Melody Wilding: As you’re staring down these final weeks of the year, I bet a few things are true. You’re tired, your patience is shot. You’ve been running 110% all year long. You are fantasizing about that moment when you can finally turn on your out of office autoresponder and faceplant into the couch with a plate of cookies and Netflix.

And I get it, we are so close. But this is exactly when things can blow up. When you’re exhausted, your emotions get the better of you. And one wrong move. One rambling update in the leadership meeting. One moment where you let your stress show to the C-suite, that can undermine the credibility you’ve spent all year building.

And this is not just a holidays problem. The pressure isn’t going anywhere. Q1 will hit, deadlines will pile up. Big opportunities will land on your desk when you least expect them. Difficult people will unfortunately still be difficult, so you have to get better at staying grounded through it all. Which is why I wanted to bring you Missy’s story.

She’s a client in our Speak Like a Senior Leader program, and someone who, when the pace sped up demands mounted, she would speak in circles. She would fire off emails she would later regret, and the thought of putting together a presentation for the C-suite that would send her into a total tailspin. If you can relate, then this conversation is going to be exactly what you need.

This is your final reminder though. If you are listening to this on the day it comes out, then the doors for Speak Like a Senior Leader, close tomorrow, December 16th at 11:59 PM Eastern Time, and they will not be opening again for months. So if you want to walk into any room confident that you know how to distill complexity down so your 20 minute ramble becomes a crisp two minute recommendation. If you want to be able to respond to curve ball questions without stammering or feeling like you look incompetent to disagree with your boss without losing a night’s sleep over it and have them thank you instead of being labeled, not a team player. If you wanna package your accomplishments so compellingly that people use your exact language when advocating for you up the chain of command. If you wanna do all of that and more, then we would love to see you inside Speak Like a Senior Leader. Just head to speak like a senior leader.com to grab your spot while there is still time before the doors close tomorrow.

Missy, it is so wonderful to have you here on Psychology at Work to talk about your experience and Speak Like a Senior Leader. Before we hit record, you were talking about how you’ve been applying so much of what you have learned. Before we get to that though, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Missy Boser: I am so excited to be here, Melody, I, I can’t tell you. So a little bit about me. I am currently a director at a healthcare IT company. 

 and I am, looking to move my career forward. I have been identified as someone who’s seen as looking to move into, or will move into the vice president role sooner than later. and so my career I have started, as an individual contributor doing what I do today, and just continuing to grow in the role. I am a natural born leader. I always say that I got, the experience being the oldest daughter, which has led me to where I’m going. And I, really love what I do and I love to continue my. Learning and education to be better, not only for myself, but as a leader for my, my teams. And so that’s, that’s a little bit of who I am as a leader.

Melody Wilding: Yes, and it is always incredible how we see kind of those breadcrumbs from when we were younger, start to start to project into our career. Now, you were mentioning you’ve been in healthcare IT for pretty much your entire career. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of changes, developments just in the field, in the industry during that time.

But take me back to three or so months ago when you joined Speak Like a Senior Leader, what was happening for you at that moment that made you feel like I need more support around this communication thing.

Missy Boser: so yeah. What happened is the organization I work for, we are private, however, we had different owners and we went to private equity. Private equity purchased us. And it’s been a fabulous change and I’m very excited about it. And it’s opened doors that I didn’t know we were gonna have. But it’s also open doors, I didn’t know we were gonna have, and opportunities are popping up and I wanna show up really well, and I want to be one of the people that’s considered for when a new opportunity presents itself. And I felt like this was the edge I needed. I know one of the places I’m not the strongest at is verbal communication.

I am very good at making things simple. I work in a highly technical, industry. I have the ability to take these technical things and make it business speak. It, it is of the magic I have. I’m not always as articulate as I’d like and I wanted to be able to work on that. I also am in front of our executives a lot more than I ever was. There’s a different way to communicate with them, and I wanna be effective because you only get so much time and, and that truly is why I wanted to step in to Speak Like a Senior Leader.

Melody Wilding: Fantastic. Yeah, and it’s, it’s so interesting how when these changes happen within our organizations, you can either choose to see it as this is chaos or, or this is opportunity and. just huge kudos to you for being able to step up to that and say, oh, I, I see there is an opening for me here to step into.

