Brian Collins
We're in charge of our own brand. We're in in charge of how we show up at work in front of our people. It's important to be able to summarize who we are, what we do, and what we stand for.
Kristiana Corona
Ever feel like everyone else has leadership figured out and you're just making it up as you go? I've been there. I spent two decades leading design and technology teams at Fortune 500 companies, and for years, I looked like I had everything pulled together on the outside, but on the inside, I felt burned out, overwhelmed, and unworthy of the title leader.
Then a surprise encounter with executive coaching changed my life and dramatically improved my leadership style and my results. Now I help others make that same shift in their leadership. This podcast is where we do the work, building the mindset, the coaching skills, and the confidence to lead with clarity and authenticity, and to finally feel worthy to lead from the inside out.
So today's episode is gonna be talking about something that has been in the works for a while, and I'm very excited to finally reveal this to the public. Uh, we've been in sort of a pilot mode of a new leadership membership that we have available, and it's called the Core Leadership Lab. And today I am fortunate enough to have a special guest join us.
His name is Brian Collins. He is a seasoned design leader and someone who has worked for several Fortune 500 companies, like Google and Amazon and more. And he's gonna just talk a little bit more about his experience in the membership and what impact that has had on his life so far. So thank you, Brian, so much for being here.
Brian Collins
Oh, happy to be here. And always. Good to see you and talk to you. This is great.
Kristiana Corona
So, just jumping right in. Before joining the membership, what were you going through, and how are you feeling about your career?
Brian Collins
Oh my gosh. I mean, I've gone and spoken to so many people about this, just kind of seeking direction.
There's a lot of people in the same boat. This is a tough time right now. Um, and you know, when you're in a situation, you're kind of in it for a little while these days it seems. And, um, when you're in a situation like that, I found myself just feeling like a loss of direction. Um. Really questioning like, what does the future hold for me in this like, ever-evolving market that we're in, um, and things like that.
And, um, you know, I've sent in multiple applications and multiple jobs. Uh, things just weren't really happening a whole lot there. You take a look on LinkedIn, and see like within the first hour, there's about a hundred other applicants who've also applied. And um, you know, the, it is just a tough market out there.
And um, it's also a black box. You don't know what's really happening. You don't get feedback. And you know what action is actually taking place. Why did I get a rejection letter? And you start questioning yourself. But the truth is, these people are overwhelmed, and you need to show up in different ways to be able to get noticed.
And um, and that's something I was really struggling with, and I found myself questioning my direction. Geez. Title do I wanna go with? Uh, you know, do I wanna kind of take a side step? Am I a UX design manager? Am I a UX design strategist? Yes. I'm a UX design strategist, but two people search for UX design strategist.
And what do I put on my profile and like, oh my God, I just want all the opportunities. Please. Um, so you just kind of like make yourself everything to everybody, and you're like, all right, now it'll come, and nothing happens, and you don't know why. But, um, I know that I've always found, you know, um, I had the opportunity to first have you as a manager at one point and, and get your direction, and that was a super positive experience.
And then I decided to invest in my own coaching, uh, kind of like how others would, you know, uh. Athletes, you know, they have a lot of support. They get paid millions of dollars to do their job, and they're supported by tons of people that help them succeed. And, that's what I wanted for myself. And, you know, I got some coaching leadership from you and that was very positive.
Um, so I wanted to, I continued to do that, but I, I also found myself like without a job and, you know, a little money constrained and I didn't have a lot of income and, you know, I, between trying to get new, newly certified and new technology and training and all this other stuff, it's just wasn't in the cards for me to spend a lot of money on and my own development in that way.
And, um, I found myself feeling kind of trapped. That's kind of where I was at.
Kristiana Corona
And I feel like those points would resonate with so many people right now who are going through that similar struggle and they're going through it alone, right? They're trying to figure out, like, how do I uplevel myself? How do I get out of this downward spiral?
How do I get out of this stagnation of this job search? Um, how do I get out of the stagnation of a job where I just am burned out or I feel like I don't have a future in it? And. Maybe they don't have a lot of money. Maybe they don't have the time and the same resource pool as a professional athlete, but having other opportunities, having other, uh, resources available that maybe are more affordable and can still provide results.
Um, I think that. That's a really resonant point. So you got a private invite, you got to be part of the pilot group, um, as part of..
Brian Collins
Yeah, it was like the VIP ticket. Oh my god.
