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Leadership Lessons Through Serving Others and the ROR with Lori Lococo · Authentic Living

• 0:01
  Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have as conversations about
• 0:08
  things that really matter in our lives.
• 0:11
  And now here's your host, Roxanne Derhodge.
• 0:36
  Hi, everyone.
• 0:36
  It's, Roxanne Derhodge.
• 0:38
  Thanks for tuning in again today.
• 0:40
  Today, I have, special guest Lori Lacoco, and she is, lives in my little town, Her Niagara
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  Falls, which I've lived for goodness, Laurie.
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  I'm thinking over 30 years now.
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  She is, has been involved with many boards and, she was involved with toastmasters where she
• 0:59
  was, basically the, part of the leadership organization, and this will be part of her bio,
• 1:06
  which you can read further.
• 1:08
  So, Laurie, thank for coming today, and I would say this is probably the first time I've had a
• 1:14
  politician on my on my podcast.
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  So you're you're This is the flagship for me.
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  So tell me a little bit about you, Laurie, like, are you originally from the area and,
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  tell me a little bit about you know, what brings you to the space of service that you've
• 1:28
  decided to, take part of it?
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  Thank you so much, Ron.
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  And it's really, it's exciting to be here.
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  I really appreciate the time that you you've given me.
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  I don't consider myself a politician.
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  I've never really been involved in politics I grew up in Niagara Falls.
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  I was born in Niagara Falls, lived my whole life here, and I I think it's a great
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  community.
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  It's a different community than other communities because a lot of tourists come to
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  our our city.
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  So a lot of us are in the service industry, whether we think we are or not.
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  And throughout my life, I've been on a lot of different boards locally that served our
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  community.
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  And, there was a point went with Toastmasters International, which is a communication and
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  leadership organization.
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  I served as an international director.
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  And when I was finished that, thought, well, what am I going to do next?
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  Will I continue on with the organization?
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  It is a volunteer organization, and if I was to go to the ultimate, which was international
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  president.
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  It would have taken another 5 to 7 years.
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  And being that I was not retired, like a lot of our our leadership in toastmasters are.
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  It wasn't something that I could do.
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  So I thought, well, I gained a lot of skills, a lot of knowledge, connected with a lot of
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  people, why don't I use those skills locally?
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  And then I considered running for, city council.
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  So clearly then, being involved in leadership, there were certain things that attracted you
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  to, the role that you're playing today.
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  So tell me, you know, what did you learn at, now toastmasters?
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  I I'm I've actually, you know, years ago when I started to speak, I remember going to the one
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  on Dun Street.
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  There was a, location there, and it really helps a lot of people that really wanna learn
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  how to speak you know, like a keynote like myself, but also just be able to speak to
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  others, generally, what amazing organization.
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  So what kind of things did Did you learn from them that you kinda take for today in kind of
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  the work that you do?
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  Being an international director or with any organization as you move along into the
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  leadership role or, within a company, I I find that you get further and further away from the
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  member or the client, but I think it's really important to do all of those roles, understand
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  all of them so you know what your member is looking for.
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  And what I I learned at International Director, we have these strategic goals, we have pillars,
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  we have core values, and you're working on those things.
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  But when a member comes to you, they're bringing you an issue, and it might seem small
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  or unimportant to you at the time.
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  But what I learned was it's the most important thing to them at that particular time.
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  So no matter how busy I was or or how, deep we got into our strategic plan or our other goals,
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  I had to ensure that our member was taken care them in, in the direction of people who could
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  solve their issues.
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  So for me, that was a really important thing is making the member, the client feel important at
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  that time that they're the only person that matters.
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  I I'm always known for turning off my phone when I'm with people.
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  When I'm with a person, I'm with that person until we're we're finished that conversation,
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  and then I will continue on.
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  So making up person feel heard is really important that they they feel that their issue
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  is important and be able to bring a solution to them.
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  It might not be the solution that they're looking for, But hopefully, they respect you
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  because you've taken the time to work with them.
