Business Innovators Radio - Dr. Marcia Reynolds: How to Achieve Faster with a Professional Coach

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Dr. Marcia Reynolds is a pioneer in the coaching profession and recognized by Global Gurus as the #1 female coach in the world. She teaches in 5 coaching schools across the globe and has published 5 best-selling books that support her vision where everyone can succeed through meaningful conversations.Learn more at: covisioning.comRebelpreneur Radio with Ralph Brogdenhttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/rebelpreneur-radio-with-ralph-brogden/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/dr-marcia-reynolds-how-to-achieve-faster-with-a-professional-coach

You're locked in The Honestation of the planet Resistance is futile. The revolution has begun. We're listening to Revelpreneur Radio, helping you break the rules and build the business you need for the life you want. And now, broadcasting his pirate signal

from somewhere beyond the status glow. Here's your host, best-selling author, marketing and media strategist, Ralph Brogden. Hello and welcome to Rebelpreneur Radio. It's the show that helps you build the business you need so you can live the life you want. I'm Ralph Brogden. You know, the biggest problem with self-help is you have to help yourself. And what I tell people is, if you knew what to do to help yourself, you wouldn't mean the situation that you're in.

All of us from time to time need the perspective, the, the point of view from a third party, from someone on the outside who can give us feedback and support. And that's why I love to do coaching. I love to receive coaching. I like to get that feedback and that accountability and that support. And so my personal belief is that everyone needs a coach. Now, the kind of coach that you need depends upon your goals, whether it's life for whether it's business, professional, career. Today's guest is a pioneer in the coaching profession, and we're really fortunate to have her.

Dr. Marcia Reynolds. She is recognized by global gurus as the number one female coach in the world. She teaches in five coaching schools across the globe and has published five best-selling books that support her vision where everyone can succeed through meaningful, conversations. Dr. Marcia Reynolds, welcome to Rebelpreneur Radio. Thank you, Ralph. Glad to be here. I'm so fascinated to read your biography and to find that you are a pioneer in the coaching profession. It seems like this has been around for such a long time.

It's actually a very new industry. And so many people are getting into it, benefiting from it, want to know more, both as a coach and as a client. Tell us a little bit about your journey and how you got involved with coaching. Well, you know, Ralph, it was an accidental career for me. I started off with my first master's in broadcasting and ended up pushing television sets around a psychiatric hospital. And my, yeah, that's how your first jobs are never quite what you. think that it'll be. But my boss

was, I worked for a training department and my boss fired the only trainer we had and then decided to get her doctor and dump the department in my lap and my first assignment was management training.

And, you know, I did what I thought I was supposed to do and it seemed okay, but I really wanted to do this right. I ended up getting a second master's in adult learning and became fascinated with how do we really change and grow. And, you know, I kept studying it and going to workshops and making my training better, but people would say, yeah, this was great training. And then they'd go out and end up doing the same things over and over and

over. It was the last day of my last job. I went into high tech after the psychiatric hospital. So I wanted to make some money, you know. And last in years, I taught in global tech companies and ran training departments. And I decided after we went public, and I had enough money to start my own business, I was leaving. And the day I left, somebody sent me this article. It was 1995 on this new thing that was coming out in the world called coaching. you know and so I thought well you know when things like that show up in my lap I always say it's here for a reason I'm just going to go do it sure so I signed it first I signed it first coaching school I watched a demo and I said there's something different here and it just took off from there and it was right timing because there was only two coaching schools in the world and my school started the international coaching federation so I I was able to help bring this out into the world in a bigger way.

And I learned that, and we'll talk about it, that that external person like you named, you know, is really necessary to help us think through our fears, our problems, our dilemmas. We don't do that well on our own. So I love coaching. Now, you have a doctorate in psychology. help us understand the difference. Well, it's PSY. Is that psychology or psychiatry? No, it's a doctorate of psychology, so it's a clinical psych degree instead of a PhD.

Yeah, it just means I had to work people instead of just doing research. Okay, so explain to us then the difference between psychiatry. psychology versus coaching? Why would someone choose a coach as opposed to a psychologist? Well, you know, getting academics, you know, helps you to understand how behavior works, how people think, what gets in their way. And so it's a foundation for many things. There's not a distinction that I understand what goes on in people's brains better than, than a lot of people because I have the academics just helps me be a better coach.

