Ep. 11 - The Obstacle is the Way

What's holding your leadership back from breaking through to the next level? Is your team struggling with stress, burnout, or lack of innovation? Welcome back to practical and positive leadership where we tackle the real challenges faced by leaders today, helping you drive peak performance and build resilience and motivate your teams. I'm Monica May done, CEO of Arizona S-Crow and Financial. Each month we bring you proven strategies and fresh insights from experts who have been right where you are. Today our guest is Kathleen O'Brien Thompson, owner of the Marketing Furn Professional Punch. Kathleen is renowned for her expertise in crafting strategic marketing solutions and helping businesses turn obstacles into opportunities. In this episode, we will be discussing Ryan Holidays. The obstacle is the way. Kathleen, welcome to the show. Hi Monica, thanks very much for having me. Kathleen, can you start by telling us what inspired you to bring the obstacle is the way into our conversation today? I think the book offers a profound perspective on handling challenges. Ryan Holidays insights into viewing obstacles as opportunities resonate deeply with my approach to problem solving. I think the principles in the book can help anyone reframe setbacks not just as roadblocks but as pathways to growth and innovation. I often tell my team that in any challenge that we have, look for the gift and opportunity. It's kind of become something we focus on and do internally. It really does help us to move forward in a real positive way. I encourage my team to adopt a mindset that if obstacles are really the innovation and growth and those are just things that we're going to have to go through. Ryan Holidays emphasizes the importance of changing our perception to view obstacles as opportunities. How do you advise your clients to reframe the challenges in their marketing strategies to find new opportunities for growth? That's a great question Monica. One of the things I talk to them about is really creative problem solving. For instance, if a marketing campaign isn't performing as expected, we look at analyzing the data to uncover new insights. And then we look at experimenting with alternative strategies and pivoting where necessary. And the book, Ryan talks a little bit about iteration and how you're not going to get it perfect the first time, but looking at it and learning from the places where it's not quite hitting the mark. So by shifting our focus from the problem to potential solutions, we often discover innovative approaches that can drive significant growth. That's so true. And adopting that mindset, this is where the obstacles, you know, are really innovation for growth. Definitely. Can you share a specific instance where a perceived obstacle in your career or with a client turned into a significant opportunity? We had a major client website launch and it had face some unexpected delays on they are getting us content and the assets, but they had a hard deadline. They were going to show their board of directors they had gathered alignment around multiple locations and it set up this call for everybody to see this large launch. And what the delay did is it allowed time for us to kind of go back, look deeper into the market research and refine the website so that we really had it targeted to both the internal and external stakeholders. So once we had that additional time, we were able to improve their company positioning. And as a result, when the launch did happen, it exceeded all expectations and set a new standard for future campaigns. That's great. That's a great story. Today talks about the necessity of taking consistent and iterative actions to overcome challenges. How do you incorporate this principle into your marketing campaigns, especially with initial strategies that don't yield the expected results? You know, it's so funny that you ask this question because it really is almost for us in marketing. And I really think for entrepreneurs to and any business owner, it really is a part of business. It's a part of the process that you're constantly focusing on continuous improvement for any business that is staying competitive or for any marketing program that is continuing to see results. You have to have an iterative process. You have to continue to innovate. If it's your initial strategy, that's part of the testing phase. You know, even in just launching. We recently launched a new Facebook campaign for a client. And the first one was good, but didn't quite meet the mark of our expectations. And so we as a team collectively talked about the creative and how important the creative was for this particular client. It's important for all clients, but for this client in particular, based on their product. And by going back and really tapping into that innovative spirit and the looking at what wasn't working or what can work, we're constantly moving the ball forward on the marketing efforts that we do. So refining our tactics, refining the creative, which leads to more effective campaigns and better outcomes. Absolutely. How do you maintain momentum and keep your team motivated when faced with setbacks in achieving marketing goals? This is a fun one. A couple of things. I really am a big communicator. And I really believe in celebrating small victories along the way. We are our internal communication. We have a compliments channel. We often celebrate each other's compliments, both on just like, hey, that was a great job on whatever the project was you were working on. But we try to do that with clients too. One of the things that we're famous for is we have this little button called the nailed it button, which we will hit the nailed it button when anybody has something that they've done that we really want to celebrate. And it just incorporating fun into work is so important. And you know, people who are enjoying what they do create a better product. That's one of the key components. I say the other one is we really extend quite a bit of grace for any setbacks. If somebody on the team makes a mistake, we actually have a process for it. And it's, you know, look at talking about where the mistake happened