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  You've taken the time to find out the answer even if it's not, the answer that they're
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  looking for.
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  So, you know,
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  that's, I I think a quality that's very important with leadership is that that concept
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  that and I I I've often read about lots of, world leaders that people feel when they talk
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  to them, like, there's nobody else in the room, and it could be a room filled with thousands
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  and thousands of people.
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  So to really be able to engage people at a deeper level and really, like to your point,
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  you're not you may not be able to solve every one of their their concerns, but to really make
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  people feel validated and heard that, you know, what you're what you're sharing with me is
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  very, very important.
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  I'll do my best.
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  And I think sometimes leaders today are remiss in that.
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  And that they're thinking, you know, let me give a tactical outcome.
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  They're wanting, you know, that strategic high level kind of interface, but sometimes it's
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  just what I, I say it's it's heart to heart, which is kind of that whole concept of
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  authentic, part leadership, which is really where I kind of spend my, my time.
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  So let's talk a little bit about when you kind of were coming up in the ranks as a leader,
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  were there some people that helped you get better as a leader?
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  Can you remember one leader, that kind of impacted you that made you think, wow, I like
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  how he or she does that, and and qualities that may be potent potentially emily today in
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  yourself.
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  I think there were many leaders, many, bosses throughout my career that assisted me.
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  Toast Masters International is an organization that is a mentorship organization.
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  You learn by doing.
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  You learn from others.
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  And I found with Toastmasters International, specifically, when I was running for my
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  campaign for international director, people would give time very freely and talk to talk to
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  me about their experiences, what they did.
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  And what I was able to do was pick different, processes, different concepts from each
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  different person, and I created my own sense of leadership, my own campaign to run for
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  international director.
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  And there was one one particular boss that I had very early on, and she was, very giving of
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  her time.
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  And I, I think that really made a difference at the beginning having someone who would work
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  with you mentor you and being that authentic person that, you know, I, I realized I could
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  talk to her.
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  We could try things.
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  And, I, I think that that's what leadership is all about.
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  We we look at our strengths.
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  We look at our weaknesses and try to focus on our strengths.
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  If we do have weaknesses, which we all do, work with other people that can fill those gaps.
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  To to me, we're all here to assist people.
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  It shouldn't be a competition just try try to work with each other and, work towards that
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  common goal, whatever that goal is.
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  So, Ari, as you know, I speak a lot about authentic heart leadership.
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  So, I'm just about to release my second book, and it's, the concept is our our return on
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  relationships.
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  How authentic leaders build more resilient teams.
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  So I often say that, as leaders, we have such responsibility, right?
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  Like, we really do.
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  We're put into these positions and, you know, to get better as a leader, oftentimes, Like, a
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  lot of people don't go to maybe do their MBAs or whatever.
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  And even in in business school, they're not teaching you the the fine skills associated
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  with being a great leader.
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  So I know it with my trajectory, I had to learn a lot of things as I was bleeding, you know,
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  quite young and Sometimes there was full pause, but oftentimes, you know, I kind of, you know,
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  gained as I went.
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  What do you think What would you say is one of your superpowers as a leader?
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  Thanks, Roxanne.
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  I I wouldn't consider it as super power, but what I really try to focus on is, the person as
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  we were talking about earlier, authentic leadership to me means being yourself being
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  genuine, connecting with that person.
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  And I find if you are connecting with that person and you're more genuine, the person that
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  you are, they will be the person that they will be.
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  So you are in turn giving them an opportunity to succeed as well.
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  You're you're mentoring them.
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  You're coaching them.
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  Because they can connect with you a lot better.
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  If they see you being the person that you are, then they can be the person that they are.
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  One of the traits that I, I have, I, I do, I am an, empathetic leader, and I, I do lead with my
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  heart but a lot of things are very factual and statistic based in a lot of the things that we
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  do.
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  So I have to balance both of those things.
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  1 of the traits it.
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  I think if, most people know me is that I'm a planner.
