What It Takes to Operate at Peak Personal Performance - Melissa Maher

Josiah: What does it take to be a successful leader today? In this episode, we're learning from Melissa Maher, CEO and founder of Pinnacle Enterprises Group, a firm focused on executive coaching and consulting. Previously, Melissa was chief marketing officer at Expedia, a company she helped build over the past 20 years, and today shares some of the things that she's learned in her career so far about what it takes to operate at the highest levels and succeed. 

Melissa: So when I was at Expedia, I always led large teams and very focused on mentorship and sponsorship. And so when I was thinking about what's my next journey, it really is people related and I really want to help support people and help them grow in a personally and professionally as well as help organizations grow. So that was really kind of the purpose is do something that helps make an impact in people's lives as well as drives revenue for company. So that's been really fun. I do individual coaching as well as group coaching and leadership teams coaching. And what I found is it's really fascinating. I think I do a lot of work with more senior executives. And what I do is I help them basically lead more effectively and create cultures that are more engaged and more aligned. And Why I think that work is important is, you know, post COVID, we're seeing burnout, we're seeing talent walking out the door, I would call it actually a talent crisis. And we don't have employees that are as engaged as they once were. So that leadership level, I think, is critically important where Leaders need to be aligned themselves and then make sure that employees within the organization are aligned with the goals of the organization. Employees want to know how they fit into the goals of the organization. They want to feel valued. And so there's a real opportunity for that. And I found that my clients, when we're focusing on this, are really getting a lot of benefit out of it as far as employees feeling more connected, leadership teams jiving more, less turnover, and just overall more productivity. When employees are engaged, they're more productive.

Josiah: So I imagine this really varies client to client, but if the objective is alignment, it's team cohesion, the business outcomes that we're working towards are employee retention, keeping them around, engaged, productive. For the people you're coaching, are there skills or capabilities as specific as we can get here that you focus on, that you notice are recurring themes that help people get to that place where they can lead an organization with alignment?

Melissa: Absolutely. And it's interesting. I'll talk about a few, but I've done a lot of research, men versus women, senior level, junior level. And there are a couple areas that no matter if you're a man or a woman or what level you are, that people want help in. And that's personal branding. And I read an article yesterday in Forbes that personal branding is the number one thing that helps with confidence. So confidence is also something that I think women tend to have more confidence issues than men. Men definitely have confidence issues. They just don't talk about it as much. So personal branding, confidence, influencing and negotiating, you know, making sure that we talked about the business case, making sure that you know how to influence the stakeholders that are in the room that you're presenting to. And then another one is really overall executive presence. How does someone, you know, stand out in a room? And how does someone have kind of that name that people think about that lingers in the back of their head when they're not in the room? So those are kind of some of the areas that I do individual and group coaching on.

Josiah: Okay, now I'm curious, how do you stand out in a room?

Melissa: Well, you have to, that's really where personal branding comes in. You have to know what your personal brand is. You have to know how you're unique. I do a workshop called unique branding, and it's really defining what, what makes you different and what makes you that billboard that someone's going to stop and stare at and what makes you stand out where a leader is going to pick you for a high profile project over someone else.

Josiah: It's so interesting because as a former CMO, you know, I imagine you've worked on so many campaigns and so many elements of a campaign, right? The positioning, the language, what makes you different, all that kind of stuff. It's so interesting to hear it can translate to us individually.

Melissa: It is interesting. And I think the other really interesting part is it's harder for people to advocate for themselves and create their own marketing brand than it is for them to do for someone else or a company. And that's part of the personal branding workshop that I give is, you know, I make the people in the class write out what are their values? what are their accomplishments and kind of a what I call a brag book, write down your top 10 accomplishments, and then have someone else look at it or go and show your boss. Because a lot of times someone else remembers things that you don't, or they would say it differently or highlight it differently. So I think that's a an important thing.

Josiah: I want to get your take on something because I was actually making a note here because you mentioned confidence, you mentioned personal branding, you mentioned influence in negotiating. At first glance, those seem like disparate capabilities, but is there some connection between each of these? And if so, is there some sequence that people should think about? Like does confidence lead to branding and personal presence or is it the other way around?

Melissa: It's an interesting way to think about it. For me, it starts with personal branding. And because if you know what you're good at, and what you stand for, and what your brand statement is, that in itself helps with your confidence. And a lot of times when the self doubt talks comes in, if you have your personal brand statement, and you have your accomplishments, then you can look at that and it kind of sinks that self-doubt. So I think it starts with personal branding. And I think influencing and negotiating are probably two areas that people don't invest enough time and energy in, both for themselves and for their company. Negotiating is such a critical thing, whether it's buying a car, whether it's trying to get a promotion, whether it's an actual negotiation with a client, there's a skill and process that goes with that. And my opinion is that people don't spend enough time or value on those areas.

Josiah: So let's say someone's listening to this, they're bought in, they say, I want to take the next step in this journey, you know, personal development. Two part question, where can they follow you to learn more about your work or find out more about that? Are there any other resources you'd point them to take a next step on this journey?

Melissa: The best place to find me is LinkedIn. I, of course, have a website, but I think for me, you learn a little bit more about my style and my coaching through LinkedIn and resources. There are a ton out there. I read HBR every day, Forbes every day. I read books, I read anything Brene Brown says or does. What's important to the clients that I work with is what are the bite size elements that they can take in. And usually the best outcomes are if they focus a little bit every single day. So find what that is, whether it's your podcast, whether it's a news article, whether it's a chapter in a book, whatever's whatever is easiest and most consumable, because that's when people will stick with it. And then you'll see the improvement from there.

Josiah: We all have different styles of learning, right? And taking in information. So you got to find something that works for you.

Melissa: Yes, exactly.