Tuesdays 5:00pm - 6:00pm (EDT)
EPISODE SUMMARY:
"I want to make a greater impact but there are only so many hours in a day!" If you have found yourself wondering if you could ever reach your goals with the limited amount of time you have, this is the episode for you. You will learn the Mindset Shifts, Actionable Strategies, Time Management Insights, and Scalable Solutions required to make it happen. This episode applies to both entrepreneurs and organizational leaders within any industry.
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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
In this episode, we explore how to expand your reach and impact without increasing your workload. Learn how to leverage the right mindset shifts, strategies, technology, automation, and delegation to extend your impact, manage your time more effectively, and ultimately implement more scalable solutions.
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ABOUT OUR GUEST:
With a background in engineering, finance, and executive roles, David Shriner-Cahn is the podcast host and community builder behind Smashing the Plateau, an online platform offering resources, accountability, and camaraderie to high-performing professionals who are making the leap from the corporate career track to entrepreneurial business ownership. His weekly advice program has been named by Forbes as a Podcast To Power Up Your Ultra-Lean Business. David has also been recognized as an Entrepreneur That Will Change The Way You Communicate by Inc. Magazine.
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IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, CAN I ASK A FAVOR?
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***
LINKS MENTIONED IN EPISODE:
Guest LinkedIn Profiles:
https://linkedin.com/in/davidshrinercahn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/smashing-the-plateau/
Guest Website: https://smashingtheplateau.com/
Our website: www.gotowerscope.com
#TimeManagement
#ProductivityHacks
#WorkEfficiency
#HighImpact
#ScalableSolutions
#Automation
#Delegation
#TechInBusiness
#WorkLifeBalance
#ServeMoreClients
#GreaterImpact
#TheHardSkills
Tune in for this empowering conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
Mira opens the show by outlining its goals and introducing guest David Shriner. She highlights their career accomplishments. David shares his background in engineering and explains how it informs his current work.
The discussion continues as David defines "corporate refugees" and its relevance to his experiences. Mira connects this concept to her own work and the people she supports
The conversation shifts to career mindset changes when lacking structure. David elaborates on mindset strategies featured on his website, with Mira prompting further discussion.
The final segment introduces David's SMASH system for career and life improvement. David breaks down each step, offering advice and sharing contact information for listeners.
00:00:32.630 --> 00:00:44.780 Mira Brancu: Welcome welcome to the hard skills show where we discuss how to develop the nuanced hard skills meaning the most challenging soft skills needed to make a real impact through your leadership.
00:00:45.130 --> 00:00:54.870 Mira Brancu: One of the greatest challenges to wanting to make a greater impact is that feeling like we don't have enough hours in the day to do all of the things that we want done.
00:00:55.060 --> 00:01:08.980 Mira Brancu: and, in fact, most leaders I work with feel like their days get so filled up with constant stream of putting out fires, responding to emails, constant interruptions from people calling or coming by with new concerns and all kinds of administrative paperwork
00:01:09.220 --> 00:01:20.960 Mira Brancu: that they can never seem to focus on and do the big vision strategic stuff that they really are excited about, that drove them to want to be in a leadership role. In the 1st place.
00:01:21.150 --> 00:01:24.079 Mira Brancu: if that sounds like you, this is your episode.
00:01:24.320 --> 00:01:34.079 Mira Brancu: Our guest today. David Schreiner Khan is an engineer and executive turned advisory and community builder who will share the mindset shifts.
00:01:34.110 --> 00:01:41.220 Mira Brancu: actionable strategies, time management insights, and scalable solutions required to make this happen.
00:01:41.320 --> 00:01:55.110 Mira Brancu: This episode applies to both entrepreneurs and organizational leaders within any any industry. So it's gonna apply to you regardless. And it's perfect for seasons. 5 s. Focus on making a greater impact.
00:01:55.770 --> 00:02:17.790 Mira Brancu: I'm your host, Dr. Meera Branku. I'm a leadership consulting and coaching psychologist, founder of tower, scope and tower, Scope leadership academy, an associate, professor, a psychology today, columnist and author of Millennials Guide to Workplace politics. And I had my own leadership career before transitioning to helping teams and high achieving women navigate their leadership, complexities
00:02:17.950 --> 00:02:21.370 Mira Brancu: so welcome and great to have you on the show. David.
00:02:21.700 --> 00:02:24.199 David Shriner-Cahn: It's great to be here, Mira, thank you for inviting me.
00:02:24.390 --> 00:02:32.030 Mira Brancu: Absolutely. Now let me share with all of you a little bit about David. First, st he is the podcast host
00:02:32.200 --> 00:02:56.209 Mira Brancu: of smashing the plateau. I was on his podcast. And loved our conversation so much invited him on our podcast. And he's also a community builder behind smashing the plateau, same name, an online platform offering resources, accountability and camaraderie to high performing professionals who are making the leap from corporate career track to the entrepreneurial business ownership.
00:02:56.600 --> 00:03:05.010 Mira Brancu: But I think his advice actually transcends the entrepreneurial journey, and really can apply to any executive or senior leader.
00:03:05.150 --> 00:03:14.289 Mira Brancu: His weekly advice program has been named by Forbes, so by forbes as a podcast to power up your ultra lean business.
00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:23.090 Mira Brancu: And David has also been recognized as an entrepreneur that will change the way you communicate by Inc. Magazine.
00:03:23.390 --> 00:03:26.439 Mira Brancu: So with all of that in mind.
00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:48.179 Mira Brancu: David, the thing that I'm most struck by in your own journey is that you started out as an engineer, and I have found that engineers have this great translatable skill set of identifying the most efficient processes and outcome. And I'm sort of curious how much of your own executive leadership and advisory and coaching services.
00:03:48.280 --> 00:03:50.499 Mira Brancu: Use some of that mindset
00:03:50.820 --> 00:04:02.280 Mira Brancu: to help them with time management, with scaling with strategy and things like that. Tell me more about your background, and how you've sort of come to this place and applied that skill set.
00:04:02.670 --> 00:04:05.910 David Shriner-Cahn: You know, Mira, it's a very interesting question.
00:04:06.040 --> 00:04:15.919 David Shriner-Cahn: In reality, the the portion of my career that I spent practicing engineering was less than 10% of of my
00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:17.170 David Shriner-Cahn: working time
00:04:17.180 --> 00:04:26.600 David Shriner-Cahn: since. Since I finished school, however, I think you are correct, that there is something in the training about
00:04:26.610 --> 00:04:29.080 David Shriner-Cahn: focusing on processes
00:04:29.200 --> 00:04:30.075 David Shriner-Cahn: that
00:04:31.250 --> 00:04:34.339 David Shriner-Cahn: it is, ends up being part of who you are.
00:04:34.580 --> 00:04:41.069 David Shriner-Cahn: And I left engineering and went into the nonprofit sector very early in my career.
00:04:41.290 --> 00:04:44.140 David Shriner-Cahn: and that is where I spent
00:04:44.640 --> 00:04:54.759 David Shriner-Cahn: over 2 decades in management and leadership roles, and really both learned how to be a manager and a leader, and also.
00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.630 David Shriner-Cahn: dealt with some of the issues that you talk about
00:05:01.030 --> 00:05:03.840 David Shriner-Cahn: on your show with your audience.
00:05:03.870 --> 00:05:06.649 David Shriner-Cahn: particularly particularly about how to
00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:08.530 David Shriner-Cahn: had a focus on
00:05:08.760 --> 00:05:21.429 David Shriner-Cahn: creating a greater impact where you need to make sure that your time is used as wisely as possible, so that just as you said in the introduction that you can focus on
00:05:21.550 --> 00:05:23.010 David Shriner-Cahn: on the
00:05:23.030 --> 00:05:27.950 David Shriner-Cahn: strategic work that is really your your secret sauce
00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:29.300 David Shriner-Cahn: and
00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:31.500 David Shriner-Cahn: try to
00:05:31.780 --> 00:05:34.410 David Shriner-Cahn: encourage and find ways for
00:05:34.450 --> 00:05:36.680 David Shriner-Cahn: other people to
00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:38.740 David Shriner-Cahn: do the rest of the work
00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:39.515 David Shriner-Cahn: that
00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:56.289 David Shriner-Cahn: that that you don't have to do. And and it is a real struggle. It's 1 of the most common issues that we talk about in our community. It's a very common issue that I talk with guests about on my podcast all the time
00:05:56.320 --> 00:05:59.759 David Shriner-Cahn: and you're right. This transcends
00:06:00.150 --> 00:06:04.739 David Shriner-Cahn: roles when you're in a leadership role, whether you're leading a big organization
00:06:04.760 --> 00:06:08.430 David Shriner-Cahn: or you're leading a solopreneur business.
