Magnetic Authenticity Podcast with Jolynne Rydz
Welcome to the Magnetic Authenticity Podcast with Jolynne Rydz, where we elevate your leadership impact by embracing your true self. If you're ready to harness your strengths, level up your confidence and influence so you can make a bigger difference in this world, then you're in the right place.
Magnetic Authenticity Podcast with Jolynne Rydz
5: Unlocking Authenticity in Leadership with Margot Thomas and Monique Longhurst - PART 1
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Unlock the secrets of authentic leadership with us as we welcome Margot Thomas and Monique Longhurst, the brilliant minds behind Ikigai Leading. Ever wondered how to align your personal purpose and values with your professional role? Margot and Monique share transformative insights on cultivating Magnetic Authenticity and guiding leaders toward greater impact and resilience. Their extensive experience in leadership development and culture transformation will provide you with valuable tools to navigate complex environments with confidence and grace.
Margot and Monique emphasise the vital interplay between self-awareness and behavioral flexibility. Discover how authentic leadership is not just about knowing oneself deeply but also about embracing uncertainty and building genuine connections with others. Learn how to balance your natural preferences with the demands of various situations, and why staying true to oneself, even under external pressure, is paramount. Their personal journeys and pivotal moments shed light on the profound relationship between authenticity and personal fulfillment.
As we explore the intricacies of navigating complexity as authentic leaders, Margot and Monique offer thought-provoking reflections and practical advice. They encourage us to find comfort in uncertainty and prioritize progress over perfection. The engaging discussion will prompt you to reflect on how you show up as a leader and the impact of your authenticity on your overall potential.
Stay tuned for part two, where we will continue to unpack these essential themes and have a lot of fun along the way.
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Ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese concept and according to Wikipedia, it's referring to something that gives someone a sense of purpose and a drive and a reason for living. Today I'm talking with Margot Thomas and Monique Longhurst, founders of Ikigai Leading, who are on a mission to develop purposeful, conscious and connected leaders. I invited them onto this podcast because there is so much to unpack and explore when it comes to magnetic authenticity, that quality of being who you truly are in a way that lights you up and lights those around you up as well, and when you combine that with the role of being a leader, there's just so much in that, whether that be a leader in business community or life Now. Margot and Monique founded Ikigai Leading to support leaders from all walks of life to live and lead in stronger alignment with their sense of purpose in the multiple roles they hold. Between them. They have over 50 years of experience in leadership, development, culture transformation and various human resources disciplines. Their diverse backgrounds have included key roles within or as trusted advisors to private, public and non-profit organizations across multiple industries and countries. Through this experience, they know that when people are aligned to something they believe is important and meaningful, they are more engaged, resilient and have a deeper and longer lasting impact.
Jolynne Rydz:Now, this conversation is a deep one, so I invite you to find a space where you can really absorb and maybe even listen to this podcast twice, because there's so much in that.
Jolynne Rydz:And when I say deep, I actually had to split it into two parts because we went really, really deep in this conversation. So make sure you stay tuned for the two parts, but I split it so you don't have to have that awkward pause of oh do I stop it now? Or to keep listening, I need to get off my train, whatever it might be. So it's a nicely split into two episodes for you. So part one is we're going to explore together the relationship between leadership and magnetic authenticity and unpacking the expectations that drive our behavior and that difference between the expectation of others and the difference that we truly want to make as individuals, and how that can play out in unconsciously, in the impact that we have on those around us, and also how authenticity is different for each and every one of us. So let's dive in into today's episode. Welcome into the podcast, Monique and Margot. So happy to have you here.
Monique Longhurst:Yay, so excited to be here too. Yeah, absolutely Thanks, Jo. It's beautiful pleasure to be here.
Jolynne Rydz:You're welcome, so honoured to have you here and, for the listeners, we obviously know each other, but I'd love for you to start by sharing a little bit about your journey to where you are today and how Ikigai Leading was actually created.
