Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

Consultants > Jocelyne Morin-Nurse

Embedded executive consultant | Leadership/team trainer | Forbes Business Council Employee Empowerment Chair

Attracting and retaining amazing individuals is only part of the equation. The best talent in the world can only make up so much for broken systems.

That's where I come in.

I work with you to achieve your business goals by providing expertise and insight. I will teach you how to unleash the real magic of a business focused on both the people AND the profits.

If you're looking to maximize your company’s potential, driving growth and success, let’s work together to develop a customized strategy that fits your unique needs.

From leadership and management to marketing and operations, we’ll cover all the key areas that drive success.

We could collaborate by:

1. Embedded executive consulting. Where, through regular communication, I will work with you to identify the most significant blockers in your business, uncover the next biggest differentiator in its growth, plan to improve efficiency, streamline processes, develop new growth opportunities, tackle new challenges, and more.

2. Leadership and team training. Where I will work with you to unlock the full potential of your leaders. It could be through our at-your-pace courses, masterclasses, or customized training. All combine hands-on experience with expert coaching to help leaders develop the skills they need to drive results. Each implementation-style training is designed to improve essential leadership skills such as: communicating effectively, efficient decision-making, skillfully navigating team dynamics, and balancing business and beings. The goal is to bring out the best in your leaders and give them the confidence and tools they need to succeed.

Why am I qualified to teach this? Because I've been there and done it. I've been called an “architect of success” possessing an “impressive understanding of business.” In a career that took me from public service to entrepreneur to CEO of a software company while growing my own leadership training company, I discovered a passion for impactful leadership, employee empowerment, sustainable growth, and business agility.

I've led teams of 40+ members, managed operations through crisis and transformation, redesigned recruiting processes, and overhauled business financials leading to profitability and measured growth.

Through my company, Loxentus Inc., I provide executive consulting and impactful leadership training to achieve your business goals.

I'm a frequent podcast guest, have my own Youtube channel where I speak about leadership and entrepreneurship, and I'm the Chair of the Forbes Business Council's Employee Empowerment group and a member of the Women Executives and Public Speaking groups.

Contact me! And let's talk about how I can help transform your team and your business.

Areas of Expertise

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Business Coaching
Leadership Coaching

Recruiting
Talent Management

Industry Experience

Professional Services
Software

Testimonials

“In the years I’ve collaborated with Jocelyne, especially in her role as an executive, I’ve been impressed by her understanding of business and the successful transformative results she's achieved.”

- F. Stephen Fishel, Director of Tax & Advisory Services, SIMA Financial Group, Inc.

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“Collaborating with Jocelyne on creating a powerful training workshop for leaders was a great experience. We've teamed up again since then and are likely to join forces on other special projects in the future.”

- Lara Wellman, Founder & CEO, of The Biz Studio

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"Jocelyne Morin-Nurse is fiercely dedicated to creating a workplace environment where employees are engaged, invested, and committed to creating a people-centred approach to collaboration and inclusion at work. If you wanted to have a meaningful and in-depth conversation about people-centric leadership, then Jocelyne Morin-Nurse would be a great and authentic place to start."

- Kevin McShan, Motivational Speaker and Journalist, Let’s Have This Conversation

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"Jocelyne was a guest for my “15-Minute RESET” podcast and radio show, and she’s just a really polished entrepreneur, author, and speaker. I found her to be not only delightful, but powerful. I feel she’s fast-tracking toward many great things."

- Lori Carrese, 360 Talk Radio for Women

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"Thank you, Jocelyne Morin-Nurse! I have learned so much through your guidance. Thank you for seeing my potential and helping me realize it!"

- Melissa Todd, Operations Specialist, Corgibytes, LLC.

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“I interviewed Jocelyne for my podcast, Leadership Secrets. She was fun and easy to interview, and her leadership journey is so interesting and relatable. It ended up being a great conversation full of high-quality leadership advice.”

- Barry Moline, Author, CONNECT! How to Quickly Collaborate for Success in Business and Life

My Content

Want to know more about my business and leadership philosophy?