00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:15.830 David Shriner-Cahn: you you can always make more money, but you can't make more time. We have 24 h in a day and 168 h in a week.
00:06:15.840 --> 00:06:18.720 David Shriner-Cahn: So focusing on what we do best
00:06:18.790 --> 00:06:22.019 David Shriner-Cahn: so that we can maximize our impact
00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:27.980 David Shriner-Cahn: maximize our investment of time and maximize. The the resulting impact is really critical.
00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:31.720 Mira Brancu: Yeah, yeah, I think you and I, in some ways
00:06:32.380 --> 00:06:48.260 Mira Brancu: had a somewhat similar trajectory in that I probably spent a split second as a an actual clinical psychologist. 5 months, no even less than that, to be exact and
00:06:48.894 --> 00:06:55.240 Mira Brancu: quickly went into management and leadership. And people would ask me because I really didn't spend much time.
00:06:55.330 --> 00:06:57.210 Mira Brancu: And a traditional
00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:02.510 Mira Brancu: psychologist role they they would ask me like, Don't you miss it? Don't you want to go back.
00:07:02.660 --> 00:07:11.719 Mira Brancu: And I said, I use these psychologist skills every day all the time. It's just not with mental health patients.
00:07:11.970 --> 00:07:33.260 Mira Brancu: And I think it's the same in some ways for you. You probably use some of that engineering mindset all the time. It's just not in the most traditional ways. And then you've added, on top of that, this leadership skill set from being a leader for so long and identifying some areas that are
00:07:33.520 --> 00:07:37.317 Mira Brancu: challenging. And so I'm curious you mentioned.
00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:45.680 Mira Brancu: the ideal situation is, if in once you're in a leadership role, if you can kind of extract your secret sauce
00:07:45.860 --> 00:07:48.380 Mira Brancu: and just focus most of the time there.
00:07:48.570 --> 00:07:49.910 Mira Brancu: and then
00:07:50.120 --> 00:07:59.600 Mira Brancu: be able to delegate or turn into processes all of the other things but that this is one of the most challenging things
00:07:59.730 --> 00:08:07.499 Mira Brancu: that a lot of people in leadership roles, whether entrepreneurial or within an organization, have challenges with.
00:08:07.510 --> 00:08:09.499 Mira Brancu: Why is it such a struggle?
00:08:09.650 --> 00:08:11.080 Mira Brancu: What makes it challenging.
00:08:12.539 --> 00:08:18.309 David Shriner-Cahn: Well, there are a few things that make it challenging. One is as a leader. You're often
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:21.460 David Shriner-Cahn: you often have
00:08:21.710 --> 00:08:24.149 David Shriner-Cahn: 2 areas of focus one is
00:08:24.530 --> 00:08:25.260 David Shriner-Cahn: on.
00:08:25.510 --> 00:08:31.619 David Shriner-Cahn: you see where change needs to happen. And so focusing on trying to make a transformation
00:08:31.790 --> 00:08:35.390 David Shriner-Cahn: is is one set of leadership skills.
00:08:35.490 --> 00:08:36.320 David Shriner-Cahn: And
00:08:36.690 --> 00:08:41.029 David Shriner-Cahn: then, if you're leading, whether you're leading an organization or a small business.
00:08:41.809 --> 00:08:44.919 David Shriner-Cahn: if it is an existing functioning
00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:46.060 David Shriner-Cahn: organism.
00:08:47.217 --> 00:08:50.320 David Shriner-Cahn: then it needs to operate and
00:08:50.880 --> 00:08:52.809 David Shriner-Cahn: getting something to operate
00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:54.900 David Shriner-Cahn: as effectively as possible
00:08:54.950 --> 00:08:58.590 David Shriner-Cahn: without making change is very different than trying to make changes.
00:08:58.940 --> 00:09:00.090 Mira Brancu: And I.
00:09:00.090 --> 00:09:07.640 David Shriner-Cahn: I see, for example, somebody who's new in a role who is brought in, particularly when the organization
00:09:08.310 --> 00:09:10.020 David Shriner-Cahn: sees that
00:09:10.090 --> 00:09:11.789 David Shriner-Cahn: some changes needed.
00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:20.250 David Shriner-Cahn: They often have many challenges, because they have to learn how things are done.
00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:28.990 David Shriner-Cahn: They have to make sure that the trains keep running on time, and they have to focus on. Okay, what is it that needs to change so that we can have a greater impact?
00:09:29.990 --> 00:09:34.240 David Shriner-Cahn: have greater profitability whatever the impact is that they're that they're trying to achieve.
00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:41.240 David Shriner-Cahn: So they have to do that at the same time, it's a lot of demands on somebody's time and somebody's energy
00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:44.230 David Shriner-Cahn: and trying to sort that all out.
00:09:44.350 --> 00:09:47.079 David Shriner-Cahn: particularly when you're new, is really challenging.
00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:49.460 Mira Brancu: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:57.550 Mira Brancu: because if you're focused, I I hadn't thought about it this way. But if you're focused on creating change
00:09:57.610 --> 00:10:08.350 Mira Brancu: while you're also focused on making sure everything is stable and operational, and you have strong infrastructure, and every and so like stability and change
00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:12.930 Mira Brancu: don't necessarily make. It doesn't sound like they mix.
00:10:13.050 --> 00:10:17.160 Mira Brancu: But I guess I'm curious. Do they mix? Can they mix? How do they mix.
00:10:19.700 --> 00:10:23.009 David Shriner-Cahn: Well that that actually kind of
00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.969 David Shriner-Cahn: leads to the other. The other
00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:30.309 David Shriner-Cahn: technique, when it comes to managing your time that I think, is really important.
00:10:30.350 --> 00:10:31.610 David Shriner-Cahn: which is
00:10:34.210 --> 00:10:37.279 David Shriner-Cahn: there's what you need to be proactive about
00:10:37.450 --> 00:10:41.750 David Shriner-Cahn: and what you need to be reactive about. And you spoke about.
00:10:42.310 --> 00:10:48.769 David Shriner-Cahn: You know, always putting out fires. For example, yeah. And this is this is a discussion that
00:10:48.910 --> 00:10:54.379 David Shriner-Cahn: we have. We just had it actually, a few days ago in a live session in our community.
00:10:57.860 --> 00:10:58.710 David Shriner-Cahn: When it.
00:10:58.910 --> 00:11:00.739 David Shriner-Cahn: When you start your day.
00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:07.420 David Shriner-Cahn: you are likely to be bombarded. If you're in a leadership role, you're likely to be bombarded by
00:11:08.670 --> 00:11:17.739 David Shriner-Cahn: a long, long list of emails in your inbox messages on whatever tool you use, you know, slack or some other chat
00:11:17.880 --> 00:11:18.720 David Shriner-Cahn: tool
00:11:18.890 --> 00:11:26.740 David Shriner-Cahn: you're likely to be bombarded by all kinds of things that are waiting for you, from team members, from clients.
00:11:28.230 --> 00:11:29.350 David Shriner-Cahn: and
00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:31.750 David Shriner-Cahn: and from colleagues.
00:11:33.010 --> 00:11:34.470 David Shriner-Cahn: and you
00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:39.879 David Shriner-Cahn: most likely have your own agenda of what you need to do
00:11:40.690 --> 00:11:45.130 David Shriner-Cahn: proactively, either on your own, or to
00:11:45.910 --> 00:11:48.370 David Shriner-Cahn: to trigger something with
00:11:48.690 --> 00:11:50.439 David Shriner-Cahn: the people that you're working with.
00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:52.559 David Shriner-Cahn: so that will move the ball forward.
00:11:52.580 --> 00:12:04.250 David Shriner-Cahn: And how do you deal with both simultaneously? And the reality is, it's almost impossible to do it simultaneously. I think there's a myth that we should be able to be better at multitasking.
