Mental Toughness with Gaj Ravichandra, Career Path Strategist, Psychologist and CoFounder of Kompass Consulting
Mental Toughness.
What is it, why is it important and how do we develop it?
Call it mental toughness, resilience or grit - our ability to deal with the unknown and how well we respond to the extreme and ever-changing situations of life - plays an important role in achieving success in all aspects of our personal and professional lives.
Simply put, it’s a skill (not a personality trait) that improves performance and wellbeing and when it comes to success, is more important than intelligence.
In the words of researcher , TEDx Speaker and New York Times bestselling Author, Angle Duckworth, who studies achievement:
“It isn’t strength, smarts or leadership potential that accurately predicts success. Simply put, grit — the perseverance and passion to achieve long–term goals — is what makes the difference.”
Mental toughness is a subject that Gaj Ravichandra, Pyschologist and CoFounder of Kompass Consulting has been exploring and applying with high- performance leaders in business and sport.
In today’s interview, Gaj shares about the work of Professor Peter Clough, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Huddersfield (U.K) on the four pillars of mental toughness – challenge, confidence, commitment, and control.
Control - is the extent to which you feel you are in control of your life and that you can make a difference and change things. Control is your self-esteem and life’s purpose.
Commitment - is your focus and reliability to effectively set goals and targets and consistently achieve them without being distracted.
Challenge - is your drive and adaptability to be as good as you can be and to achieve your personal best. You see challenges, change, adversity and variety as opportunities rather than threats.
Confidence is your self-belief and influence and describes to what extent you believe you have the ability to perform productively and proficiently and the ability to influence others.
Gaj is a recognised as an authority on mental toughness and his passion for helping clients reach their potential. Download the podcast and be sure to share your comments here.
A leader is someone who leaves a trail of happiness behind them” - Gaj
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Overcoming Fear to Achieve Personal Success with Amanda Thompson, Financial Advisor & World Championship Ironwoman
Fear is one of the most basic human emotions.
Programmed into the nervous system, fear works like an instinct. It’s a natural and biological condition that we all experience. From the moment we’re born, we’re equipped with the survival instincts necessary to respond with fear when we sense danger or feel unsafe.
When we turn towards fear (rather than away from it), we begin to notice things about fear that we didn't know before. Awareness is our access to acknowledge it, embrace it and take the actions that allow us to go beyond it.
Amanda Thompson has overcome her fair share of fear. From a brutal sexual assault at the age of 24, Amanda rose to the top as one of the youngest leading Financial Planners with a major bank. After becoming a single mum, she started her own business and despite a range of health issues, qualified three times for the Ironman World Championships.
Amanda is the Managing Director of Endurance Financial Australia, a Non Executive Board Member and Company Secretary with Women Changing The World Investments.
“A leader is someone who shows up authentically every day, in vulnerability, strength and everything in between. They are not afraid to lead with heart and soul, as opposed to following the text book.”
Through sharing her personal story, Amanda hopes to inspire others to find resilience, determination and dedication to something bigger than themselves. Most of all, she hopes to help others realise that love really does conquer all and while adversity is a given, courage is a choice.
Join me on this week’s episode of The Uncharted Leader as I talk with Amanda about overcoming fear and her passion for removing the gender biases that stand in the way of women achieving personal achievement and their fear of money to own their financial future.
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Executive Loneliness and The Path to Inspiration with Nick Jonsson, CoFounder and MD Executives Global Network
What do you think is the hardest part about being an executive?
The challenges of an economic recovery, business performance and profits, cutting costs, employee engagement and wellbeing are all high on the list, but one of the biggest challenges an executive is dealing with, that goes unnoticed and under-acknowledged, is isolation.
According to the Harvard Business Review, 61% of CEOs believe loneliness hinders their job performance, according to Deloitte, 69% of c-suite leaders are seriously considering quitting for a job that better supports their wellbeing.
Executives are under immense amount of pressure to excel, they have few avenues to vent their frustrations and as a result, are often feeling isolated and alone. Combined with elevated levels of stress, being squeezed between taking care of children and ageing parents, it can lead to chronic health conditions and an over-reliance on stimulant enhancing drugs, caffeine and alcohol, just to relax.
Co-founder and Managing Director of Asia’s Executives’ Global Network, Nick Jonsson has dedicated his life to raising awareness and eliminating the stigma around the phenomenon of executive loneliness.
His passion lies in matching senior executives in confidential peer groups where they can help each other deal more authentically with the challenges they face.
