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Hi, I'm Denise Simpson, a master life and leadership coach who helps women step into their authentic and feminine power. So they can lead like visionaries influence with grace and create a legacy of contribution and service. You'll hear about real leadership clients with real problems, navigating their success in life, business, and career. If you're ready to become a masterful leader, then this podcast was made for you. So let's get started.
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Welcome my friend. Let's talk about the three buckets and need to be overflowing with information, with knowledge, with resources, three buckets. Just picture yourself. If you're sitting down in your office, you have three buckets at your feet. If you're driving your car, you have three buckets around you. Three, just three buckets, not a dozen, not a hundred, just three buckets, three buckets that need to be filled or overflowed with knowledge, resources, information, useful information to use in your leadership practice. Because three, these three buckets, when they are overflowing you, my friend are becoming a masterful leader. Masterful leaders are intentional. They are deliberate. They are looking for ways to level up. They're looking for ways to expand and to grow. And these three buckets are always overflowing. Three buckets. That's all you need. we're gonna go over those three buckets and we have names for those three buckets.
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We're gonna talk about that shortly. I want to share with you how I came up with this idea of the three buckets, three buckets. And in these buckets, I have filled up my individual buckets with some really great information, useful information, resources that I use every day skills that I've built. I have so much at, at the ready, because I have these buckets always overflowing at all times. They are never deficient. They are never below the, the half line. They are always full or overflowing. I came up with this idea when I was in my PhD program, you know, after so many classes and after learning from so many professors, and by the way, my professors were incredible. The chair of the leadership department at the university, I went to Dr. Esther Gergen. She is my mentor. She is my idol. I bow down at her feet.
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I really do. I think she's extraordinary. She comes from a practical background. She comes from molding the clay in the workforce. She spent a great deal of time in the workforce before she got her PhD and then went into academics. And now chair of this department, I had that trajectory where I was in the workforce for a very long time. At 19 years old, I was running a bath and body work store. Yes, at 19 years old, I was managing people that were 20, 30, 40 years. My elder at a retail store that brought in hundreds of millions of dollars per year in one of the fastest, this growing city in the nation at that time. And it's up there today. It's pretty crazy. I had a great, uh, experience at 19 years old and I got hooked. I got hooked. So then I went into other industries and I excelled in each of those industries.
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I went from starting from the bottom, going all the way to the top. I led and managed high budgets, very, very, um, comprehensive, complex divisions and regions and departments. I've had a beautiful run in leadership, which is why in my early thirties, I decided to go and finally get that PhD in leadership studies. So I had a great deal of time of workforce experience, hands on experience with some great leaders and some really terrible ones. And when I got into the leadership program, I among many amazing peers. And, um, I was gonna say subordinate no, they were my peers, my classmates . They had such a great, I had such a great experience with them cuz they brought in so much wealth and knowledge and personal experience, professional experience of their own. And it was such a great, great opportunity for me to learn from some of the best minds in their particular industries.
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Incredible. The experience I had and I was, as I was learning from them as well as my professors. Yeah. I thought, how, how can I make this so simple for my brain? Like I need to categorize things. I need to put things in buckets. I don't know about you, but I've, I've learned to compartmentalize a lot of things, especially because of the tough upbringing. I had tough in that there was a lot of emotional, physical, sexual abuse that took place in my youth. And I had to compartmentalize a lot of my experiences and my emotions and my beliefs. And I was looking at life through categories. And that was no different when I got into the PhD program and was learning from so many resources and had, you know, opportunities to learn from so many people that my brain got a little jumbled and I remembered asking myself, how do I simplify this?
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How can I make this simple for myself? So that the next seven, 10 years are easy or easier, at least as I go through this program. And I remember saying, well, if I put these in categories or in buckets, what would they be in? And that's when I started to brainstorm, well, what does a leader need? If I were to put these in categories or buckets, what does she need to Excel as a leader? And that's when I came up with this three bucket system, number one is the mindset she needs to be formidable. And I mean her brain, her neurology needs to be scrubbed of things that don't benefit her things that are impeding her as she ventures on this path to leadership. I want for her to have one of the toughest mindsets in that organization. And if she is to Excel and if she is to be a masterful leader, then dang it.
