This ExtraOrdinary Life

Kerry Wekelo is an author and the Chief Operating Officer of the Culture Infusion program for Actualize Consulting. Her most recent book, Gratitude Infusion: Workplace Strategies for a Thriving Organizational Culture, is a practical guide to implementing action plans that improve the work climate. She joins Kevin Monroe to discuss her book and how its principles apply.

Gateway to Abundance

Gratitude is the gateway to abundance, Kevin says. It is easier to focus on what we lack or what we’ve lost due to our negativity bias. However, no amount of regret changes the past and no amount of anxiety changes the future, but any amount of gratitude has the power to change your present. Shifting one’s mindset towards gratitude during challenging periods can relieve feelings of negativity, Kerry advises. There is always something to be grateful for. She describes an experience in which expressing gratitude for someone she considered a friend enabled her to repair their relationship, which was interrupted by feelings of hurt.

What Gratitude Does

Life challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, but rather, help you discover who you are. Focusing on gratitude allows you to move forward into being the best version of yourself. Kerry urges listeners who may be experiencing difficulties in their personal and professional lives to practice gratitude by connecting with people that inspire them. People want to do a good job, she adds, and they will be more motivated to put more effort into their work if they feel genuinely appreciated. You can start by finding one person on your team and expressing your gratitude, emphasizing why they earned it. It will make a difference in the organization. Kerry shares an experience in which she expressed her gratitude to everyone in her company and they doubled their reciprocation of her gratitude. 

Infusion

Kevin asks Kerry what infusion means. Kerry defines infusion by using an analogy she learned from her grandmother: when cooking, you do not just add flavor to the food and call it a day. You must layer the flavors so that it is present in every bite. Similarly, gratitude must be a regular practice that is present in every level of an organization. It has to be cultivated and nurtured continuously. 

Receiving gratitude is often harder than practicing it. Kevin and Kerry urge listeners to graciously accept gratitude when it is expressed, because it is coming from a place of sincerity that should not be overlooked. 

Resources

Kerry Wekelo on LinkedIn | Twitter

KerryAlison.com 

ActualizeConsulting.com

Gratitude Infusion: Workplace Strategies for a Thriving Organizational Culture

Episode 118: Infusing Your Company with Culture 

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Kevin Monroe continues to discuss living an extraordinary life in this solo episode of the Higher Purpose Podcast.

Anyone Can, But Not Everyone Will

Kevin believes that the act of listening to his podcast shows that listeners are aware that their lives have meaning and purpose, and strive to live an extraordinary life. This extraordinary life is here in the now rather than far in the distance. Anyone can do it regardless of their current circumstances, but not everyone will, he says. Though simple, it is not an easy task. It is available to everyone, but not all will say yes to the invitation, and some are so preoccupied with other things that living an extraordinary life is not one of their pursuits. 

Takeaways from the 90-Day Challenge

Kevin talks about the 90-Day “Extraordinary Experiment” challenge and what it taught him. Purpose starves in isolation and thrives in community, he says. An extraordinary life is other-centered, and is best lived with others who are on the same journey. We need one another to inspire, encourage, and lift ourselves up. It is through shared passions, perspectives and experiences between ourselves and others from around the world that we realize there is more that unites us than that which divides us. In addition, we all desire safe spaces where we can freely share our thoughts and ideas. 

Deaths of Despair

Kevin discusses “deaths of despair”: deaths during the current global pandemic caused by isolation and feelings of loneliness. These prove that we are designed for community, Kevin says, and crave to be around like-minded people who see our value. 

Kevin gives details about a guide to living an extraordinary life: his collaborative project with Debbie LaChusa. He urges listeners to maximize their life’s full potential by not settling for an ordinary life, and to inspire others to do the same.

Resources

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade 

Episode 152

ThisExtraordinary.life

TheGratitudeChallenge.community

TNT ESQ: Episode 9 with Kevin Monroe

Kevin Monroe discusses how to live an extraordinary life in this semi-solo episode of the Higher Purpose Podcast. Debbie LaChusa, an author, blogger, and online instructor, joins in to share details about their collaborative project.

It’s Natural

Kevin reads responses from colleagues and listeners to the question of what makes life extraordinary. Being extraordinary and living an extraordinary life is a matter of choice and not chance; it is not contingent on being born with a rare talent or ability. There is an assumption that it is the result of a monumental experience or achievement. “An extraordinary life is made of a myriad of what many may perceive as mundane moments, lived with such fervor and flair that the ordinary things of life are transformed into extraordinary,” Kevin says. We already have what we need to make life spectacular, he adds. 

