Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Most business advice is sanitized. Cleaned up for the highlight reel. The Growth Architects' Table exists for the conversation that happens after the keynote — when the experts stop performing and start talking.
Each episode brings together a seasoned advisor, consultant, or fractional leader who works inside $10M–$50M businesses at their most critical inflection points. We talk about what actually breaks, who you actually need to bring in, and how to know the difference between a growth problem and a strategy problem. If you're a business owner wondering whether you're doing the right things at the right time — or an advisor who knows exactly what we mean — this show was made for you.
Hosted by Dominique Glanville, fractional CMO and growth strategist at Heights Strategic.
Ep04
===
Meet Dana Williams
---
Dominique Glanville: [00:00:00] welcome to the Growth Architects Table. Today, I talk with Dana Williams, and Dana is a leadership identity expert and a Gallup Strengths coach.
She has worked with Southwest Airlines and Children's Medical, and our conversation is one you're really gonna enjoy. We talk about how leaders need to manage their energy rather than their time, and how your title is not the same as your brand. There's an amazing conversation around how leaders can show up with authenticity, both in who they are and ~who...~
how they manage and lead their teams, and also drive amazing productivity from a place of high trust. Don't miss today's conversation with Dana Williams.
Dominique Glanville: [00:01:00] Dana Williams, welcome to the Growth Architects Table. Thanks for joining us.
Dana Williams: Thank you for having me, Dominique. I'm so excited to be here with you right now.
Dominique Glanville: we are so excited to have you with us. Dana, when we first met, I remember we showed up at a coffee shop. We discovered we had about 30 mutual friends, and we were matching and wearing the same outfit.
So I knew
Dana Williams: It
Dominique Glanville: we were going to be fast friends
Dana Williams: was...
Dominique Glanville: on many clients, and I'm so excited for you to be here to speak to our audience. You are a leadership identity expert.
Strengths to Energy Shift
---
Dominique Glanville: You're a Gallup StrengthsFinder coach, a But talk a little bit just to kick us off about the gap between knowing your strengths and actually using them because so many people have taken the assessment.
They might even be able to rattle off, "Oh, these are my top five," or maybe they learned it 10 years ago. But let's just start a little bit by talking about strengths. What is [00:02:00] the gap between really knowing your strengths and really using them?
Dana Williams: Thank you, Dominique. And for those who don't even know what we're talking about, so CliftonStrengths was created, gosh, in the '60s, by Dr. Clifton, and, uh, he was actually in Nebraska, and ~he-~ psychologist, a statistician. He said, "What if we study what's right with people instead of what's wrong with them?"
And so he created this whole amazing, formula for this assessment that used to be done on the phone, if you can believe that, Dominique. I mean, they would call people and, and have them answer these questions. And then in the '90s, he bought the Gallup company, and then of course, everything's heavily researched.
And so what I started using CliftonStrengths as a leader in marketing at Southwest Airlines when we had just acquired a new airline and we were trying to figure out how to bring all those people into our department. And so what better way to know people than to have them take a strengths assessment?
And we had just done that [00:03:00] within our team and just had a reorg. And so really to understand what strengths are, it's we're all unique. Like s- you probably can rattle off your strengths to me, Dominique, right now, hopefully. If not, I can tell you mine. I do know you have woo. I know that one. I remember that one.
But really, you're one in 34 million. And so I don't care if you are at work as a leader, and that's who I work with, but I wanna make sure... My, my mission is to help people birth their purpose and live in their unique talents every day because it's all about managing your energy and not your time, and when we're in our strengths, we, we are so energized.
So you're one in 34 million, Dominique, so with the order that you have your strengths in. And so the difference of people knowing their strengths and not using them and knowing them and using them is energy.
Dominique Glanville: I love that dichotomy of
the mindset shift, the paradigm shift between managing your energy versus managing your [00:04:00] time.
and I think
Dana Williams: energy.
Dominique Glanville: so much discussion around managing our time, and that is often ~the,~ the, where leaders go when they get stressed is how do they manage their time, right?
So whether you are,
~know,~ our audience is really divided between consultants who are working with leaders at this mid-market level trying to help them grow and scale, a, like yourself, like me, and,
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: that are trying to unpack the right growth strategies and growth advisors to work with them at this level.
And either way, when we get stressed, we gravitate towards how do we manage our time. But
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: says, "How do we manage our energy?" Right? And so I just
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: love, love, love that paradigm shift.
Dana Top Five Strengths
---
Dominique Glanville: So I'm gonna put you on the spot, Dana Williams. What are
Dana Williams: Uh-oh.
Dominique Glanville: five strengths? And feel free to give us
Dana Williams: Yes.
