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Are you at executive level in a multinational corporation, and maybe you’re finding it hard to get that balance between work and life? I see you I may feel you, I wanted to record this episode specifically for you. Because the demands you face are different to other women in leadership in your organization below your level. And I know this because I’ve coached hundreds of women at your level who were at almost at burnout, and it’s not easy, you have more responsibilities, the absolute volume of work that’s coming across your desk that needs your attention is just crazy. And then you put a lot of pressure on yourself as well to write, you may manage different time zones and find yourself responding to emails, when you should be exercising, or doing the food shop or booking that holiday. You’re responsible for financial performance and delivery. And post pandemic marketplace has just changed. But of course, no one’s looking at that. They’re looking to you. And you’re the leader of other senior leaders who should know what they’re doing at their level, but not all of them do. So you’ve got performance issues, you’re the decision maker on things that you really often don’t want to have to make decisions on. And the buck just kind of stops with you. And it’s a lot, it’s exhausting. You might even be a little bit resentful about work as it just seems to be taken over and you travel a lot, you often get home late, mentally exhausted, you’re trying to make time for exercise again. But it’s just fitting it all in is really hard. And I know this because I work with so many women at your level. And I support you through all of this, it is possible. And I know that sometimes you have to really push yourself to give your parents a call and to have a conversation with your partner, because work is just there in the background of your head just niggling. I know too. I hear from my colleagues and my for my clients too, that my telling me sometimes they have friends that they’d love to meet, even just every now and again for a coffee or dinner during the week. But they very little energy to do that. And then the weekends are so busy, you’re trying to catch up in the mountainous of the week, you have the family. And if you have kids, you’re juggling their activities and demands too. And it’s just relentless. And not to mention, you probably have a family back home that you care very much about. And as things gone on with them that you want to be there for but the levels of exhaustion and work just stop you like going there. And it’s a lot, right. It’s a lot. And you know, I was talking to a client of mine there a couple of weeks ago, and she was saying, you know, she had herself convinced that the big salary was worth it. But is it really, and it really doesn’t help either when your friends and family tell you that you’ve changed or refer to as the rich friend or the one who has all the money. Or the fact that you compare yourself to that younger male peer who you just think is outshining you, and it just makes you work all the harder. Can you relate? So if you said yes, I want you to know firstly, that you’re not alone. And the good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. There is light. And I promise you that when you do the work on and for yourself, your life is going to change in the most magical way that you could imagine. Like my client Suzanne, who was a VP in large, multinational, okay, she was working crazy hours. She’s a mom of two and she went from working 70 hours a week to take an items off her bucket list. Now it took work it took mindset work it took looking at her productivity it looked it took her putting in the effort on and for herself in a time where she didn’t have time to do this. But I promise you when you do the work on yourself and you gave yourself permission to invest in yourself invest time in yourself if you want to work with me or another coach investing money in yourself, just giving yourself what you need to get yourself to be the best possible version of you. It’s going to be so worth it. So to get you started today, I’m going to be sharing with you three little known secrets so that you Couldn’t get ahead, okay. And if you’re likely see, I don’t want three secrets, I need you to hold my hand, I need support, I am tired doing this on my own. I want to connect with other women on my level, I want to feel supported. Just reach out, don’t even listen to the rest of the podcast, reach out on Instagram or LinkedIn, just DM me private message me or you can just go to my website, Lucy garden.com, forward slash contact because I’m here for you. And if we’re the right fit to work together, please just reach out because it makes me upset thinking that there’s women like you out there, who are just literally wasting your life. And it really doesn’t have to be that way. I know what I’m doing and I can support you. Okay. But if you’re not there yet, I am so happy. And you have time to begin to take back control. So let’s jump in right now to the three little North secrets. Here we go. So secret number one is to stop caring so much. So you might expect me to be getting into things now well, productivity and managing your calendar and setting boundaries. I’ve done all that before. So these are three different secrets that really aren’t going to be the thing that moves the needle for you. I know that you need to deliver on the critical things and make progress because you’ve got you’ve got a very clear mandate in your role, you need to sort out the team’s performance and delivery. And it’s in an environment that’s getting tougher, and this whole do less with more. And because of the pressure. And because I know you align