Now, it sounds like you were managing more complexity, maybe bigger scope as well, and you said, I wasn’t as articulate as I would like to be. How was that manifesting for you day to day?

Missy Boser: so I can speak in circles because I want to make sure that I’m getting my point across. I will also be honest. I live in the Midwest. I am a direct communicator, which isn’t always common here in the Midwest, and can sometimes be challenging for people, because it is so direct and I, I tend to back talk then, like I, I soften it with words that aren’t, aren’t how I wanna show up so that it doesn’t feel so overwhelming to others. and it’s feedback I had gotten early in my career that I was too direct, that I was, too harsh. And I won’t say that I was harsh, but I get what they were saying. It it, it is my style of communication. The thing is, is that now I know being direct isn’t a bad thing. I’m, I always intend positive intent. And so coming back around to say, does that make sense or do you understand, didn’t always serve me.

Melody Wilding: Yes, and especially as you get into those more senior level rooms, you also need to be able to read is this a person who wants really brass tacks, just to the point, give it to me straight. Is this a person that I need to dial up my diplomacy or I need to lean in with more curiosity and questions before just blurting out this is, this is my opinion and this is how it is with them.

And there, there is that nuance and that, situational awareness you need at those higher levels. So you, you did mention you were being groomed for, you were being identified for these higher level roles, a VP role. What did you feel like were the pressures or the expectations that were coming along with that in terms of your presence, how you would package your ideas?

Missy Boser: In our, in our organization. we are a small organiz, well, we’re not anymore. But we were, when I started the organization, we were 300 employees and now we’re, we’re at one point in time we’re up to a thousand, we’ve dialed back a little bit. And so, the interesting part that I’m experiencing is that we still have some people who live in the world that we’re the smaller organization, and so it is a little bit more of a relaxed communication style. But we’ve also gotten newer people, newer leaders, and it’s not that relaxed style. And so it was trying to figure out how to combine the both of them and being able to, with the executives that I’ve worked with for many years. I can have that relaxed conversation, but with the executives that are newer, I needed to know how, how to show up for them and the way they needed it. and the way I needed to, also, you know, I, I hope to goodness that I get to stay with this organization. I truly believe in what we do, and I, I love my job. But if the opportunity presents itself outside of the organization, I wanna be ready for that opportunity as well. And so it was really important for me to be at the top of my game. And I felt like, I felt like Speak Like a Senior Leader was going to put me there. And, and give me the advantage, maybe some of the people I will be up against don’t have.

Melody Wilding: Yes, all the more true. Now, as we’re, as we’re talking more and more about AI, as you climb those higher echelons of the organization, your ability to communicate, to persuade, to influence, to build relationship with people, that becomes your differentiator. And even to be able to tell a story, to get buy-in for your idea to you, you said a superpower you have, which is amazing ’cause not all people that come from a technical field have this, but being able to distill that complexity down and put the technical jargon into the plain speak or convert it into the business language, being that connector and that translator in the organization is such a valuable spot to be, especially as you get to those higher levels. It, it’s not necessarily about you having done that work before, but can you be the facilitator of the teams and the leaders

Missy Boser: Yes.

Melody Wilding: to reach those goals?

Missy Boser: Yes. And something I should also add of why this was important was started as an individual contributor here and I’m on the business side, but I work with the technical teams. I also wanted to show I’m no longer that same person. I wanted to show that I’ve continued to grow and I wanna be seen. Well, I am seen as a leader. I want to no longer be seen as that person who is down there doing the business and analytics work and seen as the person who can, can lead all of those teams and, do that. versus, oh, that’s Missy and she’s done this forever. I wanted to be seen differently also.

Melody Wilding: Yeah, and I don’t think people realize how. How you have control over shaping that. And I, again, I just wanna commend you for seeing that agency that you do have. ’cause it would be very easy to say, well, I’ve been here so long, I’ve been in this industry so long, I, I’m pigeonholed. Right? I sort of have this reputation and you feel like you’re swimming upstream.

But to realize, it sounds like what you were embracing was that, okay, if I am showing up differently in the way I am presenting and structuring my decks, my emails, the way I give it a, a executive update, like all of that is going to add up to pivot this, you know, I imagine a cruise ship kind of making a turn. It, it doesn’t happen overnight, but all of these little things, they gradually change the direction of how someone sees you.

