[00:00:00] Andrea Johnson: 100 percent of the people that come to me to work on core values think they know what they are and guess how many don't?
[00:00:06] Andrea Johnson: A hundred percent of them. Yes, all of them because we have been taught that everything is outside of us. Everything that's good is out here. It is a very Eastern thought to think that anything in here is good.
[00:00:17] Dave Polykoff: That's Andrea Johnson, AKA the queen of core values.
[00:00:21] Dave Polykoff: Andrea helps business professionals show up authentically through their own unique core values.
[00:00:26] Dave Polykoff: And that's what today's episode is all about. How to avoid mimicking others and live through your personal brand's core values so you attract your ideal client.
[00:00:35] Dave Polykoff: On this episode, we'll learn: what are personal core values, and why are they important?
[00:00:39] Andrea Johnson: These are the principles and the priorities that guide your individual actions.
[00:00:44] Dave Polykoff: Where do our core values come from, and how do we discover them?
[00:00:47] Andrea Johnson: you're pretty much born with them. It's kind of how you're wired.
[00:00:49] Andrea Johnson: it's the non negotiables in your own personality.
[00:00:51] Dave Polykoff: And how we can use our core values to show up authentically and attract the right audience.
[00:00:56] Andrea Johnson: the gift is still you, the gift is still everything that you have to [00:01:00] offer. It's figuring out how to wrap it for a specific audience. when you do that, they are excited to unwrap it.
[00:01:05] Dave Polykoff: So let's learn all about our personal brand core values together on this episode of Brand Science.
[00:01:11]
[00:01:14] Andrea Johnson: [00:02:00] Well, thanks for having me, Dave. I'm, I love having these conversations. I'm literally in the process of writing my next personal podcast episode on the difference between the core values and principles and which we'll probably talk about. So it's like I, I'm finally to the place where I must be the core values lady, because I'm already starting to do.
[00:02:48] Andrea Johnson: So I feel like that's like when, when you can see how your own stuff takes off, it's exciting. But, um, I began with core values over like almost 30 years ago. Are [00:03:00] you familiar with Franklin Covey? Franklin Planner System. Okay, it's a really, it's like daytimer on steroids, you know, it's like it had, um, at one point my husband and I each had like big binders, you know, his was huge, I had the mini, and it was still like three inches thick, and it had like three rings, and days, and months, and weeks, and you could get all these different types, you can still get them, if you're a person who needs a planner, you can get one, well, I started in 1995 after, um, Steven Covey took over.
[00:03:31] Andrea Johnson: I read his book and I walked through the process of figuring out my own, what he called governing values. Okay. So this was my start 30 years ago. Well, 29 years ago. Um, and you can tell my husband, I got married 29 years ago. So this is back when it started. Um, but it is, it's still, I still have it today.
[00:03:49] Andrea Johnson: It's, they're still valuable today and that's still got my six holes in it and it's laminated with packing tape. Right necessity is a mother of invention and my top core value [00:04:00] at the time or I taught governing value It's a little bit different is freedom and as a 27 year old because I don't shy away from my age as a 27 year Old freedom from everything sounded amazing and I didn't really know why but I just said, you know Like I don't have a job and I have money freedom and all that kind of stuff.
[00:04:16] Andrea Johnson: Well As we continue through life and as we grow, or as we kind of get bogged down, if you will, or get into the hamster wheel of I went into working at universities and spent almost 25 years in higher education, um, I kind of lost. touch. I kept this. All my Franklin planters are not here, but I kept this.
[00:04:38] Andrea Johnson: But when I was, when I was 50, I lost my mom to breast cancer and it was a long battle for her, but it was a wake up call for me because at the time I had an eight year old adopted son and I was 50. Um, and I knew that I did not, I'm hoping I have another 50, you know, 50 years. I'm hoping that was the halfway point.
[00:04:58] Andrea Johnson: We'll see if I'm [00:05:00] healthy. But, um, I knew that I didn't want to continue doing what I was doing. And I said, I have to find something different because I had evolved and grown into managing and operations in schools of medicine. So I did research administration and administration and, and at any given moment, I was.
[00:05:17] Andrea Johnson: It's managing up to 30 people. And the definition of managing is to continue the status quo. It's to make things run smoothly. I am not a status quo kind of person, Dave, I just am not. And I would hire people as like an administrative assistant and I would say, Hey, this is not a landing pad for you. This is a launch pad for you.
[00:05:39] Andrea Johnson: I don't want to see you here in three years. I want, how can we make you, cause I'm all about making the whole university system better. Right. That's, I see big things like that. And so I would get in trouble when somebody would leave, the chief would say, well, what did you do wrong? I'm like, no, I did everything right.
[00:05:56] Andrea Johnson: I did my job. They got a bigger and better job. And they're like, no, that means we have to fill it [00:06:00] again. Yeah. They, it's just this whole mindset. And so I, I was, I was, I was like, I have to do something different. I have to do something where I can help others grow, help them lead, figure out ways that I can be myself.
[00:06:12] Andrea Johnson: Cause I was constantly feeling like I had responsibility without authority. I had, um, I was, I was, always compromising who I, who I felt like I needed to like show up as and to be authentic. You know, that's a word that you use. And I was told that I needed to keep my mouth shut and I needed to not rock the boat.