Kristiana Corona
You got your VIP ticket. Yeah. And, uh, so what made you finally decide like, yeah, I wanna do this?
Brian Collins
Well, I mean, the barrier to entry was, um, you know, I got a glimpse of what the value was already, so that was to my benefit.
And then, you know, just the pricing point and just the, I mean, well first of all, the model, um, just the thought of being part of like a, a broader community and you know, people that are other professionals that are like me, but like in not a LinkedIn kind of way, in a much more personal, real life kind of way.
Um, that's a little bit more intimate where people could be like very genuine and open about who they are and things like that. Those, those are things that kind of like really, you know. I like the idea of them. I kind of found it hard to believe that like, hmm, I don't know. I don't find myself as a person who posts a lot online.
I'm not super social. In fact, I'm not even on my phone a whole lot, which is maybe very unusual for a lot of people. Like, uh, you know, um, I'm more of like a. I like to play my instruments in my free time, you know, or that type of stuff. Um, but yeah, that's kinda where I was at and I was like, you know, this is gonna be a good investment.
The barrier to entry is like very low. I'm gonna explore this, and you know what it's like if it's not working for me, you know, I can, I don't have to continue it. But I was like, if this is anything like the coaching that I was getting before, and if the people in community are also highly experienced, as I saw from the membership.
Once I got inside, I, you know, the value was just very clear. And I love the idea of having monthly engagements that address like hot topics. It's a great way to continue, like, investing in yourself even if you have a full-time job. And, uh, I don't wanna get ahead of myself, but like there's, you know, uh, the value was really clear once I.
I got in and, and you'd see that in the, in the first month. And that's what I saw.
Kristiana Corona
So, um, just to kind of round out the things that are part of this membership, because people maybe haven't had a chance to look into it yet. So what you were referring to was there is a broader community. So there's a community of human-centered leaders, like people who care about showing up at work aligned to their values, who care about leading with integrity, who care about thinking about the experience of their team and upleveling their team.
So it isn't just about driving results at the expense of the people, but it's about like, how do you do that well and continue to learn and coach your team and develop your team so that they can thrive in these chaotic times and in these chaotic environments.
And so as part of that. You have that community. But then we also do monthly live trainings on hot topics like you talked about, or on different skills that leaders need to learn. And then we do group coaching sessions once a month, uh, which are also live. And then we have several other things that are kind of self-paced, right?
Like we've got some courses, we've got some online resources. Uh, we've got a growing library of things that leaders can tap into anytime they want. And then, uh, we're also releasing resources for your team. So let's say you're a leader and you don't have time to develop resources or, you know, on different topics like this, but you wanna develop the people on your team to be leaders.
We'll provide resources like that for you, and then you can continue to get discounts on things like one-on-one coaching and team workshops, and things like that. So, uh, that's kind of the spectrum of what you were talking about. And so I'm curious, like when you did join. Um, what stood out to you the most? Like, what did you notice right away?
Brian Collin
Well, first of all, I probably had the benefit early on to get like really intimate close relationships with some people very on that were like, 'cause we're smaller at the time, but, oh my goodness. Like, people were just very like open and honest about like what they're hoping to achieve and sharing what they're skilled at and like.
Oh, you know what? Hey Brian, I had a similar experience with this and you know, here's what I took away from it. And I've gotten, you know, messages, uh, from people, other members talking about, like, Hey, you know what, like we are pretty common in this one thing. Like we should really talk, um, that type of stuff.
And I think those types of engagements are just like so much more. Down to earth natural, uh, it's like networking almost like on a more personal level where you have mutual interest in like each other's growth, uh, as professionals, and really kind of sharing the benefits of, you know, everybody's skills.
Kind of like with one another to kind of help further the other person in the group that really resonates with me and like how I operate, and I mean, you've really inspired me and kind of opened the door to seeing like what coaching could be like. And I was taking coaching, uh, from you, uh, when I was a manager at Google, uh, senior manager there.
And I was doing it because I really wanted to show up better for my team. I wanted to know how to navigate some maybe delicate situations and, you know, maybe didn't feel like I had the support I needed in my existing work environment to be able to kind of tackle those types of things. And then those career development points where like, you really wanna reach the next level or really wanna demonstrate your level of expertise in a particular area to be able to find within yourself and see the power of coaching to help people find within themselves.
The evidence that shows that actually, you know, what part of the answer, and you kind of help create a structure to kind of get them to the right path and back on path, which really helped me, and I think helps other people.
