Adrian speaks to the accomplished Akua Nyame Mensah, Founder and CEO of A.N.M and Company. She is an executive and leadership coach, facilitator, and speaker. Join us as we explore Akua's insights on leadership, personal development, and the art of creating spaces that foster positive connections.
She is also a leader who has been involved in the Google initiative #IamRemarkable, which focuses on promoting self-promotion and leadership skills. This initiative started internally at Google and has now expanded to help people worldwide. Akua Nyame Mensah works primarily with leaders and believes that self-promotion is a crucial skill for leadership. She is passionate about helping people reflect on their relationship with self-promotion and empowering them to develop this essential skill.
In this podcast, we discuss:
- Akua's experiences from the frontline of coaching
- Her podcast, "Open Door Conversations" and how it serves as a space for self-reflection and growth
- The importance of self-leadership, setting boundaries, and embracing diversity
- The significance of intentional reflection
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thesoundofaccrapodcast
Show Notes: https://thesoundofaccra.com/akuanm
Connect with Akua Nyame Mensah
Website: https://www.akuanm.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akuanm/
Check out Swiff: https://bit.ly/SwiffSOA
Download Menufinder Africa App: https://www.menufinderafrica.com/
Our Socials
YouTube: https://youtube.com/thesoundofaccrapodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesoundofaccra/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesoundofaccra
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesoundofaccra
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/thesoundofaccra
Linkedin: https://gh.linkedin.com/company/the-sound-of-accra
Our Website: https://thesoundofaccra.com
Timestamps:
00:00 Icebreaker - The Sound of Accra Podcast 3rd Anniversary and friendship
05:36 Self-promotion and self-love are key for growth.
09:21 Supporting leaders in achieving their big goals.
10:47 LinkedIn: Showcase specific talents and intentions effectively.
16:15 Carve out time for reflection and action.
17:14 Schedule reflection time, analyze expenses, track progress.
23:06 Consistency of actions impacts employee loyalty.
26:10 Business focuses on coaching emerging leaders strategically.
29:29 Young leadership coach discusses relatable experiences.
31:17 Overcoming challenges, improving speaking and interviewing skills.
33:51 Creating platform to share and self-promote.
39:56 Create space, reflect, and cultivate self-awareness.
40:56 Being aware of self-evolution and self-care.
45:14 Seeking reviews and references for podcast episodes.
If you enjoyed this episode, you'll love "Linkedin: Unlocking Opportunities for Career Advancement, Personal Development and Business Growth" featuring Paa Kwesi-Folson:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ciVS1q6EUzKxctsGAsGVs
Sponsor a podcast series or segment
https://thesoundofaccra.com/sponsorship/
Learn how to start, launch and monetise a podcast and acquire your first 1000 listeners: https://atozpodcasting.com
Register your interest for our private community for entrepreneurs and creatives
https://thesoundofaccra.com/community/
Leave us feedback
https://thesoundofaccra.com/feedback/
Leave us a review
https://ratethispodcast.com/thesoundofaccra
Listen to more episodes below
https://thesoundofaccrapodcast.podbean.com/
All our other links
https://linktr.ee/thesoundofaccrapod
#executivecoaching #youngerexecutivecoach #coachingwork #contentcreation #workshops #speaking engagements #opendoorconversations #podcast #networking #leadershipchallenges #selfgrowth #safespace #selfpromotion #coachingapproach #selfleadership #consistency #modelling #subcontracting #selfawareness #engagement, #settingexpectations #ghanaianfounders #entrepreneurs #diversity #personalbranding #successdefinition #emotionalfulfillment #intentionalreflection #leadershipcoaching #selfawareness #selfcare #setting boundaries
00:00:01
Stop putting.
00:00:11
Alright. Cool. So we see you. Just keep an eye on, George,
00:00:15
and just have a little bit
00:00:32
k.
00:00:51
K. You ready? Sure. Yeah. Alright.
00:00:55
Cool. Wow. That's a long bio. You don't want to read it all. I
00:00:59
mean I'm not gonna I'm not gonna read it all. I'm I'm gonna gonna cut
00:01:01
it I I know you're ahead anyway. Okay. Right. Let's go for
00:01:05
it. Hey, everyone. Welcome to the SoundCloud podcast. If this
00:01:08
is your first time watching or listening. I go by the name of Adrian
00:01:12
Daniels, and this is the show where we speak of top Ghanaian founders, entrepreneurs,
00:01:16
and creatives, worldwide with the aim of leaving you behind of meaningful
00:01:20
takeaways that you can go away and apply in your life, business, and your
00:01:23
career. For today's show notes, I would just like you to know that you could
00:01:27
head over to the sound of a kuan.comforward/akua n
00:01:30
m. That's the sound of a kuanm. That's a k u a n Akua, n
00:01:34
m. That's a k u a, n for November, and
00:01:38
m for mother. Yes. Yes. Akua, thank you for coming
00:01:41
on the show. Excited to be here. I'm good. How are you? I'm great.
00:01:45
I'm great. I'm great. It's been an interesting ride,
00:01:49
recording season 5 in Ghana. What can I say? And it's it's been great seeing
00:01:53
you a few times. I mean Yeah. You have come of course, we we have
00:01:56
we had a catch up. Had a nice little lunch with you. To celebrate. Or
00:02:00
just Christmas, I think. Oh, I don't even remember. It was It wasn't that long
00:02:03
ago, but I don't think it was Christmas. I think it's I think it was
00:02:05
just Christmas day. Yeah. Holiday before Christmas day. We had a nice little catch
00:02:08
up. Yes. And cake. Yeah. Yeah. And then you came in
00:02:12
January well, still January now as we're recording, and then you came down for
00:02:16
our, anniversary? Yes. Yeah. For the anniversary of the podcast,
00:02:20
thank you for coming down. We had cake at the podcast. That was a yeah.
00:02:22
It's good times. Saving my speech, so thank you very much. And, Yeah. I mean,
00:02:26
you've you've been around the block for some time. I know you've learned the job
00:02:29
for quite some time Yeah. From the podcasters group, and it's nice to have
00:02:32
you In person in a podcast. I know you had the live
00:02:36
q and a Yes. We did. Focused more on productivity and software
00:02:40
and subscriptions and stuff like that. But it's nice just to have you in a
00:02:43
fashion to let my audience know who Akua and Yami Mensa is and
00:02:47
what she does and what you're doing, what you've been up to, and so on
00:02:50
and so forth. So Thanks again for coming on. Well, thanks for having me. You're
00:02:53
lucky. You're welcome. So once again, guys, not once again, but just so
00:02:57
that you guys know, Akua is a, she's a coach.
00:03:01
She's, your leadership. Yeah. Executive and leadership coach.
00:03:05
Mhmm. I'm also a facilitator, and then I speak as well. Mhmm. Yeah. There you
00:03:08
go. Yeah. So that that's like a quick kind of, like, you know, insight into
00:03:12
what Akua does, but we're gonna go deeper into what Akua does. So,
00:03:16
Yeah. So first, let's get into it. So, let's talk
00:03:20
about the actually, before we talk about that Yeah. I know you've
00:03:23
been Gardening recently. Yes. Talk a little bit about that. So it's not exactly gardening.
