This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Michelle Reines. Michelle is the founder of the Badass Leader brand and best-selling book, From Bad to Badass leader. Michelle worked extensively in the corporate world for years racking up accolades, awards, and being featured throughout top publications.

But something was missing. She was making multiple 6-figures per year and crushing it in business, but she wasn’t fulfilled. So, Badass Leader was born. It came out of a desire to create a cool, approachable, edgy, humorous, more relatable leadership development resource for every day front line leaders, middle managers, executive entrepreneurs, and the up and coming generation of leaders.

Michelle put her money where her mouth was. She quit her job, went from making several hundred thousand dollars a year to making $25k a year and creating Badass Leadership. And nowadays, Michelle and Badass Leadership are one of the most sought after leadership training groups in the business. So, I asked her to come the show and teach you how to be a Badass Leader. ​

www.BadassLeader.com

Michelle’s exodus from corporate America stemmed from a tragedy. At 49 years old, her mom passed away. It was a shock. Her mother had a sudden heart attack while she slept with no red flags, being healthy, etc. When Michelle turned 47, she got to thinking – what if I only have 2 years left? She had discovered that she had some of the same risk factors as her mother.

She embraced the mindset of living like you were dying. She stepped away from corporate America in 2011 to fulfill a dream to help leaders. She had struggled learning how to lead and learning to be effective as leader before figuring it out and having get success and knew she could help others succeed faster and easier.

In her first year, she made just under $25k and was absolutely thrilled and knew she had something. She succeeded wildly over the next couple years and then decided to take it to a new level with the Badass Leader brand. She started Badass to bridge a training gap that existed and provide and easier to understand and implement leadership structure for success.

What was the hardest part of transitioning from employee to entrepreneur and what advice would you give others looking to do that same?

• Fear. In particular for Michelle, it was disqualifying herself (I’m not ready yet or I’m not good enough).
• Michelle really took hold of the phrase, “If it is to be, it is up to me” and took it to heart, embodying it.
• Don’t shoot yourself down before you’ve given yourself a shot.
• Say yes and figure out how.
• Look at the fear as excitement and opportunity – let it fuel you and give you momentum.
• All possibility lies in living outside your comfort zone.

What is a Badass Leader?

• Someone who is fearless and willing to live outside their comfort zone, focused on people over performance.
• They really get that it has everything to do with how we care for us.
• To get the performance you seek, you must love, develop, and support your people as a leader to become their absolute best.

What is the difference between being in a position of leadership and being an actual leader?

• There is a difference between managing and leading.
• Managers micromanage and are afraid to show weakness – thus are insecure and rely on ego.
• It’s not just about performance. It is about consistent results by helping people reach their great.
• It is about creating an environment for people where they want to “play their ass off for you and the team.”

Tell us about the 12 principles. Can we go through each one of them and why it matters and how we can institute them?

1. Don’t be an ass. You cannot be oblivious. Learn what is working and not working and what you need to do differently. Know thyself.
2. Stop, Drop, Take a Selfie. You must become self-aware. You need to get clarity on how to best communicate and how others need to communicate with you. Everything DISC is one of the best.
3. Let’s Talk About Trust. Trust is the foundation on which every Badass team is built. You simply cannot succeed without trust in your team and then of you.
4. Put Your People First. Make sure they know and see you put them first. Prioritize people over performance. Performance is an outcome from great leadership.
5. Be an Epic Coach. Put your people first and coach them to accelerate their success. Work at becoming a good coach for them.
6. Building a Badass Team. Once you are an epic coach and leveraging the other lessons, you can build a Badass team. Each lesson builds on top of the other.
7. Make Sure People Are Evolving. This when you stretch yourself and your team our of your comfort zones and live into their potential.
8. Suck it Up Buttercup. This is focused on the leader. Stuff is going to happen. Problems are going to arise – big ones. You are in the spotlight and people are watching you. It’s your job to navigate through the problems and challenges and shy away from them. Get comfortable with “the suck.”
9. Don’t Be a Kiss-Ass. Don’t fall prey to sucking up and kissing ass. Learn how to be respectfully sugar-fee. You have to communicate effectively to your leaders and without being manipulative or politicking.
10. Be a Groupie. Love, love, love your team. Be a groupie for them – not yourself. As a leader, their success is your success.
11. Expand Your Tribe. Learn from others that are succeeding and share and cross-pollinate with your peers. It will accelerate your success.
12. Love Somebody Like You. There is nothing more important than health and your time with those you love. Take care of yourself and make sure to prioritize those you love.

Anything else to share?

• Be you and do you.
• Don’t sacrifice who you are to succeed.
• Stay true to yourself.
• Trust your instincts.

 

Best Quote: "If it is to be, it is up to me..."

 

Michelle's Misfit 3:

1. Get to know your selfie. Use DISC or a similar type assessment.
2. Focus on developing your epic coaching skills.Become an architect of people.
3. Expand your tribe and do it now. Expand peer relationships, get mentors, etc.

Show Sponsors:

Believe in People: 

https://believeinpeoplebook.com/Lukas

5 Minute Journal:

www.MisfitEntrepreneur.com/Journal