Missy Boser: Absolutely, and that is really what. I like your, I like your example or your analogy because it is, it’s, it’s taking time and I’ve been with this organization for 12 years and so a lot of people have been with me for a long time and there was a point in my career where I was a high level individual contributor who was doing a wonderful job. I was recognized and sent on our excellence in action trip. I, I got the accolades. But I wasn’t moving into those leadership roles, and I realized that there was this place where I needed to, to, change who I was, and that sounds unfair. But it is change who you are and show that you can go to that next level. You’re, you’re not, you’re not just this person who can do the work. I can lead the work. And when I pivoted it, it opened up so many doors and I realized, again in my career several years later, this was that place where I needed to make that little pivot to open the bigger doors up.

Melody Wilding: I love that phrase, not just do the work, lead the work. And with that, I wanna segue into how you have applied the tools and the program, what that has done for you. Because before we hit record, you were saying, I’ve been applying so much, like everything that we’ve been learning. So bring us into that. Tell us what has been most impactful for you. How are you actually applying this in the day to day with your team, with your executives? What does that look like?

Missy Boser: so I, I’ve got so many examples. I just literally for the last two days were in our department leadership meetings, and so being in front of vice presidents, the chief product officer, and then our managers that report to the directors. So if the directors and the, the managers as well. There were a couple opportunities where I had to stand up and talk about what my team did or how my team was contributing to, we have, since we’ve moved to, private equity, we have changed how we look

Melody Wilding: All

Missy Boser: We

Melody Wilding: right.

Missy Boser: How we do a lot of things. I had the opportunity to stand up and talk about that, and I walked away from those two days whereas before, I would’ve honestly gotten into my head and thought about, oh, you said, you said too many ums. You didn’t, you didn’t look polished. I walked away from those two days, quite proud with my, of myself because when I did stand up and, and give my spiels. I was articulate. I was to the point and I got great questions from it, versus people kind of looking at me, at me like. their head cocked a little bit.

Like, what did you just say? So I’ve, I’ve been able to do it from an, like verbal speak that way. I’m also, right now in the middle of proposing a org change for my org. I’m seen as a leader who’s really good at building up, taking them and handing them off to the next leader, and then taking a new team and building them up.

I’ve been in the director role for two and a half years, and I have done this now with, three teams. One team I have kept, two teams I’ve handed. And I do have another team that I manage that I have had the whole time. And so I’m being looked at, I’m handing off one of those teams right now to another leader and we’ll be taking on a new team. And in order just to cover our bases, they want a deck to propose what, my new team structure will look like as I merge a different team into two existing teams. This is a place I would have panicked before, is my arch enemy, because of how much they, how much information do you put there? How much don’t you put there? Do you put it all there? I come from a corporate or a corporation where they like to make the slides super dense with way too many words.

That’s never been my thing, but I’ve had to do it for the organization. Using Speak Like a Senior Leader, and, the different pieces I’ve learned, I know what to I, I know what to put on those slides. I literally like watched the, module on what to put in slides three times, and I took handwritten notes and got, like everything you said, honestly, I needed like, the transcript and, and I would’ve, there would’ve been a lot of highlighting. I leveraged that and, my presentation will be going in front of our chief product officer to get her approval. And I’m confident that I have the information she’s gonna need. Maybe sh maybe she will have some follow up questions, but I think I’ve been able to capture what is most important and I wouldn’t have felt like that prior to Speak Like a Senior Leader.

Melody Wilding: That is so incredible. How does that feel for, for you, for you to feel confident with what you’re putting in front of the executives to also, it sounds like be getting more traction with your ideas. What is, what is that like for you?

Missy Boser: So I have felt since, since I found out that I am someone they are looking at to move to that next level of leadership. I haven’t doubted that. Not once have I doubted that and. I, I’m also someone who believes that when it’s presented to you, you are ready. Whether or not it’s perfectly ready, you’re ready. I am more confident that I’m ready now than I was in the beginning. And did I think I could step in and do it? Well, I did, but do I think I’m going to step in and be stronger and ready to hit the ground running in a way I wasn’t at that time. Absolutely. I know my communication is stronger. I know I’m showing up different, and I, I hate to sound giddy about it, but I am, I’m really proud of myself.