Transform your Life

Debbie joins in to talk about a new course developed by herself and Kevin about how to transform your life from ordinary to extraordinary, as well as what motivated them to start this project. It’s not about being special, she says; it’s about living your life more consciously and intentionally. Additionally, it’s not all about you, but involves the people around you as well.

Kevin extends a promotional offer to listeners: purchase the course within the next 5 days for a discounted price!

Resources

Debbie LaChusa on LinkedIn

DebbieLaChusa.com

ExtraordinaryLifeCourse.com 

How to Live an ExtraOrdinary Life: Transform your Life from Ordinary to ExtraOrdinary and Live with More Intention, Meaning, and Purpose

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Dr. Rick Rigsby is the President and CEO of Rick Rigsby Communications, a motivational speaker, pastor, and best-selling author. He returns to the Higher Purpose Podcast to share his views on the current civil unrest across the US.

This Podcast is a Platform

Many are silent out of fear of saying something wrong, ignorant, or insensitive. Now is not a time to be silent, Kevin Monroe begins. The Higher Purpose Podcast is a platform of responsibility and opportunity, and Kevin sees it as his duty to speak up instead of sitting back and doing nothing. 

An Offense to God

The civil unrest in the United States of America is as a result of neither political or legislative problems; rather, it is as a result of an offense to the heart of God, Rick claims. The Bible calls for love and equality in both the Old and New Testaments. The issues present today are moral issues, rather than issues about specific topics like police and/or race. Rick adds that even during this time of uncertainty and darkness, there are positive things occurring in response. Circumstances are never completely bad, he says. There are always opportunities for growth and improvement. 

The Media’s Agenda

Rick’s background in media prompts Kevin to ask him why he thinks it is harder for the media to give more attention to positive news. Rick replies that while the media represents an important estate of society, the profession is narrow. Their goal is to tell a story, which requires certain dramatic features and elements such as a hero and a villain to keep viewers intrigued. The media only shows a glimpse of life, which is more often than not very emotive and spectacular because that interests viewers the most. This births a narrow, myopic view of the world. 

Perspective

Rick shares his beliefs regarding the rights and freedoms of all people. As a pastor in the Christian faith, he views the world through a spiritual lens. All people are children of God, he says, and should be treated with equal love and respect regardless of their differences. He believes that God is speaking to His children through the chaos of current events, and is passing on an instruction of humility, repentance, and obedience.

Protests Then vs. Protests Now

Kevin asks Rick about the main differences between the protests of the 50’s and 60’s and the current protests. Peaceful protests did not mean the protesters were not angry, he says. Rick replies that the black church was largely responsible for shaping the moral compass of the civil rights movement, which shaped the narrative of the leadership. The protests of today lack direction, and while the energy and pragmatism is admirable, the absence of leadership provides no moral compass to point people towards, he claims.The blame for that partially falls on the baby boomer generation for not teaching their successors enough about their rights according to the Constitution and nonviolent, passive resistance. 

People should fear saying nothing at all more than saying the wrong thing, Rick argues. People die for the right to speak out and do something, so those with that freedom should utilize it to its full power. America cannot afford for her citizens to be silent any longer. There is a common, misguided belief that argumentation and dissension are negative, but dissension advanced citizenry and democracy. “If you’re sitting on your butt, you can’t move forward,” Rick urges. In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. 

Resources

Rick Rigsby on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook 

RickRigsby.com

Rick’s Podcast: How Ya Livin’?

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Alain Junkins is the Managing Director of Hunkins Leadership Group, and Leadership Development Consultant at AlainHunkins.com. He is also Senior Facilitator at Eagle’s Flight, futurethink, and The Energy Project, as well as Senior Consultant at JMReid Group. He chats with Kevin Monroe about his bestselling book, Cracking the Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders, and shares insights about becoming great stewards in the workplace in light of current events.

Leader of the Future

Many leaders see people as human resources instead of human beings. They are still stuck in the industrial age mindset, Alain says. The leader of the future must be able to embrace both masculine and feminine archetypal energies in order to effectively carry out their duties. Alain gives examples of good and bad leadership during the current global crisis. He and Kevin also comment on the civil unrest within America, talk about their privilege as white men, and call for systemic change in order to combat racial oppression. 

