44 | Business Strategy and Execution with Kathleen Lawson

Mar 31

Written By Danielle Hamlet

Connect with Kathleen:

Kathleen Lawson helps her clients close the gap between where they are and the goals/vision they have for their business. Kathleen is an expert at clarifying the vision, prioritizing goals, creating an action plan, and streamlining and implementing processes and systems. Listen and learn how YOU, the business owner, can focus on execution as the CEO of your business.

If you’re spinning or completely paralyzed, unsure how to get yourself going and moving toward your goals - this episode is for you!

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Episode Transcript

Dani: Welcome to the podcast, Kathleen. Can you share with our guest like who you are and just what. .

Kathleen: Sure. Well, my name is Kathleen Lawson and I am a business strategist. I work primarily with service-based business owners, and they are the creative, big picture thinker, idea generator kind of people.

Kathleen: And they typically get into their business because they have. Passion for what they do. They, start getting some clients, but because they're sort of like these big picture creative types, they often struggle with execution and there's often a lack of structure in their business. They kind of wing things and so they're moving along, they're getting some clients, but they typically find that they bump up against a wall. And it's because of this challenge with execution and not having the structure. They're really kind of their own biggest bottleneck, and so I guide them in [00:01:00] implementing the structure and the routines to help them achieve their goals and manage their business. So that they can take their business intentionally and confidently towards their vision towards the next level.

Kathleen: So I work, I, I take them through a framework that I've developed. I call it path of action. And it's really about getting them into focused action, moving towards their vision. And so what we do is we clarify that vision. We prioritize short-term goals. That's really a big challenge for a lot. Entrepreneurs because they're trying to do everything at once.

Kathleen: So learning to prioritize. We, we do the planning, we put the processes and systems in place, and then we really focus on execution and that gets them moving in the direction that they want. And I work with my clients one-to-one, and I also run a group program where business owners focus on a couple of goals over a 12 week period.

Dani: So what led you down this path of developing this whole system and, and [00:02:00] program and really finding your niche of like the creatives, right? The visionaries I am just so curious in the story to get there. .

Kathleen: Well, you know, I really love what I do and one of the things that I love is that, I've actually been able to take everything I've ever done , and it's sort of evolved into this.

Kathleen: I started in marketing, actually. I started in advertising and marketing. And then I worked in, , corporate, project management. I've done some small business coaching and sales, and so a few years ago, Sort of started this iteration of my business and I thought I was gonna go a little bit more on the operation side.

Kathleen: And the first client I had, I said, all right, what are we doing? And she said, I don't know. What should I do? And I thought, okay, I guess I'm a strategist now. And so it really, It just sort of evolved and I saw that there was a gap in this area, that a lot, you find a [00:03:00] lot of coaches who, focus on sort of like the big picture and the high level strategy, but the execution piece, there was a big gap in that and it really, matched my skills and what I like to do, I'm, I mean, I'm one of those people, you start talking about an idea and I'm like, immediately.

Kathleen: unraveling it and trying to figure out how we're gonna get there. So, with all of my experience and what I've done and sort of my natural inclinations, it just was sort of the, the natural evolution. You could see

Dani: that there was the implementers and then there's a business owner, but then You saw that they had a hard time acting out the

Kathleen: strategy?

Kathleen: Yeah, it, yeah, there was kind of a gap for the small business owners that I work with in terms of execution. You know, they've got the vision of where they wanna go, but they often struggle with how to get there. And what ends up happening is they. either end up sort of spinning, like almost like on a hamster wheel.

Kathleen: They're just kind of like doing the the [00:04:00] stuff over and they're not moving forward, or they're totally paralyzed. Right. And I run into a lot of those too. It's like I just don't know what to do first. I don't know what to do next, so I'm just gonna sit here and I'm not doing anything. And so they need help getting into that focused action.

Kathleen: And so, looking at, well, where do we wanna go? What are the steps to get there? Let's prioritize 'em. What do we need to do first? What do we need to do next? Let's build, let's create a plan. So now we have a roadmap. Let's put the processes in place to support all that. And then we work on all the strategies.

Kathleen: on how they really manage themselves as a C E O. And there's so much to that. You know, it's interesting cuz so many people come into the this world and it's funny because their first thought is, all right, I work for myself so I can do whatever I want whenever I want. And they throw all the structure out the window and then what they learn is like, oh, the structure's a good thing and the structure's actually gonna set me free if I kind of build some of that and it's gonna help me.

