On this week’s episode of the Vibrant Leadership Podcast, we speak with Shannon Loy, CEO of The Social Ginger. Shannon and her team of social media experts specialize in delivering strategic social media success through consistency and intentional brand content. Shannon and her team guide clients to connect with their local and online community, direct referrals, generate leads, and ultimately close sales. They know social media can be an incredibly powerful marketing and relationship building tool, and use the platforms to help businesses grow.
We chat about Shannon’s early entrepreneurial spirit, as well as:
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Getting in front of your ideal clients
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Leveraging the lockdown and increased time spent on social media
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Coaches and networks to discuss obstacles and celebrate wins
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Maintaining a healthy, nourishing schedule to be more productive
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Energizing her team by keeping them within their “zone of genius”
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And more
Mentioned in this episode:
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The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
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Email Shannon: hello@thesocialginger.com
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Shannon’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialgingerva
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Shannon’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesocialginger
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Shannon’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/socialgingerva
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Shannon’s Website: https://www.thesocialginger.com/
Transcript
Voiceover: You’re listening to the Vibrant Leadership Podcast with leadership speaker and consultant, Nicole Greer.
Nicole Greer: Welcome to the Vibrant Leadership Podcast. Today I have Ms. Shannon Loy on the line and live in her little home studio. Say hello to everybody Shannon.
Shannon Loy: Hey!
Nicole: Yeah, she’s got she’s got that beautiful red hair. And she’s also known as the Social Ginger. In fact, that’s the the web address that you can go to you can go to socialginger.com. And she is all about social media and a leader in social media. And she knows that social media is far more than just platforms and posts. When used the right way social media can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool, and a relationship building tool. Shannon is the CEO, again, of The Social Ginger and knows making social media work.
It means you got to have a strategy, you just can’t be posting memes willy nilly. Can’t be doing that nonsense. But most companies just don’t start there. They post haphazardly and frantically or maybe not at all. What should we post, they’re thinking. And as a result, they miss out on serious exposure and connections. But Shannon and her team of social media experts specialize in delivering, don’t miss this, this is a leadership thing, strategic social media success. And through consistency and intentional brand content.
Shannon and her team guide clients clients to connect with their local and online community, which expands interest, they get referrals, they generate leads, and ultimately close sales, which in turn makes their company grow, which makes their leadership even more important, which means we’re going to hire even more people to be part of the team. And when she’s not guiding clients and building online relationships, you’ll likely find Shannon speaking from the stage, so I know that she is a part of the NSA right there in Virginia. Is that correct?
Shannon: Yes!
Nicole: Okay, and that is a place she finds comfortable after so many years of musical performance. Ooh, do tell Shannon. I love that. With her unique combination of outgoing energy, technical knowledge and passion for educating it’s no wonder Shannon is a highly sought after speaker for associations and conferences. Her authentic desire is to see others succeed at building something they’re passionate about. And don’t miss this and shines through shine. That’s my thing. Shine. SHINE through every presentation engagement. So around of applause for the amazing Shannon Loy. So when did you start playing the saxophone?
Shannon: Oh, my gosh, since middle school? I Well, okay, no, actually, it was the clarinet in middle school. And then in high school, I finally picked up the saxophone. I wanted to play the saxophone in middle school, but they wouldn’t let me because they only needed so many of them. So I got to start on clarinet, which actually ended up working to my advantage, because then I could play both of them well.
Nicole: Yeah, fantastic. Yeah. But like carrying that saxophone around? Did you have to take it on the bus? Like that’s a backpack, the saxophone. It’s a thing, right?
Shannon: Yes. And I not only play the saxophone, but of course, I got to play the big one. I got to play the tenor saxophone and sometimes the bari sax, which is like, you could put a body in the in the case. Yeah, I have stories of walking around a college campus with a tenor saxophone, a clarinet, a book bag full of books, and you name it.
Nicole: Okay, so she’s very strong physically as well, like, so don’t mess with Shannon. Okay. All right. Well, my first question is, is, you know, what is your definition of leadership? Every time we’re on the Vibrant Leadership Podcast, we want to get everybody’s take on it. So what do you think?
