Roxanne Kaufman-Elliott, How to Build a Culture of Leadership That Drives Excellence – InnovaBuzz 404

Roxanne Kaufman-Elliott, ProLaureate

In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Roxanne Kaufman-Elliott, Founder and President of ProLaureate. She helps individuals, teams, organizations and companies, to inspire, ignite, and impact effective, authentic, genuine leadership. This builds cultures of leadership that drive excellence, meet and exceed goals and drive innovation, creativity and success.

Roxanne is a highly respected and sought-after keynote speaker and published author and an award-winning business/marketing strategist. She brings over 30 years of national and international corporate experience to her clients that range from privately held businesses to corporations in a wide range of industries.

In our discussion, Roxanne talked to me about:

• Discovering the best parts of yourself, expressing yourself clearly, and connecting genuinely
• The core traits of leadership
• Paying attention to the 3 critical aspects of being human – mind, heart, and body.

Peter Margaritis in episode 309 introduced us to Roxanne.

Listen to the podcast to find out more.

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Show Notes from this episode with Roxanne Kaufman-Elliott, Founder of ProLaureate

Key points and takeaways from this episode include:

• We know leadership when we see it, when we hear it, and when we feel it.
• A leader is someone who is a good listener, who puts others before themself, who understands and wants to get to know you on a deeper level. A leader is someone who genuinely cares.
• A leader is someone who is egoless yet has enough strength of character and confidence to carry themselves very well.
• A leader is someone who is always connected and very present. They want to hear about your vision and inspiration in the same way that they shares theirs. They takes chances and risks. They challenge processes to see if they are still working well or if they can work better.
•  A great leader is heartful. They encourage people.  They help other people learn the things that they need to know in order to succeed and thrive in their lane.
• A leader is someone who genuinely and authentically cares about the people and the things that are going on around them. A leader is someone who wants to make a positive difference. 
• The ego is an important part of us. It is part of who we are but it’s the way we view it and the way we use it that makes a difference. 
• The best leaders are those who have strong egos but don’t walk through the world boastfully about themselves. 
• A selfless ego doesn’t mean that you don’t have one. Selfless ego is our self-confidence. It is our ability to let go of serving ourselves and serving others instead.
• Marketing is all about your brand and your message. It is not what you do but why you do it, and when you can speak those from the heart, your message becomes so powerful which then creates effective marketing.
• Leadership in marketing is all about knowing your core values as well as your genuine and authentic self, and how to message that in a way that people can understand and it will resonate with them.
• Marketing allows people to see who you are and what you do and makes them want to be a part of it.
• Find who you are and go be that person. Stop listening to all the other noise that distracts you from your true purpose and true why.
• Self-reflection and awareness are very important. Think about what’s important to you, your dreams, your vision, what you want your life to look like and how do you want to impact the world.
• No matter where you go in life, where you’ve been, where you are now, and where you want to go, all of that has led you to where you are today. Pause for a moment and think about what was great and wonderful, your greatest achievements, and the lessons that you’ve learned. 
• Our biggest failures are also our biggest lessons.
• Clearly identifying and understanding your core values is a gamechanger. When you know what your core values are, the next time you are confronted with a conflict or a decision, you can step back and think about what your core values are and identify whether your decision is taking you closer or further away from your vision. 
• Leadership is methodical and strategic. It’s a learned skill. It’s an aspiration and a choice. It is also something that emanates from our most genuine and authentic self.
• Leadership is love for self, humanity, and the world. It is the love for innovation and risk-taking. It is the passion for what we do.
• We all have stories in our lives that are deeply embedded in us for a reason. We remember certain stories because they taught us something or made us feel something. When you tell a story, you are giving messages of lessons learned in an emotional way that connects with people. 
• Leadership is not a title. It’s neither authority nor power. It comes from the inside.
• Developing a culture of leadership starts with the core values and vision of the organisation. 
• A culture of leadership is a culture of learning. It is a culture of knowing and living solid core values, making tough decisions on those values, and letting everybody else see them.
• A culture of leadership is camaraderie, love, respect, and listening. It’s a culture of YES-AND. 
• Cultures of leadership have each other’s back. It is knowing you have your team and organisation behind you. It’s not being weak and it’s not holding people accountable. It is strength, courage, learning, and creating a common language within the organisation of the leadership culture.
• Leadership development is a change in mindset. It’s a way of opening up to develop the organisation and its success and sustainability from the inside out.
• You have to learn how to speak the language of the people you are working with or speaking to, so that they can open their minds to listen to what you have to say, in a way that they can hear it.

The Buzz – Our Innovation Round

Here are Roxanne’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.

1. #1 thing to be more innovative – Get outside of the self-imposed and externally imposed restriction of what you think is possible. Ask and listen to your customers. Be willing to take risks.
2. Best thing for new ideas – Step out of structures not in alignment with my values. Ask clients – what do you need, what’s missing?
3. Favourite tool for innovation – Mastermind Group, Improv, self-isolation
4. Keep project/client on track – Communicate, collaborate, and cooperate. Stay in touch with them to set really concrete goals and deadlines.
5. Differentiate – There is only one of each of us in the entire universe. Just be that and your differentiated. Be true to yourself – your core values and why you do what you do. Know who you are and don’t hold back on that. Get your ego out of the way, just be that person, and find greatness in others.

To Be a Leader

Pay very particular attention to the 3 most critical aspects of being human – your mind, heart, and body. Keep them positively nurtured in ways that are important to you. You will not just survive this current setbak. You will be thriving and finding new opportunities and new ways to move through your world.

Reach Out

You can reach out and thank Roxanne through their website.

Suggested Guest

Roxanne suggested we have a conversation with author and keynote speaker Dave Caperton as well as bringing back Peter Margaritis from Episode 309. So Dave and Peter, keep an eye on your inboxes for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz Podcast, courtesy of Roxanne Kaufman-Elliott.

Links

• Website – ProLaureate Ltd.
• Twitter – @ProLaureate
• LinkedIn
• Facebook

Cool Things About Roxanne

• She’s the author of the book, “Never Wear Red – A Leadership Love Story.”
• She’s is a graduate of Sinclair College and Bowling Green State University.
• She holds numerous executive education certifications from The University of Wisconsin at Madison and the American Marketing Association.

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