Margot Thomas:Fantastic. Whoa, that's a story I know it's a good story. Would you like to share mine?
Monique Longhurst:the story. Yeah, sure, sure, Maybe I can start and then you can build on that, Margot, I think so between us not that you would tell, but between us we actually have only 50 years of experience in the space. So, yeah, we did start very young, obviously, I think so. The background for us is varied. It's deep, so our practice is in the leadership, development and culture transformation space and that's where our experience has been. As we said, between us we have several years' experiences both within and across organisations. So Margot's background has been much more within organisations holding very senior roles, multinational, global. My background has been much more in the consulting space.
Monique Longhurst:I've worked at the privilege of consulting for oh, actually into the decades now, which is scary across lots of different sectors, lots of different clients, but when we came together, we've had the privilege of working together in different formats for a number of years now, but when we came together Ikigai leading itself was birthed actually in Japan and over a glass of wine in a Korean barbecue place in the middle of Kyoto, and I think for us it really sat with what impact can we have together? We had the privilege of working across the same space and working in partnership, but to actually come together and create something that's bigger than the sum of, you know, our individual parts was a really exciting opportunity. We the relationship of Ikigai Leading and it is a relationship had its journey. So we dated for a while. We really wanted to explore what could be co-created, and we did that gently at the start of 2020. And then we committed and got married, if we can put it that way, July 2020.
Monique Longhurst:So, if you think about what was happening across the world at that time, it was a really interesting time to start a partnership and start a business, but it really wasn't starting.
Monique Longhurst:It was kind of the next evolution, I think, if we could put it that way. And we've been so blessed since then to have some amazing opportunities with some absolutely heartfelt, aligned clients doing some really awesome, challenging, deeply fulfilling work across lots of different sectors. And we sit now four years in, almost to the date, actually, as we have this conversation and I don't know if you, if we went back then and had you know this is where you'd be. I'm not sure that we could imagine it, but nor would we be surprised about where we are I would say, yeah, the deep opportunity to have impact on each other's lives as we create impact on others' lives as well. So it's a beautiful partnership that, as I said, I think the impact that we can have together far outweighs the impact that we had individually. And yeah, that's probably just where I'd start, Margot, feel free to fill in the gaps or add your point.
Margot Thomas:Couldn't have said better that's awesome, beautiful picture. To fill in the gaps or add your point of view. Couldn't have said better that's awesome, beautiful picture, I love it.
Jolynne Rydz:And there's so much around co-creation there and it forming in, I feel like some of the best ideas Wasn't a flight centre born on the back of a bus as well. You know people travelling and just being in this different environment and seeing what they can create together. It's very, very inspiring Absolutely. And seeing what they can create together, it's very, very inspiring Absolutely. So you've talked a lot about your wealth, amazing wealth of experience that we've got to tap into today, and because you get all of that exposure to different leaders, different organisations, different industries, I'd love to understand your perspective on authenticity and leadership and what's happening between those two.
Margot Thomas:Yay, you know we jumped when you said do you want to come along and, you know, have a chat about authenticity? Because it's so needed and it's a bit of a word, authenticity, kind of a jargon word, but I think for us I will speak to the work that we've been doing that aligns with her. Perhaps I'll start him on, of course can build in Particularly women right and women in leadership, but women broadly, we kind of are socialized to be particularly, you know, there is the right daughter, the right wife, the right mom, the right leader, and there's a lot of expectations that are put that we kind of take on. A lot of the work that we do with men and women, but especially with women, is just kind of unpacking how much of what we're, you know, what we're trying to to contribute. It's really what we want to contribute or how much. That is just kind of the sheer expectations that are put into us. And I think that's why it aligns with what your invitation, because it's really peeling back, creating the space.