Shannon: Yeah, so I really believe that you need to lead by example. And, you know, I trust my team, I hire them for a job, you know, I hire them to do what I need them to do. So I, I give them trust, I give them independence, until they prove me otherwise. And, you know, I, I believe in having a full team.
And I don’t like to rule as the leader, I like to rule as part of the group. You know, there’s time, obviously, when I need to kind of, you know, step up to the plate. But in general, I want my team to feel like I’m there on the sidelines with them, you know, and make them feel comfortable. They’ll make them feel like they can actually be approaching me with an idea. Be independent thinkers, independent leaders, you know, all that.
Nicole: Oh, that’s beautiful. Yeah. So don’t miss this. What she just said, is that she wants all of her followers to be leaders. Right?
Shannon: Absolutely.
Nicole: Which is that which is a great strategy. So you are this social media guru, which is another kind of leadership guru. How did you get down this path? And then I know that you have so many clients that are just putting so much faith and trust in you, because social media is the thing right now. Right? And I don’t ever see it quitting really to be honest with you, so how did you get there? And then how did you win all these people over to sit under your leadership with regard to social media?
Shannon: Yeah, so you know, social media is only been around for a very short period of time, right? So I obviously, when I went to college, it didn’t exist as a career, it was not something you went to school for, you know, maybe digital marketing, but not social media marketing. And so you know, I got my degree in music, we, you know, we talked about that earlier. But I ended up getting a position as a PR director for a local live music venue here in the Richmond, Virginia area.
And I was there as soon as they open their doors, and really quickly learned how social media was a big player and bringing in traffic and getting butts in seats and selling tickets and all that kind of stuff, right? So I’m in my journey of being the PR director, I learned how to do social media, and I then had other people asked me to help them got freelance work. And I realized I really liked it. And I just kept teaching myself more and more kept learning with different types of clients.
One thing led to another and here I am, we just celebrated five full years in business. And I wouldn’t have even thought, you know, six years ago that this is what I’d be going into business for. But there is such a demand for it. And I like it. So it was like the perfect match. And, you know, Nicole, you asked a second question after that. And I’m trying to remember what that was. So tell me again, what that other question was.
Nicole: Okay. Yeah, I get all excited talking to Shannon. Well, I can’t I got it. Let’s get all the questions in right away. So here’s the second question. So you, you’ve been in business five years. So you are what I would call a successful leader, and a successful entrepreneur. How do you get these leaders to put all this trust in you? You know, because I think there’s a lot of skeptics out there like this social media, is that Twitter still a thing? It’s like, yeah, yeah. So how did you win over all these other leaders, so they would follow your social media leadership?
Shannon: Yeah, so um, you know, I definitely continue to get skeptics. But what’s happening is, and this is becoming even more evident that social media is so important, is with COVID. And all of the businesses this is this is like, a deep thought that I had, like, you know, two weeks ago, and I was like, oh, my gosh, every single one of our clients is not only still in business, but they are thriving, and why because they believe in social media marketing, and they, but they don’t just do social media, they have a lot of other types of marketing or strategies and that kind of thing.
But it is a really important piece of the marketing mix, to success. And so when I talk to clients, that’s how that’s how I try to get them to understand, you know, I’m like, look, here’s the deal. You know, and I always go back to the Tin Pan, because that was my, that was my first, you know, Cornerstone client. And I, proof is in the pudding, I saw just how much social media helped them, build their brand, get the word out about shows, sell tickets, I mean, it’s like the perfect combination of success.
And every business obviously has a separate journey of success. Some businesses, you know, e commerce, businesses need to build brands, but they also need to, like sell things, they run ads all the time, then you’ve got, you know, business coaches, or you have, you know, professional speakers or, you know, retail service based businesses that need to just build their brand and be aware, so that when somebody is ready for their services, they’re familiar with that particular person, right, you need to make noise.
And so when I tell people that, and let them remind them that, you know, you have to kind of touch your potential customer and a lot of different ways, then they start to understand and, you know, and I, and I tell them, like just, you know, give me a couple months, we’ll get in there, you’ll see, you know, proof is proof is in the pudding is so once we start working together, you’ll you’ll see, you know, the results of how you know, it works for you and your business.