00:12:04.410 --> 00:12:08.830 David Shriner-Cahn: And you probably know more about this than I do because of your background. But
00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:14.269 David Shriner-Cahn: I don't see how the brain can multitask. And and I find whenever I
00:12:14.360 --> 00:12:19.629 David Shriner-Cahn: get an interruption it takes me especially if I'm working on something that requires concentration.
00:12:20.010 --> 00:12:30.129 David Shriner-Cahn: It takes me time to sort of go back to where I was. Remember what I was thinking. Remember what I was doing. So a tiny interruption has a huge ripple effect.
00:12:30.210 --> 00:12:33.050 David Shriner-Cahn: And one of the techniques that
00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:34.550 David Shriner-Cahn: that that I
00:12:34.920 --> 00:12:36.710 David Shriner-Cahn: teach people is
00:12:37.290 --> 00:12:44.720 David Shriner-Cahn: set up your day so that you focus on what's most important for you to be as effective as possible first, st
00:12:44.760 --> 00:12:46.300 David Shriner-Cahn: and that includes
00:12:47.890 --> 00:12:56.600 David Shriner-Cahn: perhaps doing something spiritual, doing something that helps your emotional well-being. Do something that helps your physical well-being
00:12:57.040 --> 00:12:58.829 David Shriner-Cahn: before you
00:12:59.260 --> 00:13:06.099 David Shriner-Cahn: look at what kinds of fires are waiting for you. And in addition to, you know, once you have finished doing those things.
00:13:07.270 --> 00:13:09.210 David Shriner-Cahn: spend a chunk of time
00:13:09.350 --> 00:13:10.820 David Shriner-Cahn: doing the
00:13:10.890 --> 00:13:12.730 David Shriner-Cahn: heavy strategic work.
00:13:13.150 --> 00:13:16.280 David Shriner-Cahn: And what's important for the long term 1st
00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:25.200 David Shriner-Cahn: doesn't have to be a huge amount of time. An hour is great, but if you don't think you can do this for an hour, every single day, maybe half an hour.
00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:32.079 David Shriner-Cahn: But whatever it is, whatever your your long-term impact. And this is where the transformational part comes in.
00:13:32.130 --> 00:13:34.479 David Shriner-Cahn: whatever that is. Do that 1st
00:13:35.260 --> 00:13:37.490 David Shriner-Cahn: and then open up your email.
00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.720 David Shriner-Cahn: Look at your messages, start dealing with
00:13:40.950 --> 00:13:48.549 David Shriner-Cahn: all the things where you need to be reactive rather than proactive, and divide your time that way. If you're not a morning person
00:13:48.560 --> 00:13:52.260 David Shriner-Cahn: like some people don't do well in the morning. Maybe you're an evening person.
00:13:52.830 --> 00:13:57.789 David Shriner-Cahn: Do that focus time in the evening when you are at your like
00:13:57.810 --> 00:13:59.949 David Shriner-Cahn: peak performance and peak energy
00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.469 David Shriner-Cahn: and deal with deal with all the other stuff later.
00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:07.200 David Shriner-Cahn: The other thing you can do is measure the impact of
00:14:07.290 --> 00:14:10.429 David Shriner-Cahn: delaying, reacting to all these fires.
00:14:11.520 --> 00:14:13.089 David Shriner-Cahn: And I'm willing to bet.
00:14:13.280 --> 00:14:16.199 David Shriner-Cahn: because I've seen this happen over and over again if you
00:14:16.230 --> 00:14:20.310 David Shriner-Cahn: delay responding to fires by an hour a day.
00:14:20.770 --> 00:14:33.789 David Shriner-Cahn: probably not going to affect the bottom line of the organization or your business. It's probably not going to affect the impact of what you are trying to achieve very much.
00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:40.829 David Shriner-Cahn: if at all. And you you will also likely find that spending half an hour to an hour
00:14:41.010 --> 00:14:44.669 David Shriner-Cahn: of your peak performance time on what's most important
00:14:44.790 --> 00:14:46.230 David Shriner-Cahn: for the long term
00:14:46.630 --> 00:14:48.850 David Shriner-Cahn: is going to outweigh
00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:56.080 David Shriner-Cahn: the shortcomings of delaying, responding to fires by 30 to 60 min a day.
00:14:57.350 --> 00:15:09.520 Mira Brancu: These are really really great, and just to sort of recap, and also put a fine point on everything that David just said. There is lots of research behind everything that he said.
00:15:09.780 --> 00:15:12.209 Mira Brancu: It's true that
00:15:13.710 --> 00:15:17.480 Mira Brancu: multitasking isn't a thing people say they can multitask.
00:15:17.790 --> 00:15:18.700 Mira Brancu: but
00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:26.679 Mira Brancu: the effect is degraded. Attention and longer time to come back to where you were
00:15:26.960 --> 00:15:29.429 Mira Brancu: absolutely lots of research on that.
00:15:30.855 --> 00:15:31.960 Mira Brancu: And
00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:32.885 Mira Brancu: I.
00:15:34.450 --> 00:15:36.340 Mira Brancu: I want to highlight also
00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.820 Mira Brancu: that doing the most essential
00:15:40.300 --> 00:15:42.250 Mira Brancu: focused strategic
00:15:43.044 --> 00:15:45.379 Mira Brancu: impactful things up front
00:15:46.142 --> 00:15:49.940 Mira Brancu: and or at your peak performance and
00:15:50.817 --> 00:15:59.120 Mira Brancu: for those folks who I've worked with that also have Adhd. This is critical because some people
00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:08.780 Mira Brancu: with Adhd, or who are night Owls, or whatever have different peak times that they perform better than others, and you want to track
00:16:08.830 --> 00:16:16.929 Mira Brancu: when that is like, take 2 weeks to just track. When am I at my most focused? And those are the times you should be blocking off
00:16:17.230 --> 00:16:21.099 Mira Brancu: to focus on the hard, focused stuff and
00:16:22.750 --> 00:16:25.659 Mira Brancu: do not wait to be inspired or motivated.
00:16:25.740 --> 00:16:28.020 Mira Brancu: because that's sporadic.
00:16:28.150 --> 00:16:34.695 Mira Brancu: Make it a practice the way that David described just make it a practice like a daily practice, that
00:16:35.580 --> 00:16:37.910 Mira Brancu: you know, instead of waiting to like
00:16:38.600 --> 00:16:43.619 Mira Brancu: that, that inspirational moment which may or may not come, and then you'll be frustrated.
00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:47.747 Mira Brancu: Make it a practice. We'll come back to some of these in just a moment. Your
00:16:48.190 --> 00:17:05.919 Mira Brancu: Listening to the hard skills with me, Dr. Mirabranku and our guest. Today, David Schreiner, Khan, author and of smashing the plateau podcast and also the community builder of smashing the plateau. We air on Tuesdays at 5 pm. Eastern
00:17:06.069 --> 00:17:12.520 Mira Brancu: and you can find us on Linkedin and Youtube and other locations live streaming
00:17:12.940 --> 00:17:17.739 Mira Brancu: at talk radio, Nyc, and we'll be right back with our just a guest in just a moment.
00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:38.529 Mira Brancu: Welcome back to the hard skills with me, Dr. Mira Bronku and our guest. Today, David Shriner, Khan, who is the podcast
00:19:38.770 --> 00:20:00.900 Mira Brancu: host and community builder of smashing the plateau. We went right into some techniques immediately, which I was very excited about, especially when it comes to time management. We picked out a few things that are also rooted in evidence, in in research. And I wanted to pull out just a couple of more before we move on
00:20:01.473 --> 00:20:14.079 Mira Brancu: as just like thinking about myself right in in some of these. I really like David. How you said set up the day for how you can be most effective. And then you gave a few examples.
00:20:14.170 --> 00:20:25.070 Mira Brancu: And I had never thought like when you gave the examples like, I thought, oh, okay, like, put my pen here and my pad of paper here, and you know, make sure that I'm sitting right and that kind of thing. But actually, you were like thinking about
00:20:25.110 --> 00:20:27.210 Mira Brancu: your spiritual practice, or
00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:39.879 Mira Brancu: you know, what do you want to eat or exercise? Or you know, does. Does your your physical state need need to sort of like, get yourself set up. And I hadn't really realized that.
00:20:40.384 --> 00:20:42.930 Mira Brancu: I have gotten into the practice
00:20:43.100 --> 00:20:45.360 Mira Brancu: of working out every morning.
