Bertha Robinson: Role of Conversations in Achieving the Goals
About Bertha Robinson: Bertha Robinson is the founder of Star One Professional Services, a business coaching and consulting firm that helps clients get beyond goal setting and get to goal achievement. Goal achievement is where life fulfillment soars. Bertha is certified in TriMetrix HD, DISC (observable behavior), 12 Driving Forces (motivation), and Acumen (measuring cognitive style; how we think & make decisions through TTI Success Insights. She is also qualified to assess EQ (emotional quotient) with a tool that can help individuals sense, understand and effectively apply the power of emotions to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity. Check out the latest episode of our Conversational Selling podcast to learn more about Bertha.
In this episode, Nancy and Bertha discuss the following:
- How did you get started in business?
- What is the difference between goal setting and goal achievement?
- Why do most people have difficulty managing their time?
- What’s been your biggest life lesson?
- How do leaders adapt their leadership styles?
- DISC method in the sales arena.
- What impact do you want to impart in the business world?
- Why knowing the right strategy to get you where you want to go is more important now than ever?
- Something true that almost nobody agrees with Bertha on.
Key Takeaways:
- We all can be mentors and coaches. And when we find out what they really want, what’s the best environment where they thrive and grow, and if you can provide that, that’s adapting.
- People are more generous than we tend to give them credit for.
- It’s essential to have a good strategy to refresh it, review it, and have the courage to have conversations all the way around that inform your next steps.
- We have to be people-centered. At the end of the day, AI was created by a human being.
“So much being thrown at business leaders if we’re looking just at the banking industry. There’s a lot of fear, and there’s a lot of too much movement going on, and not a lot of reflection. And when you stop and think about the strategy, you do just that, you stop. You think. You ask questions of your team if you have the courage of your competitors. And when you get all that information back, then you can really form a really great strategy as to how you move forward. Because when we all started our business, we started with that initial business plan, the mission, the vision, and the values. But your vision should get bigger, and you should get clearer. And if you want to be able to capture that, you need a really good strategy. And you need to revise that and review it often because things are moving.” – BERTHA ROBINSON
“In essence, you will find that what’s already in you is what you cultivate. Thoughts are things. Create the relationships that you want. If you intend to create good relationships, you will; if you don’t, you won’t. So I truly believe that there’s goodness in people. I hope that I impart that in my children and share that with my team and my clients.” – BERTHA ROBINSON
Connect with Bertha Robinson:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bertharobinson/
- Star One Professional Services: https://www.staroneprofessional.com/
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Transcript
Voiceover: You’re listening to The Conversational Selling Podcast with Nancy Calabrese.
Nancy Calabrese: Hi, everyone, it’s Nancy Calabrese and it’s time again for Conversational Selling. The podcast where sales leaders and business experts share what’s going on in sales and marketing today and it always starts with the human conversation. Today we’re speaking with Bertha Robinson, the founder of Star One Professional Services, a business coaching and consulting firm that helps clients get beyond goal setting. and get to goal achievement. Now she challenges individuals and organizations to become better leaders of themselves and others while maintaining purpose and balance in their lives. Bertha believes that knowing the right strategy to get you to where you want to go is more important now than ever. She works with business owners who are ready to adapt new strategies and processes from goal setting to goal achievement for real results now. And finally, Bertha and I are both members of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, so we have a lot in common. Welcome to the show, Bertha, let’s get started. [1:25]
Bertha Robinson: Thank you for having me Nancy, it’s a pleasure to be here.
Nancy Calabrese: Oh my goodness, we tried doing this a while ago, right? And it didn’t happen. Your memory was better than mine. I totally forgot about the hurricane.
Bertha Robinson: Yeah, well life happens, and weather happens.
Nancy Calabrese: Life does. So how did you get started in business?
