Lead the People

As the Audacious Confidence™ Growth Expert and former Mrs. Elite U.S. Woman of Achievement, Alicia Couri strives to Influence, educate, inspire, and entertain to empower leaders to walk boldly in the direction of their dreams despite fears, feelings, or past failures.  She’s the Founder and CEO of Alicia Couri Inc., a boutique consulting firm working with CEOs and Executives to develop audaciously proactive leaders & teams using brain science and people data. She produces and hosts a nationally syndicated podcast: Leading with Audacious Confidence and 2 webshows: “Small Business Saturday Shout-Out” and “Love My Body Love Myself”. Top 3 Takeaways Confidence isn’t automatic—No matter how confident or capable other leaders are in your eyes, they weren't born that way. They worked at it just like you can starting right now. Perfectionism is a threat—Resist the urge to think that you’re not good enough or that you don’t know enough or that you can’t make a mistake. Have a bias for action instead. Know thyself—When you take the time to truly learn about yourself—your strengths and your gaps—you can embrace your authentic self and infuse boldness into your leadership. From the Source “I thought you were born confident, you couldn't develop confidence. And I also saw the same thing with leadership—that you were born to be a great leader or you weren't. And boy, was I wrong on both counts!“ “And the thing that freed me a lot was that not everybody has everything altogether. You know, you might see them and think that, ‘oh my gosh, I could never be like that’. Or ‘they have everything all together’ and they're not. So don't believe the hype.“ “We have to take responsibility for our own thoughts and our own mindset.”​​  “When I talk about lacking confidence, it was this idea that I had to get. I had to be perfect and get everything right. In order to feel confident enough to do something, because I wasn't leaning into my truth. And that was the big aha that I had is when you lean into your zone of genius (or your super powers as I refer to them) then you don't have to feel this need for perfectionism,“ “All of this is learned. It's shedding the old ideas and the old thought patterns and the old things that we probably grew up with. It's about shedding those things and really understanding ourselves on a deeper level and being able to then lean into those.” “When people carry those negative labels with them, they can't really see their own superpowers. They can't see their zone of genius because they keep trying to be something they're not.“ “I’m launching ‘Love Your Body Love Yourself’ because it's all about really understanding who you are. Falling in love with YOU instead of criticizing, belittling, or minimizing all the great things about you.” Connect with Alicia Website: http://alicia360.com Website: http://aliciacouri.com Links “What’s Your Makeup?” quiz references: https://www.trngcmd.marines.mil/Portals/207/Docs/FMTBE/Student%20Materials/FMST/Block3/FMST%20307.pdf https://beautybrainsblush.com/glossary/

Toby Pasman is a neurophysiology researcher who graduated from the University of Oregon in 2018 with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and completed his Masters of Psychology through Lynn University in 2021. Toby has board certifications in neurofeedback along with QEEG brain mapping. Toby is the founder of Roscoe's Wetsuit Neuro, an applied neuroscience company offering premium brain health coaching to clients globally, along with targeted neuromodulation services to clients interested in peak cognitive performance in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area. Toby is also the host of the applied neuroscience show Roscoe's Wetsuit Neuro Podcast, which features unfiltered conversations with clinicians, researchers, and neuroscientists. Top 3 Takeaways Our brains are beautiful—we don’t think about it often, but the structure and functioning of our brains holds the keys to all that we do, achieve, and experience. There is a neurophysiology of leadership—the way we master our development, inspire others, and deliver results all are rooted in our brain science. You can stack the neuro deck—rather than operate unconsciously, we can use neurofeedback and simple techniques to put our brains in an optimal state to learn and perform. From the Source “Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to adapt to rewire itself in different ways based off different things but one being experience. Neurons that fire together wire together.“ “The more regulated brainwaves, the more we're able to manage our emotions, control our behavior and be able to show up In every aspect of our life is the best version of ourselves. I think it absolutely applies to work.”​​ “Whenever we're communicating with other people, we are replicating their brainwave state which is being transmitted to ours and it's reflected. So that's why we're able to, you know, very readily pick up on other people's energy and be able to feel it.” “We know there are certain things that great leaders oftentimes possess—one of the things being what's called waking Delta. They've found that actually in people who are great leaders who are very persuasive—influential people—they actually have the unique capacity oftentimes to produce Delta brainwaves while they're awake, while they're giving that speech.” “Long-term, the prefrontal cortex is able to sort of battle with the reward centers and they know that in people whose prefrontal cortex is able to kind of win out. They're able to be much more successful in life.“ Connect with Toby Website: https://roscoeswetsuitneuro.com/ Podcast: https://roscoeswetsuitneuro.com/podcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobypasman/ Special Offer! Use the code "LEAD21" to get 15% off your first Neuro Health Coaching session when you visit https://roscoeswetsuitneuro.com.

