our sponsor, why Every Business Needs a Book, including yours. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect? Generate more leads and profit in your business? Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. Here she is, ladies and gentlemen, the lovely Karen Brown. Karen, how are you doing today?

I am doing so well, Mario. Thank you. Please. Pleasure to be on.

I'm excited to have you here because so many people talk about getting to that next level, but you really help people unlock it. Tell me, how did you get into it?

I fell into it in the short, short answer. I was a executive, Senior Executive for 20 years and simultaneous internal business coach. Now, this is before business coaching was even a thing. It wasn't even known back then or a term. I was just a leader who was trying to bring out the best in my team members. And I was also fascinated by human behavior. So I just put the two together and just naturally started coaching, although I didn't know that's what I was doing at the time. But I naturally started coaching each team member and what I found was there were barriers that we couldn't get beyond. What I later discovered through my Ironman journey is that those barriers were the unconscious mind, the feelings, beliefs, specifically limiting beliefs, also values and emotions that get in our way and keep us sort of plateaued at the current level that once we work with someone and an expert like us, we can change that and elevate our performance and impact.

What inspired you to get into the Ironman?

So I saw it on TV when I was 14 years old and I had no idea what it was. I mean, back then I didn't know what a triathlon was or what an Ironman was, but I was struck by the will and determination of someone. I saw that second year of the Iron man coverage, which was Julie Moss, and it just. It was sort of, to me, like watching a train wreck that I couldn't tear myself away from. I was mesmerized. I was also sort of traumatized by it. And what I found is that it had this emotional hook for me and that I found myself saying internally, what if I have what it takes to do that and I'm not tapping into it?

What then took years for me to unpack and learn is A, that I was holding myself back from pursuing it through something called limiting beliefs, which are a scientifically proven phenomenon, and B, that I was making choices on what to pursue in my life and in my business, in my company or the company I worked for at the time to only pursue things that I knew I could achieve. Right? I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I could achieve them. It's these other things like the Ironman, that when I thought about, made me break out into a cold sweat and almost vomit because I had no idea if I could do it or how I would even take the first step to pursue it.

What did it take once you decided you wanted to do it? How long did it take you to prepare for it?

Well, here's the good news. Because I started using neuroscientific techniques that I discovered at the very beginning that caused me to be able to decide to pursue it. I crossed the finish line at the Ironman World Championships two years after embarking upon it.

That's a quick turnaround because from what I know about it and others who have done it, I've heard that it usually takes 3, 4, 5 plus to even get ready for it.

Yeah. Let me put this into perspective. First of all, every year, 90,000 athletes across the globe compete for 2,000 coveted spots at the Ironman World Championships. And most of them are either the fastest in their age group or they're professional athletes. Right. I was none of those things. I'm not even close to any of those things. I'm not a remarkable athlete. I have no natural talent in this area. I had never ridden a road bike, run a marathon. I was a terrible swimmer, and I had never completed a triathlon of any length before embarking on this. I just had this. This overwhelming sense and intuition, if you will, that. That maybe I did have inside of me what it took to do something monumental and gigantic like this. And that I think I was also feeling that perhaps this was a gateway to something. And what it was a gateway to was it permeating everything in my life and leading to my purpose, my mission, and. And the difference I can make in the world every day. So. And you know, I embarked upon this at age 44, so I wasn't a spring chicken. And in fact, I had to beg my first coach to take me on because I was a super nobody in this world. Right. And I also told her, you know what? I will never give up. That is the thing that I have over any athlete you are currently working with. I will never give, give up. I will do everything that it takes. I will be your most committed athlete for this. And truth in point, or truth in. In truth be told, it took, you know, at the pinnacle, 22 to 24 hours a week of training to get to the Ironman World Championships.

Wow, that's impressive. And congratulations.

Thank you.

You were saying it led you to your purpose.

Tell us that story how once you achieved it, you realized what you need to do moving forward.