[00:06:30] Andrea Johnson: And I, you know, you're not funny, Andrea. Don't, don't do funny things in the finance meeting. I'm like, but that's the only way that we can get through the finance meeting. You know what I mean? And I'm like, I am funny and you just don't like my humor. I mean, it's just all those things. And so a friend of mine that I'd known since I was 17.
[00:06:47] Andrea Johnson: Said, Andrea, you need to, you need to take a look at the Maxwell leadership team. And this is John Maxwell, who's an international leadership guru. And, um, I said, okay, so I took a look at it. I'm like, oh my goodness, this is [00:07:00] an opportunity. Cause I had tried to be an entrepreneur, right? We're talking about personal brands.
[00:07:04] Andrea Johnson: I had tried to do it. I was looking for a way to be free. Like I had said long ago, and I had done at Amway. I had done Mary Kay. I'd realized it's a really good elimination process. I am not a product person. I'm not, especially if it's not my product, it's not mine. It's not authentic. Right. Um, every time Mary Kay would change a formula, I'd be like, darn it.
[00:07:24] Andrea Johnson: Now I just, I don't feel like I could be a Mary Kay lady, you know? Um, so I realized this was an opportunity for me to, to use a certification and a system where I could still be 100 percent me and show up and do the things that I wanted to do. And part of my coaching training was looking back at my core values.
[00:07:46] Andrea Johnson: And it was the first time I had pulled them out in a long time. And I walked through an exercise and realized, Oh my goodness, these are not really my core values. They really are governing values. They're almost like principles. [00:08:00] And so the more I got into it, the more I realized, That was the work that I really needed to do because I am a certified disc consultant, speaker, trainer, and coach.
[00:08:09] Andrea Johnson: I do workshops. I work, I do executive coaching. I have digital courses. I have a podcast, all kinds of things, but my heart's work is helping people instead of start from the outside and move in. Cause that's where we always start, right? We always start from the outside with a system. You know, we talked, um, before we jumped on here, really, you didn't want to come up with like a new way to, to.
[00:08:31] Andrea Johnson: Manipulate that the Instagram hashtag algorithm. You wanted to give people a way to like be authentic and have good content rather than worrying about all those other little hacks and tricks. And that's kind of where I landed is I didn't want to work with the outside stuff in, I wanted to start from the inside out with people.
[00:08:49] Andrea Johnson: So that's kind of how I got into core values,[00:09:00]
[00:09:15] Andrea Johnson: right?
[00:09:23] Andrea Johnson: Yeah, exactly.
[00:09:30] Andrea Johnson: Mm hmm. Right. Mm hmm. Mm[00:10:00]
[00:10:16] Andrea Johnson: hmm.
[00:10:26] Andrea Johnson: Can I pop in with one? Can I pop in with one more thing there? Um, so even when, like, I've, I was certified in, in 2019 for, so five years ago with Maxwell. And at the very beginning, I had already come up with my own, what I call. Personal growth, um, lifestyle of intentional optimism that has six tenets and it's, it's how we behave.
[00:10:47] Andrea Johnson: It's how we live out all of our stuff. And I really wanted to do my own thing, but I knew that I needed a vehicle. And so I thought, well, I'll do this. But at the first two years, I really struggled because I felt like. I'm trying to sell [00:11:00] Maxwell stuff. I'm trying to do Maxwell things. And I didn't, I had to grow and learn myself good enough to understand that I can show up and teach a Maxwell book in a mastermind or coach in an Andrea way.
[00:11:15] Andrea Johnson: That allowed me to now say, I got a free mastermind coming up. Do you want to participate? Because they're going to get it different from me than they're going to get from my mentor. Very different because of who I am because of my spunky, welcoming, wise personality. And she's like a Colonel in the air force, you know, it says very different.
[00:11:35] Andrea Johnson: And so I think it's, it's good to see too, that it's not just that. We don't want to do something that somebody else's product. Sometimes it's really good to do that, but there are many ways to do that one thing. And even if you and I had the exact same goal and we're both John Maxwell people, you show up differently than I do.
[00:11:53] Andrea Johnson: And that's the part that I want us to celebrate. That's where personal branding comes from.[00:12:00]
[00:12:13] Andrea Johnson: It's shocking. Well,[00:13:00]
[00:13:40] Andrea Johnson: that's the natural way that we learn. Every child, do you have kids? Okay. Do you have any children in your life? Does your sister have kids? I mean, if you have nieces and nephews, you've watched them, they mimic your words, they mimic what you do. I love my, um, uh, my [00:14:00] son, he's, he's 15 now, but when we adopted him, I was 42 and my husband stayed home with him.
[00:14:05] Andrea Johnson: I actually worked, but he would, um. All of a sudden he would come out with something and I'd look at him and I'd say, how are you not genetically related to my husband? Because it was just like Steve. I mean, just like him. That's how we learn. That's the very first way we learn. If you, I'm working in Duolingo right now, learning, I grew up in Korea, but I want to learn Korean better.
[00:14:27] Andrea Johnson: So I'm like working in that every day. And there's a mimicking that comes from that. The problem is when you move. As you move through school, you move from learning to how to mimic things, to how to think on your own and how to apply the principles of what you have to your own learning and your own life.
