Welcome to Time To Press Pause; A Podcast for CEOs by CEOs. I'm your host, Ellen Williams, CEO of The Salient Strategist, and today I'm speaking with Barbara Fonti. She is the founder and CEO of Big Dream Executive Coaching. She coaches and trains executives and entrepreneurs to reach their full potential and is a sought-after speaker with more than 25 years of experience training thousands of high-performing sales professionals and corporate clients. She's the former CEO of the Fonti Group. A full-service insurance and financial services company, she founded Barbers certified in Leadership coaching from Harvard University and has a BA in economics from Wheaton College in Massachusetts. She lives in New York and California and serves clients globally.
Ellen: Welcome, Barbara. It's so great to have you on Time To Press Pause.
Barbara: Hi Ellen, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me.
Ellen: I've had the pleasure of speaking with Barbara and she's a wonderful candidate for this podcast, and so I'm gonna give you the floor, Barbara. Please share your story of when you had to “press pause.”
Barbara: Yeah, for me, there was this, really, defining moment. It was like a light bulb moment. It was one of those things where, you know when you see something and you can't unsee it? That's what it was for me. So just a little background at the time I had a financial services company I had founded an agency for financial services and insurance and we were kicking butt. I don't mind telling you. I built it my way and hired some really great people and cultivated relationships. We had some outside stakeholders that we built some strong relationships and year after year we were having well over double-digit growth. Really, really happy.
Ellen: Fantastic.
Barbara: In kind of the early 2000s and then 2008 came, we had this financial crisis, OK, got through that. The recession of 2009, we actually had our best year, which was unusual, yeah.
Ellen: Wow, yeah.
Barbara: And then shortly after that we started to feel it. A little bit.
Ellen: OK.
Barbara: And it was getting a little bit more difficult to have that same growth. So, you know when those things happen, you say, “What are we going to do?” And I think leaders sometimes you say, “Should I just micromanage? Should we do more of the same? You know, double up on our efforts?” and so forth. And I looked around a lot, I looked at our competition that was trying to encroach. And to see what they were doing. And I think that's kind of what we do a lot, we say you know, “What's working for them?”
Ellen: Yeah
Barbara: “Is this we can model here?” And that's what I tried to do. I said, “Let me try to model some of those things.” It wasn't necessarily my first choice of running the operations and marketing and client growth. But I thought you know, “Who am I to argue with what might be working?” And in hindsight, I think there were some red flags that I just didn't give it the priority. I don’t want to say I didn't pay attention, I didn't give it the priority. But what happened is really interesting. I was at an off-site meeting with a whole bunch of other CEO's and some of their executive teams and other key players and a couple 100 people, mostly men, because it was financial services. And in these types of situations, you know, they usually have people come up, do some keynote speaking or kind of get the crowd motivated. Tell them what you're doing and so forth. And I had been asked to get up and say some things, show some things, and then I came down from the stage. And the keynote speaker came up and he was another CEO who shall remain nameless. But here was here's what happened. The beginning of his speech. What he did was he rolled a clip from a movie. And it was, yeah, it was the movie Wall Street.
Ellen: OK.
Barbara: Right. Everybody knows Wall Street. If you don't, it's just like iconic movie from like 1987.
Ellen: Right.
Barbara: So now we’re like over 20 years later. And one of the main characters is this icon for, let's say, corporate greed, Gordon Gecko. So he showed the scene of Gordon Gecko saying that famous line, Greed.
Ellen: “Greed is good!”
Barbara: Exactly. “Greed is good!” And I don't remember how what happened after that on stage, because as soon as that clip rolled, the crowd went crazy. It was like roaring. It reminded me of something that you see, like in that movie, The Wolf of Wall Street. It was like, “Yeah, yeah!”. And they were going. Everyone was loud and they're getting up from their seats. And I had this visceral response to it. Because I said, “No, no, no, no, that is not why I'm here. That is not how we started. That is not how we gained our clients.” And it was like a light bulb turned on. And I looked around at the competition and I said, “This does not align with what I value. And if moving forward in the business means that this is the way I have to do it. I don't know that I can do that. I don't know if I could steer this ship that way.” And I actually, I left the room. It was this big, you know, corporate space. I went outside and I remember that there were people smoking cigarettes. I don’t know people still do that. But right outside the door. I may have even bummed one. I was so. I just had this. Like, really visceral response to it. And I couldn't even see it, and I knew at that point something had to change. And so for me, that was the moment of “pressing pause.”
