The High Road to Leadership with Beverly Lewis

The Transformative Power of Language

“You leave people with an experience of yourself every time you deliver words”. Mary Lyn Jenkins, author of The Transformative Power of Language: Change Your Language. Change Your Life shares fascinating insights about communication in this episode. 

Mary Lyn is a momma, wife, coach, speaker, consultant, and writer.  She began her career as an interior designer and worked for Southern Living Magazine. Her move to the West Coast opened an opportunity to become a set designer. She taught yoga for 20 years, owned her own yoga studios for eleven years, taught the NFL how to touch their toes, and was a cover model for Yoga Journal Magazine. 

She has trained hundreds of students to step into leadership in and out of the classroom and as yoga teachers, entrepreneurs, and catalysts for change. 

Today’s episode begins with a heart to heart conversation about the beginning of Mary Lyn’s journey with transformative communication.  

When a relationship is not working, our default response is to say, “I’m out of here”. While walking away may seem easier, making that choice robs us of the opportunity to learn something new. It’s not enough to try to work together. We have to just do it. 

Somewhere, we were taught to be confident, proud, and right. In fact, these are habitual patterns that wreck the chance for forgiveness. Asking for forgiveness with an expectation is manipulation. We have to be willing to lay down our attitude of being right and purpose in our hearts to glimpse the other person’s perspective. Being the first one to say your sorry – that’s leadership!

May Lyn is currently running a wellness company called LiveBigFishCo. This includes more than exercise and treating your body right. It encompasses inspiration, journaling, leadership development and coaching. Her podcast, One Creative Act is starting its second season.

  Resources:
o One Creative Act’s Instagram: @onecreativeact
o Mary Lyn Jenkin’s Instagram: @marylynbigfish
o Big Fish Co.’s Instagram: @livebigfish 
o Big Fish Co.’s Website: https://livebigfishco.com/ 

 

Emotional Intelligence: A Meta-Skill for 21st Century Leaders

Three Ways to Increase Your Emotional Intelligence, the topic of this solo episode with Beverly Lewis will provoke you to think as well as provide tools and strategies for raising your EQ.

Ever worked with someone who made everyone’s day better – when they didn’t show up? 99% of people say they've had the misfortune to have a co-worker who was clueless that everyone in the office considered them difficult to work with.

Emotional Intelligence is a meta-skill for leaders in the 21^st century. This episode on how to raise your emotional intelligence through self-awareness addresses the fact that 95% of people claim to be self-aware when in reality, only 10-15% actually are.

Self-awareness is the will and skill to understand who we are, including our values, patterns of behavior, and our impact on others. It’s having a lens of understanding about how others see us.

You’ll hear about three ways to increase self-awareness that are intentional and practical. These tips conclude with a reminder that observing patterns in our own behavior is key to shifting into new thinking and acting. Ernest Hemingway said, “You can’t get away from yourself by moving from one place to another”. Many continue to try that strategy without success.

John Taylor’s words from decades ago challenge us to develop the gift of insight:

“The computer makes us fantastically more able to calculate and analyze.

It does not help us to meditate.

We have instruments to enable us to see everything from the nebulae to the neutron – everything except ourselves. We have immeasurably extended our gift of sight, but not of insight.

For that, we have the same equipment as the eighth-century prophets.

Potentially the same, but actually poorer, for while we have been busy extending one aspect of the knowing of telling self, we have allowed other aspects to atrophy.

We have built ourselves up into power transmitting stations but as receiving sets we are feeble.”

For more information, visit BeverlySpeaks.com or email Beverly@BeverlySpeaks.com. Your feedback is welcome! 

 

 

 

 

A Bright Light in the Health Care Sector – Meet Tammy Dunaway

So many people start in the corporate world and dream of owning their own business.  Tammy Dunaway’s path took the opposite direction. She owned her own business for 20 years, then led a non-profit organization, and now works within a corporate framework at Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center.

In this conversation, she shares leadership lessons from each of these chapters of her career. Health care taught her the discipline of bringing your best to work every single day because you can’t afford to have a bad day when you’re holding someone’s health in your hands.

She talks about the joy of working with Girls, Inc. and the privilege of equipping young women to be strong, smart, and bold.

As a leadership trainer at the hospital, instead of pointing out how people can do their job better, she focuses on helping each employee become their best self. “If people come to work prepared to deliver their best, they take care of the patients and guests with excellence. Employee engagement and guest experience are inseparable." 
This principle is one you hear repeatedly from guests on The High Road to Leadership.

Tammy teaches the importance of the word patterns we choose to use. We  have a tendency to ”awfulize” a situation and she offers tools to resist that negativity bias.

She tells stories of how our health care heroes are navigating the crisis of the ongoing pandemic. 

This is a warm conversation you won’t want to miss.

Make ”Extra” Your Norm: The Willie Spears Experience

Inspired, hopeful, and challenged - all in the course of 25 minutes. 

Willie Spears is a professional speaker and is passionate about motivating people to become more, serve better, and add value to their families, teams, and society. Willie has authored 11 books including Win at Home, Bib or Apron, Transforming Your Life from Good to Great, and Culture Creators.

From the classroom to the locker room to conference rooms across the country, Willie brings his energy, candor, and truth to provoke others to make extra their norm. He has served as a teacher, athletic director, head football coach and Assistant Principal and now coaches by offering The Willie Spears Experience to companies, teams, youth groups, prison inmates, schools, teachers, and individuals.