Um, and I see it show up in the community through all of our workshops, and events where we were almost always talking to each other and engaging with one another to be able to, um, yeah. That way. It's just been super helpful. And the worksheets, also, I've been doing that on my personal time.
Kristiana Corona
I love You're an excellent student.
Brian Collins
Yeah, I'm such a nerd.
Kristiana Corona
I love it. So I mean, you kind of hit on something really important, which is the fact that the community itself is this valuable resource. Tapping into the relationships or hearing from each other about how you might solve things, and that there's also this foundational belief that coaching is a really important part of building a leadership repertoire, and that it feels good to receive the coaching, to help know, you know, how do I clarify my direction?
How do I feel grounded? How do I know what my vision for my role is? But also to be able to adopt some of those skills as a leader yourself. And to be able to say, how can I do this and take this back to my team? And so in the membership, it's a core focus for us to develop those coaching skills within leaders because, I mean, for me, that was the thing that really changed everything about how I lead, from going from sort of questioning myself to feeling imposter syndrome, to, you know, not knowing what my voice was about.
Then discovering how coaching can totally change the results of your team and open up their capability. And then starting to see that play out, like the next best thing is how do we develop that in every leader? Like, I'm so thrilled that you are on that journey yourself.
Brian Collins
Yeah. It's like scaling your product only in a way.
It's like you're scaling your skills, scaling your brand, your presence, how you show up, and uh, your attitudes towards your work, and how that kind of reframes how outcomes, uh, come to be, uh, from the positive way of your thinking and the structure, uh, that you bring to the table through the thought exercises that you help construct.
I thought I just found super helpful, and I'm like, I wanna know how to do that. You know, I. Yeah, I don't wanna just tell people what to do and solve their problems, like, oh my God, if they could just do this for themselves. I mean that, and when you see it happen, it's kind of magical. And I think that's what's so inspiring about it, honestly.
Kristiana Corona:
Yeah. And I think there's so much that we all have to learn from each other. And then also just. To become more and more fluent in coaching. And so the desire there is to really practice together and to learn together and to make it a safe space where we might be terrible at coaching at the beginning.
Like we might just fumble all over ourselves, give advice all day long, you know, whatever that is. But that's okay 'cause that's where we all start. And so being able to say, Hey, we can come and do it together. We can come and practice together. We can try it on each other. Like this is a place where you don't have to perform, you can learn new skills and then go back and feel more confident with your teams.
Brian Collins
That nails it on the head right there. I can't improve up on that. That's perfect. Yeah.
Kristiana Corona
So you mentioned, uh, a little bit about LinkedIn, and I just really love the story. So, would you talk about, so you went to a training that we had as part of the membership, and you learned a little bit more about LinkedIn and the importance of building your brand. Can you talk about just. What changed after you went through that training?
Brian Collins
I loved, it was, uh, talk on LinkedIn, and she was talking about, I don't think it was our unstuck one. It was about like being less ick or something like that, which was, which really resonated with me is like, 'cause that's as me as an individual self-proclaimed, you know, introvert as is.
People may not know. Most people are introverts, in fact, anyway. So for most of us, it creates ick, uh, the thought of putting ourselves out there. You have these thoughts about like, ridicule. Oh, great, I'm gonna open up a can of worms and have a debate online in front of all my colleagues. Or, oh, I'm gonna put myself out there and like talk about myself as an expert when I know all these other people that are on LinkedIn also that know more about some things than me.
Um, but you know what you come to realize that like. All of us have expertise and knowledge, and though, yeah, sure, there are people that are above us and that we've worked with that are maybe know some of this stuff better than we do. Most people don't know this stuff. We're kind of in our own bubble, and there's a lot of people that can benefit from.
Uh, hearing the things that we have to say and things like that. But when I heard that message and those types of messages, that didn't really resonate with me, 'cause that's not something I was super concerned about. But like my goal at the time was just like, gosh darn it. Um. Through all of my research that I've had, it's become clearer and clearer that these days, like you, you need to own your brand.
Those people that are designers and maybe UX experts, know what that means. It's not just a logo. It's everything that's associated with it. Down to the communications and the visuals, how you show up, where you show up, um, all of that stuff. It's your reputation and you need to manage that Now. We are in a high demand market now, and we need to show up and we need to show up in the places that matter and in our industry, and at least for my industry, that place is on LinkedIn.
