Health Journal Online

Tag: leadership

  • The Best Leaders Think: What About Me, What About You?

    The Best Leaders Think: What About Me, What About You?

    Many fail in leadership positions, despite outstanding individual performance. Daniel Goleman explains that they often miss two important mental stances, which the best leaders understand as critical to the job.

    A candidate for CEO told me he felt ready to take over an organization—his first post at the top—after he had gone through a leadership workshop. At the end, the trainer told him that he was an outstanding leader…potentially. It left the candidate wondering: What qualities do the best leaders have? And are they what we assume they are? 

    Of course he had never led a company before, and so had no track record. But he exuded self-confidence. Was that enough?

    That CEO candidate came to mind recently when I heard a new rap song that has two refrains:

    What about me?

    What will make me happy? What do I want to do? Where am I going?

    These are, of course, the kinds of thoughts that guide us through our days. Research at Harvard finds that we spend an average of half our time lost in thoughts about ourselves, how our relationships are going, and the like—and that this escalates to around 90 percent while we commute, at work, and while we are looking at a video screen (as you are probably doing right now).

    What’s Happening In the Brain & Why That Matters

    The brain circuitry for these me-thoughts lies in the mid-section of the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s executive center, just behind the forehead. Sometimes called the “mind-wandering circuit,” this area seems to spring into action as the brain’s default mode. While we are actively focusing on something—say a project at work—this default mode stays quiet. But the minute we lose our focus, it turns on, steering our thoughts away from work and back to our me-concerns.

    That’s why staying focused takes active effort. The good news: it can be enhanced with systematic training. And in today’s hyper-distracted life, the ability to get focused at will and stay that way has greater and greater value.

    The brain capacity to focus uses prefrontal circuits that also help us manage our feelings and stir positive attitudes and goals—and have the grit to achieve them.

    That “about you” requires using different circuitry in the brain. Those promoted to leadership at any level, from team to CEO, need to be adept in social awareness and relationship management—all functions of the brain’s social circuitry.

    These two mental stances—about me, about you—each represent the activity of very different parts of our brain’s wiring, and full emotional intelligence requires we use both. The first two parts of emotional intelligence—self-awareness and self-management—are “about me.” A high-performing leader first must lead herself.

    But then there are the needs of everyone else, and of the whole organization. That “about you” requires using different circuitry in the brain. Those promoted to leadership at any level, from team to CEO, need to be adept in social awareness and relationship management—all functions of the brain’s social circuitry.

    That’s what the second refrain from that rap song—What about you?—refers to. In other words, I’m tuning into what you feel, think, and need. That’s what leadership requires—and what I failed to hear from this would-be CEO. He said nothing of his vision for the organization, his ideas for fresh strategies, nor how it was doing in its competitive ecosystem and how he might help it do better. There was no “about you” in his thinking.

    Our “about you” circuits are to be found in the social brain. They come in distinct flavors: one circuit guides our understanding of the other person’s thoughts; other circuits tune into their feelings. And still another set of circuits determine whether we want to help that person.

    And those who fail in a leadership position, despite having been outstanding as individual performers, very often have a deficit here. Highly effective leaders have all three going.



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  • Let Them Lead – Mindful

    Let Them Lead – Mindful

    Many of us strive to show up skillfully for the young people in our lives, whether it’s as their parent or relative, as an educator, coach, or mentor. Yet knowing just what they need to fuel their growth and leadership is not always easy. While facing all the challenges of growing up, youth today are also deeply aware of conflict and uncertainty in the world around them, and many come from families and communities impacted by systemic inequality. However, their experiences and voices are key to their ability to create change—something I recently witnessed firsthand through a youth leadership program.   

    Nuestra Juventud: Creating Communities of Hope was founded on the principle that healing communities means centering youth voices and fostering a deep sense of trust in their own wisdom. Launched in 2023, the fellowship gently nurtures youth leadership, voice, and vision in the heart of Southern New Mexico, a region that has often been overlooked and under-resourced. The program, designed to cultivate philanthropy, leadership, and collective care, invites youth to act with intention and generosity in service of their communities. Serving as the Project Coordinator for Nuestra Juventud, I learned just as much from the first youth cohort as I hoped to offer them. 

    Learning to Lead 

    Developed in partnership with Ivy Child International and Aprendamos Family of Services, Nuestra Juventud—“Our Youth”—is a six-month fellowship that brings together high school and middle school students, primarily those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color from underserved communities. Participants gather monthly to engage in leadership workshops, community exploration, and intergenerational dialogue. 

