IAM2598 – Entrepreneur Inspires Leaders to Move Beyond Barriers and Limitations

So really supporting leaders and helping them grow their leadership, cultivate their leadership, transcend some of their limitations and barriers, and then move forward.

Because what that does is that then opens the bottleneck, and everything can flow very beautifully for even those that we have brought in beneath us to serve in our business, and to serve the vision, and to expand the vision, and to empower their own leadership.

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Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the IAMCEO podcast.

And I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Alicia Houston of aliciahouston.com. Alicia, it's awesome to have you on the show. Thank you.

Thanks for having me. Great to be here.

No problem, super excited to have you on. And what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Alicia so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Alicia founded a biotechnology company serving over a decade as COO and later CEO to scale the business and eventually sold it for a small seven-figure sum.

A leader executive and mentor to entrepreneurial executives, Ms. Houston attributes her success to a skill not taught in any MBA or leadership program, how to transcend. Alicia, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

I am very ready.

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Awesome. Let's do it. So they kick everything off. I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Yeah. So, I began my journey in 2004 as a business owner. And through that time, I grew from COO into CEO when the CEO decided to leave. And in that space was when I realized what a CEO really is about.

From that point, before it was just simply this title, but I understand, I garnered an understanding that it was so much more than that. It was just more than a visionary, it's really a servant leader.

And so that's what CEO means to me, servant leadership on every level to grow your business, to scale it and to create success. Yeah.

Nice. Well, I definitely, you know, appreciate that. Appreciate that you've been able to move from that COO role to the CEO role.

Because I think, and let me know if I'm completely wrong, but it also sometimes takes two different skill points.

So very few people, I think could be able to master both of those. So it just shows a lot of your ability to be able to do that.

Thank you, I agree because the COO is more operational. You are a lot more involved in the day-to-day of what's going on in the business to a degree, the operational components of it.

And then as a CEO, it is more of a role to oversee and to have the vision and to be able to convey, communicate the vision, the mission, you know, and the big picture in a way that people can grasp it and buy in.

So it's very different. They're very different roles. You're correct.  Yes.

Nice, nice, nice. So and I know, probably a big part of that is being able to transcend as I talked about when I read your bio. So I wanted to hear a little bit more about how you do that, how you help people to do that, and how you serve the clients you're working with.

Yes, my pleasure. So for me, I work with small to medium-sized businesses. And they are really my heart and I didn't realize that. But there is a mirror of me. That's why I was a small business.

And so when I realized that, there is where a lot of the bottleneck comes in, because listen, we're small businesses where medium-sized businesses we want to grow.

Sometimes we think we know how to do that, but we really don't know how to do that what I have found is the bottleneck many times comes from the leadership level, the executive level, because we are not being clear, and we are not conveying things appropriately.

Sometimes we're doing things too much off the seat of our pants, off the cuff, that it can backfire. So really supporting leaders and helping them grow their leadership, cultivate their leadership, transcend some of their limitations and barriers, and then move forward.

Because what that does is that they open a bottleneck, and everything can flow very beautifully, for even those that we have brought in beneath us to serve in our business and to serve the vision and to expand the vision and to empower their own leadership.

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that.

And I think a lot of times because I've always heard the quote where whoever you are at this present point that got you to where you are, you have to sometimes reinvent yourself, transcend yourself to wherever you need to be to get to that other level and indefinitely.

Being a leader, you have to be able to understand that a lot of times allow people that are on your team to grow as well.

That's right. And even as leaders sometimes we listen, we all have blind spots. And so there are things that we just don't know because we have not experienced them yet.

And so we do have those moments and I believe as leaders, sometimes we think we have to have all the answers, when sometimes the best answer that I learned to tell my team is, Listen, I don't know how we're going to proceed in this space, but you just give me about 24 to 48 hours.

And I got you. So understanding that leadership doesn't mean having all the answers, but what it does mean is creating a space of comfort for your people. So that they know Yes, I am human.

Yes, I do have to research something sometimes. And sometimes I just need a moment myself. And so it is okay. For you to also have that time when you need a moment to just think and bring things together.

Yeah, it's definitely powerful. Because I think seeing a leader do, that also brings a certain stronger relationships. And from my perspective, because a lot of times, if a person is Superman or Superwoman, they always have the answers that almost seem as if they're not as relatable, maybe.

But the fact that somebody says, I'll be honest, I really don't know the answers. But let me do some homework and due diligence, and then I'll get back to you, we'll figure out the best way to do that. I think that's something to kind of rally around.

Absolutely. And I think that just along those same lines, that leaders like we're saying, they do think they have to have all the answers. And one of the best things I ever did in my company, was to empower the leadership of others, to really empower employees into the vision that this is where I'd like to be.

And I would love for you to help me to get there. And I would love your input, your insight, your wisdom because that's what creates a business that is your people. That's what brings the juice and the joy, and the uniqueness and the innovation to your business and its people. And so these people are the most precious resource that our businesses have.

So why would we not tap into those beautiful resources, and create something that is even bigger than we thought possible? And that was something that I learned, and it was fabulous. It's a fabulous concept. So I love helping other leaders see the value and illustrate the value of them putting that extra time into their people.