Dominique Glanville: five, too, but give us your top five, and what
do
Dana Williams: Yes. my First, my number one is ideation, so you wanna brainstorm, you just call me and we'll, we'll go to town. Number two is [00:05:00] strategic. I like to see the big picture and I can spot the patterns, and I've always got a plan A, plan B, plan C. Like getting ready t- for today on this podcast with plan A, plan B, plan C.
Third is futuristic. ~I can...~ I love studying trends and future trending and what's happening in the workplace and what is this gonna look like, and how do we prepare leaders for an AI world, and how do we keep the human piece of it in, uh, what we do every day, whether we're a consultant or a coach or a leader.
What are we, what are we doing? And then my fourth one is maximizer. It's like, how do we take things from good to great? So this is good, but let's make it better. How can we make it better? And then my, my fifth was, fifth one is individualization, which is the way I might coach you, Dominique, is different than the way I might coach, somebody else because I'm gonna...
I'm looking at your unique talents and I'm customizing for you constantly. So those are my top [00:06:00] five. Yeah.
Dominique Glanville: a powerhouse, and I think, you know, anyone listening could hear how having an advisor in their business with those strengths could be a real game changer.
Strengths Envy and Team Grids
---
Dominique Glanville: I'm also aware as I'm hearing that, that, ~you know, our,~ our tendency too as humans is to kind of compare and struggle with imposter syndrome.
So for those people that are listening and they're going, "Well, those aren't my top strengths, what do I have to offer?" Can you speak a little bit about our emotional response to hearing our strengths and hearing the strengths of others, and how to kind of emotionally and psychologically process what your strengths are and how valuable they are in the world?
Dana Williams: So what is it that we have um, 85,000 thoughts a day, and half of them are the thoughts we had yesterday and the day before. And of those, they aren't all true. And so I really wanna help people, how are you talking to yourself? Words matter. And what are you saying to yourself every day? And when you know your unique talents, if you're 1 in 34 million, [00:07:00] you know what that means, Dominique?
There's 28 million people here in Texas. That means that you'd have to leave the state of Texas and go find five more million people befo- before you're gonna find somebody just like you.
Dominique Glanville: That's amazing.
Dana Williams: when we get envious, we call it strengths envy, like, "Oh, I wish I had Dominique's woo, 'cause then I could really just woo."
We realize that, no, she's got that. I'm gonna partner with her 'cause she's gonna help me, and I'm gonna help her with what I've got. And so I do, in fact, today I had ~a, um,~ a leader work, say, "I need you to help our team work better together." And the first thing we do after we do strengths discovery is a team grid and help them see how unique they are as a team, and I don't want them to feel like they have to be well-rounded as a unique individual.
I want them to be well-rounded as a team. Who am I gonna lean on? Who am I gonna partner up with? Who's gonna be the person that's, ~um...~ And what do I have, and what do I bring? And how do I talk to myself using my unique talents?
Dominique Glanville: It's so [00:08:00] interesting you say that because one of our other guests, Courtney Street, was talking about when she, and she's a leadership coach, was talking about how when she works with leaders, often the difference between what separates really highly effective leaders is not just those that are aware of their own strengths and their own ~um,~ capabilities, but can also really think about how then they can contribute to their teams.
They're constantly sifting through how do I need to show up and have personal discipline and show up with authen- authenticity, ~uh,~ for myself and for what I'm trying to get done, but also how do I show up for my team? And I think that that idea of having a team grid ~um,~ being able to really think about yourself in the context of the teams you lead or the teams you participate on, it can be a real, real game changer.
Dana Williams: Absolutely. And I even talk to people a lot about you, before you go into a meeting, if you've got your team, get your team grid out. See who you're getting ready to meet with, and then what do they need and how are you gonna bring that into, into your conversation? So, absolutely.
Internal Revolution Origin Story
---
Dominique Glanville: So Dana Williams, you are [00:09:00] an author, a speaker, a consultant, a coach. ~Uh,~ I have most recently benefited from reading your incredible book, The Internal Revolution, and I'm such a fan girl.
In fact, you've inspired me. I'm like, "I'm gonna write a book like Dana someday." Uh, and so I wanna hear a little bit about your journey, how you came to do the work that you do, and a little bit about this framework, The Internal Revolution, that you've put together. It is so brilliant, and for our listeners listening, I actually had a story...
I have a story about putting into practice some of the things from this book, Dana, that I'll share in a minute.
But, ~um,~ I would love to hear a little bit about your journey, your story, and this incredible framework and where it came from.