Margot Thomas:And oh, joe, and I think we had this conversation probably 10 years ago, nine years ago about you know, what are you longing for? That's, for me, is a hint about going back to you who you really are and who you really want to be. It starts with kind of other things when you forgot who you are. You got you know dress up and the way people want you to dress up. You just pause. There's longing that starts to the real one and start to hang on a minute. This is me, so that space that we create to to listen to really what is the longing and then start to unpack you. You know what is and what I'm doing and bringing joy and how much is not. You know, and then listen to your heart, listen to your body. Yeah, because it tells you is a contract. What I'm doing, this, what is expended, you know, is a relationship with rediscovery. That is a whole, is below the neck. It's not just, it's not just let's not. Journal journal is good too, but it's not just a thinking exercise, there's a whole body exercise you're coming back home of figuring out you know who I really am and then, as the journey starts to how do I kind of bring that to life, you know, to be able to be more of who I really want to be.
Margot Thomas:I would say that not necessarily leadership, but more holistically it's being. My relationship with authenticity is to figuring out, okay, who you know, what is really that wants to be birthed, what is really that I want to be creating, that I'm not attending to, and then the journey to letting go of the expectations that become like part of identity sometimes. You know what I mean. I, you know, in my case, personally, I need to be really successful. I need to have a seat on the table. You know I really need to be meaningful work and a lot of work, and then I'm worthy, and not that those things are not important, but it's really why we are doing it right. So I think that I rambled a little bit. That's making sense.
Jolynne Rydz:It's making a lot of sense. I love the that how you kept coming back to that creating of space, because there's so many layers of conditioning that's telling us what we should do and it's almost like it's it's really hard to connect for some people, especially myself I find it hard to connect to. What is it why I want to do? And that question what am I long, what are you longing for? I have always and still struggle to sit with sometimes of what is it I actually am longing for? Not what these 10 other different people have told me or they're wanting, and I know I can do that, but what is it that I, the individual, wants? So there's a lot of opportunity, I think, in that space to almost help people to sit with who they are.
Monique Longhurst:And I so agree with you there, jo. And authenticity is a really, it's actually a core value for me personally, and it has been for a long time, and when I sit with that, it's like one of those words that comes from oh yeah, authenticity is really important. But as you sit and sit with what's underneath that, what's driving that, what does it look like and feel like in action, I come to my other core value, which is courage. So there's sometimes that authenticity feels very comfortable for me to go. Yep, authenticity is key, but for me to lean in and actually live that, that's where actually, that's hard work.
Monique Longhurst:Sometimes to really sit and own what is authentically us takes more courage than living up to the expectations of others, so that it's almost like there are two sides of you know really both, and to be able to sit in that space. And I think also the courage Margot you mentioned letting go, I think the courage to evolve as well. So what has been you in the past? There's probably still an essence of that, but the expression of it might shift as we shift in roles, as we shift in life cycles, as we shift in learning more about ourselves and what brings us joy, what brings us that sense of meaning and purpose. And you know, the courage to no longer be something that we have been in the past can be really hard, that letting go can be really hard, but when there's that longing for more, that shedding of space and I think that's something that, as women, we can witness with and for each other as well like that, it's such a, such a privilege to be in that space with others and to be able to witness that journey and support that journey.
Monique Longhurst:And you know, even just to check, what am I holding people to? Because that's that's my comfort zone, that's how I know you actually, and how do I let you continue to evolve. Um, yeah, as I was reflecting as we came to this conversation, I was just really thinking about that authenticity. For me it feels such a familiar friend, but sometimes I don't hold it deep enough. It's like, let me just go that little bit deeper into what does that actually? What's it actually asking me to be, if I'm really being authentic right now?
Margot Thomas:you can't be authentic. I would say, if you're not, or maybe not, that you can't. Maybe.
Margot Thomas:Perhaps a pre-requirement of authenticity it is the process of being in relationship with self yeah so it's almost like what is my relationship with myself in terms of how much do I know me? Yeah, and, and and how much. And I love what you said, mon, about how much that is helpful as well in community, right, because how many times we are with some people that we really know and then we see them from that freeze, frozen perspective of this is Joe, and I look at Joe and I hear Joe, or I hear Mon from that lens and I freeze you. I'm not hearing you with the, the, as you you were saying before, the unfolding joe.