Nicole: Yeah. So when you were talking I had like this Aha, because one of the principles in leadership is like having executive presence. Right? So there’s a way you carry yourself, there’s a way you talk to people a way that you move inside the business. And so I’m just sitting there going, Well, you know, what your company’s social media presence and then also, as the leader of that organization, you know, you kind of have to be out there telling the world what your company’s, you know, up to, what they’re doing.
And it’s just an extension of your leadership presence is your social media presence. Exactly. Yeah. So that’s awesome. That’s awesome. Well, you know, you work with all these leaders that employ you to bait really take their baby out to the market, right? Like, you know, I’m going to promote your brand, I’m going to build relationships with people for you. What, what do leaders struggle with in terms of their brand? What do they struggle with? In terms of like, you know, again, back to what should we post? What are we posting about? How do you help the leader get their vision into the social media? How do you how do you do that?
Shannon: Yeah, so the majority of them are, I would say, scattered as far as how to approach it, and have a strategy. You know, a lot of a lot of folks I find are more reactive and not proactive, and they’re their attempt. And so and some of them just, I mean, their gifts are and what they do, you know, they’re not necessarily social media managers, but they’re being tasked to do it, or have someone on their team do it. And so, you know, we get together and we talk about, okay, who is your ideal client? Who are you actually trying to attract? And how do your current clients come to you? How do they find you?
And once we have that conversation, then they go, Oh, you know, like, Okay, I get it now. Okay. And then we talk about, okay, well, they come to you for what services they come to you for what products and that, then we then we make a decision on what is it that we’re going to go towards and start promoting for them, and just simply working with them to put all these thoughts down, and we create stuff called content buckets, you know, figuring out what all of their content buckets are, and then we incorporate that into their full strategy.
And once they’re done with that, then, you know, they, it’s, I think the biggest compliment is when a client has worked with us to the point where they’re just like, Look, you all got this under control, I trust you. Yeah. But for them, that is like the best thing in the world, because it’s one less thing on their plate as a business owner, that they have to worry about.
Nicole: That’s right. And I will tell you, that’s what I call getting a, a Who to do your How, right. And so, when you find a who like Shannon, she can listen to your vision, and she can make it show up with, you know, beautiful images and messaging that, you know, gets your point across. So I love that. So well, you know, these business owners that you have that are thriving. And then there’s the other bucket, talking about buckets, this other bucket of people who are maybe not thriving during COVID, what do you think your successful people are doing that the unsuccessful people are not doing? What do leaders need to be doing?
Shannon: Well, they’re putting their messaging online. And what’s happening is if you’re if you’re relying on marketing from other channels, right now, people are at home, they’re looking at their phones, they’re looking online, and they’re paying attention to things online. So that’s why social media right now is bigger than ever. And I tell you, people are you know, we’re creatures of habit, I guess, you know.
And so we’ve all had, what, 10 months now to create this habit, okay. And we’re now using social media now more than ever, and we’re online. So these companies that are using social media are finding that they’re getting their messaging out there, they’re communicating, which is huge. They’re communicating with their potential customer, what is it that they’re doing, what new services they’re offering, what are their hours, you know, they’re there, they’re making themselves more accessible to who their customer is.
And so the ones that are not doing that, or not believing in that investment, are going to be really behind, and it’s going to be hard for them to find a hole to stand out. And it’s not going to change, Nicole, I mean, I know everything that’s happened over the last year, and you know, our lives are different. And they’re not going back to the way it was people now have developed habits to go online, if they did not have them before. If they did have them, then they’re like, super amped up at this point. Right.
Nicole: Exactly. Right. Yeah. And I think you know, like, you and I are Zooming I think it’s here to stay, I think and save time, money, energy, and that’s the bottom that hits the bottom line, right?
Shannon: Yes.
Nicole: Okay. So I want to kind of flip the tables because I know people leaders out there could really use your expertise to help them and we’ve covered that, but I want to kind of know more about Shannon Loy. I mean, you know, my thing is is you know, when you are carrying your saxophone around the college campus, did you think you’re going to have a team? Did you think you are going to be a business for five years that you were going to be an entrepreneur? I mean, what? Is that what you were thinking?
