Learn to Coach Your “Brain ON!” Mode for Well-Being and Optimal Results

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FOURCY Radio. What's Working on Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder the

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answer to this question. People ache
for meaning and purpose at work, to

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contribute their talents passionately and know their
lives really matter. They crave being part

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of an organization that inspires them and
helps them grow into realizing their highest potential.

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Business can be such a force for
good in the world, elevating humanity.

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In our program, we provide guidance
and inspiration to help usher in this

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world we all want Working on Purpose. Now, here's your host, Doctor

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Relise Cortes. Welcome back to the
Working and Purpose Program. Please for tuning

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it in again this week. Great
to have you. This show has been

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brought to you with passion and price
since February of twenty fifteen, and I

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enjoy hosting it each week. I'm
your host, doctor Elise Cortes. If

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we've not met yet before and you
don't know me, I'm an organizational psychologist

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and therapist local therapist to be particular, speaker and author, and my team

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and I at gusto Now help companies
to enliven and fortify their operations by articulating

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their purpose and building inspirational leaders and
cultures activated by meaning and purpose to turn

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those companies from a flatline EKG to
a vibrant destination workplace. There people are

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intrinsically motivated to perform at their best, can grow into their full potential,

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and are committed to stay and perform
dynamically in the company's mission. You can

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learn more about us and how we
can work together at gustodashnow dot com or

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Alascortes dot com. Now getting into
today's program we have with us deb Smolenski.

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She's a highly sought after speaker and
award winning thought leader in the area

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of human performance and health work.
She serves as the Well Being an Engagement

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Practice leader at NFP and as an
advisor for the insertech, fintech and digital

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health startup communities. She's the author
of brain On Mental fitness Strategies for sharpening

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focus, boosting energy, and winning
the work date, which we're talking about

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today. She joined today from Chicago. Deb a warm welcome to Working on

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Purpose. Thank you so much,
Thank you for having me. This is

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so exciting. It is exciting,
and I want to celebrate what you've brought

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to the world, this beautiful book. Look at this thing that you did.

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Thank you so much. That means
so much to me. You're very,

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very very welcome. You know,
I don't know if you're a mom,

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but I'm mosteners and viewers who have
been following the show for a while,

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I've heard going to say this many
many, many times. Bringing this

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book into the world is actually much
harder than bringing a human being into the

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world. Yes, I should have
talked to you before going on this adventure

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that A learned. I understand,
I understand, but yet we keep doing

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it. So it's wonderful and we're
here where the winners for it, and

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so I want to get into and
as I mentioned to the show being curated,

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we want to build on all the
other beautiful things we've learned on the

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show, And there were so many
things that I took from your book deb

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that were delightfully refreshing and different.
And I want to start with just situating

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why I think your work is so
important and taking a little bit from Jeremy

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Hunter's forward that wrote in your book. He situates in that forward so beautifully.

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And we've become these knowledge workers,
innovation workers, and we're working in

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cubicles, and this whole notion of
needing to the fundamental shift from physical work

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to mental, emotional, and social
and that entails working in these cubicles,

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and that we're encouraged a multitask like
the computers on our desk and leading to

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depleted mental reserves. We created an
always on technology that never lets people rest

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and recharge. And then he says, no wonder people are burnt out,

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refusing to go back to the office, including their jobs, and droves who

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wants to live like this? So
if we situate that's kind of where we

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are right now, is kind of
a context of why your work is so

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important and what you're teaching us at
it, let's start there. Yeah,

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I, first of all, as
you alluded to it's never just one person

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contributing to a book, and I
was so grateful to doctor Hunter for adding

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those insightful comments. I listened to
his work as a professor at the Peter

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Drucker Institute over and over again,
and it resonated so much with me in

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terms of we are knowledge workers.
We use our brains all day long to

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create work. So eight hours a
day, my brain is on, your

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brain is on four hundred and eighty
minutes every day. We have never learned

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how our brains work at work,
and we've never been trained how to really

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show up and use our computer system
the workplace. And that is at the

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fundamental crux of why I wrote this
book, right, that is what we

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are dealing with when we're overwhelmed,
when we're burned out. I just keep

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seeing the signals go on and on, and it all gets back to understanding

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our computer system in context of how
work in the work environment is created and

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is you know, part of our
daily what I call obstacle course. And

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as I mentioned DEBI I just think
that what you've what you taught me,

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because as you know, I read
the book cover to cover, but there's

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so much freshness in that I learned
about how my brain did work, and

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I want to course share that with
our listeners. And I appreciate that you

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really situate that. You know,
you say the core of well being is

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nurturing a strong, healthy, resilient
mindset, and this is really, you

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know, what you've been working on
for much of your career, and so

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you're talking about what you're really putting
forth is prioritizing well being above anything else.

