SPEAKER_01 0:15

Hi everybody, welcome back to the Be Nice Show. This is Sarah, and welcome if this is your first time. I am so pleased to be back and I'm so excited to introduce the guest today who is an amazing, amazing businesswoman and a nice person all around. Her name is Elizabeth Batella, and she is the founder of the Institute of Achievement and Excellence. She is also an author and business coach, an executive business coach, to be precise. Welcome to the show, Elizabeth.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Thank you for having me on the show, Sarah.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

So pleased to have you here, and I know you're doing a lot of amazing things out there. And to have you on the Be Night show is gratitude. I mean, we're so grateful to have you here, and we look forward, I cannot wait for you to unpack what you have for our audience. And I look forward to learning from you as well, as I always do. And this is one of the reasons because when we started the show, I thought, okay, I need to learn, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who wants to keep learning. And what better way to do that collectively than doing a show like The Be Nice Show to bring on successful people in different walks of life, uh, whether it's health, whether it's nutrition, whether it's uh business, and allow them to share us their stories with us. Oh yes, yes, they agree totally. Yeah, they say success leaves clues. So we want to to to to see from your cup of knowledge today. So happy to have you, Elizabeth.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Yes, it's a pleasure to be on the show. Thank you for having me again, Sarah.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

Right. So before we get started, I know you have so much you'd like to share with us, but I wanted to find out a little bit about yourself, your background, what inspired you to do what you're doing today, and what you did, maybe a little bit what you did prior. Of course, you do you can tell us a little bit about the Institute of Achievement and Excellency.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Mm-hmm. Of course. So I I have worked in the corporate space mainly in male-dominated environments like IT, oil and gas, banking, etc. And I I've been in those spaces for more than 35 years in my corporate career.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

And also lectured at different universities and colleges in the process. And I, you know, informally always either mentored, coached, or in some capacity stepped into leadership roles. And I experienced the challenges that, you know, women face in the corporate world and still face today. And in my conversations with them, I realized that you know that there were the same concerns and questions and challenges that came up in the conversations. And in 2020, I decided, like perhaps most of us, you know, with with the with the pandemic, the shift in priorities, I decided that I wanted to do something different. I wanted to be able to communicate and connect with these women on a grander scale and bring what I have learned in the corporate world and how I was able to be successful and what I have learned over the years to the masses. And hence the uh the Institute for Achievement and Excellence was born.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

Oh wow. And Ginoa, it's amazing. Was it during the lockdown period when you when you launched this?

SPEAKER_02 3:49

It was launched during the lockdown period, but the transition for me happened, you know, perhaps a year or two before that, where I felt I just felt that pull, and then that shift came during that that period. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Do you know what? I feel like the lockdown, the pandemic, and everything pushed us to do things we were scared to do prior, with things we wouldn't have done, maybe would have had excuses not to do. Personally, I was thinking about starting the podcast prior to the pandemic, right? 2019, I was like, I need to communicate, I need to do this. But I was doing it like on a very small, like I was doing some research, pretending to start, procrastinating, and having reasons and excuses not to start. And when the pandemic started, I remember I stepped into that uh space of how can I help? What can I do? And who can I who how do I reach out to people? People at home, people are in their homes, they they have more time to to maybe learn, maybe to start something new. I might as well use this time to actually push myself to start doing the podcast. And initially, I was like, okay, I had there's a huge learning curve because the previous research I had done was based on the fact that we're going to have people in a studio and that's what it was going to be like. But once the pandemic happened, obviously I had to adjust the approach and approach it from a point of view of how do we do this online and and all the little yeah. But uh, I'm so pleased that to hear that you started this, especially during that time, because I mean, uh what better time to start something. And since then, have you seen a change or do you have like people who have come back and gone like, oh, this helped me to do this or to start something, like like maybe some little success stories?

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Yes, because as I said, Sarah, it it changed the perspective for a lot of us. And that change in perspective changed what people wanted for themselves, the outcome they wanted for themselves. Still fundamentally fundamentally wanted to be happy, but the way they approached that happiness and the the choices they made to get to that level of happiness were different for them. And I've had my clients who returned to me as a result of the the change in you know the volatility of the economy, as well as new people who've just you know said that the challenge felt too great and they needed that guidance to take them forward, and hence I've I've had interactions with with both previous and new clients.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Right. So and uh that you've finally taken off, because obviously you had to go through the transition period and then that say smooth sale. Have you approached that smooth sale?

