Speaker 1  00:08

This is the ultimate advisor podcast, the podcast for financial advisors who want to create a thriving, successful and scalable practice. Each week we’ll uncover the ways that you can improve your referrals, your team, your marketing, and your business operations, helping you to level up your advising practice, bring in more assets, and to create the advising practice that you’ve dreamed of. You’ll be joined by our hosts Bryan sweet, who is moving fast towards a billion dollars in assets under management, Brittany Anderson, the driving force for advisors looking to improve their operations and company culture, and Draye Redfern who can help you systematize and automate your practices marketing to effortlessly attract new clients. So what do you say? Let’s jump in to another amazing episode of the ultimate advisor podcast.

Brittany Anderson  01:06

Welcome back to The Ultimate Advisor Podcast I have with me an extra special guest today. Today you’re going to be hearing from in just a brief short second, Anese Cavanaugh, She is the CEO of Active Choices Inc, creator of the Positive Energy Workplace Initiative. And the founder of the IEP method, which I’ll have her talk about here shortly. She’s the author of the books Contagious Culture, Show Up, Set the Tone and Intentionally create an organization that thrives contagious, You unlock your power to influence lead and reate the impact you want. And the leader you will be an invitation as a business leader, strategic advisor and keynote speaker, she is devoted to activating the energy of organizations for positive impact by creating authentic leadership and positively contagious cultures around the world, you’re gonna be able to learn more from her at active choices.com. We’ll repeat that later. But first off a nice welcome to the show.

Anese Cavanaugh  02:09

Oh, Brittany, thanks for having me. It’s so good to be here. And I have to say that was a mouthful. So you know what I like to set the tone that we want people to get to know you before you start talking. So I mean, it’s we’re gonna we’re gonna get right to the meat here, you are all about and part of the reason that I invited you on to the podcast is that you are all about intentions, energy presence. So talk to our audience about how you’re changing lives in that capacity. Okay, so the, the way that we’re helping people to change lives is really they’re doing it for themselves. And the thing that we’re doing is we’re just helping them get really clear about the intentions they have for their lives and their businesses, the energy that they’re bringing to the table and how they’re taking care of themselves, and their quality of presence, both in terms of how they’re showing up, but also how present they are to actually what’s happening in their lives, how they’re doing. Other people are doing all that good stuff. And what we found Brittany, you mentioned earlier with the IEP method, is that when we can get people to really get connected to their IEP, their intentions, energy and presence, or their intentional energetic presence, they start to become more of the author and the commander of their life, as opposed to being the reactor and stuff is happening to them all the time. So essentially, we’re just giving people the tools to really be intentional about whatever it is that they’re doing, and to show up while doing it.

Brittany Anderson  03:34

You know, this is such an important topic. And I think about this from the audience member that’s listening in. So you’re tuning in as a wealth advisor, who oftentimes has a team, be it big or small. You’ve got clients that you’re working with. And that whole notion of intentionality and presence can actually make or break your success in our industry, in industries across the board. But I think especially in a service and relationship based industry, that is the advisor world. So I would love for you in a case to talk about like what are some really practical applications that an advisor could put in place right now to enhance everything that you just talked about that energy, that intentionality that present in how they’re engaging with their teams, and how they’re engaging with their clients, too.

Anese Cavanaugh 04:19

I love it that you and I get to talk about this stuff, because here’s the thing, the practicality that is so simple that most people listening to this are probably gonna go Oh, yeah, I already know this. And they’re gonna want to disconnect and go listen to something else right now. So I’m going to invite people to just stick with us. Because while it is not rocket science, the actual application and the awareness and the devotion to practice your IEP, that’s where the rocket science comes in. So the practicality is if you think about, you’re going in to meet with one of your clients. And if you’re not clear about your intention for your client, if you’re walking into that meeting and you’re not present and you’re coming in with the energy of like rushed or busy or frenetic or judgmental because you’re annoyed with your client for whatever or you’re annoyed at your kid or whatever is happening, whatever energy you’re bringing in there, you’re instantly instantly making you’re breaking trust and credibility with the client. And there’s not a person listening to this, it has not had the experience of maybe meeting with somebody or knowing somebody who is brilliant at what they did. But the way that they showed up with you was such that it felt frenetic or not present, or judgy, or whatever. And so no matter how brilliant, they were the person that you know, you receiving that, you’re not gonna be able to actually receive it, because you’re going into resistance right off the bat, because you’re reacting to another person’s energy.