In his book “Executive Loneliness, The 5 Pathways to Overcoming Isolation, Stress, Anxiety & Depression in the Modern Business World” Nick share’s how his life experiences shaped his commitment to bring the challenges of executive loneliness to the forefront and pave the way for his mission to help organisations and create authentic relationships and meaningful networks.
“Executives are feeling growing anxiety and lethargy. They often experience an overwhelming doubt, pessimism, or loneliness. This state of mind can lead to the potential for impulsivity or less-than-healthy forms of coping and escapism. Alcohol or other forms of substance abuse, or shallow and more transactional relationships are what we see most often. If they don’t find support, this could eventually lead to suicidal ideation and, worse yet, suicide.”
Join me on this week’s episode of The Uncharted Leader as we talk about what it takes to live an inspired life, the challenges of executive loneliness and Nick’s 5 steps to overcoming stress, anxiety and depression in the modern world.
A little taste of what to expect! Not surprisingly, purpose is one of the steps!
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Reimagining Masculinity with Daniel Principe, Educator & Youth Advocate
In the same week the Brittany Higgins’ revelations was challenging the Federal Parliament’s culture, Daniel Principe, Educator & Youth Advocate at Collective Shout, posed a question to a group of Year 9 girls at Kambala School, in Rose Bay, Sydney – the same school making headlines because of a viral petition on sexual assault initiated by a former student..
“What does today’s society and culture value young girls for?”
It was the beginning of a day of workshops with his colleague Melinda Tankard Reist at Collective Shout, on sexualisation, objectification, and the harms of pornography.
As it turns out, there are countless young women who are desperate for a way out of the toxic impact of sexualisation on social media; and countless young men who are yearning for a new vision of manhood that’s worth aspiring to.
“They want to unshackle the constraints of toxic expressions of masculinity centred on control and dominance. My purpose is to help men reimagine healthy visions of masculinity” - Daniel Principe
Daniel’s mission is to help young men navigate the modern sexed-up world of social media and address the elephant in the room leading to an increased number of child predators online, to challenge the social and cultural messages that embody sexual entitlement and to end the normalisation of sexual harrassment in schools.
Hearing the heartbreaking stories of thousands of young people across the country he is determined to address the elephant in the room and for us all to be part of creating the positive cultural change we all hope for by inviting us to have the difficult conversations about body image, suicide and sexual assault.
Daniel is a health-professional with a background in PR, marketing and media, He’s worked as an adviser in the non-profit health sector, is the host of the Collective Shout’s podcast ‘Reimagining Masculinity’ and is a regular guest on community radio.
“A leader is someone who influences, lives virtuously, acts courageously, embodies integrity and leaves a legacy” - Daniel Principe
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Reducing Inequalities as a Purpose Driven Business and Equality in Leadership with Sandra D’Souza, Ellect Founder and CEO
Why, after all these years are we still talking about reducing inequalities and the imbalance of women in leadership?
Well, as it turns out, the issues of inequality run deep. In recent years, the benefits of economic growth have disproportionately favoured the rich while, in OECD countries, income inequality has hit its highest level in the past hundred years.
Many groups, such as women, racial minorities and indigenous populations, still do not have equal access to opportunities - facing exclusion from business ownership and corporate decision making and discrimination related to wages, employment, and access to financial services.
While equality is fundamental to a stable, just, prosperous and peaceful society, reducing inequalities benefits businesses as it helps create a stable and predictable business environment.
Founder and CEO of Ellect Stars Sandra D’Souza is on a mission to have women be equally represented in Boards and Senior Leadership Teams. Sandra’s been an advocate for women’s rights since she was a teenager. Over the last 20 years she’s combined her advocacy for gender equality with her passion for social entrepreneurship to advance women in business.
Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of Gender Equality and Reduce Inequalities as a purpose driven business, Sandra’s mission is to help businesses achieve their Environment, Social and Governance Goals in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
The company is taking action to publicly award companies that have achieved at least three of the following accomplishments:
Have at least 1 woman CEO or CFO
Have 1 woman Board Chair
Have at least 25% women on Board of Directors
Have at least 25% women on Senior Leadership Team
In 2021 Sandra was the only Australian selected to participate in Nasdaq’s Spring Milestone Makers Program, appearing on the NASDAQ Tower in Time Square, New York City alongside 12 other outstanding entrepreneurs focused on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #10, Reduced Inequalities.
Why is Sandra so passionate about reducing inequality?
Evidence shows that reduced inequality fosters stronger and more sustainable economic growth because it helps unlock the population’s working potential, increases diversity of thought, and creates a more stable environment for businesses.
Join me on this week’s episode of The Uncharted Leader with Sandra D’Souza as we probe on this issue of gender inequality and her mission to reduce inequalities as a purpose driven business.