One great way to get to know me better is by watching a few of my business videos made especially for entrepreneurs and leaders. Check out my channel here: https://youtube.com/@jocelynemorinnurse. And while you're there, subscribe! ---------- If...

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Earned Confidence, a Powerful Leadership Tool

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Earned Confidence, a Powerful Leadership Tool

Recently, I was chatting with a fellow business owner about training their new leaders. As part of that conversation, we talked about the importance of new leaders finding ways to build their leadership confidence.

There are some very real consequences to both having leaders who are recklessly confident and those who are unjustifiably insecure.

So how do we create conditions that will encourage new leaders to find that middle ground where they are both confident yet still able to lead with humility?

Think ahead

Ideally, it starts before you promote them. If you have a tendency of promoting internally, then you've probably already identified individuals that you feel would make great formal leaders.

And before you just assume that they want that responsibility, check with them because they may not be interested. Not everyone wants to lead a team. It doesn't make them bad people or bad employees! It's just a choice.

Some people love what they do right now and they want to do it for the rest of their careers or at least for the foreseeable future. Why move them out of something that they're really good at, that they love to do, just to put them in a position where they have no real interest in being. So make sure that it's something that they actually want to do.

Assuming that they are interested in a more formal type of leadership role, start by providing them with opportunities to further exercise that mindset muscle by placing them in leadership-type situations when it makes sense. An example of that could be, for example, if you have a particular problem, a particular challenge that you need a solution to, maybe you put together a working group and you place that person in charge of the working group.

Of course, provide them with some guidelines. You don't want to just toss them in there and say “Good luck!” Tell them what you are looking for. The kind of solutions you are looking for.

Once you've done that, see what they can do and let them lead the group. Again, provide them with some guidelines though. You don't want it to be an entire waste of time, and you do want to set them up for success. That is the point: you want them to build their success portfolio. So give them a little bit of guidance as to, again, exactly what you're looking for, what the problem is, a little bit of strategy maybe, and then let them navigate that situation.

The type of skills that they would exercise in a group like that would be leadership – how do they lead a group? Then, embracing healthy conflict – because I'm sure there are going to be diverse points of views. And if there aren't, if everybody is just agreeing, that's a little suspicious. Make sure that the person is able to dig deeper to ensure that it's not just everyone agreeing because maybe there's a problem with the culture and people are concerned about speaking their minds, so we want to confirm that this is not the case.

Another possibility could be for you to pull them in and include them in solving a challenge that you're facing yourself or that their supervisor is facing. Then, they get to see how you go about making decisions, what you take into account, and then probably the strategy would be also included in that.

This would also help show them how you match up vision, mission, strategy with operational issues and how that all comes together. Depending on the situation, you may even take them through a SWOT exercise – strengths, weaknesses, opportunity, threats – or through a quick risk assessment of some sort. That might be helpful as well.

But what all of this does is exercise that leadership mindset muscle to help build that success library for them to refer to. So when they do fail, and as I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely believe that failure is inevitable. Failure will happen. And it's all about what you do when it happens. How are you going to react? As I addressed in another article, it's how are you going to teach your team to fail? And this is a great way to showcase that and get them ready. The risk there, especially as a new leader, is that their confidence will get shattered if they don't have that success library. The more you advance in career, experience, age, you usually have this much broader frame of reference of successes, and therefore, when that inevitable failure appears, you're much better equipped to deal with it. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. I'm just saying that you are more equipped to deal with it, and it is unlikely that it will shatter you like it would a new leader.

And this is why we're trying to build that up. As part of that effort of trying to build that up, I would suggest even a reflection exercise at the end of the week where they note their successes in a place that they can refer to later. That way, whenever something isn't going the way they planned it, then they can refer to that and be like “Okay, this didn't go as planned. Here's what we're going to do to fix it. But, also, here are things that did go as planned.”

Encourage to push through the fear
Another thing is to encourage them to push through the fear. Reality is being placed in a position of leadership can be scary if you've never done it or if the last experience was absolutely terrible. There might be that fear that this isn't going to work out or I'm not going to work out or whatever fear there is.