Dana Williams: You know the old saying goes whatever you go through becomes your, your ministry or your mission Right? Whatever it is. And so I'm gonna take you back about 17 years ago. I was doing pretty good. I had just taken a break from Southwest and I was doing some nonprofit work and [00:10:00] helping start a Christian high school and doing all kinds of fun things, and then realized that our marriage was ~in the,~ in the pits.
And I hadn't been nurturing the marriage and neither had my husband, and we'd been ~get-~ together quite a while. And so I started realizing that I didn't really know myself, that I was performing a role, a title at that point. You know, I had just come off as a senior director of advertising at Southwest Airlines and I was taking this break and, ~and ~I didn't know who I was.
And I went on a journey, did a lot of counseling, did a lot of work, you know, just work. Went back to Southwest and walked into the same office I had before, same role, everything. I thought, "This is crazy." There was like a nine-year period of when I was off and I was like, "This is weird. I'm coming into the same...
I should be different. I should be..." And I was. [00:11:00] And what I realized, and it was just about that time that one of my, uh, girlfriends that I work with said, "We should look into this." It, at the time was called StrengthsFinder. "We should look into this, for our employees" and our HR department at Southwest wasn't ready to do it yet, but we said, "Well, we'll do it here in marketing."
We had about 250 employees at the time. So we did and we started having such great success. But personally, that started my journey along with the counseling and all the things I was doing to rebuild my marriage and realizing I didn't know who I was. So when I got my unique talents for the first time, I was like, "Nobody's ever told me this.
I've been living under this..." You know, 'cause we, we get a title and we think that's who our personal brand is. And I said, "No, we're gonna dispel that because you're gonna have a lot of different careers throughout your life. You're gonna have a lot of, of opportunities and you wanna just be uniquely you."
And so after 12 years of coaching and then really I g- I started my own business [00:12:00] in 2020 and I got to use during the war... We were in a war room during COVID. It was February, the end of February before even March 15th and we created, you know a group to go in the war room. Mult- multiple people from different departments that had all had their strengths and I pulled up the strengths grid I was like, "Okay, futuristic.
We've got an analytical person. We've got, ~um,~ a woo. We've got..." You know, we had everything we needed in that group, and we were able to move so fast during that time, and I saw it at work and I thought, "I wanna go help other companies with this." And that's what started it. And then when I realized that there were still so many people after I got out working with other corporations, I was realizing there was a lot of people working under false titles of who they really were, and they were performing something they thought they should be as a leader instead of who they really were.
And their teams were like, "No, we just want you to be you. We don't want you to be [00:13:00] that person." ~And ~so that's why I wrote the book, Internal Revolution, and came up with my own IP, which is a formula called the Authentic Imprint, which is free three-minute assessment I have people take online, and it basically is strengths, your core values, and your mission.
Do you know your mission? And then your emotional recognition. And there's usually one area that people find they need to work in. For me, I had never really worked that hard on, ~um,~ my core values or my emotional recognition, and I started working on those. And you just... It's like a flywheel, and once you kinda know your strengths and all that, then you really can use that flywheel in the, the tough times and the great times.
But it helps you manage yourself.
Dominique Glanville: That's amazing. Well, it's so neat, too, to have followed your journey because you and I have been marketing peers and consultants for a number of years [00:14:00] and, you know, you had brought this expertise in, ~uh, ~, Gallup and Clifton Strengths. But what I love is that you've paired personal mission and core values and also this emotional recognition, and I think that emotional recognition is the piece that has really resonated with me a lot in this particular season.
Emotional Recognition Practices
---
Dominique Glanville: So Heights Growth Advisors and Heights Strategic Marketing, the, the two companies that I primarily lead, are in a huge season of growth. And so, and, and I recognize a lot of the audience will be in the same boat. It's like, "Okay, as I'm in
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: of growth, how do I make sure I'm focused on the right things?"
And ~like you s-,~ like you've taught me, how do I man- not just
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: but manage my energy, manage my priorities, that sort of thing. So for me, this quarter, as I set my goals for the quarter, one of the things that I have built into my goals in order to emotional recognition, I'm calling it a tithe, but I'm tithing a day a month [00:15:00] to just be quiet and listen and
Dana Williams: Hmm.
Dominique Glanville: and journal, because I
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: out first and all the chaos that's in my head and my heart and get my priorities straight and be centered and grounded and prayerful.
And I'm a person of faith, so hear from God on where he wants me to
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: then I can be the leader that I need to be for my team, right? I know my strengths.
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: We have growth goals, but if I don't have emotional recognition practices for myself as a leader, then everything else is at risk, right?
And so that's something I've just recognized in the chaos of growing and scaling, ~um,~ that's something that I'm building in as a safeguard and a piece of wisdom into my business. I'm curious for you, what has been a powerful emotional recognition practice that you as a leader have put into practice and maybe you've seen clients or team members put into practice?