Ellen: That was a a BIG red flag, huh? Really identified it.
Barbara: Yeah.
Ellen: So how did you proceed after that?
Barbara: Yeah. So, I went back and then I had this dilemma. What is the new course that we're going to chart here? You know, given the economic constraints and competition and being aware of the fact that I'm not just responsible for me, you know, have people on my team and clients, they have their trust in us. So, I had to sort of do two things at once you know. Continue doing what we're doing because you need that flow of cash and then try to come up with a new strategy. And I took a lot of time to reflect. To really get in touch with what's most important and then to tap into creativity and innovation. Which is something that I think a lot of CEOs don't tap into on a regular basis because we're so used to strategies and data. And you know the analytics of everything. It's not we leave the creativity of the artists and the tech people and so forth. But what I learned is that it's really, really important. And there are always other things that you can step into. So, for us it was, we really changed who we were. Changed branding. We went into a consulting role. At that time there was a lot of talk about the Affordable Health Care Act and what they now call Obamacare and so forth and I knew a little something about the problems that were going on there.
Ellen: OK.
Barbara: So, I brought in some PR people and some branding people, and we pivoted to being a partner for corporations to help them understand the Affordable Care Act and to help create the right benefit packages for their people. So, it was it was definitely a big shift team.
Ellen: Was your team on board with you? Did you explain your experience at that convention?
Barbara: Yeah. And I think that the the key players, they shared that same feeling. Because they were sort of. But again looking back now. There was resistance to the direction we were going in for most of them. Not everyone you know, and not everyone wanted to embrace a new track. And I kind of knew that was going to happen. And I also didn't know where we would end up. I didn't know if it would work at the time. So, I was very aware of the needs of the people that have been so good to me. And really gave it. They're all you know in the workplace. So, I did find some landing spots for a number of people that just did not want to go on that journey. And that was OK. I was OK with that. But I just I was. I tried to be as transparent as possible and leaned into being a visionary because as leaders, that's what we have to we have to have a vision. We have to be able to communicate it and I believe, be transparent.
Ellen: Yeah, I agree with that.
Barbara: And be vulnerable and it's OK to be vulnerable. It's not what they teach you. We grew up with like, “OK, take control and, you know, don't let people see your weaknesses or any of the cracks because they'll use it against you,” but I don't think that works anymore. So.
Ellen: I agree. I think there's a different approach to leadership that's certainly more transparent and does offer the availability of being vulnerable. So, it sounds like you, you know, you lost a few people. But you say the majority were on board for trecking this new path with you?
Barbara: Yeah. I, you know, I feel very fortunate because I think a lot of people trusted me and they trusted my intuition. I probably should have trusted it from the start instead of just looking to mold us in the direction that everyone else was going. You know, I think I did that out of fear. Basically, you know.
Ellen: That's not uncommon either, is it?
Barbara: No. So that was fortunate. Yeah. And that's actually what is probably the reason that I ended up, five years ago, opening up Big Dream Executive Coaching. Because I think there are so many blind. Spots. That we have as leaders and entrepreneurs that we can grow into.
Ellen: So, how did everything work out after you pivoted?
Barbara: It was great because there was a need there that no one was paying attention to, so we really didn't have any competition. And you know the Affordable Care Act, I mean, we would see Politicians elected officials, and these heads of different insurance departments and financial services, and they would get on television, and they would say things that we knew were not true.
Ellen: Wow.
Barbara: They didn’t know what they were talking about. And it was apparent that everyone in Washington was just having maybe their assistants look over the legislation that they were ready to sign. They didn't know. So, there was an extreme need for clarification and understanding so that it didn't cost our corporate clients and their employees a lot of money.
