Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

#32: Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

Dr. Chris Johnson has joined me again in this episode to discuss a foundational leadership capability:  the ability to speak up about the value we personally bring to our work.  Our conviction is contagious and compelling, inspiring others to trust and believe in us as well.  

Show Notes

You need to be able to take a stand. Extend your voice. Be pointedly focused on what you offer and the vision that you have, in order to impact the people that you say you want to impact.”

– Dr. Chris Johnson

Confidence and the mind-body connection

Dr. Chris Johnson has joined me again in this episode to discuss a foundational leadership capability:  the ability to speak up about the value we personally bring to our work.  Our conviction is contagious and compelling, inspiring others to trust and believe in us as well.

Earlier, in episode #21, I reviewed the importance of recognizing and owning the value we bring to our work. This value will remain hidden if we’re not able to confidently give voice to it.  And the way we carry ourselves is inextricably linked to it all. Chris draws from her years of embodied leadership and martial arts practice to create a commanding presence while also staying calm and centered. She shares her insights on how to expand your presence and self-awareness to ultimately project your inner strength and achieve your goals.

The tangible impact:  missed opportunities

[1:30] “The challenge about speaking up shows up in multiple ways…The most common are not sharing good ideas or opinions during meetings, not being able to promote themselves and their team. In avoiding conflict, staying silent or small leads to being undervalued and overlooked, and ultimately, to a lack of fulfillment, and possibly frustration.”

[32:44] “I’d get pulled in to take on leadership roles, and yet never fully owned them. And that was because I didn’t know if I knew enough, I didn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. I didn’t want anybody else to feel bad if I happen to do something really well. And all of that was a story that I told myself, and then it took residence in my body. I was very narrow, and small, my energy was very constrained.”

 

Centering in our body, our vision, and in action

[23:00] ] “We can either close in and hunker down…Or we can choose to learn a very simple skill and practice of centering. And by that, we mean centering in the body, relaxed…and then centering in something bigger than us, even if we don’t know what that is. And lastly, centering in an action that we can then take. And once we can learn that simple practice (because you have to practice it). Pretty soon that practice starts to reshape us…

“What matters is that we’re intentional. It’s based on what we care about, and that we’re consistently in deliberate practice.”

 

[29:00] “I like to say it’s tolerating the discomfort at the edges because it’s at the edges that literally, our neurobiology gets rewired. Hang out there in the discomfort for at least a little bit longer. Every time we do it, we’re growing new pathways that allow us to expand our capacity.”

Speaking about our accomplishments or sharing our thoughts in a meeting may bring physical sensations. We have to practice tolerating this discomfort though it feels unnatural. With time we grow accustomed to it.

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Power of Pause in the Mindful Leader magazine:

https://www.mindfulleader.org/blog/44061-the-power-of-a-pause

Episode 21: Owning Your Value | Key Elements for Authenticity and Personal Power:

https://rise-leaders.com/owning-your-value/

A Guide to Owning Your Value

Download Guide

To connect to Dr. Chris Johnson please follow:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchrisljohnson/

https://q4-consulting.com/

Dr. Chris on Resilience:  https://q4-consulting.com/resilience/

 

To subscribe to the Rise Leaders newsletter for more resources: https://mailchi.mp/426e78bc9538/subscribe

To discuss executive coaching, leadership development program design, and workshop facilitation, please visit:

https://rise-leaders.com/contact-info/

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Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

Own Your Attention | Seth Braun

#29: How to Own Your Attention | Seth Braun

Our attention is in demand.  It’s up to us to know how to keep it focused on what matters most so that we spend more time enjoying what’s in front of us:  other humans, nature, pets, art, etc.  Managing our attention also provides a pathway for bringing our unique gifts to the world. Join me and Seth Braun as we explore the grander implications of Attention Management and a few strategies for living and working with intention.

Show Notes

“This isn’t just about squeezing more productivity out of the machine…we get discouraged, disheartened, and we give up on the things that are important to us. So one of the most important things that I see in this is to come back to what’s important to me.”

– Seth Braun
Stagen Leadership Academy

Mindful Life, Better Living

Today we have more distractions than perhaps at any time in history, with our attention bought and sold as a commodity; our electronic devices tempting us with the promise of instant gratification. With so much vying for our attention, the question becomes: How can we navigate life in a way that’s meaningful, purposeful, and creative?