Willie and Beverly talk candidly about diversity and how to heal the chasms that have divided our nation over race, politics, vax or no vax, and the endless list of charged topics that heat up conversations.

Willie poses the key question we must all ask ourselves and clearly conveys principles on how to create a healthy culture. 

Willie lives in Panama City, FL with his wife, Tanika, and their two children. 

Discover more about The Willie Spears Experience at WillieSpears.com.  

 

Blind Spots: How to Stop Missing What’s Right in Front of You

How do you know what you don’t know?

“The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth.” ~ Pierre Abelard

If you don't think you have a blind spot, yours is probably bigger than anyone else's.  We all have them - it's part of being human.  In the physical realm, science calls this a scotoma, a physiological obscuration of the visual field corresponding to the inability to detect light in part of the optic disc. The fascinating thing is the brain fills in the surrounding information from the other eye so the blind spot is not normally perceived. Applied to business the lesson is profound.

Ignorance is not bliss and what you don’t know can hurt you.

Chief among reasons for blind spots are our own strongly held beliefs.  We don’t really see things as they are - we see what we want to see. 

Tune in for 5 ways to expose blind spots. 
Feedback is welcome - contact Beverly@BeverlySpeaks.com 
More information on booking Beverly to raise the Emotional Intelligence of your team can be found at BeverlySpeaks.com 

 

 

Making the Complex Awesomely Simple with John Spence

This week's guest is John Spence, recognized as one of the top business thought leaders and leadership development experts in the world. John was named by the American Management Association as one of America’s Top 50 Leaders to watch along with Sergey Brin and Larry Page of Google and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

John was the owner or CEO of six companies and currently serves as a board member or adviser to several organizations and executives. He is a guest lecturer at more than 90 colleges and universities including MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Wharton School of Business, University of Auckland, Canterbury University, University of Krakow and Kozminski University.

John is the author of four books and a co-author of several more, a business consultant, workshop facilitator, keynote speaker, and executive coach with a client list that includes Fortune 500 firms, small businesses, professional associations, government and academic institutions. John has built his entire career on “Making the Very Complex… Awesomely Simple.” You can learn more about John at JohnSpence.com. 

In this exclusive interview, John and Beverly discuss the speed of change, the moment of truth in business, the formula for success, and provide a list of resources for leaders who are serious about personal and professional growth. 
Join us for this fast-paced and fascinating conversation. Contact Beverly@BeverlySpeaks.com with any questions, comments, or suggestions. 

Staying Positive in a Negative World

As a huge fan of positive psychology, it’s unusual to hear Beverly Lewis focusing on negativity. The need for practical ways to cast fresh vision and create a map for the days ahead necessitates the cultivation of positivity. The negativity bias doesn’t help at all.

In this episode, Beverly defines negativity bias and explains what it is and how it can sabotage us. You'll hear research from the field of positive psychology that builds a solid case for developing intentional strategies to shore up positivity and increase your level of happiness. This is critically important for leaders, since happiness is contagious! And it's proven that happy employees do a better job. And those who do a good job are happier - creating an upward cycle that will benefit any team or organization. 

Five specific strategies are discussed as action points for creating a more positive mindset and offsetting negativity bias.

When you pursue happiness, you aren’t denying the pain that’s in the world. You are refusing to let it get the best of you.

 

For more information, visit BeverlySpeaks.com or email Beverly@BeverlySpeaks.com. Your feedback is welcome! 

How Neuroscience Will Improve Your Effectiveness as a Leader with Dr. Deb Williams

Jump into this conversation about the power of neuroplasticity in unleashing your brain agility, resilience, and ability to lead well.

Dr. Deb worked as an emergency medicine physician for more than 20 years. Deb became the director of the Emergency Department in a high volume hospital. As she led teams in an atmosphere where the speed of change rivals what any business experiences, Deb developed insights that she imparts in a different setting today.

Dr. Deb has shifted her focus to healing the healers and bringing needed change to the health care industry. She has combined her scientific background with the neuroscience of rewiring the brain, to assist individuals and organizations to make transformational, long lasting changes.

Dr. Deb leads a community of professionals who desire to reset, realign, and redesign their future. Learn more at DrDebLeads.com

Top Five Traits Needed for Leadership Success

A changing world has created a shift in the attributes needed for successful leadership. Beverly Lewis is an executive trainer and culture catalyst who leads from the heart. She invites you to take inventory of your own strengths and weaknesses with a free download to accompany this episode.

When packing for a short journey, you may be able to get away without much preparation. But travelling on the high road to leadership can be compared to the precise packing required when you are hiking with a 40 pound pack on your back that holds everything needed for survival. Strategic planning  is required!  

In addition to the top five essential traits, Beverly reviews attributes you can be intentional about developing. For what to pack when you're called to lead, go to http://BeverlySpeaks.com/packinglist

The Color of Leadership with Dexter Pitts

Dexter Pitts is the voice of the I Am Pitts Podcast. Dexter is a Purple Heart veteran, a black conservative, Christian, former Border Patrol Agent and current Louisville Metro Police officer. Dexter gives insights into lessons learned in his journey through combat, injury, recovery, and finding a path forward where he can make a difference. Beverly and Dex have a frank discussion about the racial divide in America and how we can find our way to healing.

You can find Dexter’s podcast on iTunes, Spotify and more. He broadcasts consistently with commentary on current issues facing law enforcement, veterans and America.