This is a place that I’ve struggled and I’ve worked on, and it it is, this is the first time in, in all the work I’ve done that I’m really happy with the outcome come. So that sounds bad. I, the others were, I was happy, but like this has been a game changer for me. It’s been the different differentiator.

Melody Wilding: Absolutely. I mean, we are, we’re in the program all the time. We’re always asking you like, what’s your moment of strength? What are you proud of? Because if we’re not pausing to take that in, then we’re never going to gain confidence from it if we’re we’re just like, oh, this is how this is, could’ve been better.

Oh, I still have all of this work to do. Right? So it was just onto the next thing. Onto the next thing. Rather than now, you are already stepping into a VP identity, before you get there, and that may seem a little woo, but, but just stick with me. You know, you’re always going to act consistent with the beliefs you have about yourself.

And like you said, I feel ready. I know I can do this. And guess what? When you are operating from that belief, then when you do, do inevitably get that role, then you are going to be decisive. You are going to be more comfortable making judgment calls and leading the projects in the way you need to because you have already, you’ve already stepped into what it means to be at that level. You’re not playing catch up with yourself. Yeah.

Missy Boser: Absolutely. Absolutely. And that was communication was my biggest concern, my biggest fear, and I have such a different outlook on it now. That if I was always worried that if they came knocking on my door, that wouldn’t, I would fail in that place watching, especially watching who could be my peers. Right? They, I watch them and they’re articulate and they’re, they’re quick to answer a question and feel like you see the confidence. I now know why they feel that way. I now understand that, and I feel like I have the toolkit to help me with that.

Melody Wilding: Amazing. 

What other improvements have you made using some of the tools in the program?

Missy Boser: I have, been also working using what I’ve learned, I actually reached out to my team. I had my leader do a feedback survey for my team. I, I’m a very transparent leader. It is one of the things that helps my team, I believe helps my team come along. We’re in so much change right now. I’m as transparent as I possibly can be. And my team is comfortable telling me things. That said, I really wanted to get better for them. And thinking about some of the things that we’ve gone through while I’ve been doing my, skills drills, and

And so, I used some of what we learned in communicate in our communications, the four Cs, I, I, I put together a survey, had my boss look it over, right? I, I, I didn’t want to lead my team to say, Hey, you’re the best leader ever. but we put together a, a survey to understand. Where I am, what am I doing?

What can I do to improve for them? and that was at my ask. It wasn’t my, it isn’t that end of year and we wanna get feedback on Missy. It was, I really wanted, after going through everything, how am I doing? Am I bringing you everything you need? I wanna grow as a leader, I need to also grow as a people leader.

Not just how do I speak to people? How do I show up? Am I showing up for my direct reports and their reports? so that’s one way.

The other way is I mentioned that I just came from our onsite with the leadership. Our director team, as you move into, Private equity, it’s, it’s the directors who do a lot of the work.

Our vice presidents are great, but we’re, we’re in there and really leading and we were struggling to come together as a director team. we work across everything, but we’re very siloed and as much as we try to break that down, we’re very siloed. And, and some of us are better at communicating with others.

I happen to lead a shared services team, and so I talk to all of the directors, but not all of them do. And I see some of the struggles we had. I actually used your Four Cs Foundation and created a document and asked all of them to figure out which of which of the Cs they were, and I put that together and I gave them some information.

I said, leverage this when we’re trying to communicate. Instead of us butting heads, let’s figure out how we can better communicate with each other.

Melody Wilding: It’s fantastic. I love that you rolled it out to become a a team exercise, which is so useful because, this is something that is so fundamental to the way we work. Yet we never talk about these meta concepts. And it can solve so much frustration when, you know, let’s say you have a cross-functional partner who really wants to ask a lot of questions and understand the ins and outs.

When you know that, that that’s what they default to as they’re assessing something, you’re far less likely to get really annoyed or feel like they’re just trying to poke holes in everything you do. You understand where they’re coming from, which lowers your stress level and allows you to get them what they need more effectively. ‘Cause you understand what their motivation is, so you’re speeding up everything, which is wonderful.

