1756 – The Linguistics and Mindset Makeover with Sara Gilbert

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0:58with us right now it's business strategist and mindset coach sarah gilbert sarah you're found on the web at sarah gilbert dot coach sarah thank you for joining us well thank you so much for the invite absolutely well give us a quick overview of the work that you do who you work with and the outcomes that you help create so i work with established entrepreneurs on two very important aspect. First of all, the business strategy aspect. So the alignment of the business, how are you going to position ourselves in the marketplace? What's our brand promise and everything? All like the alignment of the business and the direction of the strategy and the mindset of the entrepreneur and the leaders.

1:39Because the strategy can just go as far as our mindset goes. We know this. Yeah. I would imagine that the second thing that you mentioned would likely be where you focus first, right? Or is that not the case? Take me through what that journey looks like. Because what you just described, I would argue probably the two most important things. You got to have locked down. I used to say Tony Robbins, I spoke for the Tony Robbins organization. And Tony will talk about 90 % of the success or failure of the business comes down to the psychology of the business owner. I agree with that. Oh, yeah, totally, totally.

2:17So I actually work hand in hand in both of them. So I, with my clients, I develop, we work on what I call a strategic framework, which is really a one framework for the entire business, like the direction, where are we going to do it, how are we going to position our values, our vision, way more than what our business does, like what's the purpose behind it, the contribution, the legacy that we want to leave behind. And in the mindset is, how are we stopping ourselves to do it? but one of my expertise really is in psycholinguistics. So it's understanding how words influence behavior. So we use it in terms of how we talk influences how we behave, but also how are we going to positioning all the linguistic in our strategic framework in a way that we are engaged and it engages also our teams.

3:05So it actually brings purpose to it in a very strategic way of this is how the brain functions. And that's what the brain needs to be able to attract and really attach to different aspects of the business that after that we can actually put into action. Because a lot of frameworks and a lot of plans and things like that just end up in a drawer where I put it in a practical way that it becomes part of our linguistics. So the more we repeat it, the more we embody it. And at the end of the day, that's what we need to do. Yeah. And I think that you pinpoint a problem that can sometimes exist within organizations where, you know, we may have our mission purpose values.

3:47It's up on the wall. People look at it, but we're not necessarily living it. And we're certainly not speaking it with regularity, except for maybe when things might be going real haywire. And then maybe it's like, wait a minute, what's going on? Oh, yeah. Remember those mission purpose values? Why don't we bring that out and have a conversation about that? We hope that that's happening. But what we really hope is that they're living it on a day-to-day basis. Can you talk about what that looks like and how we might make some steps where we can make that happen? Because I believe you that if we can do that and we make that a part of our regular vocabulary, it just makes things more consistent.

4:24And it feels less like lip service where it feels more like if you ask anybody within the organization, do you live your values? Oh yeah, we live our values. How do you know that? Yeah, share a bit on that. So I'll take one box in the strategic framework is our business positioning. So I'm also an NLP coach and it's like a linguistic expert. And so for example, when I talk with an entrepreneur, how are we going to position the business in the marketplace? I always ask them, if you were a car manufacturer, who would you be? Because you see the brain works in image first and in words in second. So if I asked you, if you were a car manufacturer, who would you be?

5:02If you tell me Porsche, it's completely different than if you're telling me Toyota. Both are good. It doesn't matter. But it gives me an idea of where you are in the marketplace. It gives yourself an idea of where you are in the marketplace. It gives everyone on the team an idea of where we are in the marketplace. So now the question becomes, well, if we were Porsche, what would we do differently? If we were Porsche, how would we do this? And I get to say, okay, well, describe me. what are the three criterias describing Porsche for this example? And they'll say luxury, performance, and reliability.

5:40Everyone will give me three different words. But okay, so those three criterias are standards. So how do we demonstrate reliability? Well, we can do this in the linguistics and our client experience and things like that. So then these words, these three criterias, and we are Porsche, become part of our vocabulary, because whenever we're brainstorming, it's like, would Porsche do it like that? Would Porsche do that? Does this feel like Porsche? So it gives everyone a standard of who we are in the marketplace and how we want to position ourselves. So this becomes part of our vocabulary whenever we're in meetings, whenever we're in brainstorming, whenever we produce anything physically or intangibly, does that feel like Porsche?

6:26Does that demonstrate reliability? And with linguistics, then I work with leaders of how do we convert all these words that we have into our language? And it's always about how can we bring it back in questions for our team? How could we demonstrate reliability? How could we demonstrate performance? And that opens up to the world of potentiality. And we have one straight line. We're not trying to be everything for everyone. We're Porsche. This is who we are. This is who we embody. So in the simplicity is the key. Yeah. You know, on a similar note, I'm just looking, by the way, Sarah, you're a great follow on LinkedIn.

7:12So you could do a search on LinkedIn or actually the best way to find you on LinkedIn is just go to sarahgilbert.coach and then click on, you've got a link to LinkedIn directly on your website. But one thing that you had talked about was this concept of being an anti-drifter, right? And I feel like it can be really easy. Let me just kind of ask the question in a little bit more open-ended fashion. What does it mean to be an anti-drifter? And, you know, obviously kind of take into account, you know, this topic of intentionality versus, you know, just showing up in a responsive way to the world that's presented to us.

7:47Yes, because 90 % of humanity just lives on autopilot. I work with people who live with intention and who want to make a difference and not just make an impact, make a contribution. So drifters are the majority of humanity population that just goes along, you know, same thing, different day. And they're just like fit in the box and finish the status quo. And don't you know ruffle feathers too much and this is how we're supposed to do things and this is how we're supposed to do things and my thing is always like we said so my life my rules so I love working with people who are not for the status quo that they want to make a difference so being an anti-drifter is about bringing intentionality into our life like and bringing life into our life and our business, the business that we build are created because we want to make a difference, because we want to make a contribution, because we want to have an impact.