Brittany Anderson 05:36

And I want to comment on this quickly, too, because you’ve got my brain going in an interesting direction. So, you know, one thing that we talk about a lot within our wealth planning firm within suite financial partners, is how you show up in front of people. So regardless, we could have a tough team meeting where you know, maybe emotions are high tensions are there, you know, you have to be able to flip that switch, because people can, and you’re the expert in this, but people can literally feel your energy, they can feel if you’re coming into that agitated, frustrated, I think about this example. And he’s, you know, I am, I’m a peloton writer. So whether you love or hate that community, it doesn’t matter. It’s irrelevant. But one of the things that is constantly brought there, and I think what draws me into it is their constant focus on bringing your own energy into that group, and how you show up for people how you show up for each other. So it’s interesting, I think my point in bringing that up, is that when people start embracing what you’re talking about, you start creating that intentionality in every single aspect of your life. So it’s not just your business, it’s at your home, it’s with your friendships, it’s a new circumstances or situations where you’re working with people. So can you maybe talk a little bit about how that happens, right? How when you start paying attention to energy, and you’re more mindful to it for yourself, how this impacts and spills into every aspect of your life?

Anese Cavanaugh 07:03

That’s beautiful. Yeah, I mean, I think one of the most common comments we get when we work with a lot of organizations and their leadership teams, and what the most common comments we get from people is like, oh, my gosh, I didn’t realize how much it’s going to impact me coaching my kids soccer team, or my marriage, or my relationship with my kids or my golf game. Because what happens is the more you know, to me intentions, energy and presence, their leadership skill set, that we all have access to, they’re free. Also, by the way, like nobody gets to take away or give you intention, energy or presence. But we all have access to these things. So the more present I am to how I am doing and how I’m showing up, the more choice I’m going to be around what is my intention here? What is what is what is the thing I actually want to create? What is the experience I want to create with you, Brittany, in this conversation, what is it that we’re actually going for? And then if I can check myself, Well, how am I How am I showing up energetically? Have I taken care of myself before this conversation? Am I hydrated, have I cleared my desk, so my environmental energy is not completely chaotic, you the more I start to pay attention to these things, it’s really contagious. And it starts to become a for lack of a better word, a leadership muscle, that the more I practice it, the stronger it becomes, you know, and I think she asked her at the beginning was the practicality and places to look from a practicality standpoint, a sales conversation, if you get connected to your IEP, before you go into the sales conversation, you’re more likely to have the impact you want to have parenting, before I go into talking to my children, it could be a very difficult conversation about drugs or something really, like I’m sensitive, I better be really clear about the intentions, energy and presence I’m bringing into that room with that child. from a training standpoint, we see this in organizations all the time, an organization or a team will be going through leadership development, training, how to give feedback, all these different things, and they’re not having the impact they want without training nine times out of 10. It has to do with the fact that people are not clear about their intention for service and whatever it might be. They’re not managing the energy in that conversation, and they’re not actually present. So without a clear connection to our IP, we can actually do more harm than good in our relationships. When we’re rooted in it. We get to choose how do we want to impact other people? And we don’t always we’re not always going to have our intended impact. But oh, boy, do we have a much better chance at having the impact we want to have. And then if I let’s just say you and I are having a conversation, and I have an intention for the impact I want to have and it goes completely wrong. I completely don’t have my impact happens all the time, right? We miss our impact. Well, if I’ve done my work, and I’m taking care of my energy, and I’ve done my own inner work, so I’m not like glommed into you in like, Oh my God, just because Brittany doesn’t like me, it’s the end of my life. Like if I’m doing my own work, and it’s the IEP work if I’m doing that work. Then just because I had unintended impact, I’m now going to be more reasonable leant to go and say, Alright, what do I, what would I do different next time? How might I clean this up? How can I shift direction in the moment in that team meeting, when I’m really upset, and I need to shift direction, the greater the command I have of myself, the better, I’m going to be able to influence the people around me.

