The Key To a Powerful Money Mindset: Thinking Like a CEO
Do you have an employee mindset or a CEO mindset? One of the most powerful money mindset moves you can make RIGHT NOW is to start thinking like a CEO.
Because CEOs use the power of systems. They create leverage.
Think about it.
CEOs surround themselves with "owners" who are responsible for entire businesses and functions.
CEOs aren't experts in most of what they're responsible for.
They DO very little (way too little, IMO, but that's a separate post).
So why are most of us unofficial CEOs running around feeling like we need to be an expert in everything and do all the things?!
Are You Working For Money…Or Making Your Money Work For You?
I remember seeing Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Quadrant and thinking, "Uh oh."
Because he pointed out the limited reach you have as an individual…and the power of building systems that work while you sleep.
I thought I was so smart when I left corporate to start a business.
Until I realized I was running towards a business that only made money if I was turning the crank.
The minute I wanted to take a day off, go on vacation, or <gasp> be sick, the business stopped.
It's a classic example of working for money vs making my money work for me.
Not very CEO-like.
Luckily, I read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" before I stepped into my business full-time, and I realized that being a sole proprietor didn't mean I had to be alone in my business.
The Powerful Shift To Thinking Like a CEO
For the first year in my business, I still had an employee mindset.
I did everything.
And every task felt like it had equal weight and importance.
Know that it's normal to work like this because we've been trained to think like employees and not CEOs.
As I began to think like a CEO, I started identifying opportunities to:
Make the wheel BIGGER so I could accomplish MORE with a single turn of the crank
Let other people and systems TURN THE CRANK FOR ME
What If You Had a Bigger Wheel?
I was talking to a coaching client the other day.
She'd been holding herself back from a promotion because she's finally found a beautiful work/life balance and assumed a promotion would mean more work and stress.
I asked her, "What if this promotion is actually a bigger wheel?"
Immediately, she started seeing how the promotion would give her access to MORE LEVERAGE...more resources, more decision-making power, more ability to influence the pace and commitments for the whole team, more ability to delegate so she could take her seat at the table with real-life CEOs instead of buried under spreadsheets.
A bigger wheel could help her keep her work/life balance AND extend her reach so she could make an even bigger impact at work.
Maybe a bigger wheel would allow her to step back from work even more by removing herself as the sole turner of the crank.
This is why I say that mindset is 80% of the game. Look at how this simple question flipped a perceived barrier into a mechanism for a new level of abundance.
So, my friend, I invite you to think like a CEO and consider how you might make YOUR wheel bigger.
Imagine your career and life as a wheel and other people are the spokes.
Who can you delegate to or outsource to? Who can you invite in to advocate for you when you’re not in the room? Who can you partner with? What can you automate?
It’s Not About Your Expertise
CEOs aren't experts in most of what they're responsible for.
They don’t sit around worrying about what others will think of their expertise or skill set or career path.
Because they know it’s not about them; it’s about the people they serve (ideally their customers and employees, not shareholders…that’s another separate post.)
They don’t set their companies’ prices because they’re new in the role. They set their prices based on the value they provide by solving a problem or delivering a desired outcome.
Business owners: Do not discount your services because you’re new. That’s about you.
Discount your services if you’re not yet sure about your customers’ outcomes. That’s about them.
See the giant difference?!
(Talk to me before you discount anything!) 😂
Don’t Downplay Your Expertise
Yes, I just said it’s not about expertise. But that doesn’t mean you should downplay the expertise you have.
Am I better coach in Year 10 than I was in Year 1? Absolutely.
But even in Year 1, I knew enough to help people in ways they couldn’t help themselves.
You only have to be one step ahead of someone to provide serious value.
There is a TON of stuff you know that others don’t. Stop focusing on what you still could learn and focus on what you’ve already learned that is of value to others.
People tend to think of expertise as subject matter expertise, but there is so much more that’s important that you bring to the table, even if you’re stepping into a new area of work.
Examples:
Your ability to create frameworks and make complex ideas simple and actionable
Being a delightful, compassionate, kind human (so underrated yet so important)
Having Integrity
Creative thinking in only the way that you can do it
Everything is transferrable.
The key to a powerful money mindset? Think like a CEO: Surround yourself with owners, create leverage, focus on problems to solve and desired outcomes, and stop undervaluing what you bring Day 1.
Ready for more game-changing shifts that will break your career wide open? Check out my money mindset course! 👇
Ready for more game-changing shifts that will break your career wide open? Check out my money mindset course! 👇
Author Bio:
Before becoming a coach, Caroline worked in management consulting and financial services. She's made it her mission to help people grow, contribute, and get wherever they want to go.
She’s also a tennis fanatic, aspiring Minimalist, FIRE (Financial Independence and Retire Early) enthusiast, and Aloha Spirit seeker 🤙. She loves to share stories from her unconventional life and career focused on freedom, creativity, fun, health, family, and community. If she can do it, you can, too.
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