Access The Episode Webpage here.
Welcome to this Linked In Live audio replay where where my guest, Rick Denley and I discussed the important connection between Wellness, Leadership & Success in Business.
Rick shares his unique experience working in organizations and with Leaders across different industries. He’s a distinguished Sales and Leadership expert, Best Selling Author of "Reinvent Yourself", a sought-after keynote speaker, and transformative coach.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, leading an organization, or simply looking to to create a thriving, healthy, and resilient business landscape, you’ll gain powerful insights relating to how the leadership landscape is changing in businesses of all sizes.
We talked about:
Follow Rick:
Connect with Sheila:
PS: Thanks so much for listening. I would love your review! If you enjoy what I share in this episode, rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/connect-with-sheila-botelho/id1527363160 I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Access The Episode Webpage here.
Welcome to this Linked In Live audio replay where where my guest, Rick Denley and I discussed the important connection between Wellness, Leadership & Success in Business.
Rick shares his unique experience working in organizations and with Leaders across different industries. He’s a distinguished Sales and Leadership expert, Best Selling Author of "Reinvent Yourself", a sought-after keynote speaker, and transformative coach.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, leading an organization, or simply looking to to create a thriving, healthy, and resilient business landscape, you’ll gain powerful insights relating to how the leadership landscape is changing in businesses of all sizes.
We talked about:
Follow Rick:
Connect with Sheila:
PS: Thanks so much for listening. I would love your review! If you enjoy what I share in this episode, rate, Review & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/connect-with-sheila-botelho/id1527363160 I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Over 40% of individuals are burning out and this isn't new. But the understanding of the percentage of people is. We know burnout existed before. Now we have the data to support it over 68% of leaders are burning out. That needs to change. Your leadership, your relationship with people, is really the blueprint for the interaction between them. How good a relationship do you have with yourself and understand yourself, and then you can understand others? You want positive, high energy in the workplace and you have to bring that as well.
Sheila:Welcome to this LinkedIn Live everyone, and Rick, I'm so grateful that you could be here.
Rick:Terrific thanks for having me.
Sheila:So, everyon e, welcome to this live. I am Sheila Botelho and I'm an entrepreneur, self-care strategist and creator of the Season Self-Care app, and I'm committed to helping you reconnect to your purpose, elevate your wellbeing and build your version of a happy, successful life. And today, rick is joining me to share his unique experience working in organizations and with leaders across many different industries over many years. He's a distinguished sales and leadership expert, bestselling author of Reinvent Yourself, a sought after keynote speaker and a transformative coach.
Sheila:And so, whether you're an entrepreneur, whether you're leading an organization or you're simply looking to create a thriving, healthy, resilient business landscape, this is an opportunity for you to tap in, slow down for a moment and maybe really connect with what is it that is on your dream list this year for how you want to feel, not just about what you want to achieve, but how do you want to feel while doing it. And so, rick, I would love you to share, just before we get started, a little bit of your background, like what got you into this beautiful, transformational space, in your speaking, in your leading.
Rick:Right, thank you. I want to leave corporate world because I didn't feel I was having enough of an impact on enough individuals. Helping people be the very best is something that I really focus on now, and there's so many different ways to go about it. It's why I wrote the book Reinvent Yourself, so that people could change as needed and become the best version of themselves. And if there's one constant factor in the world, it's change and our ability to not only accept it and embrace it, but actually lead the change that we want to see in ourselves and others is something that we can get better at, and it'll benefit us for the rest of our lives as well. So that's one of the reasons that I'm very passionate about helping individuals be the best they can be in, whether it be in work, whether it be in their personal life, their careers all these different aspects.
Sheila:And it really makes a huge difference when you are able to tap into these organizations using your experience working inside and outside of different types of businesses and over a span of time where you've really seen a lot of things shift with technology, with the economy, like hello, how many recessions have we been through? Let's count them collectively to be a lot, right? This impacts us, right.