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  I like planning, and I find if I can plan the bulk of the project early, really early.
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  A lot of people know that.
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  And I tried to work out all of the kinks.
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  I think about what could happen, what if happens?
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  What are we going to do?
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  If this happens, what are we going to do?
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  Once that planning is in, in place for me, and it it gives me an opportunity that if there is
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  an emergency, which there always is, something happens, then I have the opportunity to be able
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  to deal with that emergency.
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  I'm able to be more creative at that point because all of the foundation, all of the
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  building blocks of the project are already in place, and that gives me the opportunity to
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  work as things are going.
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  I have found if I leave things later then you're in the middle of the project, and it's
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  so hard to be creative and, work on all of the the products that he needs to.
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  So if I can have all of that planning done prior, get those building blocks, the
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  foundation, then I have lots of time for the unexpected and the creativity, bringing in more
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  people, adding all of those little things that maybe I didn't think about at the beginning,
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  but knowing that project is is safe and moving forward.
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  So being prepared,
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  I think, is very key to your point.
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  Right?
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  So Your creativity comes from, being prepared.
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  So you can allow that space to to really reflect because, you know, I talk a lot about
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  awareness and you know, as leaders, you know, the gift that I often see that you give to
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  others is awareness of yourself.
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  And then when you're aware about kind of, you know, why why do why do you leave?
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  Why do you come into a piece of service?
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  And then you can really in that awareness with the values and and and visions and mission,
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  then you can kind of spread that out into who's around you.
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  And then ultimately, kind of think about you know, when you are no longer in the role, what
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  is it that they will see about Laurie Lococo, in the future?
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  And I think when when leaders get disconnected sometimes, to that vision, that's that that
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  space about awareness within themselves, they might go off track, but, you know, when I train
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  leaders or speak to them, the ones that are most centered are kinda living that space are
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  ones that are continually spending time and awareness for themselves.
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  Now, you I'm gonna assume, that when you were a toastmasters, At times you would have dealt
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  with people that were not so happy or maybe had issues.
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  What it how do you approach issues when there's someone that's maybe a bit, you know, out of
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  sorts or disgruntled with your leadership style.
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  I think this this opportunity comes up in whatever you do within Toastmasters
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  International, all the different levels that I was at.
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  Or even at City Council.
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  Again, going back to making the person feel her making the person feel that their issue is
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  important.
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  And one of the things, someone told me very early in my toastmasters career was that
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  sometimes the squeaky wheel in front of you is not how everyone feels.
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  You might hear hear that issue over and over again from a handful of people but that might
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  not be how everyone feels.
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  At that time, we were serving four thousand people in Ontario, and that leader said to me,
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  you have to make decisions based on four thousand people, not just the 2 loud people who
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  are in front of you.
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  So we would have to look at what were our goals, what were our pillars, and what were
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  core values.
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  If it, if it wasn't working towards those, what that individual person or a couple people what
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  we're thinking may be not be the best thing for all of the group.
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  And I think that's the same with, being in city council or leadership We have many different
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  races, genders, ethnicities, religions.
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  You have so many different people and especially with toastmasters and living in a
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  community you have people from all around the world that have different ideas, different
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  perspectives.
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  And I, I learned there's always a phrase things are, there's there's two sides to every story.
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  I think when you get into leadership, you find that there's way more than two sides.
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  There are many different perspectives And it's not just yes or no or black or white or right
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  or wrong.
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  There's so many different perspectives and you have to evaluate those perspectives to see what
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  is the decision that you're making.
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  Are you making it for a handful of people?
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  Are you making it for the community at large?
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  So that's really important when you're evaluating how you're going to move forward
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  with the decisions how many people is that going to impact?
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  Especially with city council, you're using taxpayers money.
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  They're they're and it's really important that you really think about how how that money is
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  being used, who's who's going to benefit from it.
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  And those are some things that are our challenges You know, you have a lot of
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  different perspectives and how do you make that decision?
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  Of course.
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  You're not being reactive as well.