00:03:27
I actually live in an apartment. So I am a a plant mom is
00:03:31
sort of how I describe myself. And so I have some really great, plants,
00:03:35
that I got, and, you know, only 2 died so far. But I will say
00:03:39
those 2 Only 2? Only 2. Yeah. Why are you a plant killer?
00:03:43
I have a plant. I will say that the 2 I got, I was
00:03:46
missing well, I wasn't misinformed. I informed them that I lived in an apartment. I
00:03:50
didn't have much light or sunlight, and they told me, no. It didn't need as
00:03:53
much sunlight as it did. So, unfortunately, it got a little moldy because
00:03:57
there just wasn't enough sun. Okay. So yeah. That's that's So it's my fault, but
00:04:01
not exactly my fault. I guess I could have planted it somewhere or given it
00:04:04
away. But yeah. So I had 22, Lemongrass plant
00:04:07
snet that unfortunately passed away. Okay. I'm really sorry. I hope the funeral went
00:04:11
well. Yeah. I hope you've got some more seeds lying around so you
00:04:15
can Continue to No. No. No. I definitely won't do any more lemongrass. The only
00:04:18
other plants I have are more suited towards indoor Yeah.
00:04:22
Type living. Yeah. So they need light, but not as much light as as
00:04:25
lemongrass does. Alright. Okay. Cool. Well, let's let's save the environment and save the world.
00:04:29
The more trees, and then let's get rid of the c o two in the
00:04:31
world. That's fantastic. I love it. The I am remarkable
00:04:35
initiative, I've been seeing it go around whether
00:04:38
it's LinkedIn or other places. I know you're evolving there. Could you tell us
00:04:42
more about What that is? Yeah. So the hashtag I'm remarkable initiative is actually
00:04:46
a Google initiative. So it started internally at Google, but then they quickly
00:04:50
realized that a lot of people around the world could really benefit from its contents.
00:04:53
So the hashtag I'm remarkable initiative is really about, you know,
00:04:57
the skill, self promotion. And, really, the
00:05:01
IamRemarkable initiative is really about helping people reflect on
00:05:05
their perspective of self promotion, you know, their
00:05:09
own relationship with self promotion and if and if they want to do something about
00:05:12
it. So it's really about recognizing that self promotion is a key
00:05:16
A skill. I believe it's a key leadership skill because I work primarily with leaders.
00:05:19
Mhmm. And it's actually very closely related to practicing self love
00:05:23
in my perspective and also, you know, thinking about it from the perspective of
00:05:27
visibility as well. In order to be able to show up and be an effective
00:05:30
leader, it's really important you know the value that you provide and that you feel
00:05:33
comfortable communicating it in the right context into the right people. Yep. And that starts
00:05:36
with you being able to communicate it to yourself. And that's why from my perspective,
00:05:40
when I share the hashtag I'm remarkable content, I always talk about self
00:05:44
love, practicing gratitude, and really just understanding
00:05:47
that, you know, this concept also of self worth starts
00:05:51
internally. Someone can't do that external of you. Someone can't give you their
00:05:54
confidence. You have to build that yourself. And so practicing self promotion with
00:05:58
yourself, whether it's through journaling, writing things down
00:06:02
on, you know, Post its and putting it places to remind you, you know, practicing
00:06:05
even in the mirror can go a lot further, you know, than
00:06:09
you know, you know, sort of what people say, fake it till you make it.
00:06:12
You know, if you really wanna be able to show up day in and day
00:06:14
out and do things, grow bigger, then where you are now, get
00:06:18
to the next level. Self promotion's gonna be a key skill to be able to
00:06:21
do that. And then self promotion is key. I think some people try to shy
00:06:25
away from it because it sounds like a dirty word, but I think self promotion,
00:06:28
once you get into it, you're gonna realize it's really, really important, Especially if you
00:06:32
wanna grow a brand, a business, or you just wanna get yourself more out
00:06:36
there, I think it's really, really key to do self promotion. If you're not gonna
00:06:39
do it, who will who is gonna do it for you? That's really it. You
00:06:41
have to be your your biggest ambassador, honestly, because So it's just really about, yeah,
00:06:45
reimagining what self promotion is and then recognizing that we self
00:06:49
promote constantly. Mhmm. You know, whether it's to convince a partner to go
00:06:53
to a specific restaurant, to get your kid to do something,
00:06:56
to try and convince your mom of x, y, and z. We're constantly self
00:07:00
promoting and and trying to to influence others. It's what we do as humans.
00:07:04
It's true. It's true. It's human nature, isn't it? Alright. Let's let's let's keep this
00:07:08
conversation going. So, I know you love LinkedIn, and I know you're on
00:07:12
LinkedIn and online. I'm on LinkedIn, And we'll let you guys know what Akua's
00:07:16
LinkedIn link is. We'll put it in the show notes. Alright?
00:07:19
So, this is a nice little kind of icebreaker to our main conversation
00:07:23
now. So I'm sure you've seen on LinkedIn, there's so many
00:07:27
people. I mean, maybe I'm a little bit guilty of this, where we
00:07:30
have so many people that have lots of different titles. Yeah. They're heading to
00:07:34
headline. Like, I think I saw 1 of 10 titles. Like, I'm a like,
00:07:38
they are, like, a social media promoter, VA assistant slash
00:07:41
content creator slash entrepreneur slash speaker slash everything as well. There's
00:07:45
so many of them. And this week, I just saw so
00:07:49
many ridiculous ones. I was like, What's the point? Like, just
00:07:52
choose 1 or just drill in on that. What's your thoughts on
00:07:56
being so split? Because, I know I
00:08:00
know you're kind of I know one of your it's not specialties, but I know
00:08:04
one of the things you talk about is being a bit you know, avoiding
00:08:07
burnout and being, you know, being focused in what we're
00:08:11
doing and not trying to do too much to burn yourself out.
00:08:15
What's your thoughts on people with so many different,
00:08:19
focuses and so many different, like, job titles, if you will, because they're
00:08:22
trying to catch every single rabbit around them rather than just focusing
00:08:26
on one specific area. Yeah. No. I think that's that's a
00:08:30
really interesting thing to bring up. Yeah. I will say, you
00:08:33
know, As someone who does not just coaching, but also facilitation
00:08:37
and speaking, and those are all different modes of supporting others, you
00:08:41
know, and, thinking about how to transmit
00:08:44
skills or ideas to others as well. Yeah. So I guess, in some ways, you
00:08:48
could also say I'm one of those people that has different titles.
00:08:52
And I also tend to work with and also consider myself someone who is
00:08:56
multitalented, has lots of different passions, you know, multi hyphenate.
00:08:59
Yeah. So I, you know, I don't think it's necessarily a
00:09:03
bad thing to do different things. Mhmm. I think it's just a question of how
00:09:06
you set yourself up for success. So for example,
00:09:10
one of the things that I think about in my business, even though I do
00:09:13
use different methods or modes of supporting others, At the end of the day,
00:09:17
it's still all under sort of 1 umbrella purpose. That is their responsibility.
00:09:21
Is about supporting leaders with where they spend their time and energy
00:09:24
so that they can achieve whatever big goals they have. For most of the
00:09:28
people I work with and even when I think of myself, ultimately, it's about wealth.