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And you go on to say that
this is a radically new way of

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thinking about your work date taking the
steps to ensure your mental well being is

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intact for tackling any of your goals
for the day and interacting with your colleagues

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and team. I find that to
be not only just honoring yourself, but

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responsible for your own life and dreams. I love that. And you know,

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thank you for reading my book cover
to cover. That is just such

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a generous gift and I really appreciate
that. And the insights you pull like

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this question is amazing, Right,
you got to the correux of what I'm

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trying to communicate. And so yeah, with that, we are just we're

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constantly trying to figure out how to
work better. How to work smarter.

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But it's inside, it's internal,
like we are at charge, we are

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the CEO, we are the computer. It's just we don't know how,

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we don't We believe what we're thinking, but we don't understand that it's not

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accurate. I always say, our
brains actually are program to be our bodyguard.

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They're not programmed to help us learn, help us grow, help us

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connect, help us communicate, help
us to work. Like the list goes

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on and on. Those are skill
sets. I got so much from that,

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the science and the insights that you
put in your book there, and

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even so much that you really helped
us understand, just even the you know

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the name of your book, Brain
on. But then you go on to

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distinguish how easily our brain gets tripped
up and turned off, as you say,

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by the daily distractions and obstacles that
pop up. And I love that

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you go on. You see,
it doesn't matter how smart you may be.

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Your brain isn't built to process the
thousands a piece of information coming out

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of each day. And when it
feels overwhelmed, it stops its healthy thinking

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mode and in defaults to its primal
emotional mode. And that's when we get

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ourselves into trouble and we make our
poor behavior choices and unwise decisions. They

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have lasting and destructive consequences on ourselves, our team members, and others in

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the organization. Which is what you
put forth. I think that's really important

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for our listeners and viewers to understand
just the consequences of not really you know,

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monitoring this and intervening and as you
we'll talk about coaching your brain.

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Yeah, what you're hitting upon is
like a crucial point, and it's this

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concept of being aware. Being aware
is a muscle, a brain rep and

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you know that doesn't write a book
Like I kind of been done in one

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sentence, as it turned out,
is like you just have to be aware

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of what you're thinking and processing at
every moment. But I expanded and I'm

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glad you found it helpful. I
think what was very intriguing and very transformative

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in my own growth through this is
knowing that it's normal. Our brains are

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programmed and the default system is to
be in fear mode. It's that primal

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brain trying to keep us safe and
so giving us grace. Knowing that every

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time our phone likely drop, our
phone or an email dings or like a

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doorbell rings, the initial response is
just who's there? What's going on?

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Like, the fear brain is normal, and we have to realize that and

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then turn our thinking brain, or
our prefrontal cortex brain, our smart brain

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on to override that primal response.
And we've just never been taught that.

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You know, one of the things
I say when I'm working with organizations and

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leaders is, you know, as
amazing as we really have evolved to be

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as a species. I mean,
we can send people to the moon and

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back, we can create beautiful skyscrapers, we can create amazing innovative companies,

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we can run crazy huge countries,
and yet at the end of the day,

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we still have that reptilian brain that's
still running us. And so learning

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to engage in that thinking brain is
so so interesting, And I like some

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of the practices that you gave us
in the book. You give us lots

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of ways to try to elevate this
awareness. Just even asking yourself, we

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hang on, right now, how
am I feeling? Who does this?

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Very often? Right? Nobody does? That's the whole point, Like,

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that's only a second reason I decided
to go on this two year journey to

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write We just don't know that these
are so important yet so simple, So

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thank you for pointing that out so
clearly. You know, if we would

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ask ourselves and check in with ourselves, me, myself, and I,

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we would not be stressed out right
now, We would not be burned out.

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I believe we wouldn't have the conflicts
we have because we are aware of

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how we are showing up. It's
just we don't know. So we now

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have to train our brains by asking
ourselves, Hey, what am I feeling

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right now? Or this is really
exciting. I feel excited talking to you

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here. Every moment before an email
or before a meeting, now I try

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to ask myself, hey, what's
going on? What am I feeling?