Because, see, I don't see coaching as giving advice because you're a smart person. It's just like, what's stopping you from knowing? What's stopping you from doing? You know, I'm going to help you think through this in a way you cannot do for yourself. So understanding how that works and being able to write about it, this is what we do as coaching. This is the intention. This is, you know, the great gift we give people. My background just helps me be better at what I do.

That's wonderful. Now, you teach in five different coaching schools. So are you training coaches on how to be coaches, how to be better coaches? Yeah, you know, it just worked out because I ended up, I was the fifth president of the International Coaching Federation, and we were really expanding around the world. And so I was a part of bringing coaching conferences to Europe and to Asia and met a lot of people. So I teach for schools in China, in Malaysia, in the Philippines, in Europe, in the Middle East. So besides the U.S.

And I'm teaching coaches. So I'm a coach's coach. I do coach leaders, executives, but I spend even more time teaching coaches how to what is coaching, the foundations, but I like even working with more advanced coaches to be able to really make a difference with people. Very powerful. So when you were just starting out with your coaching practice and you were making that transition, what were some of the biggest obstacles you had to face and overcome as you're going into this new vocation, this new, relatively new industry?

What were some of the things that you were overcoming as you began your venture? Well, you know, Ralph, even to this day, it happened even this weekend. You know, if I say I'm a coach, they still want to know what sport I coach. I've had that happen to me, too. You're exactly right. I'm not going to say that. It's like, you know, it's why I quit dating. I quit wanting to have to explain it all the time.

That's what I do. So there's still that. And because, you know, as you said, there's many different types of coaches. So I'm not going to say that how other people might coach if they give more advice and they're actually mentoring more than coaching. They can call it coaching and that's fine. It's not what I do. You know, and so truly learning how to explain concisely what I do, you know, that's the challenge and continues to be the challenge going forth. having people recognize how valuable it is to have a thinking partner.

You know, but some of my clients, especially, you know, I had a bank president who was my client for eight years. And, you know, people that stay with me, they say, I need someone constantly to talk things through and to help me think about my situations. Because, again, you're smart. I don't have to tell you what to do. You probably know, but or maybe you're afraid to do it. or you just have so many options, you just don't know which one to choose. So I hope you think. And so great to help be there and create a safe place where people can just talk through what's going on with them, what their challenge is, what they think are the roadblocks.

And I know how to reflect back to them their key points and ask questions to make them question themselves and put their thinking. out on the table so they can actually see the way they're thinking. And then they see the gap logic, their fears, the shoulds that are making them crazy, all those things that fog up what I should do next. Very powerful. And, you know, that speaks right to the heart of what rebelpreneur is all about. It's when you are the solopreneur and you're in your four walls trying to build this thing. And it can be very lonely.

It can be very isolating. And you have so many options. It is useful to have a thinking partner. Not necessarily someone to give you direction and tell you what to do. That's why you're in business for yourself, probably, because you're not good. at taking direction from other people. You like to be kind of independent and set your own course. But to have someone, I can't tell you how many people I've talked to where they are just going in circles when all they needed was someone to validate their idea or point out an alternative or just help them talk the thing through.

And then it became very clear after a short conversation what they needed to do. But without that support of a professional coach and not peer support and not family and friends support, but someone who is really gifted at helping you to think and to uncover those mental blocks that we all have, those blind spots that we all have, to be able to make rapid progress and not spend our work. wheels constantly going over the same ground in our minds. To me, that is the number one factor in success as a rebelpreneur, solopreneur, a small business person, solo practitioner, trying to get out there, is you need a thinking partner.

You need someone to bounce ideas off of. Right, right. I have a coach and have always had one. that especially when you're the one who runs the business. It's like, who do I talk to that doesn't have an agenda? Who can I talk to that I can open up to and trust and be vulnerable with? And it's usually not someone in your company. So having someone external who has no agenda,

who are just here to help you think to all the challenges and all those things that are rolling around in your head is such a valuable partnership. And, you know, like my bank president, she always said, you know, you're a bottom line item for me. You know, I don't know how I would do my business without you. For eight years, we worked together until the banks kind of had some failures. It was, you know, some years back. So, yeah. What would you say is the biggest challenge with all the people that you're working with and helping them to overcome things, obstacles and figure things out?