Qualities that Leaders Need to Have

Kevin cites Alain’s book about the four important characteristics of good leaders according to a study involving 1700 CEOs from 64 countries and 18 industries. The four characteristics are: communicative; collaborative; flexible; and creative. These soft skills are essential for today’s leaders because the industrial-age, hierarchical, command, and control style of leadership doesn’t work anymore. Leaders should instead see themselves as facilitators of groups. 

The Three Secrets

The three secrets to building strong leaders are connection, communication, and collaboration, in that order. Alain describes the model for these principles as concentric circles that include each one before it. Rather than a title or position, leadership is a relationship between one who chooses to lead and one who chooses to follow. The quality of that relationship is based on the quality of their connection, communication and collaboration. In addition, the person who chooses to follow has the final say about the quality of the relationship, and only 23% of leaders understand this. Alain details each secret, how they intersect with one another, and how they apply currently. 

The Three Trends

The three trends of the current working world are choice, transparency, and technology. These trends largely make up the key differences between the 21st and 20th centuries: past generations were not aware that they had a choice in following a leader, neither were they able to access the technologies that we have today. Subsequently, there was barely any demand for transparency. 

Alain calls on leaders to become familiar with discomfort; if you’re always comfortable then you’re not growing.

Resources

Alain Hunkins on LinkedIn

AlainHunkins.com | Blog

Email: [email protected] 

Cracking the Leadership Code: Three Secrets to Building Strong Leaders

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Shawn Askinosie is an author and the founder and CEO of Askinosie Chocolate. His book, Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul, takes readers on his journey to self-actualization and is a guide to how they can discover the secret to purposeful business. He joins Kevin Monroe for a follow-up episode to further explore concepts included in the book, as well as how they enabled him to help others.

How Much is “Enough”?

Kevin asks Shawn when he started thinking about the concept of “enough.” Shawn replies that as he embarked into a new career the idea of financial success and notoriety began to lose its luster. The paradoxical and mysterious connection between his joy and sorrow gave him clarity of purpose during those years of transition. “If you want to find yourself, lose yourself in service to others,” Shawn quotes. 

Scale

Shawn claims that rapid growth is the temptation of our time, especially for entrepreneurs and people with ideas. In certain cases, scale is necessary and optimal, but you risk losing something when growth is valued above all else. He describes scaling as a dark temptation and warns that even when it’s for ostensibly good purposes, it may not actually be good. He describes an experience with a major retail company in which they give a fitting depiction of Askinosie Chocolate: they are about reverse scale.

Kinship

Kinship, Shawn says, is woven deep within the fabric of his company, is highly valued, and is another part of the human connection. He details how Askinosie Chocolate strives to engender kinship among their members, partners, and customers. Doing business with these values at the forefront is a much more rewarding pathway, he points out. 

Relationships Affect Your Product

If you bake a bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger, Kevin quotes. He asks Shawn to elaborate on the correlation between a good product and human connection. Who we are and the product or service that we deliver are inseparable; we can’t peel them apart, Shawn replies. The value chain is enhanced through relationships. Shawn talks about the projects Askinosie Chocolate has undertaken, the impacts they have made in numerous communities internationally, and how the connections he has established with people have positively enhanced his life.

Fair and Direct Trade

Fair trade began with good intentions, but has become so ubiquitous that it is now a victim of its own good marketing. Studies show that the premium added to the market price of products is not making its way to producers and is gradually lost along the complex supply chain. Shawn describes how Askinosie Chocolate has redefined fair trade into direct trade, including modified travel practices that ensure their producers get the profits they rightfully deserve.

Resources

Shawn Askinosie on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected]

Askinosie.com

ShawnAskinosie.com

Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Shawn Askinosie is an author and the founder and CEO of Askinosie Chocolate. His book, Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul, takes readers on his journey to self-actualization and is a guide to how they can discover the secret to purposeful business. He joins Kevin Monroe to discuss his book and how its teachings apply to current events.

