Finola Howard 0:01
I'm Finola Howard, Business Growth strategist with a joyful heart. And your host of the your truth shared podcast, I believe that every business has a story to tell, because that's how the market decides whether to buy or not, and your story has to resonate with who you are and with the people you want to serve. And this podcast is about helping you reach the market in a way that feels right to you. So if you're an entrepreneur with a dream you want to make real, then this is the podcast for you, because great marketing is your truth shared.
This is the episode where I explore the idea of working in your genius zone, and how to use that as a compass to your business growth. This is the episode which will move you past that sticky bridge stage we spoke about in episode 109, and fast track your success. Have you ever felt like you're just grinding away at stuff that just drains you of energy, rather than fuel the passion you have for what you do. If that sounds like you, particularly, if it sounds like most of your day, then you might not be working in your zone of genius.
Today, we're diving into what that is and how you can radically change your business growth by leaning into it. I'll share some research backed insights, real life stories, and my own compass for growing your genius zone so you can grow your business in a way that feels like you're thriving as opposed to grinding. So what exactly is the genius zone? It's that unique space where your greatest talents and passions intersect. It's where work feels effortless, time flies, and the results are both remarkable and yet natural for you and to you.
Gay Hendricks, in his book The Big Leap, calls it the place where your innate gifts meet your passion. And Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi called it flow in his book The Psychology of optimal experience.
The Journal of positive psychology, found that people who work in roles aligned with their strengths experience higher job satisfaction and productivity. And for us entrepreneurs, spending time in this zone means more creativity, less burnout and a greater sense of fulfillment.
Think about it, when was the last time you felt completely immersed and at your best while working? That's your genius zone. And for me, it's that powerful indicator of joy in your business. When your business is filled with joy, then everyone, including you, is working in their genius zone.
Okay, so I get this sounds all very well in theory, because both of these concepts can be quite elusive. I mean, how can you make genius or joy tangible. So let me tell you a little story.
Okay, I went to a gig recently, and as is normal, there were two bands playing the support act and the headline act. The headline act was why I was there. I love their music, and I know they're amazing live. Conversely, I'd never heard of the support act. Actually, it didn't really matter to me who the support act was. Both bands were in the rock genre with influences of gospel, soul and Irish music. Both lead singers had powerful voices. Each band member was exceptional at playing their instruments, and each band was experienced with more than one album released, and yet there were some fundamental differences that firmly placed them as either headliner or support act. When the Support Act came on, I noticed the sound was a little bit off, but not all the time. Sometimes the lead singer's voice was so powerful it grated and didn't seem and flow with everything around him, and at other times, it was like he wasn't in key at all. And I quickly realized it was because it wasn't HIS key.
The thing that struck me most was the lack of self belief. When the lead singer introduced each song, it was like an apology of sorts, a self deprecating humor that displayed nervousness and a lack of surety in what they were delivering. Perhaps they were intimidated by the act they were supporting. They were heroes of them. I suspect it was because they hadn't fully stepped into their genius, whatever the reason, they didn't present themselves as people who were what I would call owning their space.
But you could tell there was something more to them when they actually sang their own songs and not covers. The ones they loved to sing. Was nothing off key. We were transported into the story they wanted to share. This. We were with them in the moment, applauding their genius, happy that they got there in the end. And when it came to closing their set, they quickly handed over to the headline act. They did it so quickly, though that I still have no idea what they are called. You'd be surprised how many businesses share traits like this, self deprecating language, not leaning into your key, or your genius, remaining anonymous in your space, and ultimately not growing.
And then the headline act came on, the ones we'd been waiting for. There was an ease as they got on the stage, an obvious comfort in their own genius. They were here to entertain us, and you could tell they loved doing it. They were enjoying their own gig, and we were along for the ride. They were so brilliant that even when glitches happened, it made the experience all the richer because of how they dealt with it. And we saw these glitches as unique experiences we were getting to share as part of the show.
In one instance, the lead singer was so swept away by the moment, he forgot where he was in the song, and without hesitation, while still playing, he jokingly asked if he'd sung that bit before, and we all laughed together as an audience and collectively answered yes, he smiled and he carried on. Another time, a mic stopped working, so he got up and walked around to another one, never missing a beat. We loved it. We were with him on that stage. We were part of the experience of their genius. In another song, he had us sing along, sometimes with him, sometimes without him, all the time feeding us the words at every turn.
