The Magic of a CEO Breakdown

Kris Plachy: The magic of the breakdown for CEOs. Here we go! Hello, everybody. Welcome. I'm Kris Plachy. Thank you for joining me on Leadership is Feminine podcast. This is the season where we’re talking about CEO magic. And it’s my favorite thing to talk about and today I want to talk to you about the breakdown. And, oh dear, I have a lot to say! You know, my coach said to me, right? “Always perceive the break through.” So, what do I mean by breakdown?

Well, I can certainly say that over the last, you know, many months, I’ve had the opportunity to work with well over a hundred and fifty amazing entrepreneurs... women. And the last two years has been incredibly lucrative for a lot of people in many ways, in the circle that I’m in here (the women I work with) and yet a lot of that abundance or a lot of that success has also come with a lot of, you know, putting your head down and just getting it done. Which is what we do. 

That’s what entrepreneurs do. And what I have certainly seen over the past several months with both myself and many of my clients is an awakening to pieces and parts of the business that you might have been tolerating, and at your own expense. And the other thing that’s happened is that a lot of people have had significant adversity and I’m speaking directly, yah know, I speak to... of myself, with last year receiving a cancer diagnosis, having to have radical surgery and what that does to you when that happens. And I... I have two clients actually who are recovering from an incredibly bad battle with covid. And that changes you.

And it also reveals to you how much things can operate without you (haha) When there is absolutely no option. So, it’s interesting, right? The magic of a breakdown. The magic of illness. The magic of adversity is like a highway speed train to showing you what you’re capable of. Even though while you’re in that train it’s awful. It’s uncomfortable. It’s miserable. It’s disquieting. But for many of us it’s really important because it’s kind of the only way we wake up, right? It’s the only way that we can be touched.

And so, one of the things that I’m working on as I’m introducing the sage CEO work into the world is this complimentary knowing of this is awful and I don’t want to deal with this and this is hard and I can’t see my way out of it and I’m going to crawl under the covers and I wanna cry and I wanna yell; and also having simultaneously the same wisdom that says, “Oh, this is gonna be really good. (haha) I know this is gonna get me to that next step that maybe I was unwilling to take on my own.” And so, for anybody listening to this who has struggled, who has had found themselves in moments... you know? I... because I work with women I hear all of the things I, you know? 

There’s challenges with the business. There’s challenges with the team. There’s challenges with your product and sales. There’s challenges in your marriages, in your partnerships. There’s challenges with your children. There’s challenges with your own health with your own psyche, with your own wellness. There’s... there are pieces and parts that touch you I appreciate as a human being. That because you run your own business we don’t isolate out. Like it all comes together. And I wanna help you in this moment.

If that’s you, if you... if you’re sitting on the bathroom floor listening to this, if you just left your house to go on a walk to get away from it all. A breakdown is terrible, but it’s sometimes the only source of magic that will get you there. And so, instead of cursing this moment and asking, “Why me, and why is this happening and how do I get out of it and...?,” right? I’ve had several women say to me in the past few weeks, “Should I just step out like, should I just go back to being me? Should I get rid of this business? Should I...?”

How ‘bout, instead, we sit quietly with ourselves and a trusted advisor, someone that loves you and cares for you, but also holds what’s best for you; holds that part of you that maybe you can’t see right now. But maybe I could? Maybe someone else could? We could see it. We see it there for you. And of asking,” Why me? Why is this happening? What am I doing?” Let’s ask instead, “What’s next? What now?” The magic of a breakdown is the paralysis that comes because what you’ve always done doesn’t work anymore. And if you choose to instead see that as an opportunity for silence.

An opportunity to listen instead of... fear. An opportunity to ask, “What now? What’s next?” And to answer that with the most empowering choice. Not the one that pulls you backwards, but the one that your future self says,” yea, no, no, no, maybe this is now the chance we have to do this. You know, that thing I’ve been whispering to you about for five years? Maybe now is the time to do this.” If that’s you? If that’s where you are? What if it was magic? Not pain.

What if it was really here for you? And I will say, yah know? Having... I had a really kinda difficult November for a lot of reasons and, certainly nothing I couldn’t handle, yah know? Not the best month. And when you’re in that moment and someone says to you, “Oh, this is so good for you (haha). It’s gonna be so good. You’re gonna figure so much out.” It’s not necessarily what you wanna hear, but so, I’m trying to balance that for you; to recognize that, in my experience, breakdowns lead to breakthroughs. And if you are willing, even in the mire, even in the misery, even in the challenges that you’re facing right now; whatever those are; if you are willing to listen to the whisper of the break through; you’ll find it. 

You’ll find it. You will know it’s there. And if that is hard for you, if you struggle with that, I understand. Know that there are people who can help you there; and that’s what I mean by trusted advisors. People who can really hold that space for you ‘cause sometimes we just can’t do that for ourselves and the reason that the sage CEO program is being born is because I know that there are women like you, like me, who are other people’s sage, but where do you go? Because... just because you have amassed talent and resources and insight and wisdom, that you can support others with; and they seek you out. Where do you go?

Where do you go that’s safe; where you can be you, right? That’s what I find happens in the circles that I create, especially when we go to Hawaii. I work with amazing women who are incredibly accomplished and yet as we grow, we have our next breakdown and sometimes we have very unexpected ones. Where do you go? So, wherever you are, if you’re listening to this, listen, I know there are some other people that are like this has been the year of the best year of my life (haha). And if that’s where you are I think that’s awesome and I would tell you that, from a business perspective, this has been the best year of our business ever, but it’s also been the most challenging, right? It kinda goes hand to glove? Is that how you say that?

So, but that’s not a bad thing. Part of our experience as a human is to experience discomfort. Dis-ease. But those aren’t stop signs. And that’s the goal here is to see the magic of a breakdown. The magic of adversity. The magic of an unexpected moment. That in that moment you think is derailing, it might just be resetting the course for the break through.

So, I wanted to give you that today as we end up into the year. This will release on December sixth and December third is my birthday, and I always think of my birthday as the new year for me. And so, I‘m actually gonna spend the weekend with my girlfriend and we’re gonna do a lot of dreaming and scheming and planning because I love to think about I’m starting my next year and we’re wrapping up an annual year... calendar year.

And so, where have those breakdowns been for you? Are you in run right now and what is the whisper of breakthrough that you have? I know you have. And are you willing to listen? We are in the process right now of registering for our How to CEO waitlist. We will be launching a new cohort advisory group in January. And so, if you haven’t joined, and you know you want to work with us in the new year, this is an incredible time to do that.

We have upgraded this program... Without giving you a ton of boring details, I will... it’s slightly shorter than it used to be. It’s less expensive than it used to be. And, also equally as robust because we now know, after over a year of doing this program, what you need and how to help you triage those immediate needs that you have right now as a woman running a team, who’s running a business.

So, if you aren’t on the waitlist and you know this is something you want to do for yourself, go to howtoCEOregister.com. Join the list. We’re going to be doing several really cool things for people who are on that waitlist and I don’t want you to miss out. It’s an incredible time to be a woman. It’s an incredible time to be running a company. There have never been more resources available to you than right now. This is the time to invest in yourself because how you go so goes the business, my love. Let’s do this, alright? Thanks for tuning in.