    Nuestra Juventud is guided by six key objectives:

    • Educate and Engage: Youth explore systems of collective impact and have opportunities to visit and learn about nonprofits in their communities.
    • Personal Development: Fellows reflect on their own identities, values, and growth.
    • Cultivate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy: Through learning the “Three T’s” of giving—time, talent, and treasure—youth can see themselves as active contributors.
    • Enhance Collaboration: Intergenerational dialogue and teamwork teach youth how to build with others.
    • Empowerment: Youth discover their voices and the impact they can have.
    • Leadership Skills: Training sessions focus on  SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner’s five practices of leadership, and leadership qualities.

    A cornerstone of the fellowship is the opportunity for each young person to develop their personal mission statement and select a local nonprofit organization that aligns with their values to support with a mini-grant, made possible through the generosity of the Covarrubias–Aprendamos Foundation. Through this process, youth learn not only about the mechanics of philanthropy but also about the importance of aligning one’s actions with deeply held beliefs or values. 

    In the first iteration of the program, our youth chose to award mini-grants to a range of nonprofits spanning services for families and youth, a domestic violence shelter, a community health center, a local arts council, a community faith center, an animal shelter, a children’s literacy group, an immigrant and migrant hospitality and advocacy center, and others. A special highlight for the youth was the opportunity to develop a logo with symbolic meaning to the inaugural group. This logo will be used for the program moving forward.

    Follow the Wisdom of Young Leaders

    From the very first session, youth began discovering their voices and connection to one another. One of the most powerful moments came when several fellows spoke on a youth panel at a regional conference for educators and social workers. Their stories and insights became the highlight of the event, offering powerful reminders of what becomes possible when we trust young people. These reflections speak to the lasting ripple effects of this work. But it wasn’t just the fellows who transformed—mentors, family members, and nonprofit partners shared with me that they’d come to see youth not just as recipients, but as collaborators and visionaries. That shift in perception may be one of the most meaningful outcomes of all. With the permission of the fellows (some of whom prefer to remain anonymous), I share some of their remarks here.

    Youth are not empty vessels waiting to be filled—they’re full of insight born from lived experience. Whether it’s navigating systems, caring for siblings, or advocating for peers, their wisdom is real and necessary.

    1. Trust Young People as Experts of Their Experience

    Youth are not empty vessels waiting to be filled—they’re full of insight born from lived experience. Whether it’s navigating systems, caring for siblings, or advocating for peers, their wisdom is real and necessary.

    Through the first iteration of the program, youth discovered new ways to not only trust their own wisdom, but also put it into action: “I learned that I am not the only one who feels I can do more for our community and the meaningfulness of philanthropy and acts of kindness,” said one participant. Another fellow, Alex, shared, “It takes courage to stand up when you see something wrong. A good leader encourages the heart.”

    2. Recognize Different Kinds of Leadership

    Alexa reminded her peers to “Stay true to what you believe in.” Encouraging youth to lead from who they are, rather than who others expect them to be, is a vital way to nurture their convictions, skills, and dreams.

    One of the greatest lessons from Nuestra Juventud is that leadership doesn’t always look like standing at a podium. Sometimes it’s quiet listening. Sometimes it’s creating space for others. Sometimes it’s saying, “I don’t know, but I want to learn.” As Avery offered, “A leader is someone who is good at listening to others and is understanding of others’ perspectives”—a reminder that authentic leadership is rooted in humility and care.

    3. Celebrate Cultural Identity as a Source of Power

    By centering the cultural backgrounds of participants—Chicana, Indigenous, Afro-Latinx, and more—Nuestra Juventud affirms that cultural knowledge is a leadership asset. Youth reflect on their ancestors, their languages, their lived experiences, and the land itself as sources of strength. As Anelise put it, “I want to lead with my abuelita in my heart.”

    When youth deepen their connection to their own identity, they also gain more confidence to help them understand and communicate across cultures and backgrounds. “I learned how to get out of my comfort zone and talk to new people,” another participant said.

    4. Create Space for Healing

    Many fellows come into the program holding the weight of family challenges, racism, and intergenerational trauma. Through peer circles, storytelling,  mentorship, and opportunities for creativity, they find space to heal. And in healing, they find clarity, courage, and connection.

    Many expressed the desire to continue helping their community after the program ended. Anelise reflected, “A good leader demonstrates compassion with the people they lead.” And in the words of another fellow: “I didn’t know how to be a leader and never considered myself a leader. Now I know I am a leader and can make a difference.” 

    5. Know That We All Have a Role to Play

    Youth benefit from experiencing intergenerational connection and support. As one fellow put it, “I learned how to collaborate with people of all ages and how to share a space with others.” Others shared that they enjoyed having a mentor.

    “Leadership begins with love—for our people, our places, our future generations and the futures we imagine together.” — Manny, youth fellow

    The success of Nuestra Juventud isn’t just about the youth; it’s also about the adults who listen, step back, and support. Community members, mentors, funders, and facilitators show that transformation is collective work.

    As youth fellow Manny said, “My mission is to make my community a better place to live.” It’s a reminder that leadership begins with love—for our people, our places, our future generations and the futures we imagine together.