00:09:32
Right? It's you know, whether it's time freedom, which is wealth,
00:09:35
you know, social, connections and relationships, which is also wealth. Right? A
00:09:39
lot of my work comes through having relationships, or financial wealth.
00:09:43
Right? All of those things, I think the work that I do, the content
00:09:47
I produce, the conversations I have, you know, even
00:09:51
the the products I get to subcontract on, I think all of it's geared
00:09:54
towards that. So in my mind, that's why I'm able to
00:09:58
stay engaged, I think, and motivated even as I'm shifting maybe to other
00:10:02
things that I do and working on other projects with other organizations and
00:10:05
individuals. So I would say, you know, When I see
00:10:09
that someone has, you know, the opportunity to
00:10:13
sort of share the fact that they have different parts of themselves, I get excited
00:10:16
about it because I do think a lot of times We end up in spaces
00:10:19
where people say, you know, you can't, quote, unquote, be a generalist. You have to
00:10:22
be one thing. You have to focus on one thing. And, You know,
00:10:26
while I think there is some wisdom in that, I think all of us as
00:10:29
human beings aren't one thing. We all have different parts to ourselves, I think
00:10:33
just focusing on one thing only would be incredibly boring. I know it'd be
00:10:37
very boring for me. So, to answer your question
00:10:40
more directly though, because what I think you're speaking to maybe is a little different
00:10:44
from someone maybe who's multipassionate or multi hyphenate Yeah. Or has
00:10:48
different talents. I think that When we are thinking about putting ourselves out there
00:10:51
on a platform like LinkedIn, typically, we're trying to do it with some level of
00:10:55
intention. Mhmm. So I think it's important to recognize that you don't have to share
00:10:58
all parts of yourself on social media. You can definitely pick and
00:11:02
choose what's makes the most sense on that particular platform. So for example,
00:11:06
if you're on LinkedIn, maybe to connect, and maybe you have a side
00:11:10
gig, maybe what you really wanna emphasize, even though maybe you do wanna show that
00:11:13
you do have a full time sort of job. Maybe you wanna emphasize the
00:11:17
fact that you do this part time thing or you have this thing on the
00:11:19
side. And so when you're thinking about your copy, when you're thinking about what you
00:11:23
put out there on LinkedIn in terms of your headline, that's maybe where you wanna
00:11:26
focus, especially if you do want it to convert and you want people to have
00:11:30
a better understanding of how you show up and what you do.
00:11:34
So a quick example, if I think about Go on. My headline. Right? Mhmm. I
00:11:38
don't even start off by talking about what I do. I sort of start off
00:11:41
by talking about sort of My vision? You know? I I have something sort of
00:11:44
like, dear leaders, you can like yourself, you know, like what you do and like
00:11:48
your life, something along those lines, which is maybe different from what a lot of
00:11:51
other people put out there. Because most people wanna say, hey. I'm a coach. I'm
00:11:54
a trainer. I'm a founder, which is fine. I don't think there's anything wrong with
00:11:58
that, but just it's all about your intention? And for me, I want people to
00:12:02
you know, when they look at my profile, they I want them to see that,
00:12:05
you know, There's an opportunity to do something different here. It's not just
00:12:09
about these titles I give myself, but it's more about, you know, what
00:12:13
what I want people to connect to, and ultimately, Things are about emotions, and my
00:12:16
hope is that if you see that, you're like, oh, that's that's something maybe I
00:12:19
wanna do, or you're somehow emotionally attached to it. So I think, yeah, whenever
00:12:23
you're putting yourself out there on social media, especially on a platform like LinkedIn, and
00:12:26
it is about building wealth or try to get more resources, just thinking
00:12:30
intentionally about the titles you use, the words you put out there,
00:12:34
I think can be very helpful. Mhmm. Absolutely. Definitely can be helpful. I
00:12:37
think, just like what you said, Point yourself out there as a coach
00:12:41
found the entrepreneur is not necessarily a bad thing. Like, you know, like you said,
00:12:45
it's it's what you're trying to achieve from it. But what I've seen is a
00:12:49
lot of people have put out so many different titles where it's like, what
00:12:52
do I know which one to approach you us. Like, it's Exactly. Right? So that
00:12:56
intent piece might be a bit confusing. Yeah. Like, I'd rather go to a surgeon
00:13:00
than just a general doctor, like, you know, if I need, like, a heart
00:13:03
transplant or something. You understand? So it's one of those things that I've seen going
00:13:06
around, and I thought it'd be interesting to some view because I know you love
00:13:10
LinkedIn as much as I do. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, you know, it goes
00:13:12
back to what we're talking about before in terms of self promotion. Right? I think
00:13:16
self promotion can only be effective if we are Intentional. Right?
00:13:20
We're thinking about the context, and then we also are thinking about how we potentially
00:13:23
want it to land. And so the intention maybe of showing the fact that Somebody
00:13:27
maybe has the ability or can do all these different things is maybe they hope
00:13:31
that someone will see themselves in one of them. Right? Oh, maybe they want one
00:13:34
of them. But in reality, right, it could be very overwhelming, and so it could
00:13:36
have the opposite effect. Yeah. So a huge part, right Yeah. Of, you know,
00:13:40
developing that skill of self promotion is testing things and trying to get
00:13:44
be back as well. So asking people, especially those you want looking at your profile,
00:13:48
hey. Like, how does this land? Does that make sense? Is it confusing? And that
00:13:51
can also give you a lot clarity and help you sort of cut through what
00:13:54
might make the most sense on there as well. Absolutely. It's like a herd, like
00:13:57
a quote. Something along the lines of he that tries to catch all rabbits
00:14:00
catches none. He that tries to focus and catch 1 rabbit catches some.
00:14:05
You know? It's a bit like that. Mhmm. Okay. Let's move on.
00:14:09
Alright. So speaking on being, speaking on
00:14:12
being split focused, let's talk about the importance of
00:14:16
Trimming the fat Mhmm. Not just in your career, not just in your business, but
00:14:19
also in your life. So I know you talked about recently,
00:14:23
like, trimming off Some of the fat offs, maybe some of the subscriptions. Maybe in
00:14:27
our personal lives, it's maybe having too many subscriptions, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etcetera. What
00:14:31
do we need to trim off from our lives. Talk us through, like, some of
00:14:34
the key decisions you've had to make, like, in your business. What have you had
00:14:38
to trim? Whether it's maybe Submit. It could be certain things,
00:14:42
subscriptions, etcetera, to make your to make your you as an
00:14:46
individual in the business run a bit more streamlined, a bit more focused, and have
00:14:49
more freedom for yourself. Yeah. I think it actually starts with defining, you
00:14:53
know, what success looks like, and also even maybe defining what freedom looks like
00:14:57
because That's really gonna dictate the type of business that you build, the
00:15:01
business model that you have. And I think it's so easy for
00:15:04
us to sort of look around and be like, that super service provider does that.