Because sometimes as leaders, we just become very linear, and we just need to get this done. This needs to happen by this date, by this time, or else there is this outcome. And so we have to be very clear that it's bigger than that. So helping leaders, even my linear thinkers, to see that is really a beautiful thing because it didn't change their whole business. Yeah.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I feel like it probably also changes their lives as well because business is part of what makes them who they are. And then once that starts to start ticking and transcendent at a different level, I'm sure their life and their relationships start to as well.

You're absolutely correct. One gentleman that I work with, his relationship with his wife has gotten better because they work together.

And so that challenge in and of itself, and then just as we've worked together, just even their relationship has become so much thriving, they're softer with one another, there is more honoring of one another within and without business.

So yes, I have to concur personal lives have definitely been changed and lives have become more fulfilled. Yes.

Nice, nice, nice. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And this can be for yourself or your organization, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

So I have a background I owned. My previous business was about tech company. So I have a background in science and namely neuroscience.

And so I enjoy bringing in the components of the brain with some of my teachings because I believe it allows us and an inner sight to see how we think and maybe where some of our blocks are and why they're there and help people create new neural pathways into understanding how something different can be created, and helping them to become a part of the habit and helping them see how the various hormones that our brain excretes can keep us stuck.

So helping them understand the inner workings and a place that is very like I don't go high level like neurosurgeon conversation, break it down so that we can have a lovely dialogue.

But helping people understand how the brain, how we're wired as humans as people, to see how we can beat the system a bit and how we can create something different for ourselves. So my background in science has absolutely served me in this space of leadership consulting.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense, and being able to hack yourself and sometimes because you know yourself, so well, you need to get outside of yourself or have somebody else to get outside of you.

So you can hack that system. So you can make those breakthroughs and elevate everything.

Yes, sir. That is so true. I love that you hack yourself on that too. Right?

There you go. Well, that's a perfect segue for what I call a CEO hack.

And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

What book was it? So really? Yeah, it changed my life, it changed my life. Essentialism by Greg McClellan. That book because I was so busy trying to be everything to everybody to do everything.

I thought that's what leadership looks like, you have to do everything, and you have to be everything to everybody. I wasn't saying no enough. And I really wasn't honing and operating in the greatest gift I have. I am the leader's leader, I know how to cultivate people's leadership. And I was trying to do everything else. Along with that.

So I was unable to have the bandwidth to really cultivate that gift within myself. And after reading that book, let me tell you I got so Uber focused on the essential pieces that I did with that were stellar that were in excellence in my business, and then defer to the excellence of my team for the other components that are still very necessary, but not my wheelhouse. And I got really good at saying no.

It's easier said than done. I love that book. And I read the book called The One Thing First. Essentialism, Essentialism was like the one thing on steroids, I feel like, but it really drilled down so much on being and paying attention to those essential things to help move the needle, and not trying to do everything, I think it's really hard.

I know, I struggled a lot with being able to say no, and I got better at it. But I got more asks, as you start to get, and do more things.

So it's really important to cultivate that and understand that. And I think that book is a great way to do it really was. Now I want to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice.

Or if you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business, so

I would tell my younger business self that I just wish I would have listened to? Everyone has an opinion. But you don't have to take them all in.

Because you will miss opportunities, you should decide to move into that realm. And that's the biggest thing, everyone's gonna have an opinion, trust you. Trust you.

Absolutely. That's powerful. And I think the powerful part about it as well, too, is because if you do try to move in all the directions that everybody tells you, you will miss out on opportunities because I think we forget that part, we think we can do everything.

And I think going back to your hack, that's one of the things I reminded myself of, and I started to realize is that we do have a certain amount of bandwidth, we do have a certain amount of energy that we can provide. So don't miss out on the true opportunities you should be following by doing what somebody else said that you should do when they may not necessarily be right.

Yes, Gresh. Exactly.

Nice. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote and quote, CEOs on the show.

So Alicia, what does being CEO mean to you?

So for me being a CEO is truly a servant leader. It truly is a servant leader, we can have all the vision, we can have all that we can have all those pieces, and they're very important in a business.

But as a CEO, what I have learned is serving my people at the highest level changes not just my life, it changes their life. It changes their family's lives. It changes the business world, and it changes our communities.

Definitely, I appreciate your time so much, Alycia, what I wanted to do was pass you the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get ahold of you.

Wonderful. And I will say that in leadership and in business growth, one of the things that can really hinder us from reaching our potential is fear. And you're going to experience fear. I mean, our brain is wired to keep us safe.

So when you venture out of the known, fear will arise. But what I want you to understand is that is where your greatest growth opportunity and where your greatest visions will take place is in that space of the unknown. Yes. Those are my words.

Nice. Well, I appreciate that. I invite that Venn diagram where it has fear and this is where the magic happens and you have to be able to get there.

So I think that makes perfect sense. And people that want to get a hold of you what was the best way for them to do that?

So my name Alycia Houston is my handle for everything. So on LinkedIn, on Facebook, on Instagram, that is my handle on Twitter, not as active on Twitter. But I don't follow things on there, every now and then.

So Alycia Houston is how you can reach me and I host an annual event every September, and I'm coming to the Arlington, Virginia area in September of this year.  I would love to see you all and you can find more information on those handles. So I'd love to see you in the space. Yes,

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that appreciate you coming to the DMV. And we'll make sure to have those links in the show notes so that anybody can follow up with you.

But Alycia, thank you so much again for your time and all the awesome work that you're doing. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Thanks for having me.

Outro 16:36

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