[00:14:44] Andrea Johnson: That's just our natural way of learning. The problem is when we're adults, if we start off mimicking, a lot of times we may not have the tools or we may not remember what it's like to then take those principles and apply them to our own work and our own life and our own [00:15:00] message. And I'm not immune to that.
[00:15:01] Andrea Johnson: I have the same problem because I am, you know, I'm 57, I get kind of entrenched in. And so I am very aware whenever I'm trying to like be like someone else. And it's also safer to be like someone else because we're not burying our own soul, so to speak. And so I think those things coupled together make us just kind of ripe for that type of thing.
[00:15:24] Andrea Johnson: And we don't need to beat ourselves up over it. We need to understand that it's a normal process. And it's a, it's okay to start someplace like that, but then we have to like try out our own things in order to be able to like the wet, get the wet wings dry. You know, it's like,[00:16:00]
[00:16:25] Andrea Johnson: sure.
[00:16:36] Andrea Johnson: Yeah, yeah, well that and you know, I my son grows out of shoes way faster than I can replace them and it gets painful right and and if we're not growing to grow out of the quote unquote shoes that we're in then it becomes painful and We get bogged down or we limit ourselves to stay inside the little box We put ourselves in and that's the piece that I love to work on with people [00:17:00] they if they feel stifled It's probably not because anybody's there Got their thumb on them.
[00:17:04] Andrea Johnson: I mean, if that's a situation, we'll get you out of your job and find you a new one. Most of the time it's us. Like I have a client that I'm working with right now, um, in my one on one coaching on core values. And she just looked at me and she said, I am the worst perpetrator. I said, yes. You are the worst perpetrator when it comes to dishonoring your core values.
[00:17:23] Andrea Johnson: We do that to ourselves because we want to be accepted, because we want to succeed, because the long game is really long. Because, I mean, all of those things, it's just, it's normal behavior. But the more we understand about ourselves and that working hard doesn't necessarily get us where we want to go, we have to work a little smarter, which this is terrible.
[00:17:42] Andrea Johnson: You know, it's like, Equip, you know, but, um, we need to understand why we're working and our core values help us understand that and getting all the certifications or all the courses doesn't necessarily get us any further down the road if we can't apply it. So we need to look at, you know, do I really want a resume or do I want results?
[00:17:59] Andrea Johnson: [00:18:00] And all of these things come into play when, when you're starting to look at have understanding your core values. Cause we can have a growth mindset for 50 years and never get anywhere. Right? Because we're just input, input, input, and we're not reflecting or taking action on what we have. And so when you are willing to take a look inside, then you can actually see, well, that's why being in a meeting with that person bothers me.
[00:18:24] Andrea Johnson: Or that's why doing a reel in this way. is so difficult for me, you know, if I'm standing in, you know, and trying to walk around and be all perfect, then I might have to do three or four takes on a video. But I finished my workout on my exercise bike and I look in the camera and I'd say, did you do your thing today?
[00:18:42] Andrea Johnson: I mean, it's like, it's so many views. I mean, none of mine get huge, but it's like bigger views or a reel that has something like that. It's just, it's natural. It's normal. It's me. And people are like, add that one I get because it's my energy that comes through. Right. Right.[00:19:00][00:20:00]
[00:20:12] Andrea Johnson: Sure.
[00:20:30] Andrea Johnson: Well, I like to start with a definition. I'm a word girl. I love them. I like words. Even in my podcast episodes, people know they're just going to get a definition from me. And the way I define core values is very specific because there's a lot of talk out there about, core values in businesses and organizations.
[00:20:46] Andrea Johnson: And so I want to make sure that we are on the same page as what we're talking about. If you wanted to find them differently and do them differently in your life, that is completely your prerogative. But when I'm talking about them, this is what I mean. These are the principles and the priorities that guide [00:21:00] your individual actions.
[00:21:02] Andrea Johnson: They're like your internal compass. They represent the foundational convictions that allow you to navigate the complex twists and turns and and waves and winds of life while keeping your identity and your authority at the forefront. And we talk Authenticity a lot of times, but what we really mean is authority.
[00:21:23] Andrea Johnson: We mean to have authority over my own thoughts, ideas, body, whatever, you know, job, career, business, it's the having that authority. So when I talk about core values, they're inside, they are not outside. And I always start a workshop by telling people, I'm so glad you're here. 100 percent of the people that come to me to work on core values think they know what they are and guess how many don't.
[00:21:49] Andrea Johnson: A hundred percent of them. Yes, all of them because we have been taught everything. We're Westerners, right? We're taught that everything is outside of us. Everything that's good is out here. [00:22:00] It is a very Eastern thought to think that anything in here is good. It's just the way we're wired and it's the way we think and the way that's kind of the water we swim in.
[00:22:07] Andrea Johnson: So I tell them if you tell me That faith, family, country, you know, or something, friends or whatever are your core values. I'm gonna push back and we're gonna start over , because my job here is to make sure that you figure out yours, not what's outside of you. So when I talk about stop imitating other people's principles and priorities, that's what I'm talking about.
