Top5 Reasons to Hire an Executive Coach

In alignment with our 2024 intention-setting and personal growth goals, our Top5 podcast episode features powerhouse guest Bertha Robinson. As president of the NJ Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO), an affiliate of The Trusted Advisors Network and founder of Star One Professional Services, Bertha shares her professional journey with Tara Thurber as they eagerly set attainable intentions for 2024 and beyond. 

Bertha shares her insights, inspiration from mentors like Tony Agurs and a powerful tool for goal and intention-setting for 202"Foreward"!

Listen to the full podcast!

Top5 Reasons to Hire an Executive Coach

1. Strategic Planning and Decision Making
2. Emotional Intelligence and Relationship Building
3. Adaptability and Change Management
4. Work-Life Balance and Well-Being
5. Enhancing Communication Skills

Bertha Robinson Full Bio

Bertha C. Garcia-Robinson is the founder of Star One Professional Services, a business coaching and consulting firm that helps visionary business leaders move beyond goal setting to goal achievement. Her unique background and varied experience qualify her to help enhance and develop potential in people and business. Bertha works with leaders who take a people-centered approach to ensure results by developing leadership, communication, team engagement, and critical thinking skills. Bertha is the president of NJ Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO) and is an affiliate of The Trusted Advisors Network. She is fluent in both English and Spanish. 

Individuals referenced in this episode

• Tony Agurs, founder of Mastermind 2 Success: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-agurs-317b628/
• (TAN) Trusted Advisors Network: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trusted-advisors-network-llc/
• NJAWBO: https://www.linkedin.com/company/njawbo/

Books referenced in this episode

• The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington, et al.
• High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard
• The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, et al.
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• Outwitting the Devil: The Secrets to Freedom and Success by Napoleon Hill 

Transcript

Bertha Robinson: 0:01

Hey everyone, welcome back to Top5 brought to you by DefinedTalent. We are a results driven service working with clients to connect them with quality talent as well as working to make an impact within the recruiting industry. We talk straight about today's professional world with real world professionals, experts in recruitment, job seekers and business owners alike. Have a question for us. Send it in and you might spur our next conversation. I'm Tara Thurber, Co-founder & Director of Talent Partnerships here at DefinedTalent. And joining me today is Bertha Robinson, global business coach and consultant at Star One Professional Services. Hi, Bertha. How are you today? I'm doing great, Tara, thanks so much for the invitation.

Tara Thurber: 0:48

Awesome. So glad to have you on and Happy New Year. Happy 2024.

Bertha Robinson: 0:53

I am looking forward to the new year and excited - taking it one day at a time.

Tara Thurber: 0:58

I love that. Me too. Me too. So why don't we start about giving us a little bit of background about yourself, your experience in corporate America. And then I want to dive into how you became a certified business coach, maybe you could provide us also with some insight into that world that you're in now.

Bertha Robinson: 1:23

Okay, wonderful. Thanks again, for the invitation. I'm excited about our conversation today.

Tara Thurber: 1:29

Me too.

Bertha Robinson: 1:29

And a little bit about me. Let's see, I'll start by saying that I think I can say that I'm an accidental entrepreneur. I did start my business career in corporate. I worked in telecom for almost 19 years. And I love the environment, it was very fast paced. It allowed me to really explore more about who I am and how I can interact with people.

Tara Thurber: 1:53

Yeah. So it was like, early stages of what I'm actually doing today. I was a business analyst. And working as a business analyst, again, your finding data, you're doing research, you're providing those steps, really quickly, I worked directly with the VP our regional VP in New York. And I love the work that I that I did.

Bertha Robinson: 2:19

But unfortunately, there was a decision in the corporate world in my division specifically that impacted my role, and also impacted my team. And we were separated. And actually, originally I was asked, would I leave what I raised my hand you know, and leave it was a small team of four. I didn't know what I would do next. But I was on that list. And I gotta say that when it was time for me to leave, I shared with the VP and management team that I wouldn't have changed anything the way that things had gone. I learned a lot in my experience early on in corporate that really set the base and the foundation for the work that I do today. And I wasn't sure what I was going to do next. So November 30, on my birth anniversary of 2015 was my last day. And on December 1 I was like now what? (laughs)

Tara Thurber: 3:16

(laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 3:17

A lot of prayer and self reflection and you know, as a blessing going through the outplacement agency. I was sent and I was exposed to different ideas. So you would go and get prepared as you know, outplacement agencies do to help you go back into corporate get your resume ready. I hadn't done a resume Tara and about 20 years.