Rick:Yeah, it does, and it's interesting you mentioned that because I've got a few decades under my belt in the working environment, in the corporate world, and then on the personal side as well, having gone through raising a family and marriage and things like that as well. That all plays into it and it all changes. And so what we learned about that word change is that, yeah, we can decide to make changes ourselves, and those ones we hold ourselves accountable for it's the changes that come our way that we didn't ask for and probably didn't even want, whether it be economy, pandemics, anything along those lines. But either way, again, we have to lead the change that we wanna see, and that skill set's not always inherent to people. So I'm very happy to be able to help that, whether it be in company culture, where it needs to change individuals that wanna change any of those areas.
Sheila:And it's so valuable because you are meeting people right where they are and often in the ways that you're serving people. I feel like they're stepping away from the day-to-day to be able to tune in to you, especially if they're at one of your keynote events. They're able to maybe take things in away from some of the pressures of maybe what they're experiencing in their day-to-day life, and so I would love for you to share a little bit about how you see things shifting in terms of the fast-paced business environment, and how are you seeing leaders seek or desire more of a culture that prioritizes well-being for sustainable success?
Rick:Yeah, it's very important that we look at the culture of organizations right now. You know there used to be this term work-life balance and it kind of makes me laugh now, because there wasn't a work-life balance and Especially as a Gen X or here were the expectations. You get up, you spend an hour in traffic, you get to work, you work 10 or 12 hour a day, spend another hour getting home and then somehow balance that out and really what it was was Recovery mode. For whatever hours you were not working, you would be recovering. Then came along the advent of these great laptop computers we could take our work home, cell phones so they could find us anywhere possible, 24 7365. There wasn't a work-life balance. We had to somehow integrate everything together. And now that a little bit of that remains Although I must compliment the up-and-coming generations that are saying hey time out.
Rick:We're not doing that. We saw what it did to you and that's not what we're about and I'm so supportive of that. It's wonderful. So keep pushing that type of change that you want to see in the workplace so that it doesn't have to be a work-life balance. It's everywhere, all the time, that we're focusing on these key areas of Mind, our body and our soul, so that we can be in balance all the time, not Get out of balance at work and then come home and try and recover from it and then go back to it again and then back and forth. That's not what we're looking for right now in the workplace. So it's going to take very strong and courageous Leaders to drive that change home, to do things differently than we've done in the past, and to me, I can't see why organizations wouldn't want to do that, because the only way to attract and retain top talent now is To make the changes that address the human factor at work.
Rick:Is that making sense.
Sheila:Absolutely, and it really feeds into part a of my next question, and that is discussing the synergy between leadership, excellence and Self-care practices. So talk to me about that, and then part B. I think you'll have no problem sharing about this your own personal self-care practice that fuels the work that you do, because you're flying on planes, you're talking to so many different types of people that you need to be nimble and keep your Mental health in check and your physical health. Talk about that for me.
Rick:Yeah, absolutely. You know leaders have to walk the talk now and you know the saying that you can't give from an empty glass, and it's very much true. You know I'll tell you a short story that I had some challenging names with our kids and the teenage years and things like that, and one of them was hospitalized for a period of time and you know it was very challenging during those times and spending the nights with them in the hospital. I would basically get up in the morning, spot water on my face, straight in my tie and going to work. I wouldn't tell anybody anything that was happening in my personal life because I didn't think that's what you did as a Leader yet to be strong, and I went in and I would just do the work and get it done day to day.
Rick:Now we learn that we have to open up more. That word vulnerability comes up quite a bit, and humility as well, and there is that strength in humility and vulnerability which allows you to build trust with the people that you're working with. You know it's, it's a challenge for everybody right now, and everybody has something that they're going through. It shouldn't be hidden from work, and if you're going to want that type of a culture within your organization, you, as a leader, have to walk the top. You have to demonstrate that yourself, and I think that that's a lot of what leaders need to know nowadays that it is different than in the past.