Um, but yeah, the thought of going out there and, and saying something so publicly as if I'm like an expert and everyone should listen to me, was like, horrifying. I'm like, that's just not who I am. I'm sorry, that's not, not, yeah. So the thought of going to the seminar and learning about like, how do I do this without feeling so icky sounded spot on.
And in the manner of minutes, you know, it became really clear that I saw some things that aligned with some of my own personal research, which was like everything where I was reading or things I had learned in another seminar, I've been investing a lot of time on my own personal development and education.
So in all this stuff, I've gotten tips here and tips there and, you know, kind of trying to piece this all together. I can update a profile that's pretty painless.
And so, understanding the value of like, what happens when you do invest in your brand? And when I say, what does that look like? That looks like posting on LinkedIn once every two weeks. That's all you gotta do. But still, if you're feeling that ick, like I was, I had written something and I had it sitting on my doc, just like sitting there, not going posted until after that talk.
I'm like, all right, that's it. I'm refining this. I refined it a couple of times. I posted it, and here it goes, and only smokes. I. I couldn't believe what happened the previous week. I just posted about, you know, sending my kid to school.
That got a lot of emotional reactions. The next week, I talked a little bit about my industry. I got some reactions. The next talk I post, I did about like AI and um, how you need to just pour a little, just put a little AI on everything, 'cause that just seems to be all people are interested in these days.
Is AI this, AI that? And so I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna talk a little bit about what that feels like, and also a little bit about what I just read in this article. And so, um, I started to get a sense for like, what do I like talking about? Or what am I already doing? I could write about that.
That's gonna be a lot more. Friction lifts, I guess. Um, and I think that's, that was the secret recipe for me to like really turn the tide. And by the third week in a row that I had posted, I'm ambitious. Right? And we're only supposed to do this like once every two weeks. Not supposed to, but at minimum once every two weeks.
Um, I wanted to see what I could do if I could do it every week, and so by my third week, I just couldn't believe what happened. It almost seemed like all at once, I got contacted by recruiters. I got contacted by not just recruiters from outside of the country who are just trying to make a profit on trying to place people.
I'm talking about direct recruiters at the companies. Are doing like direct hires, and I'm like, this is amazing. Like, how did this happen? Um, I got contacted by two very well-known companies and uh, had like phone screens, uh, with them that those have both gone well, uh, moving on to the next stage, you know?
And so it's just like, this is incredible. And I also got contacted about contract opportunities, and not just contract opportunities from companies outside the country trying to make a profit. Again, recruiting people in America, um, connecting people. But like, these are again, a guy I had worked with probably 20 years ago.
Uh, he was a terrific entrepreneur. We were both entrepreneurs at the time. He, he's still highly successful. Um. He's an advisor now to other businesses and one of his, the companies he advises for is really taking off and he sum up one of my posts on LinkedIn and had one of his people at his company or one of the people he advises for, one of the companies he advises for contact me.
Um, and now we're talking about like freelancing and contract opportunities. And so all of this is to say is like. Ew, ick, but also like look at what you get back, and all of a sudden my attitude is starting to change now about having to do this type of stuff. It's feeling less icky. I found the things I'm already doing and the things I already like that I could post about that are somewhat related to my work and I love analogies.
I love metaphors. Um, I'm very visual in the way I talk about things. And so that kind of shows up in, you know, my, just put some AI on it. Salt shaker, uh, post on LinkedIn. And that resonated with, I couldn't believe that amount of people that talked about the, like, how much they loved that image.
Uh. It demonstrated I knew how to use new technology. I can use it in a fun, original way to communicate a message and talk about something newsworthy, and was engaging. And I liked doing it. I couldn't, I actually couldn't wait to see like what happened the next day. I was such a nerd.
Kristiana Corona
Isn't that fun? So the thing that you were dreading the most, putting yourself out there.
Oh my gosh, I'm gonna hear crickets, or I'm gonna get negative feedback, or I'm gonna get spammed, or all the trolls from the, you know, underworld are gonna come and attack my post. And it's like fascinating how. Even if one or two exist, it's like the vast majority of people in your community are so glad to hear from you.
Brian Collins
You would not believe it. A buddy of mine just lost his job last month. Um, I spoke to him this morning just talking, giving him like some tips that I think might be helpful for him. And my gosh, like just he talked about how. The reason why I even contacted him is because he posted on LinkedIn, and he doesn't do that.