Kathleen: work on the right things and it's gonna, you know, all those boundaries. And [00:05:00] so they eventually kind of come back and they, you know, they learn that that's a good thing. And so that's a, that's a big part of what I help them with as well, how to really manage themselves as the CEO of their own business.

Kathleen: Yeah,

Dani: that is so true. Yes. Sometimes an open free terrain does not actually mean freedom. It just means you can really get lost in

Kathleen: all of that. Yeah. You end up working all the hours all the time. It is very hard to also like have the life that you wanna have. You know, you've gotta put some boundaries around it, and if you have goals that you're really focused.

Kathleen: You need to have some structure to that to make sure that you're moving towards those. I mean, if, if you're just kind of looking to do the day-to-day stuff, then that's fine, but if you've got plans to get somewhere or something big you're trying to accomplish, you need to focus on how you're gonna get there and what you're gonna do.

Dani: Yeah. Do you also find that you have a lot of clients who have actually tried to learn all the strategy, right? They, they took the course or they did [00:06:00] something, but then they're just almost feel like, I can't take in another strategy session until I start figure out how to act out the strategies.

Dani: I've already tried to learn, it's like a, I don't know, information overload. Like you just, you're stuck in this. Learning paralysis in a way.

Kathleen: A hundred percent. And, I think that's a function of, you know, social media and there's just so much information out there at our fingertips, and I think that is what happens.

Kathleen: Sometimes it's, you know, just, you know, accidental. Like you're just, all this stuff is coming in. But sometimes people are avoiding the hard things. It's like, oh, I'll take a training, you know, and they feel like they're working, but it's like, this isn't helping you. You need to stop and implement and,

Kathleen: So yeah, that's, I think that's a huge, huge issue. And I try and be really conscious of that myself because I'm a learner. I'm a lifelong learner. I love to learn. I could, if there was a job that paid me just to learn all the time , I would. I would love that. But [00:07:00] I've recognized that, , you know, that's not gonna get me anywhere.

Kathleen: And so I have to be really conscious of that and, you know, and I get really particular about the books I read or the workshops I take or, you know, the programs that I get involved with and try and be really strategic about, about that so that, I don't go down that bunny hole cuz it is, I I think it's a definitely a very, real trap

Kathleen: that we can get stuck in. It

Dani: is. I used to joke too, that if someone could pay me to just go to college for the rest of my life, yes I would do it. Like there's so many cool classes out there. I get a couple degrees. I don't know what I'd do with them, but I just love learning. So like I,

Kathleen: know connected with that so well.

Dani: And . Yes. And I think maybe that's why I even asked that question because I connect with the fact that, I tend to just love to learn and. , I sometimes will take out that step of implementation, and that's what I really love about your work [00:08:00] is that it's not just about, I'm going to give you a great strategy cuz you will, but I'm also gonna walk alongside you and break that down so that we're actually living it out.

Dani: Because that is where the transformation happens. But when you love to learn, you think you're doing all the work, but you actually haven't yet , you haven't done the implementation. So would be like that one thing you would love business owners to just really think about today from this podcast?

Kathleen: I think one of the most important things for a business owner, Who's trying to really step into their role as a CEO is to take control of their time. I think that's really one of the most important things. And the thing is, if you don't take control of your time, You're gonna find your time prioritized for you by other people.

Kathleen: Projects, last minute things, lack of organization, like a million things. And so you need to be really intentional about your time. So a couple [00:09:00] of strategies. Or a couple of tips that, I like to talk about in this area. One is about adding structure around how you schedule your time. So there's like a lot of different strategies there.

Kathleen: But one of the really big Impactful things you can do is focus on your business first and then your client work. So this is a, this is something that trips up a lot of business owners. They will try and grow their business really in the nooks and crannies of their day. And it's, you know, that's, that's, that doesn't work.

Kathleen: And they always focus on the client work first. But the truth is, you will always get the client work done no matter how tired you are, how late it is. If you have something that you need to deliver for a client, you will power through. But it's. The things for your business, the follow up, you need to do the you know, blog post.

Kathleen: You need to write reaching out to prospects. It's the first thing that you blow off when things get crazy or you get tired. And so one [00:10:00] of the things I work with business owners on is scheduling that first. So a lot of times it's, you know, you do that in the morning and then maybe you start your client calls at 10 or 11 or something.

Kathleen: That. And so you have to, you know, it's not enough just to have the strategy and the plan, but you have to actually prioritize it, schedule it, time block it. So that's one. A second. A second tip around taking control of your time is to implement a, a planning practice so that you can make sure that you are spending your time on the right things.