Roberta Dombrowski is a passionate research leader focused on building research practices inside organizations. Over the years, Roberta has researched and designed experiences for communities of learners, educators, and enterprise clients at companies like Year Up, edX, Pluralsight, and The Predictive Index. Throughout it all, she strives to lead with empathy and mindfulness with everyone with whom she works. Top 3 Takeaways Leaders operate at every level—Whether you’re an individual contributor or a CEO, if you woke up this morning, you have the opportunity to be a leader. No leader is perfect—You’re a work in progress, and as you expand your leadership scope, you won’t have all the answers. Be transparent and honest about this with your team. Your leadership is an experience—Take a moment to check in with your followers and peers to find out where that experience is positive and where it could use some polish. From the Source “I think a lot of people who move from IC—individual contributor—into management still have that perception too. I've met tons of managers over the years who think about managing rather than leading and inspiring and things like that.“ “It's very robotic when you're just leading with managing tasks and outcomes. People are the best part of business and the work that you do. I remember every relationship that I have with someone that I work with. “ “What are the relationships that I want to build with people? What are the types of impacts? And building up my own confidence while I was doing it as well.” “Whenever I go into an environment or I have the opportunity to give back to others, I always try to do that.” “You're human. You're making your mistakes right along with your direct reports later on, along with other leaders too. So there's vulnerability and truth in that too. “ “If you're trying to think about your direct reports or even if you're hiring somebody—so say a candidate applies for a role on your team—What is your experience from the moment they hear about your organization?” ‘I do a lot of surveys when I'm doing employee experience work. Depending upon the size of the team that I'm working with or organization, I've done things like company values or team values surveys, quarterly reviews. So seeing how your team—Are they motivated? Are they inspired—keeping track of that, especially with COVID, sometimes you don't know, and you're not able to check in one-on-one with everyone.’ “I set up my mornings for deep work because that's what I know works best for me.” Connect with Roberta LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertadombrowski Website: http://robertalearns.com Website: http://learnmindfully.co Links “Six Degrees of Design” reference: https://www.niche.com/colleges/search/best-colleges-for-design/

Juliana Marulanda is a business operations expert, speaker, and the founder of ScaleTime. With over 18 years of experience across Wall Street, the nonprofit sector, technology startups, and family-owned businesses, she has now served over 200+ digital agencies. Featured on Forbes and Entrepreneur, she helps uplevel businesses into lean, mean, profitable machines. On average, Juliana and her team create ways to free up at least 40 hours per week for her clients so they can have successful agencies that run without them. Top 3 Takeaways Speed things up—leaders need to have a bias for action and make decisions without always having the luxury of time, information, and certainty. Learn while doing—you may be tempted to try and learn how to do a thing well before you have to do it, but the best and deepest learning happens during the action, not ahead of it. Make success automatic—create systems that automate the tactical aspects of your day-to-day work that otherwise absorb your precious time and energy. From the Source “I think sometimes it's amazing when really intelligent people will go into a room and think, “How the hell is that person doing that? they don't know as much as I do, but they're willing to make the decisions, they're willing to implement the thing, they're willing to take the risk.“ “Eliminating the self doubt and moving forward quicker is definitely one of the things that will really differentiate not only how big your potential can be, but the rate of your potential.” “You have a particular set of skills in a particular circumstance in a particular point of time. So you're learning curve and doing something—especially if it's new—is going to happen while you do it.” “I think one of the things that we have to look at is: what are your unhappy places? Like, where are you mucky? Where are you just in the weeds? So much of our time is spent in the weeds.“ “You shouldn't create automation until you have good process. Because if not, then you're just automating, and sewing inefficiencies and things that are just like, hairy.“ “You need to have that individual that wants to get promoted, basically fire themselves.” Connect with Juliana LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianamarulanda/ Website: www.scaletime.co