He got an enormous response to his post about his, you know, true struggle or whatever, and the amount of support that he got online. I had, you know, I, I DMed him, we talked this morning, like the next morning, and we started talking about like a project that he's working on, and like something that he's kicking up, and he is talking about like how he dreads posting on LinkedIn, but he can't believe like what a response he got and he's having a similar result to what I had.
Um, you know, he has a huge network, but like, yeah, people are reaching out from the woodwork, being like, Hey, I loved working with you. You know what, like, if those people don't know, uh, have something going on, they know somebody else who does and they wanna refer you.
And if you have a big network, I mean, that's pretty powerful. And that's kind of how it manifested for me.
Kristiana Corona
And even if you have a small network, it is still powerful because those two or three people know five or 10 other people to your point. And I think that there is just so much beauty in the community, and we forget how valuable that community is.
I mean, these are real people. Real people on the other end, like you said, who worked with you, who know you, who know of you, who have maybe seen your journey along the years, and you know, they wanna be with you on this journey. And I think sometimes we self-isolate without even realizing the impact and just what you were able to do.
Through your posts and piggybacking off of a really great article and putting your own point of view is a very, very smart way to do it. But you're also able to show your capabilities, like your design, your creativity, your strategic thinking, like all of those things from a thought leadership standpoint, where we manifest in just a few posts.
And so it is so powerful, and I think the type of things that you're learning and investing in, you're seeing immediate results, right? For a job seeker. That's incredible. But whether or not you're a job seeker, like all of those benefits still apply.
Brian Collin
Yeah, I mean, it, it's, uh, it was such a, it's just a surprising experience and, and to come out on the other side of it and be like. Oh my God. Why was I fearing that so much, and why did I wait so long?
Kristiana Corona
Yeah, it was like you were waiting to jump in the ocean, and it was the puddle, like one inch deep. You're like, oh, can you do this?
Brian Collins
Right? You're like, this isn't, I made this out to be like so much worse than it is, and, but it feels so gross on the other side of it.
And it's also, it's like, it almost feels like as exciting as updating your resume. You're like, oh, dear God. Not for the hundredth time, but like. It won't be like, that's just it. Like, get out, you know? You got to get out beyond the resume and explore those other avenues that are available to you and, um, you know, what are you driving that traffic to?
What are they, what are people looking at? And how do you show up? Well. Uh, and target the right audience. Are you using their vocabulary? Is it familiar? Are you gonna draw a connection with the audience that is gonna be viewing your profile? Because these days, this is where, when people are talking about work, this is one of the major platforms for doing it.
And uh, fortunately we had a expert to be able to come on board and tell this whole community how to do it. And as a community, we were able to, you know, ask, you know, silly questions and you know, get some real clarity on it. And also to realize, like, Hey, you're not alone. And in fact, uh, I have something I'm working on currently that I plan to, um, share this week in the community. I'm curious to get people's, um,..
Kristiana Corona
Ooh, I can't wait.
Brian Collins
I wanna be a better coach, manager. Person who helps other people put whatever title on that you want, but like, uh, I'm fascinated by the, uh, CFI program, the coaching certification program, mostly in trans by the way. It can transform people and, and their thinking.
Um, I want to be able to do that for other people. I help people for free on DP list, and I always come out of those conversations being like, you know what? They really liked my help. They appreciated my help, but like I have been more helpful, you know? Did I really empower them to do this for themselves in the future or, or are they gonna be dependent on just looking for feedback all the time?
You know, are we giving them a person to fish or are we teaching them how to fish? And I think that's the power of coaching. And if you can learn that and if you're in supported by community people who are also interested in, you know, developing each other as leaders, whether you're pursuing coaching or not, just being better leaders.
This, I mean, what a great. Be a part of, to do something like that.
Kristiana Corona
Speaking of coaching, so you are part of our group coaching call as well, so we have in the membership, we have like a monthly live group coaching event. So I was just curious if you could talk for just a moment about what that was like.
Brian Collins: So, um it was a good experience. I felt like it was very well structured with very thought provoking like, uh, thought exercises, uh, and times of like reflection. It was almost like helping us realize more deeply. The problems, uh, I'm trying to talk about this maybe a little too abstractly. Um, but like, you know, it's almost like a group session where everybody's able to really work through these topics together in a structured way, um, and be able to raise questions as they come up and get clarity and still really reap the benefits of good coaching.