Tara Thurber: 3:38

Oh, goodness! That's a lot of pressure right out of the gate anyways. Holy Cow!

Bertha Robinson: 3:45

And then LinkedIn. I was on LinkedIn. But all my LinkedIn connections were internal. Right.

Tara Thurber: 3:50

Right.

Bertha Robinson: 3:51

In my, you know, my organization.

Tara Thurber: 3:53

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 3:54

I was like, Okay, I have to learn this all over again. Someone came in and did a presentation on franchises. And I was like, I don't think so. But I knew I didn't want to go back and interview I didn't want to go back into the corporate world.

Tara Thurber: 4:07

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 4:07

One day a woman came in and talked about starting a consultancy. And that was it. She talked about the skills needed and what they were looking for and high level executives and those that were in management that could come and start their own business, a consultancy firm. And I said to her, I need to meet with you. So I went and had what we called a mutual evaluation. They checked me out, I checked them out. And I joined the Trusted Advisors Network.

Tara Thurber: 4:36

Wow.

Bertha Robinson: 4:37

2016 I signed a contract with them. And what that means is they are my back office, my back end. They supported me initially with starting and launching a website because I had no clue. They trained me and how I can help businesses achieve success. And it was really initially it was all about a mindset shift for me.

Tara Thurber: 5:00

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 5:01

So I went through, you know, was like five days of training. They are my certifying agency that certifies you. We went through the Trusted Advisors Network Coaching Academy.

Tara Thurber: 5:15

Okay.

Bertha Robinson: 5:15

And we go through intensive training and practicums. And that's how I became a business coach today. So I'm so grateful for the experience and even the separation from my corporate role, because I don't know if I would have been where I am today.

Tara Thurber: 5:33

Holy cow. That's what a shift and talk about changing your your view, it's like, you need to take off one set of glasses to put on a different set to look at things differently.

Bertha Robinson: 5:47

Yes.

Tara Thurber: 5:47

But how amazing to did your corporate company, refer you to the outplacement agency? Or did they hire the outplacement agency to help all these employees that they had to let go?

Bertha Robinson: 6:01

Yes, exactly.

Tara Thurber: 6:03

Wow.

Bertha Robinson: 6:03

I had worked conjunct they have a contract. And that was being let go went through this process. So it was wonderful. And that they were giving us a preparation. So now we're not saying you know, goodbye. There were a lot of folks that went through this outplacement agency and experienced it and were able to get rehired in the same organization. I knew though I was very clear that I was not going back into industry or into that room.

Tara Thurber: 6:27

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 6:28

So grateful. Very grateful.

Tara Thurber: 6:29

So amazing. Now coming to Star One Professional Services as a founder, how did you create it? And you know, what does it provide for your clients?

Bertha Robinson: 6:44

So as I mentioned, going through the affiliate training through Trusted Advisors Network, they give you some foundational work so that you can identify what your market is, how do you do your market analysis, identify your own brand, your logo, your differentiator. So all of that was foundational support, but then it was you had to go out there I sink or swim?

Tara Thurber: 7:10

Yeah (laughs).

Bertha Robinson: 7:12

I have my minister and mentor says anything of value has a difficulty factor attached to it. He always says that to us. And it's so true. Because after I went through the training, my difficulties didn't end there. I was pregnant with my fourth child.

Tara Thurber: 7:32

Wow.

Bertha Robinson: 7:33

And now I'm networking. They said, Oh go to the BNI's of the world.

Tara Thurber: 7:37

Yup.

Bertha Robinson: 7:38

Make sure that you have a pres release sent out and announced that you are now launching Star One Professional Services, that you are a coach and that you're a consultant that you're going to help businesses achieve more. And it was like I needed to first do that.

Tara Thurber: 7:52

Right.

Bertha Robinson: 7:53

Before I can help anyone else do that. And networking, a very pregnant networking, and people were looking at me like, Well, I'm gonna go do business, and then about nine months, you're gonna be be busy (laughs).

