Leadership, Culture, and Results Come from the Top CEO Chad Silverstein EP:13

Chad Sivlerstein bg

Laura sets the stage for today’s conversation by reminding Chad of when they first met, several years ago, and she was struck by how different his business and office space was. She was attending a 2-day workshop in Columbus, and the Choice Recovery office was a field trip / live demonstration of inspired thinking and leadership in action. She reminds him of how he had a Think Tank rather than a conference room, and initiates an exploration of his mindset, practices, and beliefs around business, leadership, culture, growth, and how he thinks about people.

“If you don’t know yourself, there’s a huge disconnect in your ability to lead,” explains Chad Silverstein, as he and Laura talk about how he’s created – and is creating – success in his life and how it extends to everyone with whom he works.


Chad explains how, even though he’s responsible for the success of his businesses, he’s never focused on the income. “It’s (revenue) the result of what you’re doing with the people, with your growth, and the growth of your team,” he says. He goes on to share some insights into his personal growth journey, working closely with his coach, Chet Scott, Founder and CEO of Built to Lead.

Laura notes that Chad’s leadership style and commitment to investing in his own personal growth and that of his team is unique, in that so many people end up in leadership positions they are unprepared for, unwilling to take the time and make the effort to invest in their own growth, and sometimes view developing their people as a way to “fix” them when things aren’t going smoothly.

They talk about what it means to craft one’s OPUS (vision, values, beliefs, etc…), share it with others, encourage others to craft their own, and work together to create bigger things in the world. This heightened level of awareness drives Chad to do most things opposite of standard business practices.
His team works flexible schedules, is known for holding each other accountable, and are encouraged to discover what lights them on fire and are supported in pursuing it – even when it takes them away from his company.

One example he shares is the story of one of his Collection Reps (Choice Recovery is a collections agency – one unlike any you’ll have ever encountered!) wanted to change the world. After some exploration, Chad gave her the job of helping people find jobs so they could actually pay their bills. It started slowly, but the growth has been remarkable.

Six years in, they’ve helped 700 people, and started a second business called [re]start, which is now changing the way employers and candidates connect and fill open positions, based on objective knowledge about one’s unique abilities and best fit in work roles.
Essentially, as Chad says, he watches what’s going on in the world and businesses around him and does his best to think into and do it differently!

To learn more about Chad and his work, look here:

[re]start
Choice Recovery (collections)
Learning Platform
Built to Lead

Chad Silverstein, founder and CEO of Choice Recovery, Inc.,  [re]start, LLC, and Platform Partners, LLC, has worked in the Healthcare Accounts Receivable industry for 22 years. Chad has developed and refined his personal philosophy throughout his career and integrated them into his businesses and relationships with clients, teammates, and his community, focusing on: purpose, responsibility, kindness, and love.

Chad has participated in many leadership and career development programs that have been catalysts for his growth, including graduating from several Dale Carnegie Development training courses, engaging his team with EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System), joining Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach Game-Changer Entrepreneur Program, weekly executive coaching with Built to Lead, and becoming a Kolbe Certified Consultant.

  • 2013-2019 CEO Magazine and Business First Top Work Place winner – 7 years in a row
  • 2016 Better Business Bureau Torch Awards for Ethics Winner
  • 2016 Columbus Business First ranked Choice the #1 best medium size business to work for
    in Central Ohio.
  • 2017 Columbus Business First ranked Choice the 2nd best place to work in Central Ohio
  • Nationally recognized Insidearm.com Best Places to Work winner in Collections 2013-2016
  • 2019 Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist
/by

Feel like you don’t fit in? Look for Validation Within With Executive Strategist Trivinia Barber EP: 12

Laura and Trivinia share a conversation about how it is when you feel like you don’t fit in someplace and what the implications and consequences of that feeling are. Laura shares a story of taking a job because she really wanted to work with a particulate HR Director and how she knew on the first day it was the wrong fit; she spent nine months feeling as if she was wearing someone else’s clothes every day, which were “the wrong size and wrong style.”

Trivinia relates and shares some of her own experiences of wanting to fit in, not feeling as if she did, and trying to not shine a spotlight on herself to stand out and feel even more inappropriate. Like most of us, she longed to feel “chosen, accepted, welcomed…” and instead often felt rejected.

Her solution, for much of her life, has been to “eat her feelings…” She says she’s been gaining and losing the same 70 pounds for many years! Elaborating on her personal experiences, it may be thinking one’s eyebrows are too thin (as she does), which extends to her concluding she is “not enough” in the ways that seems to matter to others in our society. The truth is: We all struggle with this kind of deficit-thinking, even men.

But this mindset is of our own creation, because nothing that grows naturally (except people) compares itself with any other living thing around it – not plants, not animals, not insects… They all grow to their fullest expression and expansion, boldly and without apology. But as humans, we obsess over perceived flaws and shortcomings and allow those thoughts to keep us small and sometimes in hiding.

The conversation shifts to rethinking traditional work practices, diving deep into self-awareness, understanding what each individual has to offer, and working to find complementary partnerships with others, so we can do more together.

Both Trivinia and Laura have a depth of knowledge into a variety of self-awareness assessments including Myers-Briggs, StrengthsFinder, Enneagram, and Kolbe, and the two discuss how they are invaluable in their fields of expertise.

Trivinia has spent the last several years building Priority VA, identifying, training, and providing expert-level virtual assistants for a broad list of entrepreneurs around the US. Originally, thinking it would allow more time for family and to provide extra support to one of her daughters, she realized she had created just the opposite! Her business had become nearly all-consuming, and because she runs it out of her home, there’s no getting away from it!