Margot Thomas:So what is my quality of being in relationship with and not the other that allows that? You know the different dimension of you. To come to Ford, yeah, because I'm holding you as you are, the Joe of 10 years ago. You know what I mean. So where is my curiosity and the quality of my? You know it comes basically the quality of listening. Yeah, that allows you to unfold and evolve as we are in relationship, right, sometimes that might be easier with people that we just met, but how can we do that? Support authenticity in our dear ones by creating, you know, that container and that space of being with one another. That is personal. I'm not going to hold you to what you're passing, if that makes sense.
Jolynne Rydz:It's almost like fueling that courage you were speaking of Mon that if you actively do that to those around you that love you, it almost addresses one of those root fears of will I still be loved or will I belong if I go?
Monique Longhurst:through this transformation.
Jolynne Rydz:So I love that proactive awareness about the impact you're having on others and their unfolding and I think it translates beyond.
Monique Longhurst:You know we've spoken about those we love, and love is a big word. If I come to the leadership role as well, you know there's space for love in that space as well. So I don't want to be either or here, um, but I think your question around what's evolving from a leadership lens and the relationship between leadership and authenticity, and I think it's almost paradoxical that there is a level of knowing but there's also a level of not knowing. That's needed in our leaders at the moment and an awareness of what we don't yet know. You know, I know the complexity that leaders are leaning into, regardless of the industry, regardless of the level of leadership we're talking here. You know, take leading your family.
Monique Longhurst:The complexity we're dealing with at the moment is, you know, exponentially challenging. If we talk about leading teams within organisations, if we talk about, you know, the context of leading within community organisations, the complexity we're facing as leaders, we can't actually know. So that invite to know ourselves is really critical, grounding us in a space of not knowing around us as well. And I think that authenticity piece about knowing, not knowing, that's too strong a word, but the authenticity piece about what we're leaning into as leaders, from a basis of self-awareness, from that basis of what do I know about myself in this context at the moment, but also there's an awful lot that we can't know and not holding ourselves too much to that as well.
Monique Longhurst:As I said, it's paradoxical, but I think there's something for us in that space around the authentic expression and we talked, you know, before we even started, about authentically being messy with each other, as we're having a three-way conversation. I think that's what's, that's what's really needed from leaders, as well as how we show up, working through without knowing, looking to progress, not to perfect or to land on a particular outcome. I think that's been shifting, for when we think about authenticity in leadership, it's not what do I do behind closed doors, and now I know myself and now I can come out and be myself. Actually, it's how do we do that? Live as we're working through the challenges, the opportunities in front of us.
Margot Thomas:And I think to build on that and actually literally, I think last week we were holding a couple of workshops with different kind of industries and leaders in different contexts, and I remember saying that, but do that in an authentic way. We were talking, I think, that's, if you allow us, in terms of you invited the leadership, so we'll bring the leadership development part of it right, which is, oh my God, where do we go? I'll be, you know, bring it small. But there's something about in the journey of developing. It is a process of expanding, right. So expanding our mindsets and therefore our behavior patterns, how we show up, is another way of saying we kind of learn what is natural for us. You know, again, self-awareness, we kind of understand okay, I'm good at this, I'm crap in that, oh, pardon my French, I'm not good at doing that. Oh, this has come natural, this is I avoid. This is all process of understanding preferences, that some are natural, but as a leader, we're all being in a situation that we need to work out of preference, right. So the journey of development is it's almost like understanding, okay, what is my internal operating system looks like, yeah, and understanding the internal operating systems. There's some strengths, there's some things that are innate and natural, but you know that you really have a, an impact. I need to expand that and work in ways that are not necessary and natural for me.
