Accountability

Finding the Time to Live a Balanced Life with Gina Cotner

Oct 20, 2021 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Delegation, Podcast Appearance, Productivity, Remote Work, Uncategorized

Athena Executive Services CEO Gina Cotner was recently a guest on Robyn Crane’s podcast, “Growing Your Financial Business…The Woman’s Way”.

Outsourcing work or expanding your team can be scary, especially if you’ve always handled it on your own. But if you follow Gina’s advice (and relinquish a little control), then you just mind discover the balanced life you always dreamed of.

Gina and Robyn discuss:

> Freeing yourself up for the work that matters
> Time management and the pain of overbooking
> Setting boundaries with an assistant
> The dos and don’ts of delegating work

Check out the full episode here!

“This was such a treat to get to be with Robyn Crane and talk about my favorite topics! Delegation and gracefully giving away those tasks and projects that are NOT the highest and best use of you and your unique talents!”

~Gina Cotner, CEO

B students, be proud!

Sep 30, 2021 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Productivity

I saw an article like this one last month and it made me smile. Yep, I was a B student!

I graduated from high school with a 3.25 GPA and from college with a 2.75 GPA. Not exactly what mom and dad hoped for, yet paid a lot of money for, but it really did all turn out. I’m 49 years old, semi-retired and working about 10 hours per week.

This article explains it pretty well.

After reflecting on this notion about B students as CEOs and Leaders, I have so appreciated being in that crowd! It makes great sense. I’m competent in a lot of parts of business and not an expert in any of them. I’m 85% knowledgeable about Marketing, about HR, Finances, Operations, Sales, Lead Generation, Management, etc. I know when I’m out of my depth and it’s time to call my attorney, CPA, bookkeeper, insurance broker or coach. I’m not afraid to say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please explain.”

It turns out that my super power (taught in no high school or college class) has to do with leadership and people development. A mix of emotional intelligence and spending years learning about the design of human beings somehow led me to a place where I cherish being a leader of people, a developer of great people and making the biggest difference I can for those around me.

Gina Cotner, CEO

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, delegating thinking and fuzzy sweaters!

Sep 8, 2021 | About Athena, Accountability, Business, Delegation, Podcast Appearance, Productivity, Remote Work

Athena CEO Gina Cotner recently had a fantastic conversation with Erin Keam on her podcast, “Erin Keam’s Conversations about Closets with my Closest 1000 friends”.

The two talk delegation, breaking free to get back to the things you are truly passionate about, and so much more!

Check the podcast episode here.

Moving from Delegating Tasks to Delegating Thinking

Aug 10, 2021 | Accountability, Business, Delegation, Getting Started with an EA, Productivity

I’ve been expanding my knowledge and abilities around delegating in this last year. I consider myself an expert delegator in many ways, but there is always more to master and new things to discover. I’ve been moving myself from simply delegating well-defined tasks and projects to a world of Delegating Thinking.

I got off a call today that I had to force myself to cut short. I said to this person, “I need you to do the critical thinking on this and then send me what you’ve got.” We were working on an agenda for a meeting. I gave him some areas and ideas to think from and I noticed he kept asking me questions. I was pulled to want to stay on the line and keep answering his questions. He would have happily and expertly executed my thoughts and put them on paper in a way that I wanted. But what I really wanted was his thinking mixed with mine. I realized in the moment that the more questions I answered for him, the less of his thinking I would get.

There is more to be found about this in this article, plus other valuable ideas for how to get more out of delegating.

Harvard Business Review article, “You’re Delegating. It’s Not Working. Here’s Why.”

The Joy Of Not Being Accountable

Jul 21, 2021 | About Athena, Accountability, Delegation, Productivity

A few weeks ago I wrote this blog on how I was preparing to completely relax and recharge on my upcoming vacation. Well… I did it! I did the real work and it paid off. The Operations Manager at Athena, Jennifer Tracy, was a Rockstar. It wasn’t all smooth sailing while I was gone, and she did really well with the challenges that came at her. She didn’t shy away from them, or say, “We’ll wait until Gina returns from vacation and sort that out.” She kept moving all things forward.

I read NO email while on vacation for 10 days. None. I pushed my email app off of my home screen, so that I’d have to be a real culprit and go digging for it if I wanted to read my email. I managed to not be a culprit.

When I returned from vacation, Jennifer and I debriefed. This is when you learn the real strength of your people. I said to her, “Ok, start with the worst stuff first.” She did and it turns out he “worst” wasn’t that bad, partly because she knows better than to let issues fester. She swoops in, rolls up her sleeves and takes action to get things resolved quickly. Hallelujah!

Why am I so adamant about turning everything over so thoroughly when I go on vacation? Why not just check my phone a little bit each day? What I have discovered is that the most rejuvenating and re-fueling and nurturing part of time off or vacation, is not the location you’re going to, or what you do or don’t do while on vacation, but rather that you have the opportunity to not be accountable for your usual work and projects, for a period of days. That is what allows me to mentally, physically and emotionally recharge – the lack of accountability, more so than the pina colada on the pool deck (and that’s cool too!).

The more you “give” in life and the more you provide for others, the more you need to recharge, and knowing how to recharge is critical.

Would you like to know my specific tips and ideas for crafting your own time away from the office with intention? I share this and more in our latest newsletter. I personally write our newsletter on topics such as Life Balance, Working Values, Delegation, Remote Teams, Effectiveness and the latest on what’s happening at Athena.

Subscribe Today!

~Gina Cotner, CEO