Attention management is a set of practices and habits that helps us increase the time we’re present, minimize distractions, and find flow. There are 4 zones to engage in: proactive, reactive, distraction, and waste. This week Seth Braun discusses Stagen’s Attention Zones model and how being mindful of these states can help us plan for and allocate time effectively. Ultimately it can help us bring our unique gifts to the world by engaging in life in a satisfying and productive way.

Beware the Distraction and Waste Zones

[9:59] “I’m not going to tell you that Netflix is a distraction. Consider: what in your life is a distraction – and what’s rejuvenating? There are certain things that I do in my family, like watching Netflix, where we laugh, and we have endorphins, and it’s rejuvenating, and it’s family time. It’s great. But then, where I start binge-watching and it’s 11. Then it’s 12…now I’m in a waste zone.”
A “lazy” activity isn’t always considered wasteful by default. Sometimes it’s what we need. However, there’s a point of diminishing returns, and we must consider the balance.

[19:20] “Most of us don’t come into the world highly disciplined, able to sit down and do the work. We need structures and practices to help us do that, including your 10-minute waste time.”
Even “wasteful” time has its place in preparing you to be proactive.

Be Guided by Your Ideals

Generally, anything in the proactive zone (with focused work) doesn’t come naturally and requires an act of volition.
[19:50] “Any act of creation or volition, whether it involves anything involving exercise or starting a business. Anything that’s…creative is going to have resistance.”
[33:30] “The most important thing we can do to live a fulfilling, satisfying life is (to) have an ideal. Keep track of it each week, when we’re planning our week, say, here’s what’s important to me, and I’m willing to go forward again.”

To learn more about Seth Braun and the Stagen Leadership Institute please visit:
https://stagen.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethdbraun/

Stagen’s Attention Management Core Practice Sheet
https://rise-leaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Stagen-Attention-Management-Core-Practice-Sheet.pdf

Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography:
https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Benjamin-Franklin/dp/B08C9616WW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=benjamin+franklin&qid=1605824734&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExQklORjUySDVOTUo3JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTAxNzU5MkQ3VjBUNzNWOEo2SiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDA1MjIxM0tYNDRIVzJPV0lEWSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

“In Over Our Heads” – Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey
https://www.amazon.com/Over-Our-Heads-Mental-Demands/dp/0674445880/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=In+Over+Our+Heads&qid=1605824766&sr=8-2

To subscribe to the Rise Leaders newsletter for more resources: https://mailchi.mp/426e78bc9538/subscribe

To discuss executive coaching, leadership development program design, and workshop facilitation, please visit: https://rise-leaders.com/contact-info/

I specialize in helping leaders and organizations thrive.  Reach out if there’s a way I can support you.

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Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

A Vaccine Against Closed-Mindedness | Jay G. Cone PhD

A Vaccine Against Closed-Mindedness | Jay G. Cone PhD

Jay Gordon Cone Ph.D. has decades under his belt working with leadership teams to build successful strategies and navigate challenging times. These days he is also focusing his considerable intellectual horsepower and passion on creating a “vaccine against mind traps and closed-mindedness”.

Jay believes if we can boost our immunity to chaos, we can respond with creativity and compassion rather than paralysis and tribalism.  Join us as we talk about bias, quicksand questions, and four disciplines for getting unstuck.

Show Notes

“If we were able to have a more productive approach to uncertainty and ambiguity, we actually might find responses that make things better. But we want the easy answer. And it’s our fascination with the easy answer, actually, that prolongs the chaos.”
– Jay G. Cone

Overcoming thinking traps

We often find ourselves stuck – both individually and collectively – as a result of chaos, uncertainty, and unpredictability. In such times, it’s common to gravitate toward the easy answer, regardless if it’s the best way forward. When we fall into these thinking traps, we may oversimplify the problem to create a simple solution. This need for closure creates hasty action plans that can entrench you further into the problem – getting your mind “stuck.”
Today Jay outlines tips for avoiding thinking traps and nurturing an “unstuck” mind that’s open to new possibilities. Much of it begins with knowing the right questions to ask (avoiding “What should I do?”) to forge a new way forward. Being able to adaptively respond to uncertainty is helpful, because expertise and learning from the past doesn’t necessarily provide a fail-proof roadmap for the future.