Sheila:Yeah, and it's so, as you say, that I got like the little the hairs on my arm started to rise because I think it's so common and there's probably still an element of that existing in terms of people wanting to kind of, you know, present one way in their work and be really focused, which focus is very important, obviously, but we are whole beings and we're emotional beings, and so to have to turn the switch on and off on our emotions while we're getting work done, that is really the thing I see impacting a lot of people's mental health, like there's always a story behind the scenes. Oh, absolutely.
Rick:Yeah, it is an interesting mental health there, but it's impacting at work. The recent McKinsey report mentions that only 33% of workers people are fully engaged 33% so that in itself we need to be addressing. Why aren't they fully engaged? Because they have lives outside of work, so how do we make it a safe place to come to where they can share as necessary and then move on with the tasks ahead so we can get that engagement level higher for them and everybody who wants to be engaged and be contributing. That makes them feel more fulfilled as well, so we need to be able to address that as leaders.
Sheila:Yeah, and do you feel like some of the different, your different organizations all the time here in the conversation, what are some really workable and doable practices that some corporations are doing right now in order to help people in this regard?
Rick:Yeah, that's a good question and it really comes down to the leaders themselves to do this. You know, we used to be all about putting in place policies, procedures, operations that's what we did as leaders and then we have to follow them. You know an iron fist, but it doesn't work that way now. And if you have the correct people in your organization and your values align we talk a lot about value alignment for people you don't need a bunch of rules and procedures in place. People know what to do inherently because you've hired the right people. But I think, as leaders, it comes down to, as I said it's not a mission statement on the wall anymore.
Rick:You know you get tired of seeing those. That's not what it's about now. It's about purpose and it's somehow, as a leader, making sure that you're identifying and aligning people's passions with their purpose and they happen to purpose. If you can get that alignment, you're winning right away and that engagement level is going to go up. So you ask me what we can be doing.
Rick:Well, I call it courageous leadership. And why it's courageous is because it's not what you might think, it's not that muscle bound courage that we're looking for. It's actually the opposite. It's, as I mentioned to you earlier today, it's leaders coming in and being vulnerable and being humble and at times saying you know, I'm not sure, team, help me figure this out. And that's a big part of it. So I call it courageous leadership. And it's also conscious leadership. It's consciously having a presence, and I don't mean just a physical presence here, you know, showing ups important, obviously, and taking the time, but it's being mentally and emotionally engaged with your team members to a very high level, with whatever level they're willing to share with you.
Rick:And, again, making sure that you're covering all parts of the individual, the self-awareness, you know, a leader himself and their selves need to be self-aware, they need to be reflective. They also need to be contemplative and really have a look at themselves. Are they living the purpose that they should be in understanding not only their emotions but others, which moves into the third thing. Emotional intelligence is so important here. We know that you have the skills, tools and knowledge to do the job. That's no question now. But if we bring into a fact emotional intelligence of understanding ourselves and, more importantly, being curious to understand others and the significant role that emotions and mindset play on creating that healthy culture that we want to see in place, we're going to be much further ahead. And that's what we should be looking for is that capability of leaders to connect with the team and the team members that they have to build that healthy culture.
Sheila:Yeah, it's like a circular leadership. It's not as hierarchical. I mean, certainly the hierarchy is there because you know, as a business owner, you're really the one taking the risk to move things forward, and so, of course, that hierarchy needs to exist, however, amongst a leadership team and then also your employees and different people contracting with you. It's really beautiful to see what happens when people come together with a shared initiative where they all feel heard. I'm seeing that myself in different organizations and I find that it's so inspiring because it also is humanizing business, and so I feel like that, paired with, like exactly what you were talking about, really the leaders walking their walk it's actually that's. That's actually better than, like you know, having a personal trainer. Right, your whole, everyone's watching. If you have a standard set and you are needing to adhere to it, they're following and they're watching.