Now are there other things you’re saying or doing that you’re noticing is getting a better reaction from people, whether it’s your team, whether it’s people across above you, anything else that you’re doing or saying that you notice?

Missy Boser: yeah, actually, so this reorg, not only am I proposing my side of it, this team that I’m handing off, the manager of that team who I’ve been working with for a while, really proposed some changes that would impact another team. He shared those with me. I said, that is a brilliant idea. What I really need you to do is sit down and write that all out so we can present it to my vice president who I report to.

I want her to see this, and he presented it well, sorry, let me back up. He presented it after we found out that we were actually adding this role that he was suggesting. And so it was timely, but not exactly timely. And my vice president is amazing, but she’s under a lot of pressure right now and she didn’t receive it as well as I felt needed her to receive it for my manager.

He had put a lot of work into it, and, I actually decided that I needed to go back and follow up and share that I didn’t think she had received it in a way that was valuable for everybody. And leveraged again, communication, in talking to her, in her style, how, and her and I are very similar. Often I get accused of actually being, her mini me. But it was a different approach than I’d ever done. And I don’t know that I would have leveraged going back around, following up via email saying, here are the places that I think we’ve missed. And felt more confident pushing back and this is someone I’m comfortable pushing back on, but I had a good argument on why we, I push back. Ultimately, that and very recently someone gave their notice and this new organization that this team I’m handing off is going into is actually the proposal that the manager I gave. It is what, they believed we should be doing. And because I took the time to follow up that I don’t know that I would’ve without Speak Like a Senior Leader. The changes that are coming are because of that communication, and I don’t wanna take all the credit. I don’t, there were a lot of people involved, but I wouldn’t have felt confident enough to come back around and do that follow-up without this.

Melody Wilding: What a great example too, of being able to combine so many element elements of the speak system that we have inside of the program. Right? S is shift your style, P present with poise. You talked about that. So let me, let me back up and say. What a great example of being able to apply those elements of the speak system that are inside of the program.

So what I hear in that example is S shifting your style, being able to adapt to those different communication styles, so they actually hear you. Your message can be received by them. There’s also an element of articulating in writing, so the A of the speak system, being able to get down your thoughts in a compelling written manner without it just being a long monologue.

And then last, the K keep your composure because all of those have to layer together in this example where you can know someone’s style, but if they’re very emotional in the moment and then that unbalances you, then, then what do you do? And so it sounds like you were what a, what a beautiful way to bring all of those things together.

It’s such a great story.

Missy Boser: And to keep your composure is really important for me. I am. emotional in a positive, like I have all the feelings. I feel all the feelings. And I can also get wound up really quickly and shoot something off when I don’t intend it the way that, that it comes off, and keep your composure has been really helpful for me to know, take a step back, take a deep breath, and then the articulate, i, I, I’ve been good written communication, however, I look at it differently now. You made a great point, which is I would’ve just like almost verbally vomited on a piece of paper before, but I was much more thoughtful and strategic in what I was covering. That made more sense and, I am really excited because this is the change this organization really needs and it’s going to move us forward in the industry in a way we haven’t been able to, and it’s all because we were, all of us were able to put those pieces together.

Melody Wilding: Yeah. And you know, at the end of the day this, this is a program about those tactical executive level communication skills. But I do wanna point out how, for you, it’s been something so much bigger about being able to do more meaningful work that’s aligned with your strengths. The team leadership, driving things forward, being able to really be the, the pioneer of what the organization looks like going forward.

All because you’re able to package your ideas, to position yourself differently, to be more effective and present for your team and everyone around you, which is just so amazing to see. I, I would like to hear, so in the program we have so many different elements as you were, you mentioned some of the skill drills, which are our practice exercises.

We’ve been talking about the different elements of the speak system. What have you found most valuable or beneficial to yourself about the program itself to get these results you have gotten?

Missy Boser: Skills, drills, hands down. I am a very hands on person so I can listen to concept all day long, but if I can’t do it, I, I am not going to walk away with it. And so the first module where we were talking about, the communication styles. I listened to that. I went through everything and then got to the skills drills. I actually flipped it going forward then, and went to the skills drills first to go through them and understand what it was I was looking to learn through those different modules. And then went through the modules and it helped. They helped me then take the content and know how to leverage it when I got to doing the skills drills.