00:20:45.610 --> 00:20:59.950 Mira Brancu: and I'm not. I've never been a morning person, but that's what my spouse did, and he's very much like a routine person. He's got routines down everywhere, and he's so effective. And he's so efficient. And that is
00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:12.929 Mira Brancu: really the reality is that's not me. I like variety. I'm a shiny object person. I like to do something different all the time, but that's that doesn't set me up for success. And so I would. I started copying him.
00:21:13.050 --> 00:21:22.680 Mira Brancu: you know, working out every morning the way he did, and on the days that I don't like on the weekends, when I'm just like I just sliding from my bed into the couch.
00:21:22.770 --> 00:21:24.770 Mira Brancu: I'm I'm less
00:21:25.241 --> 00:21:39.078 Mira Brancu: productive, even if I want to be productive, because I I didn't do the things that would set me up for success in terms of like mind focus, nutritional focus. You know all of these things. So I just really appreciated that you
00:21:39.620 --> 00:22:08.760 Mira Brancu: pull that out, and then the other practices that I have is like the most arduous things I do with accountability partners, you know. I writing can be arduous for me, even though I love writing, and so I. On Fridays people know I meet with with a few other writers, and we write together for a couple of hours, and that helps me not do other things that are more shiny objects and exciting. But actually like, do what I actually want to do
00:22:08.970 --> 00:22:35.120 Mira Brancu: to accomplish the harder goals. And these are the kinds of things that I really appreciated, that you sort of pulled out that you know, I think, apply to the kind of leaders especially, who are like me, are not like a fan of routine, are not a fan of like doing. You know certain arduous things, and yet really need the systems in order to be successful.
00:22:35.510 --> 00:22:41.180 Mira Brancu: So recapping that I want to move into. You know
00:22:41.540 --> 00:22:46.120 Mira Brancu: how you got to supporting what you call corporate refugees.
00:22:46.300 --> 00:22:56.580 Mira Brancu: 1st of all. What? What is that? What's your definition of corporate refugees? And why did you decide to help this particular population as they enter entrepreneurship
00:23:00.310 --> 00:23:01.120 Mira Brancu: and.
00:23:05.070 --> 00:23:07.020 David Shriner-Cahn: Great question. Mira.
00:23:07.170 --> 00:23:10.749 David Shriner-Cahn: yeah. So corporate refugee. My definition is
00:23:11.020 --> 00:23:12.990 David Shriner-Cahn: a high achieving professional
00:23:13.420 --> 00:23:17.260 David Shriner-Cahn: who has been working in his or her field for
00:23:17.990 --> 00:23:20.689 David Shriner-Cahn: generally 20 years or more
00:23:20.930 --> 00:23:27.060 David Shriner-Cahn: in an organizational setting, and I use the term corporate very broadly. It could be large.
00:23:27.070 --> 00:23:37.199 David Shriner-Cahn: Large enterprise, public or private, could be a small business. It could be government nonprofit. But you're fitting into somebody else's structure in your work.
00:23:37.240 --> 00:23:39.269 David Shriner-Cahn: and you've been doing that for a long time.
00:23:39.340 --> 00:23:42.379 David Shriner-Cahn: and then you leave
00:23:42.590 --> 00:23:45.499 David Shriner-Cahn: either voluntarily or involuntarily.
00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:56.349 David Shriner-Cahn: and you decide that that is not where you want to spend your time. That's not your future. You want to do things on your own terms. So you start your own business. And
00:23:56.390 --> 00:23:59.980 David Shriner-Cahn: in most cases what I've seen is people
00:24:00.020 --> 00:24:02.090 David Shriner-Cahn: at that stage in their career
00:24:02.460 --> 00:24:03.300 David Shriner-Cahn: when they've
00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:04.460 David Shriner-Cahn: built up
00:24:05.110 --> 00:24:17.139 David Shriner-Cahn: all this experience. And they've had have these great skills, they will most commonly stay in the same discipline, because that is a it's the easiest, and that is likely to be
00:24:17.770 --> 00:24:46.509 David Shriner-Cahn: the best revenue, producing opportunity for them as well. They generally really like what they do in terms of their their disciplinary focus. They just don't like the kind of the environmental setting they've gotten tired of it, for whatever reason we can talk more about that. But they've they've left, and they've gone on started their own business very similar to what you and I have done in our careers. I was an employee for the 1st 28 years of my career I've been an entrepreneur for the last 18,
00:24:47.080 --> 00:24:53.350 David Shriner-Cahn: and it's you know, it's kind of setting things up on your own terms for how you're going to make a living.
00:24:54.381 --> 00:24:55.736 Mira Brancu: Yeah, and so,
00:24:57.310 --> 00:25:01.240 Mira Brancu: I'm curious. What do you see as the commonalities for
00:25:01.320 --> 00:25:05.240 Mira Brancu: maybe, why, they choose to make this shift
00:25:05.380 --> 00:25:07.490 Mira Brancu: and then what they expect.
00:25:07.570 --> 00:25:11.040 Mira Brancu: and maybe not expect. Once they make the shift.
00:25:11.969 --> 00:25:14.419 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah. So some of the commonalities are.
00:25:14.982 --> 00:25:18.519 David Shriner-Cahn: You know. Imagine that you're you're in this
00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:26.969 David Shriner-Cahn: high achieving position. It may be a high profile position as well. You. You're part of this team.
00:25:27.130 --> 00:25:28.569 David Shriner-Cahn: You have
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:41.460 David Shriner-Cahn: what you're responsible for that you focus on. And then there are team members that take care of all the things that either you're not good at or are not part of your responsibility. So there's this built in social structure as well.
00:25:41.910 --> 00:25:53.030 David Shriner-Cahn: Besides the organizational structure, and then you leave that behind. You go out on your own, and particularly if you do this abruptly, which happens quite frequently.
00:25:53.070 --> 00:25:55.540 David Shriner-Cahn: you start off with.
00:25:56.020 --> 00:25:58.790 David Shriner-Cahn: You know you go from a place where you you had.
00:25:59.130 --> 00:26:05.500 David Shriner-Cahn: as we talked about in the earlier part of the show, you're very busy. You have an overflowing inbox.
00:26:05.530 --> 00:26:08.319 David Shriner-Cahn: You have an unending to do list.
00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:18.220 David Shriner-Cahn: Your calendar is full and you go out and you start off with 0 clients empty calendar, empty inbox.
00:26:18.260 --> 00:26:22.230 David Shriner-Cahn: no social structure, and, in fact, your
00:26:22.470 --> 00:26:24.860 David Shriner-Cahn: former colleagues often
00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:36.300 David Shriner-Cahn: want to stay away from you because you you've left, and you in some ways are somewhat of a pariah. So one of the commonalities is
00:26:36.720 --> 00:26:46.830 David Shriner-Cahn: like fear. Am I going to be able to actually make this work? Am I going to be able to get clients, because now you have to. Not only are you have all this empty time.
00:26:46.860 --> 00:26:58.000 David Shriner-Cahn: but you have to get up and market and sell something that you've never sold before, which is yourself. So even if you were in a marketing and sales role for the company that gave you a paycheck.
00:26:58.110 --> 00:27:02.589 David Shriner-Cahn: That's a very different feeling than having to generate the paycheck on your own.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.345 Mira Brancu: Yeah, I'm hearing a lot of
00:27:07.810 --> 00:27:16.593 Mira Brancu: Oh, I think a lot of people don't realize just how much is set up for their success within an organization in terms of
00:27:17.340 --> 00:27:31.759 Mira Brancu: the the rhythm, the structure, the available resources. Hr, is there. It is there, you know, somebody to fix your computer when something goes wrong. And I mean, that's as simple as that right? And then you, you go into your
00:27:32.515 --> 00:27:35.890 Mira Brancu: you start up your business, and none of that
00:27:36.230 --> 00:27:39.450 Mira Brancu: structures available, including your network.
00:27:39.510 --> 00:27:47.359 Mira Brancu: right? Like you have to sort of rebuild back up and piecemeal all of these things around you. But it's got to be.
00:27:47.590 --> 00:27:51.970 Mira Brancu: you know, kind of intentional the way that you put these things together.
00:27:52.020 --> 00:27:56.139 Mira Brancu: And when you were talking it was actually reminding me of
00:27:56.600 --> 00:28:10.330 Mira Brancu: when I used to work with veterans who retired from a full career like 20 to 30 years in the military, where everything was set up for their success and
00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:12.650 Mira Brancu: hyperstructured environment.
