Welcome to Visionary’s Pursuit, a podcast where we explore what it takes to turn your bold and inspiring ideas into reality. I'm Carolina Zuleta. I'm a life and business coach and your host for this podcast. I'm thrilled to have you here.
Hi everyone. Welcome back. This is episode 70 of the Visionaries Pursuit Podcast. Thank you for being here. I really enjoy having this conversation with all of you every week.
Throughout my career as a coach, I've come across multiple personality tests, assessments. You've probably heard of many of them, the MBTI, the DISC profile, the Hogan, the Enneagram, and I am always very fascinated by them. I love taking them and I've learned something from each one of them.
And yet my favorite one is called the Leadership Circle Profile. The LCP is not an assessment you take by yourself. It also gathers feedback from your team, from your business partner, from investors, from your boss, if you have one.
And then all this information is compiled to tell you how you are leading in comparison to other leaders around the world.
What I love about the LCP, the Leadership Circle profile, it's that it was designed by coaches. So in its essence, it keeps this idea of our human potential, of all the ways we can evolve and grow to become better leaders. And also it takes into account our humanity.
Basically what the profile shows is how are you leading from your reactive tendencies and your creative competencies. Our reactive tendencies are those ways of being we developed when we were very young to help us survive. We all have them. They're ways of being like people pleasing, complying, or maybe becoming arrogant and cold or controlling or working too much.
And it's not that our reactive tendencies are bad. They have worked for us. They worked really well on our kids, but as we grow, as we're leading bigger businesses, as we have more clients and more people that report to us, that's not the best place to lead from. And on the other side are creative competencies, which are the ways of being we develop through self-awareness, through our own personal growth, through developing empathy and better strategies to drive towards our goals, to bring people together, to build teams.
What I also like about the LCP is that it's not a sentence. It doesn't come and say, Hey, your Enneagram type two. No. It's explains to you how you are operating, how your internal system is working right now in the context of your life and your work right now. And it shows you your strengths.
What are you using that is really helping you lead in this moment and your areas for growth and development? So I spent three full days going deep into understanding the leadership circle profile, but the way we did it was by understanding our own results.
especially, we spent a lot of time looking at our reactive tendencies. One of the things that I feel very excited or grateful, or I'm celebrating myself for is because I can see some of my growth there. I could see how my tendency to people please has been reduced so much, and I think it's because I've done a lot of work allowing other people.
To disagree with me allowing other people to not like me, allowing other people to be disappointed or criticize what I'm doing. I remember how stressed I was at the beginning of my business, wanting everyone to love me and to like what I'm doing. And I'm not gonna say that doesn't still exist to me. I think us all human beings, we still want to be accepted and celebrated and approved of by our community. But as a leader, as we grow, we have to make peace that not everyone is going to like what we're doing. That people are gonna have different opinions that we're gonna get rejected, that we're gonna be criticized and I've done a lot of work to be in a place where I can be at peace with that.
I also noticed how my tendency which was becoming more arrogant or more critical or more defensive when I felt attacked or hurt. I've also managed it. Again, it doesn't mean that it disappears, but the frequency in which I go into, the tendency has reduced the. Intensity in which I go when I'm feeling defensive has reduced
It's not that these reactive tendencies I have completely eliminated from my life.
Of course they're still there. I'm a human being. But the difference is that they don't show up as frequently. They're not as intense and they don't last that long. I can notice them faster, I can act towards them faster, I understand them better, and I can have more compassion for myself.
That said, there is one of these reactive tendencies that I still have that plays strongly in me, and it's a tricky one, and I wanted to share it with all of you because I see it happen with many of my clients and in the leadership circle profile, this tendency is called drive. But when I first read about it, I thought to myself, why?
Why is drive a reactive tendency? I love being driven, and I actually got to spend some time with other coaches who. Also have this reactive tendency, strong in them. And at first we were all laughing and defending it. We love to work hard, we love to be productive.
We get praise. People trust us because we can get our work done. We are effective. There are so many good things that came from having that drive. But then we started looking at the cost of them as well, and for me, sometimes that drive how it hurts me, it's that in my head, I never stop. In my head there's always an endless to-do list and it's hard for me to relax, to be in the present moment, to enjoy being with my kids, playing without thinking I need to do this and I need to do that, or pulling my phone out every five minutes to write something, to send a message and that sense of urgency inside, I have to be very conscious to relax because if not, I always feel like I'm late, I'm rushing towards something.
I keep replaying in my head the sentence. I don't have enough time. And when I take a moment, I step back and I look at how that is affecting me. Well, one, I can't fully enjoy the present moment. Two, sometimes it can get in the way of relating to the people I love the most because instead of being there with them, I'm in my head. And three, I think in the long term it ends up having a big impact on our health.