[00:22:29] Andrea Johnson: Don't take on anybody else's for you. So to, to start with, we look at a definition and then we look at, um. what they are and what they aren't. And so again, they're not your beliefs. Beliefs are changeable. Okay. So a lot of people say, well, I believe this is my core belief. I'm like, that's great, but I'll bet if something came along that proves you that that belief was something else than you thought it was, you'd change it.
[00:22:52] Andrea Johnson: So they're not beliefs. They are also not, um, they're not outside you. They're not beliefs. They are things that [00:23:00] are invisible yet very tangible when they're violated. Okay. So, um, for instance, I have quite a few clients whose. core value, top one is respect. And when somebody's it's really important and that could show up in, don't lie to me.
[00:23:15] Andrea Johnson: It could show up in treat me in a different way. It could show up in all kinds of ways of being dishonored is what I like to say, because if we align with something, then we're putting something we're, we're taking on something outside of ourselves. So I like to say honored in more of a boundary type way.
[00:23:30] Andrea Johnson: Um, but respect is not just good if it's for me. Cause that's almost narcissism, right? It's like, then I just, you have to respect me. Right? If you just don't respect me, then we have a problem. But if I don't want respect for you, that's not a core value for me. That's some kind of an ego play. That's some kind of a inconsistency or maybe a, um, an immaturity, right?
[00:23:52] Andrea Johnson: So core values are what I call reciprocal. My top core value, I realized it's not just freedom. It's authenticity, excuse [00:24:00] me, um, autonomy of thought, freedom of thought. And so I want, I want to be able to think critically, but I want you to think critically. Right? And if I want that for you more than I want it for me, um, then that means that I don't want you to think like I think.
[00:24:16] Andrea Johnson: And I was not raised that way. So that's, that has been a cognitive dissonance for me, and it still is to this day. I really do want you to think like me, but my core says, no, no, let them think for themselves. So those are the things.
[00:24:33] Andrea Johnson: Yeah,
[00:24:38] Andrea Johnson: right. So it's like, it's like putting out little feelers and figuring out where you plug in. That's not, that's not honoring your core values. That's aligning with what's out there and that's imitating other people's principles and priorities. And that it, so this is like a big mental shift for people to be able to say, Oh, okay.
[00:24:57] Andrea Johnson: So it's, it's actually valid for me to say, I want to think [00:25:00] for myself. Or I had one who said her top core value. And we went round and round about this, but it's dependability. And cause I'm like, of course, in my brain, I'm like, who wants to be dependable? That's boring. Um, but for her, it mattered so much that it affected her relationships with her colleagues, because if they would say they were going to do something and didn't.
[00:25:18] Andrea Johnson: So it, it plays out in different ways. Um, your core values do not necessarily fit. a Webster's Dictionary definition. So for a lot of people, we'll, we'll start with a brain dump. This is how we actually do it. We start with a brain dump, figure out what we think other people say about us or how we live it out.
[00:25:38] Andrea Johnson: And then we look at them and we say, well, what's important and what's real. And I have quite a few steps I go through. I've got a free download that you can use and I've got a course and I've got coaching. So there's literally all kinds of ways. Yeah. Um, But it starts with a brain dump, then we narrow it down.
[00:25:52] Andrea Johnson: And then a lot of times what we'll have is like 10 or 12. And when you really look at them, Dave, it's like these three define [00:26:00] this one. And these three define this one. And these three define this one. And they're all like a little subset. And so a lot of times I'll even, depending on if this person is. Um, I might have them like draw a diagram or a picture of how those core values show up like a Venn diagram or stair steps or, um, you know, arrows like in a subset.
[00:26:21] Andrea Johnson: I mean, depending on how they think so that they can see how that works. And then you get to write your own definition. Which then becomes almost a living principle, like, this is how I live my life. Once you've got them, then your boundaries become pretty clear and, um, pretty easy to enforce, which means that you're not defensive anymore.
[00:26:42] Andrea Johnson: Which means that you get to walk into situations and know exactly where I end and you begin. It means that, I'm not going to put anything out on my social media that does not align with that. That's, that needs to align with me. I don't need to align with it. Right. [00:27:00] So, um, so for me, it's, I want to honor everything in my core values.
[00:27:04] Andrea Johnson: And, um, and that's kind of how I, that's how I work with people. I could probably go on, but I sense you might have a question.
[00:27:47] Andrea Johnson: I, I think that, um, I think that we're born with them. Honestly, I, I believe that. Um, and like, if you look at other people who really famous people who do core value work, like Renee Brown, and [00:28:00] that's pretty much where they come from, is that you're, you're pretty much born with them. It's kind of how you're wired.
[00:28:05] Andrea Johnson: It's, it's the non negotiables in your own personality. The difference between, um, how I would define it is. They are, they shape us in a way, depending on our circumstances. So if we have an environment that nurtures, um, a core value of. independence, then you've got a really independent person and they may be able to live in a way that honors that all their lives.
[00:28:30] Andrea Johnson: But if you're, if you've got an independence wiring in your core value and you've got a nurturing environment that's very controlling, then you're either going to dishonor that and always be conflicted, or you're going to be in conflict with your environment all the time, which then shapes everything else about us.