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  You know, kind of being, you know, I talk a lot about, balance processing, which is a concept
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  in authentic leadership, which is you know, you look at all the variables at any given point
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  and you use yourself as an anchor to say, I need to remember what is in the best interest
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  of most, which is basically what you're you're deciding.
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  And, you know, we're all human beings.
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  You know, we have busier days or a lot coming at us.
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  But to really go back to that anchor point to say, okay.
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  Right now, I'm I'm maybe I'm tired.
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  I haven't, you know, I haven't eaten today or I haven't taken a break.
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  Maybe to kind of give yourself that that space to, you know, take care of yourself and then
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  come back to the decision versus being in that kind of tumbleweed sometimes, which we all get
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  into when, when our days get going, but to to go back to that center to make the best
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  decision for all that's involved.
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  So and, of course, you know, I'm one of your constituents, so I get it.
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  Right?
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  Because I wanna think that I am as valuable as everybody else.
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  You know, out there.
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  And I know with Niagara that, you know, there's been such an influx of, of, you know, people
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  coming into Niagara.
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  No.
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  There's a lot more diversity.
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  There's a lot more, different perspectives, but, of course, recognizing that and adjusting
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  to that becomes important because you know, with innovation, there's different perspectives
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  and understanding that allows you to kind of listen and feedback to people what they're
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  needing to hear.
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  As a as a counselor.
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  Yes.
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  You you brought up about diversity.
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  I think it's always important whenever you're on a team or a council or a leadership
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  organization that you have diversity at the table because if you have all of the same
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  people at the table making the decisions, their experience is usually the same.
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  Their, their, ideas, perspectives are usually the same.
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  And that's why it's important to have a diversification at that table so we can have
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  different perspectives.
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  If we all think the same, we're gonna make the same decisions.
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  And if, talking about women in leadership, having more women in leadership, we have
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  different perspectives, having different, perspectives of where you live in the world,
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  different cultures, those are important to be at a table.
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  And if those are not the decision makers, our constituents are not being served, maybe the
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  best that they could be because other people are making those decisions.
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  Absolutely.
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  Absolutely.
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  So tell me, why did you choose to serve others?
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  I I found ever since I was a a young child, I seemed to be a a connector.
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  I know a lot of different people and everyone has a different perspective, everyone has
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  different goals, everyone has different things that they can offer.
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  And what I found was I could connect people to accomplish a goal.
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  So I was a connector of people and resources, and that just came easy for me, and it's not
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  easy for everyone.
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  But I know where to go and find the resources.
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  I know where to to connect with people and because of that, it was easy to help people.
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  And then once I started helping people, I thought, well, maybe this is something that I
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  could do, use those talents and skills that I have to help others I helped people read,
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  adults learn how to read.
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  It was just something that I felt very accomplished if I help somebody.
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  And again, you know, getting all those resources together and the information, it
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  might not be the information that they want or the answer that they want to hear.
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  But at least they know that you took the time that you care, that you went out to look for
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  something for them.
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  And I've always served on different boards, the soup kitchen, project share.
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  It's something that I want to to help in my community if I could.
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  And, you know, it's it's, it's twofold.
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  1, you're helping others, and there's an accomplishment, a sense of pride in in
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  yourself.
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  When I decided to run for City Council, I thought, again, those connections that I've
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  made with people, the resources that I I have, I could utilize those in addition to learning
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  all of, you know, there's always something new.
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  We always have to learn new technology and new skills And if you're an authentic leader,
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  sometimes you're you're you're trying new things, and it might not be comfortable to you
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  at that time, but we have to try things and and, improve ourselves.
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  So it it's really important to me to serve my community where I live.
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  And so it's so important for me as well.
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  So I'm originally Chirland Tabago, and I moved here after going to UFT, quite young.
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  And I've obviously lived I've I've worked at Carissa.
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  I was on the board there.
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  I also was
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  a clinician there.
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  I worked at the Polkoba General Hospital.
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  You know, I worked at a smaller provider and, say, Catherine, 50 stops.
