67. A mindset coach who knows how to maximize potential (Osmaan S.)
How do you create a really good team? 💪According to performance and mindset coach Osmaan Sharif, it all comes down to strengths. In this episode, Phil and Lauren grill our expert on all things team-building—from identifying where you excel to recognizing strengths in others—to create an effective and well-rounded business unit. If your business needs to expand or you feel like something’s off in your staff dynamics, our episode with Osmaan will inform and inspire you to rethink your team dynamics
Episode transcription
Phil:
Oh boy, here we go. Wait, that's not the way to do it.
Lauren:
Hey, oh boy. Oh, you need to learn the consequences of being disorganized. Oh boy. What a silly start.
Phil:
Welcome Brand Therapy. Hello, hello. Hello, I'm Phil.
Lauren:
And I'm Lauren.
Phil:
Oh, yes, she is. And we are your hosts on this podcast, which is all about tackling business and branding challenges faced by complete strangers who somehow find our phone number they call us, we talk through it for about 25-30 minutes if we like them, and, you know, we leave people with some ideas on how to go and grow their businesses or their brands. And then we like to switch it up every other episode, we call a friend phone a friend, when we want to get some input from someone who's smarter than us. And that's exactly what we're doing today.
Lauren:
I love love this episode. I could do those personality assessments and read about them literally every day for the rest of my life. And that's what this episode is all about. It's so good.
Phil:
What do you mean could? You do at least one personality test each day? I don't know why you do.
Lauren:
I do read it a lot because I think being able to have like, basically like a manual, tell you what someone's strengths and pet peeves and weaknesses and things like that are. It really really helps me with working with people. I sound like I have a serious social problems and maybe maybe I do, but I got really excited speaking with our guest today because he also believes in the strength of these personality assessment tools. And he actually helps build teams, which is so cool.
Phil:
He does. We met at one of Janet Murray's events a few years back, we've kept in touch. I love his work. I think he's really super smart, and you can tell that immediately from our conversation today. I love this conversation. Yeah, I guess Should we get to the conversation that we keep talking about?
Lauren:
Please, let's do it.
Phil:
Oh, you're gonna love this one. Here is our very informative, exciting conversation with Osmaan.
Phil:
Today we're getting someone that I really, really enjoy spending time with when it comes to business when it comes to just like feeling better about my life, personally and business wise. Osmaan is on the phone with us. And this guy I met at Janet's event. Honestly, well we talk about Janet all the time, but you were one of my favorite people because I came away after having spent a few minutes with you feeling so good about business about all kinds of things in a very tangible way. So I thought we've got to get you on a podcast. So here you are. Welcome to Brand Therapy.
Osmaan:
Thank you so much. It's an honor to be here and I loved our conversations that we had as well during the event and I'm glad you got to feel the difference even after a short short few minutes.
Phil:
My immediate immediate thought after spending more than five minutes with you was oh my god Lauren needs to meet him because Lauren loves systems and quizzes and all these different types of whatever's like Myers Briggs. people always ask me what's your Myers Briggs? And I'm like, I don't remember you have to ask Lauren and she can name them all off by heart and tell you what celebrities are and what they mean. So like putting you two together in a room is basically what we're doing today.
But I think some of the things that I've learned from you are really interesting and useful in application for entrepreneurs. So here we are.
Osmaan:
Perfect. And I'm absolutely like that as well, Lauren. And I love figuring out what makes individuals tick and how do we get the best of everybody so that we can then impact our businesses and impact those that we work with us. So I'm looking forward to having this conversation about, you know, get our own way.
Phil:
Well, and there we go. There's your little tagline sentence, what have you, your brand, look at you. Can you introduce the idea for our listeners, this idea of entrepreneurial superpowers? What they mean, I think there's enough that you could probably list them out, but just kind of introduce this concept, so people start to understand it before we explore it.
Osmaan:
Absolutely. So having with the corporate world to start my own business over 12 years ago, I very much thought that there's only one way to grow your business. And I'm always loving learning stuff, listening to podcasts as I'm sure a lot of your listeners are. Well, but what I started to realize very quickly is that there's so many different competing advice and strategies out there. And we can go around in circles and drive ourselves crazy as well, until we actually realize those strategies will only work for us based upon our own talents and our own superpower.
So instead of beating ourselves up, which I used to do, and a lot of my clients, business owners, as well, it allows you to recognize who am I, what is my superpower. And when I talk about superpower, that's the thing that you can do in your business that's natural, that's easy. And that gets you the best results. And you don't have to try and be like everybody else. You don't have to try and be an all rounder, and when you focus on your superpower, that's where real magic happens. And that's where you can effectively get out your way when you focus on the things that will make the difference for you. So that's in a nutshell for you there.