Hema Crockett is a military spouse, entrepreneur, and recovering HR executive, who worked in the private sector as well as for the DOJ and State Department for 18 years before becoming an entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of Gig Talent, a modern talent collective connecting best in class HR consultants and leadership coaches with forward-thinking organizations. Hema has been published in Forbes and Thrive Global, among other publications and her first book, Designing Exceptional Organizational Cultures, was released in February and was Amazons #1 new HR release. She lives in San Diego with her husband. Top 3 Takeaways Culture is a team sport—Enlist your employees’ help to define the culture since they’re definitely going to be the ones who will reinforce it every day. Performance is purposeful—Traditional definitions of high performance tend to focus on results, but it’s time to include upholding values in that definition, as well. You always have an audience—Your team is watching how you think, make decisions, and behave and they make their own interpretations as a result. From the Source “The way I define culture is really looking at it based at this intersection of values, actions, and behaviors.“ “A lot of times people think—especially in small companies—that whatever the founder or co-founders values are, those are the values of the company. And the truth is that may be where it starts. Absolutely. And then as the company starts to grow, and more people come in, and we start to really see that culture that is created—again whether it's intentional or not—there's always a culture that's created. It's time to revisit what those values look like.“ “It's not the executive team sitting in a room behind closed doors coming up with words that they want to represent the organization. It's actually a much more collaborative event or process.” “In any organization that I was part of when I was still an in-house HR executive, we used values as one of our performance management methods.” “With open PTO policies or these unlimited PTO policies where the time is available, as a leader, what are you telling your employees about that time? Are you really allowing them to unplug and are you as well setting the tone? Are you unplugging during that time?“ “I think the culture influences leadership development and expectations of them, but also leaders influence the culture.” “Leaders have the ability to completely derail the culture. If they're not self-aware, if they're not embodying those values, if they're doing one thing and saying another, then what is the message that's actually being conveyed?“ “Subcultures are always going to exist whether a leader is intentional about creating one or not. So with that said, the leader actually does need to get a little bit intentional.” “If you really want a high performing organization—if you really want to be an employer of choice, —the best way to do that is to make sure that what you are doing is anchored in those values. And then you can keep building from there.” Connect with Hema LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemacrockett Website: http://www.gogigtalent.com Book: Designing Exceptional Organizational Cultures: How to Develop Companies where Employees Thrive New Book: The Everyday Leader: 14 Marine Corps Traits to Unlock Your Leadership DNA Links “Over/Under” game segment source: https://blog.smarp.com/the-importance-of-company-values