    5 Ways to Uplift the Next Generation 

    Nuestra Juventud is not just cultivating philanthropy and social responsibility for the future—it’s nurturing the leaders of now and creating communities of hope in Southern New Mexico. Each of these youth fellows is a testament to what’s possible when we trust our youth.

    The wisdom shared by Nuestra Juventud participants makes one thing clear: Young people are ready to lead, but they need us—the adults in their lives—to show up with presence and corazón (a word often used in Chicanx expressions of care and leadership) differently. Here are a few ways we can all support our youth and honor their leadership:

    • Listen With Respect and Curiosity: Create space for youth to speak openly, and listen to them with the intent to understand, not to respond.
    • Mentor Without Controlling: Offer guidance and presence, but let youth lead and make decisions.
    • Invite Youth Into Real Decision-Making: Include them meaningfully in program design, community efforts, and leadership roles.
    • Celebrate Identity, Don’t Erase It: Acknowledge and affirm the cultural backgrounds and lived experiences of our youth.
    • Invest in Youth—Financially and Emotionally: Support programs like Nuestra Juventud and believe in the vision youth hold for their communities. Our collective work is needed for our youth to lead with corazón, culture, and courage.



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  • Managment and Leadership

    Managment and Leadership

    Introduction to Management and Leadership

    Management and leadership are two of the most crucial aspects of any organization. They are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings and roles. Management refers to the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives. Leadership, on the other hand, is the ability to inspire, motivate, and influence others to work towards a common vision. In this article, we will explore the concepts of management and leadership, their differences, and their importance in the success of an organization.

    The Role of Management

    Management plays a vital role in the success of an organization. It involves planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives. The primary goal of management is to create a productive and efficient work environment that enables employees to perform their tasks effectively. Management involves several functions, including:

    • Planning: This involves setting goals and objectives, identifying resources, and developing strategies to achieve them.

    • Organizing: This involves structuring the organization, assigning tasks, and allocating resources.

    • Leading: This involves motivating, directing, and inspiring employees to work towards a common vision.

    • Controlling: This involves monitoring, evaluating, and correcting performance to ensure that it meets the desired standards.

    The Role of Leadership

    Leadership is the ability to inspire, motivate, and influence others to work towards a common vision. A leader is someone who has the ability to influence others to achieve a shared goal. Leadership involves several key skills, including:

    • Vision: A leader must have a clear vision of what they want to achieve.

    • Communication: A leader must be able to communicate their vision effectively to their team.

    • Motivation: A leader must be able to motivate their team to work towards the common vision.

    • Empowerment: A leader must be able to empower their team to take ownership of their work.

    Differences between Management and Leadership

    While management and leadership are related, they have distinct differences. Management is focused on planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives. Leadership, on the other hand, is focused on inspiring, motivating, and influencing others to work towards a common vision. Management is more focused on the technical aspects of the organization, while leadership is more focused on the human aspects.

    Key Characteristics of Effective Leaders

    Effective leaders possess several key characteristics, including:

    • Integrity: A leader must have integrity and be trustworthy.

    • Vision: A leader must have a clear vision of what they want to achieve.

    • Communication: A leader must be able to communicate their vision effectively to their team.

    • Motivation: A leader must be able to motivate their team to work towards the common vision.

    • Empowerment: A leader must be able to empower their team to take ownership of their work.

    • Adaptability: A leader must be able to adapt to changing circumstances.

    Key Characteristics of Effective Managers

    Effective managers possess several key characteristics, including:

    • Planning: A manager must be able to plan and set goals.

    • Organizing: A manager must be able to organize and structure the organization.

    • Leading: A manager must be able to lead and direct their team.

    • Controlling: A manager must be able to control and evaluate performance.

    • Communication: A manager must be able to communicate effectively with their team.

    • Problem-solving: A manager must be able to solve problems and make decisions.

    Importance of Management and Leadership in Organizations

    Management and leadership are crucial to the success of any organization. They play a vital role in creating a productive and efficient work environment that enables employees to perform their tasks effectively. Effective management and leadership can lead to increased productivity, improved employee morale, and better decision-making. On the other hand, poor management and leadership can lead to decreased productivity, low employee morale, and poor decision-making.

    Challenges of Management and Leadership

    Management and leadership can be challenging, especially in today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business environment. Some of the challenges of management and leadership include:

    • Managing change: Managers and leaders must be able to manage change and adapt to changing circumstances.

    • Motivating employees: Managers and leaders must be able to motivate employees to work towards a common vision.

    • Making decisions: Managers and leaders must be able to make decisions quickly and effectively.

    • Communicating effectively: Managers and leaders must be able to communicate effectively with their team.

    • Building trust: Managers and leaders must be able to build trust with their team.