Phil:
Love it.
Lauren:
Love it. And so do you have an example of someone you know who may be well aware of their superpower or thought they should be a certain way, and then ended ended up realizing what their strengths are and it changed their business or their life instantly.
Osmaan:
So I had one client that I really good friend of mine, Sam, and many years ago when she came to one of my workshops, and at the time, I was an NLP trainer, which is neuro linguistic programming. So I'm all about mindset. And at that time, I started to learn about wealth dynamics, which is the profiling tool that I use with all my clients. I honestly don't work with anybody anymore until I know what their superpower does, using that profiling system. So I give Sam and everybody on my course and their profile to do as part of the experience. And it was one of those moments where she would delighted but also had tears in her eyes because the profile showed that she was a creator profile. So at the high level, there's eight different types of entrepreneurs. You've got creators, you've got stars, you've got dealmakers, you've got traders, accumulator, the lords, mechanics and supporters. Obviously, they're all jargon words at the moment.
But what Sam realized was that she was the best end type of entrepreneur to really harness ideas to have the big picture thinking for what she was doing was she was starting her business to really grow it as being a coach working on a one to one basis. And what she didn't realize or what she didn't understand was, she got more excited creating the frameworks creating the handouts and the documentation and the processes around that, compared to actually working with the clients because every time she do something, she'd go, right, tech abundant, and she had another client that had the same challenge. She'd get really bored really easily. So when we realized that she was a creator profile, a lot of things made sense, Lauren, in terms of she thought, that's why I get bored really easy. That's why I always change my strategies or thinking. Oh, this is what I should do. And after a couple of weeks, no, this is no one to work with. Because she was trying to do her business model, which was do the same thing over and over again. But that just doesn't fit with her personality.
So long story short, she knows really embracing her superpowers being a creator, she completely loves the idea of being a coach for individuals. And she now over the years has been into being a creative cooperator. And at the moment, she's actually just finished a first draft of her own novel as well. So that's one example where by really understanding your superpower that completely changed what she was actually doing in business as well.
Lauren:
Fascinating. So whenever we record this podcast, I always bring up how I'm an INTJ, Myers Briggs and how I'm socially inept. Everyone probably thinks I can't look at people in the eye, which is not true, by the way, but I want to know like, once someone finds out their strengths or their weaknesses, for example, mine might be that like developing those really like strong relationships. I'm more about ideas less about people, then what? Do you recommend that people hire for their weaknesses or how does that work?
Osmaan:
Yeah, absolutely. So again, I think in the world of Myers Briggs, I did this when I was in the corporate world, and I think an ISSG, if my memory serves me, right, and all the profiling tools are out there, but it's what you do with them, that makes a difference. So, for me, when I understand someone's superpower, I absolutely help us figure it out at them, how do we make sure that what we do in a business they spend the majority of time playing to that superpower. Okay, so let's keep things really simple and practical. So whenever I work with anybody, I have a framework which is the right design, the right mindset and the right strategies as what gets you to rapidly grow your business and to get on your way.
So when it comes to the design, Lauren and Phil, if you know for example, that you are a very creative person or for me, for example, I'm a trader profile in the wealth dynamics system. I know I love working with small groups of people. I love working on an individual basis and getting to work my clients to help figure out what's working, what's not working with them. So by me knowing that, I even create and design my business around that model. So that's why for me, it's important to have that personal connection with the client. I run masterminds I do one to one coaching whereas someone like, you know, Janet, Murray that Phil just mentioned, she's a star profile. So that's why she has a lot more events that she does. She has a lot more large memberships and online courses.
So if you know what your superpower is, then why not play to that? Why not make a core part of your business? And that's what I see so many people doing the opposite. They try and go by I need to force myself to like the things I don't like doing. But don't do that. Get people to help support you. And that might be through collaborations and maybe through outsourcing and maybe through around you, but just making sure that you spend the majority of time doing work, please to your students. That's my key takeaway. And that's where the mindset perspective comes in. So you don't have to be an all rounder, you don't have to compare yourself to others in the same industry especially if they have the same superpower as you.
And then the last part is your strategy. You can choose right? What's the game that I'm going to play that will get me the best results. And that links into how you market how you communicate how you're, you are most productive at all very much boils down to knowing your superpower.
Phil:
I'm all for frameworks and systems that give people parameters to play within. We talked about this often this idea of, draw the lines in the sandbox so you know where you can go from there, right? If there's too many options, and a lot of times people don't execute so something like this, understanding your superpower in in, you know, one of eight kind of helps provide those parameters that you're talking about, which I think is a really good idea. Are there any I remember mine is star.