Margot Thomas:And an example, super simple, is like the extrovert, introvert, kind of, as an introvert, my best thinking it's done first within. For an extrovert, I love to think out loud and if I use this simple example, it's not always as a leader that we can. If we are an introvert, we can afford to first think within. We might have to learn how to work out of preference and think on the moment out loud with others. And vice versa. For the extrovert right, zip it up, let others think. Reflection time, don't, you know, drop talking or think out loud. For you know, I need to learn how to peel back.
Margot Thomas:And when we are holding leaders individually, collectively, in this journey of what we call behavioral flexibility, yeah, so when I start behaving in a way that is, it's what is what needed, not what is I feel comfortable in doing, we always say do it authentically. Yeah, so my way of being an extrovert, it's not going to be your way of being an extrovert in in behavior wise, you know, displaying an extrovert, it's not going to be your way of being an extrovert in, in behavior, wise, you know, displaying an extrovert behavior, or there's so many um other ways of looking at it. You know what is it out of preference?
Margot Thomas:Some of us, for example, under pressure and should take over, like lean in. That's an automated response and a few of us tend to, you know, withdraw and look from afar to process. So there might be moments that if I am the one leaning in, I need to kind of in that moment that's not what is needed. Somebody else might need to lean in. If it's always me, I'm robbing someone's chance to learn. So this is again, again, it's me exercising flexible behavior, flexibility to let someone do something that I kind of attended, such as an example. And how can you, how can I step back in a way that is me, it's authentic. Or leaning in a way that is me is authentic, it's not copying somebody else.
Jolynne Rydz:If that makes sense, that makes sense and I'm curious to know what happens when someone doesn't do that work on that internal operating system, like what shows up in organizations there's many things that can show up and because, you know, underpinning all that is our personality and our personality preferences.
Monique Longhurst:So if we are not aware, we will automatically. You know we still have an impact, if we're conscious of it or not. So I think that's you know. If I can summarise what happens is we have an unconscious impact and sometimes that serves To be honest. It has and it can.
Monique Longhurst:But when we're dealing with complexity, when we're dealing with ever-changing contexts, when we are dealing with multiple stakeholders, that's going to have a really limited impact these days in terms of, you know, the sustainability of that. So in the moment, what can happen is we will react rather than respond. We'll have an automated reaction. As I said, sometimes that can serve and often those automated reactions have served us with lots of compassion for our journey to where we are as leaders. A lot of the stepping in as Margot suggested that example that's probably served a lot of people to get to where they've got to in their journey individually, you know, on their career pathway. For others who step out, again, that's probably served them to stay safe, to be able to read a room, to step in when, but it's not always the right response for the right time. So when we don't do the work, we're only relying on those. We've actually only got a small range of behaviors to band with to bring. Yeah, and I was going to say to choose, but we're not even choosing. They're choosing us right.
Monique Longhurst:When we do that work, it's not about dismissing those because, as Margot said, they can be our superpowers. Actually, they can be beyond strengths and be our superpowers. They can be what people can count on us for, and it's often the things we might even dismiss in ourselves because it comes so naturally. We don't see that as a strength. But when we do the work, when we build that awareness, when we challenge ourselves to just pause for a moment and think well, what is, how do I be of service in this moment? What is needed from me for the impact that I want to have as a leader? Sometimes that might be what we would automatically do, which is fabulous. So it's about bringing that with consciousness. Sometimes it's actually asking us to do something different.
Monique Longhurst:It's that adage that what got us here is not going to get us there.
Monique Longhurst:So if we're on our leadership development journey, yes, that has served me in the past, but it may not be what's needed for me for now.
Monique Longhurst:So, if I'm working with a broader team and I can no longer physically hold the responsibility of the doing anymore, my role is to enable my team to do the doing and to serve our clients, and my role now is to look up and to look out to make sure I can work with my team and their barriers, make sure that we can see the opportunities that are in front of us. There's a real letting go if all my journey, or a lot of my journey and a lot of my self worth, has come from getting stuff done. So I think to come back to your question is what happens is we don't grow, we don't necessarily expand and sometimes we stay still, but even more so the risk these days is that things are moving so quickly that actually, without doing the work, we start to go backwards. Our impact is minimized. Um, it's not conscious. It's driven from a place of fear or protection as opposed to of service or of impact that we want to consciously have.