Granted, it's not on, you know, one-on-one, but you still get a great amount of structure in doing it and that, but there's also something also beneficial that you may not get from a one-on-one session is, which is part of that community feel, which is like you, you realize like. Wow. You know what guys? It's not just me.
It's like we're all trying to learn this stuff and learning how to, uh, show up or learning how to be a better leader or how to, you know. Institute this stuff, or define your brand or whatever it is, like you're doing it as a team and kind of seeing like how, like, you know, what those building blocks are and how to leverage some of those building blocks to kind of get you to the next step.
And it's a, a step by step process. And, you know, one of the members of our, our team was like very open recently about his experience and how he feels about things. Actually there's, there's quite, quite a bit of that actually. And it is just more of like a, a real kind of, uh. It's touching, I guess is, is what I would say.
It's almost, uh, like those experiences when people talk about like how small the earth is in the grand scheme of things in the universe, you know, and you start to feel this like deeper connection and like relevance to the things around you is like, that's kind of how I felt about. Having these open conversations, uh, in front of this group, realizing like, wow, we're all connected.
You know, we're all going through a, a shared experience in a way in this world. Whether you're, like I said, trying to become a better manager in your workplace, or, Hey, I'm a new manager, but I'm trying to, you know, I'm expected to learn these like, new skills that, you know, we haven't had to be, have had to rely on before.
Um, and so there's like. I had my regular demands before, but now I have to do these other demands also. Like how do I handle that and it makes me feel this way, and how do I conquer that? And you get the benefit of also like learning from other people's stories. Like what a great way to learn. Like we all don't have to suffer in silence.
We can actually like learn from a one another or be like, you know what? This one thing really worked for me. You should try. Blah. And then you follow up afterwards in the community, Hey, how'd it go? You know? I mean, that's great.
Kristiana Corona
Yeah. And I think, uh, like the example you were talking about where maybe one person felt like, Hey, I have this impossible struggle.
I feel so stuck right now. Like, I don't see the path, or I don't know how. And then just hearing someone else in the community say, I am not. Moving forward in that kind of thinking anymore, I am choosing this. Instead, I am choosing to rewrite the next season of my career and it is gonna be on my terms and that is gonna be different, and I'm going to measure my own value instead of letting other people measure my value.
And just the emotional reaction it can have from someone who is in the thick of it and is like, oh my goodness, I needed to hear that. I needed to hear that today
Brian Collins:
And that maybe that's what I, that maybe that's the word I was trying to look for is perspective, right? Like getting like real clear perspective and the way that can help shape some of your decision making for the better.
Because I, I think when we're in our own struggles in our lives. We're not making the best decisions. We're not in the best condition to make the best decisions, but we try. But then, you know, to have support by a community of other people who have some very like relevant professional experience that maybe to have people like that to talk to when you can't maybe talk to your spouse to unload because they don't understand your industry, or they just like, they may hear it and be like,
Kristiana Corona
Like, why are you complaining?
Brian Collins
Right? Like, I don't even know what you're talking about right now, but it sounds bad, but I, I hope it gets better for you to have a group of people, like real professionals to like, be like, ah, here's how I navigated this situation. Or here's another way you can look at it that's like. Just so, so, wow. And like I said, I mean, people don't wanna talk about that on LinkedIn, right?
Kristiana Corona
Well, there's so many things you can't talk about on LinkedIn. Like you can't talk about, I feel burned out at my job and I wanna quit. You can't talk about. I have someone in a performance plan on my team, and I wanna try and figure out like the most graceful way to end this thing.
I mean, I, I, you can't talk about, like, I have to make some tough decisions around funding and headcount, and I'm struggling with it and it's hard and I. You know, like there are so many things that are off limits when you're in the public forum, but when you can have kind of a safe space where you can process some things and just get other, like you said, other peers who are like, oh yeah, I've been there.
I've dealt with that. Here's one thing that works for me, or here's a question to ask yourself. I just think that is pure gold.
Brian Collins
Oh my gosh. And having, you know, getting that type of information. Can reduce so much anxiety for people who are really suffering, thinking about the future and worrying about the future.
The one of the things that I, I've been found really helpful is to, um, there's been analogies shared by Simon Sinek had at something recently where he talked about, uh, staying focused on the path. If we take a look at, you know, a skier, uh, going down a hill, racing through the, a forest of trees, he is not looking at the trees.
He's not looking at all the obstacles, he's looking at the path. And I think that's a great analogy for, you know, and I think the other analogy is airline pilots, right? They're told to not look at the mountains, right? We can't think in the negative. You can't say, don't look at the mountain, because all you're gonna see is mountain.