    Best Practices for Management and Leadership

    There are several best practices for management and leadership, including:

    • Lead by example: Leaders should lead by example and demonstrate the behaviors they expect from their team.

    • Communicate effectively: Managers and leaders should communicate effectively with their team.

    • Empower employees: Managers and leaders should empower employees to take ownership of their work.

    • Provide feedback: Managers and leaders should provide feedback to employees to help them improve their performance.

    • Recognize and reward employees: Managers and leaders should recognize and reward employees for their achievements.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, management and leadership are crucial to the success of any organization. They play a vital role in creating a productive and efficient work environment that enables employees to perform their tasks effectively. Effective management and leadership can lead to increased productivity, improved employee morale, and better decision-making. By understanding the differences between management and leadership, and by possessing the key characteristics of effective leaders and managers, organizations can achieve their goals and objectives.

    FAQs

    Q: What is the difference between management and leadership?
    A: Management is focused on planning, organizing, leading, and controlling resources to achieve specific goals and objectives, while leadership is focused on inspiring, motivating, and influencing others to work towards a common vision.
    Q: What are the key characteristics of effective leaders?
    A: Effective leaders possess several key characteristics, including integrity, vision, communication, motivation, empowerment, and adaptability.
    Q: What are the key characteristics of effective managers?
    A: Effective managers possess several key characteristics, including planning, organizing, leading, controlling, communication, and problem-solving.
    Q: Why are management and leadership important in organizations?
    A: Management and leadership are crucial to the success of any organization, as they play a vital role in creating a productive and efficient work environment that enables employees to perform their tasks effectively.
    Q: What are some of the challenges of management and leadership?
    A: Some of the challenges of management and leadership include managing change, motivating employees, making decisions, communicating effectively, and building trust.
    Q: What are some best practices for management and leadership?
    A: Some best practices for management and leadership include leading by example, communicating effectively, empowering employees, providing feedback, and recognizing and rewarding employees.

  • Jenée Johnson on How Mindful Leaders Can Heal Trauma

    Jenée Johnson on How Mindful Leaders Can Heal Trauma

    Jenée Johnson explains how healing trauma and mindfulness go hand in hand in this 5-minute video.

    In this video from the Wisdom 2.0 Conference held in San Francisco in 2019, Jenée Johnson shares her own journey of doing trauma-informed work within traumatizing systems, and explains how mindful leaders can help heal trauma. Watch the video, or read the transcript below.

    Jenée Johnson discusses trauma-informed work and how mindful leaders can help heal trauma.

    San Francisco is in the midst of probably the worst housing crisis in the country, and the San Francisco Department of Public Health is tasked with stewarding the health of the city and county’s population, and inside of that we have recognized that the way we function is often trauma-inducing not only to the communities that we serve, but to the workforce.

    That we are often bureaucratic, siloed, that people are demoralized, that we are not trustworthy, and that it can be a very mean place to work. And because of that, we have gone on a mission to move from being trauma-inducing to a trauma-informed, and ultimately a healing organization, and organization that is trustworthy and has at its core compassion and empathy, and is thoughtful about the way we deliver services. 

    We ask the key question—not, “What is wrong with you?” but, “What has happened?”

    We ask the key question—not, “What is wrong with you?” but, “What has happened?” And when you ask what has happened it invites compassion, it invites looking at strengths in the face of adversity.

    I was an embedded trauma trainer inside a maternal adolescent health ward, and as I was delivering the trauma training I noticed that the workforce, although interested in trauma principles, did not seem like it had the strength and the bandwidth to really hold the important work that was ahead of us. And it occurred to me that what we needed to do was become a mindful organization, in order to become a trauma-informed organization. That trauma-informed and healing needed to exist inside of a nest of mindfulness.

    I went to the trauma leader and I said I know of an organization that has curated mindfulness in the workforce, the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute. I went to Search Inside Yourself, and thus began the journey of me becoming a trained teacher to deliver the program, and then I landed the role of the program innovation leader in mindfulness, trauma, and racial equity.

    It occurred to me that what we needed to do was become a mindful organization, in order to become a trauma-informed organization.

    Mindfulness, trauma, and racial equity are knit together, because part of what makes our organization trauma-inducing is we can be a very demoralizing place to work, and the people who have the worst health outcomes across every data point that we measure are people of colour. And it’s telling us a story of how we have yet to truly, honestly, grapple with racial equity, and part of the challenge of grappling with racial equity is we need people to be strong in their core, we need people to grapple with white fragility, which often derails the conversation.

    To move the conversation forward, we all need to be able to be resilient, and mindfulness is the pathway.