Tara Thurber: 8:04

(laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 8:04

It was a challenge. Yes. But it was also an experience. So I went in there, I got to meet people, I'm growing my database and my connections. And it was more

Tara Thurber: 8:13

Right. about me offering and doing things for them at first that it was ever reflected back, but definitely putting in those seeds in the ground and watering it and still going to those meetings and still having the one to ones even though I'm very pregnant. I was able to say that I developed those relationships that years later people are celebrating, well, how old is your daughter? Now I remember when we met, let's do something

Bertha Robinson: 8:37

How is your communication skills? What is together. So local chamber, developing relationships. One of the first places that I also went to was the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners of which I'm the current state president. And that was one of the best things is to be surrounded by women business owners, that helped me identify and model they were modeling leadership, they were modeling needs to succeed, how it is to embrace failure and then know your self leadership and leadership of others? And we that no, doesn't they know it's no right now, keep going persevering, change management, all these things that they were modeling and mentoring and coaching me along. So Star One Professional Services was birthed in May of 2016. And what we do is we help business owners and leaders close the gap really identify where are you stuck, where really when you're between where they are and where they want to be. So what does that mean? That means really going beyond just setting your goals, but being being very clear on what your goals are, what your objectives are, and then achieving them. So I help leaders and business owners, get clear on a process, get more clarity on themselves, get clarity on what their mission is, maybe they need to change their business model, how's their business structure? Do you have a business plan? You know, have you looked and developed your recent, your newest strategic plan. stuck, it really means that you're unclear. And then how do we gain the clarity. And sometimes it's about letting go and saying, I don't know how to do this, and saying, who does? And then delegating, leveraging your relationships, internally and externally. So we help business owners really close the gap between where they are and where they want to be, get clear on what they want to do, and then develop the process help them to develop a process that they're going to implement in order to achieve more.

Tara Thurber: 10:41

Wow, first, I just going back a little bit, the support that you had to get to where you are today is just, you know, there's no monetary value that can come with all of that support for you, especially as a female founder and business owner.

Bertha Robinson: 11:05

Absolutely.

Tara Thurber: 11:06

That makes me so excited to hear that because I speak to so many individuals out there that feel alone, that feel like they don't know where to turn for support and help. So to hear that there is that support out there is just fantastic. Fantastic. And then, you know, what one star Professional Services does I mean, closing that gap, there's so many leaders out there, top executives out there, founders Just having that feeling. So it's, I just feel out there that I've been listening to and talking to lately, just from networking with other founders. And I like it's so important. And the successes that come out of it strongly urge individuals of that caliber to find mentors, to find coaches, to find that support, because there was a panel I was listening to a couple of months ago, and it was too, from individuals that I've spoken to that have had that three founders that were on the stage. And one of the founders said, being a founder had been one of the loneliest and I just coaching. You know, it's that support, it's that guidance, I started like, welling up with tears. And I was like, oh, goodness, I'm not alone then!(laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 12:26

Absolutely. it's that I got your back, right? So you can see a different side of yourself other than what you see in the mirror. And You know, Tara, that's it's so true, what you mentioned before about feeling alone, you know, on an island. And it's like that support is not out there. I think sometimes I want to venture and say that most times we know that support is out there. But sometimes, and I don't know if this is just you know, female founders, we wear the mask that we have to show up. And that everything is all right.

Tara Thurber: 13:18

Yes.

Bertha Robinson: 13:19

To be successful, everything's fine. And we're not asking for help. Or we're not willing to share that. You know, what, I just fell on my face. I think I'm, you know, I'm thinking I need help.

Tara Thurber: 13:29

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 13:29

And asking for help. When you ask for help, that's one thing I can say that's been a common theme in my business. I have received so much help. I have received so many mentors, so many coaches. And even within my own industry, they say, you know you're gonna go network at that event. There are so many different executive coaches or business coaches, or there is no competition when you have an open mindset.

Tara Thurber: 13:55

Yep.

