In The Business of Healthy Masculinity Embodying Conscious Leadership with Mark Edgar
Hello there, what’s happening in your world?
In my world, I’m super excited to introduce you above and below to one of my favourite Chief People Officers, Mark Edgar, my guest on epsiode #9 of In The Business of Healthy Masculinity.
Mark Edgar is a people-centric, strategic and innovative Chief People Officer and community builder with global experience developing and delivering impactful and business focused people strategies across a range of sectors. He has over 30 years’ experience building HR solutions across the broad HR agenda including transformational culture change, talent management, engagement and organizational effectiveness.
Mark has run his own consulting business and is currently the Chief People Officer for Wajax where he is responsible for HR, Environmental Health & Safety and Marketing.
An enthusiastic collaborator and thought leader, he is the co-founder of future foHRward – a community for HR professionals to build their capabilities and confidence in leveraging the opportunities that come from the new world of work. This includes a newsletter and co-hosting foHRsight the podcast.
Mark lives in Canada with his wife and has two grown up daughters. He spends his time enjoying soccer – or what he calls football – and his RV Ramsay!
You can connect and follow Mark’s work at the following:
I was grateful to first meet Mark due to interactions with Hilton Barbour and Paul MCarthy, so let’s dive in.
Staying conscious of our energy(energies)
“The other part of it, I think, is just recognizing that the strengths we have, the healthy masculine behaviors we have, the feminine behaviors that we have, overused can become a weakness as well.” - Mark Edgar
Can you remember a time when your strengths fell into a weakness after being overused?
Many see me as having strengths as a super-connector, connecting interesting and inspiring humans to one another, however overdone that has led to a loss of sense of self, or oddly even a sense of loneliness in the past. I am still not fully sure how or why, but it is just a random feeling at the end of all that superconnecting.
I was in a conversation with a senior chemical industry peer recently and it was a rare occasion where this person was fully themselves; humorous, listened well, was driven to build people and business, and really cared about protecting the culture of the organisation that he worked for.
Indeed, this senior leader had a lot of traits that Mark exudes so it gets me thinking. How do we ensure that our peers, friends, teams, feel safe to call us in when our strengths get overused and become a weakness?
We would love to hear your thoughts, and reflections.
How often do you stop and reflect on your own behaviours?
“I think there’s definitely benefit in helping people to think about their behavior and what is considered healthy and unhealthy and one thing that always is front of mind for me is the distinction between people’s intent and their impact” - Mark Edgar
I loved this insight from Mark. Somehow, and I say this often, there is a linkage my guest on episode #2, Helen Amery, and her work helping people move from reaction (impact) to conscious response. (intent).
Our businesses are often frenetic, high-pressure, ‘not much room to breathe,’ busy operations. How we can consciously slow things down to allow more creativity, curiosity, and in the end higher performance to come through is a key opportunity.
What do you think, feel, or want to say when reviewing the above clip? Do let us know in the comments.
Allowing ourselves to feel ….
“It’s this balance of the masculine and feminine. There is no one right way of doing
Anything. It’s about how do we dial up and dial down based on the situation?” - ME!
To what extent are you conscious of when you are in more of a driving mode or more of a listening mode.
How does it FEEL when you are being more conscious in your life?
I had a very powerful example yesterday when I went to watch ‘Come Alive,’ the London musical based on the greatest Showman. Below is a picture from this wonderful experience:
I was literally bursting with energy and some upset in my body at how I have been suppressed into a narrow job role for over a decade, despite offering so much for free (and after thousands of pounds invested in myself), and still being ignored, or even abused in the workplace.
Creating the conditions for honesty, discomfort, and growth
“I’ve been really impressed with the senior leaders that I’m dealing with everyday, the top fifty to a hundred people in the organisation, both men and women, who do have this ability to really feel a sense of being very comfortable talking about how they feel and some of the emotions around different things which I found really encouraging” - Mark Edgar
I am really blown away by Mark’s comment above. Why? Because I have never worked at a company where so many leaders seem to have such high levels of emotional intelligence, in addition to being really good at their core functionality..
How open are middle and senior leaders where you work with regards to talking about feelings, fears, or even just the ability to say I don’t know, but I’ll endeavour to get you clarity?
Some examples where I have sought to lean into discomfort have included trying to create spaces for more radical honesty within business, as well as actively seeking to create spaces for businessmen to slow down and connect. Both remain work in profess, and this platform is indeed one lens on the latter.
Please share your experience and perspectives with us to keep this conversation flowing.
Integrating the macro into your organisation design
“You are essentially within your organization; it’s a microcosm of society and you have to understand what’s going on in the wider world to be able to bring that into the organization and the programs and the practices that you’re running with people.” - Mark Edgar
I found this super refreshing and honest of Mark when all too often we hear phrases like “ business isn’t political.” To be aware and conscious that your organisation is a petri-dish of the wider world is such a powerful, and enabling, lens to look at business through.
What are you thinking, feeling, and what are your thoughts? Do let us know in the comments below.
I have tried repeatedly at some organisations to try and invite curiosity around topics that are beyond just making money, and often that is met with fear, or avoidance.
I accept that ‘HOW’ I go about trying to do that may at times be a little confronting, but I also feel we need to go beyond out comfort zones to truly learn something new. Thoughts?
As we end this week’s update, please do share any reflections or challenges you may have as a result of listening/watching this week’s episode of In The Business of Healthy Masculinity.
Don’t forget that you can reach Mark via the following means:
What’s next?
Next week I am SO excited to bring my latest instalment with international and motivational speaker, coach, and awesome human Cornell Thomas.
Here is just one snippet of our amazing conversation to whet your appetite:
In your corner
Finally, a short note to advise that I am here if you are looking for a 1-1 Thinking Partner that can be in your corner by voice note, virtually, and in-person, I have found 5 x 60 minutes calls + unlimited voice note communication to work the best.
If you are ready to embrace the journey towards healthier masculinity, drop me a line at garry.turner@radicality.co.uk.
With much love and best regards
Garry Turner
+44 7928 979358
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