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Or what where's the tension? Because
emotions are just as powerful as the thoughts

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were thinking and making sure I come
with my best self if I am not

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there, So there's so many beautiful
layers there, and then that kind of

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builds onto the next thing I wanted
to talk about, which just really frankly

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blew me away. Deb but you
do talk about you know, some days

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are more energy depleting than others,
and of course our job is just to

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stay aware and to monitor how fast
our brain power is draining. Be cognizant

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of this, you know, turn
yourself on if you will, and carefully

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and continuously to redirect energy towards those
goals and tasks that lead us to more

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productivity, growth and joy. And
what I've found really interesting was you say

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dealing with these challenges and distractions can
take up to more than fifty percent of

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our day. That is mind boggling. Yeah, the science really shows mind

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boggling statistics. It shows that our
mind is wandering almost fifty percent of the

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day. It shows our attention span
is less than eight seconds. I think

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at this point in time, according
to a Microsoft study, the way our

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brain works in this complex VUKA world
is not coinciding and it is not for

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our best interest. So I think
what I realized after doing what I'll call

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the cognitive or the brain on mental
fitness exercises and showing up with clarity or

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focus or connection or whatever my intention
was, is I was still exhausted some

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days at two pm network or right
now, I want to take a nap

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for some days even by eight if
my commute was really brutal, And so

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that energy. Dan Pink says it
in his book When Right, Knowing when

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you're the most productive, and energy
management is the second part of the formula

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to brain on to get to an
energizer state. You have to have your

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thinking brain, but you also have
to manage that energy throughout the day and

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do those brain boosters too at what
I call end up better at the end

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of the day than you started,
which I'm not sure any of us even

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know how to do at this point. You know, it's funny you say

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that, dev Now that you've said
that, the way that you do,

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I can remember a few days that
really stand out as just smashing, and

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they were because I had this crescendo
of energy. It just seemed to grow

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during the day. May stand out
because they're unusual, right, They don't

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happen every day. They don't happen
you know, regularly for that matter,

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right, And so part of it
is we can make that happen. We

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can look at our obstacle course,
which I called the calendar. Right.

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If you don't have any white space
in there, and you're making your brain

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run through emails and meetings and conversations
without any recovery, that energy management we

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fall on the couch as the whole
world society right by the end of the

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work day. But the point is, back to your brilliant synthesis, is

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it's all about awareness. Building in
that space or managing our energy is the

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key to those downstandout days, and
we can create more of them by following

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that. I love that. So
one of the many things I appreciate about

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your book is I like how you
organize ideas. And so you have this

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brain on energy matrix that you started
to allude to with the energizer piece here.

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But if you could just kind of
speak to that, there's two you

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know, it's a four part quadrant
if you will, and so you've got

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to disengage. There's two kinds of
disengage, and then you've got the engage

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two kinds of engage. Can you
speak to that a little bit please?

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I think that's fascinating, very helpful. Yeah, thank you so much.

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And I love how you It is
a matrix. You described it perfectly.

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So when I think about the work
day, there's just two things to really

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live your best life at work.
It's managing if you're in your thinking brain

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and seeing things clearly. So the
brain on brain off up against are am

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I engaged. Am I doing what
I love to do? Or in your

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in your context, am I aligned
with my purpose right in those things?

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Or am I disengaged? And when
you put those across a matrix, you

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get four key areas that don't tell
your you know that don't tell you just

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one and done, like for the
rest of your career. It's a daily

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exercise. So if I'm brain off, meaning I'm in my negative thinking and

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I am low energy or not engaged, I'm what I call survivor mode.

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I'm just watching the clock until it
clicks five a clock, right. But

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then if I'm still brain off and
I'm not really thinking about my thoughts but

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I'm really engaged in what I do
or I'm really loving the day, then

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you can get into kind of warrior
mode like go go, Go, go

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go, and you can be in
that mode until you burn out. So

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it's only when you cross that threshold
of turning your brain on paying attention to

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things that you have a chance to
get into that energizer mode or winning your

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work day. And the difference is
on the left hand side. If you're

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still brain on and you're aware of
what's going on and you're managing your motions

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and regulating them. But something's missing
that spark, as you well know,

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like with those beautiful books and insightful
books behind you, you're in the seeker

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mode. There's something missing, and
until you align with your strengths, your

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purpose, until your goals include your
wellbeing, you won't move over to that

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sweet spot which combines being brain on
and energized about your day, which is

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why I call it the energizer.
Oh, that was beautifully explained, and

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so it's to sync. Let's let
our listeners and viewers think about that as

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we take our first break. Here
those four different buckets seeker, survivor,

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energizer, and warrior. I'm Elie
Cortez, your host. We've been on

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the air with Debs MULLINSI. She's
the Well Being an Engagement Practice leader at

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NFP and as an advisor for the
Sirtech, fintech and digital health startup communities,

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serves to help lift the world.
We've been talking a bit about why

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it's important to be aware of our
brain and whether or not we're a brain

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on or not. After the break, we're going to learn about creating the

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emotions we actually want to experience at
work. Stay with us. We'll be

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right back. Doctor Elise Cortez is
a management consultant specializing in meaning and purpose.

