TLP220: Trust Your Instincts to Bring your WHY to Life

Jen believes every single person on the planet is capable of tapping into their creativity. She helps people trust their own instincts and find the courage to take action with authenticity and heart. Using her 20+ years of experience in the Broadway community and her background in the arts, Jen encourages creative thinking and imagination, so that others can cultivate new ideas and share them with the world. Jen and Simon Sinek united several years ago when Jen began using the Golden Circle to inspire artists to make a greater impact with their work. Jen and Simon recognized that their combined efforts could help people across many different industries discover their WHY and bring it to life. Jen presents WHY-inspired keynotes and workshops on leadership, communication, and presentation skills so that individuals and organizations can have more impact with their ideas. Key Takeaways [3:40] We all possess the power to be creative. It is a skillset anybody can learn. [9:25] Everyone should take an acting class because the basic principles of acting are the basic principles of living. [12:15] We can all get better at listening to the end of a sentence. [16:45] A lot of Jen’s clients have been with her for 15 years, so when COVID-19 hit, it didn’t make sense to close down the business for good. Instead, her team decided to pivot virtually. [19:00] When we lose social connection, we end up being in threat mode and all we care about is survival. [23:15] As an optimist on Simon Sinek’s team, Jen helps leaders develop their character through values-based ideas. [27:20] People’s greatest fear is often public speaking. However, the heart of this fear really is the opinions of others. [33:45] Actors work and develop their “characters.” Leaders and professionals can do the same to instill confidence and trust in the people they serve. [42:15] Listener challenge: Bring art into artless spaces. Quotable Quotes “Anything that can be interrupted doesn’t actually have a right answer.” Get better at listening to the end of a sentence “We talk about social distancing, but what we really need to do is rebrand that. It’s physical distancing, but we need to find ways to be socially close to each other.” “At the end of the day, it’s not about the speaker, it’s about the message.” “Working on your character is understanding that everything you do has storytelling value. People are creating narratives out of your behaviors all the time.” “We can work on our character and it doesn’t make us any less authentic. It gives us the opportunity we know we can be.” Resources Mentioned The Leadership Podcast is Sponsored by: Cultivate Grit. Amplify Action. Investing in yourself isn’t selfish. Click to get gritty! Free downloads of on Delegation, Time Management, Sales, and more.