00:15:08
That person on, you know, online does that, and then try and emulate that. And
00:15:11
then you realize, like, this doesn't really feel that Great. Because, ultimately, we're
00:15:15
all emotional beings. We're actually constantly seeking these sort of, you
00:15:19
know, emotional things. Like, that that's that's really what it
00:15:22
is at the end of the day. And so when I think about what I'm
00:15:25
looking for emotionally, it's typically this feeling of satisfaction, And that
00:15:29
comes from, you know, having the space to do the things that I love, and
00:15:32
it also comes from, you know, feeling really good about being able to
00:15:36
connect with people in a way where I don't feel like
00:15:39
I'm getting deflated. Right? So I'm constantly seeking opportunities to
00:15:43
support people. And at the end of supporting people, I tend to feel more
00:15:47
energized. That's how I know it was a good engagement, and those are the types
00:15:50
of things that I'm trying to constantly recreate in terms of the things that I
00:15:53
do. So that probably sounds really kinda meta. So let me me break it down,
00:15:57
I guess, or just make it a little bit more tangible. So what that means
00:16:00
is and also because I've been in business for 5 years, like so that
00:16:03
means I've had the opportunity to lots of different things and then come to
00:16:07
conclusions about what I wanna do more of and what I wanna do less of.
00:16:11
And so what that looks like in practice is that I've tried to carve
00:16:14
out space. And so a lot of being able to trim the fat actually comes
00:16:18
from being able to carve out space and actually honor that space and that time
00:16:22
that you've carved out in your calendar, in your schedule, whatever makes the most sense
00:16:25
for you to actually reflect. And this is actually something that I
00:16:29
spend a lot time doing with my clients. Even when I work on, you know,
00:16:32
projects within other organizations and larger leadership programs, the number
00:16:36
one thing that most leaders are looking for is the opportunity actually be more
00:16:40
conscious. The opportunity to actually reflect more, that's what's missing from a
00:16:43
lot of our lives. And it's only through being able to reflect where you're gonna
00:16:47
be able to actually sit down and think through, like, Oh, how did this
00:16:50
actually feel? Did I enjoy doing this task? What about this responsibility,
00:16:54
you know, really resonated with me? You know, if I don't wanna do this anymore,
00:16:58
what do I need to do about Right? So it's really through creating
00:17:01
time and honoring that time where you can reflect on what you wanna remove, what
00:17:05
you want more of, and what you want less of. There's lots of ideas online
00:17:08
on how you can do that. I like to use really simple tools and approaches.
00:17:12
So I'll do start, stop, and continue. Right? And so I've set aside time for
00:17:16
that in my calendar to do that every so often. I also do some additional
00:17:19
sort of reflection, monthly where I think through the things I enjoy
00:17:23
doing, things didn't like doing lessons I learned, what I'd like to do
00:17:27
next. Right? So it's really about setting aside time to
00:17:31
think about what's happening now, what you would like to do better, and then also,
00:17:34
of course, spend some time in the past to think about maybe what could change
00:17:38
as well. And so I think that's really the 1st step,
00:17:42
getting really clear on what success looks like, and it's through honoring that time
00:17:46
and setting that time, you know, aside where you can do that. And then as
00:17:50
you start doing that over time, it becomes a lot easier for
00:17:53
you to think through, okay, what are some of the things that, you know, need
00:17:57
to be eliminated or added? And for me, one of the biggest things really
00:18:00
has been around what I'm doing with my budget. And so when it comes to
00:18:04
trimming the fat, one of the things I tried to do last year was set
00:18:07
aside time to really reflect on where is my money going and where is my
00:18:10
money coming from. And, you know, I've also had the opportunity to
00:18:14
be part of, you know, programs where, you know, I got tons of templates. You
00:18:18
can find tons of free templates online as well to help me keep track of
00:18:21
that as well. So it's through intentionally identifying that I wanted to
00:18:24
really focus on where my money is going and where it's coming from, where I
00:18:28
was able to trim things in relation to subscriptions. So I like Trends, I think,
00:18:31
yeah, it was probably over $500 or something like that. It's probably even more in
00:18:35
relation to how much I'm spending on software because I love trying new software. I've
00:18:39
Cried a lot of things, but I realized that a lot of things I was
00:18:42
using was costing money, but not necessarily bringing in any return
00:18:46
Gotcha. Especially as it relates to my content. Because I do like producing content. I
00:18:50
do have a podcast, but as it relates to how I actually make money, it
00:18:53
doesn't actually have the biggest impact on whether or not I get business because most
00:18:56
of my business is actually b to b and comes from referrals and relationships
00:19:00
in other ways. Definitely, my, you know, my podcast and then the content I
00:19:04
produce helps to nurture, But not in the same way that maybe some other service
00:19:08
providers, you know, get business because maybe their work is a little bit more b
00:19:11
to c in terms of how they do things. So every for everybody, they have
00:19:15
different business models. It looks a little bit different. And once again, that should help
00:19:19
guide, you know, where you spend your time and energy and, ultimately, where you might
00:19:22
trim That makes sense. So what you're saying is that when you take time
00:19:26
to reflect on how you kind of go about your life, your business, your
00:19:30
career, everything, maybe people did that during Christmas period
00:19:33
or maybe during throughout January 2023 as well in the new
00:19:37
year. That then leads to, oh, maybe I need to remove this.
00:19:40
Maybe I Just get this. Yes. To But it should happen more than just
00:19:44
at January. Right? It and it also shouldn't happen during your holiday. Right?
00:19:48
There's a difference between rest and actually reflecting with intention.
00:19:52
Right? So this is this is time that you should probably hopefully
00:19:56
have every day to some extent to reflect. Right? So it could be, you
00:19:59
know, thinking about trimming the fat even day to day. Right?
00:20:03
Ultimately, it's also a skill, I think, to be able to to trim
00:20:07
the fat, you know, and reflect. And so it could be, you know, reflection on
00:20:10
a daily basis, on a weekly basis, a monthly basis, and, of course, also
00:20:14
yearly as well. So reflect and trim the fat should be as
00:20:17
often as possible. Exactly. Yeah. And this can help to create a whole lot
00:20:21
of opportunities, Time, freedom, resources, wealth for yourself. Yes. And then
00:20:24
also better relationships as well because you can be a lot more intentional about why
00:20:28
you're connecting with people. And then when you are connecting with people, you can actually
00:20:31
be present, And that's where the dots start to connect. It's very powerful when
00:20:35
you really think about and this is why I had to bring you into the
00:20:38
podcast on person because I want the audience take away some of
00:20:41
these gems. I I really want to really dial down, dial in,
00:20:45
and really hear what you have to say. Awesome. Alright. Let's let's
00:20:49
continue. So, I know you're a leadership coach, so
00:20:52
let's talk about the true meaning of leadership. So, I think in
00:20:56
the modern day, we have different
00:21:00
depictions of what leadership is. I wanna hear from you what
00:21:04
truly leadership is and what our modern day leaders are getting
00:21:07
wrong. Are there any past experiences from you working
00:21:11
or running start ups companies that you can share with us as well? Yeah. Sure.
00:21:15
So just a quick clarification. So I'm an executive and leadership coach.
00:21:19
I mean, I have definitely written in some places I'm an executive leadership coach, but
00:21:22
they're actually 2 different things. So executive coaching typically is a
00:21:26
little bit more focused on management. And so executive coaching, of course,
00:21:30
is primarily with executives, but it also can include the business as well.
