The Soulful Leader Podcast

We want something to happen “out there”, in the world. We want to change another, we want to change our circumstances (partner, job, finances, etc.), so we get busy DOING - fixing, forcing and making something happen in the world - and it rarely works and often creates more stress for everyone involved. There is an alternative and it’s encapsulated in Gandhi’s quote, ‘BE the change you wish to see...

We’ve all had those moments in our lives when everything feels ‘right’, we are totally engrossed in what we are doing and completely in sync with life - it’s magical. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this the flow state, the optimal experience in life.  Our challenge is two fold. One, how do we create this state of flow ‘at will’ instead of stumbling across it now and again? And two, how do we mainta...

We all want to be accepted, to be included and to feel safe.  We most often find that security and belonging with people who are like us. It’s where we’re comfortable and it’s easy to be ourselves. The challenge, especially for leaders, is that this creates a ‘monoculture’, and it comes at a cost. Creating a world of people who are like ‘me’ means we think the same, there’s little to challenge us,...

Resiliency is a buzzword. It’s everywhere these days - all of it focused on conquering obstacles and  getting back up - all so that we, as leaders, can get back to business as usual and stay on track. What if it’s not about getting back to business as usual?  What if true resilience is embracing and moving through our challenges so that we emerge a different person on the other side? Then the trac...

What is “shadow” in leadership and why is it important?  Anything that we don’t embrace, anything we shove into the corners of our minds and our lives, becomes our shadow. So the shadow part of leadership is really the shadow in ourselves , because when we don't look inside, we put it outside on the people around us. That’s the what. Why it’s important - because our shadow is the one who is r...

“My whole life looks pretty dang good. Why do I still feel like shit?”  Have you ever felt like that? What if the answer was not about manifesting MORE in your life? Achieving "next".  What if we are given our dreams, our desires and our wants  so that we keep diving deeper and deeper and deeper and start to awaken? What if there’s that one thing in your life that you can’t quite manifes...

The opposite of control is not chaos, it’s actually flow . How backwards we have it. We’re taught that control is the ideal. ‘Be rational’, ‘don't bring your emotions to work’, ‘control yourself’. And it’s one of the biggest lies we’ve been fed. Control is a closed system and kills both creativity and flow. As a culture, we're actually experiencing emotional anorexia. We’ve been shoving...

“It becomes a co-creation instead of a manipulation.” ~Stephanie Allen Imagine a world in which everyone is empowered and co-creating. This is Soulful Leadership, and it’s what we stand for. How does one get there?  It’s a process that involves getting to know yourself, being vulnerable, being transparent and not only truly embracing your own gifts and strengths, but holding the space to empower a...

WOW! This is the beginning of the third year of the Soulful Leader Podcast. It seems like we started yesterday, and yet we’ve both changed SO much. This is an extra special episode for us because we decided to interview each other. After two years of working together, we wanted to know what was in the other’s heart in regards to ‘next’. Too often as leaders we don’t make the time to ask, and re-as...

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”― Lao Tzu That’s not us. We rush about from here to there, setting goals and making things happen in our lives. And then we find ourselves exhausted, crabby, hurting (mentally, physically and emotionally) and needing a break. And that’s the best case scenario. If we don’t make something happen in the time we planned - we beat ourselves up, as...

Sometimes we think we’ve got it all figured out and then a boomerang happens and stops us in our tracks. What then? Do you push through? Change course? How, and where, do you find answers? Maren and Stephanie dive head first into ‘truth’ today looking for some of the answers we all seek. Even if there is a difference between ‘Truth’ (capital T) and ‘truth’ which is relative, how does it apply to y...

You've worked, created, done all the things, and the results you want still elude you? Or at least it feels that way. What’s the internal dialog that happens? This ‘inner chat’ is often one of the most detrimental things we do to ourselves as leaders. If you’re ready to do it differently, today’s podcast you’ll learn a 3 step process to change the inner dialog so you can shift the outer reali...

Legacy is your big, audacious goal, right? Your ‘what am I leaving behind?’ moment. Money for my family, a business, something I’ve changed in the world, etc. What if it’s much closer to home than that?  What if your legacy was made up of all the little moments of your life, woven into a tapestry? This is the true legacy we leave behind. How we interact, how someone feels about themselves when the...

