We were lucky to catch up with Robyn Koenig recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Robyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

The topic of preparing our students for the future is very relevant for me as a mom of four kids: two of which just graduated high school this year, one that is finishing college next year, and another that is two years away from graduation! I believe the current educational system has a lot of room for improvement and could use more emphasis on life skills that are more tangible and applicable for students as they move into young adulthood. Learning how to navigate uncertainty, have difficult conversations with peers and friends, how to ask for a raise, build their credit history, manage basic finances, learn to invest, or pivot to a new career. The truth is we don’t have it all figured out as adults so expecting our kids to know everything by the time they graduate high school and carry that through their college life and into the start of their new career is unrealistic. Programs that allow them to work with coaches, mentors and subject matter experts without judgment and bias could inspire new ways of thinking about the potential they have in life and shine a fresh perspective on ideas that teachers and fellow students may not offer in their current school environment. Letting our students know that their life is a collection of failures and successes that all provide opportunities to learn and giving them space, support and resources to experience this can be more beneficial than a GPA boosting honors class.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I spent the past 20 years cultivating my leadership experience across diverse roles in corporate, non-profit and freelance industries. After my second layoff in 2017, I decided I no longer wanted to put the fate of my career and ultimate happiness in someone else’s hands so I started over with my own plan and launched my business. I realized all I really wanted to do was help other people find the same joy, freedom and confidence in their life as a result of having a successful and thriving business. By combining a positive mindset and clarity of direction with very intentional action, I help small business owners create powerful change that lasts. I love helping small business owners because I’m one too!

As a certified professional coach and small business consultant, I use a hybrid approach to help them run their business like they MEAN business. I consult with small business owners by providing suggestions, ideas, insights, and resources on how to get them where they want to go with their business, and when they get stuck I can then coach them through the process. Ultimately, I’m the navigator and they’re the driver. I love challenging people to THINK differently, SEE things differently and then DO things differently to create powerful change for themselves and their business.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My approach to growing my client base has always been to focus on relationships and connections with people in places that I love and enjoy spending my time. There are so many ways you can do this and what I’ve found is there’s no “right” way to do it either. If you connect best with people in an organized networking group format, then pursue that. If you prefer to connect in more informal ways in the community or at social events or even doing specific activities, then do that too. Our ability to connect can be influenced by how confident we feel in specific environments so use that as an understanding about yourself and put yourself in a place to be confident, relaxed, and attract people to WHO you are versus what you do. That’s the best strategy!

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

It’s been said that people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad leaders. So when it comes to leading people, start by listening to them and striving to learn more about what they value when it comes to their work and career journey and seeing how you can offer more of this to them on a regular basis. Lead with an emphasis on clarity of roles and responsibilities and shared vision and then connect that to individual accountability. Expecting people to follow your lead with blinders on will only teach them to keep their heads down and do the work. Morale is essentially a collection of thoughts and beliefs measured by enthusiasm and self-confidence blended with a bit of optimism and driven by discipline. No leader can really change morale because it’s up to the individual to decide if these thoughts or beliefs are moving them forward in a positive or negative way. But a leader can focus on understanding how their team is feeling in regards to their morale and what it would take to move the needle forward in a more positive way. This is where the discipline comes into play and every leader can help instill intentional actions that support strong morale across their team. When this is done in a consistent and proactive (versus reactive) manner, leaders will see improved team engagement, more positive morale, and individual accountability leading to results and happier people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.robynkoenig.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robynkoenig/

Image Credits
Colette Peri GoBeRewarded