So I think this is a tricky one because in our society, we are celebrated by being busy, by working hard, by pushing ourselves. But in the big context of our life, we can see that the costs are very big. So when I looked at this, the first place was, well, how am I gonna grow my business, be a mom, and do all the things that I do. You know, exercise every day, take care of so many things without driving myself, without working too hard, without pushing myself too hard, and I'm gonna be fully transparent with all of you. I'm in that process of finding that balance within myself, and I, I've decided that's gonna be the biggest focus for me this year, is to lead from a place of presence, of being calm, of not hurrying, of not feeling that urgency to get everything done right now. So I'll be sharing my journey with all of you. But anyway, for all of you who are skeptical that you're like, wait, hold on. What do you mean drive is is a bad thing or it's a reactive tendency? I really love it. I want you to ask yourself, is it coming from a place of anxiety of not enough of survival of I have to prove my worth, I have to prove that I can do all those things?
Or is the drive coming from a place of wanting to create more? For me it comes from both places, and I think for most of my clients. It happens the same. So we, here's where coaching becomes very interesting because it's not about this concept that we just say it and we believe it and we all understand it, but it's about discerning.
Discerning where is my energy coming from? When are those moments that I'm driving because I have conviction, but I'm centered. I'm moving towards my vision. I am pursuing my results with drive and energy. I'm doing it for something that is bigger than me, and when are those moments that I'm driving?
Because I'm in scarcity, because I feel like I need to prove something because it feels like it's what's acceptable in society. And what I have found is that we can understand the words. The words are not complicated. They're simple, but the complexity comes in a deeper understanding and in making those changes. So we're driving from a place of vision and purpose and not from a place of scarcity. Because when we are in that drive from scarcity, from proving ourselves, that's where we get to burnout.
We get to not loving our business. We get to feeling exhausted all the time.
Last week, Sarah Blakely, the CEO of Spanx, shared a quote on her Instagram stories that really resonated with me. And here's what it says, "your business will expose every unhealed part of you. Your abandonment issues show up when clients leave. Your scarcity mindset shows up in your pricing. Your control issues show up in your inability to delegate. Entrepreneurship isn't just a career path. It's involuntary therapy that forces you to confront who you really are."
And that's why I believe deeply that when we are business founders, when we're entrepreneurs, we can't just only focus on the business. We need to look within ourselves. We need to understand how our internal system is working so we can continue to heal the unhealed parts, to develop the creative competencies so we can grow and become the CEOs of the business that we love.
Many of my clients says this, this journey's uncomfortable. And yes, it's uncomfortable, but I think there's also a way of loving it and seeing our own growth as one of the most incredible journeys we take in our lifetime.
Being an entrepreneur is hard. It's definitely not the easiest path. Once you solve one problem, you find 10 more happening. When you think you have figured it out, something's not working. Something changed in the environment inside your company, someone quit, and then you have to deal with another type of problem.
And I've heard people say that as your business grows, it's not that the problems disappear. On the contrary, you have bigger problems. So wherever you are in your journey, I want you to take a moment and look at the problems you're facing, and imagine that by your desire to grow your business, you're gonna encounter bigger problems.
How does that feel? To me, it feels a little scary, but that's when I think, well, my business is going to grow. The problems are gonna grow. I'm also gonna grow. So I'm gonna become better at solving those problems. I'm going to develop more resiliency.
I'm gonna be able to lead from a higher place, a higher level of thinking that is gonna allow me to resolve those problems easier. And I think about when I started my business, how awful rejection felt. How debilitating it felt when someone told me that they wouldn't buy my services and how today it's just something I do.
It's something I take into account. It's something I process, I learn from and I move forward pretty fast. So that for me is proof that we do evolve, that we do grow and then we can hold bigger problems. Here's the thing, most founders don't realize they're leading from survival mode.
I know for me my survival mode, which is to push harder, to work, harder, to do not turn off my mind, has worked so well. The problem are the costs that it comes with, right? So I want you to take a moment. If we can look at a part of your leadership of running your business that is coming from survival mode, what does it look like?
And I'll give you some ideas. Are you people pleasing? Are you avoiding having difficult conversations with your team or your clients or your board? You don't wanna rock the boat because you want them to like you.
Are you staying very conservative, telling yourself things like, well, if this has always worked, why would I change it? Let's keep doing things like we've always done them. And you're saying that because you're scared of change, because you're scared of innovation, because you're scared of the unknown or?
Or do you find yourself sometimes closing the door to your office and not wanting to engage with your team because you're upset or you're frustrated and you just prefer to create some distance so you don't have to deal with what's happening right now?