immediately communicated to the party that needs to know about it, create a process so that it doesn't happen again. And we found that people often will think more about how you responded to something that was maybe didn't quite hit the mark versus the mistake or the failure because everybody fails at some point. That's how we learn. And we're, how do you respond to it? So I think those things that comfort and knowing, we're not going to get yelled at. We're all going to say, yep, it happened. Absolutely. I mean, we everybody, it happens to everybody. And no one is immune to obstacles and failures. That is how we learn. And you know, as with my team and as a group, we sit down and we talk about it is we try to attack that problem or that issue or that mistake and make a process just like you mentioned. And so it doesn't happen again. Yeah. Yeah. That's important. I was going to ask Monica if there were any specific tools or things that you use in keeping the team motivated because you know, I've known you for quite some time now. And I know that you really have a positive mindset and you are constantly encouraging the team and meeting by example. But I was wondering if there were any specific tools that you have found that work for you and keeping that morale high. I know I try to sit down with everybody every day just for a few minutes just to see how things are going see if they have anything they need or if there's any issues. I really feel like that helps keep them motivated. I know it's sometimes it gets a little time consuming, but I believe it's important. And I think that having that one on one with everybody, it does help them. I have any concerns or if they have any things they want to talk about they can they get it off their chest and we talked about it. But I really try to keep the team motivated as a group as well. And so we have you know, little competitions within the office for every once in a while. And so it does it keeps everybody challenged. That's awesome. Like with our LinkedIn, as you know, you know, you know, how many connections that people were getting. So everyone was trying to word a little bit they were competing with each other on who could get the most connections. And so those those were fun. I try, you know, we're recently having a pot lot in the office. So we get to sit down with everybody and bring something and have lunch together. And it's fun. Then twice a month we're doing yoga together. That has been motivating and and funny because we go in there and sometimes we start giggling depending on. So it just it takes that stress away from what we have to do on a day to day basis just for an hour or two once a month. So I think it helps. And I want my team to want to come to the office and to participate. Oh my gosh. I love that. that yoga is such a fun thing to do. It shows your investment in your people. It's a great destressor. It's something that builds community. So I love that idea. It's for us as a virtual team, it's a little bit harder. So one of the things that I've done that's maybe a little bit outside the box and a little bit creative is, I do like a virtual, like from Memorial Day, I did virtual, or I think it was actually for the July virtual beer and broths. So I sent everybody on the team just a little bit of money to purchase their own beer and broths. And it was just one of those little high five mini celebrations. It wasn't in lieu of a company picnic. Everybody did their own thing, but we all-- Have fun. So that was fun. And then-- Yeah, that-- Yeah, and then the other thing, it's funny in regards to the stress reliever, I think it's also a mindset, right? We always talk about, OK, yes, the deadline is critical. We need to get this campaign launched. But at the same time, it's marketing. It's not open-heart surgery. Nobody's going to die on the table as one of my famous expressions. So that's taking it very seriously. And it's important. But at the same time, they can't be so panic about it that it's paralyzing. So having that liberty of, let's put it in perspective. And I know that the book Ryan talks a little bit about that with some examples from historical significance, talking different scenarios. I was surprised how much historical data he had in that book. It was very interesting when he brings in I'm's dying, Abraham Lincoln. And all the-- just the philosophy from Kenneth, it was very interesting bringing in the history. It was a nice topic, a way for him to make an example of what a situation that may have happened in the 1800s to a current situation. Even though it was two or a years ago, things still happen. So I enjoyed that. That is probably one of my favorite things about the book and why I recommend it is the short chapters. It's an easy read or listen, because I always do it unaudible. But it also, those lessons from-- everybody from General Grant, like you said, Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, her famous expression, in terms of, you always want to keep moving forward. So she had something inscribed on her plane, think with your stick forward. In other words, always keep moving forward. And those little things just resonated with me and inspired me. Yeah, I agree. The concept of the will in the book relates to the inner resilience and persistence. How do you cultivate a strong will and perseverance in your team and clients when facing tough challenges? Oh, that's a good question. I think I cultivate resilience by encouraging the growth mindset and fostering that support environment. I really believe in developing people. I had an early mentor that really poured themselves into me. And I feel like it's my responsibility to do that for the people around me. So I'm always encouraging-- I have a special education fund set aside. So anybody that wants to get a certification or take a class, I'm always very supportive of that. And those-- having that knowledge and having that ability to know that somebody's investing in you, often it relates to having that resilience and persistence because you are constantly learning and growing. And then I think the other thing is focusing on progress rather than perfection. As challenges come up, we talk