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An inspirational speaker and author. She
helps companies visioneer for a greater purpose

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among stakeholders and developed purpose inspired leadership
and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment,

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performance, and commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite Elise

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to speak to your organization, please
visit her at elisecortes dot com. Let's

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talk about how to get your employees
working on purpose. This is working on

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Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes. To
reach our program today or to open a

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conversation with Elise, send an email
to a lease A LISEE at elisecortes dot

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00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:42.319
com. Now back to working on
purpose. Thanks for staying with us,

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00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:45.400
and welcome back to working on Purpose. I'm your host, doctor Elise Cortes,

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as I too, am dedicated to
helping create a world where people realize

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their potential at work and they're led
by inspirational leaders that help them find and

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contribute their greatness. And we do
business at Betters of World. I continue

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to research and write my own books, so one of my latest that came

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out in March of twenty It's called
the Great Revitalization. How activating meaning and

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purpose can radically enliven your business.
And I wrote it to help leaders understand

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the nature of today's workforce, what
they want and need to be vitally inspired

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and engage and give their best.
And then I provide twenty two best projects

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to help you create an organization to
meet those needs. You can learn more

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about it at gustodeshnow dot com or
grab your copy on Amazon if you are

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just now joining us. My guest
is Deb Smolensky. She's the author of

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Brain On Mental fitness Strategies for sharpening
focus, boosting energy, and winning the

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work day. So it's good to
me. So this next bit here,

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I think people will be really surprised. And I love how you dangle this

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here for us, and I mentioned
it just before the break, but we

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talk about how we can actually use
our brain to manage and create the emotions

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we want to experience it work.
I love that. Yes, thank you.

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I'm still back into the intro.
I love your intro. I feel

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like I'm a walk up baseball player
and it's totally turns vite and brain on.

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So thank you for that, I'm
glad and honesty lost the question for

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just a second. You can't control
our emotions and create the emotions we want,

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and that's that's a really good point. Even for this, I knew

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I wanted to be excited, but
I was low energy, so I wanted

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to come show up with my best
self. And the thing to know is

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again, our brain on default is
fear based, and so we always have

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to overcome that. And if we
don't, but what happens is we're either

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going towards the threat or the reward
system. So we always want to go

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and be aware of how to create
emotions moving us forward, how to be

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aware of the thoughts that will help
us move forward, because there's no neutral

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in our thoughts. They either degrade
our lives or they upgrade our lives.

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And so to create those emotions,
you actually have to figure out how to

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trick your brain. Sometimes. For
example, you know, when a child

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falls down, you know this probably
better than I do. But when a

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child falls down and you you don't
go like you go like, oh,

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it's okay, right, the mirror
neurons they go up and the baby starts

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blowing it off, or or maybe
hopefully even laughing. Well, that's the

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kind of tricks we want to use
to help our brain stay in brain on

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mode or in a positive emotional state. What I love about that, among

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many other things UB is the agency
in it activating the human agency in ourselves.

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I just think that is wonderful and
that speaks to one of the next

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things that I really admire about what
you've given us here. You talk about

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how high performing people don't leave their
mindset up to chance. They actively work

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to overcome any misguided thoughts, in
poor emotional regulation, in irrational or primal

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fears. And you say that's why
training your brain is as important as aerobic

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conditioning to lead a healthy life.
It's starting your day with a successful mindset.

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Begins by avoiding your phone owner or
anything that throws you into a work

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mode very first thing that you're awake. You need to be able to get

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yourself online in in a positive,
energizing way. We've had people on this

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program talking about ways that we can
start every day by really getting clear about

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what's my bold vision for what I
want for my life, starting with that

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versus social media or the news,
and I think that is so powerful.