Help them manage that.

One of the ways is to create conditions where it's okay for them to volunteer for certain tasks or projects. When they take these on, be there for them. Help guide their thinking and finding solutions to fix whatever that thing is.

It's, again, part of that whole teaching your team to fail. By doing that, you're also teaching them to manage that fear by changing the narrative in their minds.

I want to be really careful here.

It's not about pretending that there is no risk. It's not about saying, “I am not afraid. I can do this.” Yes, you can. And it's okay to feel the fear. It's just taking it, acknowledging that there is a risk, and taking that feeling and then putting it in a place where you can move it from an emotional place to a more intellectual place.

It's all about creating a plan to mitigate the risks so that this mindset shift happens. It's framing it differently to become more curious and consider what if things do work out? Think about the positive impact of leading with integrity.

That's one example of how you can help them push through the fear and move it from that emotional place to a more intellectual place by planning, strategizing, scenario creating, etc.

After doing this a few times, they should start getting the hang of it, and it's going to, hopefully, boost their confidence in such a manner that they will know how to handle whatever comes their way.

Confidence really does grow by pushing through fear and discovering what we're capable of accomplishing. And we'll realize that we really can do so much more than we think we can. It's just a question of pushing through.

Don’t let them go at it alone!

Another important aspect is to not let them go at it alone. If you're promoting a few new leaders, try to create some form of cohort where they can encourage each other. And if you're concerned about having leaders in different departments, I would say, that may be potentially even better, because then they can provide each other with different perspectives from the organization itself such as different operational perspectives.

Therefore, they may be able to provide each other with different ideas. So if you have more than one person, try to get them together. It might also provide them with a safe space where they can vent. Reality is sometimes things are frustrating and there's nothing we can do. And sometimes, we just need to talk about it. We want to be careful though. We certainly don't want it to become toxic.

There is that risk. So perhaps that would require a little bit of training on how to navigate emotion in a healthy way so that it doesn't just become a vent-fest and then nothing productive comes out of it.

But for now, being able to just let it out is not a bad thing. As long as we keep it from turning into resentment that spreads.

If there is no cohort or there's only one person, maybe you can pair them with a seasoned leader, whenever possible, to potentially give them perspective and lead them in finding appropriate solutions and provide them with some form of proper guidance.

There are many organizations who send their new leaders on a two-day course, or whatever and figure their members are all set. No, they're not set.

Just saying, “Okay, you're a new leader, take this one course, you're good.” That's not enough. You can't just let them be after that “one thing” because it's not integrated yet. It's not a habit yet. And it needs time to become a habit. It needs time to become a mindset. And the risk of doing that is having these potentially exceptional leaders just be swallowed up in operations. So, as much as possible provide them with that consistent support until it becomes a habit, until it becomes a true mindset and integrated mindset for that new leader. And I'm not saying it has to be a huge time commitment. It can be, let’s say an hour every other week if your operations really can't support it. And if you can't do that, well, what about once a month? Maybe you provide them with consistent support once a month. And, at that pacing, maybe you provide it to them for a quarter. And if it's just once a month, maybe you do it for the first six months or best case a year. Try to support them to help really integrate the learnings and navigate through the complexities of being a new leader

Compliments are nice but…

Something I really want to address here is, even though it's nice to receive compliments from the team, it's really important for these new supervisors, these new leaders, to understand that yes, compliments from the team are nice. Having a team member say, “Hey, you're doing a good job” is awesome. It feels great.

At the same time, it is not up to the team members to boost their supervisors self-confidence. You absolutely want to guard against new leaders seeking that form of approval from the team.

Once it happens, it's hard to break. And then these new leaders are always just seeking approval and then they can't become effective leaders because effective leaders sometimes have to do things that aren't popular. They may even be in a position, at some point, where they will need to terminate that person or lay them off. So make sure that your new leader understands that. Yes, it's fantastic to hear when a team member thinks that you're doing great… and it's not their responsibility to make that new leader feel good about themselves and boost their self-confidence. Make sure they understand that and make sure that they have other ways of building that self-confidence.