Kathleen: So I'm a big proponent of weekly planning. That's a, a big thing for me. In fact, I have a free download. . If it's a checklist that takes you through a weekly planning practice, and when you carve out time to plan your week, then that's giving you the time and space to say, all right, these are all the things that I'm supposed to be working on.

Kathleen: Do I see my goals reflected here? Like how am I gonna prioritize this? What can I get rid of? But it gives you the time and space to do that versus just kind of being in the day and, and like, oh my gosh, what's next and what's next? And what's, you know, blowing up around me. So this is giving [00:11:00] you the space to be intentional about.

Kathleen: And the third thing is really to leverage your time through systems. And, you know, there are systems opportunities in every area of your business from like the beginning, marketing, you know, lead generation to how you service your clients to all the backend things. So like an example would be onboarding clients.

Kathleen: That's a place that a lot of business owners. It can waste a lot of time because they'll literally reinvent the wheel with every new person they bring into the business. So just even defining like, these are the things I need to do, even if it's written out in a paper checklist, that will save business owners a lot of time and stress and having to rethink this.

Kathleen: And then once you have it defined, then you can start automating pieces of it or delegating pieces of it, but you'll never get to that if you. actually define it first. And like I said, you can, there's systems opportunities in all parts of your business. And so that just sort of leveraging your time, think, starting [00:12:00] to think that way.

Kathleen: Like how can I systemize this? How can I leverage this? So those are three kind of strategies around taking control of your time. So adding a little structure to how you schedule it that planning practice to make sure you're working on the right things with the time that you have and leveraging through systems.

Kathleen: Those are, those are three things that I like to work with clients on, and it's, they're all such game changers. Right.

Dani: That first one you talked about kind of hit me hard because you're right, we get client work done. I mean, , no matter what I , like you wake up at an early time or you stay up a little late and you just kind of get that stuff done.

Dani: But in my mindset is always client first, then me in my business, now I've heard this before. . Rachel Peterson, she's a social media manager, queen of social media, and she said, do your marketing before you do your clients. I thought, oh, that's a really good idea, but now here you reinforce it.

Dani: I'm

Kathleen: like, duh. Yeah, , because you [00:13:00] know what? Your clients are gonna come and go, but your business has to, has to carry through and it has to grow if it's going to sustain you. Because what can happen is you can like put your, put your head up and look around and realize, oh my gosh, I haven't, you know, I have no pipeline lefted, I haven't posted whatever in forever.

Kathleen: I haven't followed up with these people. Like, you know, all of that. I mean, it's, if you don't keep your pipeline full and you know, all the. Happening. Your business is gonna come to a screeching halt. So yes, that's gotta be your priority. And like I said, it's not just enough to like say that you actually have to schedule that in there to make it happen

Kathleen: , right,

Dani: and treat it like a real deadline, not just something you can kick the can down the road. That is probably that big mental shift that has to happen

Kathleen: so now you, now you have to implement, you've gotta figure out, you know, and that's a big part of it, like what are the systems that you can put in place to make sure you do that? So like time blocking, like actually schedule that. If you have an accountability partner, [00:14:00] you, you know, you report to them, Hey, I am going to make sure that I do my.

Kathleen: Stuff first every day make, you know, make sure that I'm talking about it. Hold me to this. And you know, like what is it that you have to put in place to make sure that you execute on that. Yeah,

Dani: I've heard even some people do that. It's kind of like the idea of mirroring each other. So like you don't actually like talk to each other, you just kind of hop on and say, I'm gonna accomplish this.

Dani: And then they say we're gonna accomplish Yeah, the co-working thing. And you could do that online too. And I. , that's fascinating to me. So,

Kathleen: yeah, there's a lot of the networking, like the small networking groups I'm in offer co-working times. And then I'm like hearing too about apps that you can pay like a really minimal fee and have somebody that just like you, you get, you know, you go online and you get paired up with somebody and then you can do that.

Kathleen: But I, I, I think the co-working is a, Good thing because you're carving out the time you're showing up, and that's really 80% of it. , [00:15:00] you know, if you can, if you show up at that time, then you're gonna do that. That's why like, my planning time is great because it's such an important thing, planning your week, but again, something that so many people blow off because it's like, oh, I don't need to do that.

Kathleen: Like, it'll be fine. And once you get into the habit of doing that and you don't do it some week, you realize how critical it is. And so you know, these are things that the co-working is a great way to get that done.