What does that actually look like for others?
Dana Williams: So it's so [00:16:00] funny.
When I started my business in 2020, I, I started it with the Strengths Journal, which is a daily planner to help you lead yourself daily based on your ne- unique talents. And five years in, as I wrote the book, The Internal Revolution, I adapted the Strengths Journal to the authentic imprint.
So now, not only am I deciding what my intention is every day, but I'm putting why, and then how does that tie into, my mission? And then I get into, you know, why is this important to me today? Well, what does that mean with your core values? And then when I do the three things I'm gonna do every day, then I tie it into ~what--~ Like, I'm gonna do this podcast with Dominique today.
Well, which, which of my talents am I, am I gonna use? I'm gonna use my maximizer. I'm gonna use my individualization. I'm using a little bit of my ideation. And so I intentionally set the day. But [00:17:00] then, ~what--~ how am I starting the day emotionally? You know, Mother's Day was kinda hard. We had some challenges.
It was good, but it was sad, but it was happy. And so there was all those things. So yesterday was kind of just a, ha. You know? And right? We all have expecta- You know? So it's like, so I had to start the day off, how do I wanna lead today? What is the feeling I'm feeling right now, and why, and what do I need to work through in my quiet time on that?
And then halfway through the day, how am I doing? How am I doing with that? And then at the end of the day, am I satisfied with the day?
And then just what is that one thing that I did today that maybe it was a fear I had or something I needed to step into and just kind of document. So it takes literally five to seven minutes to do all that, but it was something I needed for me to manage myself. And Gallup didn't have anything like that, so I went to them and said, "Can you license me to do this?"
So that's one of the things that I use [00:18:00] every day to help myself. ~And, ~and I think just learning to realize we're all human and we're gonna make mistakes, and just even just say I'm sorry if I was ~n- ~snippy to somebody or my husband or somebody I'm working with. You know, "Oh gosh, I'm having a rough day today.
Can you just please forgive me?" Or, "Forgive me for, you know, not getting back to you 'cause I was..." And just being human, you know? ~I think,~ I think that's the big thing, is there's so much power in that, and we all want it right now 'cause there's so much AI stuff out there.
Dominique Glanville: Well, something I always really admire about you, I mean, you have worked at some really big, impressive companies, Southwest Airlines, you know, you have Children's Medical as a, as a client. And so I think of, sometimes I put someone in your shoes on this pedestal, you know, she's got this polish, et cetera, but, and you do have polish and, ~and ~elegance.
But you are such a real person in every engagement that you are in, and you let your guard [00:19:00] down, and you... I've heard you share about how marriage and being in a pit has really led you to professional transformations. How many people are sharing that on a podcast and authentically? And so I just really
Dana Williams: Uh-uh.
Dominique Glanville: you for Setting that example for leaders ~of, like you,~ it's one thing to say we need to perform less and really be our authentic self, but it's another to that to people of how you
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: also, I'll just speak from experience, I think as women, we sometimes have to be careful about how we share vulnerably in the workplace, especially like I lead, ~know,~ a lot of the clients that I'm working with and advising are mostly male teams, s- not always, but
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: there is this dynamic of you don't wanna be the emotional woman in the room or the,
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: we have to figure out a way to be our full authentic self in a company where we work and still be professional and in companies where we advise and lead and [00:20:00] consult.
And so I just thank you and applaud you for how you exemplify that and share that, Dana
Dana Williams: well, thank you. And Dominique, it's contagious, so I was sitting at a boardroom table yesterday with a CEO and an executive director, and he started telling me some funny things about himself. And I, after I had told some funny s- things about my weekend, and then, and then the executive director started telling about her husband and how he was snoring all weekend.
You know, it just, it got into a some laughing and crying and being funny moments that just happened because we were all kind of being that vulnerable self and saying, "You can be human with me, and this is our safe space to hold right now, and just let it, let it out." You know? What, what do you what do you got?
Dominique Glanville: it. I love it. Well, and it's so funny because I'm always thinking about, ~uh,~ I don't know if this is a strength or whatnot, but I'm, ~I'm ~kind of a natural includer, so I'm always kind of reading a room and trying to figure out who
Dana Williams: Yeah. Yeah.
Dominique Glanville: them closer in. Like, I do that in church for some reason.
I'm like,
Dana Williams: Yeah.
Dominique Glanville: [00:21:00] this song led in such a way where, like, people can actually follow it and sing and participate?" And I get really distracted trying to follow the worship band if people, if I'm worried that people won't sing along. Who does that, right?
