In this episode we take a deep dive with Alessandra Edwards, a leadership performance expert, on the common patterns she sees in high performing women, and especially CEOs. 

Through her work she has identified genetic similarities in female CEOs she works with and how these can drive women to take on more male traits with higher aggression levels that lead to hormonal imbalances and other health issues.

Alessandra talks us through how a profound lack of connection to self can lead to issues around sleep quality, anxiety, stress, confidence issues and what we can do to start reconnecting to our inner wisdom.

This is a powerhouse episode full of actionable insight that will get you thinking and of special interest to those in leadership. 

 Alessandra Edwards has a Bachelor of Health Science with a Postgraduate Professional Certificate in Genetics and Genomics and combines a decade of clinical nutritional practice to help clients achieve their highest level of cognitive and physical performance. In her work she coaches ambitious leaders and teams who are feeling tired, wired and frustrated by their inability to reach their professional and personal goals. She consults with clients in Australia, the UK, Italy, Germany and New Zealand.

In this episode we speak with two of Australia’s leading professional performance coaches, Alessandra Edwards and Dr Amy Silver. Dr Amy Silver is a psychologist, speaker and author on the management of our emotions for high performance and wellbeing. Alessandra Edwards is a performance expert who’s obsessed with one question: how far can we stretch our genetic limit so we can achieve our maximum potential.

They share how their friendship has served them as women, their lock down experience and how they were able to come together to use their expertise to support their wider community. 

We hear a powerful lean in moment from Alessandra and how why it is important to actively make time and space in your life for regular debriefs with friends, or your Circle, where you can be vulnerable. 

Dr Amy Sliver has just released a new book, The Loudest Guest, that explores the role that fear plays in our lives. In-this-easy-to-read, practical book you will learn the six essential steps to reduce the power of your fear voice and create a more powerful you.

Alessandra Edwards has a Bachelor of Health Science with a Postgraduate Professional Certificate in Genetics and Genomics and combines a decade of clinical nutritional practice to help clients achieve their highest level of cognitive and physical performance. In her work she coaches ambitious leaders and teams who are feeling tired, wired and frustrated by their inability to reach their professional and personal goals. She consults with clients in Australia, the UK, Italy, Germany and New Zealand.

We talk to integral members of the Lean In team for Auckland and New Zealand; Katharina and Siobhan.

How did they find Lean In?  Why did it appeal to them so much?  

They share their individual journeys with  Lean In, as well as some fantastic Lean In moments they have had.

They also talk about their experience of being involved in the Lean in Global conference, and the joy of connecting with so many amazing Lean In’ers around the world.

Please note: This podcast was recorded earlier in 2020, before we truly understood the full impact of Covid 19.  So please take the references to international travel with a grain of salt!  And with a dose of hope that one day we will hopefully be able to travel internationally again and connect like this again.

Join us for this Bonus Episode podcast to hear Pollyanna Lenkic speak on the issues facing women in the workplace.

The inspiring Pollyanna Lenkic was the speaker for our last Online Open Circle event for 2020.  This episode is your opportunity to hear what she had to share with us.

Pollyanna is a regular contributor to Arianna Huffington’s Thrive and has literally written the book on women and success.  She is one of Australia’s leading professionals in lifting team performance in global and national organisations. At 24, she co-founded a specialist IT consultancy in London, which grew from humble beginnings to a permanent team of 18 with 100+ consultants and an annual turnover of £11 million.

Among her accomplishments are building a multi million dollar business from the ground up, author of the book Women & Success and is a regular contributor to Arianna Huffington’s Thrive.

A core focus of hers is working towards building a gender balanced workforce. Her Women & Success program supports women to navigate specific challenges that women face in the workplace.

This is one you don't want to miss!

Download a copy of the presentation here.