As a leader – new or more experienced – you absolutely want to be authentically supportive and genuinely invested in team member's success, not in seeking approval. That's really the end goal here.

And leaders need to find other ways of building that self-confidence up for themselves. Whether a leader finds that in a group, with seasoned leaders, or other avenues such as through accomplishments, it doesn't matter as long as it keeps building and as long as they're guided through that exercise.

When a leader does not have that base of self-assurance, it will create conditions where that person is unable to provide the team with the support they need to do their best and it creates conditions where feedback is threatening. If that new leader is relying on the team for self-confidence, they will not be able to listen to feedback. If the team is telling them something and they feel otherwise, they are going to perceive it as criticism, as opposed to a team member bringing something up to their attention for them to deal with.

To help new leaders avoid building up “bad leadership habits”, take the time to support them and guide them so that they can become the conscientious, supportive, and yet efficient leaders that you recognized in the first place.

Crazy Idea or Business Opportunity?

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Crazy Idea or Business Opportunity?

Phil Knight, the creator of Nike, once said: “History is one long processional of crazy ideas. The things I loved most – books, sports, democracy, free enterprise – started as crazy ideas.”

Let's face it. Entrepreneurs are usually known for having a ton of ideas. They're idea-making machines. And it might be tempting, as a small business owner who's looking to grow, to try all these ideas. That infamous shiny object syndrome. “This is exciting, let's try this.” “That is exciting. Let's try that.”

But what quick framework could you use to begin evaluating whether you should explore pursuing your latest “crazy idea”?

Is there a market for it?

The very first thing to consider: is their market for it? Are there people with access to money who will be willing to part with their hard-earned cash for what you're offering? Because if you're targeting a group that can't afford what you're offering, that's problematic.

Of course, if it's something that you're doing because you want to add some, almost like non-profit offerings to your organization, let's say you want to embrace more B-Corp type values and you are trying to encourage groups that are struggling, and you're trying to help them elevate themselves or their skills or something like that, that's a whole other story. Then, you would evaluate that differently. But if you're looking to add profitable offerings to your existing business because you want it to grow, that's the context I’m referring to. In that context, you want to make sure that whoever you're targeting is able and willing to pay for this offering.

Before quickly dismissing your ideas, really dig into it. Because if somebody's willing to pay for it because they're looking for hobbies, that is also a potential.

As an example, I personally know this really great artist in the Denver area who recently added an offering to her small business: painting murals. On the surface, one may be tempted to think: “Who's going to pay for that?” There's a huge market for it! Personal: decorating their backyard a little bit, having it done in their child's room, the nursery, etc. And business: such as vacation rental owners who want to have their properties stand out from the competition. What better way than having these beautiful murals showcasing the area that it is being rented in?

As I said, on the surface, it may seem like there is little-to-no market for it but when you dig into it, the market is absolutely there and a lot of individuals are absolutely willing to pay for the quality of the work because it's going to help their business as well.

Think about that kind of win-win. Again, it could be hobbies as well. People are looking for hobbies and they need to learn how to do things.

Another important aspect of evaluating whether there's a market for it is asking whether it is trending upward or downward? Are people looking to buy more of these things or fewer of these things?

Let's say you're looking at selling DVDs, personally, I would say it's definitely trending downward because streaming has been on the upward for a long time. And, as we know, Netflix made that amazing transition, which was quite impressive, to go from DVD rental company to streaming company. It is a nice pivot. Of course, if you're thinking that you want to cater to a niche group, that’s okay, but you really still have to dig into whether that niche group is truly dedicated. Will they continue to purchase? As with vinyl, there's a niche audience that is absolutely into it, great. But you really need to know whether this is something that is going to stay within a smaller scale or whether it's something that can potentially scale larger.

Since we’re talking about a small business that's looking to grow and add services, make sure that you know the size of that audience, what kind of revenue it can potentially bring in, and whether that audience is growing or reducing.

Does it make sense for your business?