Yeah. So first of all, that day at the Ironman World Championships was absolutely magical, magnificent, one of the best days of my entire life. Because it just seemed like everything came together perfectly, beautifully, culminating in the success of that day. But it was really the journey that led up to it that caused the success. Right. But what I came to understand and had an epiphany that day, actually, while I was riding my bike out in the lava fields, is that my purpose is to make a difference, make a positive impact and difference in the world. And that's what I came to that day. But the gateway of the Ironman after that lingered, was staying with those thoughts and more, finally honing it into what I do now, which is pioneering neuroscientific coaching techniques into the senior executive space. Because that's where I see that, you know, senior executives cast the biggest shadow and or light on everyone in the organization, their family, their friends, and the community at large. So by making a difference there, you know, helping those folks elevate their performance and impact, that's how I can use my true gifts and talents to make a difference in the world.

Tell me about who you're helping and how you're helping. You touched on the senior level execs, but what are you really doing to get them to that next level, to have them break those breakthroughs?

So we work on behavioral patterns, so behavioral patterns that really keep them plateaued at the same level. So some of the most common Ones are just what are the patterns that got them or propelled them to their current role? Right. It's how they manage their time, it's how they manage their schedule, it's what they say yes to, it's what they say no to.

Also it's their personal behavioral patterns, how they manage relationships, how they manage their team members. You know, do they, are they in the habit of telling people all the answers, feeling like they have to come up with all the answers or find all the solutions themselves and then just, you know, vomiting them on their team and saying, hey, go do this stuff or. And this is some of the things we work on. Are they more effective at asking questions of their team members to get them to think up solutions? Quite frankly, solutions that are probably better than the solutions that they'll think up as the leader. Right. Because they're siloed in their thinking. You know, it's in a vacuum. So those are the things we work on. And everybody has behavioral patterns, but it's really first of all identifying their goals and objectives that they want to achieve. And, and then we start diving into, okay, what are the behavioral patterns that you're deploying that are causing you to stay in, in those, plateaued in those areas?

What would you say are some of the most common behavioral patterns you're seeing in the high level executives?

Well, so they, they sometimes break down into gender specific. And I'll say right now in, in my company we're coaching 50% men and 50% women, which I'm really excited about because when we first started this work, it was the majority was men. And so I'll give you the general.

Leadership, executive leadership patterns and then I'll give you how they break down in gender. So first of all, it is probably the most pervasive that I see that executive leaders feel like they have to have all the answers. They have to come up with the, the answer, the solution, the antidote, whatever it is, you know, and they have to be the visionary that, you know, takes the vision and then chunks it down into, you know, the step by step. Well, here's what we're going to do and here's how we're going to work that and blah, blah, blah, blah. Also, if I can be candid, they suck at managing their time. They just do. There's no two ways about it. I can't believe that it's 2019 and I'm still seeing the patterns, the ways that they're managing their time. Geez, they're from, they're the default from the 1980s, 80s, early 90s. It's horrible. It's terrifying. Yeah. So. And you know, to say it's something as simple as that, it's certainly more complex than just saying, well, it's how you manage your time. But for these folks, it's usually difficult for them to say no. You know, they've gotten to the seat where they are by saying yes and by being an individual performer. Right. And so then switching from individual performer to managing their time very differently, saying no a lot more often. And it can be a kind no. Right. It can be a professional no. It doesn't have to be a hard no. But, but saying no, because saying no to certain things allows them to say yes to other things are going to be the key to their performance. Right. And the key to bringing out the best in their, in their team. Right. The best in their leaders and helping them think better. Because if they're not asking them questions, if they're doing the thinking for them, how can they expect their leaders to think better or perform better?

Are you, so go ahead.

I was going to say, are you finding the hardest part is making that mental shift from how they were managing their time to the new way of not doing it on their own.