Her wake-up call was when she asked one of her daughters if she’d like to earn some extra money working in the business, and her daughter’s response was “no” because she saw it taking too much from her mom’s time and energy already!

That’s when Trivinia and husband/business partner, Chris, decided to stop chasing significance and status and focus on “slow.” Admittedly, there’s an impact on the business and revenue, but they are able to enjoy their family and what they consider a higher quality of life as a result. She goes on to offer a couple of tips on how others might make a similar shift.

Her final message and recommendation is a powerful one. Listen in on Laura and Trivinia’s conversation and let us know how your perspective on work and life are affected.

Learn more about Trivinia and her work, look here:
Priority VA – Virtual Assistants
Resources Discussed:
Laura’s Strengths Coaching – Teams/Organizations
Enneagram Book
Trivinia Barber Bio
Trivinia Barber is a real-world business development pro who helps entrepreneurs scale their business, sharpen their leadership, and build great teams.

In 2012, she founded Priority VA, one of the world’s leading virtual staffing agencies, because most businesses operate at the expense of the owner’s sanity.

The answer? Build teams you can trust.

Trivinia and Priority VA have provided Executive Virtual Assistant Support to some of the most influential thought leaders and entrepreneurs including Amy Porterfield, Michael Hyatt, Ray Edwards, Mike Kim, Gary Nealon, Lauren Pawell, and Todd Herman. Her clients also include numerous small to mid-size businesses, as well as high growth corporations.

The key to Trivinia’s expertise is her proprietary framework The Momentum Method™, which helps businesses navigate the interplay between their products, people, and processes to achieve greater growth and more efficiency.

An in-demand speaker, Trivinia has shared her expertise at numerous events around the US and abroad, including Amy Porterfield’s B-School Experience, Puerto Rico Masterminds, Influence & Impact, 90 Day Year Live, and Mastermind Talks, an exclusive entrepreneurial community curated by Jayson Gaignard.

Trivinia has been a featured guest on over 40 top-ranked business podcasts including Screw the Nine to Five, Entrepreneur on Fire, and The Daily Grind with Colin Morgan. She also hosts her own top-ranked podcast, Diary of A Doer.

Trivinia lives with her husband, daughters, and two dogs on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia, where traffic stops for snakes in the road and the occasional art parade. When she’s not working or traveling, you can find her 90ft underwater on her latest wreck scuba dive.

/by

There is possibility and presence within the fear – do it afraid! with Pastor Aaron Brown Ep: 11

Aaron-Brown

“Fear of failure plagued me since I was a kid… but I learned to feel the fear and do it anyway!” Explains Aaron Brown as he and Laura kick off this episode. “I’ve learned to move into it – whatever ‘it’ may be – knowing there is possibility and presence within the fear.”

In this specific case, Aaron was describing the fear he felt when he had an opportunity in 2018 to participate in a small, private “Shark Tank” experience during a John. C. Maxwell Leadership event. His intention, upon registering for the event, was to simply relax and enjoy the experience, soak up some wisdom, and enjoy spending time with interesting people. That, however, isn’t exactly what happened!

When the opportunity came up, he asked himself, “is it worth the effort?” The opportunity was to pitch an idea for a business endeavor in a ‘shark-tank’ format in front of Leadership Expert, John Maxwell; Shark Tank Entrepreneur and Investor, Barbara Corcoran; and the 100+ attendees at the event.

Deciding the answer was ‘yes,’ as he would have an opportunity to bless the Ascent Recovery Center (opening in September 2019), a drop-in support center for people unable to commit to a resident-based full-time recovery program that would provide community, support, education, etc. He assumed he’d be competing against a large group, but when he got that call that his idea was accepted, he discovered he was one of only three people whose ideas had been selected. The other two ideas were a 3D Modeling System used to diagnose health issues in the hearts of babies, and the other was an Activity Center for mentally disabled persons.

He knew the competition was going to be tough, as his perception is that raising funds for addiction recovery is often difficult. He prepared and practiced; he knew he had to really grab their attention and make a meaningful impression in just two minutes. He was more nervous than he remembers being before, as well as excited by the opportunity and the audience.

He dove in, did his best, and got through it – doing it afraid!

Then the moment of truth… John and Barbara deliberated and then Barbara was to announce the winner. It was Scott Tolar, who had pitched the Activity Center. What happened next will surprise and inspire you!

Scott was in a position to be generous, and so he was. His generosity inspired John and Barbara to join in and share some of their wealth, as well. You’ll have to listen to hear the outcome of this, but let’s just say a few seeds of kindness, generosity, compassion… have more power than you imagine and can spread much farther, too!

At Laura’s urging, Aaron dives more deeply into how he “did it afraid” and what works for him in these kinds of situations – Defining Moments, as he calls them.
Listen in as Aaron shares his tips for doing it afraid and how being willing to step into vulnerability opens doors, creates opportunities, and allows us to be more fully who we were meant to be.

The learn more about Aaron and his work, look here:

Aaron Brown Bio

Aaron has been a pastor for 28 years and led Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church in Joplin for 25 of those years. Saint Paul’s is a church with three locations and a staff of 60. His skills include communication, team building, leadership development, vision casting, systems, community involvement and media usage. He led his church through 5 capital campaigns and 5 building projects including reconstruction after the 2011 tornado. Aaron brings a sense of humor and practical wisdom to leadership, believing that the role of a leader is in large part looking ahead and identifying obstacles and opportunities. His personal mission is “To do God will with people I love.” Aaron serves on the boards of Ascent Recovery Residences, The Ozark Center, and JOMO Adventures. His hobbies include cycling, card magic, and fixing broken stuff. He is married to Janet and they have two daughters and one dog.

/by