Moses Nalocca of Upper Echelon Coaching Academy & Worldwide Experts: Here Are The Things That Happened in My Childhood That Impact How I Lead Today
An Interview With Cynthia Corsetti
AUTHENTICITY: As a leader, you get what you tolerate. So, find your compass and allow yourself to be led by what your values are. It’s important to also understand the values of others, to set healthy boundaries, and create a code of conduct that others can choose to follow or not. Then you don’t need to micromanage.
In this introspective and reflective series, we would like to explore the intricate web of experiences that form the leaders of today. Childhood, being the foundational stage of our lives, undeniably has a profound impact on our development and the leadership styles we adopt as adults. Be it a lesson learned from a parent, a childhood hobby that cultivated discipline, an early failure that fostered resilience, or even a book that opened their minds to vast possibilities; leaders often have deep-seated childhood experiences that echo in their leadership narratives today. For this interview series, we are talking to seasoned leaders across various industries who share personal anecdotes and lessons from their childhood that have sculpted their leadership philosophies today. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Moses Nalocca.
Moses Nalocca is CEO and founder of Upper Echelon Coaching Academy & Worldwide Experts and is an International Speaker, Peak-Performance Coach, Author and representative for Tony Robbins and Success Resources in Bulgaria. He has worked closely with some of the most admired people in business and self-actualisation, such as Robert Kiyosaki, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Tony Robbins, to name a few. He has trained the leaders of OMV Petrolium, Philip Morris International, TechoArena, Transpress, iBrokers, FitLine, Oriflame, Entegra, Bul Med Consulting, Happy Bar and Grill, and UXP, as well as the Gold Olympic Medalist Karate 2020 — Ivet Goranova and many more.
Moses’ book MORE is available in Barnes & Noble, Walmart & many more. He has just released MORE GRATITUDE, out now.
You can find Moses at: http://mosesnalocca.com/
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about leadership, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Well, I consider myself a product of the product. What I mean by this is that, as a young, ambitious entrepreneur, I thought I knew everything, and I kept on failing and making the wrong choices. It was a while before I realized that I needed help, and not because I was weak! It’s because I knew that I was strong and understood my potential. What I wanted was to go as far as possible, and faster than I could have done without guidance.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
I’m proud to say that my company adds more value than anybody else in the market. As just one example, during Covid, I created a programme for my clients who I knew were facing new parental pressures, helping them to better support their kids’ mental health. Once a month for a year, I created a space where their children could ask questions, talk, and get the support they needed. And it wasn’t just for teenagers — there was a second group for kids aged six to 12 as well!
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Competence is first and foremost — I deal only with what I know I’m great at. This includes learning from past mistakes, like when I went through my early failures and losses. It means I can better relate to my clients, help business owners get out of debt, and turn a mess into a message.
Then there’s emotional intelligence. We may run our own businesses, but we are all together in the transformational business sector. What I do is create a shift in clients and, in order to do that, I need to give space for understanding on a deeper level.
And, finally, patience. We live in a society where everything must be fast and immediate. Well, we all know Rome wasn’t built in a day, so what may look like an overnight success is often, in reality, a constant seeding in order to yield the fruits.
Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.
During the first and second Covid lockdowns, I had to decide whether to stay in Chelsea, in the apartment I had worked hard for, or to keep providing for my team of eight people worldwide. So, I chose to downgrade in order to maintain those eight people and their families. It wasn’t easy, but it meant that we could all walk through that challenging, unexpected time together, and we all came out stronger as a result.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Let’s start with a simple definition. How do you personally define “leadership?”
Leadership is seeing things exactly as they are, not better or worse, and then helping others to find the perspective that will empower them to do great things.
Can you recall an experience from your childhood where you felt truly empowered? How does that moment inform your leadership style today?
At 14, I was the mixer boy at a big convention, and I also had to manage the sales of CDs, DVDs, and other similar products. This experience so early on had a huge impact — it helped me to understand the importance of good management, which comes through measuring the right metricss constantly.
Were there any role models in your early years who left a lasting impression on you? How has their influence manifested in your approach to leadership?