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That mindset better be tough. And I mean, tough, not like Rocky Balboa tough. Right? But I just mean coin of England. Tough. You know what I'm saying? Like I need her to know her allies know her, the allies, internal allies. Okay. Let's be real here. Uh, nobody outside of her is, is, is, is as big of a threat to her than her own mind. It's your own mind. That's probably the biggest enemy because it knows you so well and it knows your fears and it knows your doubts. And let me tell you something when your mind and your brain knows that this is, these are your patterns. These are your conditions. And these are your belief systems. It will, it will find evidence. It will continue to find evidence. It's a perpetual cycle of reconfirming. Why you can't be what you wanna be, why you can't succeed in the area you wanna succeed in.
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So this is why I say it's your mind. That's the greatest threat, not so much externally, although there's plenty of systemic. systemic crap out there that is put in place to keep the, the good woman down. And let me tell you, that's a whole other story, but the mindset so that you, you can challenge your own belief systems as well as challenge those external circumstances, those systemic oppressive systems that are hidden in plain sight in the organization. And that's where, when your mindset, this bucket that you have, that's filled with the tools that you need the resources at your ready, so that when you are challenged and you are faced with an obstacle, you are faced with a limiting belief. You are faced with an external circumstance like an employee saying you suck or they quit because you're a terrible leader. Or when your board of directors wants to challenge you, or when your CEO starts questioning or undermining your authority, you have the mindset.
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My friend, that bucket is filled with and overflowing with the resources and the tools that you need to get through any obstacle. And I've got that for you. I have that for you. I know exactly what you're gonna go through. I've been there. I've done that. I've been in the field of leadership for the last 26 years. Not only as a practitioner, but as an academic, as a consultant where I was in the trenches with your leaders. And they paid me to solve their problems because they couldn't find a way out. That's what consulting consultants do. That's when I had the privilege of doing. And let me tell you, I learned from all of my clients, I learned what to do, what not to do, what mindset was helpful, what wasn't helpful. I learned so much from them as someone who has this, this array of knowledge and experience, not only as a practitioner, but, but as a researcher, an academic, and then helping real world leaders in the field, obliterate obstacles, I've helped them resolve problems in their organizations.
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I've had the honor and the privilege to do that. So I know what mindset is going to get you to that next level of success. I know what is necessary for you to manage whatever comes your way. So whether it is the sheep in Wolf's clothing, because they're out there and some of 'em are in your family right now, right? Some of them are disguised as a loyal ally to you. And let me tell you some of them aren't, they will talk about you behind your back. They will make it very clear. You're an idiot to others. And then sometimes it's your own brain. That is your worst enemy. So the mindset bucket, that's the bucket that we look at first because what's the point of strategy. What's the point of skills. What's the point of implementing when your mindset sucks? That's the foundation work my friend.
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And let me tell you that foundation, once you work with me is formidable. It is strong. It is confirmed. It is solidified you, my friend will be certain in your ability to solve any problem or challenge that comes your way. And it's not just in the organization. It's also in your life. Yes, those are the tools, the tools that I share with my clients. So start looking at your mindset. What does your mindset look like? Are you overflowing? Is that bucket overflowing with resources and tools at this point? Do you know how to solve any obstacle that comes your way? Do you know how to change belief systems? Do you know how to challenge your own limiting beliefs? Have you given yourself permission to disrupt neurology and embed some new neurology that looks like maybe new, new values, right? Values in a context like in the workforce context, maybe different in your intimate relationships?
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Oh gosh, I hope so. Right. And so you have all these areas of your life and you have these values that are driving your decision making at the unconscious level. Do you even know what those are? Do you even know what your values are that are driving your decisions and your behaviors as a human or a leader in an organization? Hmm. That's a good question for you to answer. And so we do all this work in the mindset bucket. That's why you can walk away after you work with me, you will walk away certain in your ability to solve any problem in your life, in your business, in your leadership, in your career period. End of story. so take a look at your bucket, your mindset bucket, where are you on that? Are you halfway, right? Or is that bucket a little, you know, less than half, are you a quarter, you know, full?
