212 MINISODE Cynthia James: Hire and Inspire

Cynthia James is a transformational leader and entrepreneur guiding thousands of people to make changes at a deep level for lasting healing in their lives. She shares important advice on how to hire and inspire your team to work in flow with your purpose, passion and mission, and other vital insights for women in business.

Melinda Wittstock:         Cynthia, welcome to Wings.

Cynthia James:                 Hey, happy to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:         I’m so excited to hear what’s inspiring you right now.

Cynthia James:                 You know what, I’m passionate about women. I think it’s our time for emergence and expansion and grandeur and bringing our gifts and so me getting to work with women, it always enlivens me.

Melinda Wittstock:         Isn’t it interesting how all of a sudden this is really, its like someone threw a switch about a year ago, you know like with “Me too!” And suddenly women felt so much more embolden to really speak their truth and really own the things that are really are kind of SuperShero powers I call them.

Cynthia James:                 Absolutely. Well you know I think what’s happened is, we started to understand the power in numbers. And we’re bringing our voice; we’re bringing our voice.

Melinda Wittstock:         It’s true and it’s so transformational as well and I think that all of us have actually craved this for a really long time. And then all of a sudden: there’s just a blossoming, it’s lovely.

Cynthia James:                 Yeah and you know and I think that we’re being heard and that we’re willing to stand and the people are willing to stand with us, you know brings a message that’s been long awaited.

Melinda Wittstock:         Now this is true. So there’s so much has positive in all of this although often on the entrepreneurial journey, though as we know, it’s always challenging. I mean there are ups and downs and no matter where we are in our businesses or on our personal growth, there’s always something challenging us. What are some of yours right now?

Cynthia James:                 You know, the biggest challenge for me has been getting the right team members. There are a lot of people that follow me, that love me, that are excited about the work that I do in world, and they have skills but I need people that want to be visionary and help partner with me to go to the next level and so I want them to be engaged but not necessarily in love with me.

Melinda Wittstock:         Mm-hmm (affirmative). Right, so you don’t want disciples, you want people to challenge you, right?

Cynthia James:                 Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:         Speaking of challenge, it’s tricky to find the right people and I think sometimes for women it is too, because apart from anything else, we’re so attuned to trying to do it all that even asking for help is hard. And then finding the right person or people, it is truly one of the most challenging things about business I think.

Cynthia James:                 Yeah because you want them to have the vision. You want them to be engaged, and you also want them to be skilled and collaborate. You don’t want them to just off and do their own thing, but you don’t want them waiting for you to tell them what to do ’cause I’m not interested in like overseeing people.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yeah and you don’t want to micro manage.

Cynthia James:                 Right. Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:         I know, that’s boring. I don’t like to do that either. Yeah ’cause you want people to have initiative, you want them to bring something to the table that’s different from what you’re offering but be as jazzed as a vision as you. I totally get that. And that’s a tricky thing to figure out what are even … just what are the questions you ask someone to ascertain that. So I kind of like Google’s strategy, hire slowly, fire fast.

Cynthia James:                 Right. Right. And I used to just get married right away. You know what I mean?

Melinda Wittstock:         Right.

Cynthia James:                 Now I’m like, it’s no, no, no. We’re going to date. We’re going to get clear if this is working.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yes, that’s so true. And so what are your top three, go to pieces of advice for women in business and female founders, entrepreneurs, wherever they are on that journey, whether they’re just beginning or you know they are like a serial type like me?

Cynthia James:                 Me too. Well the first one is to get clear on the vision. Because people can’t help you manifest and move it forward if you’re not clear. And so understanding what that vision is and being able to articulate it is the first one.

And the second thing is: Dare to risk. You know trying to stay the same and do the same thing, the same way is not going to propel you into your greatness. So you got to take a leap. And trust that your gifts and your wisdom and what you’re bringing is needed. And then the third one is know your numbers.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yeah.

Cynthia James:                 A lot of women that I coach is like they don’t want to deal with the money part of the numbers. Like no. Know your numbers because then you know where you are and where you want to go.

Melinda Wittstock:         Yes. I find myself saying to people all the time, know your numbers like just even know how much do you need … like how much do you need to live the life you want? Well how much money do you need to make for that to happen? Not only for yourself, to cover your nut as it were but also you know, to invest. Really invest in your business. You know sometimes we don’t think big enough.

Cynthia James:                 Right.

Melinda Wittstock:         Right? So put in a couple zeros in there, right?

Cynthia James:                 Yeah I think, you know Judge Judy is one of the highest paid people on television and they did an interview with her and they asked her about that. And she said, “Because I wasn’t afraid to go in and ask for what I wanted and what I needed.”

Melinda Wittstock:         Right. Well that’s the best negotiating tactic: ask for what you want.

Cynthia James:                 Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:         It’s like the simplest thing. Oh this is awesome. So Cynthia, how can people … wait, I was going to pick up there. So this is really awesome. Cynthia, how can people find you and work with you?

Cynthia James:                 Cynthiajames.net and there’s a whole section on my website that’s says For Women and there’s videos and all kinds of interviews and things to support them and moving to their next level.

Melinda Wittstock:         Beautiful. Thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Cynthia James:                 I’m so happy to have been here. And great work you’re doing in the world.