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. It. And I mean that's, that's an overall, you know, the overall key to it. Right. It's working with, first of all, a self aware leader who raises their hand and says, hey, I know I can be better, I know I can. I don't really know what way to do it, but I'm willing to do the work to change. And that's it right there. Because in my world, just anecdotally, I only see that about 40% of all the senior leaders that we could work with out there are like that. The other 60%, Mario, and this is a terrible statistic, but the other statistic are still blind. They're pointing at everybody else and saying, oh no, no, I'm all good, I'm good. It's everybody else that needs help. You all just need to do what I tell you as quickly as I tell you to do it and then we'll all be good. So it's the 40% and change is the key factor. They've got to start adopting different ways of doing things.

Would you say that's why they're stuck in the 80s and 90s?

Yeah. And also they've never spent any time looking at this and thinking up better ways, more efficient ways of doing things. And you know what? Quite frankly, no one has come alongside them and worked with them on how to be a more effective leader. You know, I mean, just defining leadership with them is a big thing, right? Because they just tend to go back to the default leadership that they were shown, right? Then that's the pattern that they adopt. Because, you know, that goes into their unconscious mind that was modeled for them. And then it just starts to live. They're just unconscious about it. So if someone, when we unpack it, that it becomes powerful.

So if someone is stuck in that mindset, what is something they can do to break free from it rather quickly?

Stuck in that old way of thinking, that old default mindset.

Yeah, the 80s and 90s, like you were saying, that was funny. Okay, but how do you, how do you unlock them? How do you get them past their limiting belief to realize, hey, there's a newer and better way things change and so should you.

I use really direct questions, and I also am an expert in neuro linguistic programming. So I pick up on what's going on for them through the words that they use, the way that they use it, their inflection, their intonation, all of that. And I'm a fan of asking really direct questions. So, you know, they'll, They'll. They'll get done explaining to me, right, why they. Why they do what they do, how they do it, the system, whatever. And then I'll say, okay.

So how's that working out for you?

Or I'll say, all right, well, what are the results that you're not getting from doing it that way? What is that costing you? And it's so interesting because nobody ever asks these questions, right? And they don't even know them, right? So then that's what instantly opens them up. They go, wow. And immediately they know the answers. They have the answers. It is costing them dearly. It's not working out well for them. It's working at a really low level. And they know they need to change. They just didn't know what to do. So by asking those questions, it first of all unearths the answers, which is their big aha. And then it really interrupts that former pattern so that then we can look at, okay, where did it come from? Like, when did you first start deploying this pattern? Where did it get you? So how it was beneficial up until now or up until 10 years ago, or whenever it stopped really being beneficial. And then what change can we make with this so that it delivers the results you're looking for? That's where the fun really begins. Because all of this is really just an overview of a process which begins with awareness. Hey, there's a problem here. I'm not getting the results I want. So I need a different system. I need a better strategy. All right, so first of all, that awareness is key. Then second of all, what is it that we're dealing with and where's the gap? And then, okay, where did it come from? And then what's the solution?

Do you find that most executives, male or female, get excited about this when they realize the potential? Or do you ever have issues with it confronts their ego and they have, you get some backlash because they don't want to change.

The self aware leaders get really excited about it. I mean, there's, there's these long pauses over the phone and they, you know, the, the deer in the headlights are like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense. I get it now. Oh my gosh. I've been, you know, beat my head against the wall about this for a long time, didn't understand it, didn't know how to change it, et cetera, et cetera. And that's exactly who we work with. The other executives who, it confronts, their ego, they, you know, they have a reaction. They, they probably get emotional, they get defensive about it.

Yeah, those are not good candidates for us. I mean, it will open them up as long as they can process through it and come back to a place of wanting to change. But until they're able to break through their ego, that's not going to happen.

Well, I'm glad you identified the fun ones to work with because I can relate to that also. Some people just, hey, you know what? There's plenty of companies out there. Maybe you should go work with them.

