CEO Magic

Kris Plachy: Well, hello and welcome to season two of the Leadership is Feminine podcast. And in this season, we're calling it "CEO Magic." Now, don't get all freaked out. This isn't going to be kumbaya and dancing around fire circles, although there's nothing wrong with that. This is going to be about what I believe is magic in practical form, magic that we all have access to, that sits right in front of us that we just may not be believing hard enough in and reaching out and working with. Let's do it. All right, y'all. Welcome to season two. I was talking to Miriam on my team yesterday, and we were talking about this season. And she said, "Are we going to take a break?" I'm like, "No, I have too much to say. I can't take a break." So let's do it. Let's talk about CEO Magic. Now, if you're a client watching or listening to this, you know I talk about this a lot.

So you'll be like, "Oh, this is interesting." And in fact, in the lab, I will be teaching this. We're going to do a whole class on CEO Magic. I wanted to use this podcast as sort of a springboard and spring us into the next 13 weeks together. So I have things I want to share with you about magic. We're going to be pulling conversations that we've had with Sage Business CEOs, women, who really have incredible magical wisdom to share. And I'm going to share those excerpts and pieces and parts with you. So I'm really excited about this coming season for you to hear some things you haven't heard and also for you to connect with other women who are magicians like you, because I think we all need each other right now. And as I have stressed and said so much on previous podcasts, the world needs us. Y'all, listen, it's a train wreck out there.

Now, not everywhere, and you know what I mean when I say that. I'm not trying to overly catastrophize, but it's rough. And we need leaders right now who will acknowledge that. We're done with the steam roll. Are you done? I'm done steam rolling, man. Holy mackerel. 20 months. Let's go. Let's just talk about it. You guys are trying to hire people who are PTSD-ed out. Pandemic PTSD, I'm sure it's going to be a thing if it isn't already, right? We all have touches and tinges in different ways. Some of us, because we literally just went through the terror of our life and some of us, because we think this is the most ridiculous thing that's ever happened. Right? I have no judgment. I see everybody sees it differently. Dr. Shanita Williams was our guest speaker yesterday, who, by the way, wrote an amazing book called the Feedback Mentality, if you haven't bought it.

And she talks about ontological humility, which is just such a fun word. "Ontological," I sound very smart, right? But basically, it means that you are willing to see both sides. That's leadership. Leadership is not, "I'm right and let's go. My way, only my way." That kind of leadership is false, and it's latent in fear. Fear is a leadership tactic and it works because when people are scared, they make decisions to protect themselves. So just be careful. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. Let's talk about magic. Okay. So here's why I want to talk about this. First of all, I believe that every woman who has a business, I believe every woman is magic, but I believe every woman that has a business is absolutely a magician. And I've said this so many times. And so forgive me if you've heard me, but I really want you to experience it like I do.

You had an idea in your brain and you said, "Yes, I'm going to do that." And I use myself as an example, right? I had an idea in my brain that I wanted to be a coach. I didn't even know what a coach was. I took a coaching class in 1994 with a guy named Rich Fettke. And I was like, "This is amazing. What is this?" "Be a professional life coach," is what he said, and he was making like $25,000 a month. And I remember thinking, "Are you kidding?" In his beautiful house that he lived in. That bug bit me when I was 24, 25 years old. And I now sit in my beautiful home, talking to you and I get to talk to other amazing magician women every day of my life and I get paid for it. And if that's not fricking magic, I don't know what is.

An idea was in my brain. I put it in the world. It makes me want to cry. I put it in the world, and now I make money. I get to work with... The people I get to work, I just, I'm in awe, literal awe of the people that come into my life. Are you kidding me? And I also now support people because... I don't, but the business does. I created a thing in the world that now other people make money. What? Come on. And so do you, whatever it is that you do in the world. I don't care if you're a chiropractor or a pilates instructor or an engineering firm or a lawyer. You had a thing in your brain and now you're doing it, but you forget you're a magician sometimes. Don't you, love? You start to think you're underneath it all. You feel buried by it.

You don't feel magical. You feel frustrated. You feel burdened. You feel overwhelmed. You feel helpless. I know because I do the same thing. But our power lies in our belief and knowing of what's possible for us. So what I did is I sort of sat down, and I thought about who are the women that have completely impacted me? Knowingly or not, right? People that have come into my life who have had a magnificent effect and not just on me. And for me, there's famous, famous people. And then there's people who maybe not everybody has ever heard of before, nobody's heard of. But I think about them. So I made my little list, right? These are people who are standouts, right? So Oprah is a standout, right? Oprah is incredible. Look at what she's created, whether you like her message or not is not what's relevant to me.

I just want you to look at what she's built. Brene Brown. First time I heard Brene Brown, I'm like, "Wait a minute. What?" She took my breath away. Diane Push. She was my COO and she's a genius and a miracle worker, magician woman. Ali Brown. The day I got to meet her was so fun. I had had such and continue to have such admiration for her. My bestie, Brook Castillo, right? That started with what the heck kind of magic is she? Harriet Tubman. Huge influence on me when I was young. I loved her. I read everything I could about her. I still do. Beyonce. Who is she? So here's what I want you to think about, you guys. I watch The Voice. I'm sure you all do. If you don't, you should. It's really lovely. It's a great show, great family show. My daughter and I watch it.