[00:28:47] Andrea Johnson: I think every conversation, every argument, every joy, every tear, every beautiful relationship or hard relationship, every job has somehow touched a core value [00:29:00] and you've either said this is okay or this is not. I really think it comes down to something that binary.
[00:29:12] Andrea Johnson: Me? Yeah.
[00:29:35] Andrea Johnson: Oh yeah. Square peg, round hole kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah.[00:30:00]
[00:30:11] Andrea Johnson: Honestly, I see it with like millennials and older, um, partially because, you know, We're not taught critical thinking anymore. And so like my youngest client, who I haven't actually finished coaching with is just graduating from college. And that was because a family member said, oh my gosh, this is amazing.
[00:30:30] Andrea Johnson: And so it's like, but I'm not entirely sure that this client. feels the urgency or the need to do it, and there's nothing really wrong with that, but I think the older we get, the more we see the conflict, the more we've dealt with the conflict in ourselves, the more frustrated we've become either in our careers or lack thereof, the more we've seen relationships broken and or repaired based on some of these things, and the maturity that we have when we hit 35, 40, um, is the kind of [00:31:00] thing that spurs us into asking for help or looking for help.
[00:31:04] Andrea Johnson: Right now, most of my clients are in their late thirties.
[00:31:55] Andrea Johnson: Oh, absolutely. And Maxwell, John Maxwell actually has this, this law. He [00:32:00] has the law of the lid. It's like, you just can't go any farther. You can't go up any higher than your character or your self awareness or anything. It's going to cap you off. And one of the things that I would like to just share as a, I don't know, a hopeful piece maybe, um, is that a lot of like these clients that I have there in their late thirties, they have successful businesses.
[00:32:21] Andrea Johnson: They have successful brands. What they've got is a lid they just can't get any higher or they're frustrated or they feel like I'm not sure this is what I want to do.
[00:32:31] Andrea Johnson: And that's why they came to me. And so what I helped them see is they have been imitating other people's, um, principles or priorities. A lot of times we follow the rules of the business. A lot of times we follow what everybody else in front of us has said to do, which is fine. That's what I stated at the very beginning.
[00:32:47] Andrea Johnson: It's like, this is how we learn. And now we have to look at how we can actually show up as ourselves and be more authentic, which is going to give you that level up to the next step. So it's not that people are not [00:33:00] self aware until then. It's just they've started from the outside in. in. And now it's time you, there will come a reckoning and you will hit this place where unless you have this amazing dynamic personality, if you're not honoring who you are at your core, it's going to come, it's going to come full circle.
[00:33:38] Andrea Johnson: Yeah.
[00:33:52] Andrea Johnson: Yeah. I work with my clients to apply them absolutely everywhere. Now, does that mean you walk out and say, here's my list? [00:34:00] These are my core values. Y'all need to honor them. Please don't. People are going to think you're nuts.
[00:34:08] Andrea Johnson: Yeah, it's like my core values are not your core values. My core values need to be honored. They're not. I mean, it's not that we can't celebrate them, but they're not necessarily something that needs to be out here. We don't wear them as a banner unless it's like, I just gotta be me. You know, I mean, there's something like, you know, there's something to that.
[00:34:26] Andrea Johnson: So when I work with the last piece of if you do a course or coaching with me, the last piece is integration. And I kind of look at a life wheel and say, where in your life do you feel like you have the most conflict? That's where we're going to start. We're going to integrate them first there. And the way we integrate is we start off easy with, you know, like I use little notebooks.
[00:34:44] Andrea Johnson: Put one at the top of the page, turn the page, put another one at the top of the page, and just start writing down, or give yourself five or six pages, and just start paying attention to where that core value is being honored or where it's being dishonored. Because when we can see that [00:35:00] It's always dishonored in my family.
[00:35:02] Andrea Johnson: Okay. Then maybe I need to like be a little bit more, I need to put a little more scaffolding in there. Or when I go to do my social media or when I show up, like I've had to redo my brand on my website a couple of times because at the time I had this level of awareness that I thought it needed to be this, and then it was this, and then it was like, now I'm just, it's very simple, but.
[00:35:24] Andrea Johnson: There's lots of room for me to be the color. Like if you look at my website, it's white with, um, some dark, I don't know. It's kind of a gray Brown. And then all the color is me very vibrant photos. I had to work with a photographer to say, don't put a filter on those. I need that May sunshine to come through.
[00:35:40] Andrea Johnson: And she's right. Oh my gosh, you're totally right. Because I decided I have to be the color in my brand. So I have lots of succulents and I'm kind of like flamingos and pineapples, but they're not as prominent as they used to be because it's no longer that it's me. So I want to integrate me in a way that helps people [00:36:00] understand this is what you're going to get when you work with me, which is I think the whole point.
[00:36:04] Andrea Johnson: But when you start putting them in and saying, how can I honor this? Use it as a filter. Right, but like if if I'm cut something's coming in that I think I need to do I'll filter it through my core values. Does this honor these core values? Well, if it doesn't honor at least one of them, we got to talk about it, right?
[00:36:22] Andrea Johnson: Um, or use it as a guardrail. My son loved bowling when he was younger So we would put those bumper guards or the gutter guards in and that made sure that it wouldn't go in the gutter And we couldn't you know, stay in the lane, right? It's like it helps you stay in your lane.