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What you put forth that no one
that is high performing leaves their mindset to

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chance. Yeah, that really stuck
with me as I was writing the book

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over and over again. If we
don't take agency, I love that words

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you used, right, if we
don't take accountability an agency and understand that

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our brains just aren't wired for this. And it's a skill and a practice

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if we want to be our best
selves, it's a skill and a practice

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all day long to create that forming, high performing brain to be in energizer

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mode. So I really studied professional
athletes in this. I watched in the

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Wimbledon in June, one of the
champions, Djokovic, in the finals match,

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throw his racket after missing an easy
point. But that's normal, right,

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brain off, we'd go into fear
mode immediately or anger mode. But

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what was interesting is he immediately did
his breathing, He walked back, pumping

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himself up, and he visualized his
next stroke as an ace. And what

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did he do is he aced it
like in twenty seconds. Amazing athletes go

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from the worst brain off to bringing
their brains on. So I think of

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us as corporate athletes. I think
we all need to think of it in

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that way. In some regard.
I like that idea a lot. And

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then I'm going to bring us to
this next point. Ladies and gentlemen,

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are you ready to be maybe blown
away or you know, blown back by

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this? But I was amazed that
you shared with us that science has proven

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that we only have three to four
hours of productive brain power and resources each

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day. And that's it. That's
it. I know. I'm grateful to

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know that, and I'm so grateful
to those that study this all day long,

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because again, we don't know how
our brain works, but that is

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it. Not only is that it
is some of us work at different times

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better. So you might be an
afternoon person, as Daniel Pink says,

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or a morning person, but that
has really changed how I try to focus

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every day, even my calendar,
and how I shift priorities of what I'm

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going to work on. Like I
said, this is a little out of

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my comfort zone speaking to you at
this point of my day, like I

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should be asleep right now. I
knew, like I needed to save my

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good brain productive for this right and
so I didn't stress myself out or use

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that much energy up until this point. It was a different type of day

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for me, you know, I
always one of the great things about hosting

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the show deb is I do learn
so much from my guests. You really

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helped me become a better version of
myself, and I really appreciate that.

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And I want you to know that
what you taught me, this idea that

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we only have three to four hours
of productive brain power, has radically altered

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the way that I want to utilize, especially my weekends, because I tend

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to use my weekends for writing and
longer research projects. But I can let

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myself get totally distracted, and before
I know it, I've lost those three

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to four beautiful, precious hours,
and then I'm mad about it when Monday

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comes. And I want you to
know that you have changed me in this

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way for the better. Thank you
for that gift. Oh thank you that

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such a generous, beautiful comment.
I will treasure that, and I'm so

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glad. You know you've wrote such
beautiful books and empowering books, and as

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you know, you just want to
help people, right, and so that

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makes me so happy. First of
all, I'm just absorbing that with gratitude

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because that keeps my brain on and
keeps me engaged. And then also I

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too, just want to admit that
I continuously have to check in with myself

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too, because we get distracted,
and it's a key mental practice just to

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use those three hours strategically. So
I think you're highlighting for all of us

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a practice that we can take back
immediately and always check in. Am I

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using my time? Right? Is
this my productive power? Let's go?

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Yeah, exactly, And then you
know, again that builds us. Just

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to this next point that I wanted
to make. I was just also another

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one of the beautiful, very fresh
points that you make in your book is

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you know you talk about if anybody
were to if you were to ask anybody

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you or me were asking any about
their important relationship in their life, they

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would name such things as their part
or their children, their parents, their

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siblings, their friends, their boss, their coworkers. But no one would

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actually say their relationship with their brain
was a top priority. But in the

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end you say, it's the most
important relationship that we have. I found

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that so compelling. Yeah, if
you think about it, you know they

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always say you're your best cheerleader.
It's just you in the end, right,

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you have to be self sufficient and
independent, but it's really you and

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your brain. Like if your brain
is being kind to you, which takes

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practice to not wander in negative neighborhoods
and those things. The relationship with your

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brain understanding your thoughts and your emotions, I call that the fountain of youth.

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Oh my gosh, that's delightful.
Well, as we said before we

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got on their deb you know that
particular idea that we just have been talking

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about is really cultivating the relationship with
your brain in an intentional, loving,

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nurturing way. That idea really resonates
with me. And again, doing so

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then allows us to be able to
do what we want with our one precious

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life in a much more effective,
impactful way. And I'm behind that one

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hundred and twenty eight percent type of
that. Yes, giving ourselves grace and

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knowing this is the key, knowing
that our default system is going to be

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fight flight freeze. It just is. That is how we are wired for

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that one day. May it never
be so that a car comes running down

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right or some bear jumps out of
the woods. Our brain is ready.