Brittany Anderson 10:18

You know, this is interesting, because I would say one of the most commonly fielded questions that we tend to get is around getting team buy in. And around kind of that cultural essence, I guess you could say where, you know, your, your that, you know, maybe type A advisor, we’ll just throw it out there. I’m not trying to stereotype anybody, but you’re maybe that type A advisor, where you get really excited about a new idea, and you’re trying to bring it to your team and get them behind it. And they’re all wound up and they get done, you know, kind of word vomiting all over people. And then people just sit there were like deer in the headlights, they’re going, first of all, I don’t even know what has happened. Second of all, you know, there is that lack of clarity or intention. So what are some things that our advisor audience could do? Again, we’re looking at, you know, both kind of the high level approach here plus tactics they can put into place that can help them be more clear, help them be more intentional in how they’re delivering those ideas, or those kind of new innovations for their business. They’re trying to get their team behind.

Anese Cavanaugh 11:21

That’s great. That’s great. So I think one of the things for when we look at getting a team or any kind of buy in, it could be your spouse’s buy in is art of curiosity. So if I really want to get my team’s buy in, I’m going to we literally just had our weekly team meeting right before I got on this call with you. So we’re working on a really big initiative right now. So in order to get my team’s buy in, I have to make sure one that I’m present, and that I am showing up in a way that is present and spacious enough for them to actually speak up. I don’t know about you, Brittany, but I have definitely run the meetings where I go, and I’ve got a million things to do. And I just come in like a bull in a china shop. And just like, let’s get it done. And everybody’s like, Okay, well, there’s no buy in here. And we’re gonna do it because she told us to super unaffected. So if I want their buy in one I’m going to check my quality of presence to I’m going to be really clear with them about, hey, this is what I think needs to happen. I’m curious, how do you feel about this? So that curiosity of getting them to be able to participate in that conversation? You know, for as simple as curiosity seems, I think curiosity is one of our most important leadership skills we have because curiosity opens the door to the people around us to know that they’re seen, they’re cared about, and they matter. And then I don’t know about you, but nine times out of 10. If I’m really truly coming from a state of curiosity, and I have an agenda, and I named my agenda, Katie, and this is what I want to have happen. How do you feel about that? What do you think nine times out of 10, there’s going to be an even better refinement in the room, because one of my team members is smarter than me. And they’re gonna go, Oh, nice. What I like about that is this. And I’m wonder if we did this, how that would happen. And so now now, not only do we have a better idea, the team feels ownership around it, and we’ve got more bias, so it’s more likely going to happen.

Brittany Anderson 13:03

Yeah, I think that is absolutely brilliant. And I can think of, you know, instances where we’re, you know, you know that you’ve got a clear mission and a clear, call it goal. I know not everybody loves that word. But a clear goal when you’ve got everybody rallied around it. Right. And I think one thing that, you know, especially as it will go back to like, if you’re, if you’re an advisor who’s got that kind of entrepreneurial nature, there’s very few ideas that don’t excite you, right. It’s like the shiny object syndrome. And one thing that we found is that by putting things in front of our teams, which regardless of which business, we’re operating in, putting things in front of our team, and going through the exercise nice that you just shared about getting that collective curiosity, asking for their true input, because the bottom line is, they very likely know a heck of a lot more about their role in their job that you do. So we might think we have all the answers in a leadership role. But that’s not the case. And the best leaders are creating leaders and other people, right. Like they’re creating leaders that are having that ability to speak up. And I think what you’re talking about is the environment that allows for that. So I have to ask this question. And he’s because people listening in might wonder how you got into this space, the space of energy of intentionality of everything that you’re teaching here. So talk a little bit now about your journey and what brought you here into this particular, you know, work that you do.