We were one with them. We were part of their genius, and we knew it was genius. We enjoyed being witness to it. We relished being part of it. We queue up to buy tickets again, and in fact, I already have, and that's a recipe for business growth.
In my book - What if - I tell the story of when my son was little, everyone would ask, Who's he? Like? My family and friends would say, he's like you, Finola. Kevin's friends and family like to say, you didn't get a look in Finola. He's like Kevin. And my lovely, wise and diplomatic dad always said he's like himself. It is true then, as it is today. This is who we all are. We are like ourselves, nobody else. We are meant to lean into that our own inherent uniqueness, our own inherent genius. I remember the moment when I looked in the mirror and realized something so simple, so simple that you'd probably laugh by listening.
Yet it was so powerful for me as an entrepreneur, I realized what I'm good at. I'm good at being me. That's where my genius lies, being me, nobody else, and that's the same for you.
What I've learned in over 30 years of advising clients is that the fastest and most direct road to your success is about you being you, leaning into your genius, the thing that you do that nobody else can, and matching that with a clearly defined customer who needs the thing you do more than anything else, when you know that everything else is just packaging and building a sales and marketing process around it, and the cost of not leaning into your genius. A business that doesn't grow is over reliant on you and never grows beyond you, you becoming the both the bottleneck and the ceiling to your own business growth when you spend too much time on tasks that are not in your genius zone, your energy and your entrepreneurial creativity plummets, and you might as well go get a job.
Finola Howard 8:56
Here's the other key learning for you. Genius moves. It's fluid. As you grow and become exceptional at what you do, your genius moves to the next level. This is a call for your business to move to the next level too. What you glimpse as a stretch in one iteration of your business becomes the comfort zone of the next iteration. There is no end point. There is no destination. The destination moves.
That's all every successful entrepreneur I've ever worked with has seen this happen. They are faced with a dilemma, sometimes unconscious, to self sabotage, so that they can stay in the known stage of the business, or the stuck stage of the business, or they can take a leap into the unknown and move to the next stage or the next level.
As you listen in, you probably think this is crazy. Why would anyone stay in that stuck space? The reality is that this happens more often than you think.
The trick is to find your own groove with your own growth And how and where your genius will move you when you lean into it and become excited by your own genius journey, nothing can stop you and ease moves in.
There's a quote I share with every entrepreneur when they get to this point, when they get past that first great leap into their business.
The price of the new life is the old one.
You have to let go of the old to move into the next new thing. At first, this seems hard to take. It seems that this might be a never ending loop you're on, but it's not. It's the journey you mapped for yourself when you chose your why or your purpose. Now, everyone chooses them, even if they don't fully articulate them, but if you dreamed big enough, like I talked about in episode 47 why purpose, mission and vision matter, you'll see that every leap you take is designed to bring you closer to that purpose, or why the one you thought that was too crazy to even articulate. When you lean into genius, you give yourself permission to achieve greatness, to make a difference, your difference, you will know the only route is through your genius. When you lean into your genius, you bring your audience with you, and they will love you for it.
I had a refresher session with a client of mine last week. We started working together two years ago, firstly on positioning, and then more fluidly as thinking partner at key turning points in the business. She is formidable, thoughtful business owner who had been writing in her journals for years when we first met about what she wanted to accomplish, but didn't she was stuck in all our work together, we leaned into her genius, unlocking that uniqueness that would define the space her business would own, the gap in the market her competitors didn't fill the gap her customers needed. Now her genius has become the business's genius. She has crossed over the sticky bridge that I spoke to you about in episode 109 she dreamed she did the work. She defined her space, her genius. She leaned into it. She grew her team. She created the balance she wanted between her life and business. She achieved the goals we set together two years ago, and now it's time to dream again, to lean into it, because her genius has moved again.
Her team will take over what has now become her comfort zone, as the next leg of her journey becomes clear, it is time for her to step beyond her business and into the next level of her genius. Her business is thriving and will continue to grow. She has crossed the sticky bridge and where before she was self employed. Now there is a successful business and a business leader who drives their continued growth.
So I'm sure you're asking, how can you pinpoint your genius zone? So let's talk about that for a minute. Okay, always starts with reflection. Nearly all the work I do starts with reflection.