Don't think about elephants. Yeah. Oh, you know, there you go. Just out of elephants, you know. But I think when we focus on the path, having a plan, knowing how to show up. Getting reassurance that the things that you're doing are actually well thought. I thought out ideas and recipes for success that have been vetted by other people, other professionals who maybe even do some of this stuff for a living.
We got. Insight information, insight information on how to show up as a better brand online from a brand expert through the community. And that was terrific. It, it really panned out for me. And it's that type of stuff. I think that really creates value and, and, um, because it's such a black box, all of this, to go at this alone and it's like tough community.
I mean, there's people I've spoken to and, and I'm mentoring slash coaching where I can, I have can coach. And then mostly mentoring and providing advice for other professionals who are currently working and just hating their jobs right now. Or feeling, feeling incompetent, feeling that kind of, uh, imposter syndrome.
But if you're in a community, it helps you kind of get out of this, like thinking gives you more perspective like we were talking about. Um, and that changes attitudes and, and those attitudes help us. Make better decisions. We have better attitudes, we make better decisions. People wanna work with us. It's a chain domino effect of benefits and so gotta invest in that.
Kristiana Corona
Just look at the impact that. Not only you are invested in the community and you're learning, but then you are then translating and giving that back to so many other people through your mentorship at a DP list and other places. Like you're able to take that immediately and apply it. And so then there's this ripple effect.
There's a ripple effect of each moment you're investing in yourself and changing your thinking, and changing your beliefs about what's possible and changing your actions on LinkedIn, all of those things. I mean, you just listed a whole bunch of examples of other people who have now benefited from that, and I just think that's beautiful and it's the natural effect of investing in something like this, like it, it just amplifies everything else that you're doing.
Brian Collins
It really does. It can feel a struggle whether you feel trapped in a job or trapped outside of a job, either side of the fence. The struggle is there. There's a lot of demands on people these days, and it's so easy to feel.
Either worthless or not up to par meeting expectations or just completely overwhelmed. And so like having a safe place to go to where you can talk about these things without worrying about any kind of real negative implications, 'cause like, hey, they don't know the people I work with, and we're all here like.
I know that person's struggle. They know my struggle. It's part of like how we introduce ourselves is talking about like why we're here, what we're looking for, what we can contribute, and what we hope to get back. Um, those types of things make it really clear and yeah, I just found it so helpful and I'm so glad that you set this up.
Yeah, I love being a part of it and I can't wait to contribute next week. I'm looking to get everybody's feedback on something.
Kristiana Corona
We can't wait to hear your big idea now. I'm super curious. So if you were to maybe wrap up your experience in a nutshell, just what would you say overall has been the impact on your thinking your career so far?
Brian Collins
Yeah. Um, it's definitely had an impact. I've, you know, I've talked briefly about the chain effect, that positive thinking, and focus on a path and not being in the struggle alone. Um, having the opportunity to gain. Insights and guidance from experts who do the things that we need to do in today's world.
To show up and bring a powerful brand presence online is really necessary because we're in charge of our own brand and we're in charge of how we show up at work in front of our people. It's important to be able to summarize, you know, who we are, what we do, and what we stand for, and that has a grand effect on driving and attracting.
Whether it be like with people or how we perform or the approaches that we take in helping scale our people or finding jobs online and making connections, it's the benefits of getting. Career coaching, um, on a subscription level that's also supported by community and materials that allow people to work at their own pace.
It's low commitment, but high benefit. And it's a place where you feel safe asking what might otherwise feel, uh, stupid questions, and you get some like really great answers. And so I've just been really happy to be a part of it, and I've seen. It's great to see my phone ringing an email bouncing with invites from recruiters to talk about new opportunities.
Um, it had been dead silent for about six months, and, you know, I did this very simple thing, followed a very simple recipe, and I was just hit a button and said like, all right, here it goes. And I just couldn't believe what happened.
Kristiana Corona
Yeah, you um, I would say. A few things. You really shifted your approach to LinkedIn as a storefront, so you really set it up for success.
You invested some time to make that look really professional. You came up with some really nice posts that were thoughtful, so you spent some time following the plan and then doing it. And then I also, I would, you know, say. I think there was a mindset shift in general, because I think before, there was kind of a blocked energy about are there actually any opportunities out there for me?