So when
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Authenticity to ROI
---
Dominique Glanville: our audience right now, we're talking about getting vulnerable, ~getting, um,~ being real. I feel like there might be some person listening who's like, "Yeah, but I'm here to grow my business. I don't want to just sit in a room and sing Kumbaya." ~So, like,~ what do you say to that person that's like, "Yeah, I believe in authenticity, I believe in getting to know people's strengths," but how does that really impact growth and ROI?
Dana Williams: Well, in this particular situation from yesterday the two leaders of that organization are highly relational, so, and they're in a high growth, and we were planning their strategy for growth. So we were in that conversation at that moment, talking about what do the next three months, six months, nine months, 18 months look like, and working on their teams and who are [00:22:00] the high performers ~and how.~
So we were in a high growth discussion. But I knew both of them have high relationship domains, and so we couldn't get to the business of growth till we got to the business of relationship building. And we had a lot of time. I had to let the space in the room where they got to talk about their relationships first before we got into the business discussion, because this is a mistake a lot of consultants and leaders make is they go right to transactional.
Well, wait. Who is this human I'm getting to this opportunity to work with right now? And how do we help see where their heart is right now so as we're moving into this growth phase? Now, somebody else could have come in the room that was highly strategic and wanted to get in transactional, and I would have addressed that as well. But ~have highl-~ they're highly relational, and they needed that space.
Dominique Glanville: if I'm leading a [00:23:00] team or I'm a consultant coming in to a team meeting or an on-site, what is a practice that I should have for deriving greater relationship rapport or emotional recognition in the room before we get down to the plan and the transactional part of it?
Dana Williams: Most teams that I'm seeing average, I mean, there's not a pattern, but there's four domains. It's executing, relationship building, and then it's strategic thinking, which we see a lot, and then influencing. Influencing is always the lesser talent that we see in teams and in people. The most common ones I see are high executing,~ high rela- ~The high executors, they get their energy from get, let's get, let's go, let's go, let's go.
And the high relationship get their from let's connect, let's connect, let's connect. . So as a leader walking into a room like that, it's being able to read the room and know the room.
Strengths is one of the best ways to do that. But the problem is, [00:24:00] once you know your strengths, you've got to apply them every day and apply them to their team. So one of the things that I did at Southwest as we developed the the strengths strategy to becom- the first airline that was strengths-based, was we created pods of people that were strengths advocates so that the leader didn't have to think about it all the time, but she had a advocate, or he had a advocate on their team that could bring that into the team session.
Like, how are, we've got to start this project. Let's pull the team grid out. Who are we gonna lean on to get that done? Then everybody s- feels seen and heard instead of just, I'm another number in this room, and I've gotta just do a Excel spreadsheet on this or, you know. And so that's how you get the work done is knowing the team.
Dominique Glanville: I love that. The other thing is when you were sharing the example, the first example of the company that you worked with where you needed to build the rapport and then this past example, it occurs to me that a big change is coming up in an [00:25:00] organization, the tendency
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: don't really have what we need to grow, so what do we need in order to grow?
And that the strengths approach is able to look at what we actually have in the room to say, most often we have what we need right here in this room. And maybe there might be a couple things where, where like you pointed out, maybe Influencing is very low in the room. We have a lot of
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: execution-driven folks and a lot of rapport-building folks, but we're lacking some strategy, so maybe we need a consultant to come in and help us build the strategy.
Maybe we need someone that's more high influencing. It's interest- it's interesting that you say that too, because I'm the highest in strategy and influencing, and as you're saying that,
Dana Williams: Yeah.
Dominique Glanville: "Yeah, I'm kind of a weirdo, but I think it's okay"
Dana Williams: No, no, that's good. It's good 'cause you're gonna use your influencing talents to go in and create ~s- ma- now~ a sales call or to influence them to help make a decision on something. ~Um,~ and it's just learning to apply which ones... It's like knobs on a stove, you're just turning them up, turning them down.[00:26:00]
Which one are you gonna use based on whatever you've got in front of you? But knowing you've got the talents to do that. yeah.
Adaptive Leadership in Action
---
Dana Williams: I was talking to a woman this week, and she's the leader of the search and rescue for Texas. She said it, there was, last year in the floods, she had to remember that she was stepping down from a leadership role because she was gonna be the swimming role, to go jump in the water at 10 o'clock at night.
She deferred to the leader who was the boat captain of the small boat. And that's what leadership is. It's being able to shift between what is the moment we're in right now, what role am I taking right now, and how do I shift so that I can be that, listen to that leader driving that boat to tell me where we're going and what I need to do
Dominique Glanville: Amazing. Amazing.