Anese Cavanaugh 14:28

Absalutely Yeah, 100% and remind me if we have time later to talk a little bit about communication and the cost of that and how this ties in. Yeah, that just came out that blew my mind. And so we can talk a little bit about that. But so how I got into this I actually started in kinesiology I got my degree I started I wanted to do nutrition performance work with athletes. So once upon a time a long time ago, I started kinesiology and I worked which is the study of the body. For those that don’t know study the body study of movement. How does the body work has the body move? Very long. On the trajectory Brittany, but basically started kinesiology got really obsessed with human performance started working with athletic teams started working in corporate health and productivity. And what I realized was that as much as I love the body and how the body performs, if we could get people’s intentions, and I wasn’t thinking about it this way at that time, but if we, if we, if I could help the players and the organizations get their mindset in the right place, and take really good care of their bodies, and be really present to what they were doing, if we could do that, then nine times out of 10, they would win the game, they would perform well, they would get along better. So even if they didn’t win the game, the connection about amongst the team was so much more resilient, that they could figure out what do we do wrong, and they could progress to the next level. So that was really fascinating to me. And, you know, over my career, I worked in corporate America for a while again, health and productivity, I worked in the health care system. You know, reversing heart disease, actually, that my serious going crazy. Today, I’m reversing heart disease, and then had my child decided I didn’t want to work anymore, that lasts about a year, like the oxytocin wore off. Long story short, I ended up taking every single thing that I had done in my career that I loved, put it into a job description, that Job was not available, I built it into a company. And fast forward 21 years later, now almost 21 years. It’s our company, it’s, we’ve, you know, we work with people around the IEP methodology and creating positive new workplaces. And part of the reason why the IEP methodology was born was because when I first started, I was doing coaching around organizational performance. And I started to notice that our clients, no matter how great the training was, or what skills they had, or their PhDs or their MBAs or how brilliant they were, if their intentions, energy and presence are not aligned, they were, at best not having the impact they want to have. And at worst, they were often doing more harm than good. And so that kind of created this continued fascination around what is it that people do that really helps them have the energy and the stamina to do what they’re here to do, but also the impact they want to have. And that created the IEP methodology. And that’s how we got here.

Brittany Anderson 17:10

So well, first of all, I’m laughing at your siri. And we’ll just, we’ll just squirrel here and write live on the podcast, because there are a couple people’s voices on our team that my phone loves, and it will start talking to them. So she’s just trying to join in the conversation,

Anese Cavanaugh 17:26

She and I think it’s you Brittany, because honestly, since we were talking my iPad, Siri has gone off, my watch is going off, like there’s something in this conversation, she keeps going, here’s what I have found, here’s what I have found,

Brittany Anderson 17:37

It’s positive energy she’s trying to solve. You know, it’s so interesting when you think about alignment, and I think this is actually a fascinating exercise, I’m actually going to do this exercise, I wrote it down, when you were talking, you made mention of something in your own journey, where you talked about creating this job description of something you wanted that didn’t exist, what a beautiful exercise for an advisor to go through. You know, a lot of times, there’s multiple different coaching platforms within our industry over the years, that will have you write your own eulogy. And you know, the intent is they’re trying to get you to really lean into your full capabilities, do the things that are aligned with what you’re saying you really want for your life, your value system, etc. But I think going through the exercise of actually writing a job description of all the things that plays on your strength, and what you want is going to allow you to show up as an even better leader, and even better spouse and even better parents and and really make better decisions for your business based on where you’re most aligned. So I want to pull up that little nugget because that was that was brilliant there.

Anese Cavanaugh 18:45

I’m so glad you like it, I think it’s one of the most the power to vision is one of the most huge superpowers we have. So if we can give ourselves permission to dream and envision what we want to create, you know, a vision is just an intention of the very biggest kind, then you align that with your core values. So if you’re about you know, part of this business got born out of my core values around really want to have a big impact in the world and do great work, but also really want to be a good mom and be available and have the flexibility with my family. And so if you can align your values and your vision, and give yourself that that opportunity to write that out. Matt, there’s stuff that came out in my vision back in 2000, I think it would be I guess it would been about 2001 that I never would have thought of if I had been sitting at my desk like I’m gonna do this. The other thing is, is we have started in the last couple of years, every new employee that comes into our company, they come in with the job description of what we’re looking for it but once they’re in I say, okay, see that job description, throw it away, I want you to go write your job description now. And I want you to write your vision for where you want to be in a year from now in that position. And I will tell you, it’s one of the coolest things we do because I get to learn so much about them. I get to learn how I can support them better. You know, fortunately, the core roles that they got hired for are still taken care of, but they’re more bought in you talked about Buying, they’re more bottom because now they’re owning the vision of where they want to go in the company.