Ellen: Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's a great story. When you look at trends in an industry, you do tend to see what your competitors are doing, right? And to your point exactly well, you know, seem to be working for them, right? If this is the way, if this is the way we need to go, let's get on board. But the ability to really take that step back and know that that wasn't for you and find a whole new direction that no one else was looking at. That's very powerful. And it was profitable too, right?
Barbara: Yes, it was profitable. Yeah. And we didn't have the competition. It was so great. Matter of fact, some of them were coming to us for some help.
Ellen: So now you become collaborators with the people you were in competition with.
Barbara: Exactly, exactly.
Ellen: That's a great outcome. And you know, there's a lot to be said for that, you know. You started talking about what you're doing now, which is helping CEO's. And what I do is helping CEO's, which is how you and I met, right? Because we saw each other online and had that kinship. But that doesn't mean we're, you know, we're competing for the same space. And I think there's a lot of value to that as well. So, what would you, what kind of advice would you give to a CEO on how to identify when it's time to “press pause”?
Barbara: Yeah, well, you know, there are these little signs that we don't pay attention to. Your intuition is one of them. What I learned that I would say is. It's one thing to have a mission statement for the company. That's really important obviously, right. You have to make some strategic decisions based on that. But I think. It's just as important for a leader, especially in key roles, to be rooted in their own values, your personal values. If you're not bringing that to the table and you're not making decisions based on your personal values, you're going to be misaligned, you're not going to reach your full potential, and it's going to have a ripple effect to your team and the organization and the people that you serve. So. There's something called a root document, that I think everybody should have. I first learned about it from, I think it was, Steven Covey who writes a book.
Ellen: OK. Well-known name, yes.
Barbara: And then I think he has like a Part 2 that's called like “Sharpen the Saw,” which is get even better. And what he suggests, and I do this with my clients and it's so powerful, matter of fact everybody I meet, I say you have to have a root document. So, what you do is you really identify your personal values. Right. And you could probably come up with a list of 25-30. Well, what are the ones that are most important? That it's like you know you're non negotiables?
Ellen: Right.
Barbara: Right. Like so you get very rooted in them. And then you look at the different roles that you're playing in your organization and outside, OK, I'm playing a CEO, I'm a team leader. You know, I might be a stakeholder. I might be a customer. All of these different roles. And you choose which values you want to bring to those roles. What's most important, and the beauty of that having that document that root document is that all decisions will be born out of that document. And I experienced this and I've seen it from my clients is that that's how you really grow into the best leader that you can be. You know, for yourself, for your own self-actualization, for your team, your executive team, and for the rest of the organization or the people that you serve outside of the organization. So that's my advice. That means you have to take time to really reflect and get to know yourself. Not who you are in the organization, but yourself. And that's a little tough for a lot of achievers.
Ellen: I hear that. I think you hit the nail on the head with self. Accuse act. Say it again, actualization.
Barbara: Self-actualization.
Ellen: I’m tripping over that one.
Barbara: Yeah, that’s at the tip of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is at the top - be all that you can be.
Ellen: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that marries really well with Time To Press Pause because as I have these conversations with CEO's, it's really mindfulness, right? And those are, you know, if not interchangeable, then definitely all playing on the same plane. And I love your rooted document, right. And so, I'm going to use a different word. So, it keeps you grounded. Right. Grounded so that all those decisions and I think. I think that's a great identifier for when it's Time To Press Pause is when that starts to feel either further away or things are starting to get away from you being able to be true to that and then you can say, well, I have to, you know, reel it in, right. Pause and reflect, mindfulness, self-actualization. And all of that to really be able to take the right steps forward and you were saying earlier too, you know strategic and data-driven and all that's important you need to have the facts right. But you need to have you know who you are as playing a role in that as well.
Barbara: Yeah, I totally agree.
Ellen: Yeah, Barbara, great story. You know, successful and then off to build a second business and a second career, really pleased that we were able to meet each other to chat, and thank you again for appearing on Time To Press Pause.
Barbara: My pleasure, Ellen, always good to be with you.
Ellen: Thank you for listening to this episode of Time to Press Pause. To learn more about. Barbara Fonti, go to bigdreamexecutivecoaching.com. To learn more about me, go to thesalientstrategist.com and be sure to join us again wherever you listen to your podcasts.