When to Hire an Advisor
---
Dominique Glanville: So Dane, I wanna shift our conversation a little bit. Part of what I always like to touch on in [00:27:00] this podcast is how to hire the right advisor. So companies that are growing, they might hit a point where they're like, "I think we need to bring in someone from the outside to help us with this problem." I first wanna hear what problems are people... Like, what does it sound like in their heads or in their team meetings before they bring an advisor like you in?
Dana Williams: So for me, I think most of the time it's they, they wanna get from point A to point B with their team, but they don't know how to bring in the team dynamics and utilize the team to their best ability to make things happen. And ~um, it's,~ that's why when we come in and do strengths development and help a company become a strengths-based organization, we don't do a one and done.
It's like I usually tend to work with them a year, two years, three years, because then I'm teaching ~the, the s-~ the leaders how to coach with their strengths I'm helping them see themselves as a,~ as a~ coach and not a boss. [00:28:00] I'm helping the employees, the minute they walk in the door, they're getting their strengths.
So it's m- it's to be known and to be valued and to have, ~uh, c-~ high customer engagement. And so, and we see that. We measure it every, every year,
Dominique Glanville: Mm-hmm.
Dana Williams: We have a, a Gallup Q12 survey, which is just 12 questions, and we ask, and ~we s-~ I survey each of my clients, and we know yearly what are the areas they need to work on ~and help them.~
~they, they can, they can, well,~ they can work on those areas and improve, and you see the improvement, and the engagement scores rise. I mean, people don't leave their companies, they leave their leader. And so I'm really focused on the leaders.
Dominique Glanville: So it sounds like maybe the company is saying, "How do we have a proven approach to working together as a team, growing as leaders, and even evaluating how we're doing ~ s- from a, from~ from a strengths-based perspective, you know, [00:29:00] from one year to the next?" And then it also sounds like that then is also able to impact the service that we do, client or customer satisfaction, all of that.
So it's sort of like the whole company needs to get better in some way, but we want to do that through strengthening the team and the leadership and the management, and this is a tool that we use to do that. Is that fair to say, or would you correct that
Dana Williams: That, no, that sounds good. I mean, you're basically, m- I just have culture in my DNA and building strong cultures, so that's one of the reasons I, I think people come, ~um,~ is, uh, we wanna have a strong culture. We want people ... We wanna hire and attract really good employees, and we wanna retain them, and we wanna help them grow, and then because we're doing that, our company's gonna grow.
So, and it's that ~happy customer,~ happy employees, happy customers, high growth.
Dominique Glanville: just curious about this. Are there any yeah types of consultants or advisors that you frequently collaborate with when you're working with your clients? Like, know, [00:30:00] are clients also implementing EOS? Are they implementing a post-sales consultant? Is there, ~you know,~ an HR or talent consultant? Like, what other advisors or consultants do you work adjacent with typically?
Dana Williams: it depends
on the organization. ~Um,~ I had the opportunity to come along a brand-new organization that was just launching this year and- working with them from the get-go has been amazing to work with their executive team. So I've been really partnering mainly with ~their um,~ each of their leaders, and then usually they'll s- sometimes a marketing person I'll partner with because that's my background and helping them as we're developing...
I work with a lot of teams in developing their core values and mission as a team. And sometimes in Children's case, they already had their core, you know, they already had their mission for the company, and we just developed what is the vision and mission underneath that, that you are bringing every day to your work.
And once we did that, there was a lot of [00:31:00] clarity. The number one ~p-~ thing that employees need is they're not clear on what's expected of them. And so how do we help them be clear on that? And it's like, here's the mission, here's, you know. And as a leader, it's asking them, "Are you clear on what you've got to do this week?
What can I do to help clarify anything for you?" Especially in a hybrid workplace, where people aren't there every day.
Dominique Glanville: Yeah
Dana Williams: So I think, yeah, that's a big piece of it. So it might be a marketing person I'm working alo- alongside, it might be a HR person that I'll partner with. It could be, a CFO as they're planning out their growth.
What does this look like for the employee base? What does this look like? 'Cause I'm looking at it from all sides 'cause I'd spent a lot of time in change management and marketing. I spent a lot of time in, in org health before I came into marketing, so I kind of, I kinda get
Dominique Glanville: Well,
Dana Williams: it.
Dominique Glanville: you have a unique vantage point from working... Like, you've run your own business, managed a small team, run a small business, and [00:32:00] you've worked in large global multinational organizations, so you can speak both languages and understand
Right. in both those ways. One of the things I think is really interesting about what you said is the example of, I'm thinking about a company that sets their mission statement and their vision
statement, and
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: right? But then when we understand our strengths, then let's say I am the controller in the finance department, or I am, ~um,~ you
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: on the HR team, now, from my own strengths, I can then, you can then help draw the through line from my unique strengths, our department's mission, and what we're trying to accomplish, and the overall company's mission.