Dani: Yeah, it's, it is so true. I am sure there's people listening in and they're like, I so badly need this in my life. So what are some of like the packaged offerings that you have just so they could be aware? .

Kathleen: Sure. So I do work with clients one-to-one. Those are a hundred percent custom engagements based on client goals.

Kathleen: So I meet with someone and we'll talk through what it is that they are trying to accomplish, and then I'll put together a proposal and a work plan and those engagements. are never [00:16:00] shorter than three months, but often six months and beyond. So that might be somebody who's got kinda like a lot of things in their business they're trying to pull together.

Kathleen: And then I run a, I've been running a group program for two years. It's called Close A Gap. It's about closing the gap between where you are and where you're trying to be. And in it's a 12 week program where a business owner will focus on one or two, or maybe even three goals over 12 weeks. And this one.

Kathleen: Packed with value. I meet with every member up front for a strategy session where we lay out the plan. And then it's a. So small group, I cap it at six people. So everyone gets a lot of focused attention. We meet every week, plus they have the option to show up on Friday and do their c e o hour, which is their weekly planning that I facilitate.

Kathleen: That is a great program. Some people focus on some projects, some really work on implementing structure and routine I also do quarterly c e o power planning. It's a it's a two and a half hour planning workshop where you can set your plan for the next 12 weeks. I'm a [00:17:00] really big believer in the 12 week year that kind of shorter term planning.

Kathleen: I think annual goals really are difficult for small business owners that shorter timeframe. is a lot more practical. You know, when you're sitting here, like even where we are now, March 1st, you know, thinking about things in November and December, it's just so far away and it's, you know, it's just not practical plus like, there's, there's no urgency.

Kathleen: But when you set a 12 week goal, 90 days like that is some urgency you can get behind and it gets you, you know, more into action. So I. . I do everything kind of based on that timeframe. And I also offer strategy sessions. A lot of people will work with me. They're looking for help in working out a plan or working through a process in their business.

Kathleen: And so I do a lot of strategy sessions as well. So a few different ways.

Dani: Excellent. I love. , I love the The variety, right? So if you just need that strategy session or you need that quarterly planning, and then there's the [00:18:00] weekly planning and I just, yeah, that is perfect. And I also love the fact that you do that strategy session with the group coaching before the group coaching begins, because I think we could kind of.

Dani: miss out on that part when we do this group coaching experiences walking away with like a personalized strategy with the expert that's leading. So I think that

Kathleen: is fantastic. Right. You know, it's funny because that was when I originally set up the group I didn't have that and one of the first people who joined showed up with eight goals, , and I said, I'm like, you can't do eight, you can't accomplish these eight things over the next 12 weeks.

Kathleen: And I realized I needed to back up my starting point. And so then the strategy session became part of that I send something out in advance and it's a, it's, there's some reflection and brainstorming, but then we do the strategy session to nail down the goals and create the plan.

Kathleen: And very often what people come in with isn't, what we end up working on. Because [00:19:00] as we start talking through it, and you know, we, we talk about what's gonna have the biggest impact on your business right now. Like, what do you need to focus on? Something, you know, revenue generating? Do you need to focus on, you know, backend systems?

Kathleen: Like what is it you need to focus on? And once we get talking about that, sometimes. Sometimes that changes. But yeah, that strategy session, I've had people say, you know, this is worth the price of the whole thing, like this, just this really intense session and them having a executable plan at the end of it.

Kathleen: So and I love doing them. There's so much fun. I love digging into people's businesses and figuring out. You know, all the things. I love it.

Dani: Yeah. It makes the group coach him feel like a bonus, right. . I love it. Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Yeah. I recently just had a conversation yesterday about, about someone that I'm, I'm working with a little bit and it's interesting because after unpacking things, I said, you have an income issue.

Dani: Like we need to generate income before we start building a membership in this course. , kinda like the idea of like oftentimes we're, we're [00:20:00] building our dream house, but when we actually need to start with a starter house and then start, continue to build from there. , you still have a house. It's great.

Dani: Yeah. It's just, let's start where we need to start.

Kathleen: So I love that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and in that case too, like very often it's like you can't do the group things until you work with somebody one-on-one. Like you learn like all the strategies and you learn how to do that. Then you can start to scale, so, exactly.

Dani: Exactly. Yeah. And there is, and build the foundation. Yeah. And build that foundation. So huge and I don't know if it's as of much of a craze now, but I know a few years ago the passive income course, you know, and everyone was making a course and they had a beautiful course, but there was no strategy and how to get people in.