One technique is the energy audit, tracking which tasks energize you versus which drain you over the course of a week. We actually did this with my client, and it does help narrow the search. Another is the flow test, noting when time seems to disappear because you are so deeply engaged in what you're doing. And then, of course, there are practical tools like the strengths finder assessment from Gallup, or the ikigai framework, which blends what you love, what you're good at, what the world needs and what you can be paid for.
The simplest indicator of genius for me, though, has always been joy. It's also the simplest indicator of where your uniqueness and ultimately where your business success lies. When you play to your strengths, you play a better game, you tell a better story, and so on, and that becomes the foundation for your business growth. Everything you do thereafter is in support of that foundation, your marketing, your systems, how you hire, the culture you create and so on.
Joy therefore becomes your true north in a compass dedicated to uncovering your genius and growing your business year on year. I call it your joy release compass, and I've built it for you based on over 30 years of working with businesses who found their success in uncovering their genius zone. This is a compass characterized by movement, movement ahead, towards joy and a release of that which no longer serves behind. Mind when you are growing, your compass is constantly moving because it's the flow that matters, the flow that is your genius. Your compass is designed to clear any obstacles to that flow, which is why the base of the compass is about release joy to your north and release our delegation to the south. This is about letting go of anything that is not joyful and therefore not in your zone of genius. So you can continually create space as you move forward, when everything you do is in alignment, you not only expand, but you move faster too. The center of the compass is the pause point, and this compass seems so simple, and yet simple is often not easy. That's why you will seek ease in that center point. It's where you are connecting with yourself again to ensure you stay on track. This is your most creative space, and it's where both doubt and transformation occurs. Remind yourself just because you're changing doesn't mean your business is broken. It means you are creating space for flow again. It means you are innovating. You are growing
your joy release compass is practical and grows with you. The key to your business growth is to stay in your genius zone. Steve Jobs once said focus is about saying no and saying no to non genius tasks is crucial to both your business growth and the speed with which it happens.
So pay attention to four key areas in your compass.
The first one is the purpose clues, which are signposts to your uniqueness, when viewed together, point to your next level of genius.
Purposeful outcomes are that next level of you in your business. They can be an initiative in your business or the direction of the business itself. These are the destination points on your journey.
Pause points are the insights you gain when you bring clues and outcomes together. They may also indicate future clues as you find yourself articulating and reflecting on them, and as you grow those once powerful purpose clues evolve into release points, areas of your business where you are no longer the best person to deliver on them.
Release points are where you choose to let go or delegate something in your business using the joy release compass simplifies decision making. You remain focused on tuning into yourself, on why you were here, your decisions all lead towards purpose and let go of that which no longer serves you.
You won't have to wear so many hats in your business anymore. You can let go of the ones that are not for you and pass them to someone who is excited to wear them instead, maybe even to an AI bot. You will have greater freedom in your life, because your business doesn't have to be so all consuming. You will have time for you, for rest, for play, for family, for friends, for community and your business.
This is not about balancing your life. It's about how you distribute the resources you have to bring you the greatest joy,
Finola Howard 18:22
The joy release compass is a way to think about your growth from a deeper and yet ultimately simpler perspective. It's about leaning into your genius zone again and again so that you are always moving forward in alignment with who you are.
I've added a link in the show notes so you can download this compass framework that works so very well. I use it myself. Use it check in with it regularly, so you remember to come out of the weeds to dream again and to take your business to your and its next level. Remember spending time in your genius zone. Isn't just a productivity hack, it's a mindset shift. It's about protecting your creative and strategic energy so you can thrive as an entrepreneur. Take a moment today to reflect on where your genius zone lies and how you can spend more time in it. Download the compass and check out the examples
I've shared with how you can use it. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so reach out and let me know how this concept resonates with you. Next week, we'll be diving into how people pleasing is keeping you small with my lovely guest, Chris Marr author and founder of the authoritative coach. That's all from me. I hope you enjoyed that episode. Reach out and let me know your thoughts and where you are on your business growth journey. Do click on the link in the show notes to access the joy release compass for your growth and thank you for listening to your truth shared. If you enjoy this episode, please do rate and review it in your favorite app at love the podcast. Dot com, slash your truth shared. It really helps spread the word and helps me to continue to invest in this podcast.