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yes. Um, I would say yes and no, yes, in the sense that the business has taken off, obviously. But no in the sense that we're always growing, we're always learning. So there's always room for improvement, and as a result, there will always be challenges to face. So it things are never totally and entirely smooth, but yes, they are evening off a bit now.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Would you be so kind and tell us a little bit about the the Institute of Excellence and what they do, what you do, and who you help, who you work with, just so we get an idea of what it is and who it would or who would benefit from it.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Of course. So the the Institute for Achievement and Excellence, it's it's all about uh the focus is women, although anyone can benefit from it, the focus is women and helping them elevate their careers or their businesses by removing blockers such as you know, confidence, anxiety, etc. In a in a in other words, helping them level up. And this is done by an approach called the three forces in achieving excellence framework. And what that framework does is it looks at the person, the individual, and helps them level up in a holistic way, so that there are no facets that are left unturned. And in the three forces of achieving excellence, we look at the identity of the person, that's one force, the connections that person has with his or herself and others, and then the status of that individual. And in each of the three forces, there are three life areas. So we end up with nine life areas in total that we look at and we help the individual rise to the occasion in each of those nine life areas.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Oh, beautiful, beautiful. Is this based on the fact that you worked with different people and you saw certain things repeating themselves regardless of whether it was where you where you lectured or where you worked, the the elements that you picked up?

SPEAKER_02 8:50

Yes, in in my conversations with with others, it it it tends they tended to fall into one or different nine nine life buckets, as I call them, the nine life areas. And what I've realized is that any focus on any one aspect without giving energy to other aspects, it usually did not work in the person's favor. And I'm speaking here on a personal level and on a professional level, because we are all complex human beings. Yeah, not complicated, but I would say complex. And as a result, as a result, you know, sometimes the solutions are simple but can be complex because that's who we are as individuals. And what I have found is that these nine life areas, it they are touch points across all the facets that can help someone really level up and achieve the fulfillment that they are looking for in their personal and professional lives.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Right, beautiful. So I'm here thinking, say, for example, if I'm out there listening to you talk right now, and I've got questions going through my mind, and I'm sitting on the edge, I'm like, I need to do this, but will the will I succeed? Will I fail? Will I do what message would you give to that woman who is out there? Say she's planning to start her own business. She's trying to, she's she's got all the knowledge, but she hasn't been able to apply that. And she's like, we're talking about, we're going to talk about the successful woman, but if we could start with this woman who is on the edge of starting, like she she's tired of doing the corporate world, she wants to step into her own power. Maybe she wants to create something. Let's say she wants to become an interior designer, right? And she's got all the knowledge, she has the she has she has what it takes, but she lacks the business aspect of it, the business side of things. What message would you give her today? Like, where would they start from? Just just like a little tip for them to sort of go like, okay, I can do it. Because many people think, oh, you know what? I don't even know where to start from. I will not touch this. Much as it is my desire, I cannot touch it because I don't know where to start from. What would you tell that woman today?

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Wow. And I say, wow, Sarah, because that is a massive question, a fantastic question, but a big one about. So let me break that down. First of all, what I would like to say to your audience is simply take a breath and realize that you are where you need to be. There is nothing wrong with you. You are not broken because you can't achieve what you want to achieve yet. Yeah? Right. Yet. So there's nothing wrong with you. Yes, there may be aspects of your life that require a bit of tweaking, a bit of improving to help you achieve what you would like to achieve, but you have what it takes to achieve anything you want. So let's get that one out of the way.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