Rick:Right, yeah, be humble, be vulnerable, share things. You know I'm going to the gym today because I go every day because I need to, and that's okay. You should as well. So you're leading by example. You know, over the recent report again this one from Harvard Business Review and then Microsoft Report over 40% of individuals are burning out, and this isn't new. But the understanding of the percentage of people is. We know burnout existed before. We know burnout existed before. Now we have the data to support it Over 68% of leaders are burning out.
Rick:That needs to change. We can't have that happening. We're just cycling through people, throwing somebody else to the wolves and then they burn out and then we replace them. You're not solving the real problem here. So you have to look at yourself and then others as well. You know leadership. Your leadership, you know your relationship with people is really the blueprint for the interaction between them. How good a relationship do you have with yourself and understand yourself, and then you can understand others. You want positive, high energy in the workplace and you have to bring that as well as an example, because you're setting the bar. It's a big challenge right now for leaders. Look at what leaders have gone through.
Rick:I mean everybody's gone through a lot we understand that, but when we look at what leaders have gone through in the last few years, you know, from a pandemic creating hybrid work environments, then the great resignation. There's so many different things and all along, as you just mentioned, the most important thing now that you can be doing as a leader is focusing on people People first. Don't worry about the processes and things like that. Focus on the people, raising their engagement level, aligning that passion with the purpose, and you're going to make a huge impact on them as individuals, which, as you know, I love the statement. It's people that grow companies and it's you, as great leaders, that grow people. So grow the people and the company will grow, and that, at the end of the day, is the goal. If you can do it while satisfying individuals, then your retention and engagement levels are going to rise, and that's really the goal of leaders now.
Sheila:When I see it, yeah, and when you really think about that, like the humanization of these individuals who are helping you grow your business, I'm seeing stories of people who are actually, as they're moving forward in success in their business, they're actually giving pieces of the company to their employees for that buy-in, for that ownership of really what's happening.
Sheila:It's so, so powerful and then everybody is showing up more engaged. Now, maybe not everyone is in the position to do that right now, but a place to begin, I really feel, like you say, the vulnerability and then having some standards and having some some different ways of even even having specific days of the week or month where people are able to focus on well-being and different practices and sharing, like here's what's working for me. Like I feel this whole the filling yourself up before you go to serve, like you say. We've heard this for a long time, but I feel like the idea of and of course, you're working more in organizations, I'm working more with individual entrepreneurs, but it's the same thing, because whether you're leading a large team or a small team or just yourself, you need space in your day where your mind is clear so that you can create something new and move into those next steps. But that involves being physically and emotionally present and well and rested.
Rick:Yeah, yeah, I mean that's a big. That's a big part of it. You know the three eights that they talk about. You know eight hours of work, eight hours for yourself and then eight hours of rest, and that's a good combination to go by.
Rick:Leadership has changed so much. I mean it used to be all knowing authoritative task assigner and a lot of times the leader would create a culture which was really just a mirror image of themselves and their personality. That's not what it's about anymore. Now. Leadership is about mentoring. It's about coaching and supporting and making sure that people are being fulfilled. And if you want to hang on to the best people, make sure that you create a pathway within your organization for them to grow that meets up with their career ambitions. Those are the discussions we should be having and listening to if we plan to keep people. It's not about ping pong tables and pizza parties Okay or even the amount of remuneration that you're giving people. It's not all that they're about now. So listen very carefully. In fact, I'll share with you.
Rick:I had a company that was that I was working with to hire a few people for their team, and I created this exercise for them during the interview process, which has changed tremendously. I mean, back in my day I would come in and I would have shots fired at me and have to answer many questions, maybe even a panel of several individuals to answer to you. Go into an interview now, especially with the younger generations, it gets flipped very quickly and you're answering all the questions as a hundred percent and they'll sit there and say well, tell me a little bit more about your organizational culture. How can I be sure it's a safe space for me to come and work in? What are the values of your organization? We never had those questions before, but they're great questions and good leaders need to be able to answer them and have created the values and the cultures that they're looking for. That's all important right now If you're going to be that supportive, coach and mentor type of leader that individuals are looking for.