There is power and significance in 100 It is literally a tipping point. In today’s podcast, Stephanie and Maren talk about why that’s true and how we can all use it to help transform ourselves - and the world.  As they dissect and reassemble ‘commitment’ you’ll not only find inspiration, you'll discover new truths and pathways for yourself. Just a few of the impactful rabbit holes they go dow...

Presence. What is it? And why does it matter? It seems to be a buzzword these days, “be more present”. Why? What difference does it make, to you, to me, to our businesses, our marriages and families, our health. Could it really impact all of those things? In short, yes. Maren and Stephanie approach today's discussion from a slightly different perspective. Maren’s been exploring something her...

Is your leadership style to avoid conflict? Or dive into it head first? Either way, there’s a cost - to you and all the people around you. Conflict is an opportunity for those who can go beyond the binary responses and get to the real potential. Stephanie and Maren have fun with today’s empowering topic. If you are tired of feeling like you have to do everything and know everything, this is the po...

As leaders, as humans, we’re taught to seek answers, yet the quest itself is what changes us. Answers are all around us, accessible on the encyclopedia we have stashed in our pockets. Thes answer to the question of your life, “why are YOU here?”, can’t be searched on Google. It can only be lived.  Learning to live into the question is a life skill. Imagine if we all learned that skill in school! S...

Why is it so hard to get the things we say we want? Because we create our world out of our habits - our ingrained habits. There’s a part of us that wants something different from what we say -and that part is the one that’s driving. We are not making our own choices - our choices are being made for us, like the auto-fill on our phones. Today, Stephanie and Maren dissect Maren’s journey to change t...

Joy and fun are the same thing, right?  They seem completely interchangeable as words in the English language, and yet there is a huge distinction. As Stephanie shares in this week’s podcast, “Fun is a state of the ego. Joy is the state of the soul.” This is such a key for Soulful Leaders. Leadership bestowed from a title (CEO, Manager, etc), may not care, but the leadership that is born and grows...

Change can be invigorating, change can also be scary. How do we navigate our lives so that it’s easier to embrace change when we find ourselves on the scary side of that coin? Today’s guest, Jan Hamning is an expert in helping people get ‘unstuck’. She, personally, loves change, and she loves helping others get comfortable with it as well. Stephanie, Jan & Maren explore everything from how bes...

Are you tired of fixing, forcing and figuring? Our society does not teach us how to either know ourselves OR how to sit with a question. Instead, it has us all believing that answers are paramount and preys on conditioned wants and created needs. It’s painful, AND there are other options. This week Stephanie and Maren dive into how the 3 F’s (fixing, forcing and figuring) cut us off from our natur...

What do mythic stories have to do with business? EVERYTHING Today’s podcast is unique and enlightening. Maren & Stephanie apply the King Authur tale of the Loathsome Hag directly to business, selling, and to  life. If you are tired of the old way of doing sales, you will love today’s episode. This is an episode to share with your entire sales team! “So make it about caring and connecting, that...

Stories with Stephanie! This engaging podcast shifts the outdated feminine narrative with the power of storytelling. Yes, today’s podcast starts with the delightful story of the Lost Keys and ends with the tale of the Loathsome Hag, Stephanie and Maren will have you fully engaged, laughing, wondering what happens next, all while shifting your inner perspective. Please share your favorite parts on...

Are you ready to get unstuck in a joyful, playful way? As children we learned through play. Things we enjoyed and engaged us taught us about life, language, relationships and more. Then the education system stepped in and learning became work. (Check out Ep. 78 Playgrounds of Possibility for more on schooling, and unschooling) What if learning could be fun and engaging, even as an adult? Yay! It c...

Why is it so difficult for us to embrace someone else’s different perspective?  Today, Maren and Stephanie dissect several anecdotes and share a few great metaphors for this very current AND important topic.  As leaders, how do we share our knowledge in a way that still empowers the people around us to discover their way?  As human beings, how do we shift to higher and higher levels of understandi...