Episode 138

Transformative Leadership: Insights from Hilda Faisod

Hilda Faisod, a distinguished catalyst for personal and professional growth, joins us today to elucidate her extensive expertise in coaching, mental fitness, and leadership transformation. With a remarkable background encompassing ten international certifications, she has devoted two decades to empowering individuals and organizations to unlock their full potential for performance and happiness. Hilda's work transcends conventional methodologies, as she challenges her clients to adopt new perspectives that foster long-lasting results and meaningful change. Additionally, through her book, "Power the Executive Roadmap to Transforming Lives and Business," she articulates a structured approach to achieving personal and professional excellence. Our conversation delves into her insights on leadership, the importance of continuous growth, and the significance of creating one's own meaning in life to navigate challenges effectively.

Hilda Faisod, a distinguished figure in the realm of personal and professional development, has dedicated her career to empowering individuals and organizations to unlock their fullest potential. With over two decades of experience in leadership transformation, Hilda employs a diverse array of methodologies, including coaching and mastermind groups, to facilitate growth and elevate performance. Her extensive qualifications, underscored by ten international certifications, equip her to work effectively with senior executives and their teams, fostering an environment conducive to meaningful change and sustained success. Through her role as a leadership podcaster and the author of 'Power the Executive Roadmap to Transforming Lives and Business', Hilda not only shares her insights but also challenges her audience to pursue long-lasting results that blend professional achievement with personal fulfillment. Her approach emphasizes the importance of perspective, urging individuals to cultivate the ability to see beyond their current frameworks and embrace new possibilities that can lead to transformative outcomes.

Takeaways:

  • Hilda Faizod is a catalyst for personal and professional growth, emphasizing empowerment for individuals and organizations alike.
  • With over two decades of experience, Hilda has become a trusted partner in leadership transformation journeys.
  • She underscores the importance of seeing different perspectives to unlock potential and enhance decision-making.
  • Hilda's coaching methodology focuses on practical steps and daily practices to facilitate sustainable change and growth.
  • Her book, 'Power Up: The Executive Roadmap to Transforming Life,' offers concrete strategies for achieving success through personal reflection and commitment.
  • The discussion highlights the significance of accountability and support in the journey towards self-improvement and lasting impact.
Transcript
Speaker A:

My guest today is Hilda Faizod.

Speaker A:

She's a catalyst for personal and professional growth, striving to empower individuals and organizations to unlock performance and happiness.

Speaker A:

Specializing in coaching, mastermind and mental Fitness, Hilda holds 10 international certificate certifications that validate her expertise in working with senior executives, their teams and organizations.

Speaker A:

For two decades, Hilda has been a trusted partner on leadership transformational journeys.

Speaker A:

Her commitment lies in supporting those who invest in their growth and change, ensuring their choices and actions are amplified.

Speaker A:

As a leadership podcaster and author of Power the Executive Roadmap to Transforming Lives and Business, Hilda challenges individuals to achieve long lasting results.

Speaker A:

When she is not immersed in her work, you can find her exploring new destinations, taking leisurely walks, engaging in meaningful conversations, and cherishing time with her family and enjoying life.

Speaker A:

We welcome Hilda to the podcast.

Speaker A:

Well, Hilda, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker A:

How you doing today?

Speaker B:

So glad to be here.

Speaker B:

Thank you very much.

Speaker A:

Good to have you on.

Speaker A:

So I'm going to ask you my favorite question.

Speaker A:

I ask all my guests or what's the best piece of advice you ever received?

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

To pick one.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

Ready?

Speaker B:

Ready to jump in to allow myself to see differently.

Speaker A:

Oh, okay.

Speaker B:

That is a huge piece of advice because usually we see with our eyes and our filters and patterns and beliefs.

Speaker B:

So allow yourself to look the other side, the other part, to turn a little bit and see different possibilities.

Speaker B:

It gives you a whole richness to decide what is best for you.

Speaker B:

So.

Speaker B:

So that is a good one.

Speaker A:

And it really helps in the work that you do working with, you know, leadership entrepreneurs, working in organizations, because you can walk in with a brand new perspective than what they have because they're inside of it.