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  • 13 Life Lessons From Women Leading the Mindfulness Movement

    13 Life Lessons From Women Leading the Mindfulness Movement

    Earlier this year, the Mindful editorial team had the joy of interviewing 10 women leading the charge to make the world a more kind, connected place for our 2025 edition of the Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement feature article. With each conversation, we were inspired by these women’s stories, heartened by their dedication to true compassion, and puzzled over how we were going to fit so much wisdom into such short profiles. Spoiler alert: Despite our best efforts, a lot of great stuff ended up having to be cut. Here, we’re sharing some of their wise words and life lessons that didn’t make it into the feature, but deserve to be shared. 

    To learn more about The Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement: 2025, check out the feature article here, and guided meditations by the women here. 

    13 Quotes About Life From Women Leading the Mindfulness Movement

    1. “Oftentimes being the only woman in the room, working in the video game industry, I could really just drop into the moment because I do an open-eye meditation. No one knows what I’m doing. I can choose to not react to how I might be feeling in that moment in a way that could be self-destructive. And sometimes not speaking up can be self-destructive. So it’s really just learning how to insert that pause, and then make the choice that’s the right one for me in that moment.” – Nanea Reeves 

    2. “I didn’t start a mindfulness practice because I was interested in Zen Buddhism or enlightenment. I started a mindfulness practice because, to put it bluntly, I had this holy s*** moment of realizing that something had been running my life that I didn’t even know was running it.” – Caverly Morgan

    “It’s been awesome to honor the space that belongs to my son, because that piece of me has never left me. The love resides, and we occupy the same space.”

    Brenda K. Mitchell

    3. “I lost a son to gun violence, and there is an understanding that there will never be a new norm for you. Normal is not something that I look for. It will never happen. But what I did learn to do [through mindful practices] was to create a new narrative for myself that allowed space to be happy. It’s been awesome to honor the space that belongs to my son, because that piece of me has never left me. The love resides, and we occupy the same space.” – Brenda K. Mitchell

    4. “What I sometimes say these days is that the highest teaching of all is to relax the bum. Because if you like, you just try it right now. If you relax your bum, it’s very hard to be mentally and physically agitated with a soft bum. The other thing about that that makes it the highest teaching is it’s good humored, because that’s another thing about mindfulness: the more I practice it, the more I realize it’s innately associated with lightheartedness, which I find really interesting because we can think mindfulness would make you a very serious, kind of earnest person.” – Vidyamala Burch

    5. “Soul is not a noun, it’s a verb. Soul is experience—of inner aliveness, of being touched and moved and this depth of experience and this real sense of interconnectedness.” – Shelly Harrell

    6. “That was a really huge realization for me, that strength is kind of like a skill, like riding a bike or learning to drive a car or learning the steps of a dance, like you can actually learn it and then get competent at it and then it can become like second nature. When I heard that, for me it was like a beacon of hope.” – Melli O’Brien

    7. “There’s so much craving. Like when my husband [who has dementia] can speak a whole sentence, I go, ‘Oh wow, good!’ and then when he forgets and gets frustrated in expressing himself, my heart sinks. So all of this is happening and I’m very glad that I’ve got this practice of knowing that all this is human, and going, Can I create space to watch it come and go?” – S. Helen Ma

    8. “My late husband was a beautiful meditator, and very traditional. And I feel like our life together informed what I’m building now in a way that, you know, part of his energy is still continuing.” – Nanea Reeves

    9. “When the inner critic speaks, we meet that voice with an unconditionally loving reassurance. And it’s really important to acknowledge that reassurances are just a voice that says the opposite of the inner critic. So it’s not responding to the voice that says, You’re not smart enough with another voice that says, You’re the smartest person in the room! An unconditionally loving reassurance says, I love you no matter what. You’re going to have days where you feel like you nailed it and you’re going to have days where you feel like you flopped. And I’m here and worthy, no matter what. That’s where the real healing is.”  – Caverly Morgan

    “If you want to see me in my fullness, it’s not just on your terms or what makes you comfortable to only see part of me or some fragment of me, but to see the whole me.”

    Shelly Harrell

    10. “Someone actually told me my blackness was not invited into the meditation space. Like I should detach from that, that that would be a better thing to do, that we all should just not even see race, so to speak. That is not the message that is going to make mindfulness inclusive to a diverse population whose real lived experience says, This is what’s happening. If you want to see me in my fullness, it’s not just on your terms or what makes you comfortable to only see part of me or some fragment of me, but to see the whole me.” – Shelly Harrell

    11. “I was so broken, and the trauma changed everything about me. I didn’t want to see another mother go through that. But I’m so grateful to become this new person that I am. I’m still thriving, and I’m still learning. I’m happily on a mindfulness meditation journey and sharing that healing journey with other people.” – Brenda K. Mitchell