And so then I can see how my strengths are contributing to this overall mission, versus coming into an all-company standup or an annual meeting and going, "Oh, that's well and good leadership team, but, ~you know,~ where is my part in this?" And you're filling in the gaps [00:33:00] of giving those employees and team members a story about how their role and how they're uniquely wired is essential and needed, rather than just having these, ~you know,~ performance evaluations and, ~you know,~ kind of takes the whole conversation.
I mean, comp is always part of the conversation, but their contribution and their unique, ~um,~ wiring then has a whole, ~it,~ it has a whole reason for being, ~and,~ and it provides value. It's more of a value conversation there
Dana Williams: absolutely. And then it helps them see, like if I'm leading somebody and we've just kicked off a new project, or I'm working with another consultant, you know, I'm gonna wanna know their strengths, and then which strengths are you gonna use to help you get this done?
Dominique Glanville: Yeah.
Dana Williams: And how, who are you gonna partner with?
instead of it's out there.
No, it's inside here. That's why it's called the internal revolution. It's inside. It's not outside.
Dominique Glanville: I'm hopeful that our listeners of this podcast, through all the amazing people that we ~bring on,~ bring in, like yourself, are in their own journey of their own internal revolution, because [00:34:00] it's, ~you know,~ I think the common denominator is we're all high capacity leaders trying to drive momentum and growth, but that always starts with our own personal journey, our strengths, our self-awareness, our emotional recognition, as you said.
Dana Williams: , i, I think most leaders today are just overwhelmed. We know recent stats from Gallup saying that they're, they're getting bigger teams because other leaders are getting laid off or things are happening, so more and more people are coming into their fold and they're trying to manage more people with less.
And so if you can have tools that help you manage yourself and manage the other folks, then it's that there's that energy. I want them to go from being overwhelmed to being clear on who they are and who they're, who they're leading and, and that's the biggest gap right now. You know, four years ago it was something a little bit different with COVID, but today it's overwhelmed.
Dominique Glanville: Well, and I think overwhelmed to clear is a really helpful [00:35:00] transformation,
and it is
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: in the culture. And there is a direct correlation between that and people's ability to enjoy their work, stay in their job, be productive, complete the work that is in front of them, and ultimately grow the company, right?
~So,~
Dana Williams: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Healthy Advisor Relationships
---
Dominique Glanville: I'm curious, zooming out a little bit, let's talk a little bit about the advisor-client relationship. And just in general, you have served so many different clients and played all these different roles. In your opinion, what does a healthy client and advisor relationship actually look like versus maybe what people think it looks like?
Dana Williams: Well, first of all, it's not transactional. That's the number one thing. I think, yes, we have a plan. We have, like, a year-long plan, and we have touchpoints, but it's those touchpoints that are so important. And how do we make sure that we're connecting? I connect with each of my clients at least once a month on what's going on, and then we have quarterly planning [00:36:00] sessions or quarterly updates.
But really because things change so rapidly, and we might have a plan from six months ago, but we've had to adjust it because of some layoffs or some situation, and that's when we adapt, and we help them grow. And I'm so used to that because that's what I grew up in. And so I'm like, "Yeah, let's, let's pivot.
Let's do this now because of this that just happened." And it's amazing to watch. ~ you know, it might...~ They might say, "Oh, we're gonna have to do a reorg. We, we need more change of leadership." Okay, we'll bring in the change of leadership right now. And being able to be agile with them, but knowing that you've got their back, that you care for them as a person, as, you know, their consultant, as their advisor, and that you are there with them on this journey.
I always say you're kind of like, you know, help them up the mountain, and you're their team, and, ~and they're... You're kinda,~ you're kind of the person whispering in their ear [00:37:00] going, "I'm here. What you need?" Or, "I wouldn't have done it that way, but let's talk about, let's talk about this." Or sometimes they just wanna know they can call and vent, ~and,~ and then I'm there for them, and it's a safe space.
Dominique Glanville: Yeah, and I think, ~you know,~ depending on the organizational culture and the growth stage that the company is in, things might change really fast from week to week, or you might be in a more,
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: a large- a larger cruise ship versus a tiny little boat.
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: depends. And I think being able to flex and move with the company, but I also find with the companies that I'm working with, I am nimble, but I also am grounded in the plan that we put together and the priorities set. And so sometimes departments will shift things fast, and my role is to say, "Yes, absolutely, we can do that."
