You Don't Need an A-Team, You Need a Unicorn Team with Jennifer "Jen" Kem

0:01Light that spark fire nation JLD here and welcome to entrepreneurs on fire the only daily show interviewing the world's top entrepreneurs seven days a week. Today, we'll be breaking down why you don't need an A-team, you need a unicorn team. To drop these value bombs, I brought Jennifer Kem in the EO Fire studios. Jennifer, recognized by Forbes as a top brand strategist, helps thought leaders build impactful brands, optimize teams, and creates global collaborations. She is the author of Unicorn Team. And today, we'll talk about unicorn team and different leadership types. There's nine, a visionary, a strategizer, a mobilizer, which are you?

0:38And her best advice for you, Fire Nation. And oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring our episode goes to Jen and our sponsors. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer, hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lands, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. AI technology is transforming the way we do business, and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. Fire Nation, you have a book inside you and it's time to share your message with the world.

1:15That's why I created Author 100, a 100-day program where I will personally guide you one-on-one to create, write, publish, and market your book. If you want daily guidance and mentorship from me, JLD, then head over to author100.com to sign up for a free call with me to chat about the details. Jen, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with. What's up, JLD and Fire Nation? Okay, something that I think people may disagree with or may be contrarian is that pressure, friction, and noise are actually healthy parts of being successful.

1:58Wow, Fire Nation, we have started off with a spark. I'm going to fan it into a flame because you don't need an A team. You need a unicorn team. And what the heck, Jen, is a unicorn team exactly? Yeah. So a unicorn team is a group of people, including yourself, that is motivated, inspired, and energized to bring an idea that you believe is so important to the world into the world. And they are, to use a word that you're familiar with, ignited and rallied around that idea to bring it to life. So it's kind of like your rally squad and you're the head of the rally squad. And it's what the greatest brands, even the brands that start out just like you and me did in a, you know, in a kitchen or across the dining room table.

2:45It's what the true thing that those leaders did to get their ideas into the world. And so the number one thing is you need to understand is a unicorn team starts with you. I had this little loft in my one bedroom apartment in Portland, Maine that I would walk up to every day as I started the road of Entrepreneurs on Fire now 13 years ago. Like I'll never forget that spot. So many good memories there. And you've created nine unicorn leadership types. Why don't you go down, break them down fairly quickly for us? Because then I want to maybe go back and circle in and deep dive on one or two of them that I'm particularly interested in?

3:28Yeah. So, well, the three core pillars of the Unicorn Leadership types are the Visionizer, the Strategizer, and the Mobilizer. And so, if you multiply that times three, that's nine different types. So, you got the V, V, the VS, the VM, the SV, SS, and SM, and then the MVMS and MM. I know that was quick, so you might want to replay that for all y 'all listening. But basically, the visionizer is the role or is motivated and inspired the most by their ideas. So if you have high visionizer energy in your unicorn leadership type, you are in love with your ideas. If you have high strategizer energy, you're really motivated and inspired by results.

4:12And then if you have high mobilizer energy, you are highly motivated by accomplishment. And so each one of us has one, like a plus one and a plus two that are highest motivational strengths in the unicorn leadership types. And so for me, for example, and I'm super jazzed to hear which ones you are jazzing around, John, but I'm an SV. So I'm a strategizing visionizer. And what that really means is that my core strength on a unicorn team and as the leader of my personal team in my business is that I lead with strategy and I can see the vision. And I only really create strategy that hits the vision that I see.

4:53And when I lead with that, I actually have better results. So that's just an example. So we just got to have dinner down in Puerto Rico, specifically my community, Palmas Del Mar, a few weeks ago. So we got to spend some time recently together at a dinner. I know how pumped you are about this book, about your project, about your vision, but you did get to spend a little time with me. So before I answer what I think I might be, I'm just curious, what do you think I am based on, you know, not a ton of knowledge and not a ton of time together, but with what you've had? Yeah. So, I mean, I think you have a healthy dose and a pretty good balance of all three, but I would say that you're either an MV or a VM.

5:35That's kind of what I'm feeling just because you are so good at breaking down your day and really stacking your accomplishment and then going after what you want to accomplish. And so I feel like you might be one of those, but I see a lot of S in you too, John. Okay. Before I complete the answer, go through those three again and quickly break them down. And then I feel like I will really be able to answer fully. Okay. So again, the core types are visionizer, strategizer, and mobilizer. And if you are a VV, that means you are a big, big, super big idea person. That's the only thing that motivates you.