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Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters with Kara Goldin, Founder and CEO of Hint
Innovation is messy and building a business is even messier! Failures, mistakes, disappointments, heartaches, is it any wonder the failure statistics for startups is so high with 20% of businesses in Australia failing in their first year and 60% going bust in the first three years.
What does it take to build a purpose-driven business when the odds are against you?
Kara Goldin is the Founder and CEO of Hint, a company on a mission to help the world live a healthy lifestyle by making products people love. While experimenting with alternatives to overcome her own addiction with Diet Coke, Kara created the world's first unsweetened fruit-flavoured water.
Despite no beverage experience and plenty of doubts, Kara persisted.
“What’s the worse thing that can happen?” is a common narrative in Kara’s journey in building what has become the most successful beverage company of our time. Eighteen years later and Hint, employing 256 people and worth $150million, is still finding new ways of growing and breaking into other categories.
Since her success, Kara’s been listed alongside Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg as one six disruptors in business by The Huffington Post’s These Six Companies Broke the Rules of Business and Succeeded. She’s been named one of InStyle’s Badass 50, Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, Fortune's Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink and EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Northern California.
Her book Undaunted: Overcoming Doubts and Doubters is an engaging story on Kara’s journey out of college and kick-starting her career with Time Magazine to working in the tech industry alongside a bunch of talented people who became her greatest ally’s and raising four children while pursuing a relentless passion for solving problems no-one is solving.
We all have doubts. We’re all confronted with uncertainty. The question isn’t whether doubt, our doubters, exist. The question is, “What are you doing about it?”
While it’s a simple question, asking yourself “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” is the first step in revealing the actions needed to overcome doubt and create something miraculous.
Join me as I talk with Kara about creating your own opportunities, launching the business when she was about to give birth to her fourth child, a simple approach to taking risk, building a brand on purpose and the stories and lessons she learnt along the way.
A taste of what to expect!
What’s more important than experience when it comes to your career and business?
Great entrepreneurs are masterful at bringing people on the journey.
Know who you are and focus on the one thing you do well. Trust yourself. Belief is everything.
Invest in crazy ideas. What starts out as crazy may, just in fact, be history in the making.
It’s never too late to start something new. Initiative and Persistence pays off.
Stop keeping your ideas to yourself. Ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the people who can execute that make your ideas valuable.
What's the one thing that keeps you in the game when you’re weathering the sleepless nights and relentless thundering storms
Kids need great role models. Bring them along for the ride and engage them in the journey.
Entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted. What are the critical pieces to starting a business that survives?
Enjoy the podcast and please leave a comment and share it with your mates. It makes a big difference to share a little inspiration with others to ignite their passion and amplify the impact they have in the world!
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Undaunted, is a must read. Get a copy on Amazon here.
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In Silence Comes Wisdom with Shaun Sargent, CoFounder and CEO of Stait
In today’s fast-paced, adrenaline-driven society, hormone optimization Is under attack. Whether it’s diet, environment, work or family, our bodies are like the frog in a pan of hot water, being slowly boiled.
Unfortunately most of us, men and women, have no idea just how much damage it’s doing. We have little awareness about what our hormones are doing, what they aren’t doing, what we need them to be doing and the benefits they bring to living our best life.
Shaun Sargent is the Founder of Stait - a supplement brand that is carefully created to provide ‘everything you need and nothing you don’t. His mission is to educate people on the benefits of having their hormones balanced and to ultimately be happier with less illness.
As a CEO, chartered accountant and company secretary in his mid-50s, Shaun’s taking a selfish, but very necessary step to create a life that will help him be the best he can be - mentally, physically and spiritually. While his target is to improve himself, not because there is something wrong, but because he found it to be the best way forward, his passion is far beyond selfish.
“Life is not a dress rehearsal. It’s about showing up fully, competently and capably for yourself in every moment”
Why do you do what you do?
First and foremost, I do what I do, to make sure I show up as my best self. There’s a reason why, before taking off on a flight, the airlines say “in the unlikely event of an emergency, put on your oxygen mask before helping others’.
How can we possibly help others if we have no oxygen ourselves?
I’m certainly not perfect. I’m more of a work in progress. I’ve learnt that authenticity and integrity come from our own personal, and perhaps selfish, experience. I want to be the best I can so the information I share is not only credible but it’s easily accessible, free from bias and with as few barriers as possible.
My focus is on getting the best information on how to live a great life each day and, from my own journey, I realised it stems from optimising our hormones. If our hormones are out of balance, our life is out of balance and our day doesn’t flow as it should.