Speaker A:

When you're in, in the organization, when you're leading it, you see it one way sometimes that the expert, as we talk about with the briefcase, comes in and they see things that you're missing.

Speaker A:

So I like that idea of you coming in with a.

Speaker A:

With fresh set of eyes.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

And I allow them to ask, okay, which is your perspective?

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

That is only one of it.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker B:

Allow yourself to think and to see differently.

Speaker B:

So what are you seeing as other possibilities?

Speaker B:

So I don't allow people to stay in the same perspective.

Speaker B:

Life, when that is so narrow, to take a good decision.

Speaker A:

But we like being in our comfort zone, so.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker B:

Oh, yeah.

Speaker A:

Easy, Right.

Speaker A:

I'm curious, Hilda, as you think about your career, who are some people that served as an inspiration for you on your journey?

Speaker B:

Yeah, I do have some teachers, the big ones.

Speaker B:

So I'm always in the shoulders of giants.

Speaker B:

So One of it that I love, that guy is Bob Dunham and he has this leadership coaching training and I was more than two years with him and he allowed me to understand coaching in business and coaching as a leader and how you can enhance your capabilities to make a great team.

Speaker B:

Working together and committing with you to deliver results and all the promises you are doing to your company that allow me as a coach to see the leadership role and to see new possibilities and distinctions.

Speaker B:

He is one of the best coaches, mentors and dear friend that I have.

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

That's so neat.

Speaker A:

So tell us a bit about your journey.

Speaker A:

What inspired you to become a catalyst for personal and professional growth?

Speaker B:

I think my life is a big example of that.

Speaker B:

But I realized that maybe 20 years ago because I studied an educational career and I found that working in a corporate business, training people is a way to enhance their capabilities and to allow them to learn and improve and act better and have better results.

Speaker B:

And I was happy for about 10 years when I questioned myself and I saw coaching as a training effort.

Speaker B:

And after that I defined that why I train in coaching, but I don't coach people.

Speaker B:

So I began my journey with 10 different kind of certifications and that allowed me to see a different impact.

Speaker B:

It's not the same to deliver a knowledge and to put some practices, but after that you forget almost everything in a month because there is a stat that says that you stay in a month with a 10% of that knowledge if you don't practice and rehearse and do something with it.

Speaker B:

So 10% is awful, is really discouraging.

Speaker B:

And I found that coaching is the opposite because you see the client today and the other week or every other week and the client comes with some practices and solutions and experiences and questions and maybe inspiration of moving a little bit and keep a pace and you see again the executive or the leader or that entrepreneur that wants to grow his own possibilities.

Speaker B:

And that happened for about six months.

Speaker B:

So people begin here and they go up there transforming themselves.

Speaker B:

So that's why I say I'm a catalyst because I use all the talents and possibilities and create more to improve performance and also to create well being.

Speaker B:

Because if you are going to decide in your adult life something big, it needs to have also joy and happiness and a fulfilling life because if not you are going to hate what you are going to do every day.

Speaker A:

That's very, very insightful.

Speaker A:

With all those certifications.

Speaker A:

Tell us a little bit about how you you've learned to specialize your coaching through those certifications.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I began with.

Speaker B:

With executive coaching, and after that with international coaching and team.

Speaker B:

Team and purse coaching.

Speaker B:

But after I began with leadership coaching, I find the perfect place.

Speaker A:

Place.

Speaker B:

Because if you work with sea level and you allow people to change and transform and to sustain what they say, walking what they talk, the whole structure in a company gets modified.

Speaker B:

So that's why I found that leadership coaching is the place where more impact I can create that makes sense.

Speaker A:

So let's dig into your book, because I'm dying to get into it, but I want to kind of get a little background about you before we got into that.

Speaker A:

So you wrote a book, the Power Up, Power up the Executive Roadmap to Transforming Life.

Speaker A:

It is seven chapters and you have a lot of good content there.

Speaker A:

So it's not a long read.

Speaker A:

So it's something that you can pick up and.

Speaker A:

And really dig into, but kind of start out by kind of digging to one of the.

Speaker A:

You talk about the step four step breakthrough model.

