Traits of Leaders Who Sustain Excellence

Episode 235: Dr. Gay Hendricks - How To Make The Big Leap

Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., has been a leader in the fields of relationship transformation and bodymind therapies for more than 45 years. After earning his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Stanford, Gay served as professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Colorado for 21 years. He has written more than 40 books, including bestsellers such as Five Wishes, The Big Leap and Conscious Loving (co-authored with his co-author and mate for more than 35 years, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks), both used as a primary text in universities around the world. In 2003, Gay co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle,which distributes inspirational movies and conscious entertainment to subscribers in 70+ countries.

Gay has offered seminars worldwide and appeared on more than 500 radio and television shows, including OPRAH, CNN, CNBC, 48 HOURS and others. In addition to his work with The Hendricks Institute, Gay is currently continuing his new mystery series that began with The First Rule Of Ten

Episode 235: Dr. Gay Hendricks - How To Make The Big Leap

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The Learning Leader Show

"The money became an effortless byproduct of doing what I love"

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
  • Openness to learning
  • Great listener
  • They do not waste time being defensive
• The makeup of insecure people who won't learn = Fear. A bug --> You poke it, it curls towards the center. They are scared. We have the same nervous system from many years ago
  • Must acknowledge the fears -- "Don't try to out argue them or "out-facts" them"
  • "Speak to your shared fears" when scared
  • The 4 things we do when scared:
    • Fight
    • Runaway
    • Freeze
    • Space out
  • Fear tries to take us out of the moment
• His story of going on the Oprah show -- "Being on Oprah was like having 10 shots of espresso"
• What is the upper limit problem? A point in success/happiness -- if you go past the point of it, you do something to knock yourself down. Fears keep people locked in certain zones
• The 4 Operating Zones
  • Zone of incompetence
  • Zone of competence
  • Zone of excellence
  • Zone of Genius
• Most love to do? "Living full time in the zone of genius"
• Why you should start with "10 minutes of what you most love to do" -- Then continually bump that time up
• Making the leap -- Freedom, pressure. Stand up, walk your talk. So rewarding, but can you make money?
  • "The money became an effortless byproduct of doing what I love"
• Walk quietly and with passion... Auspicious things happen
• Life rewards expression of true genius
• Early 90's, Gay spent 30% of time in his genius zone, then 50%, then 70%, now 90% of time is spent in his zone of genius
• His zone of genius? "Be a model of creativity. Explain complicated things in a simple way."
  • Oprah called it "Learning to love yourself"
• Creativity - Conscious loving ever after -- How to access more creativity? Every day after 50 is a choice between creativity and stagnation. Move, play, create new ideas. At age 65, Gay started lifting weights. Must keep moving your body
• He wrote his first mystery novel at age 65 (Wow!)
• He just sold the mystery series to Netflix to turn it into a television series
  • It's never too late to start accessing new paths of creativity
  • Put your mind on how to create more
• Learning Leader = "Commitment to learn from the moment"

"Life rewards expression of true genius."

Social Media:

• Read: The Big Leap
• Follow Gay on Twitter: @GayHendricks
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12