Lauren:
I'm a mechanic.
Phil:
Oh, you are So, okay, okay, so what does this mean? What does it mean if we have a star and a mechanic is that a good thing? Oh my god!
Osmaan:
But that can be a great thing. Because the difference and again, I'm going to I don't want to go into too much detail for the listeners here. But they're very complimentary stars are very good at seeing the big picture. But they're really good at being out there in the forefront a lot connecting with people, you know, give them a stage, get them an audience, and that's where they get in for. Whereas as a star for example, how to get into a lot of nitty gritty detailed work, or even working with the same client or project for a long periods of time, that's really can start to feel a bit bored, they start to feel a bit restless. They may be getting great results, Phil, but they can start to sabotage themselves because they're not actually out there with that freshness and that newness. Does that connect with you Phil?
Phil:
Oh my god, you have no idea we have about what feels like 400 websites that were started months ago that are still not finished and they're my responsibility to get them finished, delayed by the client, not by me. But like, I'm just I'm going mental ask Lauren. I'm going mental because they're not finished and I'm sick of them. And that's literally you described to me.
Osmaan:
Definitely stars level of patience and you do want to be out there and what about the spotlight mean that might be on the stage, it might be on the podcast, whatever that looks like. But, you know, compare that to mechanic. Mechanics are again, very big picture. So they're really good at seeing or as what's happening from you know, that eye in the sky position. But what they're really good at doing is seeing how to make things better. How do you make it more efficient? How do you actually get more from it?
So listen to some of the conversations that you've had on the you know, the podcast, especially when you're doing a brand audit. I love it when I hear Lauren, and it makes perfect sense, that you're a mechanic. You can hear what someone says and go, how about treating it this way? Have you thought about this. That's what a mechanic does really well. So mechanics have to have things that they can work with, so not having a blank canvas, or a blank sheet of paper. But they are really good at seeing how do we make improvements? How we actually complete it and actually getting them moved on? How does that connect with yours?
Lauren:
Sounds pretty accurate? I'm always like tinkering with things with Phil like, what about this idea? I'm like, it doesn't work in the big picture, it needs to be like this. Awful.
Phil:
No, it's good.
Osmaan:
Absolutely. But the key, the key thing to think about that Lauren , is just to, you know, to share the end for you, both of your profiles, they're very similar in terms of they’re at the top of the wealth dynamics square, which is great because you both have that big picture perspective. So the challenge may be coming down to some of the ongoing account management, the details and more growth perspective.
So let's compare that to me, but you're both at the top of the square and I'm actually at the bottom of the square. I love a lot of, you know, relationship building, not cheating. I get most of my clients that come to me through the fairs, I even had one client that reached out to me to work with me again, and met him on an NLP course 10 years ago. And they reached out to me and said, I'd still love to work with you. And honestly, when we were speaking, that felt like it was just last week that we were working together in that course. So imagine in that way, you're my yin to your yang and vice versa. You’re great when it comes to strategy, big picture, but some of the operational the ongoingness that's where even in your team that might be a little bit where you could use some support.
Lauren:
It is like our greatest challenge.
Phil:
It is.
Phil:
Hold your horses lady and man. This whole lady is this trend.
Lauren:
I don't know where you got it from but it ends now.
Phil:
It is fun to call you lady lady. Like that, what was it? It can't just be a normal voice.
Lauren:
You called me this morning, because I was late. Lady Delaila.
Phil:
Okay, wait, we've stopped for a reason we pause this conversation for a reason. Why did we pause?
Lauren:
Okay, so you know how at the beginning of the episode I said, I'm obsessed with personality assessment quizzes?
Phil:
You did.
Lauren:
I'm here to tell our listeners that my life's purpose has been achieved. And we now have a quiz to help you listeners figure out your brand strength. So you'll go through a series of questions, and then we will tell you what you're great at. And further to that, say how you can communicate through your brand. It's awesome.
Phil:
I mean, we've never done this but never liked this little quiz idea. I mean, that's pretty exciting.
Lauren:
Well, you know, this is, life is for taking risks. So I really, really hope that people like this quiz that we've put so much work into. And actually I want to know what people get. I want to know the results so be sure to message us. Message Phil on Instagram. He's always there @philpallen and also they can message you too @thelaurenmoore.
Lauren:
Yeah, they can.
Phil:
Don't act like you're never on Instagram you are.
