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12MinuteLeadership
Welcome to the 12 Minute Leadership podcast where in 12 minutes or less I’ll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a BIG difference in your leadership effectiveness.
I’m your host, Elise Boggs Morales, leadership professor, consultant, and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results! If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place.
Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team’s engagement, inspire top performance and retain your best talent.
12MinuteLeadership
Episode 17: 3 Mindset Shifts My Coach Taught Me | 12MinuteLeadership
Have you ever wondered why some leaders experience exponential growth while others remain stuck in incremental improvements? The difference often lies not in working harder, but in adopting powerful mindset shifts that transform how we approach challenges and opportunities.
When I hired my business coach in 2023, I couldn't have imagined the profound impact her guidance would have. Within just one year, after struggling with infertility for over five years, I finally conceived my daughter. I also wrote my first book, launched this podcast, expanded my coaching team, and achieved numerous goals that had been on my back burner for years.
The catalyst for these breakthroughs wasn't just hard work—it was three counterintuitive mindset shifts that challenged everything I thought I knew about leadership and success.
The first revelation? Exponential growth is actually easier than incremental growth. This concept from "10X is Easier Than 2X" by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan taught me that true 10X growth cannot be achieved by simply working harder. Instead, it requires radical focus on only those activities that create disproportionate value while eliminating everything else. By applying this principle and the 80-20 rule, I identified my unique abilities, delegated administrative tasks, and freed myself to focus exclusively on high-leverage activities.
The second mindset shift—"let it be easy"—taught me that many of the struggles we face come from our own resistance, overthinking, and over complication. This doesn't mean avoiding effort; it means dropping unnecessary tension so your energy flows toward what truly matters.
The third shift—embracing that "two things can be true at the same time"—has transformed how I navigate leadership paradoxes, from giving balanced feedback to resolving conflicts and setting boundaries.
These mindset shifts have not only accelerated my results but made the journey more fulfilling. Sometimes the breakthrough you're seeking isn't about doing more—it's about thinking differently. Ready to transform your leadership? Listen now to discover how these principles can help you achieve extraordinary results while finding more joy in the process.
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Welcome to the 12-Minute Leadership Podcast where, in 12 minutes or less, I'll share small things that you can put into immediate practice that will make a big difference in your leadership effectiveness. I'm your host, elise Boggs-Morales leadership professor, consultant and coach. For the last 17 years, I have helped thousands of leaders level up their influence and achieve remarkable results. If you want to trade compliance for true commitment and create your dream team, you are in the right place. Get ready for a quick hit of practical wisdom to increase your team's engagement, inspire top performance and retain your best talent. Ready to level up your influence and get better results. 12 Minutes starts now. Hi everyone, elise here, welcome to episode 17.
Speaker 1:Today, I am continuing the series on coaching. Last week, I shared five reasons to hire an executive coach. I have an amazing team of executive leadership coaches, but I also receive coaching myself. I hired my business coach in 2023. Her area of expertise is mindset. Since being coached by her, my life and business have never been the same. Within one year of hiring her, I finally conceived my daughter after five plus years of infertility, wrote my first book, launched a podcast, hired an assistant, expanded my coaching team and achieved other significant goals that had been on the back burner for years. One of the most important factors in choosing a coach is choosing someone who has a proven track record in the areas you are seeking success. My coach is at least 10 plus steps ahead of me, offering wisdom and guidance that has saved me years of time. Today I'm going to share three mindset shifts I made as a result of coaching with her. My hope is that your thinking will be challenged for the better, like mine was, and you'll have some gold nuggets you can apply to your own life and leadership.
Speaker 1:Mindset shift number one Exponential growth is easier than incremental growth. I'll say that again Exponential growth is easier than incremental growth. This concept is very counterintuitive and not something I could have ever come up with on my own. To drill this concept in, my coach recommended the book 10X is Easier Than 2X by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan when looking at an effective growth strategy. In short, 10x is easier than 2X because it forces clarity.
Speaker 1:You can't 10X by doing more of what you're already doing. You 10x by focusing only on what has exponential potential, those things that truly matter, and eliminating the rest. 2x or doubling your growth can often be achieved by working harder, adding more tasks or making incremental improvements. It's familiar and feels safe, but it usually means carrying a lot of things that don't truly serve you. 10x growth or tenfold improvement cannot be achieved by working harder in the same way. It requires radical focus, simplification and letting go of the majority of things you're doing. Only your unique abilities, the things that create exponential value, will get you there. It's the 80-20 rule on steroids. To go 10x, you must focus on the 20% of your activities that generate 80% of your results and eliminate or delegate the rest. Here's how I applied the 80-20 rule in my leadership in business to produce extraordinary results in a short amount of time. I identified two things First, my unique abilities and second, narrowed my focus on the activities that could create the most exponential growth. Once I got that clarity, I either eliminated or delegated the rest.