Brittany Anderson 20:03

I absolutely love that. And again, ferociously taking a note here is what I love about podcast opportunities is we get to learn so much from the guests that I get to have great conversations with. So I think that’s a great, that’s a tactical thing that you could implement into your business immediately is, you know, whether you have a team member that’s been there for, you know, two months or two years or 20 years, going through that exercise of having them create, you know, let’s just use the word intentionality for what they want for their future. I think that’s such a great exercise. So I do want to make sure that we get back to the topic of communication, and there’s a potential cost associated there. One of the things that I would be curious to know, and maybe there’s some crossover here is, you know, where is the biggest opportunity you often see, for people to capitalize on to grow their business to enhance their team? And maybe that’s where this communication thing comes into play?

Anese Cavanaugh 21:04

Yeah, I think it definitely blends in. Honestly, Brittany, I think the most the hidden nugget that most business leaders miss because they’re so busy doing everything else, is honestly coming back to being really intentional about what they’re trying to create, like taking a step back and going alright, what is it? What is it we’re trying to create here, because if I’m not clear on my intention, and my son, my team, okay, we’re going to do this, it’s kind of like spray and pray with what we’re going to do. My team is now running in 10 different directions, because I wasn’t clear and grounded in my own intention. And now I have just created so much drama for them, we’re actually not going to get the work done, we’re gonna have a lot of redoing done to that needs to be done. And our communication is probably not gonna be great. So intention, and I know I’m completely biased about this, but I’m just gonna run with it. intentionality is a big one. And then you know, what I’m really noticing right now is, business leaders are missing the basics there. We’re so busy right now, with all the stuff going on in the world. And just all the things that we’re missing the basics, the basics are the value of being incredibly present with another human being. And it doesn’t have to be an hour, it can be three minutes of being really present. And just checking in with someone. How are you doing? I see you I see the work that you’re doing? What support do you need? Just that in itself, there was a study that was done 2021 to 2022, I think it was basically talked about when they looked at everything that meant the most to employees in their company, the thing that was the most important 37% said, recognize me, and we’re not talking about like, promote me. I mean, that’s lovely. It’s not about that it’s see me recognize me, value me, let me know that I’m cared about that that was a hire, that was of higher value to people than money, you know, that, then all the other things, even inspiration, it even came in higher than inspiration. So, you know, back to your question, I think that is opportunity for being present with our people, seeing our people, and then just continuing to come back to the intention of being in service of our people, our customers, our business I, I know for me, whenever we’re at an edge whenever I personally am at an edge, and I’m like, feel like I can’t go any further. Or I feel like I’m super frustrated, whatever’s happening. If I can catch myself take a step back and really look at okay, what am I actually here to be in service of what’s the intention behind this? What’s in my heart, if I can tap that all the sudden new pathways become available. So it’s not a common thing? I don’t think for people to say, you know, like, what’s, what’s a big thing that you’re missing in business? It’s not usually where people look, but it’s what I see if people can do it, they get a very quick return on investment for that,

Brittany Anderson 23:43

You know, I’ve asked questions along those lines to many different guests on our on our podcast over the years. And I would say that that is probably one of the most. And I’m not knocking anybody else’s responses. But one of the most real answers that I’ve heard, right, people are so great at giving, you know, more tactical advice in that regard. And I think that what you just explained about that presence and seeing people where they are, I mean, I’m thinking in my head, there’s times that I’m definitely guilty of, of not being present, of you know, not giving my all where it’s like, okay, well, I’m trying to finish an email, somebody, you know, pops in, and I’m trying to shift my attention. And it’s like, there is such a difference and giving your full attention and seeing people where they are, and to your point, you know, being intentional with how you reach out to them and how you interact. Those are, those are things that you can’t put a price tag on, I think that’s so valuable.

Anese Cavanaugh 23:48

You can’t put a price tag on them and yet it’s free.

Brittany Anderson 24:40

Yeah.

Anese Cavanaugh 24:41

You know, sometimes we literally just had this happen recently, where someone was like, I don’t have time for all this IEP stuff. I gotta I gotta get down to the basics and the facts of the business and I was like, I get it. I totally get it. And if you’re doing all that other stuff, which is important, but you’re not being intentional about why you’re doing it, you’re not present with you Are people you’re not managing energy and you’re exhausted? Like, how far is that stuff going to take you, you know, and it doesn’t cost me any extra to put down whatever I’m doing, and to turn and to be present with you for three minutes. And actually the return on investment for that, because you and I are now connected or more on the same page and you feel seen the return on investment for that, that’s priceless. So I just I always encourage people look at what the cost of not having intention not being present, not taking care of your energy, look at the cost of that, and then look at what would be possible with it. And a lot of times, Bernie, this is the first time people are hearing this today, this is gonna be the first time they think about this way.