Speaker A:

Tell us about that.

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

Allow me for a moment to talk a little bit about change and challenges.

Speaker A:

Sure.

Speaker B:

Because we love to change or we love the idea of improving and growing and getting more results and having a better life and improving business.

Speaker B:

So we love the idea, but we want to happen it so, so fast.

Speaker B:

And it's not right, Right?

Speaker A:

No, not usually.

Speaker B:

Yeah, usually there's no.

Speaker B:

An overnight success.

Speaker B:

You need to work and work and work and sustain.

Speaker B:

And we love the speed and the quick fixes and the shortcuts.

Speaker B:

And that's not.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker B:

We need to understand what it takes to change and to invest in yourself to remove what gets in the way.

Speaker B:

And usually I am the one that gets in my way.

Speaker B:

Right.

Speaker A:

That's unfortunate.

Speaker A:

Yes, that's true.

Speaker B:

Okay.

Speaker B:

Yeah, it's true.

Speaker B:

So because I get in my way, I need to be aware of what stops me and how to deal with that.

Speaker B:

And when I work with myself, I'm ready for the four steps.

Speaker B:

And the first one is something that we usually don't question ourselves because we question about a goal, a target, some kind of results we want.

Speaker B:

But we need to question ourselves in who do we want to become in design that future where I'm going to be a best leader, a stronger, better me, an empowered person, a voice of influence, a healthy person, a leader that can have a team that is committed to deliver their best.

Speaker B:

If we ask ourselves, who do we want to become, we put ourselves in that future and we define how to walk towards that future.

Speaker B:

So that is the first step.

Speaker B:

What do you care about in this stage of life, what matters to you?

Speaker B:

Because the stages are different.

Speaker B:

We don't want the same when we are younger than when we are older.

Speaker B:

Our needs and motivations and challenges and well willing to put a print in the world are different in your 30s than in your 50s or more.

Speaker B:

So you need to question often in this new stage of life, what matters to me and what do I want and how do I want to spend my life?

Speaker B:

So performance and happiness results and well being, improve a lot and balance myself.

Speaker B:

So in this mix, what do you care about?

Speaker A:

Right?

Speaker A:

Yes, good points.

Speaker B:

So this is the first step.

Speaker B:

The second one is a matter of practice.

Speaker B:

It's like go to the gym and have in your hands these dumbbells and begin to make with the weights muscle to build muscle.

Speaker B:

And this is a, a no ending job daily.

Speaker B:

Because if you do once a week or once a month, you are not going to see the muscle that you want to see in yourself and is not going to build your future.

Speaker B:

So it's every day and everyday practice and it's not a huge one.

Speaker B:

You maybe, and I hope you want big goals, but you are going to chunk those goals into small pieces and you are going to go piece by piece, step by step, small activity by small activity.

Speaker B:

So for example, I do have a client today and he said okay, on Monday.

Speaker B:

And I said Monday?

Speaker B:

Okay, it doesn't sound good.

Speaker B:

On Monday?

Speaker B:

Yeah, on Monday I will go to the gym.

Speaker B:

And I said that doesn't sound good because another day maybe is never.

Speaker B:

So what are you going to do today?

Speaker B:

No, it's because I'm saying this because I don't have space today.

Speaker B:

Okay, a small decision.

Speaker B:

What do you want to do today?

Speaker B:

Okay, I can check which of the studios or gyms I want.

Speaker B:

Okay, that is so perfect.

Speaker B:

And what are you going to do tomorrow?

Speaker B:

Well, my sneakers need new ones.

Speaker B:

Okay, are you going for your sneakers?

Speaker B:

And what are you going to do the other day and on Monday at what time are you going to stay out of bed to go to the gym?

Speaker B:

So there are so small, tiny decisions but that allow you to go closer to what, what you want.

Speaker A:

That's really interesting because that reminds me of the, the other book, Atomic Habits where he talks about, you know, same thing of you have to make small increments to get to the big thing.

Speaker A:

So maybe you don't go to the gym, but maybe you drive by the gym and then maybe, maybe it's not till day four when you've driven to the gym every day that you actually get out of the car and get into the gym.