Yeah, yeah. Although I will say this, and maybe you do this too, I still have fun with them. You know, if we're in an interview dialogue, you know, I just, I think, hey, you know what? No hold barred, man. I'm going to give it to you straight. And I know, I also know from working in the neuroscience for so long that it's when you press on pain, you know, points of pain for these folks that are stuck in their ego, that is the one thing that will open their eyes. So I just keep going to the most painful thing and I just keep pressing on it. And then I say, hey, I'm pressing on this right now because I actually care about you. And I bet that you have a huge impact on everyone in your organization. You don't even know how much impact you have. And what impact do you think you'll have when you change.

So they don't, you know, because their ego still gets in the way. They usually don't turn around right then. But I do hear from them later like, hey, that that conversation was, was really pivotal to my opening my eyes and choosing to make changes. But there's no reason it can't be be fun for me in the process.

I love that you say fun. I use the exact same word. And it is fun because ultimately you are giving them breakthroughs and you are helping them. It just might take them longer to process through it. Maybe it's two weeks, four weeks, six weeks, whatever the case may be. But ultimately they are better off because of it.

Yeah, absolutely. And let me add this because every one of us listening is either a leader, either we're a leader ourselves, we're leading ourselves, or we work for a leader. Right? And so all too often I see people backing away from these kinds of questions, these kinds of what they think are confrontational conversations because they're like, well, my boss can fire me, right? And maybe I'm the sole breadwinner and you know, or this and this and this. You know, it's the fear of reprisal. But I always say this. And this is why I still go ahead with these very direct questions and conversations. Even when I'm facing an ego centered leader. I say, you know what, if you don't say it, no one will. And if nobody says anything to open this person up to get through to them, what do you think is going to happen? I mean, this is costly to them. There's no question about that. You know, it's not just the area that you can see. I guarantee you this is showing up other places in their life. And I think it's up to us. I think it's our responsibility as being a good human to say that to people, right? To just bring it up. Hey, and you know something I share with clients a lot is you can always say something in a very neutral, professional, non confrontational voice. You can say, hey, could this be a blind spot for you? And then just shut up and let them think about it. Or even, you know, just leave and let them think about it.

Those are some great insights. And I know expert authority. World's getting a lot out of them. Thank you for sharing that. I want to know, with all the people you've coached and the people you've helped, what's the biggest transformation you've been able to give to one of them or maybe two? I'm sure you've got dozens of stories.

Oh, my goodness. Well, so the first one that comes to mind is the CEO of a environmental permitting company here in Colorado. And.

The best story I can share with you from our work is I was at the company Christmas party, and it. Not his company, but like a peer advisory company party that we both belong to. And I had not met his wife before, and she was at the party, and I was talking to a couple of other people at the door, and all of a sudden, this woman comes out of nowhere, running at me and saying, oh, my gosh, I can't wait to meet you. And she runs up to me and gives me this huge hug. And this is a stranger. I don't know who this woman is, Right. And I'm like, well, hi. And she. She hugs me, and then she pulls back and she goes, I'm such and such's wife, and I cannot thank you enough for all the work that you've done with him. It has made such a difference in his business, in our family, in our relationship, everything. And, I mean, you know, tears are in her eyes.

Yeah, that's great. When you can not only affect the business, but you're also affecting the family.

Yes, absolutely. One other success story I'll share, if I may. So started working with a female senior leader, senior executive leader, who, you know, wanted to work on confidence and, you know, being able to speak her truth because she's in the operational end of things, and she knows it like the back of her hand. I mean, this girl is so incredibly smart and intuitive and just. She can. She is an expert at seeing problems and breaking them down and then finding the solution and then, you know, putting it forward and also in working with her team members in that way. But she was getting stymied in bringing those conversations to the. The C suite boardroom. And so we started working together, and, you know, we would. We would talk and she would tell me the solution, and I would ask her, you know, or she would tell me the issue, and I would ask her what the solution is. And I'm thinking to myself, wow, this is brilliant. This. This girl is absolutely brilliant. I mean, right on target. And then I'd say, okay, great. So did you say that? Well, no, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I didn't say it because of this, which is something I see gender specific. And so over the course of working together over, you know, that time, she had specific goals that she wanted to achieve in the company. Like, this is a privately held company that's been in existence for 55 years and.