Threshold

Poet and philosopher John O’Donoghue would consider this current period a threshold, Shawn says. A threshold can be a dark place of panic, discomfort and depression, but also a place of teaching, awakening and connection with our higher selves, if we allow it. You have to understand your present position and acknowledge your fear, instead of waiting to reach the other side of the threshold. Kevin adds that he has realized that current events are the world’s “temporary new normal,” and we must learn to adjust to it rather than hold on to the normal of the past. We may all be in one of three places right now, according to Shawn: on a threshold; on the path to awakening, where you have a daily practice that keeps you grounded; or among the masters or teachers from whom we gain wisdom. The tools you can access on your path depend on where you are. 

Success

Kevin quotes a line from Shawn’s book and asks him to elaborate. Shawn shares a story about a young girl’s positive experience with an employee of one of his stores, and says that even if his business fails, that moment of impact will be around forever. He considers that as part of his redefined meaning of success. “What people want to know is that they are joyfully alive,” he says. 

The Journey

Shawn’s experience of losing the love and motivation he had for his career led him on a quest to discover a new passion. He shares some of the activities he participated in along his journey, a notable one being volunteer work in hospice care. Accepting his broken heart, caused by the death of his father, enabled him to connect with his true self. “Our greatest joy is sorrow unmasked,” Kevin quotes. This joy wants to explode out of our sorrow, and to access it we must be willing and open to find that pathway. 

Floundering and Flourishing

The greatest freedom in humanity is the choice we make in response to the stimulus in our lives. Even in the midst of challenge and difficulty, we can decide whether to flounder or flourish. However, we must be able to surrender to the moment, and not just survive it. We do not have to wait until we cross the threshold to flourish, Shawn says. 

Resources 

Shawn Askinosie on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected]

Askinosie.com

(Blog) ShawnAskinosie.com

Meaningful Work: A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling, and Feed Your Soul

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Kevin Monroe connects with listeners one on one in this week’s show. He discusses three activities leaders engage in and whether they are beneficial to their organizations.

Decade of Difference

Kevin’s previous expectation for the turn of the decade was for 2020 to open a decade of difference. He describes the current global pandemic as a “legacy shaping event,” one that will impact how people are regarded post-crisis based on how they responded and lived through it. Leading now is different, but many leaders are doing what they’ve always done in hope for a magically different result, Kevin says. The way of life and business pre-COVID-19 is no longer sustainable and so we must adapt. 

Excuse-Making

The first activity is excuse-making. Kevin advises anyone who participates in making excuses to stop. When a leader makes excuses, they are not leading. When people engage in excuse-making, their focus is usually in the past. However, leadership involves accepting responsibility and being accountable for one’s decisions. 

Sense-Making

Sense-making is the ability or attempt to make meaning in situations that are uncertain, complex or ambiguous so that you know what actions to take. The challenge the current crisis poses for sense-makers lies in the fluidity of events and how liable they are to rapid change. Sense-making is a leadership responsibility, highly valuable, and may enhance your legacy. However, it does not necessarily result in action, as there is often no end to the information that comes. There comes a time where you must make do with the information you have.

Way-Making

Similar to sense-making, way-making is defined as forging a solution despite difficulty, impossibility or uncertainty. The key differentiator between the two activities is that way-making is action-based and dependent on sense-making. It bridges the present to the future, invokes the pioneer spirit, and incorporates what you have learnt in the sense-making process, Kevin adds. Way-makers begin their journey by assessing where they are now. They don’t need to have it all figured out; they just find the next step, and follow it forward. 

Resources

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Dr. Rick Rigsby is a former college professor, motivational speaker, minister, and President and CEO of Rick Rigsby Communications. He is also a USA Today, Amazon, and The Wall Street Journal best-selling author. He returns to the Higher Purpose Podcast to talk about hope: an invaluable asset to living a happy life.

The Benefits of Being Broken

Circumstances never leave you the same as you were before them. If a difficult season in your life breaks you, there's an unknown authenticity that can pour out of you as a result. Rick tells Kevin Monroe he feels at ease around broken people because they are authentic. He shares a definition of humility from his late friend: “Humility is the absolute God-given ability that eliminates the need to prove the worth of who you are and the rightness of what you do.” Broken people are humble, which is why Rick enjoys their company.

Losing Perspective

We are all leaders, Rick says. Leadership is influence; you are a leader if you are influencing anyone within your periphery. The first thing that's lost in a crisis is perspective, which it is incumbent upon a leader to lead with. Maintaining perspective is crucial to leadership during difficult times, as it can lead to hope for a better day. Feeling like you’ve lost hope is a result of losing perspective. As long as you are still breathing, you have hope.