Shannon: Yeah. So, so I went to college to become a band director. That’s what I went to school for. And I tried it.
Nicole: That’s a difficult job. I understand that.
Shannon: It is really challenging. And I mean, I’ve always been passionate about music, and I got a teaching job right out of college. And I was just like, Hmm.
Nicole: This isn’t what I thought it was gonna be!
Shannon: I like to be innovative. I’m an independent thinker. I’m always looking for creative things. And I just felt like I was trapped. I felt like it was not a place, it was not the place that I was going to be. And I and the other thing is, is I tell folks, when they asked me about how did I make a decision to become an entrepreneur, it was almost ingrained in me when I was an elementary school, I watched this movie called Kidco.
I don’t know if you ever heard of it or saw it. But I saw this movie, and it was about these kids who started a business. And they were in elementary school. And then they made and this is based on a true story. And they were selling compost. And because they had a big horse farm, and they were, you know, selling that stuff, and they made a business out of it. And I just remember thinking in elementary school, how cool is that? And I know, growing up, I always sort of had these ideas of running clubs or doing things and kind of being entrepreneurial and the way that I was.
But, you know, it was between then and and when I started my business five years ago, it was an evolution of my personality and confidence. And because, you know, all of us are strapped by the golden handcuffs, right? And, you know, I was in a corporate job that paid me well, it took care of me. And I was terrified, I was terrified that I was going to give all that up. And I was going to do something and it wasn’t going to work.
Nicole: Right.
Shannon: And, you know, so I, I, you know, got this job with the Tin Pan, which is the music venue, and had the opportunity to do something completely different than I was doing. And it was the right pick because it gave me the opportunity to learn something completely new and to finally figure out what I wanted to go into business for.
Nicole: Yeah, I that’s kind of what’s your that moment where you kind of got lit inside, you’re like, I love this, it was your passion moment. Okay, so let’s talk about Shannon, the leader who figured out her path, which don’t miss this, everybody, that means you too, can figure out what you want to be when you grow up. You do that already? You can totally do that. Okay, so, um, you said a couple of things that I think were really great. You mentioned that, you know, you worked on your confidence and some other things.
So, you know, what are the things that a leader needs to kind of look at on the regular, so that they know their leadership is intact, and their leadership is a positive influence? Not a negative influence? Right? So how do you turn the mirror inward to like, how do you check yourself? Shannon? Am I doing a good job? How do you do it?
Shannon: You know, I work with a business coach. That’s number one.
Nicole: That’s a great idea everybody. Work with a business coach.
Shannon: It is. It is, because, you know, I’ve never done this before, you know, this is this is my first time having a business. And the other thing is, is that you need somebody on your side, being a leader can be very lonely, sometimes, you know, their, their, their topics and things that you got to talk about, that you don’t want to stress your family out about. Because more likely than not, they’re they they don’t completely understand you. I know I feel isn’t understand me, like I started talking about business stuff in their eyes glaze over. And they’re like, Huh, you know, and any, you start talking money and they go, aren’t you afraid you’re gonna like go bankrupt? You know, and so they have all these fears?
Well, when you’re an entrepreneur, you have to kind of put those aside, you have to press forward, right? So having a coach is really helped to grounds me to have a sounding board to give my you know, you know, I guess to talk about my things that frustrated me or hard or obstacles, but also to have somebody to celebrate the wins, because we make wins and we’re like, we, we want to talk to somebody about it. Right? You know, right.
So that that’s one thing is just having that person and and honestly a network, you know, and over over the last couple years, I’ve met several other entrepreneurs that have helped me, you know, there, we all meet each other. We all need to talk to each other and throw things around and say, Hey, what do you think of this, this is crazy, or, you know, that kind of thing. And so having constant growth in that aspect is helpful as a leader because I don’t have an ego that makes me think that I’m perfect. You know, there’s no way that I have got to continuously learn.