Bertha Robinson: I started my business in 2016 and before that, I had a very nice 19-year career in Telcom. And there was a reorganization in my company that affected my role in my teams [2:00] I was offered the possibility to move up in leadership but I would have had to move either to Texas or to Virginia and I had a growing family, so that wasn’t an option for me. So, through the outplacement agency, we had a parade, I will say, of different options that come through franchising and opportunities to go back and interview. And I hadn’t done a resume in 20 years, Nancy. So I said, I don’t know if I want to go back into a corporate role. I’d like to do something for myself. Wasn’t sure just yet what that would be. And in comes a woman who talks about starting a consultancy. And I asked for information and I met with her and others in their headquarters and that organization is called Trusted Advisors Network.
Long story short, I’m a member of the Trusted Advisors Network. I’m an affiliate since 2016 and it’s I’m in business for myself and not by myself. [03:02] They’re my network, they’re my back office, they’re my support, they’re my coaches and they help me to build my coaching consulting firm.
Nancy Calabrese: That’s great. It’s always good to have a buffer, right? People that you can turn to, especially when you’re out on your own. You know, you need to run ideas, you know, concerns by them. I’m sure they’re very supportive of you.
Bertha Robinson: Oh, absolutely. I have my own personal support analyst and my own coach and multiple coaches because we’re a network of coaches and consultants. But it is, it’s my own personal advisory board.
Nancy Calabrese: That is awesome. So what is the difference between goal setting and goal achievement?
Bertha Robinson: I get that question a lot, especially since I say it in my pitch every time. We all set goals or objectives. I want to lose 10 pounds. I want to go to Hawaii. I I want to, you know, start a business. [04:00] All of these wonderful objectives and goals, but we don’t have the structure and the criterion around it that actually in the process that gets us to achieving the goals. So everyone knows about SMART goals, specific, measurable, attainable, realistically high, and time-bound. That criteria helps us to filter out, to really work through a process to help us to achieve it, make it manageable. So achieving the goal is not the same thing as setting it. So I help my clients go beyond setting it, saying it, dreaming it, but to really achieving it.
Nancy Calabrese: Wow. You know, I’ve read somewhere on your website that most people have difficulty in managing their time. Why is that?
Bertha Robinson: There are so many things coming at us. There’s this shiny object syndrome where we think, okay, especially in the small business world and even micro business is even more so. So Nancy’s doing this in her business on her social media. Well, and Bertha thinks that she needs to do the same thing. [05:02] And there’s nothing wrong with having role models and people who are leaving success clues and following that. But you have to now focus on what works best for you. So being very clear is it that is your mission, your vision, your values, why are you in your business? What are you doing in your business? How do you do it differently? What is it that your clients and customers are asking for that you’re delivering on? Being very focused on that. And if we’re not saying no, and this is a phrase that I have from a mentor, say no to great ideas that are not in alignment with my long-term aspirational vision. In other words, we have to say no, we have to set priorities, and we can do it all. And once we realize It’s time blocking for some people make sure you have a paper planner for others sinking that with your electronic calendar having a process helps you manage your time
Nancy Calabrese: Wow, yeah, time is of the essence always, right? [06:00] We’re on the go as soon as we get up in the morning. I love this question. What’s been your biggest lesson in life?
Bertha Robinson: Oh, my biggest lesson in life, and it keeps teaching me this, life keeps showing me this, is that people are more generous than we tend to give them credit for.
Again, kind of like the shiny object syndrome, we kind of hear the sound bites, whether it’s on the radio, driving here and there, or on the news. And we tend to see and talk about and unfortunately, maybe even gravitate to adore the negativity and the stuff that’s going on in the world, which is all real, for real.
But people are more generous and more good than we really get to Give them credit for and especially in my business. I want to tell you Business owners have been very generous with their time and have become mentors have been guides for me have shown me how they failed and said Bertha don’t do this maybe try that because I tried that and this is how I failed [07:00]
And they’re giving so that’s one lesson that I keep seeing it’s a nugget that keeps coming back to me being revealed.
Nancy Calabrese: That’s wonderful and I’m sure you are able to pass that on to your children as well.