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That's what it's designed to do,
and it's always going to react. So

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where's my keys? Oh I'm so
mad I missed the meeting. Why is

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this like everything first starts with the
negative, and we have to bring it

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to the positive, but not beating
up how we think, just knowing that

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we have to strengthen our thoughts and
we can do that. Science shows with

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neuroplasticity, which is mental fitness,
and that is the only way up greater

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thoughts, up greater thoughts. We
wire our brain. We wire our brain

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so important every minute of the day. Well, and I also appreciated that

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in order to do that, that
neuroplasticity you offered, you know, prioritizing

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self care with brain boosters. And
I really get behind this because I also

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put this in some of my programs. But you talk about the importance of

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actively planning your day to include enough
rest, and I know people say,

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well, I'm so busy, and
people are, and yet you still have

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the choice of when you go to
bed and when you get up. We

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also introduce the importance of nature and
music and play and connection and these are

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always to restore our brain's energy when
we're feeling a drop or in the brain

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drain. And so that's why some
of the programs that I do, I

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incorporate those sort of things. Jaw
Joy, Gratitude, Wonder, awe,

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because they're they're they're there's there's so
what I want to say, well,

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energizing. So I appreciated very much
that you talked about that we have within

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our means, these these immediate brain
boosters. So if you could say just

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a little bit more about you know, how do they work, and you

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00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:19.799
know what else, what other options
might we have? Yeah, and I

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did notice, and I love how
you do incorporate them seamlessly right within the

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work and the organization. And so
I appreciate that call out because we can

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focus on our thoughts. We can
focus on our thoughts and trying to change

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them and being aware of how we
feel. But at some point we just

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are in a funk, or we're
tired and we just need just a spark

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of something or or rest in recovery. So this work actually comes from doctor

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Rock and doctor Daniel Siegel. It's
called the mind Platter. And when I

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heard this, I'm like, why
don't we know about this more? But

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it's ways to feed and energize our
brains. So in my book, I

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basically have an illustration of the brain
like with a charger, right, a

407
00:31:10.039 --> 00:31:14.279
plugging in. This is how we
charge our brains, just as if we

408
00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:19.680
charge our phones battery and so it
really is, according to science, all

409
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:27.039
the things that actually elicit those dopamine
hits or oxytocin and release those neurotransmitters and

410
00:31:27.119 --> 00:31:34.240
chemicals that actually connect us back to
people or energize us or fill us up.

411
00:31:34.680 --> 00:31:40.000
And so I love the ones you
named. I always say my name

412
00:31:40.079 --> 00:31:44.720
backwards. Deb is bed So I
hit the twenty minute nap all the time.

413
00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:48.839
I think I was bored for that, and when I was writing this

414
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:52.039
book. Or if I have a
hard meeting, like I mentioned earlier,

415
00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:56.079
I have a walk up song for
three minutes, I listen to something so

416
00:31:56.279 --> 00:32:01.200
engaging in terms of music, even
like your introduction to this show is amazing.

417
00:32:02.799 --> 00:32:07.960
But I also find like even hydrating, So I have a hydration drink

418
00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:13.640
here and just filling up. If
you're hungry, you're kind of depleting your

419
00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:16.720
brain uses glucose. Those kinds of
things are really helpful just to keep that

420
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:23.519
brain power going. Oh so,
such good self care mechanisms. All right,

421
00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:28.240
let's grab our last break here at
Deb. I am doctor Releas Cortez,

422
00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:30.799
who were on the air with Deb
Smolenski. She's the well being an

423
00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:35.000
engagement practice leader at NFP, and
she also serves as an advisor for the

424
00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:39.559
insertech, fintech and digital health startup
communities. We've been talking more about specific

425
00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:44.480
ways that we can monitor and help
energize our brain. For the last segment

426
00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:45.759
after the break, we're going to
get into how we can use her work

427
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:51.000
to build what she calls regenerative cultures. Say what, We'll be right back.

428
00:33:06.200 --> 00:33:09.680
Doctor Elise Cortes is a management consultant
specializing in meaning and purpose. An

429
00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:15.240
inspirational speaker and author, she helps
companies visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and

430
00:33:15.279 --> 00:33:21.599
develop purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused
cultures that elevate fulfillment, performance, and

431
00:33:21.640 --> 00:33:24.640
commitment within the workforce. To learn
more or to invite a lease to speak

432
00:33:24.640 --> 00:33:30.480
to your organization, please visit her
at elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about

433
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:38.960
how to get your employees working on
purpose. This is working on Purpose with

434
00:33:39.079 --> 00:33:44.440
doctor Elise Cortes. To reach our
program today or to open a conversation with

435
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:50.599
Elise, send an email to Alise
A. L Se at elisecortes dot com.

