Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future S4-Ep37: From Stress to Strength: How to Rewire Your Brain for Resilience
Guest: Jon Wortmann, Leadership Coach & Principal at Novel Communication
What makes some overloaded leaders bounce back stronger, while others burn out?
In this episode, host Maureen Metcalf talks with executive coach and resilience author Jon Wortmann about how leaders can train their brains to stay calm, clear, and focused, even in chaos.
Wortmann draws from neuroscience, mindfulness research, and real-world leadership practice to reveal how resilience is more than “bouncing back.” It’s a trainable skill that rewires your stress response through deliberate habits: breathwork, focus, movement, and meaningful connection.
Learn how to:
- Shift from the “short loop” of stress reactivity to the “long loop” of intentional thinking.
- Use quick switching to get your brain back online in seconds.
- Build resilience across four domains: physical, cognitive, emotional, and relational.
- Lead teams more effectively by managing your own emotional and physiological state.
Other episodes you'll enjoy:
- How Purpose-Driven Women Redefine What It Means to Lead with Dr. Karen Longman
- How Inner Work Transforms Your Leadership with Jonathan Reams
- Leading from Within – A Former Navy SEAL on Transforming Yourself to Lead Others with Diego Ugalde
For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. We’re onTikTok, Threads, and Twitter, too!
RESOURCES:
For great tips on reducing stress and boosting your brain skills, pop over to Jon’s Quickswitching website at https://quickswitching.com/.
Jon has several excellent books. Hijacked by Your Brain is about dealing with stress; it’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/4o3pvin.
For better leadership, he’s cowritten Three Commitments of Leadership: How Clarity, Stability, and Rhythm Create Great Leaders; it’s in hardback at https://amzn.to/4nXD8zq.
And if you just want to improve your golf game (using neuroscience & psychology), be sure to read Your Brain on Golf: How to Turn Frustration, Fear, and Anger into Better Scores. It’s in paperback at https://amzn.to/4pULk5x.
Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.
Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8 . The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.
Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.
NOTE: As an Amazon partner, we may make a small commission from books you buy through these links.
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OUR PODCAST TEAM:
Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf
Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko
Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan
Sponsorship Sales: Kristine Gross
Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.
CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2
Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com
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About Our Guest:
Jon Wortmann is an executive & mental coach and speaker. A graduate of Carleton College and Harvard, his books have been #1 best sellers in 22 categories on Amazon. His work has been featured in O Magazine, Elle, The Huffington Post, Fox, Fast Company, and Psychology Today.
He began his training career in 2005 with a division of Time Warner, and has since worked with Fortune 500 firms, start-ups, universities, and non-profits to improve resilience, executive and board communication, client relationships, and leadership.