Sheila:Yeah, oh. I think your clients are getting so much goodness from you because they're seeing the span of the different types of not only organizations, but the type of culture and how it's shifted in business, and you're so progressive with where you see where things are going as well. So maybe share with me just before we close, because this has been so powerful in such a short time.
Rick:Oh, we're just getting started here, we're just getting started.
Sheila:It feels like that right. But I do want you to share about when you're working one-on-one with clients, yes, who help them to elevate. Maybe share a recent story that really where you felt like they really made some progress when they were really stuck.
Rick:Okay, I talk about a value exercise that I run with an organization and the organization was stuck in a few areas One, understanding their own values. Secondly, even ask the question of what are the values of our staff members and our people? And then, are they in alignment? So we ran a values exercise and I had the core C-level people go off and figure out what they think the values of the organization are. Then we brought in a nice cross-section, very much along the lines of diversity that we're looking for now in organizations Because, by the way, the data supports it all now, which is wonderful. Finally, the DEI is so important and the companies that implement it correctly grow faster than others and are more profitable, so that's so important for people to know.
Rick:So we ran this exercise and we brought the two teams together and we looked at it and said, ok, put up on your flip chart what your values were, you put up yours here and let's take the common ones and put them in the middle. And we found out that there was quite a few similarities. Then we realized that we could focus on the ones that were common, not the ones that were different, focusing on the common values of the workers and what the company thought it to be and brought one together, that they formed together that collaborative type of approach to it to create the company values that everybody would adhere to, and it allowed the company to grow after hearing what the people wanted, and also for them to have a fall back when it comes down to something and say I'm not sure that falls within our company values and that can come from the workers or the higher echelon at any given time during the meeting. That's the vulnerability, that's letting down the guard and making sure that everybody's more on a level platform, and that helped out absolutely tremendously.
Sheila:Oh yeah, it's like a workshop co-creative experience and then everyone is going to have more buy in and want to show up and be their best for the growth of rolling it all out. That's amazing.
Rick:Yeah, that was the exercise that we underwent.
Sheila:Yeah, I love that and that's something that I think people could do on an individual level. If they could do it in their family, right, like anything where there is a group of people, that it really because it feels like communication is at the heart of a lot of the struggle, and so if you can get clear on what exactly that you're wanting to do and everybody's on the same page, growth can finally happen. We typically will, you know, we can let that communication stuff get in the way. So that's amazing. So having you to go in to this organization and say, ok, everybody, let's do this, that's the importance of a coach and a consultant, because organizations don't see or they're too busy to actually do it, so you carve out that space with them.
Rick:You do, and effective organizations right now are seeing the benefits of putting in place coaching and mentoring programs and even something that I call reverse mentoring, where the different or younger generations have so much knowledge and input to share with others as well.
Rick:So it's not just top down, it's not just the oldest, you know, greatest person in the company that becomes a mentor by any means, and I love your analogy of a family, because it's very similar to that. Think of a regular family. Now, I often will go to the kids, as I call them, even though they're grown adults, to find out OK, so how do I find out which music is trending on Instagram so I could tie that to my post so that it gets more viewers? So there's all this different knowledge base in all different areas and it should all be mixed in together as a team and the hierarchy goes away. And that falls into the DEI area, especially the equity and inclusion part, where we want to be sure everybody's voice is being heard, and heard without any concerns about being reprimanded or put down in any way. That's very important to create that inclusive type of environment that's necessary now. Not only necessary, but that studies have shown grows organizations.