The importance of building mental stamina

[9:30] “[In chaos] the only responses that we have are based in the limbic system in the amygdala, and we want to fight or we want to flee. But if we can develop our stamina for thinking, when things are complicated or uncertain or ambiguous, then we’re not as susceptible to the same ideas and…closed mindedness and tribalism, that tends to paralyze us.”
[22:03] “And when you start focusing on simplistic answers, then you tend to hang out with people who have gravitated towards those same simplistic responses. And it gets to the point where it’s just too difficult to be open to new information, different perspectives, or to continue processing things.”

How to know you’re stuck

[11:22] “One very common experience … you’re really not clear on why it is that you can’t achieve this goal. You make up all these reasons for why this attempt failed…So if a pattern emerges, there’s a good chance that there’s something more to be uncovered.”
[15:59] “If someone expressed a point of view…and all of a sudden [you] have horrible judgments…if that’s a feeling you’re having, and it’s one you’re not particularly proud of or that doesn’t make sense to you, that might be a leading indicator of stuckness as well.”

Identify quicksand questions

[26:09] “One of the things that you can look at is the way people pose questions because the way people frame a question about a situation they want to change reveals a lot about how they’re thinking and feeling.”
[29:30] “All these things that we want other people to do, we just frame a question around them and we work toward altering the behavior – rather than trying to understand whether we as leaders, organizations, are complicit and whether there’s something other than their behavior that needs to change.”

Practice the 4 Disciplines for getting unstuck

[36:32 ] Jay has designed 4 Disciplines to use when you feel stuck.  We can use these disciplines in team and individual settings when we find ourselves overwhelmed or repeating familiar patterns with unsatisfying results.

Get in touch with Jay Cone:

https://unstuckminds.com/contact/

Resources:

Unstuck Minds website
https://unstuckminds.com/

Unstuck Minds Blog: https://unstuckminds.com/receive-periodic-tips-insights-and-ideas-
from-unstuck-minds/

Free Assessment: https://unstuckminds.com/your-thinking-to-action-profile/

 

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/unstuckminds/%3Fref=bookmarks

Twitter  https://twitter.com/unstuck_minds

Blindspot:  Hidden Biases of Good People https://www.amazon.com/Blindspot-Hidden-Biases-Good-People/dp/1491528869

To subscribe to the Rise Leaders newsletter for more resources:  https://mailchi.mp/426e78bc9538/subscribe

To discuss executive coaching, leadership development program design, and workshop facilitation, please visit: https://rise-leaders.com/contact-info/

I specialize in helping leaders and organizations thrive.  Reach out if there’s a way I can support you.

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Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

The Leadership Pause | Dr. Chris Johnson

#25: The Leadership Pause | Dr. Chris Johnson

Dr. Chris Johnson’s background combines psychology, Aikido (she’s a 3rd degree Black Belt!) and mindfulness training.  The result is a powerful and pragmatic approach for moving wisdom into action.  We talk about Embodied Leadership and the importance of creating a Leadership Pause habit.

Show Notes

“Embodied leadership has an edge over anything conventional, because it allows us to access all of who we are…rationally, cognitively, analytically, our capacity for empathy, and to take effective action based on sound decisions that we tune into that are congruent with our values.”

– Dr. Chris Johnson

Physical awareness leads to authenticity and better decision-making

The world is becoming more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). For today’s leaders to stay ahead of the accelerated pace of change, it’s important to inspire trust and confidence in those with whom they work. Embodied Leadership practices help us achieve this.

Leading is often approached in a cognition-first or “top-down” manner: first working to analyze a topic, sprinkling in some emotional intelligence, and then taking action in accordance with that understanding. Conversely, embodied leadership draws from bodily awareness. In other words, we begin with a physical opening, calming and connecting with what we say is important, and then can take a broader perspective with more mental space. Tuning into physical sensations and sensory experiences can center us. This nurtures a connection between body and mind that enables congruence and authenticity between mind and actions.