00:21:34
Right? So because of my Akron, I've had the opportunity to to build, you know,
00:21:37
online platforms, and and it's a business. Because when I say platform, people like a
00:21:40
website. Yes. But it's a website that hopefully makes money. The one I worked on
00:21:44
didn't make much money, but, you know, still had a p and l, still had
00:21:47
a budget, you know, still had a team. Like, it's an actual business. And so
00:21:50
I support leaders With that component, which is more of that executive
00:21:54
coaching piece, it also can include, you know, their career. It can include
00:21:58
a lot of different elements, but so there's an executive coaching piece to it, and
00:22:01
then there's also the leadership coaching piece. Mhmm. And so leadership coaching tends to
00:22:05
focus more on that people piece. So how to support leaders so they can truly
00:22:08
step into that leadership position that typically involves being more
00:22:12
strategic, right, and then allowing, their subordinates or
00:22:15
their team to really do more of the day to day, so how to really
00:22:18
step up into that. And that usually is focused on that people piece. So just
00:22:22
just that distinction. Because for some people, they're like, what's the difference between the 2,
00:22:25
and and what do those look like? But to answer your question directly, leadership,
00:22:29
I think it starts with leading yourself first. And and this is really where I
00:22:32
start with my clients as well. It really starts with you feeling
00:22:36
mentally, physically, emotionally as well as possible,
00:22:40
And recognizing that by focusing on yourself, cultivating your
00:22:43
awareness, getting more comfortable with engaging with others,
00:22:47
and also honoring the expectations that you've set for yourself, how
00:22:51
much easier it is to do with others. So for me, leadership starts really
00:22:55
within, and it starts with you leading yourself first. Okay. So,
00:22:58
basically, you just lead so your answer to that is basically just, those that are
00:23:02
able to lead themselves first, they tend to be leaders who are
00:23:05
successful. Correct. Yeah. Because they're able to to create that followership.
00:23:09
One of the things I always share, and I'm sure there's a lot of great
00:23:11
quotes that probably say it better than me, but, you know, people Do
00:23:15
how's this? People see what you say as well as what you do. And I
00:23:19
think that for a lot of, leaders, especially ones I've even seen
00:23:23
on the continent I've had a chance to work with, What they say is very
00:23:26
different from what they do, and your employees will see that. Your team will see
00:23:29
that. And whether or not they're conscious of it, they probably
00:23:33
will not necessarily believe what you say
00:23:37
because you act in a different way. And so when it comes to thinking about
00:23:40
loyalty, See, whether or not they're aware of it and conscious of it, they might
00:23:44
make decisions in a way where it's gonna benefit them, and they're not gonna
00:23:48
be as interested in supporting you because they might see or
00:23:51
feel, right, that you aren't consistent or that you won't
00:23:55
follow through or that you don't have their best interests at heart because there is
00:23:58
that deviation from what you say and what you actually do.
00:24:02
Yeah. And, you know, another thing that we talk a lot about in leadership is
00:24:05
modeling. Mhmm. And when we talk about modeling, right, so sort of,
00:24:09
You know, behaving in a way that you expect of others. That's not to say
00:24:12
that you're gonna do everything that your team does. Right? If you're in a specific
00:24:16
leadership position, That's not to say if you expect your team, you
00:24:19
know, to be there till the end of the day or the end of the
00:24:22
workday. That doesn't mean you have to be there till the end of the workday
00:24:24
in terms of modeling, But that simply just means that you're consistent with how
00:24:28
you communicate expectations, you know, how you provide feedback, and
00:24:32
you're also consistent when you are thinking about promoting
00:24:35
and however you acknowledge and recognize people on your team as
00:24:39
well. Mhmm. Okay. That's very it's a very interesting insight
00:24:43
there. Gary Vaynerchuk is one leader that pops up into my,
00:24:46
LinkedIn video time to time, and he talks about the importance of, like,
00:24:50
kindness and candor and things like that as a leader. Those
00:24:53
kind of values, I think, have really been revolutionary because when you
00:24:57
start to kind of really treat each each and every person
00:25:01
like a real human being or even more more so the golden law like yourself.
00:25:05
I think I love amazing things happen. I agree. And that's why for me,
00:25:08
I think the sort of the second pillar of leadership that I teach and one
00:25:12
of the things I always keep in mind when I engage with others or I'm
00:25:14
creating content is the importance of simplifying engagement. Yeah. Right? For so
00:25:18
many leaders, they say they don't have the time To engage, and so what that
00:25:21
typically means is that they aren't treating people like individuals. And so they're trying to
00:25:25
engage with everybody that's a direct report in the same way. And you
00:25:28
can't do that if you wanna succeed. Ultimately, you do need to treat people like
00:25:32
individuals, and that I think is also kindness. And then you also need to get
00:25:35
comfortable with having tough conversations. I also think that's kindness.
00:25:39
Or, you know, there's a really great, I think, framework for providing feedback
00:25:43
or thinking about engagement that's called radical candor, Right? Where you're constantly keeping
00:25:46
in mind that, hey. Like, we're trying to drive results, but I'm trying to do
00:25:50
this in a way where, obviously, I care. That makes a lot of
00:25:54
sense. Thanks for, showing your perspective on that. Alright.
00:25:57
Let's talk about a Akua and and NM.
00:26:02
That's all about what you do. So could you just, share us,
00:26:06
a little bit about services that you that you provide at at your your
00:26:09
company? Yeah. So there's 3 basic parts to my business. The first
00:26:13
part is I have, you know, a 1 on 1 signature service where I'm really
00:26:17
sort of focused on working typically with an emerging leader. So,
00:26:20
typically, they're a first time exec to first time founder, and I'm really supporting them
00:26:24
so they can go from being tactical to strategic. And what that simply means is,
00:26:28
you know, they're not firefighting. They're not just sort of trying to throw things, you
00:26:32
know, at at the wall and see what sticks. They're not overwhelmed.
00:26:36
It's really about them being able to create that space to reflect, to be
00:26:39
strategic so that they can not only have a good grasp on what's happening now,
00:26:43
today, and the present, but they've also had the opportunity to start thinking about what's
00:26:46
coming next as well. So that's really the 1st bit of my business. The 2nd
00:26:50
bit of my business is sort of my workshops, my speaking and then also leadership
00:26:54
programs that I build. Yeah. And once again, I sort of keep in mind my
00:26:57
my 3 step process. So I have content. I have workshops
00:27:01
around supporting leaders with cultivating their self awareness. One of my favorite
00:27:05
pieces of content with that is something I call the importance of introductions,
00:27:09
where I teach that you constantly and you always have an opportunity to
00:27:12
reintroduce yourself. But it's your role, your job as a leader to
00:27:16
introduce yourself, Reintroduce yourself. Share your preferences,
00:27:20
your triggers, the things that make you unique, so your
00:27:23
quirks. And what's gonna happen is you'll typically create an environment
00:27:27
of psychological safety where your team will also feel comfortable enough to share
00:27:31
their preferences with you, And what will end up happening is that you're able to
00:27:35
engage. Right? You're able to actually, you know, set expectations that
00:27:38
everyone can achieve. So that's really the 1st pillar once again. And the 2nd bit's
00:27:42
around engagement. So typically having conversations around why your employees aren't
00:27:46
motivated, how to delegate, how to have hard conversations.