We love it. And you look at someone like Beyonce. She's incredibly talented, right? Whitney Houston was another one. I mean, right, raw talent, raw talent. But there's a woman on The Voice, Jershika, who has been a security guard with a voice like what she has, right? And what I realize is when you watch a show like that is you realize how many people are out there that are magical. So she is as talented as Whitney Houston and Beyonce, you guys. No question. But what's the difference? Why is Beyonce, Beyonce? Why did Whitney Houston become Whitney Houston? Why did Brooke Castillo become Brooke Castillo, right? What is that? Because I know Brooke is a part as a human and she's amazing. She's a love. She's a dear. She's generous and kind. She's also a human being. What is it about her versus the thousands of other life coaches on the planet?

Is it just they're... What you hear about people is, "Oh, well they're just a unicorn." And we dismiss it. I actually want to study it because I actually don't think that they're better than other people. I think what they figured out is how to tap into currencies that other people don't tap into, the unseen, the unseen currencies, because it's what I've done too, right? I teach people the same thing to do when it comes to having a difficult conversation. And despite that, the same thing, there's people who thrive in it and then there's people who just can never get it. They say the same words and one person says it and it's great and it goes so well, and another person uses the same words and it's a train wreck. What's that? That's magic. That's understanding that there are other currencies as a CEO that you can start to leverage and understand that takes everything you do to that next level and compliments that for you with ease.

Because I believe that when you feel ease and when you feel fun and when you feel joy and when you feel pleasure and when you feel connection and when you feel collaboration and when you have heightened communication ability, you thrive. And when you thrive, everybody around you thrives, which is why our vision is to prove the power of one thriving woman. But I recognize now that, while I teach you the fundamentals, right? So people teach people how to sing. People teach people how to play tennis. People teach people how to play soccer. People teach people how to write poetry. People teach people how to build a car. But then out of the teaching, there's always this person, these people who come out of it, right, even my own daughter. My daughter's a soccer goalie. She's a magician. She has exceptional skill, but she's learned the same things as everybody else.

What makes it different for her? Is she just lucky? I think saying things like that dismisses the power you have to truly create what you want. You negate yourself when you say to someone, "Oh, they're just lucky." And you dismiss their capacity, their ability, their knowing, whether it was intentional or not, that they have harnessed currencies that other people haven't, and that you could do if you chose to. What if that were true? What if I am right? What are those currencies? I'm still figuring them out. One of them that I know is true is the currency of discomfort. One of them that I know is true is the currency of belief. One of them that I know is true is the currency of self-understanding. Most people don't want to do things that are hard. Most people don't want to question what they believe. And most people don't really want to understand themselves.

They just want to blame others for their circumstances. Magicians take responsibility. Magicians lean into discomfort. CEO magicians are willing to question what they think. CEO magicians are willing to get to know themselves in order to be better for their business and their team. Those are just three. There's more. I know there's more. But when I look at these people that we're talking about, right, it wasn't easy for Oprah. Listen, we all know her life story. There's nothing lucky about her. She worked her tail off. Every single person I have mentioned has worked so hard. I could speak to Brooke working hard. I've known her since 2005 when I sat in a room with 12 other people who paid a hundred dollars to sit there with her. People look at her who she is today and think she was handed that. Absolutely not. That's not true for Beyonce. Harriet Tubman, are you kidding? Discomfort. She went back. She kept going back.

So when you sit as a CEO of your business and you wonder, "Why? What is happening?" It's because you have not tapped into magic, my love. Skills get you so far. Tactics get you so far. But there's that unexplainable, that other part that you are invited to explore on any given Sunday, any given Monday. And I wonder what would happen for you if you did. I wonder. I'd certainly love to know. You know you can always reply or send an email to hello@krisplachy. They send all of them to me. I read everything you guys send us. And of course, you can always write a review. You know how I can't get off a podcast without asking. So here's what's coming up. The How to CEO program, I really should call it an advisory. What we're really doing here is trying to shift the way that you think about this, because I know you don't have time for another fricking program.

I just want you to come on a call and let us help you. And we're going to do that. In the How to CEO program, we've changed it a little bit. It's eight weeks now, instead of 12. It's less expensive than it used to be. We're really shifting it to try and get you to see and join us so that we can help you get the traction that I know you need faster without a lot of time. I appreciate how busy you are. So we're going to start a new cohort in January, but you need to be on the wait list in December because we're going to do some really cool things for people on the wait list. So as you're listening to this right now, just go to howtoceoregister.com and get on the wait list, so you get some of the notifications that are going to be coming out this week, really exceptional opportunities.

I don't want you to miss out on them. I'm going to do a live coaching four days, a live experience of coaching called Lead as You Are, where I really, really work with you on how to be who you are instead of think you have to be someone different to show up and hire and fire and manage and have difficult conversations. I know that you have everything you need. You just need some support and some guidance, and I want to show you that over the course of four days, live coaching with me. But you have to be on the wait list to be invited, okay? So I'm just stressing that because I don't want you to miss out. All right? So go to howtoceoregister.com. And if you want, send us an email, [email protected] and let us know what do you think about CEO Magic? I'm curious. What are your thoughts? Let's talk about them. Anyway, y'all, thank you for tuning in. I'll talk to you next week.