My mom’s influence still impacts my leadership today! She always said that I need to allow others to make mistakes but not to judge them, and instead give them space for improvement and training.
Many of us had a favorite book or story as a child. Is there a narrative that you were drawn to, and do you see its themes reflecting in your leadership journey?
The story of Oliver Twist. It taught me that, no matter how bad things are, how many mistakes you make, or how many people try to take advantage, if you stay in the game and stand your ground you will always prevail.
Many leaders find that their greatest strengths arise from overcoming adversity. Can you share an experience from your early life that was difficult at the time, but you find still lingers in your thoughts and informs your actions today?
In the beginning of my journey as a business owner, I had to face a huge family debt caused by my dad. This meant having to deal with banks, creditors, suppliers, and more. It was a struggle, but I chose to focus on creating and adding value despite the hard times. Still today, I support leaders in creating, rather than crying over what’s already happened.
Looking back at your childhood, are there particular ‘first-time’ experiences — like your first triumph, your initial setback, or your inaugural leadership responsibility — that you believe were pivotal in molding your leadership ethos?”
Yes, becoming the President of my Student’s Union at 17! It made me realise that popularity is temporary and not the main goal. As a leader, I shouldn’t be searching for consensus, but making sure the people around me thrive.
From your personal experiences and reflections, what are the ‘5 Pillars of Effective Leadership’ you believe in?
- ACTIVITIES: We must understand why people do what they do. How can you have a proactive, productive member of a team and a lousy one? It’s because each of us always aims to meet one of more of our needs, whether that’s in an empowering or disempowering way, and those needs won’t always align with the needs of the team or business.
- ADDRESS: Understand that, behind any behaviour, there is positive intention. People behave in many different ways, yet they are always right in their own minds. For example, a stressed broker that takes drugs to stay sharp might believe that that behaviour is right for him, while another might find that spending time in the gym or with the family is the source of his success.
- ADJUST: As leaders, we must be contextually intelligent. Asking open questions, for example, allows us to put things into perspective and avoid overgeneralising.
- AUTHENTICITY: As a leader, you get what you tolerate. So, find your compass and allow yourself to be led by what your values are. It’s important to also understand the values of others, to set healthy boundaries, and create a code of conduct that others can choose to follow or not. Then you don’t need to micromanage.
- APPRECIATE: Most of the time, when we face disappoint, it’s because our expectations are too high. We need to appreciate the efforts of the team and then help them to develop the correct skills to exceed their previous attempts.
In your role as a leader, what thoughts or concerns keep you awake at night? How do these reflections guide your decisions and leadership?
There’s only one thought that may keep me awake: “am I providing the right value?” The reason being that I tend not to spend time on things I can’t influence, but this is definitely something that comes under my control.
The answers I find when asked this question allow me to reflect on my authentic, client-led approach to leadership. I truly believe that we must add more value than anyone else in the market, because this is the only difference we can make as leaders.
When we add massive value, even if things do not go the way we planned, we can always improve and make things better. Plus, the clients and your members will always appreciate and reward your efforts in return.
when we add massive value even if things do not go the way we planned, we can always improve and make things better, plus the clients and your members will always appreciate and reward your efforts.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A movement to encourage others to go back to a level of humanity that really cares for the least fortunate and the younger generations.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
On my website: www.mosesnalocca.com
Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn:
https://www.facebook.com/mosesnalocca
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosesnalocca/
https://www.instagram.com/mosesnalocca/
And grab my video course as a free gift: https://bit.ly/moses-membership
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. It’s been an honor to delve into the roots of your leadership journey, and we are grateful for the wisdom you’ve shared.
About the Interviewer: Cynthia Corsetti is an esteemed executive coach with over two decades in corporate leadership and 11 years in executive coaching. Author of the upcoming book, “Dark Drivers,” she guides high-performing professionals and Fortune 500 firms to recognize and manage underlying influences affecting their leadership. Beyond individual coaching, Cynthia offers a 6-month executive transition program and partners with organizations to nurture the next wave of leadership excellence.
Moses Nalocca of Upper Echelon Coaching Academy & Worldwide Experts: Here Are The Things That… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.