1852 – The Vital Intersection of Leadership and Self-Care with Stephana Johnson

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2:08Let's push the boundaries of customer experience together.

2:16With us right now, it's Stefana Johnson. Stefana, you are the CEO of Powerhouse Leaders. You are found on the web at stefanajohnson.com. And to our friend that's listening, just click around on your show notes. We have a direct link, Stefana, to your website. But it's great to have you. Thank you. I'm excited to be here. Really honored. Excited to have you. And Stefana, tell me about the work that you do, obviously working with leaders. And again, it's interesting, like, who leaders are. And some of those things, I think if we think of traditional leaders in business, right, or, you know, within organizations, you know, who generally steps into that role and the life that it can sometimes take in order to do that type of work, which I'm sure you have a lot of experience with.

3:10You know who that is. A hundred percent. I will tell you, I watched my mother, who was an innovator, an entrepreneur, go out and work at this high stress, high performing position and low self-care, low recovery time. I watched my father do the same thing, giving as a volunteer minister, but also in an executive position and high performing expectations, high, high, high, high stress and low recovery, low self-care. And then I went off to New York. I was going to become an actor. And I was working both behind the scenes. And I got a great job with a record company in an executive receptionist position where I was there from 6 p.m.

4:00to midnight. And I got to see all the stars come in, all of these incredible Grammy Award winning artists. some of them are no longer with us because they were high stress, high performance and expectations of themselves and from themselves, but also expectations from everyone else. And they would do this day in, day out, low recovery, low self-care, or the self-care was inappropriate and inadequate. And I observed all of this and it really was that as a catalyst that was where I started to realize that who's their advocate. But then I took an executive position and I was the president of a regional office of a global nonprofit.

4:49I was so excited to help and wanted to go in there and everything was about this. So I was there six, seven days a week, round the clock, high performing, high stress. But I was excited about it. Low recovery. And it didn't take too long, about two years. And I'm in my early 20s at the time. I was burned out. I was started. My body was falling apart. I was in pain. It just was, wait a minute, what's going on here? And that's when it hit me that this idea, yes, as leaders, we want to drive impact and positive change. And we want so much to give and to support and to change, right? We're innovators.

5:38We want to make something powerful, beautiful happen. But our bodies and our minds and our hearts and our spirits with all of that driving force, there has to be recovery time. There has to be, yes, it's self-care, but it's that recovery time. And it's not, okay, I'll work for six months and then I'll take a week off. Doesn't work like that. We can be all on and all off every day. And this, it really was the catalyst. So for the last two, three decades, this is my life. This is what I am so passionate about. I have a book, Lead Stronger Longer, a podcast that I talk about it. I would love to have you on, by the way.

6:20To lead stronger longer, you must lead yourself first. And so that's why I say I'm my own first best client. But if you're here to make a positive impact, awesome. And that vehicle that you are using, you want it to be able to stay energized and engaged. And that vehicle houses your beautiful mind that comes up with all these phenomenal ideas, right? And then there's your heart. And I work in a holistic transformational lane, right? So I'm looking 360 degrees at you, not just who you are behind the desk or on the stage, right? So that's where I created Powerhouse Leaders. And it did come from, you know, when people say Powerhouse Leaders, oh, that's the executive powerhouse.

7:13Yes, and because you know what? When you are a mother or a father, you are one of the most important leaders to me. As a mom, my role leading my sons, I take very seriously. I don't take myself too seriously, but I take that role seriously. And now my oldest son just turned 18, and my youngest is almost 16. And that I was able to lead in a way that was whole. and they are the best examples of being able to stay in a place of wholeness as a leader because I got to see that from the moment they were born until now and that result. And I think now if we took a snapshot of our world and we might see the last year, but what if we look at the five years and the 10 years and the 20 years and the 30 years?

8:11How about the 50 years? Where have we been led? And where are the really powerful leaders who are making a powerful impact? And if we really look and understand those leaders that are truly whole and in alignment with their vision and their values and on purpose, we see the impact around them, beautiful, powerful, profound, instead of diminished. and that's that I'm passionate about this as you can as you can tell so how's that landing for you yeah well Stefano I I'm hoping that because I absolutely resonate and I think a lot of us do with what you're talking about right this um idea of I think that oftentimes as a leader or I should say maybe more specifically as just someone who is in a leadership position um and I have very, very high expectations for what I want to do, the impact.

9:13I've got too much. I've just got this desire to serve. And you're right. There's a lot of times when I feel like, I think historically, I give myself the crumbs of what's left over, and I don't recharge. And I know that there are major consequences to that. And I'd say one of the biggest consequences is it subverts my intention, right? Which is to make a huge mark on the world. And so if I don't keep my own cup filled, then I'm just not as effective in doing what I do. Like I'm not sufficiently recharged. And so therefore I'm not the leader or as, you know, I'm not a hundred percent of who and what I want to be.

10:01So I'm hoping, maybe if you want to reflect on that a little bit, and then I'm hoping we can kind of transition into some, let's set some action items together as leaders so that we can make the impact in the world that we desire. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. So that is a huge point. And I will tell you right off, you must be creative before you are reactive. And what does that look like? on a day-to-day basis, yes. But let's look at as a leader, you have to have the big picture, the big picture strategy, the big picture understanding. You're the one that is creating the big picture or stewarding and fostering this vision.