Speaker A:

But it's those like you just talk about those small habits, those small practices that begin to build onto something bigger to get you to the point where you get to like step three, which is model accomplish, right?

Speaker B:

Yeah.

Speaker B:

And here's the problem, Kit.

Speaker B:

We think because I was really consistent that 21 days is going to be enough, right?

Speaker A:

Exactly.

Speaker B:

Oh my goodness.

Speaker B:

Who told us that is a huge mistake?

Speaker B:

Because on day 22, I eat a cake, I don't go to the gym hoping that the habit will take me by myself and it's not going to happen.

Speaker B:

So we need to be consistent.

Speaker B:

And my clients ask me how much it will take and I said sorry for the answer.

Speaker B:

As much as it takes.

Speaker A:

Right?

Speaker B:

As much as it takes.

Speaker B:

How much?

Speaker B:

I don't know.

Speaker B:

How many months and how many reps, I don't know.

Speaker B:

And maybe you don't know either, but you will know when really it sticks enough.

Speaker B:

That is part of your changing life.

Speaker B:

And that is step four to keep going.

Speaker B:

I hate, hate it.

Speaker B:

To go to the gym, hate it.

Speaker B:

And it took me one year to solve it.

Speaker B:

But now there's no question in my mind.

Speaker B:

Every morning I don't struggle anymore.

Speaker B:

I do six times a week because I do believe in being a healthy person.

Speaker B:

So I do invest in myself every morning for one hour.

Speaker B:

So it's a practice, it's an achievement.

Speaker B:

And you need to keep going until its transformation and is a lifestyle.

Speaker A:

So your book is very practical.

Speaker A:

I like how you've laid that out.

Speaker A:

And you discuss how to overcome challenges and achieve success by giving practical and I would say, heartfelt anecdotes.

Speaker A:

So as you think about your book, what is one of your favorite anecdotes from your book?

Speaker B:

Well, one of my favorites is to think about meaning.

Speaker B:

Something that I discover is that we are meaning creators.

Speaker B:

Nothing that we have has per se, a meaning.

Speaker B:

And I want to put an example of this cup because I love this cup.

Speaker B:

And every morning it's with me, with my coffee.

Speaker B:

Why do I love it is not maybe the best one because I cannot microwave this one, so it's not comfortable sometimes.

Speaker B:

So why I love it because my son was on vacation, came with a present and that for me has a special, special meaning.

Speaker B:

I love this cup so I don't change it for another one that I can put in the micro oven to heat the coffee.

Speaker B:

So the meaning is mine.

Speaker B:

Another person can say, this is so uncomfortable.

Speaker B:

You cannot handle it and you cannot microwave it, so this is not comfortable.

Speaker B:

And for me is the best one.

Speaker B:

So we put meaning for everything in life and the meaning allow us to do or to stop.

Speaker B:

For me, exercise was sacrifice, sweat, being tired, being mad, having no physical conditions, so feeling awful.

Speaker B:

And if I don't change it, I'm not going to be able to wake up in the morning and to want to go to the gym.

Speaker B:

So I needed to change the meaning in my mind and I think, okay, what do I want that to be?

Speaker B:

And I said healthy, to be in my weight, to have energy, less stress, physical condition, a great appearance.

Speaker B:

Okay, I like those meanings.

Speaker B:

So that's why I'm going to wake up every morning and I will go to the gym because that's enough for me.

Speaker B:

So one of the best things that we can do is review our meanings.

Speaker B:

If something stops us, what do I believe about that and how can I change it for the best.

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

So who would you say this book is targeting?

Speaker A:

Who's your audience?

Speaker B:

My audience actually are sea level leaders, executives, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs.

Speaker B:

But it's for everyone that wants to change because it's for life and for business is for your life, the whole life.

Speaker B:

So it's for everyone.

Speaker B:

But I speak in a corporate language.

Speaker B:

I speak for business, but of course I speak about performance and also about happiness.

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

So you have a couple of how to questions or kind of the things your book addresses.

Speaker A:

I want to kind of go over those with you.

Speaker A:

So.

Speaker A:

So you say this book is going to show you how to discover what's in your way and how to intercept those blockages.

