Episode 20:
Mindy Goodfriend has diverse experience starting and leading businesses within the fields of real estate, patented consumer products and communications. Since 2003, she has also worked as a professional strategic business consultant and coach, assisting with business strategy, organizational development, leadership and communication. She is Chair of two chapters of the Women Presidents’ Organization, the premier global peer advisory organization for women business owners with multi-million dollar revenues, and was a member of its Board of Directors for 10 years. The organization includes 2,000 members worldwide with over 140 chapters.
A graduate of the Harvard Business School Owners and Presidents Management Program and a champion of women, Mindy has worked for many years to increase the representation of women at the HBS OPM Program and to support women’s economic growth and leadership in general. Mindy has fulfilled a variety of other roles, including in positions on the Board of the Hudson Square Connection Business Improvement District, the board of the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, and in special education.
What You Will Learn:
- Mindy’s five commitments that will enable you to show up as your best self in all of life’s infinite situations
- What forgiveness is and why forgiving is one of the most important (and difficult) self-love practices we can integrate into our daily lives
- How business owners can get used to relinquishing control and how they can establish mutual trust with their employees
- The increasing relevance of the “grow or die” mentality and how to adapt to the ever-changing professional world
- Mindy’s advice for women in business on how to be bold and confident while avoiding self-limitation in the workplace
- Using listening and dialogue to combat oversensitivity, build bridges and understand those around you while discussing controversial issues
- The benefits of peer learning and community-building for business owners, employees, and people from all different backgrounds
- Mindy’s #1 lifehack to keeping a busy life simple, easy, and effective
- How a tumor taught Mindy to clear trivial annoyances and clutter from her life
Resources
- Mindy’s recommended news feeds:
- Global Citizen: www.globalcitizen.org
- Women in the World: www.womenintheworld.com
- CNN Saturday’s “Good News”
- Mindy’s Twitter: @MindyGoodfriend
- Sue’s “Maximizing Success” Journal Free Trial: Text JOURNAL7 to 44222
Advice for Women in Business | The Spiritual Journey Toward Happiness and Professional Success, with Mindy Goodfriend
Five Commitments for a Better Life
Mindy Goodfriend is an expert in real estate and consumer products and a business consultant and coach to powerful leaders across industries. She began her career in special education, which she says is one of the most impactful things she has done. She is also a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization and has sage advice for women in business.
Mindy lives her life following a philosophy of five commitments: kindness, compassion, tolerance, respect, and forgiveness. Mindy’s philosophy, coined by some as “Minduism”, evolved from her journey as a spiritual individual, a journey that found her advised by famed spiritual teacher Ram Dass. Ram’s advice to always be kind resonated with Mindy, and she has since resolved to live her life with these five teachings in mind. Recently while Mindy was attending a reception to honor the small business owners in the Scale-Up program, Moises Cohen, founder of a regional bank, shared, “People ask us why we are doing this.” He projected a portrait of John F Kennedy and answered, “Because it’s not about what your country can do for you, it’s what you can do for your country.”
Mindy believes that her commitment to forgiveness is the most important self-love practice we can use and that not forgiving is the most unloving thing we can do to ourselves. Forgiving, which Mindy defines as “making a commitment to let something go and never bring it up again,” is a spiritual love habit that has helped Mindy repair her marriage and improve her personal and professional life.
Overcoming Leadership Barriers
Mindy’s extensive experience observing and advising leadership across industries has exposed her to patterns that keep professionals from advancing and being successful. According to Mindy, many business owners and leaders have a problem with “getting out of the way” and trusting their employees to do their jobs effectively. She emphasizes the importance of building mutual trust between leaders and employees by shifting from a “my” to an “our” mindset and relinquishing control in favor of cooperation.
Channeling Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mindy also delves into advice for women in business to advance in the workplace. She recognizes the “grow or die” reality of the professional world and encourages women to avoid self-limiting behaviors and language, be bold, and speak up to be successful. Mindy cites a conference she attended that brought women together to discuss controversial issues and open dialogue. Through these conferences, Mindy has learned the necessity of listening, building bridges, and combating oversensitivity in the modern world.
Other conferences of a similar nature, including ones involving all men, have also taught Mindy how critical it is to build community among professionals and learn from one’s peers. By doing so, we can all break down barriers, garner a deeper understanding of others, and function better in the workplace.
Clearing Out The BS
Throughout her life, Mindy has gained a lot of wisdom and learned to subscribe to a life hack that keeps things simple, easy, and effective: take time to do nothing. By clearing your life of unnecessary BS, Mindy believes you can be happier and healthier while still fulfilling your responsibilities and growing as a professional. Mindy knows this is especially helpful advice for women in business.
This revelation came to Mindy when she awoke one morning to find three EMTs standing over her bed. Her husband informed her that she’d had a seizure, and she was transported to the hospital for an examination. Mindy found out she had a benign tumor the size of a potato occupying her skull and pushing on her brain. Her neurologist informed her that upon removal of the tumor, her brain would begin regrowing to occupy the space.
After successful surgery and recovery, Mindy realized how quickly life goes by, how drastically it can change, and how important it is to remove clutter and enjoy the things you have. I hope that Mindy’s advice can help you along your spiritual and professional journeys to become a better you for yourself and those around you.
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