    12. “The reason I started this work, and the reason I continue this work, is thinking back to when I was a 25-year-old young woman lying in a hospital bed and being told there wasn’t anything medically that could be done to help me. My back was damaged in such ways that there was no medical solution and I had to figure it all out for myself, how to create a good life with this body. For, you know, a lot of that time it has been very lonely and difficult so I’ve always thought, If I can help one person have an easier time of it, then that is my life’s work. The fact is, it’s now hundreds of thousands of people who have learned this superpower where any given moment you have this choice: Do you crank your pain up or do you dial it down? It’s so accessible. It’s just amazing.” – Vidyamala Burch

    13. “Dance became a place, particularly when I started choreographing, that was a refuge. It was a place where I could connect deeply to my body and allow my body to be a mode of expression. It was a place I could come home to. I very much began to experience my body as home. Coming home to my somatic experience was part of what dance did. Coming home but also allowing expression of whatever that inner experience was, it came out through movement and so movement became meditation.” – Shelly Harrell



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  • Clinical dietetics to aged care leadership

    Clinical dietetics to aged care leadership


    Charlene Grosse is a WA-based dietitian whose impressive career journey has taken her from clinical roles to senior leadership in aged care. Now, as General Manager of Residential Care, Charlene is focused on improving the quality of care in aged care settings, with expertise in service development, team leadership and regulatory compliance. In this episode, she shares her career evolution, the challenges of stepping into leadership, and and how she sees the recent aged care reforms affecting the day-to-day role of dietitians in this space. Whether you’re considering a career change or looking to navigate the evolving aged care landscape, Charlene’s story will offer plenty of inspiration and practical takeaways.

    Hosted by Rebecca Sparrowhawk

    Biography

    Charlene Grosse is a dedicated healthcare leader who has an impressive path in the health sector since her graduation as a dietitian in 2001. Beginning her career in clinical dietetics within a large private hospital, Charlene quickly advanced to allied health service development overseeing a variety of allied health services. With a wealth of leadership and management experience, she has successfully built and led high-performing teams, navigated complex health funding structures, managed patient length-of-stay, and ensured compliance with quality accreditation standards. Charlene holds a Master’s in Healthcare Management and is nearing completion of her PhD research, focusing on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Recently, she took on a new challenge as General Manager in residential aged care, where her commitment to growth and development, driving positive change, and making a difference in the lives of others reflects her dedication to quality care.

     

    In this episode, we discuss:​

    • The key skills that have supported Charlene’s transition into senior roles
    • How transitioning from hospitals to aged care shifted Charlene’s approach to patient care
    • Insights into the latest aged care reforms and how they will impact dietitians​​

    The content, products and/or services referred to in this podcast are intended for Health Care Professionals only and are not, and are not intended to be, medical advice, which should be tailored to your individual circumstances. The content is for your information only, and we advise that you exercise your own judgement before deciding to use the information provided. Professional medical advice should be obtained before taking action. The reference to particular products and/or services in this episode does not constitute any form of endorsement. Please see  here  for terms and conditions.


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  • A 12-Minute Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts

    A 12-Minute Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts

    This week, Carley Hauck guides us to embrace all parts of ourselves—what isn’t serving us, as well as what we see as our positive attributes.

    Carley Hauck guides us to embrace all parts of ourselves—those qualities we see as our “shadow,” or what isn’t serving us, as well as the light, or what we see as our positive attributes. Especially as leaders (including any person who shows leadership in their life), working with both our “dark” and “light” parts allows us to shine our full potential out into the world.

    If you feel like it’s often too difficult or painful to acknowledge some aspects of who you are, this is a powerful practice for developing greater self-acceptance and self-love. As Carley reminds us, “The more you acknowledge the shadow, the more you will integrate and embrace it.” In this meditation, we’ll use a visualization technique, along with movement and sound, to support us in truly embracing every aspect of who we are.