Dani: And so like you have a lot of people of these amazing courses. They're like, yeah, I spent a ton of money making it and now I just don't know, have no strategy on how to feed.

Kathleen: Thing to it. So , that's interesting. And, and [00:21:00] ads can be expensive. Like you have to have a good strategy if you're gonna get, get into the ads end of things.

Kathleen: But yeah, you're absolutely right. Yeah, like a beautiful course without any system or sales system around it isn't going to do much. Mm-hmm.

Dani: is so true. So, Kathleen, what is inspiring you right now?

Kathleen: Well, a coup, a lot of things actually. I like being inspired. So one of the networking groups that I'm in, we have a little book club and we're reading high Performance Habits by Brendan Burchard, which is, I've had never read before, so I like that I'm listening to it. Actually, you know, it's funny, I read fiction, but I listen to nonfiction and I think it's because I like to hear it in the author's.

Kathleen: Yeah, I, it finally kind of made that connection in my head. So I like, I like that and I'm in a lot of these old networking groups and I love to hear the different members talk about their businesses. So I always, you know, that's always inspiring to me, learning about what other people are doing and their expertise.

Kathleen: So I try and [00:22:00] attend a lot of that. And then , it's, I, I like to engage in like a lot of creative pursuits myself. I find that really inspiring. So like, I love to cook and not just like get dinner on the table, but a little bit more than that. I also, I attend a write a creative writing group. I'm trying to learn to sketch. I'm horrible at it, but I really enjoy the process. . Yes. And so like, I love, I love kind of just getting involved in different creative things and that it, it, it kind of raises my level of inspiration across everything when I can do that. You know, a little bit of that every day.

Kathleen: So, .

Dani: It really does. Oh my gosh. I'm kind of laughing inside because we are similar but like flipped. So like I I, my creativity isn't the sketching and the drying and I definitely just plot food on the table. . It's like, I have to feed you humans. It's here you go, . So like, well I love good food. It's just, I think it might be time.

Dani: It's

Kathleen: probably time, but. . Yeah. You know, during the week it, it's hard and if you have kids and they're, you know, they can [00:23:00] be difficult to cook for. But I will definitely, like, you know, on a winter Sunday afternoon, I could putts around my kitchen all afternoon. I love that. I actually just this weekend I had a, a big experiment.

Kathleen: I made Erin Cini the little Italian rice balls. I actually wrote about it in my blog that went out this morning and it, it, cuz it took like all day to make these. And it was, it was quite the adventure, but it was really cool to make them. And we had a delicious dinner, so it was a lot of fun. ? Yes, yes.

Kathleen: And

Dani: then you like to listen to nonfiction audio and read fiction and I like to listen to fiction and read

Kathleen: nonfiction. That's funny. .

Dani: I think for me, like when I listen to it, they do such a better job at making their characters come alive. Cuz they're like basically voice actors. Yeah. And it just, I get so sucked into it.

Dani: I have to very strategically listen to fiction. If I'm like, if I have a busy week, I shouldn't go into it. Cuz once the climax hits, I don't wanna do anything. I'm just gonna listen

Kathleen: to this. So I know, I know. I, I [00:24:00] once saw a meme about that, about like staying up too late because it's like I have a good book and a.

Kathleen: Bad sense of like boundaries around it, , because you know, it's like late at night and the book is, you're like, okay, well one more chapter, well one more chapter, one more chapter. And then it's like 1230 and you're like, oh my gosh, I have to get up in five

Dani: hours. Yeah. That, that is me. Like when the rising action starts to happen, I'm just like, I'm gone.

Kathleen: I'm gone. . Yeah. So I have the same problem. Absolutely. A lot of good books out there. there

Dani: is so good. Awesome. Well thank you so much. This is such a good conversation. If anything, just for me, , so thank you. I enjoyed it. Yes, thanks for having me. Yes. How could people find you online? .

Kathleen: So I have my website, which is kathleen lawson.com. You can find me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and I have a Facebook page.

Kathleen: Those are the best places to catch me. I do post social media regularly so you can catch my videos and my other. .

Dani: Okay. Very good. Awesome. [00:25:00] Well, thank you so much for this. I am just excited for all that you are doing. And just remind my guest as well for listening. I have a goal that you get five coffee chats and two discovery calls, and so I'm really encouraged my listeners to like, move from just being a listener to like continue the conversation beyond this point.

Kathleen: Yeah, I would love that. I love doing coffee chats with people. I love hearing about their businesses and I'm always happy to share some nuggets. So absolutely. Awesome. Come book a call. I would love to talk.