So I’m constantly checking myself and going occasion and there’s something that you should be learning here is that, you know, some a takeaway from this experience that will make you better than next time. And so that, you know, in itself is how I also want my employees to be as well, you know, like, you know, I want them to be constantly evaluating themselves and finding ways to grow and become better at what they’re doing. And honestly, when I, when I hire somebody, that’s something I look at, I’m like, you know, what, what I look for? Are they passionate about social media? And are they going to want to continue to educate themselves? Because in social media is changing every day? Or I think every day on Facebook, I’m trying to do a coaching session or something, inevitably something happens.
Nicole: They move that button on you!
Shannon: Yes, every time, there’s a new feature, and then I’m like, I’m really trying to be like, Okay, I’m really not an idiot. I know what I’m talking about. My Facebook didn’t have that.
Nicole: That’s awesome. Okay, so several things that, you know, sometimes I have to slow us down and say, okay, so several things. So number one, she said, to do self assessment, I have a business coach, that helps me look at my business, right, and helps me look at myself and the situations, I found myself in dovetailing with the very last thing she said, which was, you got to be humble, right?
So I try to take this perspective of, I’ve got something to learn. And then she also models that for her people, I love the thing you said about I need somebody to network with, I need to make sure that I’m networking with people so I can see what’s going on in the same businesses I’m in. So lots of good things for self assessment. Okay, so I want to know, your number one habit, H is the second letter in my shine coaching methodology. And so the H is habits, what’s the number one habit of you in terms of leadership? Like, I do this on the regular, and it serves my life in a powerful way? What’s your what’s your great habit?
Shannon: Ah, you know, I have set my schedule. And, you know, early on, I would work and work and work and work and work and I was going, my battery was emptying fast. And so I made a decision, I said, you know, what, I’m going to get up every day, just like, this is just like, it’s a job because it is, you know, and I start work at I work out in the morning.
So I get myself in a good positive mindset, and eat right. And then I show up to work. And when I show up, I work. And then I shut that my goal was to typically shut things down by like 6. 6, 6:30 no more, you know, and I’ll shut things down, and I’ll go home, and then I don’t work. I spend the evening, you know, with my family. And I refuel and I get up and I do it again. And on the weekends, you know, now that I have a team, I tell you, in the early days, you know, I had to do a lot of it myself.
And now I have a team that helps. And that has been able to free me up on the weekends. And so that’s important, because me time is important. And so I think that that has made a huge shift in my energy, my focus and my enthusiasm.
Nicole: Hmm, that’s beautiful. Okay, set your schedule. That’s the habit, right? Protect time. Make work time, work time. Okay, I love it. All right. So the I and the coaching methodology is Integrity. And that’s about, you know, the quality of your character. You know, Shannon, people don’t want to talk about the quality of their character. They’re like, I have a lot of character.
Okay. Now, in light of that, what do you think is your strongest character trait as a leader? And what’s the one that you’re like, gosh, I got to get mastery over it, but I’m not quite there. So what’s your number one? And then what’s the thing you’re like, oh, if I could master that I would, you know, I’m gonna blow this whole business out of the water. It’s Social Ginger’s gonna be worldwide. It already is worldwide. But you know, like, universe one?
Shannon: Yeah, well, so I think the best thing about me is my authenticity.
Nicole: Oh, I agree.
Shannon: You know, I try to be real, try to be real with clients, I try to be real with my employees. I don’t try to be someone that I’m not. And so that’s important. And, and that will, that helps me attract the clients that I want to attract. Because like attracts like. And so that’s important. The one that that I feel like I need to continuously work on is communication. Communication is really challenging. You know, because I find days where I get kind of head deep into what it is that I’m working on. And I go Oh, Shannon, you probably should check in with your team and ask them how they’re doing. Fortunately, I have a team that does well, and they check with me when they need to check with me, but it is also a very good idea to follow up with them. And then I have to remind myself with my clients too, it’s like, oh, yeah, it’s time to check in you know, so communication is always a battle because you can’t ever over communicate in my mind.
Nicole: Yeah, yeah. And so you’re using the word communicate, but I want to tweak it just a little bit. I’m hearing you say, like the character trait of consideration. Oh, right. Like, I bet you you’re emailing or that you’re, you’re all sorts of communication that way. But it’s more like, I want to check in, because I want to consider what they’re like their experiences right now of my of my services, or the experience of being an employee here. Yeah. Right.