    A Guided Meditation to Embrace All Your Parts

    1. Find a space where you can be quiet for several minutes. Take a few deep breaths in and out of your belly. Breathing in, allowing the belly to rise. Breathing out, allowing the belly to fall. 
    2. When you are relaxed, imagine yourself standing in the center of a circle of supportive people: Your family, friends, colleagues, pets, or guides. Close your eyes and soak up the feelings of love and acceptance. 
    3. Now acknowledge one or two parts of yourself that you struggle with or have disowned—perhaps your impatience, arrogance, shyness, fear of being unlovable. Anything you have a little shame around. These are the dark parts of you are the shadow. 
    4. Just a side note to say: we all have shadow aspects of our personalities. An easy way to identify your dark parts is to bring to mind a person in your life who triggers you. What do you not like about them? What do you struggle with when you’re with them? What is the trait or quality that is challenging about this person? For example, you might have a colleague who always turns in their reports late. And this elicits feelings of anger or discomfort. You feel the judgment about their lack of accountability. Now turn the mirror towards yourself and ask: In what ways am I like this? Or in the example above, you could ask, In what ways am I not accountable? When you see this behavior in yourself, you will likely feel discomfort in your body, or even a feeling of ouch. 
    5. I invite you to be with all that arises with a loving awareness. Wherever you look and whatever is brought into presence, shine love and awareness there. Take a few minutes to invite it in. And allow these dark parts, acknowledging them one by one, aloud or silently with love and presence. Try saying, I can be selfish, I can be arrogant, I can be impatient. The more you acknowledge the shadow, the more you will integrate and embrace it. 
    6. The truth is that leaders need all of our parts to shine our greatest light and potential in the world. Take another round of deep breaths in and deep breaths out. 
    7. Now let’s move to the light parts. These are the qualities you identify in yourself as positives or strengths. Say the list out loud or silently for a few minutes as mantras. For example: I am strong. I am smart. I am compassionate. I am resilient. Invite these parts into your awareness with love and presence. Allow all of these parts to be seen and embraced by your circle of supportive beings. 
    8. As you acknowledge each of these life parts, you can also invite in the dark. This is how we integrate and bring forward our whole self to work in the world. You can further support this integration by chanting one of these loving mantras: I embrace all of you. I love and accept all of you. I choose all of me. I am loving awareness. 
    9. As you repeat the mantra and notice how you feel in your mind, heart and body. Repeat your favorite mantras, especially when you aren’t being compassionate or kind to yourself, until you truly believe the message. Our thoughts become our beliefs. And they become patterns in our neural networks and our minds. 
    10. A profound way to bring your whole self to work and into daily life is to get into your body. For this exercise, you might choose to play with the movement piece and notice what kind of motion helps you embody the polarity of your dark and light parts. Try different stances, postures, gestures, or vocal sounds. The movements and sounds can then be integrated into your outer game of leadership by how you walk and talk and show up in the world. 
    11. Remember that developing any new pattern requires patience, practice, and persistence. But if you do this, you will be able to shine your greatest light. Thank you for your practice today.



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  • Why Emotional Self-Control Matters – Mindful

    Why Emotional Self-Control Matters – Mindful

    Releasing anger and frustration can actually help you regain control over a hectic day or win back productivity after feeling frazzled. But you have to do it with awareness.

    On the surface, these three people live worlds apart:

    • Stefan works as a family practice nurse practitioner/manager in a busy urban clinic in the American Midwest.
    • Angelique turned her talent for design into a thriving business using recycled textiles to create clothing she markets throughout southeast Asia.
    • Avery directs a large non-profit organization focused on improving access to nutritious food in poor communities in northern England.

    Beneath the surface, they’re closer than you’d think:

    • Stefan’s grief about his marriage ending distracts him, making him less available to his patients and coworkers.
    • Angelique can barely suppress feelings of rage whenever she sees email messages from a former supplier who is suing her.
    • Avery’s intense anxiety about upcoming funding cuts leaks out as overly critical interactions with staff members.

    In different industries, on different continents, these three leaders have this in common: their inability to manage distressing emotions hurts their effectiveness at work. They each lack emotional self-control, one of twelve core competencies in our model of emotional and social intelligence.

    What is Emotional Self-Control?

    Emotional self-control is the ability to manage disturbing emotions and remain effective, even in stressful situations. Notice that I said “manage,” which is different from suppressing emotions. We need our positive feelings—that’s what makes life rich. But we also need to allow ourselves the space and time to process difficult emotions, but context matters. It’s one thing to do it in a heartfelt conversation with a good friend, and entirely another to release your anger or frustration at work. With emotional self-control, you can manage destabilizing emotions, staying calm and clear-headed.

    Why Does Emotional Self-Control Matter?

    To understand the importance of emotional self-control, it helps to know what’s going on in our brain when we’re not in control. In my book, The Brain and Emotional Intelligence, I explained:

    “The amygdala is the brain’s radar for threat. Our brain was designed as a tool for survival. In the brain’s blueprint the amygdala holds a privileged position. If the amygdala detects a threat, in an instant it can take over the rest of the brain—particularly the prefrontal cortex—and we have what’s called an amygdala hijack.

    During a hijack, we can’t learn, and we rely on over-learned habits, ways we’ve behaved time and time again. We can’t innovate or be flexible during a hijack.

    The hijack captures our attention, beaming it in on the threat at hand. If you’re at work when you have an amygdala hijack, you can’t focus on what your job demands—you can only think about what’s troubling you. Our memory shuffles, too, so that we remember most readily what’s relevant to the threat—but can’t remember other things so well. During a hijack, we can’t learn, and we rely on over-learned habits, ways we’ve behaved time and time again. We can’t innovate or be flexible during a hijack.

    … the amygdala often makes mistakes…. while the amygdala gets its data on what we see and hear in a single neuron from the eye and ear—that’s super-fast in brain time—it only receives a small fraction of the signals those senses receive. The vast majority goes to other parts of the brain that take longer to analyze these inputs—and get a more accurate reading. The amygdala, in contrast, gets a sloppy picture and has to react instantly. It often makes mistakes, particularly in modern life, where the ‘dangers’ are symbolic, not physical threats. So, we overreact in ways we often regret later.”