00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:14.200 Mira Brancu: And then they leave.
00:28:14.330 --> 00:28:21.180 Mira Brancu: and none of that is there. And they don't know what to do with themselves, because somebody else created the structure for them.
00:28:21.430 --> 00:28:25.049 Mira Brancu: And so one of the most immediate interventions
00:28:25.110 --> 00:28:26.150 Mira Brancu: is
00:28:26.180 --> 00:28:40.430 Mira Brancu: help them create a social rhythm calendar. That's what we called it a social rhythm calendar, so like, what are you going to do every single day at different points of the day, you know? Put it in the calendar, create the structure that you have lost.
00:28:40.520 --> 00:28:41.255 Mira Brancu: And
00:28:42.110 --> 00:28:51.379 Mira Brancu: so it doesn't just help them feel like they're back in kind of a meaningful, fulfilling life.
00:28:51.590 --> 00:29:03.450 Mira Brancu: But it actually affects your mental health when you don't have that structure right? It. It affects your mental health when you don't have the the social rhythms and the routine. So it's not just about like
00:29:03.530 --> 00:29:07.860 Mira Brancu: putting together what's necessary for your company, but also for yourself.
00:29:07.900 --> 00:29:22.229 Mira Brancu: you know, for your own sort of mental health. And how you feel about having made this transition, and especially like you mentioned. If you're experiencing fear like, what did I just do, or will I be successful? All of these things help you
00:29:22.380 --> 00:29:27.298 Mira Brancu: get back into a a rhythm that helps you feel really good. Right? So
00:29:27.650 --> 00:29:32.090 David Shriner-Cahn: Very true, very true. And I remember Mira, when I started my business, my network.
00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:41.000 David Shriner-Cahn: They were not people who were entrepreneurs, they they were people in organizations. They were my colleagues, my friends, my former colleagues from past jobs.
00:29:41.170 --> 00:29:44.480 David Shriner-Cahn: and one of the most common questions I heard from them was.
00:29:44.560 --> 00:29:46.150 David Shriner-Cahn: David, are you crazy?
00:29:46.730 --> 00:29:48.999 David Shriner-Cahn: What are you going to do for health insurance?
00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:49.930 Mira Brancu: Hmm.
00:29:51.810 --> 00:29:53.200 David Shriner-Cahn: Why don't you just get a job.
00:29:56.020 --> 00:29:56.770 Mira Brancu: Yeah.
00:29:57.600 --> 00:30:00.740 Mira Brancu: Yeah. And that's probably coming from their own fears.
00:30:00.900 --> 00:30:14.580 Mira Brancu: Right? Their own fears of gosh! I don't know that I could do that I'm curious. We're reaching an ad break. I'm curious what your own mind set was.
00:30:15.030 --> 00:30:21.280 Mira Brancu: and more more generally like, what are some mindset shifts that people need to make
00:30:21.300 --> 00:30:35.650 Mira Brancu: when we come back. So you're listening to the hard skills with me, Dr. Mara Branku and our guest today, David Shriner Khan, lead of smashing the plateau. We air on Tuesdays at 5 pm. Eastern on talk radio, Nyc. And we'll be right back with our guests in just a moment.
00:32:36.570 --> 00:32:43.960 Mira Brancu: Welcome back to the heart skills with me, Dr. Mira Brancu and our guest today, David Shriner Khan, of smashing the plateau.
00:32:44.320 --> 00:32:48.270 Mira Brancu: So David, before. With the the we went to the ad break.
00:32:48.850 --> 00:33:05.900 Mira Brancu: you started mentioning some of the very common and understandable fears that either we or other people have of our decision to move into entrepreneurial life, and some of those are like, will I be successful. But some of them are
00:33:06.060 --> 00:33:21.680 Mira Brancu: coming from other people probably PE people who either love us or are anxious about their own. You know, potential future. If they were to do the same thing, and they're saying things like, what about healthcare? What about a stable income? What are you gonna do? And that feeds into
00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:39.710 Mira Brancu: that fear? So what are some of the mindset shifts that you had to make early on when you transition. And what do you see? Of the people that you support in your own community about the mindset shifts that they need to sort of like develop for themselves as well.
00:33:40.120 --> 00:33:40.680 Mira Brancu: and.
00:33:40.956 --> 00:33:44.270 David Shriner-Cahn: So, Mira. 1st of all, fear is always going to be there.
00:33:44.420 --> 00:34:06.099 David Shriner-Cahn: but it doesn't mean that you need to dwell in it, or that you need to let it overtake you. Just recognize that it's there, and you will work through the issues around fear and move forward. Another thing to keep in mind is, I believe, very strongly that a scarcity mindset is very destructive.
00:34:06.100 --> 00:34:06.430 Mira Brancu: Degree.
00:34:06.430 --> 00:34:15.780 David Shriner-Cahn: That there are 8 billion people living in the world today, or however many there are, is because we've learned how to become social and how to collaborate
00:34:16.040 --> 00:34:20.189 David Shriner-Cahn: right without collaboration. There wouldn't be enough food for everybody
00:34:20.420 --> 00:34:21.159 David Shriner-Cahn: to eat.
00:34:21.610 --> 00:34:22.110 Mira Brancu: Hmm.
00:34:22.110 --> 00:34:23.020 David Shriner-Cahn: Worldwide.
00:34:23.389 --> 00:34:31.499 David Shriner-Cahn: So keep in mind. There is. There's enough business for everybody, and this applies whether you're a leader in an organization or you're an entrepreneur running
00:34:31.650 --> 00:34:34.000 David Shriner-Cahn: your own small business.
00:34:34.310 --> 00:34:36.019 David Shriner-Cahn: have an abundant mindset.
00:34:36.840 --> 00:34:41.809 David Shriner-Cahn: and find ways to collaborate. I learned this early on. It was
00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:48.050 David Shriner-Cahn: less than I was less than a year into my solo consulting business. When I left the the nonprofit sector.
00:34:48.110 --> 00:34:57.899 David Shriner-Cahn: and a friend of mine, who was also a solopreneur in a different discipline invited me to attend a business networking event, and I had never gone to one
00:34:58.140 --> 00:35:05.920 David Shriner-Cahn: before, so I was kind of new to this thing, and what I saw was there was a structured
00:35:07.272 --> 00:35:10.279 David Shriner-Cahn: methodology for people to
00:35:11.050 --> 00:35:15.189 David Shriner-Cahn: interact and to try to help generate
00:35:15.200 --> 00:35:20.029 David Shriner-Cahn: business leads for one another. And it was a very uplifting
00:35:20.913 --> 00:35:22.540 David Shriner-Cahn: abundant mindset
00:35:22.870 --> 00:35:23.890 David Shriner-Cahn: framework.
00:35:24.700 --> 00:35:29.730 David Shriner-Cahn: I ended up joining, and just the fact that I did that it gave me
00:35:29.770 --> 00:35:34.080 David Shriner-Cahn: a time and place to be with other people who had an abundant mindset.
00:35:34.160 --> 00:35:41.069 David Shriner-Cahn: all focusing on the same thing, which is, how can we help one another do better in our individual businesses?
00:35:42.100 --> 00:35:42.430 David Shriner-Cahn: So
00:35:42.760 --> 00:35:43.180 Mira Brancu: I love.
00:35:43.180 --> 00:35:46.450 David Shriner-Cahn: Abundance, I think, is one of the most critical things.
00:35:46.810 --> 00:35:54.488 Mira Brancu: Yeah, yeah, I and that that is resonating a lot. I think that is a very
00:35:55.420 --> 00:35:58.740 Mira Brancu: common fear that that scarcity mindset.
00:35:58.770 --> 00:36:03.429 Mira Brancu: And I also found a few others on your website that I'm curious about.
00:36:04.346 --> 00:36:08.800 Mira Brancu: You say, don't assume success will happen overnight.
00:36:09.944 --> 00:36:12.010 Mira Brancu: Don't be afraid to try it
00:36:12.330 --> 00:36:14.249 Mira Brancu: someone else's way.
00:36:14.770 --> 00:36:17.959 Mira Brancu: and don't worry the joy out of things.
00:36:18.300 --> 00:36:19.490 Mira Brancu: I love these.
00:36:19.540 --> 00:36:21.839 Mira Brancu: Tell me more about about these.