Do you find yourself procrastinating because you don't wanna face the discomfort of whatever it needs to be done right now? Or do you go into controlling mode? This is also one of my tendencies of deciding what everyone needs to do right now in this moment instead of building consensus. Instead of building teamwork.
Because what you're telling yourself is there's no time for that. We just need to get things done. Or are you telling yourself, I know better. I know how to solve this. I can do it all. I can do everything. And therefore you're not delegating or you're not hiring people that are better than you.
Survival. Leadership feels like constant urgency, even when nothing is wrong. Reacting faster than making time to reflect. Jumping from one project to the other, not making time to fully sell yourself on your ideas and lead from a place of conviction and certainty instead of leading from excitement of the new thing of let's move on faster and not finalizing your projects and seeing them through until the end
from the outside, you may seem calm and collected, but you know that inside you are in survival mode. You know you're making decisions. When you are dysregulated, you are answering things immediately. You cannot see one thing in your inbox without going unread, although your attention should be focused on the bigger projects, on your zone of genius, on what matters the most for your business.
So continuing to run from survival mode, continuing to lead from survival mode. You know it's gonna lead into emotional exhaustion, relationships, breaking down confusion for your team, difficulty playing the bigger game, the longer term game. And your energy's gonna go up some days and down some days, and you're probably gonna feel close to burnout.
Moving from reactive tendencies is not about doing less or slowing down or having smaller goals. It's about finding within yourself different resources, different capabilities, so you can lead from balance and presence and caring for others and your team and your clients, achieving results because you're motivated from something that is bigger than you, but you know, there's no urgency.
There's no scarcity. This is not a shift necessarily on what's happening in the business right now. It's a shift of what's happening inside of you that in the medium term, in the long term, you are going to see the impact of that. So all this to say one is again, is my message of the importance as business leaders, founders, entrepreneurs, to do our internal work, to look at our internal system and see how it's operating right now and continue to evolve it and grow it.
So, like I've said earlier, we can become the CEOs we aspire to be.
And that said, I have a very exciting invitation this week. From February 16th through 20th, I'm opening my calendar for Founder Consult Week.
During that week, I'm gonna offer a limited number of free one hour private consultations for business founders and entrepreneurs. I did this twice in 2025, and it was incredible. All the spots were taken really fast and I got to have amazing conversations with founders and people who are running their own businesses.
So here's what we're going to do. During that one hour, you're going to bring a topic, a concern, a question, a challenge you're having right now with your business, and we're going to explore it together.
, , I am going to help you identify maybe some patterns that are draining your time and your energy. we're going to uncover some limiting beliefs or blind spots you may have that are clouding your judgment, that are making decisions, feel heavier than they need to be. We are going to look at what actually needs to shift within yourself or within your business so you can continue to thrive and love the business you're running instead of being scared of exhaustion and burnout or getting stuck.
In the past, some of the founders have used this time to get clarity on a decision they've been stuck on for months to reconnect with the value of the offer they have. To reconnect with their clients, the sense of purpose and love for what they do. To move out of burnout mode and survival leadership like I was talking about today, and reconnect again with their purpose and their vision.
And some of them have used the consult to understand why growth in their business is feeling so hard, and what strategies can they implement to continue moving forward towards their goals while living with more ease and tranquility, and balance.
So here's my promise. Any of you who book this hour and spend this hour with me, I promise you, you will walk away with at least one insight that will help you create a breakthrough that is going to help you advance and more forward on the things that are currently holding you back on the things that are keeping you up night on the things that are worrying and taking so much of your energy.
So if you are an entrepreneur or a business founder and you've never worked with me before, this is your opportunity to get a sense of what it is to work with a coach.
What are some of the ways coaching can really help you? Enhance your leadership abilities and grow your business. Last time I opened my calendar for Founder's Consult Week, every spot got filled and they got filled up really quickly. So if this resonates with you, remember, there's no cost. It's the investment you're making is your time, and my promise is that I'm gonna make that time worthwhile.
So below, in the description of this podcast, you will find the link to my calendar. Go ahead, find a time that works best for you, get ready to have a conversation that will create a profound breakthrough in yourself and your business.
I'm excited to meet you. Thank you for being here today and I'll see you next week. Bye.
If you're currently pursuing a big, bold idea and would love some support, let's talk. In my coaching program, I'll teach you how to manage yourself, your own thoughts and emotions. as well as your team and your money so you can turn your beautiful idea into a reality. Go now to carozuleta.com slash consult that is c a r o z u l e t a dot com slash consult and complete the form to book a complimentary call with me.
See you there!