Just operating as it has in the same way for that whole time, which is not like the organizational structure and reporting structure of every other healthy company that's out there. So these are the changes that she wanted to make and pivotal for her role. Well.

She was finally able to make them after a few months of working together. And just the enormity of it and the impact that, you know, sort of riding the ship by making those changes, you know, getting. Getting other senior leaders on board who had pulled back and who really weren't engaging, that then was causing all of these issues in their culture. Bringing everyone to the table to truly engage, to rally and build the culture that they all want and haven't been able to create. And then the impact on her team and, you know, bringing these people forward, it's been immense, absolutely immense. And I know that, you know, they had a record year last year, you know, best year in their company's history, even with all of these problems. So now, you know, they are poised to just crush it over the next few years.

Well, that sounds fantastic. I'm glad you were able to help them out. Is that what led you to publishing your first book?

Partly, actually. What led me to publishing my first book was just wanting to share the keys that I found in my Ironman journey that led to greater success in my personal and professional, professional life. One of which is limiting beliefs. Because I find that that is the first thing that is so pervasive with everyone in the world. Not just the US and not just senior execs, but everyone in the world, I mean, is affected by this, and we don't need to be. And so I thought, you know what? I want to write this book to put this information out there and to make it accessible to everyone. And my mission with it is to eradicate limiting belief beliefs and change the world.

That is a great goal and a great mission. And I can resonate with that because the whole reason I started this show is to exponentially elevate the identity of humanity. And there are. So. I agree 100%. There's so many people out there that whether you grew up A, B or C, as a background, there's also success stories of people that we see every day that also had the same background and overcame and always fascinated me.

And.

And why I was excited to have you on, because why is that? How can you have two people from the same exact background? One's a quote unquote success, and the other one's just kind of there. And it deals with the limiting beliefs. And it's exciting because I know you're truly helping people overcome that and making the world a better place.

Thank you. That resonates with me too. And let me say this, to your point, here's the really interesting thing about how our unconscious mind works. So if you think of it as a spectrum, right? And on one end of the spectrum is limiting beliefs. And let's just define that. Limiting beliefs are when we think or say, I don't have enough money, time, talent, skill, support, whatever to achieve that, right? And all of it happens instantaneously in our unconscious mind. We're not even aware of it. Only we think consciously that these are facts, right? It's a four letter word beginning with F that really holds us back, right? We think that these are facts and they're not. They're just something that our unconscious mind came up with, which is nothing more than a pattern. Okay? So spectrum limiting beliefs on one side, on the other side is the ability to do whatever we can think up.

And to your point, what you were just talking about is all those examples of people out there who have done the impossible, right? They have spent their time thinking of ways to do the impossible and they've done it. And then they go on to do others, right? So that is the difference, you know, when you learn how to tap into and harness the power and the operating system of your unconscious mind, you can literally achieve any, anything you can think.

Of.

That is powerful. And it's so true. I got one question for you before we go to the imperfect action round. I call this the expert authority roller coaster. Because building businesses, sometimes not the straight line everyone thinks success is. And I know exactly what I want to ask you. Have you ever considered wanting to climb Mount Everest?

Oh, gosh.

Yes and no.

First of all, I'm not so thrilled with heights.

Second of all, I know I can do it if I want to, but it's also because I know people.

Some closer than others to me, that have done it.

And it's a very crowded place. I'm not a big fan of that either. Nor am I a big fan of cold. Like I'm a really fair weather.

Athlete. So.

I have considered it and decided to do other ultra endurance competitions all across the world instead. So I'd rather, I'd rather run around the mountain rather than up the mountain.

What about maybe just taking a helicopter that the last hundred feet and doing that?

I would do that.

Okay.

I would do that.