And so they were the game changer for me, and I actually believe that’s why I’m walking away from Speak Like a Senior Leader with far better results than I ever have had before because there’s never been that skills drill that I’ve had.

Melody Wilding: Yeah. I, how cool. I love that you were able to adapt it. That’s so smart to be able to say, okay, this is what I’m mapping against and I’m going to have to test myself against, let me make sure that’s top of mind for me as I’m going through the lessons. I love that. That’s, you’re the, you’re the first person I’ve heard share that so, so smart.

Yeah, and we, we wanna make sure that this is not just a passive course that you take, that it is really a coaching and training experience where yeah, you are, the skill drills give you an opportunity to practice this. In a safe way, right? To play with these ideas, to make it a little more habit before you go out there and you just feel like you’re flying free.

Intellectually, you know what you’re supposed to do, but once you have some of that muscle memory because you’ve run through the drill, it just makes all the difference in your confidence level and your clarity when you actually go to, to execute on it. Yeah.

Missy Boser: A hundred percent. That is, that has been it. I, I believe specifically, you know, I’m, I’m focused on communication. That’s been my challenge. I know that. Having those skills drills and actually doing it in the moment. And then I have gone back to them and I actually used one of them a skills drill to plan out my actual communication to a leader.

It was not only was I doing my homework, as I refer to my friends and family, I was doing my work at home with my homework.

Melody Wilding: I love that. Yeah. And some of them are set up so that they’re templates you can refer back to over time. Like for example, we have we have a template around getting buy-in and specific process we teach you around getting buy-in before you have a big meeting or you’re making a big proposal. And that’s something,

yes, do a skill drill for something coming up, but you can come back to this again and again and again and use it as your outline, as you were saying, every time you have to mock this up and approach this in your head. So love that.

Missy, what else are you most proud of for yourself over the last three months? What else stands out in your mind?

Missy Boser: That I’ve actually made time for this as well. So there’s, there’s a value. I think it may come through in what we’ve talked about. There’s a lot going on where I work. There’s a lot, there’s a lot going on in the world and I could be putting my time and energy somewhere else. But I’m really happy with the fact that I’ve put the, my energy towards this, because I can often say that I’m going to better myself and, and sign up for some course, but ultimately it goes to the wayside because I’ve not prioritized it. So I’m really proud of myself for prioritizing this and making it part my weekly growth that I do. and it’s not something that I take lightly. I am not just pressing play on something because I have to get it done. I am doing it, and I’m really proud of that because I can quickly and easily sign up for some course here and there all the time, and they, they tend to expire before I take the time to do it because I’ve taken the first module and I haven’t been impressed. That’s not the case here, and I’m really proud of myself for prioritizing this.

Melody Wilding: Yes. Is there anything in particular, ’cause this is something I hear a lot like everyone listening is a really busy professional. They have families, they have very full lives. Is there anything in terms of what worked for you in making time for it or the way you approached your learning and the skills acquisition this time that you think made the biggest difference?

Missy Boser: And this is not ’cause I’m talking to you, but honestly it’s you. It’s how you approach it and I really do truly mean that. And you know, I’ll sound a little fan girl. I’ve read both your books. I, I had done all of that and, they very much resonated with me. I, I am, I always thought I was good at managing up. It wasn’t until I read your book that I realized that I was okay. I wasn’t good at it. And it, it’s, it’s the way you lay things out. one of the things I would also say to somebody who’s thinking about this, the one thing I wish I could have gotten more out of, but it did not detract, is our calls happened to be at the exact same time that I have my one-on-one with my leader.

and she is super flexible, but asking her to change this for three months was. Was just not doable. I haven’t made it to all the calls that I want to, but I haven’t lost anything. I can watch them after the fact, the community, I can go to the community and ask the questions that I want to ask if I need to do that.

So I, the thing I would say is that, have I got to do everything I’ve wanted to with this program? No, I haven’t. But has that taken away from it? I don’t believe it has. I believe that I’ve still gotten things and so I, I also would stress to anybody who’s thinking about this, like, that live piece is like, you’re like, Ooh, is that a deal breaker? It might be for someone, but I’ve still gotten just as much out of it, even though I can’t make it often.