Books recommendations made my Pollyanna: 

• How to Say It For Women: Communicating with Confidence and Power Using the Language of Success Paperback – January 1, 2001 - by Phyllis Mindell
  
  
• The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate - by Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac 

Episode 6.  Katie Quinney

Leadership and Championing Other Women

Grace and Jenny talk to one of the fascinating members of our Lean In Auckland network, Katie Quinney. Katie is a Nurse Director of Surgical Services at the Auckland DHB and is a motivating and uplifting leader that continues to be an integral member of our Lean In community. 

In this episode we discuss championing women in the work place, the challenges of being a leader, and how self promotion often does not feel natural to women! We’re working on it! We'll also hear about Katie’s inspirational experience with her own Circle that focused on supporting each other in personal and leadership development.

If you'd like to hear more from Katie, follow her on her blog, Navigating the Asteroid Field of Leadership - www.katiequinney.com. We HIGHLY recommend it for its thoughtful and insightful dialog and the selection of great topics that Circles can draw on for discussion at future meetings.

Join us for this bonus episode.  Grace explores multiple topics with long time surf friends Rachel and Alex, who both recently joined virtual circles during lockdown.  Where does feminism fit in the surf line up?  Why do we let the guys paddle first so often?!   How do we feel about zoom, after so much zooming? How important was it to have a Lean In circle to connect with during the bizarre time that was lockdown?

We are now re-entering ‘normal-ish’ life here in NZ.  How are we coping with it, both mentally and emotionally?  It turns out that it’s not as easy to slide back into normal as we thought it would be.

Rachel also just casually helped launch the womens surf magazine Surf Betty during lockdown; it’s fantastic so please check it out!  And look out for the next edition:

https://www.bettyzine.com/

https://www.facebook.com/surfbettyzine/

In this episode, we speak with Annabel, a valued Lean In member. We chat about how we hold ourselves, what we wear and how we talk within the workplace. Tune in to look into authenticity, power and staying true to who you are.

If you're interested in checking Annabel's blog, The Writing Half, you can find it here. 

We connect with to Adele Tara who is part of the Lean In NZ leadership committee to talk with her about Lean In in a Covid world and her initiative to extend Lean In to the Maori Pasifika community.

Lean In to the Maori Pasifika Facebook group:  Lean In Māori & Pasifika Wāhine o Aotearoa - New Zealand 

This episode was recorded during lockdown over the phone so please excuse the sound quality. 

A note from our guest, Adele Tara:

"Everything I speak about here is from my own personal story and observations. Throughout the podcast I alternate between my cultural lens and a lens that has been formed by various worldviews. I am not a spokesperson for Māori or my own Pasifika women. We each have personal interpretations of our cultural values and tikanga, therefore what one person sees/feels/perceives can be vastly different to what another person does. The things I speak about here should not be taken as a blanket statement and applied to all Māori and Pasifika. Additionally, when I describe certain protocols, these are according to my learnings or experiences and there will be variations on how these are carried out by others.  What I am is an advocate and I work with our co-lead to provide a safe space for our wāhine to kōrero and grow."

What is Lean In all about? Grace Crawford and Jenny Smith, the show hosts, share about their personal experiences and what leaning in means to them. 

In this continuation of Part 1, we chat with Adele Tara, the leader of the Lean In Maori and Pacific network, about the complex and fascinating topic of bringing your whole cultural and female self to work.

Lean In Māori & Pasifika Wāhine o Aotearoa - New Zealand Facebook Group.

This episode was recorded during lock down over the phone so please excuse the sound quality. 

A note from our guest, Adele Tara:

"Everything I speak about here is from my own personal story and observations. Throughout the podcast I alternate between my cultural lens and a lens that has been formed by various worldviews. I am not a spokesperson for Māori or my own Pasifika women. We each have personal interpretations of our cultural values and tikanga, therefore what one person sees/feels/perceives can be vastly different to what another person does. The things I speak about here should not be taken as a blanket statement and applied to all Māori and Pasifika. Additionally, when I describe certain protocols, these are according to my learnings or experiences and there will be variations on how these are carried out by others.  What I am is an advocate and I work with our co-lead to provide a safe space for our wāhine to kōrero and grow."