Lauren:
I know I'm trying to be on less though, cat and puppy videos. This is my life. Okay, anyway, so shall we got back to the episode?
Phil:
We shall let's get back to it.
Phil:
So now that we know our types, what might be some ways in which we could apply this? So for example, should we look for support that is a complimentary personality type that might help us like you just said? Would that be a good next step or what would you recommend or what do you see most often?
Osmaan:
It all depends, it’s a question that is often asked from me. It depends on what you want to make happen and that's why it goes back to the design. Some people are work where they don't want to have a large team. You don't want to have a large business, I need to understand what your goals are for your business, first of all, because then we can then go right what's right strategy.
But lets say, for example, you're open to going, you don't want to do everything yourself. You want to get other people involved. My big suggestion, I'd say, just knowing what your personalities and your profiles are, is if you were to have someone that was the opposite profile for you. So ie, that would be someone like a trader, or even an accumulator, who's great at project management, or even a dealmaker, who's great at notching relationships and getting out there to peer to implement strategies from afar.
For example, as an account manager, the ideal situation to be really simplistic about it would be, you know, Phil would be out there, you know, getting your clients for example, being out there in the spotlight. I'm not saying that you can't do that Lauren. And then instead of Phil having to think through a lot of the client briefing and details, if you were to have someone that you are then saying, okay, now we’ve got our account manager, whatever title you give them. Who's more grounded, who's more project based, for example. Then you will actually give the best service to the client to the point of contact. You can meet and get communication at deliverables, making sure the clients getting things on time and also chasing them up as well. And then getting, for example, the creativity from yourself and Lauren, and that way, does that make sense?
So instead of us having to project manage things, the detail or job account management, actually having someone that enjoys that element, that's where real magic can happen.
Phil:
Hmm, that's great. We've been very selfish and during this conversation on us, but actually, I think it's interesting to see how you apply them. So like, I'm going to ask a super simple question, where should people go to take this test themselves.
Osmaan:
So a peek over to my website, which is rapidtransformation.co.uk/brandtherapy and the reason I'm giving you that special link is because it's one thing just knowing your profile, okay? But how you apply it that makes a difference. So for your listeners, as you go into that web page, and again, you can hopefully put that in your show notes as well, for those that are driving or listening at the gym. And what you'll find is, you'll get an overview of the eight different profiles, and it gives you the opportunity for you to think about right I want to know what my profile is what my superpower is, you can do that there. And as a bonus, obviously you saw me deliver the session, which is all about how do you use your superpower when it comes to creating content and marketing your business? I'd love your listeners to be able to see that talk.
So the bonus, you'll get to see that session that I delivered, because that's where the real practical side comes in. You'll get the tips and what you do, what you should avoid doing, what you should be mindful of as well. So, honestly, I'm very biased. but I honestly think every single business owner needs to know their superpower because it makes life easier for them. I remember the first two years of my business thinking, why is it not working? Why am I following that strategy, but it just doesn't seem to connect because it's something wrong with me. And until one of my friends say to me, what's your profile. And that's when the penny dropped. For me. As I said before, I've done so many different personalities. They all have their place. But the wealth dynamics taste is very geared towards business owners and entrepreneurs and it’s very actionable and that's what I love about it.
Phil:
Thank you so much for just giving us so much and just a few minutes. Normally our podcasts interviews go longer than this, but I just feel so satisfied with everything we've done that I want people to just not even delay any further, go take the test. Lauren, I have both done it. And the reason I had you on this was to just, listen, we've done every test, we've done them all, and I feel like this one has a really kind of tangible application. So we really appreciate you spending a few minutes with us exploring that. Thank you.
Osmaan:
Thank you. It's honestly, my pleasure. It's one of the things that frustrates me the most, when, when I'm working with people, or when I see people, they just need some things a little fine tuning. And that's what can make the difference for them. So again, I really hope everybody embraces their superpower. And actually thinking about, well, how do you then have that mindset of you can make things happen in your way, and that's where real fun can happen and your results in business. So it's my pleasure. I could talk about this for hours, as I'm sure you can gather, but anybody doesn't have any questions, you know, after listening to this or even during the test, absolutely reach out to me. I'm really happy to answer anything further Phil.
Phil:
Well, thank you so much. We appreciate you hanging out with us on Brand Therapy and we'll be sure to keep in touch with you.
Osmaan:
Perfect the same. I look forward to meeting you in person Lauren.
Lauren:
And likewise.
Phil:
We'll chat with you soon.
Osmaan:
That was great. Thank you. Thanks for having me on it. Bye bye.
Phil:
Bye bye.
Lauren:
Bye bye.
