Summary

[00:00:00] Dr. Stacey Gonzales: it's Friday, and for today's Build in Public podcast, it's gonna be kind of short and sweet because today was a bit of an off day. I was really, really tired today. Yesterday was a 14, 16 hour day with several in-person meetings, and I underestimated how draining that would be. That said, the meetings were incredible and as I've been reflecting on yesterday's meeting, It's really sparked for me this understanding that [00:01:00] the sales process, it's really a dance. [00:01:08] And so yesterday I had a meeting that I prepared for with a superintendent because one of the parts of soul growth is we have. Company that we're standing up or service product called the Growth Path. And the growth path is for superintendents and their leadership teams. And it's a training and coaching model where we provide an assessment relative to emotional intelligence, uh, mindfulness communication, uh, conflict resolution. [00:01:50] For individuals on the superintendent's cabinet team. And then as a result of that assessment, we find where [00:02:00] the strengths and areas of growth are for the team and for the individuals. We present that back to the superintendent and come up with a plan. And as you may or may not know, I had a sales role. [00:02:18] Last year that I got fired from for not being successful in that role. And I can see now why, um, first of all, John, who is the creator of the growth path, uh, with all the content, who's also a mentor of mine, has been taking me through what I'm learning sales to be, which really is a dance. And up until this point, , I have been dancing like the clunkiest, most out of step dancer, stepping on people's toes, stepping, tripping over my own [00:03:00] toes. [00:03:01] And so yesterday we met with the superintendent and had this really beautiful conversation. and dialogue. And I really, you know, my, my role in that, um, as a former school district administrator was really as the door opener. And what was also interesting was I felt a little bit like I had been given a backstage pass, had been given access to these two men. [00:03:37] Um, And what I noticed in the way that they engaged with each other in discussion was really genuine and authentic. Yet they each knew that there was a business purpose in mind and[00:04:00] [00:04:00] there was so much. that happened in that meeting. But here's the thing, that was really fun. So today on our debrief call, uh, with Renee, cuz there's three of us, me, John and Renee are, are doing the growth path. And today on our debrief call, um, with Renee, John said, I said, oh, that meeting went so good. I feel really good about this. [00:04:21] Like, we're gonna get this account, I'm hoping right? Get this, the business. and I said, um, in my old job, they would tell us to predict the percentage of close, um, for our pipeline, right? And so, so I said, okay, I, I think I know what percentage of certainty with which I feel like this, this would, will get this, their business. [00:04:50] And so John said, okay, , think of your number. , I'll think of mine and we'll say it at the exact same time. Okay, you ready? And I'm like, oh yeah, I got my number, I got my number right. [00:05:00] And so Nays listening, um, and John's like 1, 2, 3, go. And I say 70%. And he says, 20% . And, and I just start cracking up and uh, he says, Well, tell me why you picked 70%. [00:05:24] And I said, well, he was very open to what we talked about. He seemed, um, like, you know, really excited about what we were doing, and he could see maybe some of the benefits of it. John said, well, He hasn't talked to his board and he hasn't even talked to the leadership team, nor did he really, um, commend anything to us. [00:05:56] So we've still got a lot of work to do. [00:06:00] And he was like, oh, right. And so while it was a great conversation, the sales process is about moving those conversations forward. , getting to know each other, making sure that we are in alignment and that that the hope that we have and the hope that he has can really be delivered. [00:06:30] And so that's a process that takes time. And so today, um, I worked on identifying five superintendents that I know that. we're going to, um, get meetings with and talk with. And the really interesting thing is, and what I'm so [00:07:00] thankful for is what an amazing mentor John has been in my life. I was telling Renee this morning how. [00:07:12] He is this like grandfatherly wise grandfatherly figure in my life that has had this successful business and has this business acumen that I've not really had anyone in my life that is ha, that has had that or been or shown me. And so yesterday, sitting physically. in a meeting with John as the captain and me as like the first mate, right? [00:07:49] Really allowed me an opportunity to experience the sales process, not talk [00:08:00] about the sales process in a cognitive way, but to experience. , and that's really the work that we wanna do with the growth path and with soul growth. This work is not about thinking, it's about being, it's about living and creating containers where people can experience new ways of being in safe spaces. [00:08:34] and it's creating containers of safety where people can be vulnerable and seen and they can see themselves in ways that maybe they haven't looked at themselves before. And so while today was what I feel a little bit of a lower energy day, I [00:09:00] slept, um, overslept, not overslept, but I let myself sleep because I was up at three 15 the prior day and, and didn't go to bed. [00:09:09] And so I let myself sleep, uh, sleep in. Um, I missed my morning meditation practice, my journaling. So today just was off on a number of, of things for me. And, um, I'm allowing that to be what it is and trusting that, um, tomorrow will be better as I move forward. I.