What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve experienced and what were the most valuable lesson(s) you learnt?
My mother died when I was 17. It threw me into a deep deep depression – booze, fighting and pure anger at the world. It followed with being thrown out of home by my dad, for not accepting his new relationship.
It wasn’t easy. It was hell. Looking back, I now see it was a huge gift and I am grateful. It had me step out of a small, and somewhat limited, circle and move into a much bigger, wider world.
With help from a partner, I realised I had to stop being a victim. At the end of the day no-one else really gave a shit. It was up to me to build the life I wanted. That’s not how I was living my life. I built my life around what I thought my partner wanted only later to realise that while I wanted something similar, it wasn’t a match.
I learnt that we have to be willing to let go of what we have and what we think we want before anything new can surface. We have to learn how to trust ourselves, to not let blind faith or desperation determine our direction. We have to trust ourselves to follow our heart, listen to our inner wisdom and create what we really want.
Without the death of my mum, who I loved dearly, I wouldn’t have had the need, or opportunity at such a young age, to fend for myself. The life I now have is unlikely to have been what it is, if it wasn’t for those lessons. For that I am grateful.
The lesson for me is that grief is temporary, or at least it should be, and that if you can move through and acknowledge the grief, and transform that energy, the best way to honour the grief is to use the energy to create the life you want. The best way to honour a loved one, is to create magic.
Being a victim serves no one, most of all yourself – it took me time to see this, but it’s certainly been my greatest lesson.
What’s one of your greatest accomplishments to date and what impact did it have on you, others, society or the world?
Marrying my wife Samantha. The balance, comradery, strength and grit she shows in the face of adversity, gives me the space to grow and be my own best self.
A strong foundation allows me to step out into daily life and create what I wish and in doing so, I hope inspires others to do the same.
A leader is someone who?
A leader is someone who sees joy in the group creating and attaining far more than the stated objective, through common bonds, supportive interactions, and solid work principles.
They are a person that leads by example, builds trust through their actions and integrity, and overall, is known for always being by the side of the team members when the going is toughest.
“A leader is someone who will take on any role necessary to get the best outcome for the collective unit”
Ignite Your Passion and Amplify the Impact You Have in the World!
Connect with Shaun on LinkedIn, follow Stait on Instagram, join the community on Facebook and visit MyStait.com for a resources to help you elevate and life your best life.
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Building A Culture That Aligns with People’s Values with Marnie Jones, Director at Talent X
The path out of COVID is well and truly here. Australian job vacancies at an all-time high and candidate numbers at an all-time low. According to the laws of supply and demand, this is great for employees and not-so-great for employers.
Today’s employees want to know they’re making a difference. They have high expectations beyond a pay check. In fact, a recent survey by LinkedIn found that people would rather put up with lower pay (65%) and forego a fancy title (26%) than deal with a bad workplace environment.
While cultures are unique to every organisation, the foundation of what enables a culture to thrive is the extent to which employees are empowered to be engaged, feel valued, and be heard. This is where leadership comes in.
Although leaders admit an unhealthy company culture can impact engagement, a disconnect remains. While leaders believe they’re putting in the work to build culture, employees don’t agree. A survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research found 45% of employees say leadership is minimally or not at all committed to improving culture.
Does the company you work for, align with your values? Is there a gap between what people say they're going to do and what they actually do?
Whether it’s exaggerating how much we exercise or expressing an intention which is never fulfilled, like giving up alcohol, quitting sugar or going on a luxury holiday, it’s a phenomenon we can all relate to in some way, the gap between what we say and do is widening.
In business, the difference between what a leader says and what a leader does can be catastrophic. It not only destroys trust, it can infect the entire organisation and eventually lead to an erosion of the businesses reputation and brand’s value. The discrepancy can lead to harrowing business repercussions, such as voluntary turnover that can cost organisations up to two times an employee’s annual salary.
What’s one thing you can do to create a winning culture?
“Culture is an accumulation of individual relationships, it’s about the connections we have with each other” - Marnie
Marnie Jones is the Director of Talent X, a people agency that transforms companies through the hiring, organising and management of teams. She’s an expert in helping business owners build their dream team to impact profitability and growth.
Beginning her career at 19, Marnie spent the first 10 years as a management consultant helping companies from $200k to $130m turnover get the most out of their businesses. At 23 she was the Head Consultant for a small boutique firm in Sydney where she managed a team of consultants.
Join me on The Uncharted Leader as I get into some straight talk with Marnie Jones about the gap between what we say and do, doing work that aligns with our values, focussing on individual connections to impact culture and the one thing you can do to create a winning culture.
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