Brittany Anderson 25:38

I would say that is a fair statement. And it makes me think actually, so let’s just think about the advisor that might be sitting here tuning in, who is maybe realizing that this is not an area they focused on in their business, and maybe because of that their culture is suffering, or they don’t have a ton of Team buy in or engagement. Is it ever too late to say renew the energy in your firm, or create and put in place the practices that you’re talking about here?

Anese Cavanaugh 26:06

Your your cheeks hurt and my mouth water with that question. No, it’s never too late. It’s never it’s not it’s never too late. What I would say is that depending on where you’re at, on that trajectory, let’s just say from LA Cisco, from healthy culture to totally toxic culture, not that anybody’s there, but let’s just say what depending on where you’re on the spectrum, it might need a little bit extra in certain places, but I can go in and I can shift my tone today with my team without telling them I’m shifting my tone, they will feel it if I as leader am clear about okay, I want to reset the energy that team is we walk in the room, we set the tone in that room, so everybody does and the leader especially the higher up you are in your responsibility, you have a little bit more power. So what is it whose was an uncle Superman or spider man with great power comes great responsibility. Oh, my gosh, I forget his name anyway, you know what I’m talking about?

Brittany Anderson 26:55

I’m blanking. I don’t I don’t think I know this one

Anese Cavanaugh 26:58

Spider , Spider Man’s uncle Oh, forgetting is my son would know this. But Spider Man’s uncle says with great power comes great responsibility. That is for all of us. As leaders, as leader in the room, you set the tone, you have great responsibility, use that power for good, that might just be as simple as making the decision to shift it. Now let’s just say my team has really been having a hard time and I’m realizing Wow, I’ve got a mess, the most powerful thing I can do is go into that team and say, Hey, everybody, I am realizing that we’re not what we want to be as a culture right now. And I am seeing how I’ve contributed to that. And I am devoted to doing a change. Let’s talk about what we notice on our team. And what is it we want to shift. It’s never too late for a reset. The only thing is, if you’re going to do that, you want to make sure you mean it and you back it up the worst thing a company can do and we see this happen all the time is they go we’re gonna change our culture. They do surveys, they say they’re gonna do all this training. And then they don’t actually back up what they found. And so then you break trust and credibility. Now you haven’t even unhealthier culture. So you just want to make sure if you’re going to reset the tone in a company? Absolutely Can you want to be very strategic about it, you want to be intentional, and you want to check with where you’re at on that spectrum? To see what steps do you need to take. And that’s something that we do, we’ve got a diagnostic to kind of help companies like see where they’re at. So they’re not just going in blind, but you can set the tone today, you can change, you can change your you can start to change the team’s energy today depend on how you show up with it? Which is really,

Brittany Anderson 28:23

yeah. And and obviously I asked that as a rhetorical question a little bit, because I know I mean, I think about it, I’ve witnessed this firsthand with so many different businesses where they feel like they’re on this brink of disaster, and there’s no pulling back. And by putting in the practices in place that you’re talking about here, I mean, you can see a business completely shifted their trajectory, by just focusing on some of these very, I want to call them simple, not easy, because if it was easy, everybody would do it all the time. But very simple practices that they can put in place to completely shift what’s going on in the business. So before I what was that?