My conversation with Dr. Chris Johnson today examines what embodied leadership is and how it can enable smarter decision-making, helping both the individual and the organization.

It starts with a pause

[13:16] “It might be a momentary pause, where I step back, take a breath, and in that breath, I can see and observe what’s going on between you and me, and I can feel into myself – like what’s congruent with my own values here? I can actually look at the broader horizon of work.

[13:46] “A pause could be momentary. It could be a short pause to create a deliberate practice of mindfulness. It could be a weekend pause… Those are the things we often think we don’t have time for, and we hit that point of diminishing returns.
“Reminding ourselves and taking that pause to say, ‘What’s the bigger commitment? What’s the bigger vision?’ Align around that instead of getting sucked into the details.”

Clear mind, clear path forward

[22:16] “This is where mindfulness also comes in to help. When there’s a lot of chatter [in the mind], it’s really difficult to be clear-headed, clear-eyed, and clear-hearted about what’s the most important. There’s a quote by Lao Tzu – ‘Can you be patient enough to let the mud settle so the right answer can arise?’…
“If we intentionally create the space, and if we commit to it, as a part of the leadership pause, it can allow all of that mud to settle. So that whatever shows up in this moment, as the next right action is the one we see and can move toward.”

 

Take care of yourself – and see a ripple effect

[10:33] “Organizations and businesses of all sizes reflect their leaders. When your energy is high, and your actions are congruent with your words, your presence produces trust…While you can’t erase the uncertainty your organization and people are facing, you do have the power to respond to their challenges with intention, integrity, and honesty.”
[30:15] “Awareness is key for all leaders who are aspiring to lead in this VUCA world and be really present to the craziness and how to stay present in it – and maybe even enjoy the ride.”

Resources mentioned in this episode:

The Power of Pause in the Mindful Leader magazine:
https://www.mindfulleader.org/blog/44061-the-power-of-a-pause

Episode 21: Owning Your Value | Key Elements for Authenticity and Personal Power:
https://rise-leaders.com/owning-your-value/

A Guide to Owning Your Value
Download Guide

To connect to Dr. Chris Johnson please follow:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchrisljohnson/
https://q4-consulting.com/

Dr. Chris on Resilience:  https://q4-consulting.com/resilience/

To subscribe to the Rise Leaders newsletter for more resources: https://mailchi.mp/426e78bc9538/subscribe

To discuss executive coaching, leadership development program design, and workshop facilitation, please visit:

https://rise-leaders.com/contact-info/

I specialize in helping leaders and organizations thrive.  Reach out if there’s a way I can support you.

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Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

Owning Your Value | Key Elements for Authenticity and Personal Power

Owning Your Value | Key Elements for Authenticity and Personal Power

There are times in our professional lives where we need to advocate for ourselves. – to take a stand. Recognizing our worth and being able to communicate it isn’t rude, nor is it bragging.  But it can be uncomfortable.  Owning our value supports our authenticity, which liberates our spirit and launches excellent performance.  

Show Notes

When we’re able to own our value, we’re more likely to bring positive contributions to work,

to life, to our communities-  to whatever we care about.

The Power of Authenticity

There are times in our professional lives where we need to advocate for ourselves. – to take a stand. Recognizing our worth and being able to communicate it isn’t rude, nor is it bragging.  But it can be uncomfortable.  Owning our value supports our authenticity, which liberates our spirit and launches excellent performance. Communicating our value is necessary to get a seat at the table. We make the value we bring apparent when we confidently acknowledge and demonstrate it each day – and it also helps us bring our unique advantage to the workplace.

Explore the Eight Elements of Knowing Your Value

This week’s episode is an efficient 13 minutes as I outline 8 elements to help you own and speak your value. These are actions you can take to increase your feelings of power and authenticity in all aspects of life. I’ve created an in-depth, integrated guide for your reflection and to help you develop new habits.   Whether you’re mentoring someone or need strategies for realizing your own impact, you will achieve greater awareness of what you offer and how to communicate it.