William Rawe is a prior service Marine with over 20 years of experience in human resources and leadership development. He works as an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University teaching strategic management. He is currently working on his PhD in organizational psychology to further his passion for helping people thrive in the workplace. During his down time, he likes to spend time with his 11-year old son.Top 3 TakeawaysLeaders lead—When you get the right leaders on the bus and develop them to reach their full potential, the organization’s objectives manifest naturally.Practice what they teach—Training and development won’t stick if you’re not practicing and applying the lessons every day.Don’t fear the right friction—Constructive confrontation requires troubleshooting business issues down to the personal cause of the problem while framing the discomfort as a learning and growth opportunity.From the Source“That is where the real shift happened in me: that I need to focus on leaders and leadership development, because if we can get the right leaders in place, then it's going to benefit the entire organization. And it just goes out to all the stakeholders, customers, vendors, everybody. It makes total sense.““Everything was in place. You did your best and it failed. The customer said, ‘No, thanks. I'm done. I’m going with somebody else.’ So the constructive confrontation means we have to figure out what went wrong and that goes down to the personal level. So if I'm on the team, I'm like, ‘Okay, what did I do that caused us to fail?’”“I've been a firm believer that there should be a certain level of tension in every meeting. But you need to develop that trust and safety first, right before you can have that.”Connect with WilliamWebsite: https://www.williamcrawe.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamcraweLocals: https://learnleadtransform.locals.comReferences“Back to School”https://www.gcu.edu/sites/default/files/media/documents/academics/catalog/2021-22/Academic-Catalog-June-2021.pdfhttps://blog.cheapism.com/weird-college-classes/

After 14 years in Corporate America, Mialei embarked on a journey to improve her physical health and do a lot less of what was expected of her and more of what she really enjoyed. Mialei has an interest in people and our ability to communicate beyond words. She has written a coaching program that transforms the workday of the new leader instead of leaving them without any training to navigate that transition from expert to leader. Most recently, Mialei has noticed that we expect leaders to know everything when we really need to ask them Ask More Questions.Top 3 TakeawaysLeadership is like a train. Your vision is the engine, your people are the cars, and your team leaders are the links between the cars.Be aware of the work your people are doing, but don’t do it for them. Otherwise, why did you hire them in the first place?Ask questions. Questions create conversations which is where learning and growth can happen.From the Source“I think it's degrading to say to somebody, I can do your job better than you can. It's not fair.““When I lay forth a vision, what I want to know is what's the difference between today and when we achieved that vision.”“If what I'm doing and what that vision does, doesn't bring job variety. My vision is flat.”“Am I promoting the right person? Has that person started to think differently? Because if they're not thinking differently, they're not thinking about systems. They're not thinking ahead of time. They're not looking at outcomes. Those are not the people you promote.“Connect with MialeiWebsite: www.mialeiiske.comYouTube Channel: linkFree Resource: 7 Unspoken Questions in the Transition to Leader"

Jennifer Beck is an entrepreneur with deep experience in the legal hemp and cannabis markets. Today, she is the CEO of Jihi, a line of self-care products that elevate performance and enhance balance from the inside out. An advocate for mental health and mind/body wellness, Jennifer believes in the power of authentic, joyful living to uncover our power, purpose and passion.Top 3 TakeawaysSelf-centered care isn’t selfish. You take care of you for me, and I’ll take care of me for you.High achievers prioritize holistic wellness. Our mental health, the way our bodies feel, and the quality of our sleep all show up in our leadership.Nike was right—Just Do It. Conditions won’t always be ideal, but sometimes you have to press forward anyway. With the benefit of hindsight, the adversity you perceived in the moment may turn out to be an advantage.From the Source“Self centered wellness is a mind body practice that advocates reorienting inward and providing the tools and support that you need to navigate that journey. So as leaders, we are bombarded with stress and information, and what we need is resilience and endurance.”“We need time in the game and we need the ability to clear our heads and listen to ourselves. You're constantly going to be. Feedback from the outside world, which you need to be able to digest and incorporate into a bigger, clearer, more resilient strategy.““We love the phrase self centered wellness because it's a little agitating when you first hear it. The idea of self-centeredness is not something that we value, especially in our culture, which is heavy on martyrdom, burnout, whoever puts the most out and pushes the furthest, cares the most, or gives the most to their business.”“Being self-centered and being centered within, it gives us the resilience, the endurance, the strength, and the clarity of mind to be great leaders and really give to our organizations.”“When we're constantly just living with feedback and we're responding to the people around us or we're reacting to yeses and nos, we're not navigating our path and as leaders that's, our job is to see further than the fog of war to have a vision that we're manifesting, that other people can't see.”“People have come to value their bodies. At the end of the day, after we were all locked inside, we are still living in our bodies. We still have to stay comfortable in our bodies. We have to manage our mental health. And we all realized how precious our bodies are.”Connect with JenniferWebsite: www.jihi.com