Anese Cavanaugh 29:03

Oh, no, 100% I was just gonna say You know, if you want real time stuff, so literally this we had something happened yesterday as a team that was frustrated, super transparent, like so here’s how this really plays out. Our organization with very small and mighty team, we’ve got a really lovely culture, because it is our job to basically teach what I’m talking about. So hopefully we walk our talk. And we also have moments where we hit the wall with certain things. So I will tell you this morning, I was in a really grumpy mood. I was in a really grumpy mood I got on our team meeting. It was obvious I was in a really grumpy mood. I know I know better. I created the methodology. I know how to do this, and I couldn’t get out of it. So one of my team members said to me Hey, nice. Would you do you want to just clear for a couple minutes about what just happened? You want to just clear and clearing means you have the psychological safety amongst your team to tell the truth about what you’re frustrated about. Oh Brittany, like goosebumps because As you know, first of all, I give my team a lot of credit for that, because they’ve all been swimming in this for a long time. So we know those tricks. But my team member said, Hey, nice. Do you want to just take a few minutes to clear I’m hearing the chlorine conversation happening right now? Do you want to just clear what what you’re upset about? Sure, three minutes. And I got to say, this is what I’m here. My feelings were hurt with this. I was frustrated by this. I’m wondering what happened with this. I’m feeling a lot of pressure here. So I as leader got to be really authentic about what’s happening. We clear that now. That’s no longer in the room and the team goes, Great. Wow, you know what, I see where I contributed to that. Here’s what I would do differently next time. Another team member? Oh, I see what, oh, gosh, that was I dropped the ball there. Let’s fix this. So notice, in this conversation, there’s no make wrong. There’s no like, Oh, why are you being this way, there’s nobody covering there. But so you want to get your team to the place where you’ve got the psychological safety, that you can have that honest, have a conversation, because had we not had that conversation, you know, we were able to clear through it and find solution within about 15 minutes, then we got back to business, and everybody’s good. And everyone’s doing their stuff, I have seen and experienced where that didn’t happen. And then you’ve got months of cleanup, and people going into their side hallways to talk about how horrible that thing was, and can you believe in East got upset about that. And so that’s, that’s a very real life practical, if you as leader are aware of what’s going on. And I’m not suggesting you go and vomit all over your team, what’s going on for you. But if you as leader are aware of what’s going on, and you set the tone with your team, where you can start to have really honest conversations, you can start to move through issues quicker. And now you get to more innovation, people focus on the right things,

Brittany Anderson 31:40

You know, and it really boils down, the word that kept flashing through my mind is vulnerability, allowing yourself to be vulnerable enough to be transparent with your team and, you know, opening up that space for your team to be the same. And to just create that open, honest communication because you and I can and again, thinking of, you know, all the different advisor practices that we’ve helped over the years, a lot of times, it boils down to some sort of gap in communication, right, or something that’s being maybe buried beneath the surface, and then it’s being you know, lashed out on in other ways or acted out upon in other ways. You know, anytime I’m thinking about this, as you’re, as you’re talking, and there’s so many times where, you know, we just let things fester, we let it stay kind of buried, and then all of a sudden, it gets played out in different ways. Where, you know, you might be a little bit short with somebody or snippet somebody and it’s like, we’re not allowing ourselves to process the true emotion or what’s really going on. And then all I can think about as it’s like, you know, if you have children, you know how this is, a lot of times kids can act out in certain ways, because they don’t understand their emotions, or they don’t want to really say what’s happening, they’re afraid of making mom or dad mad. So really, it just boils down to us all being a bunch of kids, walking around, trying to figure out our emotions, trying to figure out when vulnerability is safe, and when it’s not. And I think it’s important to just understand that going back to some of these basics, and really letting yourself land, the vulnerability, be vulnerable, open that space for your team create those opportunities. I mean, that’s where true growth happens. So, I mean, I’ve seen it firsthand, and I love the work that you do. So before I ask my last couple questions, a nice, I would love for you to share. How can people get a hold of you, if they want to engage with you if they want to learn more about your process? What does that look like?

Anese Cavanaugh 33:28

Really, super, super simple. So if they go to active choices.com, they’ll find all the information on there about what we’re doing the positive workplace initiative, IEP methodology, that’s a great place to go. I’m also out there on social media under a nice Kavanaugh on everything, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, although I’m not on Twitter a lot. But LinkedIn, I’m on LinkedIn a lot. So probably a really good place for people just find me on LinkedIn and say, hi,

Brittany Anderson 33:52

awesome. So I got to ask the question. A lot of times, again, you’re that entrepreneur, you have that entrepreneurial nature, you love creation and adding value. So what are you working on right now that has you just super excited,
We made a very conscious decision a couple years ago to really grow the work and to have it be more scalable, you know, up until 2021, it was me and a very small team of assistants just doing this work. And we’ve been building out our coaching and training team for the last couple years. And we just this last year created the positive energy workplace initiative. So this is something that we’ve been building for years but hadn’t named it that but basically, it’s a positive energy workplace initiative. And what we’re doing is we’re pulling companies into it, that really want to create authentic positive energy workplaces, and we’re using the IEP methodology and our training programs to help them move through a process of actually getting certified. And so we’re spent a lot of time there. We spent a lot of time there just really looking at what are the best practices for companies we have this you know, maturity model that we’re looking at, like, Oh, that’s really interesting, the companies that are doing this, they’re finding that, you know, so that’s been that’s been really juicy stuff to be building out.