Right? The second thing is as women, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. A lot of pressure. And on many occasions, it's undue pressure. So, what I would say is when you are assessing yourself, and there are different ways that you can assess yourself. So, for instance, you know, speaking to loved ones who have your best interests at heart and who want to see you succeed, you know, taking time and really thinking about who you are on your internal compass or taking an assessment. For instance, on my website, there is an assessment, a free one, that helps you measure yourself across all of the nine life areas so that you can get an idea. It gives you a spider diagram at the end, and you can get an idea of the areas that maybe needs a bit of tweaking here and there. Okay. But the most important thing is being aware of your personal resources. Now, when I say personal resources, I'm talking here about three things. One is your level of energy, two is your level of finances. So your energy, your finances, as well as you know, your your support system in terms of time and time. So time, energy, and finances. Now, the reason why I say that you you need to take stock of that is let's say, for instance, your health is not you know great and you may not have enough time because you are working full-time while you're trying to build your business. You cannot possibly achieve, or it will be difficult, I should say, or challenging to achieve the same momentum that someone who has access to funds has time on their side and is burst in with energy.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Yeah. So you cannot measure yourself against that other individual or those other individuals. So you have to look at yourself as a unique individual and say, okay, with the existing time, energy, and resources I have, what is feasible? What can I actually accomplish on a consistent basis? Right? And then you look at what can you accomplish on that consistent basis without overwhelming yourself. Because many women, we get overwhelmed because we have so many things going on, Sarah, you know, in our personal life. It's just crazy. Now that women accomplish. Exactly. Exactly. So, you know, if for instance, let's let's take the example of you want to build a business and you know you have 10 things to do. Realistically, you may not be able to accomplish those 10 things in one week. But can you do three? It means in the next three and a half weeks, you would have been able to accomplish those 10 things. You see? So it's all of those things wrapped up in one. So I would say be aware of who you are in terms of your time, your your energy, and your finances. Understand what you need to accomplish. Understand your, you know, your your areas for tweaking, your your the areas that you would like to improve, and take it one step at a time. Have a plan for yourself and take it one step at a time.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

I love I love that where you said break it down. One of my favorite approaches or strategies is chunking, right? And I realize that sometimes when you look at the bigger picture, we I used to get overwhelmed just looking at, oh my gosh, I need to accomplish all of these things. I need to to build this and have all these many things to do, or I need to do all these many things. And I came across a blog, and this person I followed for so many years now, and one tip that I took from them was 1% every day. That one percent at the end of the year adds up to 360%. And you won't even it's when I when you come to the 360 days, you look back and you look back at how much you've achieved in that period of time, whereas you didn't feel overwhelmed every day. So if you're listening and you feel stuck, take Elizabeth's approach. Break these things down, understand who you are, what you're capable of, understand your weaknesses and strengths, and work with what you have instead of looking for what you don't have. Work with what you have. Self-awareness is one of those things that I talk about every day. Until we know ourselves, we're not going to be able to even serve the world, right? So, and I was wondering, so you have the at the institute of achievement and success. If say, if say I'm a solopreneur, but I'm sort of like middle, like in the middle, I'm not starting, but I'm somewhere in the middle, and I'm looking at scaling my business, I'm looking at growing, and and I decide, okay, I want to come to you, but then my strength, I know my strengths, but for my weaknesses, I've got a couple of people that I'm bringing or are working as as part of my team. Can I bring them alongside together to the to the to the Institute of Achievement? Or do you think of course?

SPEAKER_02 17:13

Yes, of course. So so the how it works, Sarah, is that there are different offerings. So there are online masterclasses, right? It doesn't require my input. It can be done in the the you know the comfort of someone's home privately by them. I don't get to see the results, etc. So they can do this on their own without my intervention. Then there is the QA side of things where as a group, if you have done the program, we can meet and discuss the contents of the program and how it affects you and how it affects your team or whoever has, you know, completed the program. Then there is the other step up, which is the coaching, where we really go in depth. And with the coaching, I can do it as a group session or I can do it one-on-one. Because many people who are leveling up prefer to have it's it's very personal and they prefer the one-on-one touch point as opposed to having it done in a group, whereas others enjoy the community aspect of it and don't mind opening up and sharing. So it depends on what the client wants. And then from there, if it's a business, I can then continue to provide consultancy or stay on as a paid advisor to the organization and the business or the individual. So those are the different offerings.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

All right. And how about a woman who is successful? She's an executive director, she is she is up there, right? But she's got other things going on and she's she's struggling. Would you would you be able to work? Do you work with her like on a one-to-one, or do you send them through the same process as well? The same process of doing the course, the masterclass, and the Q ⁇ A's before you work with them on one-to-one. I'm trying to understand your your system, how you you do that.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