6:09You hate doing, you hate thinking about it. If you are a visionizing strategizer, which is a VS, you lead with vision. Your ideas are what pump you up and you are really smart in how you strategically implement those big ideas. If you are a visionizing mobilizer, which is a VM, again, motivated by your big ideas and you actually enjoy and get jazzed from doing the daily work to get it done. Now, if you are a strategizing visionizer, which that is me, again, you love to think about the steps and then you go for it. If you're a strategizing mobilizer, which our friend Selena Sue is, you're a thinker, You love results and you work on the daily tasks to get them done.

6:59And if you're an SS, you can think about that's a strategizing strategizer. That's kind of like your David Ogilvie's. These are the people who you read these big theory books on, on how to do things really well. Now, if you're a mobilizing visionizer, that's an MV, you're somebody who leads with doing and demonstration. A great example of that is Martha Stewart. She is somebody who has built her career off demonstrating all the nifty things she does, like cooking and gardening, et cetera. If you are a mobilizing strategizer, you're a doer first and a thinker second. These people are so good at being COOs or operational people in general.

7:39And then an MM is a mobilizing mobilizer. And those are your like people who you can depend on to get things done daily. probably even your podcast team. You have a bunch of MMs, John. I'm thinking these are the people who really revel in accomplishing daily tasks to support the leader that they're working with. So I think you suggested this, but as I was going through or listening to what you were sharing, as you were going through these, I do feel like I'm resonating best with a VM, with a visionizer mobilizer, because I think of a recent example, and I think I talked to you maybe a little bit about this at dinner.

8:18I know we were mostly focused on like the awesomeness that's happening in your world, but I did think I shared a little bit about my new project, which is MicroStrategy Today. And to me, this is kind of a perfect fit for a visionizer mobilizer because I just have been into Bitcoin in that world for quite some time now. But I recently just fell in love with the founder of MicroStrategy, this guy, Michael Saylor, and his company, MicroStrategy, with what they're doing. And I just found myself spending so much time every day, like researching and, and just like learning and getting excited about it and investing in the company.

8:54And then finally, I'm just like, wow, I do see this vision that this company needs, or this really this world needs somebody who's going to create a daily show on the latest and greatest of all things micro strategy. and so I came up with a concept micro strategy today and the reason why I think I'm a VM that mobilizer part is because I literally wake up every morning and it's a 5 30 wake up for me as part of my morning routine and I'm I kind of crack a half smile because I'm like oh I'm actually excited to be executing this episode today because by 7 a.m after my walk and my shower and this and that, like I'm sitting down at my desk at 7am every day and I am doing the research, the recording, the editing, and the publication of my show in about one hour to 90 minutes.

9:45And I really like that part. Like I don't, I haven't even brought it in my team to help me with that yet. Cause I'm really enjoying learning through that process. And so I've been doing that now for almost two months in a row. I'm like in my fifties for days in a row. I'm talking seven days a week. I did one Christmas Day. I did one January 1st. Sunday, Saturday, doesn't matter. I'm doing one every single day of the week. And so that to me is like maybe a VM, but maybe you know better. So based off what I shared, what is that? You just gave us the masterclass in like three minutes around the fact that you are a VM.

10:18It sounds right to me. And the reason for that is you have infinite energy around what you just described. And that's really the mark of that you are living in your unicorn leadership type that you are even, like you said, it didn't bother you that you did it on Christmas because it actually energized you. It made you even more excited for the day. And that's the premise even of this whole assessment piece that I put inside of the book is that if we actually understand what truly inspires and motivates us, we create the energy to get through what I said at the top of our call, which is pressure, friction, and noise.

10:53Because when pressure and friction and noise appear, you will feel less jostled by it, distracted by it, because you're actually in the space that gives you the most energy to bring your ideas to the world. So this micro strategies thing, I can tell you are pumped for it and that you caught the vision and you said, I can bring my strength as somebody who geeks out and gets excited about even auditing my own daily thing. And you've obviously like even have the years of street credit with just EOF, the podcast, and now you've applied it to a new idea that you can really rally around, that's unicorn team right there, friend.