So it’s just like, consider what other people are feeling in the moment. So I love what you said, I just wanted to tweak it a little bit, because I think communication, I think you definitely have those skills. It’s just the character training consideration. Okay, so now, I want to hear about your next right step. So every leader should have like a plan, right? Like we shouldn’t be totally winging it. So tell me a little bit about how you plan and how you vision like, what’s the vision for the Social Ginger? And like, how do you do that process?
Shannon: Yeah, um, well, of course, this time of year, I’m looking at how the year went and where I want to be next year. I usually, you know, I typically start it in October, November is like, really, when I start to really focus on it, and it’s kind of, you know, finalized and thought, um, and, you know, I look at my numbers, I look at how we’ve been growing, and I, based off the numbers and the, you know, how we’ve been growing, I can usually figure out sort of a guesstimate on growth
And the growth will determine, you know, hiring, getting new team members, you know, as a social media agency, you know, you know, I’ve got three people on my team that are actually employees, but I want to be getting to the point where, you know, some of these independent contractors that I work with, I would love to have, you know, those types of talents actually, on the team. And so, you know, this year, we’re projected to double our revenue. Every year is just been growing and growing. So this is good.
Nicole: Wow, hold on a second. Woot woot!
Shannon: I know. celebration, right? This year was huge. You know, it’s unfortunate for many that is wasn’t. For me, it was.
Nicole: You weren’t thinking about social media is the place to be.
Shannon: So I look at it, and then, you know, I have my my goals of income, and then looking at Okay, well, I need to get to this point before I hire my next team member. In the meantime, what am I going to do? You know, so, um, you know, for us, we’re, we’ve almost outgrown where we’re at, we need to look at a new new place. You know, I want to do more with video video is so huge. And would love to have a video studio podcast studio. Yes. Yeah. You know, and with that, though, comes comes to being able to support having a talent to be able to come in and manage that, because girlfriend here is not going to do all that.
Nicole: No, you need a Who to do that.
Shannon: I need to run the business. Yeah.
Nicole: So is your process written down in the computer in a spreadsheet? Yes. Oh, that?
Shannon: Yeah. Yeah, I got a spreadsheet with all the numbers and p&l statement, I got all that stuff. And then I’ve got, I’ve got my kind of my vision, my vision sheet that that has like a five year plan.
Nicole: That’s the one I want to know about. Talk about that a little bit more. That’s what I want to know about a p&l and numbers and KPIs or maybe you don’t have a scorecard. Do you have a scorecard?
Shannon: Scorecard?
Nicole: Something that you’re measuring? Like, we measure this, you measure this, you measure this? These are our six metrics we look at?
Shannon: Oh, I mean, I think so. Not in a formal way like that. But, you know, I mean, yeah, you know, and this is, see, this is where, you know, I true authenticity right here, I am not a financial person. So I have financial people that helped me do all this stuff, right. So, as well as a coach, but, um, but going back to the financial this the five year vision, you know, I, you know, I put together a master plan of where I see this business in five years, and really kind of went to the full five year plan and then worked my way backwards. How am I going to get there, like, incrementally right, each year,
Nicole: I love what you just said, because I talk about all the time that you have to have a pro spective, which is a perspective of the future, and you turn around from the future and you look at Okay, if I want this to happen, what are all the next right steps? And so that’s exactly what you’re talking about, correct?
Shannon: Yes, exactly. Yeah. And then that can be tweaked. You know, like, Who knew COVID was gonna happen this year, right. So I had a projection for this year, and have to kind of erase and start over again, and figure regroup, you know, add new services, whatever it is that you need to do, but am having the clarity as to, you know, what are the certain, you know, points that I need to reach the certain goals that are going to get me to the eventual goal, you know, and now that I’ve got a five year history in there, I’ve been able now I’ve been able to see kind of the growth pattern.
And when the the busy season and the quiet season is, of course, COVID COVID just screwed all that up, because summers usually slow and it was like, really not so much this this year.
Nicole: No, no. Social media because nobody’s coming to the front door.