8:51So if we want to have that, we can't be a drifter and say, well, you know, and this is comfortable, and I shouldn't complain, and I shouldn't. I'm like, complaining is not a bad thing. Complaining is like, I know there's more, and I know there's more in me as well. So one of the questions I often ask myself and I asked my clients as well, it's like on your deathbed, is it going to matter? And answering all your emails won't matter, but maybe there's a different thing though on your project list that actually will make a difference. How do we go and get that motivation and that energy, inner power to go sometimes against green, to have the courage of saying, that's what I want, that's what I don't want.

9:34And that's who I work with because those are change makers. Sarah, what is it like working with you? What does engagement look like? So we have a six-month engagement. It's pretty intense, I will say. So I have with my clients, I have a six-month engagement where we have meetings every other week. So every other week, it's time enough to do some work, but not enough time to drift of any way. And we actually fill in, it's a six-month process, so we fill in the strategic framework. And I challenge and I challenge and I challenge because that's what I do best to get clarity on where we're going so we can have focus on what are the biggest needle movers and then we can move into intentional action like this whole thing being busy is like that's a drifter you know so we move on with the strategic framework week after week after week we polish sometimes we go back we polish we polish we polish to be able to after that like i have clients who actually frame the strategic framework because that becomes their decision filter of everything that they're going going to do in the business.

10:37The clients are going to serve the marketing, the initiatives they're going to do, the business development initiative they're going to do, the process that they need to put in place. Everything in the business comes through that filter of decision. So it is intense, but we have quite a good time doing it. Yeah. Sarah, what might someone just listen to our conversation, they say, well, I like what I'm hearing, but what might be some ways that they might know that they're ready for a little bit of not just disruption, but they're ready for you. How might the pain might manifest in their day-to-day life or maybe organization or operationally?

11:18So often in business, we say we're a solution to a problem. I don't agree with that because sometimes we just want more of better. So the client that I tend to work with is they've already have an established business. So it's not about a worry about paying the bills and they're tired of eating Kraft dinner. They're already established in their business. But they know that there's something more. They know they can have a greater impact. They know that they can have a better, I want to say work-life balance, but there's more purpose to be in there. They know that they want to bring more intentionality in their business.

11:57They want to have clarity. They know that a business as it gets bigger, it doesn't need to be more complex. It's actually on the opposite. It should get simpler as we play. Oh, I agree with that. You know, and that they get that. Those are the people that I love working with because we're ready to enter. We went from like good to great to outstanding. And it's like, what's the legacy you want to leave? that's what we're going to work on. Sarah, your website is sarahgilbert.coach. And I know that, you know, in addition to providing great services, I think it looks like you've got some resources or things that someone that might be listening to this conversation says, okay, I like what I'm hearing.

12:39I want a little bit more. What would you recommend they do? Well, actually right now, we just launched a recently on our website, a quiz that's called, are you wired for success? and it's really separated in three different sections of your business clarity. Are you clear on where you're going in the business? And you'd be surprised how many entrepreneurs think that they're clear, but they're not clear. So do you have clarity? What type of entrepreneur are you? And what are your linguistic patterns? Because your linguistic patterns will help you also become a greater leader with the people around you, with your clients and everything.

13:16So it's really, it's really complete in those three aspects to give it more clarity of where you're going in your business and how to get there. You know, who do you need to be? Who do you need to be surrounded? And how are we going to get there? Yeah. And then Sarah, over the next 12 months, where are you going? What are you doing? What are your big goals and who are you becoming? It's a very good question. Well, speaking is clearly a part of my business model, but I love working one-on-one with entrepreneurs. And so I do have some one-on-one clients that I take. I don't take many, but I do take some one-on-one clients and we dive deep and like, we become super close because everything has to be there.

13:53But I also have programs that are coming up. So I have one program that's all about the mindset. So we really look on behavioral patterns, who you are, what's stopping us. And so I call it the exponential vortex. How do we get stuck? And then how do we get unstuck? So that one is on the mindset. I have another program that's actually on linguistics. It's called impactful. So this is where we understand how to talk, what are the words, how the word different words and different sentence structure influence our behavior, and influences the behavior of the people that we are talking to. And then there's another one that's called unshakable, which is all about the business strategy itself.

14:31Yeah, so those are online group programs, they're delivered live, but anyone can take them there from all over the world that take them and really brings different clarities on all the aspects that we actually have to undertake as an entrepreneur, our mindset, our business and our communication. So which stage business owner would be appropriate for the group programs versus working with you directly? Working with me directly is clearly established entrepreneurs because it is an investment, not just financially, it is investment of time, but also you have to be able to have that experience of, And you feel kicks in the face and you're like, okay, now I know what I don't want.

15:10So now I know more what I want. In the group program, we have clients from every level that actually enjoy the group programs because I'm there, I'm present and yeah, I'm there. Yeah. Excellent. All right. Sarah Gilbert, your website, saragilbert.coach. That's S-A-R-A-Gilbert.coach. And then Sarah, again, when they go there, what would you recommend they click on? What do they do? What are their next steps? There's going to be a pop-up that says, take the quiz to see, are you wired for success? Start there. It's such a beautiful, brings a lot of clarity. It's such a beautiful quiz. We put a lot of work in it.

15:49And I work with like a social scientist to really get all the results for people can actually gain clarity and actions because I'm a very action-driven person. Sure. Sarah Gilbert, business strategist, mindset coach, keynote speaker. Sarah, it's been delightful having you. Thank you so much for joining us. Well, thank you so much and continue the great work.

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