11:31That's what that is. Fire Nation. I really loved that breakdown. That was a fun exercise. I hope there are some wheels spinning in your mind about where you're fitting on this, which we'll be talking about more when we get back from thanking our sponsors. Ever feel like your job description just keeps getting bigger? But we all know there's only 24 hours in a day causing marketers everywhere to feel spread thin. Between creating content, launching campaigns, generating leads, and more, you barely have a moment to take a breath, let alone do your best marketing. What if there was a better, easier way?

12:02That's where HubSpot and Breeze, HubSpot's new built-in AI, come in. When you combine the power of Marketing Hub and Content Hub, you can have your best quarter every quarter. It's really quite simple. HubSpot and Breeze are all about making your life easier, getting your results faster, and better connecting you to all your data all in one place. Stop spreading yourself thin and start making major moves with HubSpot. It's no one of customers see big results in just 12 months, like collecting 110 % more leads, 31 % more deals created, 46 % more deals closed, and 192 % more web traffic. Visit HubSpot.com slash marketers to learn more.

12:44Fire Nation, you have a book inside you right now. But it's not always about our desire to write a book. Sometimes it's about knowing which steps to take and when to take them to make it happen. If you know you have a book inside of you but aren't sure where to start, then I have an exciting opportunity for you. It's called Author 100. Author 100 is a program I personally crafted to help you one-on-one every step of the way from drafting to writing to publishing and even marketing your book. When you join the Author 100 program, you'll have access to me, JLD, for 100 days. We'll have weekly one-on-one calls, plus you'll get daily guidance from me whenever you have questions or hit a roadblock.

13:27Over the past 12 years, I've self-published five books, including one of the top five publishing campaigns of all time on Kickstarter, The Freedom Journal. I've also traditionally published with HarperCollins, so I know a lot about the book publishing world and where most authors go wrong. I created Author 100 to share my experience and the lessons I've learned along the way, and I can't wait to share it with you. If you're interested in learning more, head over to author100.com and sign up for a free call with me. That's author100.com. Jen, we're back, and listen, we're all strapped for time.

14:04You're busy, I'm busy, I have a one-year-old now. I mean, things are just happening in everybody's life, So we don't use being strapped for time as an excuse. But I do want to say the one thing you write about in your book is unicorn energy. How can I achieve that state in my own life? JLD, there's so many books and topics around how to manage your time better. And those are awesome. Those are great. But one thing we don't take into account is you can create all the time in the world by batching your days and doing whatnot. But if you don't have the energy to do with that time what you want, whether it is even if your new idea is even to release weight on your body or get stronger or you know create more time with your family or have the energy to be with your family and of course since we're talking about business right now create more momentum for your business if you create time but you have no energy inside of that time you're not going to create anything great and so to create unicorn energy first and foremost you need to understand that remember unicorn team is not about other people.

15:06It's actually about you first, plus your idea, plus then who are the right unicorns that you need to rally around you and your ideas. And so the first thing as we're all overwhelmed is to ask yourself, who's in your space right now, whether it's in your professional and or your personal life. You know, I always say like most people, we don't have business problems or professional problems. We actually have personal problems that we need to deal with first so that our professional things that we want to pursue happen for us. And so in order to do that, again, that nifty assessment breakdown that we just did before the commercial break, that's going to help you first understand yourself.

15:48Because first, you need to understand yourself. I'm a strategizing visionizer. It sounds like, you know, JLD is a visionizing mobilizer. And so first, know what that is. Then second, ask yourself to make this idea that I have that I want to go after, right? And all the things that I could do, who are the people that can actually help me do it? And then ask, do they have the pieces that you need energetically to make it happen? So for example, I'm an SV, right? So obviously I'm low on the M scale, which is the mobilizer scale, the doing part. And it's funny because people will always say to me, oh my gosh, you get things out so quickly.

16:26And I'm like, actually, I am the most fancy, lazy, foolish girl you will ever meet. Meaning I have I'm in my thinker mode because I'm a strategizer. And that's kind of the shadow of the strategizer is I'm a thinker. And so I'm thinking through what is the best way that we could launch this thing or make this thing amazing. And so I need people who will help every day keep me in action. Right. And those people need to be high M's. And so I actually give them the assessment and say, hey, I want to check if you're a high M because if I have another V or another S for the doing things that I need to get done, actually, all we're going to do is talk story and think a lot, which is great, but it doesn't get anything done.