Melody Wilding: That is so key. This is such a way of perfectionism. Shows up for us where if I can’t do every single little thing, I’m just gonna ghost it and I’m gonna do nothing at all. Or I’m not even going to put myself in in that room, even though I know this has been something that’s been nagging at me for months or years.

And I, I have had, I do, you know, coaches need coaches and I have done programs myself. I actually just completed a program. I didn’t attend a single live call. None, none over the three months that, you know, I had access to the program for, and I opened it on, you know, the first day we got access, I went through the welcome material and then I proceeded to not open it until the last two weeks that I had access.

And what I got out of those last two weeks in just the, the couple of recordings that I watched and the, the calls that I watched. Was more than worth the price of admission and it, it’s such a great reminder for people that you don’t have to do all the things to get value. That sometimes it’s that one or two kernels or frameworks that just stick with you that are complete game changers.

Has that been your experience?

Missy Boser: Absolutely. And you just said something. So to go back to the previous question. A perfectionist, so you just said something that resonated, resonated that I feel through and through. I often stop because I can’t do it perfectly. I often, I’m like, well. There was a part of me when I started this was like, I have to go through it in S-P-E-A-K. I can’t go out of line. I got behind a little bit and I knew that K was most important for where I was gonna be coming up.

Melody Wilding: Yeah.

Missy Boser: And I was like, okay, I’m just gonna go to K. They said I could, but that’s not, like, that’s not following the rules. And I’m a rules follower also. and. This was a place where my perfectionism, I was able to push it to the side and not like, and guess what? I didn’t, I didn’t fail. I didn’t die. I, I was able to do this and be successful. And so when you ask me, one of the things I’m proud of, I’m really proud that I didn’t let my perfectionism step in here either. I, I’m a quitter, I’m a. I am your type A, like if you can take it to the nth degree, that’s me.

And I didn’t do that this time around, and that’s honestly probably a huge part of my success also.

Melody Wilding: I am, I am so glad you did not quit on yourself either. I am proud of you for that because, you know, as a fellow recovering perfectionist, I fully, fully understand how hard that is and Yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s a reason. That’s why we give you the whole curriculum upfront. And we have a tool at the beginning of the program, we call it the speak scorecard, that assesses you on which of these areas are already established skills, which do you need the most work in?

So you can kind of use that as a compass, but in your case, you know, always follow what’s going to be most useful for you right now. Because as adults, we need to be immediately applying what we’re learning. I’m sure you know, I’ve, I’ve had so many instances over the past, even just week, where I’ve listened to a podcast and it’s just in one ear and out the other.

I get to the end of the episode, I’m like, I don’t even remember what that was about. And that’s because that’s, that’s not how we retain knowledge as adults. We need to hear something and immediately put it into practice. So I love that you looked at, okay, what’s most relevant and urgent for me now? ’cause that’s what I’m gonna apply because I need to in this situation.

So Missy, if you could summarize your transformation in this program in one sentence, what would you say?

Missy Boser: We’re really gonna put this to the test. oh goodness. You’re really making this hard.

Melody Wilding: Oh, we can go ahead.

Missy Boser: that my one sentence, I went from a strong leader to. A confident, articulate leader in the matter of three months?

Melody Wilding: Do you wanna build on that at all?

Missy Boser: Sure. I would love to build on it. I, this is where I said earlier, my emotions get the best of me. I’m a crier, so if, if tears come, I do. I’m so proud of where I am. I am. I’ve always been confident. in fact, my, my leader always says to me she wishes that she could meet my parents to see what they did to make me who I am.

and, but this is a different confidence. It’s, it’s, it’s deep down inside and the other one’s deep down inside. But maybe some of it is also just being really proud of putting the work in to get here and, and knowing that whenever whomever knocks on the door, I’m gonna go into it so much more confident and ready, even though I was ready before, it’s very hard to put it all into words, but I just feel so much more power in who I am and that it’s landing in the way that I want it to.

Melody Wilding: Incredible. Missy, thank you so, so much for taking your time to share your story. I know this is going to resonate with so many people, so thank you.

Missy Boser: Thank you. I, I am just so thankful that you created something that has helped me move myself forward.