Another important item to evaluate in this potentially “crazy idea” is: does it make sense for your business? Does it complement your current offerings or is it simply going to confuse your audience? Is it something that your audience is going to “get”?

Taking an example from television, there was something like “Daisy's Fine Catering and Bait and Tackle Shop”. To an audience, that could be really confusing.

Even though that's an example from a TV show, be aware that maybe the offering doesn't make sense. And the hard part here is, as an entrepreneur, you're usually very excited about your new idea. The temptation is to rationalize that. “Of course it makes sense!”.

To avoid that, get some perspective. Consult others on the team. Keep an open mind. Be prepared to hear what you don't want to hear. That it really doesn't fit in with the current offerings.

Also, if you have clients that are very close to you, that's an opportunity to test the idea. Approach them and get their opinion. Ask them: “Hey, I'm considering offering this thing. What would you think? Generally speaking, as a client, how do you feel about that type of offering?”

If their answer is: “I don't get it. Are you going to be offering this within the same company?” Then that's a clue that it's not so much of a good fit.

When it's not a good fit, don't force it because it's a cool idea.

If you really must pursue it because you're thinking this thing could really take off. Consider separating it from your main offerings. Maybe even launch a separate LLC and do it under there to avoid potentially negatively impacting your existing business. For example, by confusing your messaging where the audience won't really know what you're doing, which could be problematic in attracting new business. Or from a spending perspective. Because if it really doesn't fit in and it doesn't work out, then maybe it's going to be a drain on your organization. It's really not an investment and it's really just spending money as I've talked about in a [different article](https://www.loxentus.com/blog/favoring-year-end-investing-over-year-end-spending).

Do you really want to do this?

Another aspect in this initial quick evaluation process is to think about whether you really want to do it. Even though something is a great idea, it doesn't mean that it should be done by you or your business.

Take a moment to imagine yourself accomplishing this new offering. How does that make you feel? Are you excited? Do you feel it's a really great idea, so you “should” do this? Imagine yourself implementing it. Imagine how this will impact you from a physical and mental point of view. Is it going to be too much? Is it realistic that you can take on this additional amazing thing? And are you ready to put in what's necessary? Are you ready to put in the effort? The physical energy, the mental effort, or is this something that's going to pull you away from the things that you value the most? Are you going to suddenly, for example, no longer have time to volunteer and this is something that brings you a lot of joy? Are you going to no longer have weekends with your family? Also evaluate whether this is going to be temporary or long term? It is just that you need to do a big push, and it's short term and you’re fine with that and willing?

But if it's something that you don't see how you're going to get to the point where you're no longer going to be involved in it all the time, then that's something to consider because there will be trade-offs there. And if it's something that, let's say if you need to invest a lot in it, because you consider this to be a great idea and investment, is it something that you really can't afford or is it something that's going to keep you up at night?

If it takes time to ramp up and you've invested all this money, is it going to bring down your business and are you going to be in a position where your cash flow is crunched or you're no longer profitable?

Take the time to evaluate those things to see whether that's the kind of thing that's going to keep you up at night, which is not good.

And let's say you went through all these things and you feel it’s such a great money making venture to the point where you would be so upset if you saw somebody else offering this and you weren’t, will it leave you miserable? Will growing this aspect of your business make you feel trapped? Really consider whether growing it in this aspect will make you feel trapped. And if that is the case, but it really is that great money making venture, look at other options. Consider simply being an investor. Maybe that's all you do with it. You invest. Maybe collaborate with someone who actually wants to do this thing. Maybe you work with them as a consultant. Maybe you work with them as a part owner. Maybe you create a board and you are on that board to help guide the idea, but you receive dividends off the profits. So those are all options to consider.

If it passes the test, do the deep dive

Once you’ve satisfied yourself that, so far, this new idea seems like the next great growth move for your business, of course, make sure to perform an in-depth SWOT – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, make sure the product or service is clearly defined, audience is targeted, marketing plan is solid, financials support this, and then go and find out whether this innovation that others might consider “crazy” fails or if maybe it launches a new Nike.

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