Anese Cavanaugh 34:05

We made a very conscious decision a couple years ago to really grow the work and to have it be more scalable, you know, up until 2021, it was me and a very small team of assistants just doing this work. And we’ve been building out our coaching and training team for the last couple years. And we just this last year created the positive energy workplace initiative. So this is something that we’ve been building for years but hadn’t named it that but basically, it’s a positive energy workplace initiative. And what we’re doing is we’re pulling companies into it, that really want to create authentic positive energy workplaces, and we’re using the IEP methodology and our training programs to help them move through a process of actually getting certified. And so we’re spent a lot of time there. We spent a lot of time there just really looking at what are the best practices for companies we have this you know, maturity model that we’re looking at, like, Oh, that’s really interesting, the companies that are doing this, they’re finding that, you know, so that’s been that’s been really juicy stuff to be building out.

Brittany Anderson 35:08

I love that. And I think that’s something that our advisor audience can get excited about for you too, because I think, you know, we’re always looking at ways that, you know, we can grow and create expansive opportunities and serve even more people, or serve less people by doing more for those core people. So I think that is, that’s really exciting for you and what you’re what you’re focusing on. So, to round to round it out, I would love to know, what is something that I did not ask you that I should have? 

Anese Cavanaugh 35:38

You know, the thing that comes up to mind now in this conversation is, basically, the thing that keeps coming up for me is, you know, when we’re talking about, you know, the hard conversation or vulnerability, this is what’s coming up for me with vulnerability. If you look at what is the shortcut, or what is the thing that makes vulnerability easier, Courage easier. Having that hard conversation with my team easier? I think for anybody, if they really look underneath the surface, if you can get connected to your intention of why that’s important. That is gold. So for example, if I’m really afraid, Brittany to tell you something, and I’m feeling really vulnerable about it, I can force myself over that, which is going to be okay, like, we’re probably going to do it or I can have more ease in my life, if I connect with Alright, Anese what’s my intention for being vulnerable and telling Brittany the truth about this? Well, my intention is service. My intention is I want you and I to have a better relationship, I want us to have a real relationship, I want my team to feel safe. So if I’m clear on my intention, and this is why the IEP work starts with intention, because if I am clear on my intention, that actually can direct everything else. And it makes things it doesn’t make them easier. But it makes them clearer and a little bit more simple. So I just I think, I think that’s not necessarily a question, but it is the, it is the thing that’s like, what’s the hack without being a, you know, cliche hack, but it’s like, what’s the hack, you keep getting clear on your intention for what you’re trying to create with your clients, your people, your loved ones, your team, and you go into why that’s so important, that will give you the fuel to actually get over there more organically, more authentically,

Brittany Anderson 37:25

I love that addition, I think this is where this is where I get excited about the work that you do, and how you serve people and the value you bring to the world because I tend to be a very introspective person, you know, love learning more about me and how I can add more value to others? And how can I work on myself in order to create greater impact versus constantly looking outwards? And I think that what you just touched on there, that’s really what it is. It’s a little bit more introspection, it’s a little bit more of understanding your pure intentions and really leaning into who you authentically are. And you know what you’re trying to do in this world. So I love that you ended with that. So a nice, I cannot thank you enough for this conversation. And I know that our advisor audience got a ton out of it. So thank you for sharing your time. We know it’s the only commodity that we can’t get any more of.

Anese Cavanaugh 38:14

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. It’s been really fun.
Awesome. Well, that wraps up today’s episode of The Ultimate Advisor Podcast. We’ll catch you right back here next time.

Brittany Anderson 38:17

Awesome. Well, that wraps up today’s episode of The Ultimate Advisor Podcast. We’ll catch you right back here next time.