Bertha Robinson: 13:55

And when you're intentional, and you know what you need to ask for what you need, the teacher, the mentor, the coach, the person, the shoulder will show up. And when we let go and really release ourselves of the mask, of the idea, then you're gonna see that you're going to continue to get traction. I work with business owners and leaders that are really successful, that are really passionate about what they do. But they sometimes tend to think that what got them here is going to get them there. And they fall into well, I can't let other people know because I've done this already. I've been there before. Why is this not working anymore? Well, you may need a different ingredient in the sauce now. Right? You may need something different and you may not be that one ingredient. So kind of letting that kind of letting go really releasing and submitting and masterminding, talking to others even in your own industry, even people you may see that are possible competitors. Turn that around and make them cooperators. You know do your own internal SWOT analysis, we're ready to look at the bottom line and look at the SWOT analysis of the organization, but look at yourself as a leader and take stock. And we've talked about you and I have talked about the impact of the pandemic.

Tara Thurber: 15:08

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 15:08

And still what we see today.

Tara Thurber: 15:11

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 15:12

There's no mistake, ask for help know that help is out there. There are really goodwill people. Not all business is dog eat dog.

Tara Thurber: 15:19

Yep.

Bertha Robinson: 15:20

There are business owners out there that are really good intention that want to see you, that want to lift each other up. And I have found that, and I also am of the mindset, and I share this with my clients, that what you believe you will achieve, right? That's Napoleon Hill. So whatever you have, in your mind, if you think that there is no one out there that will help you, there is no one out there that will help you. But if you know that you have a collaborator, mentor, a peer partner, and I have an awesome peer accountability partner, and a business owner, who's who's been in business for 20 years, so she's 20 years business, my senior, but we're peers in this, and we help one another. So be ready to be more and this is my thing for the year. And it's always been my thing, be more of a student than you are a teacher. And then the teacher will show up when you need that. But I think that we need to look at that and take the masks off and be more authentic, because help is out there.

Tara Thurber: 16:18

Authentic. That's one of my favorite words. And I couldn't agree more with you right now, Bertha could not agree more. On your website, you had actually stated that you help close the gap between goal setting and goal achievement. I'm excited about this one. Can you explain the difference between the two?

Bertha Robinson: 16:40

Sure, yes. So most people know that we should set goals.

Tara Thurber: 16:46

Right.

Bertha Robinson: 16:46

And goals have a criterion. So we've heard about smart goals, right? Specific, Measurable, Attainable, the Artemi is realistically high. So it's a little bit of a stretch, goal or challenge. And then the T is critical, it's time bound, right? You have to have a time, a deadline or something that's going to pull your push you to get there. So we all really know about them. I add three letters in front of that, either WHY or WAY, W - you have to write down your goals, write them down, keeping them in your head and saying, you know, this is what it was last year and the year before, it's becomes very nebulous, you want to commit to it, you want to write it down, there's a lot of science behind putting pen to paper, and really realizing that in the brain and connecting to that to your thoughts. And then making it happen, the H can be harmonious or the A can be alignment. So written, alignment or harmonious goals, to who you are, where you want to go, what you want to do, what your team, what your organization's mission is. Because if it's misaligned, uou're already not going to make those goals happen.

Tara Thurber: 17:58

Right.

Bertha Robinson: 17:58

You teach them. And then the WHY is critical, they have to be your goals. I can give you goals, I can set goals for you. But that's really field work or homework, really coming from me has to have the passion and the internal fuel for you in order to make them happen. So once you've done that we know about the criterion, then there should be a process of achieving them. So all goals we talked about, we've heard of BHAGS, right? Big, hairy, audacious goals, you want to really dream big things.

Tara Thurber: 18:29

(laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 18:30

And we don't dream and think big enough, we really don't. The bigger that we think, and we got to really work small. And the science behind this. And the process behind that is that the activity that you do on a daily basis, should be lined up with your long term aspirational vision or your long term goals. So you have a goal in mind, we talked about setting goals that's writing it down as having that criterion. But then you got to turn around the set and do some work, right?

Tara Thurber: 18:59

Yep.

Bertha Robinson: 18:59

There has to be some action and some activity behind that, so that you can really achieve the goals. And the activity behind that is what is it that you're doing on

Monday, at 8: 19:08

30 in the morning, that is in alignment with the goals that you want to achieve, whether they're quarterly, whether they're monthly, yearly, whatever they are, you want there to be a link. Otherwise, why are you doing what you're

doing, you know, at 8: 19:22

30 on Monday morning.