17:08Whereas with, you know, with you, JLD, since S is the area that you're not as excited or energized by, rather, it doesn't mean that we're not good at it. It just means that we're not energized by it. So we need to go find those other people if we need it for the idea that we're implementing. And sometimes you don't need it at all. You just need yourself. So that's what I would say is like really focus on the energy you need to create in addition to the time that you have. Because again, with no energy, time means nothing. I will definitely say that I can see the need for a strategizer with micro strategy today as I go forward.

17:44Somebody that's just going to say, okay, John, you had the vision, you mobilize every day, you get it done. And now I'm going to be the person that's thinking about how do we grow the show? How do we collaborate, paid ads, branding, different things like that. So that's really interesting. And I hope the wheels are spinning Fire Nation for you. And Jen, I don't want your second best advice. What is your best advice for Fire Nation? Well, number one is we live in a world right now where I call the triple A threat world, and it's not going to stop. And the triple A threat world looks like this. AI, automation, and the algorithms are here to stay and they're not going to change.

18:21They're going to just keep, you know, encroaching and eating around you. And so a lot of the time we forget that as humans, that innovation and creativity are innately human. Only we can be those things. Only we can be innovative and creative. So right now, really focus on your personal brand, your unique leadership type. Who are you as a unicorn? How rare are you, right? because unicorns are rare and mystical. And who are you surrounding yourself with? Who are the unicorns in your life? Or who are the unicorns you wanna become friends with, work with, collaborate with? There is no more important thing to do right now as a human being than to focus on those things if you're building a business.

19:03So Jen, you have this book that's coming out and I want Fire Nation to learn more about it, why it should be exciting for them. And then of course, the call to action you have for Fire Nation. Number one, I just want you all to know that I worked in corporate for a decade and a half, and then I became an entrepreneur in 2006 and never looked back. And what I realized when I left is the thing that I didn't even get at first, and that was that every single brand that we admire, every kind of thing that we take for granted today, right, whether it's Netflix or, you know, stuff that creates ease and flow in our life was created from one person, one unicorn with an idea.

19:44and that idea needed to take flight with other people. And a lot of times as entrepreneurs, we feel like, you know, solo unicorns, right? We are busy doing our own thing. And that's great because you have to do that at first. But there is a point where your idea needs other people to help grow it. Or you need to learn from somebody who's doing that, like on the podcast right now, on EOF right now from JLD and me. And so what I want you to understand is that when you think of team, I don't want you to think of team as, oh, gosh, I got to build this huge team and I have to have 50 plus employees and I got to have all these worries and concerns about payroll.

20:25Actually, I want you to think of you're the first unicorn. Who is the next unicorn you actually need to bring your business to the next level? What is your call to action for Fire Nation? Who wants to learn more? First and foremost, please get the book. It's an easy way to learn this entire thing. It is literally a paint by numbers playbook of how you take your idea and bring it to life with yourself and with other people. And you can go and check that out at unicornteambook.com or it's basically anywhere you like to buy books, Amazon, your local bookseller, wherever is more convenient for you.

21:04Fire Nation, you're the average. Of the five people you spend the most time with, you've been hanging out with JK and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com. Type Jen in the search bar, J-E-N. And the show notes page will pop right up. And Jen, thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thanks, JLD. Thanks, Fire Nation. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and Jen for sponsoring today's episode. and Fire Nation, if you are ready to rock this year, you wanna be able to make sure that you are accomplishing your number one goal in 100 days, you can do that with thefreedomjournal.com.

21:46So check it out. I'll see you there or on the flip side. The Next Wave, your chief AI officer hosted by Matt Wolf and Nathan Lance is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. AI technology is transforming the way we do business and the media landscape is fragmented. The Next Wave strives to be the leading podcast on AI technology and how you can apply it to growing your business. Listen to The Next Wave wherever you get your podcasts. Fire Nation, you have a book inside you and it's time to share your message with the world. That's why I created Author 100, a 100-day program where I will personally guide you one-on-one to create, write, publish, and market your book.

22:28If you want daily guidance and mentorship from me, JLD, then head over to author100.com to sign up for a free call with me to chat about the details.