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Are, are you, are you overflowing at this point where where's that bucket and what does it look like for you? And if it's less than half, then we need to work together. And so that's the first bucket. My friend let's get through the second. And the third really quickly here, the second are your skills as a leader. Okay. So as I was going back to that original story, how I formulated these three, the three bucket system was I was putting things into categories, kind of compartmentalizing what leaders do. And I said, well, mindset is probably the most important bucket to look at. And then I'd look at her skills and then I'd make sure that her skills are up to par. I wanna make sure that she has theory behind her as well as practical measures, right? I want it to be pragmatic for her, cuz what's the point of a good theory.
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If you can't put the damn thing into practice and that's what we academics wanna do, we wanna get a great theory based on, on empirical research, right? That's what we want. We want a good theory. That's based on empirical research and then we wanna help our client. We wanna help our leader go put all this shit into practice. So skills are important. And we, again, we, we look at the theory, we look at ways to implement that, right? The, the pragmatic ways that she's going to implement that. And then we look at, well, what skills does she is? Will she need to implement this work? That's why the skills bucket is the second most important bucket. What skills do you have as a leader? Right? Look at your experience level, right? If you are midway in your career, your mid-career, you've seen a lot. You've experienced a lot.
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You've gained some, some strong skills like, like listening and communicating and empathy or compassion, which is what I prefer as a leader, compassion over empathy any day, every day, as a leader, save the empathy for your family. My friends compassion is much more helpful and beneficial in the workplace. I don't care what Brene brown has to say. I don't give a shit what her vulnerability research has shown. But all I know is I'm coming from a coaching psychology background and a, you know, social service background where compassion is a skill that can be built. It can be created. It can be cultivated and is highly beneficial as a leader. We can get into that research at another time, cuz I have plenty of it that maybe bene brown doesn't talk about. But I certainly will. we'll say that for another episode. So look at your skills bucket, right?
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What does that look like? Do you have negotiating skills very important as a leader? I probably negotiate a few times a day. Not only with my husband and partner , but with my clients, with potential clients, with the government, with my doctor, with whoever I'm always negotiating because I want this to be in my favor, but I both, I want for both of us to walk away very happy. And there's a way that you need to learn how to negotiate. How about having difficult conversations? How is that skill level for you? Right? Is it up to par? Where are you an expert in, so to speak, where are you a master? In what skills do you have mastery in? And then what skills are you working on today? So take a look at that bucket. The skills bucket, is it overflowing with resources, with information, with tools, with, with research, with evidence based strategies, right?
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That back up, these skills that you're building, what does that bucket look like to you? If it's half full, then let's work together. and even if it's not overflowing yet, we need to work together. As I have the skills that you need to be a masterful leader. I have exercises. I have opportunities for us to build upon some of these skills that you already have. This is the best work you could do as a leader, right? We do the mindset work and the mindset bucket. And then we start looking at our skills a little closer and then we look at the areas that we need to strengthen. And we look at the areas that are pretty tight and we're like, you know what? We don't need to go there cuz that's pretty tight. Right? We're looking at opportunities, always in bettering our skill set.
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So do a quick evaluation. What does that bucket look like for you? Where are you on your skill level? Right. And you can do a likerd scale one to 10. If you're fulfilled with what you have in that bucket, then choose 10. If not St let's go back down, right? Let's look at maybe five. Perhaps it's a three. Maybe it's a one right now. Right? But depending on your experience level and where you are in your journey, I think that'll determine how strong those skills are. So if you're starting out and you're a novice that's okay. My friend you've got the road wide open, the road is wide open for you to cultivate, to learn, to build these skills. And I love starting from scratch. Wow. You you're gonna build the best skills with the best habits behind these skills. How fantastic. Okay. So that was bucket number two, bucket number three, our last bucket.
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And then we'll wrap this show up your behaviors. We can look at that bucket with your behaviors, your actions and the strategy implementation, right? All that is inside that third bucket. And we're gonna call that third bucket behaviors, right? Be your behaviors, the actions that you take, the habits that you have formed, the behaviors that you have because of the mindset that you built and the skills that you have. Now, my friend, that bucket, you are ready. You've got so many, you know, resources, information and tools in there that you get to use to go and implement your leadership. And that's such a, I love this last bucket, cuz this is where your behaviors and actions directly create a result in your leadership practice. This is where we get to see you in motion. We get to see, see you act from this strong mindset and strong skills.