Tara Thurber: 19:25

Right.

Bertha Robinson: 19:25

There has to be that kind of activity, that

Tara Thurber: 19:25

Right! (laughs) connective tissue to the goals. Then beyond that is once you

Bertha Robinson: 19:30

It's the beginning of the year or the of achieve them, and you have that internal like fuel, you can do it again. It's a repeatable process. And the more you do it, the quarter or the beginning of the week. the more you do it, the more you do it, then it becomes a new habit and attitudes or habits of thought. So it's going to fuel your positive mindset. It's going to fuel your positive attitude. It's going to fuel you to be able to then say look, I've done it now you want to teach others. You want to show others and you want to make that impact. But if you're just

Tara Thurber: 19:57

Yup (laughs). setting goals, and you're not even writing them down, and I didn't like setting goals, right, but if you're just setting goals, that's great. That's step one. And it shouldn't just be something that you do, because it's January.

Bertha Robinson: 20:09

Something that to your core, you really want to get done. And I have a coach and a mentor, who tells me all the time, he says, Bertha set no more than three at a time, make it doable, make them achievable. And out of every three goals, one of them should be a health goal, health-related goal. Because if you're not around was the other two worth it? (laughs) You gotta be around, you want to have mental health physical health, spiritual health, economic health, you want to have a health goal in there. And then you can have your other goals, a personal goal, business goal, organizational goal, and then you, you know, you change them around. And as you achieve them, more and more of them, you're really ticking away at your dream inventory. So when I start with a client, we really start up there really high up there, I said, big, hairy, audacious goals, we start with the dream inventory, I want you to write down all your dreams, and you know, Tara, how many times there are people that are like, can't even get to like five dreams.

Tara Thurber: 21:16

Wow.

Bertha Robinson: 21:17

And that's when I'm like, let's continue to work together.

Tara Thurber: 21:21

Yeah! (laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 21:21

One of the goals is to fill up a page, but every dream you have, and that's what I think is so wonderful about children and youth, they can dream big, they can dream crazy big. And as we get older and older and impacted by time, and maybe some experiences, we tend to lose that about ourselves. So we need to dig deep and dream more. And then turn the dreams into a goal category, which is what we do, there's a whole goal process. And once you have a goal category, then you can give it more body and more structure, you make it a goal. And then you have your task and action items that support it. And that's how you get to goal achievement.

Tara Thurber: 22:02

Wow, what a difference I feel in the goal setting and goal achievement. Goal setting - It's you get them down, you get them out of your head, but the achievement, the goal achievement, I mean, I love what you just went through with the process, because you still have your goals, and the achievement is the action that you get to be working towards. And to me, I mean, that's the fun part. Right?

Bertha Robinson: 22:38

Absolutely.

Tara Thurber: 22:38

And that's the fun part where you get to be able to take those step by step processes, procedures, just steps in general, to get even closer and closer to that achievement. And I feel that humans as humans and being their own authentic self, they want that that victory, right? You want to feel success, you want to feel achievement. And I just I love that process that you put out there. I think that that is so important for individuals, because they can write their goals for the year, for the quarter, for the month, for the week. But getting to them, not by just manifesting them but by taking action steps to attain those goals and achieve those goals. That's huge. And to hear doing it once and doing it again, after doing it a couple of times to be able to then relay that and teach that because people will start seeing that from you.

Bertha Robinson: 23:53

Absolutely. That's where it just becomes fun again.

Tara Thurber: 23:57

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 23:59

The beginning those that are that enjoy the dream inventory exercise, right? You're writing them down, you're you can see it, you can envision it, then you have a little bit of eat the frog, right?

Tara Thurber: 24:10

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 24:10

As you said that this is what you want to do. So we now need to commit the activity and the actions and a lot of what we want when we think and dream big. It's not overnight, it's gonna take work, it's going to take commitment, it's going to take action. So you got to eat the frog, do some of the things that you sometimes don't want to do in order to get there. So you know, whether it's weight, losing some weight, you got to get out there and run it's cold outside, maybe you got to do something inside, but you got to keep the level of activity up. Keep perservering. And when you achieve it, that's fun. And if you don't achieve this is the other piece of it. We've heard the story of three feet from gold.