Sarah Smith-Barry is the founder and principal consultant at Freego Consulting.She is a business psychology practitioner both on LinkedIn and in real life, improving the workplace through the use of personality and cognitive tools along with tailored roadmaps for leadership and teams to succeed.As a disabled Army veteran herself, and key member of the veteran family of Military City, San Antonio, it is important to her that she spends any free time volunteering at Veteran Service organizations, like FourBlock, where she assists veterans in their transition from service to the civilian workforce.Top 3 TakeawaysStress begets strength—while uncomfortable in the moment, stress is an inherent part of hormesis, a process through which your body and character can heal stronger as a result of adversity.Think big... but not too big—focusing on a grandiose purpose or passion can lead to disappointment if you force the issue. Find your footing with something here and now and have faith that your bigger why will emerge in due time.Commitment is key—before you can direct another person to a better tomorrow, you have to ensure that they’re bought into your vision of what’s possible and ready to do what it will take to get there.From the Source“Early on in my career and kind of having to go through that [injury] and watch other people around me who are also in recovery going through that, it kind of gave me a hormetic effect on my character.““Find something in the world that you care about and pursue that, and that's going to give you the passion purpose that you're looking for in the interim while you're feeling out how to kind of navigate and learn to communicate in the civilian sector.”“if you have the ability to speak with who you might be leading in the future ask ‘What is it that you need from me?’, ‘What kind of support would you like to have but maybe don't?’ and see where you can provide it.““We're trying to put the human back in the workplace and really make it a human-centered design.““You have the ability as a coach or mentor or leader to be able to direct your people in the right direction, but if they don't buy into it, It's very unlikely that they're going to go that far.”Connect with SarahWebsite: www.freegoconsulting.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahsmithbarry/Twitter, Clubhouse, etc.: @sarahsmithbarryReferences“Celebs Who Served” sources:https://www.businessinsider.com/celebrities-who-were-in-the-military-2016-11https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/20-hollywood-stars-served-military-210528490.html

Marcel Schwantes is the founder of Leadership from the Core and an international speaker, leadership coach, and a columnist who attracts over 1.5 million readers monthly to his thought-leadership contributions. Top 3 Takeaways With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility—Marcel found himself in a toxic work environment, and it landed him in the hospital. When he later worked for a people-first leader, his experience and his results improved dramatically. Be a people-first leader for your people.Stay Humble—seasoned leaders may find it tempting to believe they have all the answers. It’s important that you take off the mask and make yourself vulnerable enough to continue learning and growing.Safety First—when leaders give their people freedom, autonomy, and psychological safety—while preserving accountability—everybody can do their best work and the results begin to take care of themselves. From the Source “This isn't just pie in the sky stuff. There are people out there that are actually aspiring to lead this way. And it leads to results because that elevated my game.” “In journaling, you bring up emotions to the surface, and we cannot fix problems unless we know ‘How will you feel about what's going on?’ in order to do something about it.” “You want to break the barriers that cause you to want to discover more about yourself, that keep you from wanting to discover more about yourself.” “The higher you go up the chain, the less likely you want to break through the barriers that are holding you back.“ “I have lots of clients that are senior leaders and executives that—once they understand that they have to remove the mask and that they have to get vulnerable—that's when the real work happens.“ “A lot of people are promoted into leadership roles without having the capacity or the competency to lead humans well.” Connect with Marcel Website: https://www.marcelschwantes.com/ Podcast: Love in Action Twitter: https://twitter.com/marcelschwantes References 10 of the Most Inspiring Leaders of All Time https://www.inspiringleadershipnow.com/most-inspiring-leaders-redefine-leadership/