[00:36:43] Andrea Johnson: Mm hmm [00:37:00] Yes,
[00:37:32] Andrea Johnson: visual representations, I think, can be very helpful. They, um, Sometimes, uh, like a Venn diagram will show how the things overlap. And then you've got like, if you have one that really stands out, but you've got three or four that seem to kind of feed that, then a Venn diagram where they all overlap in the middle with that one is probably a really good representation for you.
[00:37:55] Andrea Johnson: But then when you actually go to live it out in your life, um, you'll notice I'm [00:38:00] wearing yellow, right? I, I, I don't do. I mean, I might do pale pink, but other than that, I do like really bright colors because I happen to be a little bit loud and I happen to be a little bit vivacious and I just need to be that person.
[00:38:14] Andrea Johnson: I talked about how that shows up on my website. The color is mine. Even though I'm in a white blouse, the color is me. When you're looking at how you walk or talk or, or, um, or, Even the makeup a woman might wear or not wear, right? All of those things are representations of who you are. And when you start looking at how you're authentic, my second core value is being authentic.
[00:38:38] Andrea Johnson: And that's just like saying all those things that everybody said I shouldn't be, that's who I am. I mean, I was literally told Not everybody wants to hear your opinion, Andrea. And now people are like thrilled to get my opinion. They pay me for my opinion. And my third is belonging. So therefore, you know, when I said spunky, welcoming and [00:39:00] wise, it's like, I just, I want to make sure that Dave, you feel like you belong in this conversation as much as I do.
[00:39:05] Andrea Johnson: And that anybody listening feels like they belong in this conversation. Therefore, Um, my coach friend, uh, loves sweary Andrea, which doesn't come out that often, but I don't do that as often because, uh, because my core value is I want you to feel like you belong. And you know, if you sat here and swore at me all day long, then maybe I'd swear back, but most of the time I'm going to pepper my speech with things that are going to be more uplifting just because that's my core value.
[00:39:32] Andrea Johnson: And I want you to feel that from me.[00:40:00]
[00:40:43] Andrea Johnson: Oh, you're so wrong. No, um, no self flagellation. We don't do that here. Um, I, the word I would use for it is maturity. Now, as a 57 year old woman with bright gray hair and white hair, I can say that word and it doesn't usually offend people that [00:41:00] much, but we don't use it that often today, but I think it's a really helpful thing to see where have I grown.
[00:41:07] Andrea Johnson: Like I don't have to be full out authentic in order to get my point across. Right? I don't have to be that anymore. Um, there was a time when I was really angry about some stuff and it just, I had to get really quiet on social media because that's not, I knew I was angry in the moment, but I knew that's not who I really am, that I'm not naturally a really angry person, but I can get spicy.
[00:41:31] Andrea Johnson: But I had to tone it down in order to make sure that I didn't do damage to either my brand, but it wasn't even that. It was really more like I just needed to walk through that on my own. I needed to kind of do it on my own. So when you talk about. Being a chameleon, there's a certain amount of that and only you are going to know, quite frankly, whether or not you're doing that in an unhealthy way or a healthy way.
[00:41:53] Andrea Johnson: None of my core, top three core values are going to [00:42:00] completely outshine the other, they're going to complement. So for me, it's almost like a stair step or like a circle with like the arrows that keep pointing around and around. So if I'm going to visually represent it, because my freedom of thought is such that I, I'm not going to take on what.
[00:42:16] Andrea Johnson: You believe without really putting it through a couple of filters. I'm just I'm just not I'm way past that I did it for a long time and then I went through lots of deconstruction and i'm done I mean i'm continuing to do it, but i'm done like just taking things hook line and sinker. Um, But being authentic is that's part of being authentic is critical thinking Part of being authentic is wanting to belong but recognizing that if I don't get that from you, I don't have to come back Right.
[00:42:44] Andrea Johnson: I mean, it's like, there's, it's not like we have to, um, show up with our core values as, um, batting, battling rams or, or anything that's going to like make other people conform. It just makes it really easy to figure out who your people are and who they aren't. And that's [00:43:00] something that we talk about in marketing all the time.
[00:43:02] Andrea Johnson: And so if I drop a sweary word in a podcast or somewhere and it really offends somebody, then they probably weren't my people because I don't do it very often, but I do it when it's really intense. And I mean, that's a very minor kind of example, but yeah, being a chameleon is meeting the other person where they are.
[00:43:21] Andrea Johnson: And so that I think is also a sign of maturity. Yeah.[00:44:00][00:45:00]
[00:45:04] Andrea Johnson: And for me, the way that shows up is my belonging piece comes out a lot. When I am talking to people, when I, it's been a while since I've done a Reel because I'm doing a lot of this. I've been doing a lot of podcast interviews because I know I do better in a conversation. And so I use some of that as like my social media because I know myself and I know that I can have a much more authentic conversation and that belonging will show up because the people who want to talk to me or need to do the work with me need to feel like it's okay to be themselves.
[00:45:33] Andrea Johnson: So I really highlight that belonging core value in the way that I speak. Um, I used to call myself a professional encourager, and that's not quite the word I want to use anymore for this, for some, for various and sundry reasons, because it's not all sunshine and butterflies, because sometimes the professional encourager has to actually say to you, Hey, you got to stop that.