Tara Thurber: 24:49

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 24:50

You know, you may need to tweak your process a little don't give it all up. Just tweak your process, move a few feet over and then you'll strike gold or maybe move you know a few more feet over, then you'll strike gold. But don't give up. Don't give up. Because your dreams are worth it. That's why we start with the dreams. It's all worth it.

Tara Thurber: 25:10

It's such a breath of fresh air. And I'm going to kind of dive into my next question for you too, Bertha is with 2024 now in full swing, we're in the first week of it. Some people are skeptical about setting New Year's resolutions. I personally, don't do New Year's resolutions anymore. I write goals for the year, like I go to that. The big ones and I am like this is different goals in my list. My goals seem to go pages. But then what I liked about it, and I've only started doing this over the past, like five years, but what I like about it is at the end of the year, because I've written it down in the beginning, I do a brand new journal a year. And I go back to it, and sometimes I achieve those goals, not even realizing that I had them as goals.

Bertha Robinson: 26:11

Yes.

Tara Thurber: 26:12

It's amazing. And so coming back to this, we love intention setting as a replacement for resolutions. I absolutely love that. What is your personal intention for 2024?

Bertha Robinson: 26:27

Thank you for that question. But we're an audio on your, your audience can't see me and see you. But I'm like nodding my head, I'm smiling. And I'm like, right, you're right on it.

Tara Thurber: 26:36

(laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 26:36

Because even with the dream inventory activity or exercise that I do, my clients do, and my affiliate community does, you will find that at the end of the year, the end of the quarter, you know, maybe even a year and a half, you look back and you look at that dream inventory like I did that. I forgot I wrote that down. And that's the power of just starting by writing it down, you're committing it to yourself. So you commit to yourself, really, and it has nothing to do with others, although it will have an impact, and you'll help others and your goal may be about serving others. But initially, when you're writing down your goals, I have to be very personal. So I just wanted to say that because that's happened to me. So many times I love that there's so much truth

Tara Thurber: 27:17

I love it. in that. So but I love that you said also you use the word intentional. And intentionality is about connecting and commitment. So you're saying this is what I intend to do. And it goes right back to activity. So this is now how I'm going to commit. This is how I'm going to keep my word to myself. And knowing that what you have set out to do, you're worth it. The reason I also don't like resolutions, and it's not so much the word because you can call it resolution, you can call it intention, you can call it goals. Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 27:54

It's just that it's almost as if you're you mentioned this before, you're setting it out there and you're so aloof about it that it's going to happen because it's a new year. And it's not about magic. It's about process. It's about doing the work. It's about having that activity behind it. And maybe it's for you, it may be okay, you have a brand new planner, and you're writing it all down. For me. That's exactly what it is. So I'm intentional in that I time block.

Tara Thurber: 28:24

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 28:24

I have a strategic time block. I have a buffer time block, and I have the a breakout time block. My strategic time is time that is you know, revenue generating I'm networking, I'm working with a client, I am working on process, right? So when you look at the time activity blocks that you're putting in and processing something that's going to give you an ROI, strategic time block. Buffer blocks are times that could be time wasters. So it's the cleaning out of the voicemail and the emails and if you have an open door policy and your team is you know knocking on the door, that's very critical and important for culture and connecting and communicating and process and making things happen in any business. Right? So I have that time also scheduled so people know what's my knocking on the door time phone call time, it's my buffer time.

Tara Thurber: 29:22

Right. I love that.