436
00:33:50.640 --> 00:33:59.559
Now back to working on purpose.
It's interesting with us and welcome back

437
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:01.720
to working on purpose. I'm your
host doctor Earliest Cortes. I mentioned in

438
00:34:01.759 --> 00:34:06.640
the last break about my latest book
coming out, the Great Revitalization. Along

439
00:34:06.680 --> 00:34:09.039
with that, what I did for
you is I created an organizational best Prejudices

440
00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:14.519
Assessment and it's waiting for you on
Gustodashnew dot com or at least Coortes dot

441
00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:17.280
com. What it does is lets
you really measure the extent to which your

442
00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:22.079
current projectes are actually meeting today's needs
and standards. If you are just joining

443
00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:25.280
us today, my guess is Deb
Smelensky. She's the author of Brain On

444
00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:30.760
Mental fitness Strategies for sharpening focus,
boosting energy, and winning the work day.

445
00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:32.840
So for this last bit here,
Deb and I really wanted to take

446
00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:36.920
us back into the workplace. Of
course, we can use these things anywhere

447
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:38.360
we go in life, but both
you and I do a lot of work

448
00:34:38.360 --> 00:34:42.800
in the workplaces, and it's exciting
to think about how we can use what

449
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:47.400
you have created for us to actually
create beautiful, energized, connected teams.

450
00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:52.079
And so once again I go back
to one of your beautiful matrices, your

451
00:34:52.159 --> 00:34:57.320
quadrant of four boxes here, and
this is what you call It's about becoming

452
00:34:57.360 --> 00:35:00.320
a brain on regenerative culture. So
if you could again distinguishes you just before

453
00:35:00.760 --> 00:35:06.039
you know the four pieces, the
X and Y axis and what's in them.

454
00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:12.000
Yeah, I think it was very
important for me to first train our

455
00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:15.519
brains as individual employees, right,
this is all about work and how we

456
00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:19.440
show up. But then it's also
extremely important, like you mentioned, to

457
00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:25.199
talk from an organizational perspective to those
that have any influence over others brains or

458
00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:31.039
creating and transforming the collective brain.
So this part gets into the organizational section

459
00:35:32.119 --> 00:35:38.440
and it can be applied in the
same manner, meaning as an organization if

460
00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:46.800
you are creating a brain off,
brain on engage, disengaged society or collective

461
00:35:46.840 --> 00:35:57.159
community. If your brain off and
you are not engaged as a group,

462
00:35:57.840 --> 00:36:05.880
it's very, very depleted. It's
very it takes everything out. You're sucking

463
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:10.760
the life out of every employee.
Right, if your policies don't nurture people,

464
00:36:12.199 --> 00:36:15.880
if your culture is do this,
do that, no autonomy, mastery

465
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:22.199
purpose, So it takes around that
scale. If you still stay kind of

466
00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:27.480
brain off in the way you treat
your employees, meaning you look at them

467
00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:31.920
as just more assets and not as
a relationship, it can become very transactional

468
00:36:32.199 --> 00:36:39.519
as well. But when you start
engaging in the collective community and a lot

469
00:36:39.559 --> 00:36:45.400
about what you write, where your
practices take into account, maybe feedback from

470
00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:52.199
employees or your team, where you
are asking people what they think, You're

471
00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:59.719
making sure psychological safety is there.
You hit that mark of sustainable right,

472
00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:04.679
which I think is where we see
the bar. But what I wanted to

473
00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:12.360
encourage people and workplaces specifically is to
really start aligning with their strengths and purposes

474
00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:20.280
like you allude to and promote.
Because what that does when you recognize somebody

475
00:37:20.440 --> 00:37:24.079
and value them and align the work
with that, it leaps them over into

476
00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:30.599
that white right truck TALP quadrant,
which is regenerative. You're no longer deleting

477
00:37:30.639 --> 00:37:38.440
and defeating and depleting. You're no
longer just sustaining. You're growing and regenerating

478
00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:45.239
and fueling both yourself in the individual
as well as the organization by doing so.

479
00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:49.960
You know, we've had many people
on this program deb over the years

480
00:37:50.039 --> 00:37:53.199
talking about, you know, the
role and responsibilities leaders have because literally leaders

481
00:37:53.239 --> 00:38:00.679
really think about this. Ladies and
gentlemen, listening or watching your leader literally

482
00:38:00.760 --> 00:38:04.280
impacts a lot of your life,
not just that whatever happens during the workday,

483
00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:07.760
but how you show up when you
come home with your family, and

484
00:38:07.800 --> 00:38:09.960
how you interact with your significant other, your children, whether or not you

485
00:38:10.039 --> 00:38:15.039
choose to engage with positively or negatively, with your community, it follows you.

486
00:38:15.119 --> 00:38:19.639
And so your impact as a leader
is profound. And I hope in

487
00:38:19.639 --> 00:38:22.639
some ways that that's a little scary. In other ways, I hope it's

488
00:38:22.679 --> 00:38:25.400
really really inspiring that the difference you
can make in someone's life. So what

489
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:29.320
I got really excited about with your
work their depth and I could envision this.