Speaker A:

You talked about it earlier.

Speaker A:

We talked about what are those self sabotaging things that we do to stop us from achieving the goals we could do.

Speaker A:

So talk a little bit about that.

Speaker A:

We talked briefly about in the beginning, but kind of one of those self sabotaging things.

Speaker B:

I found myself being a strong, strong, strong perfectionist.

Speaker B:

Oh yeah.

Speaker B:

So I spend so much time in Canva because I need to arrange the presentation and needs to, okay, maybe the letter, the letter, the font a little bit bigger, a little bit small to the left, to the right.

Speaker B:

So I spent, I spend so much time when the presentation is already super good and I do that in everything because I want everything to be perfect.

Speaker B:

And that stops me from achieving more and being more fluent and allowing myself to deliver faster.

Speaker B:

And I can assure that if I downgrade a little bit, it will be more than okay because I'm a perfectionist.

Speaker B:

So I do have a practice and I decide what is my 20% that is going to be perfect.

Speaker B:

No flow perfect.

Speaker B:

And what is the 80 that being fine is going to be really good also.

Speaker B:

So it's not a hundred because it's a crazy game.

Speaker B:

It needs to be the 20.

Speaker B:

So I define that.

Speaker B:

Also cleaning and maintaining my home.

Speaker B:

What is the 20% that I'm going to focus because the other 80 no one is here.

Speaker B:

So it's clean and perfect.

Speaker B:

So being so perfectionist makes me crazy and makes crazy others.

Speaker B:

Okay, you need align this, you need to move this.

Speaker B:

Okay, again, repetition.

Speaker B:

And I had this coworker that she said you return 10 times something and if you can return the 11th time, you will do that again because you you found where I cannot see flows.

Speaker B:

So it's a crazy game.

Speaker B:

And this stops me.

Speaker B:

So excuse me as I have the perfectionist there.

Speaker B:

I hyperachiever and a victim and an avoid there and a controller and a hyper vigilant and a hyper controller.

Speaker B:

So it's crazy.

Speaker A:

So being a perfectionist, one of the things you talk about this book will help you do is how do you achieve results and get close to what you want.

Speaker A:

So you just talked a little bit about how do you.

Speaker A:

How do you help people who are like you to.

Speaker A:

To get to the point where knowing what that that 80% is because it's hard to pull back and go is this 80% good enough when you still want to go a little bit further.

Speaker A:

Because if you don't ever like, if you never finished writing this book because you're trying to get to be perfect, the book never comes out.

Speaker A:

So how do you program yourself to go, okay, this is good enough?

Speaker A:

Do you have people alongside you who go this is good enough as kind of as a you did great.

Speaker A:

Or do you.

Speaker A:

How do you do that?

Speaker A:

Just kind of give us some insight.

Speaker B:

My mind was crazy because I'm Mexican and I wrote a book in English.

Speaker B:

So my mind was like, are you crazy?

Speaker B:

Why.

Speaker B:

Why you want to achieve that in Spanish is going to be great in English?

Speaker B:

Maybe you are going to to write like a Mexican writing in English.

Speaker B:

So that's not good.

Speaker B:

And my perfectionist was struggling a lot.

Speaker B:

So I put myself into some stuff like I pay for Grammarly that is amazing to check your mistakes on how you write it and how many words I more than enough in a sentence and what is missing and connections and everything.

Speaker B:

And I have two editing reviews and I correct the book and they review it again.

Speaker B:

So you need to cover your back.

Speaker A:

That's good.

Speaker B:

But you don't need to do everything to by yourself.

Speaker B:

That is also a truth.

Speaker B:

I love that another pair of eyes can help.

Speaker A:

You obviously did a good job because you guy down in 230, 35 pages.

Speaker A:

So you didn't, you didn't.

Speaker A:

You found a way to stop before you got to the point where the book was too long.

Speaker A:

So I commend you for that.

Speaker B:

Yeah, I did.

Speaker B:

I did that.

Speaker B:

And you need to decide what is for the next book.

Speaker B:

You cannot give everything that you have.

Speaker A:

Right.