Bertha Robinson: 29:23

And then my breakout time is time away outside of the business. It's time with family, it's time with That's fantastic. my husband, my children, my faith community, it's time for me maybe I do want to go for that run. And for that walk, it's time away that re-energizes me. And most times in that re-energizing. I'm getting ideas that I can bring back to the business. So it's giving me more clarity. It's giving me more creativity, innovation, all of that. So those are the three breakout buffer and strategic time blocks that I commit to And within those timeframes is the activity that's connected with It's committed on paper and my paper planner, and it's linked my long term aspirational vision. I have a five year, a three year aspirational vision that I write out every 12 weeks. So I'm part of a community, and we're committed to a 12-week year, it's a quarter. And I'm seeing the things that I would love to do, the impact that I would want to have, for my community, the people that I want to serve, that I want to help, the names of individuals that I want to connect to, I have a name of an individual that I want to mentor me that I say her name often. And that would be one of the things that I would love to happen in my three year, five year aspirational vision. So the work that I do is intentional, because I know that it's connected to the greater self, my greater work, my future vision, my legacy, my children, my community. So it's not just about me, it's this bigger, so it's pushing me, it's pulling me. And that's how I see it. So this is not just what I do at the beginning of the year. I have a new year, every 12 weeks. to my electronic planner. And I've had conversations with people like Well, that's a lot of work (laughs). What do you how do you do that? Well, I do plan, you know, on Sundays are on Monday mornings, I have my planner right here in front of me.

Tara Thurber: 31:33

Right.

Bertha Robinson: 31:34

You know, is it is a picture perfect? No. Because also, as my minister, my mentor says there's a wobble in the earth. So there's a wobble in us. So sometimes your ear buds are all, you know, jangled up (laughs). And you can't hear.

Tara Thurber: 31:49

Yup! (laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 31:50

That is perfection in itself. Because that's who we are. So we can't look for something to be, you know, with someone else paints the picture to be what's out there in social media, what's on the magazines, what's painted somewhere. Be your authentic self, being intentional. What brings you joy. That's something that one of my clients always says if it brings me joy, then I'm doing it. And if it scares me and brings me joy, I'm for sure doing it.

Tara Thurber: 32:14

Yeah! (laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 32:16

So those are the things that I aligned to, in my new year and my new year's every 12 weeks.

Tara Thurber: 32:23

I love that I feel like last time we spoke you had mentioned it, and it kind of flipped a switch in my head. And I'm going to try and give something like that a shot for myself, because it feels right to me, it feels like it feels right. It feels like that's the way achieving and moving forward. The full 12 months is - How do I create time management and everything for 12 months? Instead focusing on those 12 weeks - Those goals can be so much more attainable, I feel.

Bertha Robinson: 33:15

Yes.

Tara Thurber: 33:16

So I'm I'm liking that a lot. I definitely something I'm going to try and see how we go through that.

Bertha Robinson: 33:24

Yes, let me know.

Tara Thurber: 33:26

I will, I will.

Bertha Robinson: 33:28

It's more manageable because, we could fool ourselves and saying, Well, I didn't get it done in January. I didn't get it done by March. I didn't get it done in May, I have until December. And it's almost as if we're procrastinating, we put it off, we put it off, we put it off. And if you notice in the business world the last three months of the year it's like a whirlwind. We gotta get it all in, we gotta meet our numbers, we got to do all this. But if we just bring it down a little to 12 weeks, you have four times as much opportunity than those that are thinking annualized.

Tara Thurber: 34:07

Four times as much opportunity. I mean, that's so amazing to hear that. That can happen in one year.

Bertha Robinson: 34:16

Yes.

Tara Thurber: 34:17

You know, it's not just the one time opportunity to get to that in 12 months, but to be able to have that opportunity four times in one year. It almost takes like a big weight off my shoulders thinking in those terms instead. So I really liked the way that you're looking at that and the way that you journey through the year. It just seems right I'm gonna do it. I'm trying it.

Bertha Robinson: 34:49

Awesome. And I just want my full authentic self full disclosure, this is not my this is idea is a book, the 12 Week Year. And in my mastermind community there are a

Tara Thurber: 34:57

Yeah. few books that we raised over the 12 Week Year is one of them The One Thing by Gary Keller, Brendon Burchard's High Performance Habits. And so till we get one thing, high performance habits, we also go into thinking Grow Rich, Outwitting the Devil, and those last two are written by Napoleon Hill. So it's working on the internal and the external. And all of this is led by, mastermind, extraordinaire, Mr. Tony Akers. And it's just been a phenomenal journey. So if I'm finding success, this is why I say just be a student. Yeah. Yup.

