Letting go of old stories and old ways of being can be daunting and disorienting. It requires us to bring a beginner’s mindset to an unbounded space that opens the possibility of a new way of being in the world. What do you need to put down in order to pick up what you want?

What happens when companies revert back after professing to change culture to reflect core values? What signal does that send? What are the full costs to reverting back to old ways of being? What does that say about what's really important? What's at stake? Business continuity? Resilience? Now imagine if your company could be more profitable, more resilient if you put purpose and people first.

What would it be like if companies focused instead on investing in cultivating resilience, adaptability, and creativity amongst their people? What benefits might that create? This is what I call “Leaderful” teams. It’s a culture and an ethos built on trust, authenticity, transparency, generative feedback (requested and received by all), inclusion, and compassion. It’s modeled by those at the top of the organization and practiced throughout.

8 years ago I almost died. This is the story of how perseverance enabled my recovery. These experiences support me in my mission to cultivate courageous leaders that regenerate their leadership by reconnecting to their innate wisdom and honoring their own unique gifts.

It’s astonishing to discover how much we armor ourselves. Sometimes we’re aware of the shields we put up. Sometimes we’re not.

Our biology is a reflection of what we practice. How we breathe, how we stand, spiritual practices, how we respond to certain external stimuli, how we engage with our surroundings all shape our bodies. While the neurons that fire together strengthen the neural pathway each time, it takes time to fully hardwire new habits and behaviors. This is why it’s so hard to change behavioral patterns we may have picked up as kids. The patterns are deeply embedded in our entire being. Lots of practice is required to overcome that. As one of my teachers, Dr. Richard Strozzi-Heckler says, “it takes 300 repetitions to create a new habit. 3000 repetitions to create the muscle memory. Knowledge is only a rumor until it’s in the body.”

In our culture, it’s common that we fear we’ll lose dignity, or not belong if we don’t meet certain societal or familial standards. There is a societal narrative about showing up “perfectly”. We are bombarded daily with hundreds, if not thousands, of examples of “perfection” on social media, TV, and in movies. There are countless times I’ve scrolled through Facebook, or LinkedIn, and thought to myself - “Wow, this person is doing incredible things/having incredible adventures. I shouldn’t post any updates because that will just confirm for the world how boring my life is. They (and presumably others) will think less of me.” Has that ever happened to you?

I invite you to listen to your body. Your heart. Notice what becomes possible when your leadership originates from your heart and body.

What are you practicing? Get back up on your leadership bike and see what flows. Where is your glee? Where is the wind on your face?

I see a strong parallel between the stages of maturing for a leader and the stages of growth I’ve experienced studying Argentine Tango for over 12 years.