We were lucky to catch up with Bernadette Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bernadette, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to start your own firm or do you wish you had started sooner?

My philosophy is we are where we need to be, and everything that happens shows up with perfect timing. Let me share my experience with this phenomenon. In 2004, I was Vice President Human Performance Solutions in a financial institution spending my time in a boardroom making critical decisions about the strategic direction of the organization and yet feeling like something was missing at a deeper level for me. I remember seeing a quote that said, “Say yes to work that feeds your soul AND feeds the world”. At that time, I was only completing one part of that equation: Feeding the world.

One of my certifications is in Human Performance Technology: The intersection of people and systems. What I didn’t know was I was only one of three in the state. The community college was hosting the certification training and asked if I would be willing to facilitate sessions to prepare and ready leaders for the upcoming certification. I had a visceral reaction: A resounding YES!!! Post session, I realized how much I missed the intimate connection with the variety of leaders and being able to have such a profound impact in various industries through them. I discovered the other half of the equation: Work that feeds MY soul!

Later that year I began CORE Consulting (the precursor to Inspired Action Motivates-2012) and in 2006 I traded my Vice Presidency (and all that came with it) for being the Organization Development & Leadership Development Consultant within the financial organization which enabled me the time to develop my new business as well as the increased global impact I desired. Saying YES to work that feeds my soul AND feeds the world!

Starting sooner, my ‘runway’ would have been shorter because I would have lacked the experience within the corporate world, nor the opportunities to contribute that honed my decision-making skills at a senior level. Starting later, would have minimized the external opportunities that helped me grow as a business owner, partnering with some amazing strategic partners as well as less time making an impact.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

While in the corporate world, I was drawn into learning and development, helping people discover their highest selves. While in this industry, I realized that although my department would train employees, there wasn’t the sustainability expected. This juncture was the recognition of the impact a leader has on the environment in which these folks worked that enabled them to utilize, root and excel in what they were taught. The leader created the system. This was my shift to leadership development! My practice, Inspired Action Motivates (IAM), helps businesses leverage their return on leadership.

IAM focus is leadership development, which is a different path than training. Development happens over a period of time so each participant can experiment, discover, apply and anchor what emerges for them individually. We have a holistic approach to our frameworks and our offerings are customized to align to the organization. Our offerings include:

IAM Programs/Services

Flagship Programs

• Inspired Middle Leaders Masterclass Series (Cohort Program)
• Inspired Leader Pivot Practices (IAM designed model and workshop)
• Inspired Leaders Mastermind Huddles (Level specific): Entry, Middle & Executive/Owner

Leverage Leadership

• Leadership Team Cohesion
• Leadership Retreats
• Strategic Guidance
• Culture alignment

Speaking Engagements – Experience Levels:

• Enlighten the Mind
• Encourage the Heart
• Inspire Action

Book: 

• Waves of Influence: Your Expanded Guide and Insights to Your Highest Self

Public Offerings:

• Workshops
• Café Experience
• Single and Multi-day Retreats

A very common challenge brought to Inspired Action Motivates, is leadership team cohesion. We typically get a message from the executive team wondering why the organization is not reaching its goals, the well-planned strategies have not come into fruition and the culture appears to be fragmented…they also have a sense that the bottleneck is with the leadership team.

There’s a quote by Peter Senge that states, ‘“You can have a group of individually intelligent people, but until the group knows what it knows together, the group itself…is not intelligent’”. The thinking was that these are high performers and they’ll figure it out. Our experience is this will rarely happen without guidance. We help build cohesion, alignment and naturally tap into the collective wisdom while building sustainability. Our holistic approach and multi-disciplined background enable us to bring a breadth of knowledge and experience to our partners. We have a “teach to fish” philosophy with our clients so they own the process, and it becomes part of their evolving culture. Our work is intentionally connected to the mission, vision, strategy, values of the organization so there is always alignment. We are the strategic guidance that leverages the return on leadership.

Over the last two decades, we’ve built a leader’s community of practice and have been a catalyst for creating environments that nurture the human spirit while achieving breakthrough results. We are humbled to answer the call to serve leaders who want to make a difference by BEing the difference, to be a trusted partner across various industries (utility companies, academia, financial, legal, marketing) as well as for profit, for purpose and associations. We get to guide leadership teams to cohesively bring their highest selves to anchor transition, stimulate innovation, be a catalyst for sustainable solutions which ripples out, having a positive impact in the world.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Most currently…the pandemic! My professional career as well as my practice was built around face to face. Around being in the room. When the pandemic happened, my practice would need to go from onsite to online. As a business owner, you question, how do I do business now? Once you get pass the panic stage, the most logical response IS to pivot. Beginning with IAM infrastructure, I had to take inventory of what was needed to move workshops, retreats, and meetings online and identify where the gaps were (systems, resources, assistance). Fortunately, I had been experimenting with various collaborative platforms and had strategic partners aligned, so the systems I needed to serve my leadership base were in place.

Once I knew my business would be functioning, my next shift would be to strategize my intention as a leadership consultant. I looked at our work environment and as a small business, there was, for us, a fundamental choice to sell (product/services) or be of service (generously share resources). We chose to be of service, so we connected with our leadership base and asked how we could best serve. Several common needs arose; information about how to lead through a crisis, what were other leaders doing and step-specific guidance. In taking the service route we were able to tap into this community, connect leaders with each other as well as identify and provide for the common needs across the board. As a leadership community, we were on this journey together, but if the practice had not pivoted first, we would not have been in a place to serve, nor had the lasting impact for our leadership base and their organizations.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

IAM is service-oriented and results-tailored. Our best sources of new clients are first, actually former clients who are ready for their next level and second, these same clients are referring us to their network.

Our secret is very simple, we continue to nurture our partner relationships even when the project is done. Whether it’s via social media, our newsletter or maybe sharing a relevant article, podcast or TEDtalks that would be a great resource for them. We found the best practice is to continue to be a reSOURCE for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bernadettejohnson.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bernadettebunny
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/inspiredactionmotivates
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/bernadettejohnson
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/coreconsulting
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@IAMbernadettejohnson

Image Credits
Bernadette Johnson
Chris Guillebeau
Teriah Nicole
Andrea King Collier