00:27:50
And then the last bit is around the setting expectations piece, and that's typically around
00:27:54
how to actually goal set. So really getting clear on the
00:27:58
elements that you have control over, your team has control over, and
00:28:01
recognizing that as you're setting goals, Whatever you call them, whether they're OKRs,
00:28:06
KPIs, whatever. Right? Ultimately, a lot of times,
00:28:09
organizations are not focused on the things that they actually can control and actually
00:28:13
do a really poor job also of assigning responsibility. So that's sort of the
00:28:17
last bit of work that I tend to do with leaders. And in terms of
00:28:20
the content that I create in the workshops I have that I support them with.
00:28:23
So that's really the workshops and speaking. And then the last bit of the work
00:28:26
that I do And I find myself doing more and more of it because I
00:28:29
actually really enjoy it. Even though I'm not the one who completely controls it is
00:28:33
subcontracting. So I actually will will do and join Other
00:28:37
company projects, you know, other leadership consulting companies
00:28:41
will, you know, bring me in to help implement parts of programs, whether
00:28:45
that's Coaching, the facilitation piece, or, group
00:28:48
coaching and speaking. Yeah. Wow. Okay. Cool. So, I mean, it's quite a few sides
00:28:52
to you. I mean, that we spoke about, Of course, earlier, you need to begin
00:28:55
the conversation. But I think all of these sides too, I
00:28:59
think there's, like, a nice little week because it's like, I think everything goes
00:29:02
hand in hand. You know? Like your workshops, your coaching,
00:29:06
and then maybe your 1 on ones, and then also your your subcontract your
00:29:10
sub You're subcontracting. So why that why there's always
00:29:13
a tongue twister for me? So you're also helping to add
00:29:17
value to other companies and other projects that are going on there. Do you feel
00:29:21
like the work that you're doing in the sub sub subcontracting? There we go
00:29:24
again. Do you feel like it kinda helps you be stronger in the other
00:29:28
areas as well? Yeah. I think, yeah, I think the initial the
00:29:32
initial thing or the initial reaction I had was actually like, oh, I do that.
00:29:35
Right? So I think that when you work for yourself and especially because, You
00:29:39
know, the the field that I'm in, it's quite interesting because
00:29:42
I tend to be a little bit on the younger side when it comes to
00:29:45
leadership and executive coaches. There definitely are a lot more now,
00:29:49
especially after, the pandemic. But when I first started in 2018,
00:29:53
especially because I did my coach training in Nigeria, I
00:29:56
was Probably about 20 years younger than the majority of leadership and
00:30:00
executive coaches, that, you know, that I was around physically. And then even
00:30:04
as I started engaging online, I typically was the youngest person in the
00:30:07
room, so it's it's been really nice to be able to join some of these
00:30:11
other projects and sort of see that, oh, yeah. That's that's exactly what I'm doing.
00:30:15
I'm having the same impact. I'm getting the same sort of response and results,
00:30:19
in their spaces as well. So I think It was very,
00:30:23
yeah, I think I think it was very confidence boosting in a way.
00:30:27
But I definitely agree. I think that what I do definitely reinforces Self, my 1
00:30:30
on 1 coaching definitely informs a lot of the content I create, the workshops I
00:30:34
put together, and the speaking engagements I have as well. Fantastic.
00:30:38
Well, early on the conversation, you talked about you having a podcast.
00:30:42
I think you've I think you're about to approach 40 episodes. No. 71.
00:30:46
71. My 71 is that what I was saying? I can't say that one.
00:30:49
The the 70 the 71 episode Wow. Congrats. Is
00:30:53
coming out 70 1st. That's it. I don't know.
00:30:57
21st. I'm sorry. I think it's my fault. So I've given you the bug. I'll
00:31:00
just stop when you say. It's coming out on Monday. Yeah. Well, congrats. Congratulations
00:31:04
for 70 plus episodes. That sounds a lot better. Congratulations. Thank you.
00:31:08
And journey. Thank you. So, quickly tell us about what the open is it open
00:31:11
open door conversations? Yes. That is it. Yeah. Yeah. Tell us about quickly tell us
00:31:15
about the concept behind your podcast. Yeah. So the open door conversations, you
00:31:19
know, initially actually started as a challenge. And I would even say my business, almost
00:31:22
everything I do, if you listen to even some of my initial podcasts, One of
00:31:26
the ways I've approached my life and my business is I think to
00:31:29
myself, I can't do that. I won't do that. And then I'm like, I will
00:31:33
do it, and I will do it well. Right? And so when I think about,
00:31:36
you know, the Open Door Conversations podcast, I really just wanted an
00:31:40
opportunity, one, to, you know, Get
00:31:43
better at speaking. I I will say that's really the the first thing that that
00:31:47
that I wanted to do. I thought that it'd be a really great way to
00:31:50
sort of challenge myself to speak off the cuff to get better at
00:31:54
interviewing, and it I think it's just really transformed into something that I just
00:31:57
enjoy doing Yeah. Because it's a really great opportunity for me
00:32:01
to also learn as well. When I think about the individuals I've had
00:32:05
on my podcast and I had an opportunity to interview, I've just enjoyed it so
00:32:09
much. And you could probably tell because I get really excited on the
00:32:12
episodes. I love it. I love it. I get so excited. And so, you know,
00:32:16
initially started off as an opportunity, like
00:32:20
said for me to get better at speaking, I speak very quickly naturally, so it
00:32:22
really forced me to slow down, be a little bit more intentional with how I
00:32:26
speak, You know, have the opportunity to connect with people. It's a great opportunity
00:32:30
for networking. We talked about how podcasts are great for that as well. And I
00:32:33
think it's just really, I think, grown into This this
00:32:37
library of content that I can also use and share with others as
00:32:41
well, especially those that maybe don't have the resources, whether it's time or
00:32:44
financial resources to invest in coaching or invest in having some sort
00:32:48
of support. Makes sense. Yeah. But all the episodes, yeah, are just really geared towards
00:32:52
having conversations about challenges, issues, and topics that affect all of us
00:32:55
as leaders, but we don't always create the time and space for it. And so
00:32:59
my hope is that by the end of conversation. You know, leaders that listen to
00:33:02
it have an opportunity to reflect on how they wanna show up in relation to
00:33:06
that challenge, skill, or opportunity. Awesome. And and how do you
00:33:09
feel like that's come impacted, like, your clients? And, you know, of course,
00:33:13
you talked about how it's helped your life. How has it made impact in your
00:33:17
clients and, you know, exposing yourself to, you know, a different audience
00:33:21
out there? What what kind of, positive changes or impacts has your
00:33:24
podcast made? I don't know. Well, I mean, I think,
00:33:28
1, I definitely I think that I I can can
00:33:31
create a safe space for people to to talk about themselves. And so sometimes
00:33:35
you'll hear on my podcast episodes, people say things like, I've never thought of
00:33:39
that question, or that's a really great question. Like, oh, that
00:33:43
was actually really fun. Like, I thought I was I thought I was gonna be
00:33:46
scared. You might not hear that answer so much because it's typically
00:33:49
after recording that people say it. Yeah. So I'd like to think you know, it
00:33:52
gives people an opportunity to think that, you know, what they have to share and
00:33:55
the things that they've done are amazing, and that they should share
00:33:59
it and that they should take the opportunity to self promote or to think
00:34:03
about their their their accomplishments. And so I'd like to think that I give them
00:34:07
the platform and stage, to do that. And, hopefully,
00:34:10
they're able to do that in other spaces. And, yeah, some of my
00:34:14
some of my clients do listen to the Podcasts, I typically do think my keep
00:34:17
my clients in mind for the podcast episodes, so it's always exciting to hear
00:34:21
them once again reflect on what was shared. I'm not
00:34:25
looking to change people's perspectives. You know, the primary modality
00:34:28
I use to support others, specifically leaders, is coaching. And the idea we
00:34:32
actually don't give advice. I mean, I think that's probably one of the biggest, or
00:34:36
at least the type of coaching I practice. I'm not giving advice. What I'm trying
00:34:39
to people with is building their own frameworks and
00:34:42
questions that they can use no matter what situation that they're in. Yep. And so
00:34:46
my hope is that My podcast gives people the opportunity to
00:34:50
pause and reflect on, once again, whatever topic. And so some of
00:34:54
my clients that do listen to the podcast say That's something that comes up for
00:34:57
them, and to me, that's what success looks like. Oh, that's fantastic. I think at
00:35:01
the end of the day, it's important for everyone who starts a podcast to understand
00:35:04
what success is for them. Some is the money. Some is The audience, some is
00:35:07
networking, some is maybe a combination of different things. So I think the
00:35:11
most important thing is if it's hitting those those those things, then that's
00:35:15
what means the most at the end of the day. So great.