Shannon: Yeah. So, yeah, that’s, that’s kind of how I do it. And then I just check in, just check in and look at It’s okay, where I’m at right now, you know, and then then for each year, you know, as the year’s happening and break it out by quarter and say, Okay, well, I’m going to get here, then I need to look at this quarter and figure out what am I gonna do to get to that next level?
Nicole: That sounds fantastic. Are you using Traction by any chance? The book Traction?
Shannon: I’ve heard of Traction, but I have not No.
Nicole: I’m gonna do a whole show about Traction. But it sounded kind of like that’s what you’re doing. But it’s pretty intuitive. And of course, y’all don’t miss miss Shannon is advanced. So there you go. Okay. All right. So my last part of my coaching methodology is energy. Is energy. So tell us a little bit about how you I’m going to pick one part of the energy? How do you energize your team? I heard you say I, you know, I’m working on consideration with them checking in with them. But how do you get your team energized to do this work? Because I do know that there’s a lot of computer time, there’s a lot of sitting and dragging and dropping, and all this kind of good jazz? How do you keep your team stoked and energized?
Shannon: We’re close, so that’s number one. I talk with them, I get to know them. I ask them how they’re doing. So I think the very point that I’m engaged with them, and you know, care about them is number one, okay? So they don’t sit there and then you know, fume and think I do this job. And my boss doesn’t care. Because I do care. I care about them. I care about how they’re doing. But what I also care about is, are they happy doing what they’re doing?
Nicole: Oh, this is key. Don’t miss it.
Shannon: Because everybody I hire, I asked them I say, Well, what, what is your goal? You I’m hiring you for this? But what is it that really makes you tick? And they and I let them know, like, you’re not going to do that 100% of the time, because we all have to go through something that we’re not 100% on board with, but I want them to be doing stuff that they’re that is their, their zone of genius.
Nicole: What did you call it? I love it.
Shannon: Zone of genius. That’s from the Big Leap.
Nicole: Oh, nice. Okay, all right. I like that. Fantastic.
Shannon: Yeah. Because I find if, if they’re doing work that’s within their, their zone of genius. And of course, this is something that has to be discovered during an interview process, like, is this going to be the right person for this job, then they’re going to be happy, you know, and then just communicating to them that they’re doing great that you’re proud of them, checking in with them, making sure that, you know, they maybe they need a little remediation, maybe they need a little education, maybe they just need a pat on the back.
You know, I’m not like huggy-wuggy, you know, you know, empath, I guess. But I am is I’m somebody that shows them that I care. And so that right there, I think really helps tremendously to keep their energy alive.
Nicole: Yeah. 100%. Okay, so we’ve been right through the shine coaching methodology. And Shannon has given you a little world or window into her world, her leadership world, and also a little view into the work that she does, where she helps leaders, get their ideas, get their products and get them out to the market, especially in these terrible COVID times where Don’t miss this, she and all of her clients are driving people. So pay attention, pay attention. So if somebody wanted to talk to Shannon Loy about getting their message straight, their product lineup, you know, out there in front of the world on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc, etc, etc. How do they get up with Shannon Loy?
Shannon: Well, reach out to me via email. It’s hello@thesocialginger.com. Or feel free to visit my website, thesocialginger.com and that will lead you down the path to connecting with me. We offer free discovery calls. So the next step would be just to have a chat and then we see you know which direction you need to go and what kinds of help you need.
Nicole: Okay, that’s fantastic. Okay, so everybody, I’m so grateful that you tuned in today to hear the genius from Shannon Loy, this Social Ginger www.thesocialginger.com. Did I get it right?
Shannon: You did! Absolutely.
Nicole: Okay. It’s been great to be with you. I hope that you will think about what is possible and take some steps to make it probable. This is the Vibrant Leadership Podcast. I’m Nicole Greer and I’m thankful for Shannon Loy today. We’ll see you later.
Voiceover: If you’re ready to up your leadership game. Bring Nicole Greer to speak to your leadership team, conference or organization to help them with her unique SHINE method to increase clarity, accountability, energy and results. Email speaking@vibrantculture.com and be sure to check out Nicole’s TEDx talk at vibrantculture.com/TEDtalk.