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And now you get to go show the world. What the hell you're made of that last bucket, I think is the most fun. that's where you go put this in a practice every day, my friend, everything you've learned in the first bucket and the second bucket here, you then carry yourself as a masterful leader. Here is where the world gets to see you in action, right? This is where we put the money where your mouth is, right? That's saying put your money where your mouth as my friend, we're now going to see what you are capable. And we're seeing the impact of your leadership by the results that you create. So this last bucket is so fun and, and you know what, here in this bucket, you also have to keep in mind the doubt factor, right? The failure factor. Because as you act from, as you are behaving as such, there's going to be opportunities for failure, right?
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Cause without success, you don't ha you know, you didn't have much failure. I mean, I, I like to think of if someone who has a lot of success is in front of you. They've probably failed many, many more times than how many times they've succeeded. And so here is where we manage failure because you are out there doing the damn thing you're out there putting in the time, the work, the effort, the actions, and the result that you create may not be in your favor. Quote, unquote, you may consider it as a failure. And that's where we wanna use our mindset bucket to manage the fear, the uncertainty, the imposter syndrome, the fraud, all those emotions that come up when you don't succeed in creating a result in your leadership practice. So that last bucket, I like to think of it as the most fun.
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It is the most energetic. It has so much energy behind it. And I like to think it's the culmination of these first two buck buckets. It's like bucket one plus two equals three, the third bucket . So that's where we get to see all of this come together. And so three buckets, my friends, again, number one, the mindset bucket. Ooh, the most important. That's why I spent a lot of time on that one bucket because that's the work, that's the work. And then number two is the skill building bucket. How, how are your skills right now? Are you at mastery level or are we starting from scratch or you, you somewhere in between, but where are you in that bucket? And then the last bucket are your behaviors as a leader where you go and put all of this into action. So three buckets, my friends, this is what we do in the masters of leadership program.
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We look at three buckets and we do that through coaching. We do that through our monthly master classes, we have a monthly implementation strategy. It's an amazing, uh, standalone live event that we have. And, and we get to put all that into practice. So that's your third bucket. And the coaching really covers the mindset work, right? What, what beliefs are challenging you? What beliefs are in your way, what habits are are not in your favor. What is impeding your, your success? What obstacles has your mind created for you or what external obstacles are you facing right now in the organization? And we do that through, through coaching. So we cover the mindset work and then the masterclass we build, we, we take a theory and then we, we look at the skills that are necessary to go implement this theory. That's always, always backed by evidence.
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It is always the, the most current research available to us. It is sometimes provocative conversations because that's how I like it. I like to keep us on our toes. I like to keep us stirred up. I like to keep it exciting. Remember, leadership is a dynamic field. There's nothing static about leadership. If you are static, then you are old and antiquated and you need to step aside. But if you are a dynamic leader who wants to learn more, who wants to level up, then you need to come and join us inside masters of leadership. Cuz we cover these three buckets mindset, your skills and your behaviors as a leader, the best work you're going to ever do as a leader, my friend. Alright. Right? So those were the three buckets. So start taking a look at these buckets. If, again, if you're in the, in the workplace today and you've got, you know, you're at your desk, start looking at those three buckets and what you do every single day and you're gonna categories, categorize them into three buckets.
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That's how leadership works. That's what I came up with. The three buckets of leadership. It's that simple. It's that simple. That's how we look at leadership. We categorize our beliefs, our mindset, our skills, and our behaviors and actions as a leader, three buckets that simple. All right, my friend, I wanna hear from you now head over to IG at Dr. Denise Simpson. Let me know what you thought of today's episode. I'd love to hear from you. Tell me what bucket you're working on right now and how I can help you. All right. My friend, take good care and I will catch you on our next episode. Bye for now.
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Hey, if you enjoy listening to this podcast, you have to join me inside my exclusive coaching membership for women in leadership. Just like you. I wanna help you become a masterful leader with the help of a community of the most powerful women on this planet. My membership is called masters of leadership. Yes, of course it would be called that . So whether you're a novice or a master, you have to join us. You're gonna get the support that you need and deserve inside my membership. So head over to Dr. Denise simpson.com/m O L. That website again is Dr. Denise simpson.com/m O L. You deserve this, my friend. So join us inside. See you soon.