Speaker A:

You have in your book A 30 Day Challenge to walk you towards success.

Speaker A:

Tell us a little bit about that for those who are going to pick up this book and want to know what are the practical things this book offers?

Speaker B:

Yeah, okay.

Speaker B:

Again, 30 days is not enough, but it's a great beginning, is to push you and to put yourself into the reflection of who do you want to become.

Speaker B:

And it allows you in 10 questions to develop an identity, to put yourself into some goals, to have a plan and to go step by step.

Speaker B:

So sometimes we need something that will push us or that will help us and support us.

Speaker B:

We function better when we have support.

Speaker B:

So my best times of improving, and my clients too is because we have a coach.

Speaker B:

I do have a coach.

Speaker B:

And I improve faster and better because I begin to see what I'm not seeing.

Speaker B:

And I know I will have a review in two weeks.

Speaker B:

So I need to make things happen.

Speaker B:

So the 30 day challenge is how to get this impulse that you need to begin something and how to get momentum.

Speaker B:

And in the book I said find a coach, find a mentor, find an accountability partner or, or all of the above because you are going to improve faster and better.

Speaker B:

So that is the Fairy day challenge.

Speaker B:

A great beginning.

Speaker A:

I love that.

Speaker A:

So I love to ask my guest this question.

Speaker A:

Hilda, we could go on all day because this is a phenomenal conversation.

Speaker B:

Oh yeah.

Speaker A:

But I want to know what do you want your legacy to be?

Speaker B:

To create impact.

Speaker B:

I want to think to scale the impact.

Speaker B:

Because I do work one on one and I enjoy a bunch one on one because you are witness of improving others.

Speaker B:

So one on one is amazing, but is one by one.

Speaker B:

So to scale the impact, to have this voice outside that has credibility to create a business that will sustain in the future the challenges that others face and some kind of responses.

Speaker B:

Digital products, podcasts, books that can help people reflect because an idea will pop up in your mind and if you are brave enough, you will put that into practice.

Speaker A:

That's good.

Speaker B:

And that will be transformative.

Speaker A:

So where can people find your book?

Speaker A:

Power up the executive roadmap.

Speaker A:

To transforming life.

Speaker B:

Yeah, you can find it on Amazon Amazon.com I love the reviews.

Speaker B:

If they can leave a review, that will be more than amazing.

Speaker B:

And if they want to have a conversation and invest in changing themselves and in improving and transforming their life and business, I'm in hildefainso.com so Hilda, as.

Speaker A:

We wrap up this conversation, what key takeaways do you want to leave with the audience to give that expand the impact we just talked about?

Speaker B:

Yeah, when I begin to talk about transformation, people begin like, oh, that sounds huge and it sounds big and it is.

Speaker B:

But you can begin small.

Speaker B:

So every morning you can have before to jump out to your day, you can have a small reflection of what can be meaningful for me and for others today.

Speaker B:

What can be a small little micro decision or practice that can change me or can change others or can contribute, can add value, can make me feel better, can make me feel flow today, can make me understand that less is more in the majority of of the time.

Speaker B:

So a two minutes practice of reflection and commitment and a micro decision that will take you to a better place.

Speaker B:

Don't go in the default future and the default is your agenda.

Speaker B:

From meeting to meeting, from podcast to podcast, allow yourself two minutes of reflection.

Speaker A:

That's good.

Speaker A:

Hilda, thanks so much for taking the time to provide such great content today and blessings on this book.

Speaker A:

This book seems very practical and very helpful for people who are trying to take that next step.

Speaker A:

So thank you for taking the time to get that out and to get it into people's hands so we can learn and grow in our journey.

Speaker B:

Thank you to you and to your audience.

Speaker B:

Thank you very much.

Speaker B:

Kit.

About the Podcast

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About your host

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Byrene Haney

I am Byrene Haney, the Assistant to the President of Iowa District West for Missions, Human Care, and Stewardship. Drawn to Western Iowa by its inspiring mission opportunities, I dedicate myself to helping churches connect with the unconnected and disengaged in their communities. As a loving husband, father, and grandfather, I strive to create authentic spaces for conversation through my podcast and blog.