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  So this is my home, and it's really so very important you know, when you go out and, I
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  would go into project share and see the need that we have here in Niagara, you know, it's so
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  important for us to all give back in some way.
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  So, you know, having those opportunities to be able to to do that or have a voice is very,
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  very important.
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  You know, and I can say that really I grew up in a small little village, in Trinidad that,
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  I'm here as a there's a small part of Niagara Falls for anybody listening, not knowing
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  Niagara.
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  It's a little village called Chippewa, and I love it because it reminds me of my home and
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  the connections and the depth and breadth of the connections that I've built from living
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  here has been amazing.
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  It reminds me of a small, small tiny little community, which is Niagara, you know, so it's
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  really, now that I think back, I came here almost 30 years ago, and it was not as diverse
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  back then, but now it's it's really there is, so much diversity and inclusion, which is it's
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  which is it's really kind of, refreshing, to see.
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  So, Laurie, for anybody that wants to know more about you or to reach out to you to even have
• 21:24
  conversation I'm picking.
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  There's people that are maybe, constituents that are thinking, yeah, I'd like to chat a
• 21:29
  little bit more, or anything that they any platforms that they would wanna learn about
• 21:35
  further where where could they go to, connect with you?
• 21:39
  Thanks, Roxanne.
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  I I do have
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  a website.
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  It's my name, laurielacopodot com.
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  And a lot of the information is there.
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  My phone number is there.
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  Email.
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  You can go to Facebook, Twitter, linkedin, what's the other one?
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  Instagram.
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  I'm on all of all of them.
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  You you can find me on all of them.
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  And usually I have a personal connection or a, campaign page as well.
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  So you I'm sure you can find me.
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  There's a cell phone, people with tech people find you in so many different ways.
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  Sometimes it's hard to keep track of, all of the messages where where the the platforms that
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  people are or contacting you, but I'm always available to talk to people.
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  It's, it's a great thing to learn about people and what's important to them.
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  I'm, oh, I'm only one person and I have my own experiences, so I rely on our residents to let
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  me know what is important to them.
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  And as you said, you know, you came from Trinidad Tobago, you bring a different set of
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  experiences and you bring them to our community, and that's why our community is so
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  rich because we have people from all around the world coming here to live here, and then we
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  also have people from all around the world coming to visit Niagara Falls.
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  Of course.
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  And the touch points, right?
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  I live here, but I, you know, I work Internationally.
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  I'm on the Forbes Women's Executive Council.
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  So, you know, in Niagara, it doesn't matter where I speak or people go, where do you live?
• 23:06
  Oh my goodness.
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  Niagara Falls.
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  Like, everybody wants to if they've either been here or they intend to come here.
• 23:12
  So, obviously, we you know, we're we're one of the highest attractions in the world.
• 23:16
  And for anybody listening that's, you know, international, definitely, come and visit us.
• 23:22
  It's a it's an amazing place.
• 23:23
  So what am I taking away from today?
• 23:25
  I've taken away that, you know, all of us have the capacity to lead and and we listen, in
• 23:32
  Laurie's case she creates a space that allows people to feel completely alone or in the
• 23:38
  moments.
• 23:38
  I shouldn't say alone, but in the moment with her, What a what a what a gift to give someone
• 23:42
  when you're leading.
• 23:44
  So for the leaders out there that think, you know, I need to accentuate that more.
• 23:49
  It's just, you know, in listening to Laurie's story or just, if you're wanting to connect and
• 23:54
  understand authentic heart leadership, just go to Roxanne forward slash quiz.
• 24:00
  We'll give you we'll send you a little bit of information.
• 24:03
  You'll know where you are, and you could get more information.
• 24:05
  From there.
• 24:06
  Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive,
• 24:12
  healthy change.
• 24:13
  Roxanne is a keynote speaker psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit
• 24:19
  roxannedurhaj.com/blueprint.
• 24:23
  We'll see you next time, an authentic living with Roxanne.