Love the answer. And I don't necessarily love the cold. Either it's. I was considering. It looks like it could be fun. But when I found out it takes like a couple of months, I was like, I thought it might be a couple of days.

Oh, yeah. So I dated a gentleman for two years who had summited Everest the year before we met. And so I got the inside scoop on exactly what it takes to do it. And let me just say this. All of us are capable as human beings. We all have the physical capability. It's really, though, the. The mental fortitude that we would need to do it. And that's, you know, another thing I discovered in Ironman. I set out thinking that 90% of it was physical and 10% was mental. What I discovered, it's the exact opposite. And it's that way in everything.

That's inspiring because like you said, everyone is capable of it.

Well, I appreciate what you've shared so far. We're going to thank our sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action round. Why every business needs a book, including your. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect? Generate more leads and profit in your business? Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're back with the Imperfect Action round. Karen, are you ready to take imperfect action?

I am ready.

First question, what's the fastest path to the cash?

Being clear on the outcome that you want.

Yeah. And then doing whatever it takes to get there. And that means having the discipline to say no to the things that are going to pop up along the way, tempting you to veer off and take that zigzaggy route toward it.

Excellent. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making in the fastest way that they can fix it?

The biggest problem my prospects are making is continuing to be unconscious about the patterns that they're deploying to get what they want, thinking that that's going to lead them to something different. Right. It's the insanity. Right. So the fastest way is to open up your awareness about what are the patterns I'm deploying, what am I looking to achieve here, and what's the route I'm taking to it. If there are things that I haven't been able to achieve and I've tried more than once or I've given up on. Sometimes I ask clients that, what are the things you've given up on? Because those are the patterns that we can change and you can achieve them. So what have you given up on? That by changing the pattern, you'll get there. So it really starts with awareness number three.

What is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Keep providing value to them.

And I think that is through asking questions. What do you value most? What's important to you? What don't you value? I think there is such power in asking questions that we as a society don't do nearly enough of it. You know, we're so busy telling people stuff, usually about ourselves, right? Look how great I am. Look what I can do, look what I have done. Whatever. If we would just stop for a second and just kind of forget about ourselves and think only about the other person and start to ask them questions, be curious about them. Hey, you know, two questions I usually ask are, what's your story? And what's your mission? You wouldn't even believe what I have learned from asking those two questions of people and who I've met asking those two questions.

Those are powerful questions. I might borrow those.

What is a book you would recommend to anyone listening?

Oh my gosh, how many can I recommend? I'm a voracious reader.

So I'm going to recommend two because they're very different.

One is what I think is perhaps one of the best leadership books of all time, which is called.

It'S by the Arbinger Institute and it's called Leadership and Self Deception. It's very, very good because.

It depicts what actually happens and how we deceive ourselves in leadership every day. It's fabulous. The second book I'm going to recommend is, like I said, completely different.

It is a book by a Franciscan monk by the name of Richard Rohr, R O H R and he's written some 34, 35, 36 books. He's lost track, quite frankly, which is funny to me at being an author and like losing track of how many books you've written. Okay. And the book is called Immortal diamond and it is about being your true self and letting the false self fall away, which is all about ego.

Those sound fascinating.

Thank you.

Thank you. For those.

Where can people learn more about you and your company?

The name of my company is Velocity Leadership Consulting. So if you put a dot com behind that and a forward slash plus the word greater meaning, greater success in your personal, professional life, you can find me. So I'll go back through it one more time. VelocityLeadershipConsulting.com Greater well, it's been an absolute.

Pleasure to have you on. I got a lot out of this myself and I can't wait to stay connected and share this.

Thank you. Mario such an honor being on your show today.

Thank you very much, Expert Authority World. We got another great one. I'll see you on tomorrow's episode. Have a great day and God bless. Why Every Business Needs a Book, including yours. Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect? Generate more leads and profit in your business? Now visit businessbookchecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. Hey, thanks for listening to today's episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show and also be sure to check out eainterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview, video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I'll see you tomorrow.