Highlights from this episode

[2:30] “Know what you stand for…what you care about and what you’re committed to. These values guide your decisions, your actions and your priorities. Have clarity around your vision.”
[3:30] “Knowing what we stand for keeps us in our lane, focused on what we care about rather than pursuing what others are striving for.”
[6:53] “Track your contributions. These are quote receipts of your good work. I do this daily in my journal to remind myself that I spent my time well, and so I can articulate the deliverables that I’m working on with clients.”
[8:51] “To go along with speaking your value is to practice embodying your value. Embodying your value means that you feel it at your core, and others also feel it and see it in your presence.”
A Guide to Owning your Value:
Clifton Strengths Assessment:
Tilt 365:
Episode 19: Trudy Bourgeois about workforce excellence: https://rise-leaders.com/achieving-workforce-excellence-trudy-bourgeois/
To discuss executive coaching, leadership development program design, and workshop facilitation, please visit:

I specialize in helping leaders and organizations thrive.  Reach out if there’s a way I can support you.

 

 

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Speak Up, Stand Up | Dr. Chris Johnson on Becoming Fierce

Using Poetry to Expand Perspective | Start Close In

Using Poetry to Expand Perspective | Start Close In

Poetry can be a powerful developmental tool to help high-achieving personalities transcend the linear and analytical world of business in order to integrate a world of beauty and whole-system thinking.  Rick Voirin has incorporated poetry in his coaching and leadership for years and has seen firsthand the profound impact that it can have in professional growth and self-development. In this special episode, LeeAnn and Rick discuss the work of author and poet David Whyte, and how the poem “Start Close In” directs us to take the first step that leads to change.

Episode 18   | September 1, 2020

Show Notes

 

 

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.  And the human race is filled with passion.  And medicine, law, engineering, business, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. 

But poetry, beauty, romance, love,

this is what we stay alive for.

John Keating
Dead Poets Society

 

Leadership Beyond ‘Just the Facts’

 

Good literature has the power to help us better understand the human condition. Poetry and other creative writing evokes something deep in us; it widens our perspective and helps us connect with parts of ourselves (and others) that otherwise we wouldn’t have easy access to.

 

Poetry can also be a powerful developmental tool to help leaders and ‘Type A’ personalities transcend the linear and analytical world of business. In this special episode, LeeAnn and Rick discuss the work of author and poet David Whyte, and how the poem “Start Close In” directs us to take the first step that leads to change.

 

Start Close In

 

2020 has been a year of big, complex challenges.  Racial tensions have been high and organizational leaders are expected to meaningfully respond.  This pressure, and the fear of ‘cancel culture’ has caused many to pause; to defer doing anything until they have it all figured out.   David Whyte’s poem, Start Close In admonishes us to, “… don’t take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don’t want to take.

 

Links to the poem, A Guide for Reading Poetry and additional resources can be found at the end of these notes.

 

24:53 – “If we really engage something, whether it’s a poem or a piece of art or a piece of literature or something that’s happening on a screen In front of us in a movie, the first approximation is just the way that the information lands in our senses. And then what starts to show up as we relate with that, that happens, like in a back and forth conversation.”

 

27:25 – “Poetry or good literature is an invitation into a deeper relationship with life, a deeper reflection on the meaning of one’s life. And what one is caring about (…) and what one might intend to do with one’s wild and precious life.”

 

29:24 – “When I try to start big, it’s probably because I’m seeking an excuse to get out of doing anything. The big stuff is beyond my reach, at least at the moment. But if I start close in, I’ll find things I can do right now.”

 

Resources Mentioned on this Podcast:

 

A Guide for Reading Poetry

The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America, by David Whyte
https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Aroused-Preservation-Corporate-America/dp/0385484186

Interview with Bonnie Pittman:
https://rise-leaders.com/awe_art_observation_bonnie_pitman/

Connect to Rick Voirin:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-voirin-a43413/

David Whyte’s work:
https://www.davidwhyte.com/

David Whyte reading Start Close In:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=030YqrN4SFc

How to Talk about Race at work:
https://rise-leaders.com/how-to-talk-about-race-at-work

Start Close In – The On Being Project
https://onbeing.org/blog/start-close-in/

Dead Poet’s Society – John Keating:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS1esgRV4Rc

Autobiography in 5 Chapters

 

I specialize in helping leaders and organizations thrive.  Reach out if there’s a way I can support you.

 

 

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