00:35:18
Yeah. Sounds good to hear that you podcast is doing fantastic. I love it. I'll
00:35:22
keep listening to it. And, let's let's let's let's talk
00:35:25
about your 2023 plans. So do you have any plans for this
00:35:29
year in particular that you wanna share that you wanna share?
00:35:33
Biggest plans. Less is more. Mhmm.
00:35:37
I've actually always been pretty good at boundaries. I'm not gonna lie. Like, I've always
00:35:40
been pretty good No. But this year, I've I've really, you know,
00:35:44
thought a little bit about where I wanna spend my time and energy. And there
00:35:47
was a time where I thought that, you know, doing subcontracting or working other
00:35:51
people's programs meant that I was failing because I wasn't finding my own
00:35:55
business. But what I found is that I actually really enjoy not having to manage
00:35:59
the relationship of working with some of these bigger companies, and, also, I
00:36:02
get access to amazing clients I wouldn't normally get. I wouldn't have
00:36:06
access to them by myself. So definitely doing more
00:36:10
subcontracting work, putting myself out there in that way.
00:36:14
And, yeah, it's really been exciting to sort of see the types of, you know,
00:36:17
brands and organizations that I've had the opportunity to work with through being
00:36:20
open to that. And so I think that's that's number 1.
00:36:24
Definitely continuing some of the subcontracting and and, yeah.
00:36:28
Yeah. Because like I said, initially, I sort of had One story I told myself
00:36:31
about, and I think I've really done a a 360, or is it a 180
00:36:34
on that? And I'm I'm happy with it. I actually I actually really enjoy it.
00:36:38
I mean, when it when you are thinking about subcontracting, though, you typically do make
00:36:41
less money than if you went out and got the business yourself. But, You know,
00:36:45
for me, what's most important is that I'm working with people where at the end
00:36:48
of the day, I feel energized, and I do get that from a lot of
00:36:51
these Projects I've had the opportunity to work on, there hasn't been a time where
00:36:55
I've thought to myself, like, this is a drag. I've always been so excited
00:36:58
afterwards. So for me, that's that's definitely that definitely means I'm in the right direction,
00:37:02
and I'm working with the right partners. If anything, right, I interviewed
00:37:06
them as much as they interviewed me. Right? It's It's very much a a sort
00:37:09
of a two way thing. Of course. Yeah. So probably more of that this year.
00:37:13
What else? Big plans. Yeah. This year with my podcast, I really wanna go
00:37:17
all out. So that means that it might not be a weekly
00:37:20
cadence. So previously, I did almost you know, I did weekly for the most part,
00:37:24
and then I would take breaks here and there. Yeah. So I'm still trying to
00:37:26
decide what I want to do even though I am releasing the 1st
00:37:30
episode. It's not really an episode. It's a mini episode. On Monday,
00:37:34
I haven't really decided if I wanna do it weekly if or if it's gonna
00:37:37
be biweekly, but I definitely do wanna increase the quality of what I'm putting out
00:37:41
there. It's something I I mentioned to you. Mhmm. And so also just thinking a
00:37:43
little bit more intentionally about what I'm putting out there. Because previously, it was very
00:37:46
much like, go. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. So slowing down on that a little
00:37:50
bit. And then the last thing is probably community. So one of the
00:37:54
things I'm really trying to do and being a bit more intentional about is creating
00:37:57
spaces where Other people can come and share their perspective.
00:38:01
I do that already with the paid work I do, but once again, not everyone
00:38:04
necessarily has the resources, And I can't work with everybody.
00:38:09
And so now I'm trying to do these weekly LinkedIn audio,
00:38:12
events where I I just invite a lot of people within my network, and I
00:38:16
just so happen Yeah. To have a ton of other service providers, online
00:38:20
business owners, in my network. And so these are spaces where they
00:38:23
can also show their expertise, and they can also potentially get access to
00:38:27
additional business as well. Fantastic. It's a win win for everybody with those
00:38:31
LinkedIn audio sessions, isn't it? You know, like a little clubhouse thing. You know? People
00:38:34
get to network. People get to Go on a stage. This is what they call
00:38:38
is a virtual stage, and then also people get to maybe make a little bit
00:38:41
money on the way, which is nice. Yeah. Yeah. So that's that's probably the the
00:38:44
3 things I'm doing a little bit this year. I'm really excited to
00:38:48
to to see how things go for you. Yeah. I'm looking forward to to see
00:38:51
you all on Revlon LinkedIn and The podcast as well. Yeah. Thank you. So I
00:38:55
really enjoyed this conversation at Kua. So to wrap this up, okay,
00:39:00
I wanna talk about the importance of being able to focus on what you can
00:39:03
control. So that's creating the best situation for yourself and not
00:39:07
focusing on what you left behind or what others have.
00:39:10
So as a tip for the listeners or leaders out
00:39:14
there, what is what would you say is
00:39:17
important for people to focus In terms of what would you advise people
00:39:21
in terms of creating the best situation for themself, you know, to not
00:39:25
focus on what they left behind, but rather looking forward, if that makes sense. Yeah.