Are there, am I the right fit? Is this skillset the right fit? A lot of self-doubt, and what I've noticed is that through the course of these events and then seeing some wins and some momentum built from, you know, really investing time on LinkedIn and reaching out and having this outward focus, there's just this renewed sense of belief.
Belief in yourself. Belief in what's possible, belief in like suddenly you are helping everyone around you. Like the energy is just contagious. And so I think so many things that I have just seen from the outside that have shifted have been both in your actions but also, how you approach the situation from a mindset perspective?
Brian Collins
Yeah, I mean, it's been really almost day and night, I feel, so I have much more energy somehow from doing this stuff. As much as I hated doing it before, I'm kind of in this mode now where I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I gonna talk about next? You know, and I have like a little notepad of, you know, ideas and things I could like talk about, and again, like I've taken off the pressure of myself.
I don't have to. I put myself out there as like the all-knowing Oracle that knows everything about everything, because, quite frankly, we're all out here trying to figure it out. Yeah. And when people see that we're all just, you know, excited about a particular event or those places where we have connections, you know, whether they're experiences or uh, events or places or what have you, one of them, like I said, was just sending my kid off to college.
Just talking about that drew a lot of activity, and I made connections with, like I said, with people I haven't spoken to in years. Um, and that's leading to new opportunities. And my God, like that was so much easier than updating a resume.
Kristiana Corona
Who knew? Oh, no.
Brian Collins
Unbelievable.
Kristiana Corona
Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to tell your story and to share some of your wins, some of the things that have been following from some of the actions that you took, and just the time and energy you invested in the community.
So we're so thankful to have you as part of the community. You just epitomize like the value of. Who you can find in this space and the types of things you can learn and do in a short period of time. I mean, it's only been, what, a couple months? I think that's it. Momentum happened in a couple months for you, so Yeah.
Um. Congratulations. And you know, I can't wait to see what's next and for anybody, I guess, who might be interested in, uh, joining the community and Brian, and all of us on the inside. Um, you can find out more at worthytolead.co slash member. Um, and we'll continue to post updates there. We'll continue to invite you in, but the membership is officially open, so we would love to have you join us.
And I guess any parting words, Brian?
Brian Collins
Oh my gosh. Only, you know, just do it. I think is, it's a terrific investment. I'm looking forward to seeing people join, um, and share experiences. And I think, you know, all the people here are also interested in helping other people. Which is fantastic. And it's just amazing to see how this has taken off, and the benefits are obvious.
So, uh, yeah, I'm excited to see everyone and hear your stories and, and perhaps lend a helping hand. So, uh, hope to see you there.
Kristiana Corona
Awesome. Thank you so much, Brian.
Brian Collins
Yeah, my pleasure. Of course.
Kristiana Corona
Thank you so much to Brian Collins for being brave and vulnerable and coming on my podcast and sharing his story about his experience in the community, and he's not alone. There have been many who have started to see value within the first couple of months of just having access to this group of amazing, human-centered leaders.
And also some of the resources to support your leadership. He mentioned like the LinkedIn training. There are many different kinds of training around leadership and leadership skills, and developing yourself as a leader in that self-confidence. And then there's also information about coaching. Like, how can you start to adopt coaching skills as a leader?
What does that even look like and how can you start practicing that? We have something for everyone, to be honest. We have live trainings, we have bingeable, uh, modules that you can watch on your own time, and we have downloadable resources that you can use with your teams. So this is meant to be a very flexible membership.
And we know how busy you are, so there's no requirement for how much time you spend here. You don't have to take attendance. Uh, nobody is going to blame you if you have to check out for a couple weeks. Um, just come and take what serves you. To be honest, that is the goal of creating this community. And so there may be seasons where you wanna really lean in, like Brian, and you wanna get connected with people, and you wanna find opportunities, and you wanna like really polish your external brand as a leader.
And maybe there's other times where you. Wanna lean back and you just wanna do some self-reflection, or maybe you wanna jump into the group coaching to figure out how to get unstuck, or to figure out how to break through something that you're really struggling with. And so, no matter where you're at in your leadership journey, there are resources, uh, that are for various stages.
So, I hope that you'll come and check it out. We are so excited to offer this now to everyone. You can find out more at worthytolead.co/member. If you're enjoying this podcast, please leave us a review and share it with any friends that need to hear these messages. Until next time, keep showing up. Keep doing the work that matters and keep leading like you're worthy to lead because you are.
Bye for now.