So everything is built around the individual. There are some, depending on where they are in the scale, may need to do the program. And then there are others who would not need to do the program and can simply do the coaching with me. The whole idea is for it to be individual. So when I speak to the person, you know, we decide because there may be some people who don't need the program but still want to go through the program anyway before we have those conversations. Yeah? So I speak with that individual. Now, if it's a high-profile executive or C-suite, which I am qualified, formally qualified to train and to coach, she may not need to go through the program. But at the end of the day, you know, ultimately, Sarah, we are all human beings. And regardless of what title we have or how many people we manage, we all need a certain mindset in order to survive in this crazy world. Yeah. So because someone is at an executive or C-suite level doesn't mean that that person, you know, doesn't require help or may not benefit from the program or may only benefit from coaching. It it doesn't matter. We work together and decide what's best for the individual at that time, and then we apply those as we go on.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

And ideally, how long would it take for someone to go through the program? Like roughly? Is it like scheduled like weekly or when it when I finish one module, I check on the next module? How how does that work?

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Again, we can't we return to return to energy, time, all right? Energy and time, because we once you you pay for the program, you pay for the program. It's it's yours for as long as the program is on the platform. But if we look at energy and time, if you are a full-time student, you can do the entire program in as little as six weeks if you're you're at it full-time and you have the energy to you know to go through it and you you you have the momentum and you have the discipline to sit there and go through it, then fine, in six weeks, you know, two months, it can be done. If you are a mom, a working mom, and you're you're working full-time or have multiple jobs, and this is something you can only do once, one, two, three hours a week, then it will take longer. Now there is no set time that you have to start and complete it. It is entirely up to you, and there's also no hard and fast sequence through which you must go through the program. You can you can dip in and dip out in any of the modules that you feel is beneficial to you, or you can go through it sequentially. It is entirely up to you. It is very flexible.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

And for someone listening, for you listening out there, I wanted to share like some of the tricks that have helped me in my learning process. When I did programs like yours, I would I would I like to apply, right? So, in a way, it would seem like it's taking me much longer to complete the program. But believe me, you, when you do something, when you study that thing and you set your goals and go like, okay, it can also, I feel like it can help you to plan your journey as a businesswoman, as an entrepreneur, it helps you to plan your journey because you're learning from someone who has been there, who has put all these tapes together for you. And you go in there, you learn one module, you come back, you go and apply that in your business, in your life, in your whichever area you want to apply that to, and then you see things change and you come back for the second cup. You drink that cup and you go and share that cup. I feel like that to me that that has worked amazingly well because one, it gives me the chance to not only have the knowledge, but the wisdom, the wisdom to be able to share that, to apply that, and that in a way helps you to retain even what you've learned instead of just sitting down. That that is my personal way of doing it. But you do what feels right for you. If you're just starting, sometimes you want to go through with through the whole program, and then you come back and apply. And again, this can be great for someone who's just starting out, like someone who's just going out in that world and like, okay, what is what should I expect? And I believe, like, when you go through the program, you're going to go like, okay, this is what is to to this is what I should expect. Like, in this is what my life is going to look like. And then maybe you get the tools that you need and everything, and then you come back and tackle one program at a time. But please, I know so many people do programs that they don't apply them. And they go like, I've done this, I've done that, none of them work for me. Well, they only work when you do.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

You have to apply them for them to work, right? It's just like a car, it won't drive itself. You have to drive it.

SPEAKER_02 24:00

Yes, yes. But what I what I would say is that everything has been made simple. So I'm not saying necessarily easy, but the steps to implement are simple and minimal. You know, if you don't even want to implement this the steps, there are challenges that you can you can you can give yourself. Like for instance, one of the one of the the the areas, it talks about dealing with stress, as we all have to.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

And there is something called the six S's. And one of the S's has to do with smile. And one of the challenges is simply you have to smile with at least one person you don't know during your commute or on a daily basis for one week. You have to do that every day for one week. Oh my goodness, right? And some people freak out, and then some people do it. I have one lady who did it, and she said to me, It felt so great. I thought no one would have returned my smile, and every person I smiled to, they they returned it in in kind, and it felt great. And she continued to do the challenge as, you know, not every day, but as part of her daily life going forward.