And also, how does this go back to the thing we talked about at that last onsite? Has that changed? Is that less of a priority? I had a company that we were working with, and they were working to set quarterly goals, and they shared their [00:38:00] quarterly goals with me after the onsite. I wasn't at this onsite- And ~they had really, really... ~The overall company goals were ~um,~ very high aggressive sales goals. They wanted to grow the company, but then none of the goals in the sales and marketing department had to do with directly prospecting clients. And so I just, as an outside advisor, looked at it and I said, these are all really good things to commit to, but it doesn't seem to me like any of these is actually driving sales and revenue.
Do you see
Dana Williams: mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: something? Like, let's have a conversation about
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: like, "You're right. ~We all-~ We need to take one of these goals off, and we need to put in a goal specifically that we're monitoring throughout the quarter that has direct line to the proposals we're writing and the business we're closing."
I was like, "Great. Sounds good." Right? So it wasn't me saying, "No, no," and being inflexible, but being flexible, moving with the current that they were doing, and then saying, "But also, remember who you say
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: said you wanted,"
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: holding that up to them like a mirror [00:39:00] a lot of times, you know?
Dana Williams: Mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: see in this mirror?"
Dana Williams: absolutely. And I think I have one of my leaders call me a velvet hammer 'cause ~I, I'll speak,~ I'll speak very kindly, but I will ~c-~ challenge the question. And so I think a lot of it is really leading with questions. And just like you said, "Now you said this earlier, but you're saying this.
Is, is this where you wanna go? And how... Where's the sales?" Especially if it's a high growth group and they have a lot of executing, they're gonna get their energy from just doing things, but they might not be doing the right things. So you wanna challenge them on that.
Dominique Glanville: Yeah, absolutely.
Clarity and Humble Growth
---
Dominique Glanville: Okay, so we are heading into the last part of our conversation today, and so I always want to ask, if you're thinking about or leadership team that's facing their next kind of growth milestone, growth inflection point, and they are overwhelmed,
and they're trying to
Dana Williams: mm-hmm.
Dominique Glanville: to bring in, what kind of advisor do I need, what encouragement would you have for [00:40:00] them, or what practice would you recommend for them, ~um,~ in order to move toward greater clarity and growth?
Dana Williams: Well, the first thing I think is to know themselves, ~as we've...~ You know, I think it's hard to lead a high growth company if you don't know your unique talents and what you bring, and then what do you need to bring in to complement you that- You don't have. And so many times we live in an environment where we see everybody, it could be AI, it could be whoever on social, and we think, oh, they're perfect and they do all...
But they're not, and they've got a great team around them. And some of the best leaders out there are the ones that talk about, oh, I am not as smart as this person that I've brought in to help me because I don't understand. And so it's that being humble, a humble leader, and, and not letting ego get in their way about when they're in this growth phase, and who can I get to help me, and what let me understand their talents.
I see this right now [00:41:00] with this new company that I helped get going with their strengths, and they're so humble, and they're so smart, and they're so excited about learning about themselves and each other, and focusing on that. And we just did their core values and their mission and their vision, and oh, they are just on fire.
And it's because they're, they're not letting the ego get in the way, and they're looking out for each other and leaning on each other and building high trust in that team. So I think that's the big thing.
Dominique Glanville: And fantastic. I think some, ~some ~through line ~um,~ themes of our podcast today are really knowing yourself and developing that self-awareness, and then prioritizing a high trust environment, that that's really where growth happens.
Where to Follow Dana
---
Dominique Glanville: Dana Williams, thank you so much for joining us. If our guests want to keep in touch with you or follow you, where can they find
you?
Dana Williams: Yes. So you can follow me on LinkedIn, Dana Williams. Also, you can follow me at, on my [00:42:00] website at danawilliamsco.com, and that's where you can get the authentic imprint assessment and just all the resources we have. We're just so thrilled to be here today, Dominique. I'm so excited for you. This is so fun.
Dominique Glanville: And Dana, do you have a podcast? I think you're a
podcast
Dana Williams: I do have a podcast. It's called Dominate Your Day, and we actually interview people who are difference makers who wanna make an impact, and help them use their strengths to do that. And I coach some of the people on. About twice a month I'll be coaching on there, so you can hear other people talk about their authentic imprint and how they're using that to, to solve a, a challenge or a opportunity.
So
Dominique Glanville: So
Dana Williams: yeah.
Dominique Glanville: Your Day podcast
and
Dana Williams: Yes,
Dominique Glanville: to find you.
Dana Williams: That's right.
Dominique Glanville: Well,
Dana Williams: Yes.
Dominique Glanville: joining us
Dana Williams: thank you for having me. It was so fun.
[00:43:00]