Bertha Robinson: 35:40

That's another thing. That's a daily goal. Be a And like you said, it lifts a little bit of student, I share this with my clients, because it's worked for weight off your shoulders. And we talked about four times, you me. know, the opportunity in a year. Okay, if it doesn't work once you have three times, if it doesn't work, you know, the third time, then you still have two more, and if anything you have it once, and if you haven't, at least you've learned, you have experience. And if we're blessed enough, we have another 12 weeks.

Tara Thurber: 36:11

Right! (laughs)

Bertha Robinson: 36:12

So keep that help goal in there.

Tara Thurber: 36:17

I love that too. So, Bertha, but let's go let's do a dive in. What would you say your Top5 Reasons Executives are Hiring an Executive Coach?

Bertha Robinson: 36:32

Sure, I would say and encapsulating a lot of what we've just talked about, strategic planning, getting very strategic in your thinking, emotional intelligence and relationship building critical, personally, and professionally.

Tara Thurber: 36:49

Yeah. Love that.

Bertha Robinson: 36:49

Adaptability, we talked about change Along with relationship building, is that management, we talked about implementing a lot of different things that maybe some people are not yet doing, or that they were doing, they didn't stick to shifting and you know, moving work/life balance and well being, I like to call it Three Feet From Gold and you know, trying a little, tweaking a little bit in their process of what they're doing. So change management and adaptability is big. work/life integration, or prioritizing, which goes right back to the time blocks that I mentioned.

Tara Thurber: 37:24

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 37:24

Make sure that your breakout blocks are first, that's family, that's self, that's community, and then everything else. And then enhancing communication skill sets. So big, written, spoken, nonverbals, what we're communicating with biases, and intercultural relationships and experiences in our businesses, we're all coming from different vantage points and perspectives. And how we communicate is really big if we want to move any needle forward. So I would say that. I would say strategic planning and decision making, emotional intelligence for relationship building, change management, adaptability, work/life integration, and well being and enhancing those communication skills.

Tara Thurber: 38:12

I love all five of these reasons. I mean, there's so much that comes through when an executive can kind of lean or and be able to say what do I do, or coaches come to the table with different tools, different ways, different ideas, that maybe they've tried, maybe they need to just step to the left a little bit and try again, or step to the right a little bit and try again.

Bertha Robinson: 38:50

Absolutely.

Tara Thurber: 38:51

And I feel like everything that you've just said, for these top five reasons. They're all huge that will also help executives leaders, move forward and bring their business to another level.

Bertha Robinson: 39:05

That's great. I've been saying 2020-forward, this is the time to move forward. And it starts with the first step. I can't do it for you. I'm your coach. I am walking side by side.

Tara Thurber: 39:19

Yeah.

Bertha Robinson: 39:19

I'm gonna ask you some tough questions. You know, we use dynamic inquiry as our process. And sometimes the questions are tough, sometimes the questions are easy. I have a client to say, well, you just asked me that question. I said, Yes, but you didn't answer it yet. (laughs)

Tara Thurber: 39:33

Yeah (laughs).

Bertha Robinson: 39:36

So I'm asking it again. And when we answer it in words, then we got to follow it up with action. So that's why I love the work that I do.

Tara Thurber: 39:46

Oh, Bertha, you're brilliant. This has been a pleasure sitting and chatting with you today and so enjoyable and so educational. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much for giving us some of your time to share with our audience. And I'm excited to have a new year for four times in one year. I'm going to try it. And I hope our listeners take a lot from this podcast because you have a lot to share. And thank you.

Bertha Robinson: 40:19

Oh, thank you, Tara for the invitation, this has been a lot of fun. I love all of our conversations. And even if they don't take a lot, if they just take a little, that's all it takes, all we got to do is just maybe change something, tweak something a little bit, you'll get that little bit of change. And that may be enough inspiration, motivation, to get you to continue to do something that's going to be impactful for you and for others. So I wish nothing but the best for you, the audience in this 2020-forward.

Tara Thurber: 40:50

I love that you said that because I've been writing focus forward 2024 I've been writing it in all of my journals and things that I've been putting out there for the past three days.

Bertha Robinson: 41:05

Yes! (laughs)

Tara Thurber: 41:07

Focus forward and make it happen. So thank you.

Bertha Robinson: 41:13

Thank you.

Tara Thurber: 41:14

We are DefinedTalent a DefinedLogic service coming to you at Top5. Make it a great day.