Hope is...

Our casual use of the word hope has relegated it to the basement of human emotion and neutered its power. Rick defines hope as a quality contained within every human spirit that places a transformative demand upon the heart to believe for the absolute best outcome. Hope is more powerful than a strategy: a strategy is a plan, whereas hope is a belief; strategy is external, whereas hope is an internal virtue that can improve your quality of life. 

Hope energizes, it’s active, alive, passionate, and transformative. It requires courage. Fear is a reaction; courage is a choice. One must choose to be brave even through fear. Hope requires faith. Lastly, the characteristic that moves hope out of the realm of strategy is the requirement of an immediate decisive response. 

Renewing Your Mind

The thoughts we cultivate have a butterfly effect on other aspects of our lives, so we should pay careful attention to them. You have to renew your mind in order to not be negatively affected by external factors. Every day a choice must be made to replace thoughts of negativity with positive thoughts and affirmations, especially during the current crisis. 

Unfounded Hope

Kevin shares a saying his friend told him; misplaced hope is more dangerous than not having hope at all. Rick says that rather than misplaced, the more applicable description would be unfounded hope, which he defines as hope based on a set arbitrary condition. While it is critical to have hope, one must remain realistic with one’s expectations, else they will be reducing hope to wish fulfillment. However, not having any hope at all, Rick believes, is death to the soul. Hope is idiosyncratic, so even if your hope may seem unfounded to others, if it is what keeps you moving forward, there is no room for judgment. 

Resources

Rick Rigsby on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook 

RickRigsby.com

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade

Rajendra Sisodia is an author, and the cofounder and co-Chairman of Conscious Capitalism Inc. He is also the FW Olin Distinguished Professor of Global Business, and Whole Foods Market Research Scholar in Conscious Capitalism at Babson College. His latest book, The Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscience of Business to Help Save the World, explores the idea of business as healing. He joins Kevin Monroe to discuss his book, and how its principles apply to organizations around the world.

Epidemic of Silent Suffering

Raj claims that the current crisis has only exacerbated underlying problems within the workplace and society: it has “made explicit what was already quite implicit and under the surface.” The faults in our systems have always been the unseen part of the iceberg. He shares statistics concerning stress-related deaths, overworking and disengagement, stating that it is evidence of an epidemic of silent suffering. Vulnerability has always defined us as human beings, he comments, but now it unites us. He and Kevin discuss their personal response to the current crisis. Raj says that he has been thinking about how he can serve. 

The Healing Organization

A healing organization recognizes the role of business in the world. Raj believes human beings are put here to take care of each other. If you start a business, you could touch the lives of potentially thousands of people. Businesses which have the mindset of serving others and meeting their real needs are places of healing for those who work there. Employees leave work at the end of the day feeling better off than when they came in. They can also be a source of healing for customers and communities, as they provide goods and services that make a positive difference in their lives, rather than simply feeding their desires and addictions. Capitalism, Raj says, is the way in which we can cooperate with each other to achieve things we cannot do by ourselves, and come together with a shared purpose and shared values.

Healing Leaders

Unexpressed human caring is the most abundant underutilized resource in the world. Human beings have a need and desire to care: it brings fulfilment to our lives. If we can connect silent suffering and unexpressed human caring, we would have the opportunity for healing to take place, for both the receiver of care and the caregiver. Leaders must model the vulnerability and the willingness to express their needs. Kevin asks what differentiates regular leaders from leaders of healing organizations. Raj replies that leaders of healing organizations have a more expanded view of leadership; they recognize that leadership is the stewardship of the lives entrusted to them, and that the way they lead impacts the way people live. Leaders, however, cannot be healing leaders if they haven’t yet healed themselves. Kevin inquires whether every business can become a healing organization. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future, Raj quotes.

The Right Thing to Do

Organizations shouldn’t decide to do the right thing purely because it may be good for business. Leaders must believe that taking care of people is the right thing to do in order to do it for the right reasons. The notion that the wellbeing of people is only an instrument which contributes to profits has to change. The business of business is people. True business creates value. 

Resources

Raj Sisodia on LinkedIn | Twitter

RajSisodia.com

The Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscience of Business to Help Save the World

HealingOrganizations.com

Kevin Monroe on LinkedIn | Twitter 

Email: [email protected] 

Call or text Kevin: 678-744-5111

Join the community: KevinDMonroe.com/decade