    The Impact of Distressed Leaders

    Research across the world and many industries confirms the importance of leaders managing their emotions. Australian researchers found that leaders who manage emotions well had better business outcomes. Other research shows that employees remember most vividly negative encounters they’ve had with a boss. And, after negative interactions, they felt demoralized and didn’t want to have anything more to do with that boss.

    How to Develop Emotional Self-Control

    How can we minimize emotional hijacks? First, we need to use another emotional intelligence competency, emotional self-awareness. That starts with paying attention to our inner signals—an application of mindfulness, which lets us see our destructive emotions as they start to build, not just when our amygdala hijacks us.

    If you can recognize familiar sensations that a hijack is beginning—your shoulders tense up or your stomach churns—it is easier to stop it.

    If you don’t notice your amygdala has hijacked the more rational part of your brain, it’s hard to regain emotional equilibrium until the hijack runs its course. It’s better to stop it before it gets too far. To end a hijack, start with mindfulness, monitoring what’s going on in your mind. Notice “I’m really upset now” or “I’m starting to get upset.” If you can recognize familiar sensations that a hijack is beginning—your shoulders tense up or your stomach churns—it is easier to stop it.

    Then, you can try a cognitive approach: talk yourself out of it, reason with yourself. Or you can intervene biologically. Meditation or relaxation techniques that calm your body and mind—such as deep belly breathing—are very helpful. As with mindfulness, these work best during the hijack when you have practiced them regularly. Unless these methods have become a strong habit of the mind, you can’t invoke them out of the blue.



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  • A 12-Minute Meditation to Connect with What Matters Most to You

    A 12-Minute Meditation to Connect with What Matters Most to You

    This week, Carley Hauck invites us to look within ourselves to affirm what it is that we love most, and to align with our values.

    By connecting with our heart and remembering who and what we love, we also get to connect with our inner caring, protective instinct. This compassionate part of ourselves provides the motivation to choose beneficial actions, not just one time but over the days, weeks, and months of our lives.

    This beautiful practice offers the start of a journey toward living our compassionate values in a deeper way, serving both ourselves and others in the process. We ask: When I love what I love, how might that support the greater good?

    A Guided Meditation to Connect with What Matters Most to You

    1. Begin by sitting comfortably. Notice your feet on the floor, and sit up tall, yet in a gentle posture. Bring your shoulders back and down, moving your neck side to side so that you can really allow yourself to let go of tension, or tightness, and come back into the body.
    2. Breathe gently in and out of your heart. If it feels comfortable for you, you can place a hand on your heart. Or simply just notice the sensation of energy around your heart as you breathe in, as you breathe out.  
    3. Feeling this connection to your heart, start to name silently to yourself things that you love. It might sound like this: I love, I love, I love. Notice what flows easily when you think of things that you love. Continue this process, noticing all the things that arise and pass. 
    4. Out of all of these things that you love, what do you love so deeply that you would fight to protect it? There may be many things, but for this exercise right now, just choose one. Notice how that answer feels in your body. Is there this strong inner knowing, and where does that live in your body? Maybe it’s in your heart. Or your belly. Or your hands. Or your feet. Or it could even just be this coursing all through your body, this very strong sense of, “Yes, this is what really matters to me.” 
    5. Now begin to feel these physical sensations extend outwards into love and compassion, with your commitment to protect what you love. See if you can feel that energy extending out from your body, almost as if there is a light that is emanating from this commitment, the deeper knowing.
    6. Now, how could you align greater action around what you love in your life? Take a moment and notice what arises, letting go of any judgmentsHow could I put more action into my life around what I really love? 
    7. Now allow yourself to envision: What does this look like to engage in this action on a monthly basis? A weekly basis? This isn’t some extra thing on your to do list. This is coming from a deeper sense of what matters, a deeper sense of motivation. What can you commit to today as your first step? How might you loving what you love support the greater good? How does this benefit others?
    8. As the first step towards aligning and acting on your heartfelt commitment, it is important to name what your commitment is. Try saying, “I am committing to…” and see what arises. Think of it on a monthly basis, a weekly basis, a daily basis. What action steps are you committing to that align with this deeper truth of what really matters? 
    9. Now, I invite you to share these commitments with two other people in your life. Who are these people? Notice who comes to mind that you feel excited to share this with. When we are witnessed in our commitments, we have a sense of support and accountability to follow through on our actions.
    10. Open your eyes when you feel ready. Start to wiggle fingers and toes, doing some movement in your chair. Before moving into your next activity, take a couple of minutes, maybe even ten, and write down what arose in this exercise. What are you committing to? What action steps are you taking? Who are you sharing your commitments with? Be the light and shine the light. 

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