Speaker 1:As a result of this audit, I hired an assistant to support me with all the backend admin work, client support and communication and all of the front facing elements of my brand, like social media and the launch of my book and podcast. I also hired three more executive coaches to join my team and expanded the work my coaching team is doing. Previously they exclusively did executive coaching. Now I am fielding other types of client work to them based on their unique skill sets and expertise. In my personal life, I hired a local company to provide us with clean, organic meals a couple nights a week for dinner to save me time and allow me to be focused on being present with my daughter. So what am I doing with all the time I got back? My 20% is now focused on doing more work with organizations, consulting at the strategic level, limiting the number of people I coach, updating my rates, developing new offerings and services for clients, recording this podcast, reading books, nurturing my business community, blocking out self-care days where I can recharge and CEO days where I can focus on strategy and give space for new and creative ideas to flow. Applying the 80-20 rule has increased the growth and clarity of my business significantly.
Speaker 1:Want to apply this 80-20 golden nugget to your leadership and or business. Here is some practical application it to your leadership and or business. Here is some practical application. Ask yourself what would I have to stop doing, start doing and focus entirely on if I wanted 10x growth? Also, be willing to let go of good opportunities to pursue only the great ones and recognize that the path to 10x is simpler, not harder. It requires less activity, but more clarity and courage. All right mindset.
Speaker 1:Number two let it be easy. The first time I heard my coach say yet another counterintuitive phrase, my mind could not compute how you can let something be easy that circumstantially seems challenging. This is something she challenged me with early on and I can honestly say it has transformed the way I think Things I previously thought were so hard are hardly a blip on my radar now. New things that could be perceived as hard are now challenged. So here are the key concepts for let it be easy if you're finding yourself in challenging circumstances.
Speaker 1:Number one releasing struggle. Often, when circumstances feel hard, part of the hardness comes from the mental and emotional resistance that we add Overthinking, bracing for the worst or trying to control every detail. Or trying to control every detail, let it be easy is an invitation to loosen that resistance and allow the situation to unfold without so much internal struggle. Number two simplifying instead of complicating. Leaders and high achievers in particular, tend to overcomplicate solutions, adding extra steps over preparing, orparing or aiming for perfection. The phrase reminds you to look for the simplest, most straightforward path forward. Sometimes the solution is less complex than we first assume.
Speaker 1:Number three trusting yourself. Challenges can trigger self-doubt. Let it be easy is also a reminder that you already have the skills, wisdom and capacity within you. You don't need to force or prove yourself. You can trust the preparation and abilities you've built.
Speaker 1:Number four shifting energy. It's not about ignoring difficulty. It's about shifting the mindset from this is a battle to this is an opportunity. I can move through with grace. That lighter, more open energy often creates better results and less exhaustion. So here's an example that might resonate with you.
Speaker 1:Imagine you're preparing for a presentation for a potential new client. Your default mode might be I need to cram, I need to over script every line, I need to anticipate every possible question. The let it be easy approach might sound like I know my material. I'll focus on the three key points. I'll trust my presence and let the conversation flow. The prep is still there, but without the unnecessary tension. So, in short, let it be easy doesn't mean avoiding effort. It means dropping the unnecessary resistance, overcomplication and pressure so that your energy is freed up for what truly matters Mindset shift. Number three Two things can be true at the same time.
Speaker 1:I'm a recovering perfectionist, black and white thinker who is becoming more and more comfortable with the messy gray when I shared some different challenges I was having. My coach shared another mind-stretching phrase two things can be true at the same time. So here's a quick example I can feel grateful for my team's effort and still be frustrated that the project missed the deadline. Why does this matter? In leadership, leaders face paradoxes daily growth and risk. Confidence and humility, vision and pragmatism. Many people think in either or terms, but leadership requires both, and thinking Acknowledging that two things can be true allows leaders to navigate complexity without denying reality.
Speaker 1:So here's some practical application. First, emotions in leadership. You can be excited about a new opportunity and nervous about your capacity. It's not weakness, it's being human. Another area is feedback and growth. A team member can be incredibly talented and still need to work on communication. Recognizing both truths helps leaders give balanced, constructive feedback. Another area is conflict resolution. In a disagreement, each side often has a valid perspective. Saying two things can be true shifts the tone from adversarial to collaborative. Another area is personal leadership balance. You can care deeply about your work and set boundaries to protect your health. This reframes boundaries as strength, not selfishness.
Speaker 1:So how can you apply this mindset shift to your leadership? See if you can identify a situation in your leadership or personal life where you're stuck in either or thinking. Sometimes it's hard to be objective to ourselves, but see if you can think of a situation and then ask what would it look like if both things were true? This practice opens doors to empathy, creativity and better decision making. So, to recap, mindset shift number one exponential growth is easier than incremental growth. Mindset shift number two let it be easy. And finally, mindset shift number three two things can be true at the same time. Was your mind stretched and challenged, like mine was Sometimes a different experience is just a mindset shift away.
Speaker 1:If you enjoyed today's episode, share it with another leader you know will benefit, and be sure to join me next time as I continue this series on coaching. I'll see you then Like what you heard on today's episode and wanna go deeper, subscribe to this podcast so you never miss an episode. You can also pick up my book Lead Anyone on Amazon. Then go to my website to check out ways that we can support your leadership goals. From executive retreats to customized training and coaching, my team of experts will help you level up your leadership and accelerate your results. Go to wwweliseboggscom for more info.