with your company’s vision and mission and you care deeply about hitting your targets. You when You care so much, you can only get hurt. It’s like that really toxic relationship you had with that boyfriend all those years ago. You know, the one that when you let your guard down, and you gave so much broke your heart, it’s painful. And that’s exactly what happens when you care too much about your job. I promise you, you can still do a great job and deliver to the best of your ability, where you have the birthright to experience the joy of life. And what’s it all for if you’re just working all the time? Like what do you do in a for like my client Susie that I spoke about earlier, she was convinced that if she took a step back, she would look like she you know that it was going to look on favorably she was thinking she was going to maybe have to leave her job or she was thinking maybe maybe I just need to get take a demotion, she just was like I can’t do this anymore. At the same time, she is so ambitious and wanting to succeed. So what ended up happening was is as she took more time for herself, and as she slowed down, and as she gave herself the space and time she needed to rest, to recuperate to re energize when she learned how to delegate properly and manage her time and prioritize her time like a pro CEO was one of the trainings that my clients love. Everything changed for her and I can for you too. And there’s a book I read years ago, that really helped me, I will make sure my team link in the show notes. And it’s called the life changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by saronite. God, you might notice on this podcast every time I curse, I wince. I don’t know why, but I really do. So I’m gonna wince a lot during this section, but hear me out bear with me. Okay, so in this book, if you haven’t read it, it’s honestly, it’s also good. I read it years ago to change my perspective. So she explains in the book that you have basically got a book budget, and you only have so many folks you can given a day. And if you’re given all your folks in your food budget to your company, you have no folks left to give your life. So I’ll make sure that my team, link it in the show notes. So you can go and grab the book or listen to it on Audible or whatever. And it’s just a massive mindset shift that you can begin to make, which is like, I only have so many apps I can give in a day. And now I’m gonna give some of those times to me. Okay, so that’s the first one. Okay, stop caring so much. The second thing and this one came up because I ran a retreat for female executives there in back in when was it March, April. And it was really powerful to get everyone together. And we were you know, I was doing lots of training on my magnetic influence method on how to be more effective communicator, and we were looking at work life balance, and we were looking at team challenges and all of the things and having some fun and some pornstar martinis and things like that to really really cool. But I said one phrase that really landed with the ladies who were there which was give your brain to the business and keep your heart and soul for your life. So you need to stop selling your soul to the devil. Okay, you want to put your business hat on. And as a business owner myself like I am the CEO of my company, okay, so believe me when I say like if I my company doesn’t make money my kids don’t eat Okay, so I know that I know all about business, okay. But when it comes to my business, I have to I try to keep my emotions out of it. And yes, sometimes that means, you know, making tough calls. But you’ve got to do it. And it’s the same for you. You are the CEO of your own area, you need to be able to care, just the right amount so that you’re a respected leader, so that you deliver on your mission. So you care about your team. But you’ve got to keep some of that love for yourself and your loved ones on your life. Because I’m here to deliver some tough news to you, my friend. And if you’re multitasking, come back to me. Your company can’t love you back. Your company cannot love you back. And if you were to die in the morning, your job would be advertised within a week. And that’s not personal. It’s business. And sure, when you set boundaries and push back, some people won’t like it. But you’ve got to. And that’s when my clients hire me for private coaching, because it can be hard to do all this leadership stuff and have a life for yourself. But I promise you it is possible. Again, I’ll
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give you another example. I had an amazing client. Her name was Fiona. Fiona was a very senior financial leader. And one of her friends after she finished working with me said to her, well, we kind of halfway through that. Her friend said her face looked less gray, you’ve got to love the besties for that. So she was a senior leader in a well known global firm. And before she started working with me, she was working crazy hours, it was affecting her sleep, her relationships, how she showed up to work, she found it so hard to push back. And there were certain people who were just abandoning their obligations, and she was picking up the slack. But fast forward a few weeks, and her friend friend told her that she looked less great, and you’ve really got a lot of the best is for that on June. She says that she definitely has more energy and she’s brighter. She’s not dragging herself out in the bed anymore. And she’s working 30 hours less overtime every single month because she is sleeping better, better sleep quality, which means she’s more refreshed. Because of that her work is better quality. And she’s getting through things way quicker. So initially, just like you she didn’t want to