Bertha Robinson: Oh yes, I try, I try. They are good teachers, children are great teachers for parents and the more patient we are, knowing that we only have them for a little while, they don’t belong to us, they really are our best teachers and that if we can really be good guides for them, teach them early on and they’ll do great and they’ll be great adults. That’s the hope.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, you’re making me smile. I totally agree with you.
Bertha Robinson: Thank you.
Nancy Calabrese: How do leaders adapt their leadership style? I guess in order to create the right kind of environment for their team members?
Bertha Robinson: Absolutely. And more than now, more than ever, being adaptive to your team to create that real culture that people want to be a part of, that community that they want to be a part of. [08:01] I just let a session on conflict resolution for a financial institution. And the bottom line to this answer is communication. Ask questions. We all can be mentors and coaches. And be open to being coached by your team and receiving feedback. And when we find out what they really want, what’s the best environment where they thrive and where they can grow, and if you can then provide that, that’s adapting. Also, I’m also certified in DISC behavioral assessment. So knowing someone’s preferred style, is great to be able to open up the lines of communication and of course, diffuse conflict. So, it can not be my style to make those quick fast decisions, but it may be someone on my team. So I may lean on them in certain situations where I can say, you know, what do you think about this? How should we move on that? [09:01] Because it may take me a little longer to process. I may be a little bit more reflective. So if we can adapt that way, we also will see how we can win more, how can add more bottom line, how we can have more innovation, and it goes on and on and on, but leaders have to be willing to adapt to be able to do that.
Nancy Calabrese: You know, you’ve mentioned DISC. We are huge fans of DISCs here at the company. And, you know, it’s really a wonderful tool, especially in the sales arena, right? Sales is all about communication. So we are very aware of it. And it’s like understanding the psychology of communication that is really helpful. So, you know, what impact do you want to impart in the business world.
Bertha Robinson: I would say with all the wonderful technology that we have today, and more so now in the news in the last few weeks, there’s a lot of talk about AI, even though AI is not new. Just always remembering that we have to be people-centered. [10:06]
At the end of the day, AI was created by a human being. If it goes haywire, a human being is going to have to unplug it. That were people. At the end of the day, we cannot move away from having people-centered. approach.
Communication like we just talked about, listening, empathy, emotional intelligence, all of that wins in the business world. There’s something that I say in some of my presentations, specifically in emotional intelligence, and I don’t know where I picked this up, but someone said and I can’t take credit for it. The business world, has always been afraid of the F word, and the F word here stands for feelings. Feelings are good.
And communication and saying, and even as leaders, especially as leaders, I don’t know, will you teach me? What do you know? Reverse mentoring is successful. Having the next [11:00] generation teach, you know, the generation that’s been there for a while, it’s a great plan for secession, secession planning. So I think that if we always remember at the heart of it all, we’re people, and to have empathy, to have courage to be your authentic self, that will win in business.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah. Early in introducing you, I stated that you believe knowing the right strategy to get you where you want to go is more important now than ever. Why is that?
Bertha Robinson: Oh yes, because there’s so much going on today. So much is being thrown at business leaders if we’re looking just at the banking industry. There’s a lot of fear, there’s a lot of too much movement going on, and not a lot of reflection. And when you stop and think about what is the strategy, you do just that, you stop. You think, you ask questions, and you ask questions of your team. [12:00] If you have the courage, of your competitors. If you are, you know, humble enough, you ask questions of those whom you may not see eye to eye with so that you can get a diverse perspective. And when you get all that information back, then you can really form a really great strategy as to how you move forward. Because when we all started our business, we started with that initial business plan, the mission, the vision, and the values. And sometimes your, not sometimes, that business. But your vision should get bigger and you should get clearer. And if you want to be able to capture that, you need a really good strategy. And you need to revise that and review it often because things are moving. Life happens as we started our conversation today. So it’s important to have a really good strategy to refresh it, to review it, and to have the courage to have conversations all the way around that inform your next steps.