SPEAKER_03 25:06

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

So some of it, some of it, you know, it's not all doom and gloom. It's it's it can be fun as well. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

Maybe it's a challenge I should take on as well. So uh I realize you have a book. Congratulations on that. Would you like to tell us a little bit about your book, please?

SPEAKER_02 25:24

Sure. So the book is called Level Up to Move Up: The Three Forces in Achieving Excellence. And again, it's all about incorporating the framework and the nine life areas into your own life so that you can, you know, live that fulfilling personal and professional life. And what I would like your audience to understand as well is, you know, you hear the word nine and think, oh my goodness, this is too much. No, no, no, no, not at all. Remember, it's like a details, think of it like a dimmer switch. And I constantly say, you are not broken. You are not broken, but the dimmer switch with every life area that you tweak, you shine that bit brighter.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

And that's all it that's all it is. That is all it is. You can take what works for you, discard the rest. You don't have to get it perfect. Excellence is not about perfection, it's just about doing the best you can with the resources you have at that time consistently. That's it.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Brilliant.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

So don't overthink it.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

And is it one of those practical books that you don't just hear back sit back and read, but you actually get to apply the things that you've read?

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Yes. So again, in the book, there are you know challenges, there are questions posed, there are things that you can implement, there are tips, techniques, tricks, tools, that you know, it's it's 30 years, 40 years almost of knowledge, success on my end, what I've learned from others, what people have discussed with me, all crammed in to that single book.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

And where can one find the book?

SPEAKER_02 27:02

Uh it's a it's available on Amazon. So if if you were to type in Level Up to Move Up, the three forces in achieving excellence, or Level Up to Move Up, Elizabeth Batala, it will it will come show on Amazon.

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Right.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

And it's available in both Kindle and Paperback.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

Okay, I'll check it out. I I would have loved to have read it before this, but uh it's been a crazy, crazy few weeks, seriously. But uh, I'll definitely check it out. I'm constantly forever reading. And as we come to a close, I wondered some words of wisdom, some words of oh, first of all, if somebody wanted to get in touch with you today or tomorrow or whenever they listen to this, how can they do that?

SPEAKER_02 27:50

The easiest way is going to my website, and that's Achievement and Excellence. The and is spelled out Achievementand Excellence.com. And at the bottom of the landing page, all of my social handles are there. So that's the easiest way. Achievementandexcellence.com.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

Achievementandexcellence.com. And your email as well if they wanted to send you an email, is it on the website?

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Yes, it's elisabeth.batala at achievementandexcellence.com.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Brilliant. So any words of wisdom? I like words of wisdom. What is your anyone that you live by that you tell yourself every day that someone can yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

What I would say is regardless of your current situation, you are where you are. You know, forget about the past for a second. Don't overly worry too much about the future. There is a concern, but don't let it overwhelm you. All I can say is again, start where you are, use what you have, and do the best that you can, but do it consistently, regardless of how small it may seem. Great things are built on small, consistent steps. So that's all that is required of you. And you will be surprised in one month, two months, three months, how far you would have gone.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

It snowballs in the end. It it builds up, you'll be amazed what happens after a while. Like, oh wow, I used to do this and now I'm doing this, and then like you know, beautiful, beautiful. Thank you so much, Elizabeth. It's been such a pleasure having you on the show, and I look forward to touching best with you sometime soon. What do you have on your plates for 2023?

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Just more of what I'm doing, you know, in a grander scale. Enjoying it every step of the way. Enjoying it every step of the way, yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Do you by any chance do speaking engagements or anything like that?

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yes, I do speaking engagements as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Oh, beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Absolutely. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 29:52

Well, if you're listening, you know what to do. You know what? There is very few women speakers out there. And uh, if you've been on the circuit, like wherever you go, it's mainly men, men, men, men. And I remember I went one time, I went like, hang on a minute, we need women. Women do things differently, women have a different touch to these things. We need women to do this. So I'm pleased to hear that you're doing that. And thank you so much once again. And to our dear listeners, thank you so much. And so please, and I look forward to next time. Until then, be nice.

SPEAKER_04 30:31

Thank you for tuning in to the latest episode of the Be Nice Show. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google store, Spotify for the latest show, or visit www.terabe nice.co.uk forward slash podcast. Stay tuned for the next episode. Be nice.