00:36:21.840 --> 00:36:22.360 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah.
00:36:23.180 --> 00:36:31.160 David Shriner-Cahn: you know, we, the whole thing about you talked before about the shiny object syndrome. We're very attracted to quick fixes for problems.
00:36:32.140 --> 00:36:34.350 David Shriner-Cahn: And the reality is that
00:36:34.590 --> 00:36:38.970 David Shriner-Cahn: whenever I have interviewed somebody who has
00:36:39.670 --> 00:36:42.360 David Shriner-Cahn: achieved a massive breakthrough.
00:36:42.520 --> 00:36:52.210 David Shriner-Cahn: a breakthrough is what other people notice. After you have taken hundreds or thousands of tiny steps and pivots. Think about the way that a baby learns to walk.
00:36:52.350 --> 00:36:57.219 David Shriner-Cahn: There's a lot of falling down before they even figure out how to like stand up and balance.
00:36:57.420 --> 00:37:01.729 David Shriner-Cahn: And then there's still a lot of falling down before they're able to take steps without holding on
00:37:02.600 --> 00:37:05.279 David Shriner-Cahn: everything in life and business is iterative.
00:37:05.510 --> 00:37:07.770 David Shriner-Cahn: You try a lot of things that don't work.
00:37:08.040 --> 00:37:15.319 David Shriner-Cahn: you know. One of the big differences I see between being an employee and an entrepreneur is as an employee. If you are wrong.
00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:24.609 David Shriner-Cahn: more than 10% of the time, you're probably going to hear about it in a negative way. And as an entrepreneur, if you're right, more than 10% of the time, you're probably doing really well.
00:37:26.260 --> 00:37:31.239 David Shriner-Cahn: So keep in mind that success in business can take a long time.
00:37:31.320 --> 00:37:32.680 David Shriner-Cahn: And just
00:37:32.800 --> 00:37:47.050 David Shriner-Cahn: you know, we we have a system that we use called the smash system, which has 5 steps, and and one of the steps is just focusing on iteration. What is it that you need to do? Week in and week out.
00:37:47.410 --> 00:37:50.329 David Shriner-Cahn: and kind of day to day where you can make
00:37:50.560 --> 00:37:59.219 David Shriner-Cahn: very incremental progress every single day. Because if you can make, let's say you could make a 1% improvement in something
00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:04.070 David Shriner-Cahn: each week. Imagine what that translates to in a year.
00:38:04.360 --> 00:38:06.630 David Shriner-Cahn: Right? So don't focus on
00:38:06.710 --> 00:38:07.980 David Shriner-Cahn: quick fixes.
00:38:08.588 --> 00:38:10.820 David Shriner-Cahn: They're generally quite fleeting.
00:38:10.830 --> 00:38:17.959 David Shriner-Cahn: Focus on the long term and focus on these small steps and and then figure out, okay, what do I need to do
00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:31.520 David Shriner-Cahn: to support myself so I can keep working at them for such a long time and have the perseverance to do it like you talked about your writing group? Right? That's a tool to help you move forward incrementally in your writing
00:38:31.780 --> 00:38:36.430 David Shriner-Cahn: right? So that so that you do better every single week. When you meet with your colleagues.
00:38:36.440 --> 00:38:42.739 David Shriner-Cahn: there are a lot of ways you can make these kinds of incremental steps. So, yeah, so success does not happen overnight
00:38:42.960 --> 00:38:43.780 David Shriner-Cahn: and
00:38:44.402 --> 00:38:46.410 David Shriner-Cahn: avoid the shiny objects.
00:38:46.410 --> 00:38:49.018 Mira Brancu: Yeah. Yeah. I,
00:38:50.780 --> 00:38:53.330 Mira Brancu: Recently, I
00:38:55.190 --> 00:38:57.230 Mira Brancu: have sort of shifted my mind
00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:01.310 Mira Brancu: set around some of this myself, because
00:39:01.660 --> 00:39:05.060 Mira Brancu: for those of us who are high performers, high achievers.
00:39:06.010 --> 00:39:07.270 Mira Brancu: We
00:39:08.180 --> 00:39:11.060 Mira Brancu: don't often sit and appreciate
00:39:11.200 --> 00:39:16.140 Mira Brancu: all of the accomplishments that we've already achieved, and how much it took to get there.
00:39:16.380 --> 00:39:24.619 Mira Brancu: We sort of take them for granted. We're like, yeah, yeah, what's next? What's my next goal? And that's what we're hyper focused on.
00:39:24.820 --> 00:39:39.940 Mira Brancu: And that's what I get very irritable about like the next goal that I'm not able to achieve, or I'm having a setback, or there's some kind of stuck point around it, and it's annoying me. And I get real frustrated. And recently
00:39:40.160 --> 00:39:45.578 Mira Brancu: I've done a couple of iterations of you know, one piece of of my
00:39:46.100 --> 00:39:55.220 Mira Brancu: My program. And it isn't working the way that I want. And I was getting like real frustrated every single time. And I'm like, you know what
00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:57.009 Mira Brancu: this is not helpful.
00:39:57.140 --> 00:40:02.059 Mira Brancu: This is an iterative process, and I need to lean into it like a learning mindset.
00:40:02.250 --> 00:40:10.457 Mira Brancu: you know, curious, interested, and lots of fail. Forward, over and over, you know, like fail fast
00:40:11.010 --> 00:40:14.160 Mira Brancu: like you mentioned. This is an iterative process.
00:40:14.310 --> 00:40:17.299 Mira Brancu: and each time
00:40:17.450 --> 00:40:22.849 Mira Brancu: that I try in a new way, I do learn something, and I just have to sort of keep reminding myself
00:40:22.960 --> 00:40:39.139 Mira Brancu: that I'm learning something, and it's getting better and better. I'm just not patient enough, that's all. And so and I keep, you know, reminding myself and and many others who who are starting their business. That being
00:40:39.360 --> 00:40:41.230 Mira Brancu: patiently impatient
00:40:41.640 --> 00:40:47.506 Mira Brancu: or impatiently patient, whichever way you want to take a look at it. Is one of the sort of
00:40:49.720 --> 00:40:53.409 Mira Brancu: you know, ways to sit with
00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:59.400 Mira Brancu: the slower progress, but still keep pushing towards
00:40:59.420 --> 00:41:01.820 Mira Brancu: the goal as an entrepreneur.
00:41:02.480 --> 00:41:09.430 David Shriner-Cahn: Yeah. And and then the second point you mentioned, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to try it. Someone else's way.
00:41:10.128 --> 00:41:12.019 David Shriner-Cahn: You know, we're all unique.
00:41:12.210 --> 00:41:20.899 David Shriner-Cahn: And I think there's this expectation that when we come up with a way of doing something, it's going to be brand new. Nobody has ever thought about it
00:41:20.910 --> 00:41:24.469 David Shriner-Cahn: doing it this way before, and the reality is that is not true.
00:41:25.380 --> 00:41:35.630 David Shriner-Cahn: We model what we do, based on what we have seen. Others do, that we think will help us be successful, and we tweak it a little bit. Or maybe we combine
00:41:35.670 --> 00:41:42.560 David Shriner-Cahn: something that relates to time management from one person, something that relates to
00:41:42.780 --> 00:41:53.220 David Shriner-Cahn: good strategic thinking from somebody else, something that relates to profitability from somebody else, and we combine them in a way that
00:41:53.350 --> 00:42:05.119 David Shriner-Cahn: both serves us and serves our audience really well. So modeling, I think, is a great tool, you know. For example, I have founded an online community for corporate refugees.
00:42:05.530 --> 00:42:08.210 David Shriner-Cahn: I'm not the 1st one to create an online community
00:42:08.330 --> 00:42:15.280 David Shriner-Cahn: lot of the tools that I've tried to deploy in our community. I've learned by watching other community builders.
00:42:17.120 --> 00:42:21.099 David Shriner-Cahn: So just, you know, when you're when you're doing something that you
00:42:21.994 --> 00:42:24.050 David Shriner-Cahn: that serves your audience.
00:42:24.920 --> 00:42:28.720 David Shriner-Cahn: Look at ways you can adapt what other people have done and embrace them.
00:42:29.190 --> 00:42:51.899 Mira Brancu: Yeah. Yeah, we all want to be special or or put something special out there and be appreciated or recognized for that. But even the way that we each piece things together is unique. You know, it's a u unique perspective. When you decide to piece what you learn here and what you learn there and from that person, and that that is meaningful. So I agree with you completely. Yeah.