Margot Thomas:So but it can show up very differently depending on our personality and you can think that, oh, you know how many times we heard this is me, you get it, it's me, I'll be authentic, yeah, that's you know. Authentic not equals, uh, it's just you being sticking to your old ways. Yeah. So I guess, oh, you know, even in the 70s, psychologists in the 70s they profile you, you know psychological profiling. You name it and that's it, you will be it. Yeah, so you either this or that, and thank God, you know. And since you know neuroplasticity, neuroscience, we know we can continue to develop.
Margot Thomas:So we are not our personalities, right? We absolutely are personalities, as I mentioned, of who we are, or it's something that we have but not who we are. So that notion about sorry, this is me, I'm an extrovert, that's it. Or I am, I don't know, a task oriented person, or I am a thinker, and that's it. This is part of who you are and not necessary. You know, to be super authentic, I have to be in that place. That's kind of a a mis mis misinterpretation for me of what really being authentic. You know, the leadership developed component of being authentic, it's being perhaps messy and vulnerable as you're trying to expand, doing things in ways that are not natural for you or easy for you. This is for me, it's more, you know, impactful authenticity than excuse myself on that authenticity.
Jolynne Rydz:So both of you are incredibly passionate about this, and I'd love to know if there was a moment where this hit home for you the power of authenticity and leadership.
Monique Longhurst:What's the question?
Margot Thomas:question oh, that is a fabulous question see this is, this is funny, right, because this, there's a layer of personality, like from on, I won't speak to her, she will, but in my sense, so you know, the authenticity, even a value, will mean different things to different people. Same value, right? So authenticity for me as a now that I understand a little bit more, my personality has a strong relationship with integrity. But what that's, that's for me, so the, the authenticity piece for me, there is that sense that I need to show up without the internal incongruence, right. So that has to be, and always, you know, the journey has been, and standing up and doing what is right, authentically right, sort of the personality, what is right, authentically right sort of the personality. So I'm just trying to reflect on your question in a very clumsy, authentic, clumsy way because I cannot not remember not being authentic, yeah, sort of because of that attachment to the integrity and it was so important in that sense. Perhaps, if we wind back to the beginning of a conversation and the socialised, the normalised kind of that we've all been through, I think when I start real, realizing the hang on a minute, I'm actually not my results, I am not my job.
Margot Thomas:There was a beginning of the, perhaps the, the, the, the curiosity and the desire to meet what. What am I then if I'm not that? Yeah, so I had a year gap. Stop working for you, which is terrifying for someone with my script, right, I'm work and I'm, you know, I work a lot because, you know, came from a blue color working family that you know kept reinforcing. Oh, you're so dedicated, you know, as single from from early years and also a form. Okay, love equals. Keep doing good. Yeah, hard work so to to remove my, my identity from that beautiful picture. Um, then you know that was created in those early years. It's kind of a. I think for me was the beginning of the other dimension of authenticity. Okay, so if I'm not my job or my roles and my results, who am? I fuck? It's scary to you. Know what is left if I remove all of that? And and I had a goal, I had, fortunately the inner and the outer resources to have a year gap and what I found was awesome.
Jolynne Rydz:And I want to thank you for sharing that because I think it's so important, particularly right now when there's so much change going on in organizations and restructures and people losing that identity when they lose a role in an organisation, so it's so powerful to share. You know, who am I without that and being?
Monique Longhurst:able to find that Mon, how about you?
