The Pursue Whole Podcast

Over the last 12 months, the Pursue Whole team has worked on creating a framework that helps high-level leaders clearly define their identity, purpose, and impact on the world around them. We call this your Big Vision, a one-page document developed with our leaders throughout their coaching program.
The leaders we work with at Pursue Whole understand the pressure and skill it takes to perform at the highest level. Yet, in pursuit of success, they often realize they've forgotten their needs and molded themselves around what everyone wants. They don't need more growth or success - they need clarity about their identity and purpose.
In today's short, 14-minute episode, Andy breaks down:

• The five sections that make up the Big Vision
• Excerpts from Andy's personal Big Vision document
• How you can craft your own Big Vision

And more!
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Want to learn how you can craft your own Big Vision? On January 24th, we’re launching the Uncover Your Identity and Purpose Challenge.

Join our waitlist here and be the first to get lifetime access to an online course containing six emotional fitness exercises, each with a 2–5-minute video led by Andy and corresponding reflections.

At the end of the challenge, you will have created a clean, one-page document that we call your Big Vision — the clearly stated “why” behind your life, leadership, and relationships.

Today's podcast is with Olenka Cullinan, founder of iStartFirst, a company that empowers women nationally and globally to up-level their business and mindset. As a speaker, consultant, and coach, Olenka brings the conversation of gender EQ to corporate culture.

In this conversation you'll hear:

• The known neurological differences between male and female brains
• How embracing the unique gifts of women has gains for your business
• A fresh perspective that doesn't involve blaming
• How to equip men and women to utilize their best strengths in business

Does our behavior and lifestyle impact those closest to us in either positive or negative ways?

[02:47] Framingham Heart Study

• People in the study were 57% more likely to become obese if they had a friend who was obese.

[03:12] In researching emotional health, the study found that those who had a happy friend had a 15% increase in their own happiness. Amazingly, they found that having a friend whose friend’s friend is happy (3 degrees of separation), still increased a person’s happiness by 6%

[04:25] Questions to ask yourself

1. Who are you surrounding yourself with as a leader.
2. How is that impacting your Beliefs and what you engage in as a high performer?

[04:44] Many leaders don’t slow down enough to ask what’s actually happening on the inside, yet they express fear that they’ll reach the end of their life having sacrificed the most important things they value.

[06:00] Andy describes homeostasis. Homeostasis is not about change. It’s about a resistance to change to keep things the same. This is not helpful for a leader who prioritizes growth & success.

[07:30] Growing as a leader reveals growth (or lack of growth) in the people around you. Unhealthy cultures try to pull you back down to a place of dysfunction.

[08:48]The 3 P’s:

1. Leaders who know how to be present
2. Leaders who know how to prioritize
3. Leaders who know how to feel pain

[09:00] How do we identify if a person is present? First, identify a lack of presence.

Are they constantly checking their phone? Do they turn and notice everything going on around them rather than keeping eye contact during a conversation? This indicated that the mind isn’t focused on the present moment.

Someone who is constantly distracted by what matters least in life will consistently distract you from what matters most in life.

[10:00] Identifying a present leader:

1. A present leader is going to put their phone away and give you their full attention
2. A present leader is going to ask you to tell them more instead of telling you more about themselves.
3. A present leader will maintain eye contact around you rather than looking at everyone else around them
4. A present leader is going to take deep breaths when they feel anxious, rather than tightening up their body and hiding their anxiety.

[11:32] Friends & leaders who know how to prioritize

If you don’t have the ability to slow down and take a deep breath, you’re not going to get any clarity on what matters most in life.

The part of our brain that allows logic and planning is activated when we breathe. Constantly moving from thing to thing keeps you stuck in survival mode.

Prioritizing as a leader means you can designate something as more important than something else.

[12:30] Identifying a leader who can prioritize:

Can they answer:

1. What’s your most important objective this week? Today?
2. What 5 things (or people) do you need to say no to right now?
3. Who comes first and what matters most in life?
4. What are you not willing to sacrifice to gain success?

[14:40] Leadership isn’t about avoiding pain, it’s about allowing it to shape you and transform you as a leader. Working through pain builds grit and opens the window to growth.

Thanks for being a listener of the Pursue Whole podcast! Our team has been working behind the scenes to relaunch this platform, and we can't wait to share these changes with you in just a few short weeks.
In the meantime, we're going to be re-airing some of our top podcasts, giving you the opportunity to revisit our best episodes as we prepare for launch!
Original show notes:

This week's episode is with Alex Stavros. Alex is the CEO at Embark Behavioral Health - the premier Mental Health Treatment for Teens and Young Adults.
Alex is on the show to share how and why leaders who are parents need to connect with their kids in more authentic ways. In this show you'll hear:

• The importance of treating the relationship with your children differently than you treat relationships in business.
• How early, unresolved emotional trauma has lead to the vast majority of mental health issues today.
• The difference between joy and happiness
• Practical ways for parents can help their kids identify things that need to be addressed & how to find the resources they need to heal.

& much more!
You can Connect with Alex on LinkedIn. and visit embarkbh.com to learn more about their Big Hairy Audacious Goal to lead the way in helping take anxiety, depression, and suicide from the all-time highs of today to all-time lows by 2028. Check out the link to the original publication of this episode here.
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If you want to grow your leadership capability by exercising your self-awareness skills regularly, visit pursuewhole.com/coaching to explore our unique coaching program and schedule a free discovery call.

Thanks for being a listener of the Pursue Whole podcast! Our team has been working behind the scenes to relaunch this platform, and we can't wait to share these changes with you in just a few short weeks.
In the meantime, we're going to be re-airing some of our top podcasts, giving you the opportunity to revisit our best episodes as we prepare for launch!
Original show notes:
Today's episode is with Trish Robinson, Executive Director at Eastmark with Cohere, an innovative market leader providing a distinct approach to community design and management driven by intentional connection and partnership. Trish has developed her leadership over the last 20 years and shares her experience exploring her strengths and the unavoidable shadow sides to those traits. "Performance" worked to a point, but self-awareness was the catalyst that spurred her leadership forward.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Her core value of authenticity and the personal cost of not living into it
• Her experience as an enneagram 3, shifting from a grind mindset, learning to create space to pause, and the unexpected positive impact on her performance.
• How to approach the continual success and failure that leadership requires.
• And more!

Ways to connect with Trish and link to her original episode here:

• Cohere website: coherelife.com
• Trish Email: [email protected]
• Trish's LinkedIn

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If you're a leader looking to grow your leadership capability by exercising your self-awareness skills regularly, visit www.pursuewhole.com/coaching to explore our unique coaching program and schedule a free discovery call.