00:42:51.900 --> 00:42:59.689 David Shriner-Cahn: Yes, and the last point celebrating the joy you know you touched on how important it is to celebrate your successes. So yes, celebrate your successes.
00:42:59.760 --> 00:43:03.349 David Shriner-Cahn: Don't dwell on all the things that you haven't done yet.
00:43:03.470 --> 00:43:07.900 David Shriner-Cahn: Be mindful of what you've done successfully, where you've made an impact.
00:43:07.980 --> 00:43:13.379 David Shriner-Cahn: How people appreciate what you've done for them, and also
00:43:14.510 --> 00:43:16.430 David Shriner-Cahn: keep in mind that
00:43:16.490 --> 00:43:18.160 David Shriner-Cahn: as a knowledge worker.
00:43:18.170 --> 00:43:20.410 David Shriner-Cahn: if you're not enjoying what you're doing.
00:43:20.590 --> 00:43:29.940 David Shriner-Cahn: look for ways to make some changes so that you do enjoy it, you know. So particularly for corporate refugees, they often get to a place in their career where the environment
00:43:29.980 --> 00:43:40.350 David Shriner-Cahn: makes it really challenging for them to enjoy the work in their discipline. And so they are looking for a different environment in which to serve their audience.
00:43:41.150 --> 00:43:42.810 Mira Brancu: Yeah, I'm I'm hearing
00:43:42.820 --> 00:43:58.250 Mira Brancu: mindset around adaptability, flexibility, pivoting, which is important for every leader, regardless of whether you are an entrepreneur or working within a larger organization for others. It.
00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:02.450 Mira Brancu: It helps you sort of stay
00:44:02.918 --> 00:44:05.490 Mira Brancu: up to date. Stay fresh, and
00:44:07.160 --> 00:44:08.210 Mira Brancu: it
00:44:09.180 --> 00:44:12.899 Mira Brancu: allows you to continue, you know.
00:44:13.030 --> 00:44:15.790 Mira Brancu: embracing the challenges instead of
00:44:15.870 --> 00:44:23.559 Mira Brancu: getting frustrated about them, which I think is is really important right? Right now, when everything's kind of
00:44:23.570 --> 00:44:27.249 Mira Brancu: feeling volatile, and there's lots of changes, and it's easy
00:44:27.440 --> 00:44:32.839 Mira Brancu: to just sort of get stuck. But that adaptable mindset helps a lot.
00:44:33.460 --> 00:44:39.349 Mira Brancu: David, we're reaching another ad break when we come back. I'd like to hear a little bit more about
00:44:39.951 --> 00:44:45.238 Mira Brancu: some ways that we can, you know, scale ourselves, you know, in in terms of your your
00:44:45.980 --> 00:44:51.709 Mira Brancu: framework, and maybe a little bit more about this smash system, the 5 steps that you mentioned.
00:44:51.820 --> 00:44:54.319 Mira Brancu: So we're listening. You're listening to the
00:44:54.700 --> 00:45:03.899 Mira Brancu: hard skills with me, Dr. Mirabranku and our guest today, David Schreiner Khan, of smashing the plateau, and we'll be right back in just a moment.
00:47:08.160 --> 00:47:16.179 Mira Brancu: Welcome back to the hard skills with me, Dr. Mira Bronco and our guest today, David Shriner Kahn.
00:47:17.410 --> 00:47:18.450 Mira Brancu: David.
00:47:18.830 --> 00:47:24.759 Mira Brancu: you started telling us about the smash system, and the 1st one of the 1st steps was
00:47:24.920 --> 00:47:38.149 Mira Brancu: sort of leaning into this iteration. Incremental process, right? A learning mindset and the incremental changes. Tell me more about the system and the the 5 steps.
00:47:38.150 --> 00:47:42.929 David Shriner-Cahn: Sure. And actually, the iteration is not the 1st step. But I'll I'll yeah. I'll run through the steps.
00:47:42.930 --> 00:47:43.270 Mira Brancu: Thank you.
00:47:43.270 --> 00:47:48.669 David Shriner-Cahn: Quickly they. We covered some of the points that are in the system.
00:47:48.670 --> 00:47:48.990 Mira Brancu: Hmm.
00:47:49.970 --> 00:48:05.330 David Shriner-Cahn: and not necessarily in the order in which we recommend that people go through them. And we can talk about how you can actually use the system to have a greater impact with the limited amount of time you have available. So it starts with stirring up your dreams like, what's
00:48:05.410 --> 00:48:13.690 David Shriner-Cahn: you need to understand what's most important to you and set goals. And when I I define goals as being
00:48:14.210 --> 00:48:16.790 David Shriner-Cahn: specific, so you know, when you're working toward them.
00:48:16.930 --> 00:48:22.110 David Shriner-Cahn: but broad enough so that you're never finished doing the work.
00:48:22.580 --> 00:48:22.910 Mira Brancu: Really.
00:48:22.910 --> 00:48:26.110 David Shriner-Cahn: Audacious. Some people might call it a vision
00:48:26.280 --> 00:48:39.569 David Shriner-Cahn: statement, but it's it's essentially what will guide you for the rest of your life in everything that you do both work and and your personal life. And then you kind of map out your ideal future what it looks like.
00:48:40.060 --> 00:48:42.810 David Shriner-Cahn: and from that you can create
00:48:43.180 --> 00:48:57.630 David Shriner-Cahn: specific objectives. And we're talking right now in a in a business context, then you can also identify business objectives that you can work on that are measurable and are much more short term. So that you know, when you've achieved each one.
00:48:58.190 --> 00:49:04.350 David Shriner-Cahn: And then I like to create a 90 day plan, it's long enough so that
00:49:04.380 --> 00:49:11.909 David Shriner-Cahn: you can work on something significant. But it's not so far into the future that it seems daunting and unachievable.
00:49:12.040 --> 00:49:13.890 David Shriner-Cahn: and in particular.
00:49:14.050 --> 00:49:20.559 David Shriner-Cahn: focusing on one primary business objective where you're really trying to move the needle forward every 90 days is great.
00:49:20.630 --> 00:49:31.970 David Shriner-Cahn: And then the iteration starts as you work on how you're going to stick with it. What? What is your implementation process? And coming up with
00:49:32.210 --> 00:49:42.410 David Shriner-Cahn: methodology to be able to do this week in and week out have a weekly plan. And most importantly, as part of this process.
00:49:42.690 --> 00:49:50.390 David Shriner-Cahn: it's critical to have thinking partners that will help keep you on track, not only so that you do what you
00:49:50.590 --> 00:49:59.589 David Shriner-Cahn: say you're going to do. But also they can give you feedback. Just the simple act of telling somebody else what you're working on helps you
00:49:59.700 --> 00:50:04.580 David Shriner-Cahn: think about it, hear it differently, and perhaps reframe it even before they comment.
00:50:04.630 --> 00:50:10.780 David Shriner-Cahn: But then their feedback can be invaluable, particularly if they do it in a non-judgmental way, where they're
00:50:11.250 --> 00:50:16.959 David Shriner-Cahn: using leading questions to kind of probe deeper and make sure that you are able to deal with the
00:50:16.990 --> 00:50:20.470 David Shriner-Cahn: the challenges of what you didn't expect. Because we
00:50:20.770 --> 00:50:25.390 David Shriner-Cahn: when we create a plan, it's based on what we know that we know and what we know that we don't know.
00:50:25.640 --> 00:50:27.629 David Shriner-Cahn: It's what we don't know that we don't know.
00:50:28.280 --> 00:50:33.760 David Shriner-Cahn: That causes the biggest challenges. And other people who are your thinking partners can help you
00:50:34.270 --> 00:50:40.759 David Shriner-Cahn: see some things that you didn't know, that you didn't know. That will help you move forward faster
00:50:41.170 --> 00:50:47.859 David Shriner-Cahn: and accelerate the process. So that collaboration is really critical. So that's sort of the the overview of the system.
00:50:47.880 --> 00:50:51.630 David Shriner-Cahn: And how do you do do more of it with
00:50:51.700 --> 00:50:58.869 David Shriner-Cahn: with with less time? What's you know? We talked about some of these techniques focusing on what
00:50:58.990 --> 00:51:00.390 David Shriner-Cahn: you do best.
