Below the Waterline

The honest conversations we long to have with others begin with the honest conversations we have with ourselves.

In this Season 1 finale, I pause to look back at our journey so far: the three threads of values, leading from the heart, and courage; the values that live in our bodies; the borrowed stories we inherit; and the behaviour that shows whether we're truly living what we value.

I also share what I've been seeing in rooms with teams. Beneath the tasks and meetings, people are longing for connection below the surface. When we know where our values come from, we gain the language to understand each other, disagree without disconnecting, and find meaning together.

That's why I'm taking Season 2 in person, with face-to-face conversations about what happens when our values meet, and when they clash.

Before then, I'd love you to try the 15-minute values exercise from Episode 2 and the five steps from Episode 5. Then share the story behind one of your values with someone you trust.

Thank you for coming below the waterline with me this season.

🎁 Free Values Guide: https://dharma-awakenings.kit.com/b1d48bf1a2

Real leadership doesn't happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

Another practical reflection - do take a moment, pause, sit, and reflect.

Building on Episode 5's dive into the stories behind our values, this episode invites deep self-reflection on our own behaviour as the first step toward humble inquiry, real connection, and healthier conversations with the people around us.

Before we can have honest conversations about values that don't match, we need to look at ourselves first. In this episode, I ask: what really happens inside you when someone else's honesty doesn't look like yours? Is it what you say, or what you quietly hold back? A reflective look at self-awareness as the first step toward humility, courage, and real connection with the people around you.

It matters because this is the single point of inner and outer conflict in how we relate to others.

I'd love to know what comes up for you.

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

This is episode is a real gift.

I decided to give you the exact five-step process I use in my masterclasses, retreats, and one-to-ones,  the same process that stops people in their tracks every time.

We go below the surface to find where your values really came from, what they were protecting, and whether they still serve who you are today.

The five steps:

• Name it
• When did I first learn this?
• What was I trying to keep safe?
• Does this still serve me?

Choose consciously ! This is the real work. 

And when you go deep enough, transformation doesn't take 66 days. 

It can happen in a single moment of honest awareness.

Come with something to write with. You'll want to.

Next episode - the why of values, and how to use them to have healthy, productive debate with the people around you even when your versions look very different.

Find me in the show notes to go deeper.

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

So many of us lived on borrowed values and in this episode we delve into what that means and discover how this shapes our beliefs, attitudes and ultimately our behaviours. If they are borrowed are they valid in for who we are today?

Listen in and explore why our story is the root cause of what drives our behaviours above the waterline. 

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

What if the person you've been searching for was already there all along?

In this special episode, number three, Ratna takes an intentional detour from the values work to share a powerful experience from the UK's first HKL International Conference,  a gathering built around three words: Humility, Kindness, and Love.

It's a reminder that we are not one person at work and another person at home. We are one human being. And when we dare to bring the wholeness of who we truly are into everything we do - our leadership, our relationships, our everyday moments, everything changes.

This isn't idealism. It's the most courageous and practical work any leader will ever do.

This Episode is dedicated to the HKL Global movement - be sure to check out the amazing work they are doing HKL | Humility, Kindness & Love Global Movement.

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

Words Without Roots

Your values aren't in your head. They live in your body, and they show up in just three places: your actions, your reactions, and your non-actions.

In this episode, Ratna goes deeper into what values actually look like in real life,  not the ones you write on a sticky note, but the ones already running your life whether you're conscious of them or not.

You'll walk away with a simple 15-minute exercise designed to help you stop guessing at your values and start reading the patterns that reveal them. 

Because most of us are living by values we inherited. The real work begins when you choose them.

🎁 Click here for your Free Guide https://dharma-awakenings.kit.com/b1d48bf1a2

Take some time to pause reflect and observe. 

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

This podcast wasn't born from a strategy. It was born from a journey.

In this first episode, Ratna introduces the three threads that run through everything. How we lead, how we relate, and how we truly know ourselves: values, leading from the heart, and courage.

Not as a leadership framework. As a way of living.

If you've ever felt that something is off,  in your leadership, your relationships, or quietly within yourself,  this episode is where we begin to go below the surface and find out why.

Real leadership doesn't happen on the surface. It happens Below the Waterline  -where it actually matters.

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.

Welcome to my first ever podcast!

A brief introduction to who I am and what Below the Waterline is all about.

I'm Ratna, and this podcast is about humanising leadership from the inside out. Not the surface-level stuff, the real, deep, courageous work of understanding what drives us, what motivates us, and what quietly gets in the way of our true potential.

I've spent years working with individuals, teams, and organisations in many cultures and more recently I've gone deep on my own personal journey. This podcast is the next chapter of that work, shared with you.

Each episode we'll explore the beliefs and values that shape how we show up, have the uncomfortable conversations, and find the breakthroughs that come when we dare to go deeper.

We 're going Human to Human, Heart to Heart  - Below the Waterline.

Let's go there together

Real Leadership doesn’t happen at the surface.

It happens Below the Waterline.