10:43And if you're not clear, that's a problem. So first, we take that time to really be creative, to get creative with yourself. What is that vision? What does that look like? And you dial that in. And then if you're going to implement, if you're doing both the tactics as well as the strategy as a leader, some are, as business owners, you wear multiple hats. Well, then you need to absolutely tap back into that on a daily basis. For me, I'm even tapping into it sometimes on a moment-to-moment basis when there is so much going on because we can get caught in that storm. And if we are not crystal clear and do not have one singular point of focus, we will lose our power.

11:32That's the thing that most leaders get distracted by is they have too many points of focus. You cannot, that dilutes your power immediately. So what is that? And define that singular point of focus. That is where you tap into your power. Yeah. So Stefana, in our day-to-day, you know, you talked about recovery and recharge. What are some practices that you would say, listen, I don't care who you are, I'm going to recommend that you do this, this, and this. Like what would be some of those initial things that come to your mind? Like, yep, these are way more impactful than you may think. Yeah, I have five of them.

12:17I call them my vital five. And everybody I work with, we start with those first, because if they are not in, nothing can get done from there. Number one for me is sleep. But the five you'll I'll look at with a client and I'll I'll look at where they most out and what needs to be dialed in. Number two is water. I know that seems so mundane. But listen, your body and your mind do not function correctly. If you do not drink water, I cannot tell you how many executives I first meet and they're living off of coffee. No, no, I'm sorry. You cannot do that. You drink a cup of coffee. You're going to need two pure water, not fancy, weird fault filter, whatever water, pure water, pure H2O, pure water to counteract all of that caffeine in your system.

13:09Okay, so pure water, that's number two. Number three is you have to move your body. Your body is a vehicle that must be moved. If it does not move, it will diminish. The brain will start to shut off muscles. And as a result of that, muscles being turned off, specifically your core and your booty, maybe you're sitting a long time or you're even standing at your standing desk, great, but your core is off and your back as a joint is having to hold you up because your core, your abdominal muscles, your glute muscles are not on. So we've got to move so that the brain knows, oh, I have a vehicle. This body needs to be used.

13:49So my brain is amazing at conserving energy. So shut things off. Okay. So there's that. And then the fourth is what you fuel your body with, right? If you're eating garbage, I can tell you, your body's going to diminish. your brain, your ability to function, to show up, to think, make better decisions, to even have resources, right? Think about resources. If you're trying to get to the top of Mount Hood, right? I'm Pacific Northwest. I'm looking at Mount Hood. And if you don't have the provisions in your backpack, you're not going to get very far. Your food is that. It's your provisions. Again, it seems mundane, right?

14:30Okay, what's the fifth one? You can imagine what it is, because I talked about high stress. You've got to manage that stress. And I have tools that I share, specifically breathing. You're alive, so you think you're breathing, right? Most people are breathing about 40 % of their body's capacity of their natural capacity. So we want to increase that. that takes down the cortisol level. We handle things with food by eating, you know, protein, eat clean, good protein. That's going to increase your serotonin. You must have protein, the amino acids for building blocks to get the serotonin up to repair where the cortisol has been flooding through your system because of the high stress.

15:13So now, now we look at it that way and it's like, oh, okay. My body and my brain are regulating a little bit better. This vehicle, I can rev it at high speed. Awesome. Let's go. You know? Yeah. Basics. I know they say mundane, but they are a priority that has to be. And that's my foundation. And then. Yeah. And listen, you know, to those who are skeptical that how breathing is that real? Oh, look at the data. And that's number one. Number two, just try it. Even if you don't like it, like I'm Stefan, I'm like, not a huge, like meditator. Like I just like my monkey brain just as like an ultimate, like it goes crazy.

15:55I just don't love doing that. But I know that it's, it's good for me. Like, I know that I can't argue with the results. Did I say meditation? No, no, not at all. Not at all. I'm just, as an example, as an example. Yes. But you could see the, here's the thing is I think meditation there, it's so misunderstood. you think you're supposed, like I am high velocity, right? But now I realize that if I don't balance that, you burn out. And if you can realize this, Josh, you're high velocity, right? But I hear your voice is already gone. It's because there is that balance piece that's missing. So we want to dial that in.

16:37What's going on that the voice got overworked? There was an imbalance. And that's where most of the general injuries, upsets, right? Our cars crash when there is an imbalance. And this is important to understand as a leader, because now you can see when you have a team and you're starting to see people fall off and diminish in their, how their performance is, what their productivity level is. And as a result, your profits going down, like what's going on here, hmm, well, there was an imbalance that you missed. And as a leader, you need to be able to be aware of that and to be able to spot that and notice that and make the gentle course correction quickly, correctly, before you crash and burn.

17:26That's my goal. That is what I want to not only do for my leaders, but empower them so that they understand it. I can't be with them 24-7, And so I need them to be able to recognize it and snap to it, like, and then empower their teams so that they are driving ideal, optimal engagement, optimal energy, right? Not diminishing it every turn. Yeah. Stefana, your website is StefanaJohnson.com. Someone that's been listening to our conversation and they want more Stefana in their life. What would you recommend they do? Like, where do they go from here? I have a fun energy and performance newsletter and sharing valuable and helpful resources is something I love to do.

18:12They can just jump onto my website. I have subscribe buttons right at the top so they can just grab that and enjoy the newsletter. Enjoy the nuggets that I share every week for free, happily, complimentary. And again, your website, stefanajohnson.com. That's all linked up to our friend that's listening. Click around on your podcast app. You'll see where we've got the show notes and direct links, Stefana, to your website. So Stefana Johnson, thank you so much for joining us. Again, you're the CEO of Powerhouse Leaders. And once again, your website, stefanajohnson.com. Stefana, thank you so much for joining us.

18:51Thanks, Josh.

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