Monique Longhurst:It's such a beautiful opportunity to reflect on the question, thank you. And as you're sharing your story, margot, there is something uniquely personal about that journey and you're right, there's, as I reflect on, where I first went. So as soon as you went to that question I can't even recall the exact question now, so I've made it my own um, there's a I have a relationship with authenticity and uniqueness, and which is really fascinating. So you talked about authenticity, integrity, and for me it's authenticity and uniqueness, and I can take that right back. I'm one of four children. You know how do you, what's uniquely mine to own in the space of family and a bigger family around us as well? Never felt the pressure to conform, necessarily, but I think just you know I can start to see what's uniquely me in this space. How do I uniquely express myself amongst many, any values, and, as I said before, this is a core value for me.
Monique Longhurst:I can go back to points in time on my career where that value was challenged. I have a very vivid memory, early in my twenties, of a very senior leader telling me um, I can even hear the words now, so you can sell those moments. You know, don't think you're special. There's nothing special about you. You've got to do your time, you've got to work your way up. And there was just something in me straight away that went oh no, you don't get to tell me that actually. And something in me straight away that went oh no, you don't get to tell me that actually. And something in me came out. You know, if I look back now I'm going, what was I? I wasn't thinking, but the words out of my mouth was you don't get to tell me that, you don't decide if.
Monique Longhurst:I am special or not, I do.
Monique Longhurst:I, you know it was not about wanting to skip the line or have any special treatment, but it was definitely a putting me in my place, which was not the place I wanted to be in.
Monique Longhurst:So those just and you know, a couple of times in my career I can have versions of that, and so for me that that piece between authenticity and being told who I am it's like that's for me to discover and for me to determine my personality is actually I do a lot of I'm not going to say fitting in, but I do a lot of flexing for the environment around me.
Monique Longhurst:It's actually one of my superpowers to be able to link into spaces, so it's kind of this real contrast. But when that goes too far or that's being taken for granted or determined for me, that's where that has certainly come around and I think that's why my passion is always and in the work that we do, particularly in the individual leader space, in our coaching, even in our group work, but where we get to have deep connections with our individuals amongst the group, is that unleashing of our potential right, and people who see us have a perspective on that. But it's just a perspective. We've got our own perspective on our own innate potential as well. So that desire to really link authenticity to potential and unleashing that, the more we know about ourselves, the more that we want to have an impact. What's that? That's uniquely our potential to bring to the world. So I think that's yeah, I think that's my relationship and some of the early things that really sprung for me the desire to bring authenticity as a key part of our work as well.
Jolynne Rydz:I love that we've got uniqueness and integrity so so, so powerful, wow. So I hope you found that incredibly fascinating and I wanted to pull out three key points that I was hearing throughout that. The first one is the question to reflect on from Margot, which is what are you longing for deep down? What is it that you are longing for that you're wanting to make an impact on?
Jolynne Rydz:The second thing I'd like to draw your attention to is that something Monique shared, which was authenticity needs more courage than living up to the expectation of others, and I wonder, I'm curious, if that's why many of us get stuck, because it's easier almost to live up to the expectation of others. It's a fail safe, it's a blanket. It's certainly something I've experienced myself that if I can do what I'm doing because others expected of me, I'm let off the hook if it doesn't go well. So it takes that courage to evolve and it requires people to have curiosity and openness to allow us and the others around us to step into their own authenticity. So don't see someone as one version of themselves, because that in itself is going to limit them and, in return, it's going to limit you.
Jolynne Rydz:So the third thing I wanted to bring your attention to is that complexity that we're all experiencing right now in our environments and this need, as leaders and as people, to not know and to invite ourselves into that space of grounding where, when we know who we are, it's so much easier to sit in that space of not knowing what's going to happen in the world around us, being able to show up and be messy and look for progress over perfection. So if you're wondering, how are you showing up? Are you showing up the way that you want to? Is that having the impact that you want to have? If you're wondering, how do you unleash your own authenticity and potential, then stay tuned to part two of this interview because, as I said, we're going to go deep and it's a lot of fun. So stay tuned, keep your eye out and remember you were born for a reason it's time to thrive.