push back because she wanted to deliver, she wanted to be seen as helpful. She valued her professional reputation and the level of seniority she held in her organization. But what she’s actually taught people that she works with is that to uplevel is really to uplevel. And as a result really it’s about her setting her boundaries. So because she set her boundaries, they’re now given her better quality work, which is taking her less time. And I remember she said to me that when she set her boundary, she said it was like a resetting of relationships. And it gained her more credibility and respect, which enabled her to deliver more. And she even took three days off in the middle of odd season at work, which was unheard of due to the strategies they taught her when we work together. So ladies, if you want to deliver in your leadership role, while having more time for your friends and family, you can have this I promise you even at your level. But it all starts with you setting an intention to put yourself first first to push back and to watch the magic happen. Which brings me on to my third and final secret, which is to set powerful intentions. Now, you’ve heard me talk about boundaries many times. So I am not going over that here again. But if you want to learn more about how to set your boundaries, go back to episode number two, the ultimate guide for setting boundaries. And listen to that episode where I share my three step dad method to support you. But before you even think about setting boundaries, you have got to get super clear on your intentions. What do you want your life to look like? What are your intentions this week for your time? Intentions are so important. And they’re a key part of my programs because I love holding you accountable. I love helping you to think differently. I ask every single client in my groups and am I want to wands What are your intentions for the week? What do you intend to do to take action on this and I help hold them accountable to actually do it. Because when you’re clear on what you don’t want, ie you don’t want to be feeling tired. That means you want to feel energized. So when you get clear on what you don’t want to know what you do want. So if you don’t want to be thinking about work, that means you want to be present or thinking about fun. If you don’t want to be second guessing yourself. That means you want more certainty in who you are, and to have belief in your abilities. So if you want better work life balance intention setting is key. So as we finish up this podcast today, I invite you to reflect what are your intentions? What needs to change right now? How will you make that happen? And what support do you need to facilitate that? Now I will be taken on private clients very soon. I have been fully booked for so many weeks and months still Ask while and I’m opening up a couple of spots in my mastermind groups as well, where you can also connect with other women at or above your level to navigate all this together with me as your personal coach. So if you’re feeling like now was the right time, and you’re tired of trying to figure this out alone, if you’re tired of missing out on family time, if you’re tired of missing out on phone, if you’re tired of trying to navigate all of these crappy challenges that happen in the corporate world on your own, reach out to me, and let’s see if we’re a good fit to work together. Now, I don’t just work with everyone because I can’t I’m not an energetic match for everyone. Some people don’t trust me, because they don’t know me long enough. Sometimes the vibe is just not right. And I only work with women who are ambitious, who are heart centered, who value family who understand that we are only on this earth for a short time, and who are committed to putting in the work for themselves. Because I can as you cannot just walk up to a session with me and expect me to fix it. Because you have to fix this, I will be there to support you. I will be there to show you that you are resourceful. You are whole, I will teach you the things that you need. In order to be more productive, I will teach you how to handle conflict more effectively, I will teach you whatever it is that you need. Because everything I do is totally personalized to you. It’s not a cookie cutter. Anything I do is all tailored and personalized because I believe we’re all different. Like if that sounds like something you want, please just reach out to me. So again, go to hello@lusignan.com you can email me or you can go to my website, there’s a contact form, there are just easy thing to do. Just send me a DM on LinkedIn or Instagram. I’m really nice. I’m really open and you know, my team sometimes monitor my inboxes and they will absolutely make sure that you are prioritized as my gorgeous, lovely loyal podcast listener, I will make sure I make some time to speak with you. Okay, so that is it for this week’s episode. Just to quickly recap on the three secrets. Do you remember what they were? The first one is stop caring so much. Get that book, The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a focus will really help you by saronite. And that will be linked to the show notes. The second one is to give your brain to the business and keep your heart and soul of your life. And then the third one is to set powerful intentions. So again, I invite you to think about your intentions. Think about what you want, think about more importantly what you don’t want. Because when you know what you don’t want, you know what you do want and I’m always here if you need support. So until next time, be safe be well please take care of yourself. My gorgeous lady, please take care of you, sending you lots of love and strength. You’ve totally got this talk to you soon.