00:51:00.540 --> 00:51:04.560 David Shriner-Cahn: where you're stay in your zone of genius as much as possible.
00:51:04.720 --> 00:51:15.830 David Shriner-Cahn: and that there are 3 techniques for doing as much of that as possible and not doing the other stuff which is to defer. We talked about how to like put off
00:51:16.020 --> 00:51:18.889 David Shriner-Cahn: either for a short period of time, or
00:51:18.920 --> 00:51:34.249 David Shriner-Cahn: you can decide as things come your way. I don't have to deal with this today. I can schedule dealing with this next week or next month. It's not that critical, so don't be afraid to defer something, and and obviously delegate where you can.
00:51:34.330 --> 00:51:36.179 David Shriner-Cahn: You don't have to be the one
00:51:36.270 --> 00:51:39.970 David Shriner-Cahn: to do everything, and you shouldn't be the one to do everything.
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:55.650 David Shriner-Cahn: particularly things that you are not the best at. Those should be delegated and things you don't like doing, you should delegate. There are a lot of ways to delegate today that are not super costly, so start finding ways to delegate anything that is easily repeatable should be delegated.
00:51:55.990 --> 00:51:59.149 David Shriner-Cahn: and the last thing which is probably the most important one, is.
00:51:59.280 --> 00:52:00.829 David Shriner-Cahn: learn to say no
00:52:01.490 --> 00:52:03.539 David Shriner-Cahn: right. The more you focus
00:52:03.600 --> 00:52:08.650 David Shriner-Cahn: on the one thing that you're trying to achieve and the the one impact you're trying to make
00:52:08.990 --> 00:52:10.880 David Shriner-Cahn: the better. You know. For example.
00:52:11.180 --> 00:52:13.159 David Shriner-Cahn: I serve corporate refugees.
00:52:13.240 --> 00:52:31.459 David Shriner-Cahn: It was a long process to get to this point. I've had a long career. I wasn't always serving corporate refugees, but focusing on this one particular audience with their set of problems means I can do a better job serving them. And yes, we could use our framework for lots of other people.
00:52:31.700 --> 00:52:33.820 David Shriner-Cahn: But that's not what we market.
00:52:34.850 --> 00:52:37.558 Mira Brancu: Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I think,
00:52:38.390 --> 00:52:45.269 Mira Brancu: saying, no is one of those things that are really, really challenging, especially
00:52:45.300 --> 00:52:49.979 Mira Brancu: to high achievers high performers. Because
00:52:50.570 --> 00:52:55.560 Mira Brancu: technically, we do have the capacity to take it on. But at what
00:52:56.415 --> 00:52:57.140 Mira Brancu: risk
00:52:57.150 --> 00:53:07.349 Mira Brancu: or detriment like? What? What is the downside? What is the con of taking more on. Well, you're spreading yourself very thin across more things, and not able to
00:53:07.842 --> 00:53:20.009 Mira Brancu: get better and better at the things that you want to get better and better at, because you're you know, you're putting less and less time and attention to these things. Right? So these are. These are all
00:53:20.060 --> 00:53:29.599 Mira Brancu: fantastic thinking partners. Just a quick question. Is that how you use your community partly as thinking partners available thinking partners.
00:53:29.910 --> 00:53:33.939 David Shriner-Cahn: Very much so. And we do it with a combination of live sessions.
00:53:34.040 --> 00:53:40.779 David Shriner-Cahn: a private interactive online platform. And we encourage people to connect one on one as well.
00:53:40.990 --> 00:53:44.866 Mira Brancu: Yeah, I think that's really, just
00:53:45.520 --> 00:53:53.970 Mira Brancu: Well, I'm a big fan, obviously, because I also have a community for that very purpose. We call it accountability partners. But you know, being able to
00:53:54.180 --> 00:54:04.509 Mira Brancu: have other people who help you think outside of yourself, see blind spots, ask different questions than you would ever ask yourself, is the value in having that kind of community?
00:54:04.620 --> 00:54:05.569 Mira Brancu: So
00:54:06.970 --> 00:54:16.690 Mira Brancu: What is out of all the things that we've talked about? What is one thing that people can take away from today that you really want them to consider.
00:54:22.070 --> 00:54:24.129 David Shriner-Cahn: I would say, focus on
00:54:24.250 --> 00:54:26.370 David Shriner-Cahn: how you can do more with less.
00:54:28.070 --> 00:54:31.870 David Shriner-Cahn: And yeah, I mean, we've talked a lot about a lot of different techniques.
00:54:32.140 --> 00:54:35.710 David Shriner-Cahn: Just pick one that you that resonates with you to start with.
00:54:35.840 --> 00:54:36.910 David Shriner-Cahn: Don't try to
00:54:36.940 --> 00:54:38.510 David Shriner-Cahn: tackle all of it at once.
00:54:39.420 --> 00:54:43.889 Mira Brancu: Great advice. Now, if people want to work more with you.
00:54:44.060 --> 00:54:45.680 Mira Brancu: where would they find you?
00:54:45.890 --> 00:54:51.599 David Shriner-Cahn: They can go to smashingthe plateau.com. And if you want to learn more about the smash system.
00:54:51.940 --> 00:55:00.679 David Shriner-Cahn: there is a free download that outlines the system that you can get by going to smashingthe plateau.com slash, checklist.
00:55:01.790 --> 00:55:05.740 Mira Brancu: Excellent those of you who are watching
00:55:05.750 --> 00:55:18.300 Mira Brancu: with us live, or later, the recording. I I pulled it up right now so that you can see smashing the plateau.com and backslash. You can actually just put checklist, or you could also put.
00:55:18.300 --> 00:55:20.090 David Shriner-Cahn: Direct to this. Yeah. URL.
00:55:20.330 --> 00:55:23.520 Mira Brancu: Yeah, and so what do they get here when they go.
00:55:23.740 --> 00:55:29.900 David Shriner-Cahn: They'll get an outline of the system. So it's a high level. It'll give you some instructions on how you can start
00:55:29.950 --> 00:55:32.240 David Shriner-Cahn: thinking about using this framework
00:55:32.540 --> 00:55:38.049 David Shriner-Cahn: in your business, in your work and in your life. And and again, these techniques
00:55:38.170 --> 00:55:42.719 David Shriner-Cahn: apply, no matter what it is you're trying to achieve, whether it is
00:55:43.660 --> 00:55:50.060 David Shriner-Cahn: greater success in your own business, greater success in your job if you're part of and a bigger organization.
00:55:50.120 --> 00:55:56.100 David Shriner-Cahn: and you can use it to create greater success in the non-working parts of your life, as well.
00:55:57.250 --> 00:56:09.010 Mira Brancu: Excellent. I I agree with you that these are skills that apply well beyond folks who are entrepreneurs, even beyond folks who are in leadership positions.
00:56:09.190 --> 00:56:11.200 Mira Brancu: a hundred percent. So
00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:22.020 Mira Brancu: out of all of the things that we talked about today. Audience, what did you take away? And more importantly, what is one small change that you can implement this week.
00:56:22.090 --> 00:56:24.259 Mira Brancu: based on what you learned from David.
00:56:24.340 --> 00:56:26.420 Mira Brancu: Share it with us on Linkedin.
00:56:26.940 --> 00:56:53.220 Mira Brancu: You can look up David Schreiner Khan, or smashing the Pet Plateau or Mirabranku, and at talk radio and share it with us so we could cheer you on. We're also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter twitch all over the place. In addition to being a live show, we are also on apple, spotify and Amazon podcasts. Please help us increase our visibility reach and impact by leaving a review.
00:56:53.310 --> 00:57:11.470 Mira Brancu: The stuff we talk about on this show is also part of our research based strategic leadership, pathway, roadmap that we teach in our taroscope Leadership Academy and other programs which are private coaching and learning communities for socially conscious leaders in disrupted learning and innovation industries. Looking to make a greater impact.
00:57:11.820 --> 00:57:16.049 Mira Brancu: You can check us out@gotowerscope.com.
00:57:16.120 --> 00:57:29.349 Mira Brancu: Thank you to talk radio Nyc for hosting. I'm Dr. Mirabranku, your host of the Hard Skills show, and thank you for joining us today with our guest, David Schreiner Khan. Have a great rest of your day wherever you're tuning in from bye. Everybody.
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