00:39:29
I would say, you know, the first thing is intentionally creating space potentially
00:39:33
to vent and to think about the past, And, you know, giving
00:39:36
yourself the space to do that, the,
00:39:40
what's the right permission might even be the right one. Giving yourself permission to do
00:39:44
it as well. Because I think we beat ourselves up a lot as human beings,
00:39:47
and so giving yourself the permission to vent if you want to, giving yourself the
00:39:51
permission to be like, that sucked. I don't want that to happen again. Yeah. I
00:39:54
think that that's actually very healthy. Yep. So giving yourself space to do
00:39:58
that, making sure that, you know, you've you've clearly, You know, giving
00:40:02
yourself space to do it, but that you also intentionally are like, okay. Now I'm
00:40:05
gonna move on and create space to think about what next
00:40:09
and how you can do better. Right? So also give yourself the opportunity to reflect
00:40:12
on the lessons and what you can do differently moving forward. So I think that's
00:40:16
one thing that comes to mind when thinking about how to focus, Giving yourself
00:40:19
space not to be focused and recognizing that you're not gonna be focused all the
00:40:23
time and not being so hard on yourself when you don't. I think another key
00:40:26
thing will really be around cultivating your awareness. And once again, that's, like, the first
00:40:30
step of of what I teach, cultivating your awareness around what you need in order
00:40:34
to be able to show up. For me, and this is you know, if
00:40:38
if you know me personally, this is probably something you'll know about me. Like, I
00:40:41
know I need to eat well. I need to sleep well, and I have to
00:40:44
move. Like, I am just not a nice person if I'm hungry. Right? I'm not.
00:40:47
Right? And so these are things I know about myself. And so when it comes
00:40:50
time to having to do things especially outside of my house. So, like, even coming
00:40:54
here, I made sure that I had an apple that I ate before I got
00:40:56
here. Because I know that makes me a nicer person, and I'm not gonna be
00:40:59
as annoyed about things. Right? Having to leave my house because I typically am at
00:41:02
home. So I think it's also about cultivating your awareness and
00:41:06
being, You know, aware of how you've evolved things that have
00:41:09
shifted and changed about who you are as well, whether it's the fact that
00:41:13
you need more sleep. Right? You might need more
00:41:16
accountability in certain areas of your life. You might need
00:41:20
to, you know, play tennis more
00:41:24
now because there's other things that are going on, and you need to have
00:41:28
that space to be able to, vent in a in a different
00:41:32
way or let out your steam in a different way. And so it is also
00:41:35
about reminding yourself that you're human. You're not a robot, and so you need to
00:41:39
create those conditions for yourself, especially if you're in a place of privilege or
00:41:42
if you're a leader because you have typically the opportunity and the ability
00:41:46
to do that more so than a lot of others. Yeah. That's spot on what
00:41:50
you just said. It's like what the, Netflix cofounder said the other day. I'm sure
00:41:53
you've seen it. This thing has been floating around LinkedIn and some other
00:41:57
platforms. I'm the Netflix cofounder. I forgot his surname, but his first name is Mark.
00:42:01
And then he talks about how he has a nonnegotiable I think I think every
00:42:04
Thursday, every Tuesday, 5 PM, he goes on a date with his wife. There you
00:42:07
go. Things like that. Yeah. Yeah. So it really is about those boundaries you need
00:42:11
in order to be successful because ultimately and this is something I always tell people,
00:42:15
like, You know, especially if you run your own business, if there's no you, there's
00:42:18
no business. Right? And if you work within a company reminding yourself that
00:42:22
you're easily Replaceable. That's just the reality. They can replace you. If you work
00:42:26
within a larger organization and you have a role,
00:42:29
right, within that organization, they can replace you. So really making sure that you're
00:42:33
looking out for yourself, you're looking out for number 1,
00:42:37
and not to be, you know, apologetic about it. Like, you know, even what comes
00:42:40
to mind is, like, I think, yeah, I think you posted I posted something about,
00:42:44
like, my knee, and you were, like, talking about, like, you know, having the sort
00:42:47
of a shift in, like, perspective. And so sometimes getting that perspective and
00:42:50
investing in yourself is important. Right? Some people might say, like, wow. Like,
00:42:54
you really like yourself. Like, even, You know, the masseuse you
00:42:58
know, the guy who was giving the massage, the medical massage was telling me, wow.
00:43:01
You really like yourself. And I was like, I only get 1 body. Like, I
00:43:03
I don't understand. And as some you know, as someone who's involved in wellness, like,
00:43:07
you should be encouraging people invest in to create space and investing in their
00:43:11
body so that they can walk to work and up and down steps without feeling
00:43:14
pain. Yeah. Like, those are not things that we should, you know,
00:43:18
those are not things that we should play around with. Like, you really should make
00:43:21
sure that you're creating space to take care of your body and to take care
00:43:24
of your mental and your physical health. So those are the things, I
00:43:27
think, once again, that will allow you to show up, do things you
00:43:31
never thought you could do for and also influence others better. Mhmm.
00:43:35
Right? If you feel good about yourself, it's a lot easier to connect with others.
00:43:38
If you don't feel that great about yourself, and there's a lot of research about
00:43:41
this, you don't sleep well, It's a lot easy for you easier for you to
00:43:44
misinterpret social cues, other people's
00:43:47
emotions. So important. And and think that People are trying to do
00:43:51
things to you and that the world is out to get you. Right? That tends
00:43:55
to happen when you haven't slept well. You haven't taken care of yourself. You haven't
00:43:58
gotten the proper port that you need. Very true. Very, very true. Wow.
00:44:03
You always blow me away sometimes in the things that you say. It's been a
00:44:07
fantastic conversation. Where can everyone find you And,
00:44:10
nowhere to send you some apples. I'll play.
00:44:15
Yeah. You can find me on LinkedIn. Just search my name. That's typically where I
00:44:19
hang out, and spend the most time. Yeah. Okay. Great. We'll put everything in the
00:44:22
show notes. You link linked to your LinkedIn website, and I think that should take
00:44:25
care of everything else. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me. This was
00:44:28
so much fun. So there you have it, guys. Akua
00:44:31
Naomi Mensa, and she is the, of course, the Founder and
00:44:35
CEO of Akua Naomi Menten Company, and, of course, she is
00:44:39
a leadership coach, and she is a,
00:44:42
what else do you are? Always forget your you you got you got a little
00:44:46
part. I start off with the coach part. But funny enough, I spend more time
00:44:48
facilitating and speaking these days. Yeah. But I always do incorporate
00:44:52
the the coaching modalities and elements into it. Yeah. That there you go.
00:44:56
Leadership coach, speaker, and facilitator. There you have it, guys. So
00:45:00
once again, guys, for today's show, please head over to the Sound of Akua.comforward/akua
00:45:05
n m. That's the sound of Akua dot comforward/akua n m.
00:45:08
That's a k u a n m. Please
00:45:12
do like us on YouTube. If you're watching on the
00:45:16
listening on Spotify or Apple Podcast platforms, a 5 star review
00:45:20
It's very much appreciated. We'll have all of the links, nuggets, and references
00:45:23
from today's episode in the show notes. And there you have it, guys. That's today's
00:45:27
episode. Thank you again for listening or watching, and I'll see you in the next
00:45:30
one. Thank you so much. Okay. We're
00:45:34
done. Alright.
00:45:38
I think it went okay.
00:45:43
Thank you again for having me.