Is there a common theme that runs through all of the people that you work with? You know, there's two. But the first one in particular is I've learned that helping people understand how they deploy. find themselves in a situation. And then the second part is creating a picture of what they want instead of what's happening now. And then looking at who are they in that picture. So like I coach to identity, you know, and this is a big thing, you know, especially

with entrepreneurs that start to build their company and they have to shift into being a leader, but they're still the founder entrepreneur and they're driving people crazy because they're not a leader. So, you know, that's a simple one, right? You know, that who are you? And can you give up who you were in order to be who you need to be now? That's a big, big challenge. And even in large companies, you know, because people moving up the ladder,

going from this position to that, and really defining who they are, who they're supposed to be, what is their greatest, you know, leaders become people who need to develop other leaders, not get work done. So how I define myself often gets in the way of my own success. So that's a big one that I really help people with. And that you cannot do on your own. Your brain, like, says, no, no, no, I don't want to think about being someone else because that doesn't feel safe.

I'm successful in the old way. Why would I change? You know, so that's a good way. of using a coach. And what I said about, and the second thing is really defining what it looks like in what I want to create. Too many leaders, they define like revenue goals.

In five years, I want to make habit, you know, our company's going to be this big, we're going to make this much money. Well, what's it going to look like in five years? And does everyone, you know, all your leaders have the same vision? Because if not, there's going to be conflicts. You know, so really be able to speak about an envisioned future. Get detailed about that as a critical piece.

Yeah, yeah. What advice would you give to someone? And maybe you have a self-help process to get them started. They can't complete the process, but maybe they can move in the right direction. Maybe to begin to question and try to define who they are. Do you have some tips that might help our listeners? Well, again, I think I'm really looking at that first you do the forward look. Like what is it that you want to create or change or have?

And can you paint that as a picture? And then to say, so if you were to have that success, who are you being in that picture? and then backtrack and say, okay, so how does that conflict with how I define myself today? And so you go backwards and then what's it going to take for me to, you know, what's getting in the way of me evolving into something new, which is difficult to do on your own? That's where a coach often comes in. You know, what are the roadblocks? What's it going to take?

And then what steps will I take? So I would say start with a vision, you know, really, get clear on what it is you want to create. If I walked around your company with a camera, you know, what would I see in two years and five years? What would be going on? And what would you be doing? You know, define that clearly so you can really look at what's the path to getting there. Powerful, powerful insights. So how can someone work with you? what tools, programs do you have available that if people hear this and it resonates that they could say, all right, let me go check this out and get some help because, hey, I realize I can't do this by myself.

Yeah. Well, for coaching, you know, people can find me either on my website, which is outsmart Your Brain.com. That's a great name, by the way. I love that. Thank you. That's my first book. Yeah. Or I'm on LinkedIn.

You can find me there. Because that would be the best thing. Otherwise, most of my books and programs are for coaches. It's like, how do you coach? But I have to say, so many leaders, I wrote a book called The Discomfit Zone for Leaders, but the book after, Coach the Person, Not the Problem, is doing so. well that leaders are buying that too, like, how do I use a coaching approach to my conversations with others?

So I would say most of my public programs and books are based in coaching skills. Excellent, excellent. So this has really been eye-opening. If you're listening to this and you're a coach and we have a lot of coaches, I talk to a lot of coaches, and a lot of coaches listen. If you're looking for that extra insight to help you break through, then Marsha Reynolds can definitely help you with that. And you probably already recognize the name. But check that out.

Outsmart Your Brain.com and see what she has available there. Any final thoughts or words of wisdom that you'd like to leave with our listeners? You know, it came out of my book. I can't even remember which one. But I think it's essential in any conversation we have that people want you to be present. They don't need you to be perfect. You don't need to be the one who knows everything. Just, you know, be there with them, hear them, value them, see them. That's the most important thing of making connections. I love that. Dr. Marcia Reynolds, thank you so much for being on Rebelpreneur Radio today. I really appreciate it. Yeah, thank you. You've been listening to Rebelpreneur Radio with Ralph Brogden.

Download the show notes and much more at Rebelpreneur.com.