The Enlightened Executive

Leaders usually like to be in control. Every action you take is toward a goal. Every step along the way is often thoughtfully planned. When you cannot see the way forward, you tend to step back and reassess where you veered off the path.

But you may tend to focus too quickly on "the how." What would happen if you ask "why" instead? What if the core reason behind your goals, is just as important as the goals themselves?

In the latest episode of The Enlightened Executive podcast, angel investor, Brian Andrés Helmick, shares how learning to surrender his expectations and releasing control, led him down an amazing and rewarding road in life. By letting go and assuming that he didn't always know what was best, Brian started on a path that he had not foreseen: from investing to entrepreneurship, to a spiritual journey, to impact investing.

Listen in and explore how stepping back, loosening the reins, and embracing the concept of letting go, can actually elevate your leadership, and change your life for the better.

It's often thought that the pillar of a good leader is someone with the ability to put the needs of the team before their own. But neglecting your needs does nothing but hold your team back and limits your effectiveness. By denying the primal needs of your mind, body, and soul, you won't have the mental, physical, or emotional strength to fulfill the duties you've taken on.

You strengthen your skills when you take control of how you operate as a leader, by prioritizing and honoring the needs of your well-being. When you do this, you develop a sound foundation for leadership that allows you to perform at your highest capacity for those around you every day.

When you develop a mindset that understands the importance of your needs and how it affects your team's ability to succeed, you take steps toward becoming resilient. And being resilient is one of the most important skills leaders can have.

In the latest episode of The Enlightened Executive podcast, we welcome guest Jim Hotaling, former Commander in Chief Master Sergeant of the Air National Guard, with 20+ years in Special Forces, who is currently the head of leadership development and assessment at N2Growth. Jim previously served as an advisor to senior executives within the US Department of Defense, which gave him a unique perspective on leadership and resilience.

Jim practices and teaches leadership from the fundamental belief that to weather the pressures of leadership and maintain the strengths of a leader's various skills, you must learn to put your needs first. In this episode, Jim demystifies the idea of being selfish while sharing what it takes to build resiliency and a healthy approach to the "never quit" mentality.

The only true power you have isn't changing others; it's shifting how you show up as a leader.

That shift starts with music… and updating your soon-to-be old playlist.

Jason Jaggard, founder and CEO of Novus Global, joins me today for the last episode of our special seven-episode series on The Leader's Playlist. Tune in as we uncover hidden playlists and learn how your trauma can become your triumph.

Music can do more than soothe you; Music has the power to HEAL you.

This isn't just a metaphor. Music has the proven ability to help make change stick, by priming the neurological landscape to form new neural pathways in a faster, more efficient way.

Eager to learn how? Don't miss this extra special final episode! It's the best one yet!

Your energy and the emotional frequency you bring to your role as a leader impacts your work and your team every day. Music also has a frequency, and it has the power to shift our energetic state.

And so, music has the power to make you a better leader, and it starts by creating a new playlist.

Joining me for episode six of our special seven-episode series on The Leader's Playlist book, is the Remote Selling Rockstar himself, Todd Hartley! As the CEO of WireBuzz and one of Tony Robbins' Business Mastery faculty speakers, Todd brings a new approach to our discussion on music and how your past is actually running your ability to lead today.

Are you curious about the playlist you currently have running in the background of your mind? Wondering how to change that playlist to drive different results in your life? Then don't miss this new episode.

There is no denying that music has the power to transform us. We often listen to music that matches our emotional state, but can we also leverage music to alter our state to the level of happiness we seek?

For episode five of our seven-episode series on The Leader's Playlist, I am thrilled to welcome John Ruhlin, founder of the Ruhlin Group and author of Giftology, to talk about how and why music can heal us, and even make us a more generous leader as well.

Music directly connects with your brain and your memories. It helps us recall and relive particular emotions, connects both sides of our brains, and inspires us to move our bodies. This is why the new playlist we create allows us to shift our actions and our reactions.

Music really does have the power to make you a better leader. Tune into this episode to learn more.

Regardless of how major or minor your wounds and experiences from childhood were, we all went through something that helped shape us into who we are today.

Those experiences shaped neural pathways in your brain that are the reason you act and react the way you do today. Music can help redefine those pathways and train your brain to react in healthier, more thoughtful ways.

Today in our seven-episode series on The Leader's Playlist, I am excited to have Shep Hyken, NYT best selling author, speaker, and CAO (Chief Amazement Officer) of Shepard Presentations, join me as we navigate how our childhood wounds appear in our leadership and steps we can take to heal ourselves and improve our leadership.

Curious about how music can shift those pathways? Then don't miss this episode.

What if I told you that the impact you have as a leader is limited by an internal story that replays itself over and over in the background of your life.

That story is a repeating record imprinted with a playlist of songs that you can't hear, but it influences everything you do.

In our seven-episode series on The Leader's Playlist, I am excited to have Justin Donald, Host and Author of The Lifestyle Investor, as we explore how this playlist could impact someone's ability to create true "wealth" — a life well lived.

How you view wealth, and what you define as wealth, will be influenced by your early life experiences. We discuss some of the neuroscience behind how music can shift your state of mind, your perception of abundance or scarcity, and how anyone could amplify their impact as a leader simply by redefining their playlists in life, including you.

Curious about how music has the ability to do all that? Then don't miss this next episode.

Is your team overwhelmed by the pace of change?

Are you feeling a sense of burn out?

Or maybe you feel that you can't delegate or trust your team to deliver. Or perhaps you are having trouble retaining or engaging your people…

The impact of your current playlist shows up in insidious ways. But there is a way to change that.

In the second episode of our Leader's Playlist book series, I invited John Rampton, Entrepreneur and Connector who was named #2 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine, to talk about improving leadership from the top down, how the pandemic has impacted everything and why I wrote this book.

Tune in to uncover the playlist that's running YOU!

How do you accelerate change?

We all have this playlist running in the background of our lives that—whether we know it or not—acts as a ceiling on our leadership effectiveness. And the good news, as I write about in my new book The Leader's Playlist (River Grove Books, October 18, 2022), is you can change it.

The process uses the power of music in two ways. First, it allows you to clearly see when an old neural pathway, one that we have determined no longer works for you, is activated. Second, it helps you strengthen a new neural pathway, one we want to switch out with your old playlist.

This week kicks off our seven-episode series of interviews where we get to explore these concepts! I've invited Amber Vilhauer, CEO & Founder of NGNG Enterprises and online digital marketing expert, to join me to talk about why I wrote the book, and why music is one of the most powerful tools you can use to help rewire neural pathways.

Leadership looks pretty nice for the Tim Cook and Warren Buffet's of the world. They're widely recognized for their contributions, and by every account, they've attained success.

But what about the leaders who aren't making headlines? What about the leaders climbing the leadership ladder and making a conscious impact, albeit away from the public eye?

These are the leaders Dorie Clark thinks should be in the spotlight. She believes that in today's world, unfortunately the loudest voices are the ones that win, and not the people who actually are the best leaders or have the best ideas.

To correct this injustice, Dorie wants to teach people the skills they need to ensure they're recognized for their expertise. She helps individuals and companies get their best ideas heard, "rather than being the tree that falls in the forest because it's so crowded and so noisy."

In the latest episode of The Enlightened Executive podcast, best-selling author and professional speaker, Dorie Clark, shares how she teaches unsung leaders to make their voices heard and the steps you can take to be recognized for the effective leader you are.