Nancy Calabrese: Yep. Uh, tell me something true that almost nobody agrees with you on. [13:04]
Bertha Robinson: Hmm, something true that that’s a great question. Let me think about that … something true. I want to say that people are in essence very good. And a lot of people, unfortunately, yes, we get burned. People surprise you. They do bad things. That’s unfortunate. But if I have the time, I want to share with you a really quick parable.
There’s a farmer and his helper, right, who’s learning. And in comes this they’re in their town and in comes this gentleman who’s brand new to the town and he stops and says excuse me how are the people in this town and the farmer says well how are the people in the town that you just left and he said they were not good despicable I’m so glad I left that’s why I’m in this new town and he says oh young man you’ll find the same here and away goes the newcomer [14:00] the next day another newcomer to the town asked the farmer a similar question and the farmer’s And he says, excuse me, sir, I’m new to town. Well, how are the people in this town? I’d like to get to know them. And he asked him, well, gentlemen, well, how were the people in the town that you just came from? He says they were wonderful. I miss them already. They were great. He says you’re going to find the same here. And he walks away. So the assistant says, wait a minute. Two questions, two different people. You gave them the same answer. How could that be? And he says, in essence, you will find that what’s already in you is what you cultivate. Thoughts are things. If you create the relationships that you want, if you have the intention to create good relationships, you will, and if you don’t, you won’t. So I truly believe that there’s goodness in people and I was struck by my parents and you brought up children and raising our children. I hope that I impart that in them and I share that with my team and my clients. I hope that you enjoyed this video. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you enjoyed it. I hope that you enjoyed it.
Nancy Calabrese: Awesome. I think that’s a great story. I help you tell it often. [15:00]
Bertha Robinson: Every once in a while.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah. Last couple of questions. I want to go back to also what you teach entrepreneurial leadership. What do you mean by that?
Bertha Robinson: Yes, that’s entrepreneurial leadership and strategic thinking. So for some businesses and smaller businesses or micro businesses, like a business of one, instead of going into a full strategic planning session, we think about how to be entrepreneurial in your thinking and strategic in your thinking in order to move forward. So it’s that in between before they have a full team or they’ve expanded their business, that they want to think strategically “How do I move my business forward”. You know, I’m at the six bigger mark, how do I break through and get to seven? All of those different strategies and thinking is where it’s at. Mindset is all and I know that in sales, you understand that. So that’s what entrepreneurial leadership and strategic thinking. [16:02] It’s a process that I help small businesses, even micro businesses go through for their strategic plan. And so I think that’s a great question.
Nancy Calabrese: So what is the one takeaway you’d like to leave the audience with?
Bertha Robinson: One takeaway is to follow the smart goal criterion. And in my business, I call it Y smart, WHY, and then smart. The W stands for written. The H stands for harmonious. And the Y stands for yours. Write your harmonious goals that are in alignment down and make sure that they’re your goals, that they fill you up and energize you. And then you have that intrinsic motivation to make them happen and then give them time to make them time-bound and have a due-to-date deadline Write them out and dream big. We don’t dream big enough We you know just sometimes barely scratch the surface [17:01] because we’re afraid of the unknown Fear is false evidence appearing real. There isn’t anything you can’t do except what you’ve decided already that you won’t do. So go out there and achieve big and do good and you will find that you will do well.
Nancy Calabrese: Very inspirational Bertha. I love it.
Bertha Robinson: This has been a great conversation.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, so how can my people find you?
Bertha Robinson: They can find me on my website, www.staroneprofessional.com. They can find me at @Star1PROF on Twitter.
And on LinkedIn, they’ll find me as Bertha Garcia Robinson or Star One Professional Services.
Nancy Calabrese: Wow, I’ve been smiling this whole conversation and I’m certain everyone listening to this will be smiling as well or has been smiling. I really appreciate you spending time with me today and I look forward to having you back soon. We have to have a continued discussion. What do you say?
Bertha Robinson: Well, Nancy, on the contrary, I thank you for this opportunity to invite me here and I would welcome it. I look forward to part two.
Nancy Calabrese: Yeah, let’s do it. And everyone out there make it an amazing day. And we’ll see you soon. [18:20]