[00:45:52] Andrea Johnson: Or this is hurting you or you're not being true to yourself. But I also want them to just feel that continual Continued and an [00:46:00] immediate welcome and that when people talk to me about my podcast, you're like, your voice is so welcoming. I'm like, really? I mean, that's not something I would have thought. I think my voice sounds like a little girl, but when I, when I lean into that belonging piece, that's what clients for me come to me and say, you're a safe place for me.
[00:46:19] Andrea Johnson: I can talk about these things with you. And that's something I learned when I was in my corporate work is people would come to my office. Um, and I'm going to talk about that in a little bit, but I'm going to talk a little bit about, um, I was going to be able to do this all the way up to the chair of the department, just to talk to me.
[00:46:30] Andrea Johnson: Because I could shut the door and it was a safe place and they knew it was going to be a safe place. So that doesn't supersede my need to think critically. If somebody comes to me and says something about, that I just don't agree with. I've gotten to the place where now in an interpersonal relationship, I'll say, you know, I don't actually believe that anymore or I don't agree with you or you know, and that's okay.
[00:46:55] Andrea Johnson: They might have a problem, but I don't anymore. That's where that one shows up. And then the [00:47:00] authenticity piece is just being real, being, playing into that belonging, especially for my, my public, my clients, and then playing into that freedom of thought in all of my personal life. That's where those things show up.
[00:47:12] Andrea Johnson: And so I think you need to look at what yours are. What is the main thing that is so attractive to your clients? Because especially if you're doing any kind of service, there's something about you that is attractive to your clients. That's the piece that you want to look at. Well, is that a core value?
[00:47:28] Andrea Johnson: And if so, how can I really highlight that?
[00:47:38] Andrea Johnson: Hmm. Yes. Oh, sure. Okay. That's a whole other podcast, but we'll just do a real quick capsule encapsulated version. We're going to do a capsule wardrobe on the disc. Okay. Um, so disc is a behavioral analysis tool that I'm certified in. And lots of people are people. Keys puts it out. It's based on really old ideas, like all the [00:48:00] way back to Hippocrates of the four humors.
[00:48:02] Andrea Johnson: Like, um, if you've seen the red, yellow, green, and blue personality types, this is basically the disc and it's Based on the continuum of an X and Y axis, where the Y axis is a continuum between outgoing and reserved, and the X axis is a continuum of people versus task or process. So when you take this assessment, you're going to plot out somewhere on this graph.
[00:48:26] Andrea Johnson: My son's Finishing his geometry this week. Um, so I'm like all in the graph phase, but when you look at the different, the four quadrants, we all fall, we have a little bit of all of them, but it's basically where you fall on the continuum of those. So the Ford, the reason it's called disc is because it's an acronym, acronym.
[00:48:43] Andrea Johnson: It stands for D a D is the dominance. This is your top left quadrant. These are your outgoing process or task driven people. They're only about 3 percent of the population and they drive the bus. I promise you do not want a bunch of best drivers. It's good that we only have 3%, but these are very results [00:49:00] oriented, bottom line kind of people.
[00:49:01] Andrea Johnson: You know, these people, I promise, um, they will stand out in your life and they're usually pretty powerful personalities. The top right quadrant is also Pete, um, outgoing, but they're people oriented. These are your eyes, your influencers and your inspirationals. People like me who like to wear yellow or have a sense of humor, like Love to tell stories.
[00:49:20] Andrea Johnson: Half the questions you asked me, I answered with a story. That's just natural for me. We're the life of the party. We come in and say, you can start now. And we're the ones that are going to be singing the songs on the bus and making everybody happy, right? About 11 percent of the population. The bottom right quadrant is the S.
[00:49:36] Andrea Johnson: This is the studies. These are, we're going red, yellow, green, right? These are your, the people that make the bus run on time. Make sure everybody follows the rules on the bus. This is why you have teams. These are 69 percent of our population. When you look at a change curve, you're familiar with a change curve.
[00:49:53] Andrea Johnson: Okay. So if you're not familiar, those listening, it's a change curve. It's like a bell curve and you have your early adopters, which are your D's and your [00:50:00] I's. They're going to do change for change sake. Ooh, that sounds fun. And then you've got, um, all the way on the other side at the very end is the mass of people that, that comes to the change after everybody's already done the work.
[00:50:10] Andrea Johnson: These are your S's. They don't like change. You need to make them feel very safe and very secure before you do anything. The last quadrant is, and that's like I said, 69%. The last quadrant, the blue ones are the C's. These are both your reserved and task oriented because your S is reserved people. The C's are your reserve task oriented.
[00:50:30] Andrea Johnson: These are your compliance or creatives. They're good with numbers. They're good with details. They want to know every single detail of the project before they start. So if somebody's asking you all the questions, they're not interrogating you. They just want to know how they can get it right for you. So if a D who is very bottom line says let's get this project out the door and he talks to two C's about it, the C's are gonna be like, But we have 5, 000 more questions.
[00:50:57] Andrea Johnson: And the D is just like, just get it done. So [00:51:00] understanding these patterns makes it much more likely that you can use that information to bridge the communication gap between you and your listener. So if, for instance, you work with a lot of accountants, if you're somebody who's, um, you know, putting, I have, I have several CPAs that I follow, and they're really good about.