Sheila:I love that there's data to support it and it only makes sense Like certainly we could have a whole other conversation about this specifically because it is tragic to see really what individuals and organizations have lost out on because of their lack of inclusion. And having a diverse landscape of people, like being brought onto the team for the beauty of their efforts that they can, they can share, and some of the work that I do with the women that I work with is also doing embodiment practices to help them through some of the, the blocks or the, the really lived experiences or witnessed experiences. They can hold them back from wanting to have their voices heard, to want to even try because of maybe a past experience, maybe something they've seen, someone else from their particular culture or gender or age, experience in a corporate setting. So it's so much more than just our minds. We do embody it, and so being able to move through that and actually shift things is really powerful, but doing it in a safe space like an organization that understands the importance is everything.
Rick:Well, yeah, and having leaders are courageous enough to step up and say this is where we need to be, this is a direction we're going in and pushing back on the way. We never done it that way before. Well, yeah, or it wasn't the best necessarily, and as I said, everything changes. It's one of the three constants in the world right, death, taxes and change. I mean, I can help people dying, but my, my accountant looks after my taxes. But when it comes to change, that's something that courageous leaders can get out in front of and make better in all this information that we know.
Sheila:Yeah, I love your insights and I also really love how you are that self led leader and you're walking it and, like you said, it took time for you to actually grow into that yourself from your own experiences. What self-care is lighting you up these days?
Rick:That's a very good question. I'm always like looking for something active for myself as well. Then I decided to make a bit of a shift and and come back on that. So physically, uh, a lot of yoga now I'm really getting into the open things to keep me, because it combines also the relaxation of my mind and my breathing. So I'm kind of combining some of those things when we talk about mind, body and soul. All that once you're really familiar.
Rick:Of course, the fact that I just love fresh air and getting out for walks and my trusty Steve rusty by my side as well most of the time helps me do that. So those two things are helping me out tremendously. And then, giving back, there's a couple charities that I work with as well, and Living with gratitude will help you more than you can ever imagine, and that's been a big part of mine. So those three things right now are are keeping me Filled so that I can give to others as well. And you know I just want to make one more point that if you look at yourself as a leader, as a candle, then you know that a candle can light the flame of many other candles without ever diminishing its own. You don't learn out of that capability and you're giving, so don't be afraid that you're going to give too much at any given time. And yeah, if you have to recharge the batteries a bit, find what works for you and keep yourself strong for others.
Sheila:Oh, that is a beautiful analogy. It reminds me of the campfire song. It only takes a spark back in my camp days.
Sheila:It's so true though we do give to each other. It's almost like the amplification of when you have one child and you think, and then another one's on the way. How will I ever love this child? How am I going to have enough love? But it really is just exponential, truly truly, and I just love your heart.
Sheila:I love what you're doing, I love that you've taken your experience and you're pouring in the wisdom and the lessons and your energy and heart of service into the organizations and individuals you're working with. It's so meaningful and I know, yeah, you're walking your talk and it's just such a pleasure to know you and everyone who is watching. I am going to be also having this episode up on my podcast, connect with Sheila Batello, and actually I can just throw the banner up here on there we go. That's where you will find it. I will also link it and you can. I'll also link Rick's interview that we had when we first had a conversation. You can go back and listen to that and hear a little bit more about Some of the depths of Rick's story, because it's been really it's really inspiring to hear, like you mentioned your family and different things you've come through.
Sheila:You know boxing and all that you know, your parents like there's so much to you, and I'd love for people to get to know you, so thank you so much for being here. Thank you, I love your podcast.
Rick:I watch your other ones as well, and other people should too. They're so informative. It's kind of a feel-good moment as well for me. So make sure you subscribe to my channel, me. So make sure that you take time for yourselves, and watching these podcasts are a great way to do it.
Sheila:Awesome. Thank you so much, rick. Well, everyone Thanks for watching and if you catching this on the replay, we'd love to know what landed for you. Where there's some statistics you heard that like really shocked you, like that one about how many people are burning out actually, we'd love to hear. And, of course, if there's any support that we can give you. You know where to find us. You can just DM us here on linkedin, and I'm so grateful for all of you and have a wonderful rest of your day.