about past successes or past lessons that we learned from those challenges. And that reinforces the persistence and that we'll get through this and that the obstacle can be overcome with determination and effort. We've been there before, we can do it again. Right. And I think it's how you react to certain situations. And I know that he talks about in the book. And a lot of times how you react will set the outcome. You can't react hastily because you have to really think about it. I don't just instantly react because you're more than likely going to possibly not make the right decision if you just sit back and wait a minute and think about how you're going to react for that solution. And I believe the outcome is usually much more successful in my situation. That is so true. It's like the old saying, make sure, take a breath, sleep on it, and then come up if you have the opportunity, taking that time often creates a better result for sure. Can you, Kathleen, provide an example of a time when your internal resolve helped you navigate a particularly difficult period in your business? Absolutely. The first thing that comes to mind is for all of our clients really, the challenging period was during significant market downturn. And really that was predicated by the pandemic. I can remember March 2020 so vividly because everything changed. And that affected our clients, which in turn, of course affects us. But despite the tough circumstances, we remain committed to finding creative solutions and maintaining those client relationships. And really, our role is one of helping them to be successful. And so we got creative with how we were doing the marketing because everything was changing, strategic adjustments, and really proactive communication, I think, is really critical when you're facing challenges. And we were able to manage and navigate the downturn effectively. And in fact, because of some of those creative solutions, the upside of it, which really surprised us, is that not only did all of our clients emerge stronger, but it also ultimately strengthened our partnership and with them. And I guess by extension, our reputation, because we really walked with them alongside them. We really are their business partner in many ways. And I think they really appreciated that we were able to pivot quickly and actively. I agree. I know it was a difficult time for us. But we pivoted and innovated different solutions. And I think that because of that, we have some new systems in place that are actually more beneficial. And we learned a lot from that. So Stoic philosophy is about focusing on what we can control and letting go of what we can't. How do you apply this mindset when developing marketing strategies for businesses in unpredictable markets? It's funny because marketing changes so much. There's always a new tactic, a new platform, a change in the platform. So I think we're already geared towards that mindset of focusing on what you can control. Although it is a relearning, because it is hard, right? You always, I have a bent towards kind of this wanting to be able to do it all on perfectionism. So it really is a practice concentrating on the efforts of what we can control. And then planning. So that's why it's so important. We come back to, we create a marketing map. We look at the goals on a very consistent basis. And you know, match what it is that we're doing according to that strategic plan. Are we, is the execution what we needed to be? How do we, is that something we still want to do at this point? So for aspects beyond our control, like market fluctuations, we stay agile and adaptable. I mean, we have to. Google will tell us, oh, by the way, we're doing the whole algorithm update. And so everything we've worked on for the last three months, maybe great. Maybe we need to adjust it. So, you know, with AI coming out, you know, here's a great example. That's very recent. So chat, GBT, AI, we have the benefit of being kind of early adopters because it's a part of what we do. Well, we internally have been talking about the fact that chat, GBT, and many of the AI platforms are really strong search engines. You're getting great information from the, for example, chat, GBT. And as it turns out, chat, GBT is coming out with search, GBT. All we're on the short list to be able to have early access to it for testing and exploration. And we're excited to get access to it because we already know that that's going to be something that we have to adopt and have to really make sure we're aware of. So, I think it's part of what we do in constantly, okay, so we'll get on the list, we'll learn about it, we'll figure it out, and we'll incorporate it into our process. So, it's that agility. Technology is always changing and always improving. So, it's always a learning, new learning. Oh, something new. For sure. Now, Ryan Holiday mentions in the practice of Amor Fati or loving once fate. How can businesses embrace this concept to not only accept but to thrive on challenges they face? You know, that's a great question. I think the, with the way I was taking that is by viewing every challenge as a chance to improve, rather than resisting or resenting our difficulties. I think, you know, we're all going to be able to do that. team and you know the companies we work with looking to accept them as a part of the journey and leverage them to enhance you know the strategic process. I think that mindset in business becomes again it goes back to resiliency and adaptability and turning those potential obstacles into opportunities for growth. Yeah. Thanks Kathleen for sharing your insights today. Thanks Monica and I really look forward to future conversations. I agree. Can you tell our listeners where they can find you? Sure. They can reach out to me on LinkedIn, Kathleen O'Brien Thompson and they can also check out our website. It's professional punch.com. Perfect. If you've enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review. Your feedback fuels our mission to bring you valuable insights into positive leadership. Stay tuned for more engaging conversations with leaders who are making a positive impact. Until next time, stay positive and stay practical.