[00:51:21] Andrea Johnson: They're probably Cs. So they're really good about doing things that bring in all the other types. Talk about security and making sure you're financially secure speaks to the Ss. Um, making things easy and fun and you can have your kids work for you speaks to the Is. And then making sure that you have all the details and your taxes are going to get filed really fast speaks to the Ds, right?
[00:51:42] Andrea Johnson: So, but at the same time, if I'm speaking to a lot of accountants, I want to make sure they have all the details. I want to make sure they have what they need. In any given audience, you're going to have Any one of those. And if you know what the types are, you can pepper what you do in your marketing or your [00:52:00] social media, or especially from the stage.
[00:52:02] Andrea Johnson: Like if you're doing any kind of speaking, you need to do something that's going to be too long, didn't read for the D's and here's all the details for the C's and everybody in between, you got to tell a couple of stories for your eyes. So that's why, like I worked with a speaking coach for a year and a half.
[00:52:15] Andrea Johnson: And all of those things were in there. And I even taught a disc seminar inside her membership because she's like, this is really important stuff. So when you understand. speaking a different, like I grew up in Korea with kids from 65 different countries in my school. So I heard a lot of languages and then I had Korean that I was, we, I lived there.
[00:52:35] Andrea Johnson: If you don't understand the language that someone else speaks and they don't speak your language, you automatically have a failure to communicate, right? So understanding someone else's language, it's, it's helps people feel seen. It helps people feel heard and it makes sure that you're connecting with them on their level, not yours.[00:53:00]
[00:53:12] Andrea Johnson: Yes. Uh huh. Yeah. I
[00:53:23] Andrea Johnson: see your guitar in the background. Mm hmm. I see your guitar in the background. Mm hmm.
[00:53:35] Andrea Johnson: Oh! See,
[00:53:47] Andrea Johnson: I make us laugh. I make us laugh.[00:54:00]
[00:54:19] Andrea Johnson: Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.[00:55:00]
[00:55:09] Andrea Johnson: Yeah. It's like figuring out how to wrap the gift, you know, I mean, it's, the gift is still you, the gift is still everything that you have to offer. It's figuring out how to wrap it for a specific audience. And when you do that, they are excited to unwrap it. And you know, my son is It's all about the, we got to have all the tape and it's like, he's ripping the paper off, you know, but I have a friend it's like, it's, it's, why is it not in a bag?
[00:55:33] Andrea Johnson: It just, I can just open it and just reach out and get the bag, you know? And I, I want all the pretty bows and make it fun. And if there's poppers and confetti, it's even better. So I think a lot of it, Dave is just figuring out if you don't know what the gift is, that's where you have to start and then figure out how to present the gift to other people.
[00:55:51] Andrea Johnson: And remembering that the gift is not, um, The gift is not for me. I am the gift. So [00:56:00] the gift is for you. So I need to package it in a way that makes sense to you. And, you know, if, if we're not willing to do that, I don't, I don't think there's any compromise involved there. If what you're doing is good. Is going to compromise or dishonor your core values, then please find another way to do it.
[00:56:16] Andrea Johnson: You have to find a way to present the gift in its best light. We know that when we see a little blue box with a white bow on it, it's from Tiffany's and they've figured out the perfect way to make sure that we know that it's valuable, whatever's in there, but we don't all need a box from Tiffany's, you know?
[00:56:32] Andrea Johnson: So, um, I think that's, that's really how I'd like to present it. Um, and there's, there's many ways to, to figure that out. [00:57:00] [00:58:00] Yeah,
[00:58:00] Andrea Johnson: Sure. My business is The Intentional Optimist. You can find me at TheIntentionalOptimist. com. If you go to LinkedIn or Instagram, I'm under that same moniker, The Intentional Optimist. If you DM me there and tell me that you heard me on Dave's podcast, I will know that you're not spam and I will respond and because it's amazing how much DM junk we get, isn't it?
[00:58:19] Andrea Johnson: Especially on LinkedIn right now. But the other thing is if you want to get started in your core values, if you do feel like you're kind of stifled or Disempowered or just kind of are curious, you can start with a one page download that I have. If you go to my website, there's a button right above my head and it says free core values exercise.
[00:58:38] Andrea Johnson: It's a downloadable one pager. At the bottom of that, it will tell you where to find my core values course, which is just a Simple four six module course, but I also do coaching along with that and you can contact me for those things If you're interested in the disc all of my stuff all of these things are available on my website You can just they'll just click through purchases.
[00:58:56] Andrea Johnson: You can do a disc a set assessment It's a 30 page [00:59:00] report and the last 10 pages will give you a personal growth guide plan option. Like this is how you can actually do it. So it may be that just the assessments enough for you, but if not, I can do a 90 minute debrief with that, or I can come in and actually actually do work in your business, even if you have a small team, either virtually or in person.
[00:59:18] Andrea Johnson: And I also offer coaching with those things too. So there's a lot of ways to work with me, reach out and let me know you heard me here. I'm, I'm happy to help.
[00:59:44] Andrea Johnson: You're welcome. Thank you.