490
00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:31.079
I don't know if it's on your
website. I didn't look that deeply

491
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:36.880
there. But what I love about
what you did with that simple little matrix,

492
00:38:37.440 --> 00:38:39.559
I think a lot of organizations think
we're doing fine, we're good.

493
00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:44.920
Okay, maybe you are fine and
good, but yet there is this whole

494
00:38:44.960 --> 00:38:50.000
other opportunity, this whole regenerative space
that you maybe don't understand that you could

495
00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:54.679
actually move into. And that's where
I get really excited to. Yeah,

496
00:38:54.119 --> 00:39:01.159
I just admire your work, and
those really focus on leadership. So let

497
00:39:01.199 --> 00:39:06.880
me just double down on what you
said. There is such a need an

498
00:39:07.000 --> 00:39:14.679
opportunity right now to show up as
human centered, compassionate leaders. Those are

499
00:39:14.800 --> 00:39:19.880
all skills. Yeah, the thing
that we need is a skill, and

500
00:39:19.920 --> 00:39:23.159
I call it a mental fitness skill. So I do specifically talk about this

501
00:39:23.400 --> 00:39:30.960
leadership mental fitness circuit above and beyond
the individual what else you need to do.

502
00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:38.239
And so that is really, in
the end part of a key part

503
00:39:38.280 --> 00:39:42.639
of the formula. And I know
you've said this before and probably lots of

504
00:39:42.679 --> 00:39:46.480
times, but people quit bosses,
not jobs. And I spent the last

505
00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:52.920
week based on this New York Times
article and this research by doctor Wellington.

506
00:39:52.960 --> 00:39:55.239
I believe his name is I should
have looked, but I'm coming out that

507
00:39:55.280 --> 00:40:05.079
says what workplace wellness doesn't work.
And really what his research says in terms

508
00:40:05.079 --> 00:40:09.280
of resilience and mindset and all of
this work is it's an and if we

509
00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:16.800
don't help leaders and the culture wrap
around and support people, this regenerative culture

510
00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:22.639
will never come to fruition, and
we will continue to turn people's brains off

511
00:40:22.679 --> 00:40:30.880
at every corner, every communication.
And again I find that really encouraging because

512
00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:32.920
to me, what you put forth
is an opening, it's an invitation,

513
00:40:34.519 --> 00:40:37.719
it's a space to walk into and
then to be able to build on the

514
00:40:37.800 --> 00:40:42.480
knowledge and skills of others who've come
before us and who are in our vicinity

515
00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:45.119
and surrounded and supportive. I just
I get so excited and again for me

516
00:40:45.199 --> 00:40:51.480
to I find I'm out to build
workplace destination, workplaces where people really can

517
00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:55.400
realize their potential. I believe in
the power and the magic of work as

518
00:40:55.480 --> 00:41:00.079
one of the best catalyzing forces we
have to realize our potential. And yet

519
00:41:00.119 --> 00:41:04.159
for so many people it occurs as
a bad for letter where that they just

520
00:41:04.280 --> 00:41:08.800
want to either avoid or try to
diminish, you know, their interaction with

521
00:41:08.840 --> 00:41:13.679
it as much as possible. So
if your work is so powerful, so

522
00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:19.400
important, yeah, I love that, I'm like, wow, I wish

523
00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:23.199
everybody would say that, Like between
playing your music at the beginning and saying

524
00:41:23.280 --> 00:41:28.639
those words you just said about destination, where like I'm like all for it,

525
00:41:28.639 --> 00:41:32.760
and so it is. I always
try to view this as a positive

526
00:41:32.840 --> 00:41:38.599
opportunity. So as a leader,
if you are struggling, that is,

527
00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:43.239
first check in with your brain,
your thoughts, because your thoughts create your

528
00:41:43.239 --> 00:41:50.159
reality, and how can you latch
on to being mentally stronger and using the

529
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:57.559
resources and tools in terms of accountability
and awareness to build the workday. You

530
00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:00.400
want to build the team, you
want to build the leader in you that

531
00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:06.440
you want. It's all within us. We just need to be aware of

532
00:42:06.480 --> 00:42:10.679
our thoughts, challenge our thoughts,
and then do our mental fitness to get

533
00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:17.119
our thoughts going in the right direction. That's all. That's all. So,

534
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:23.159
yes, I know, no,
no, I'm right there with you.

535
00:42:23.559 --> 00:42:27.400
Okay. So where I want to
go next? I'm sorry, I'm

536
00:42:27.440 --> 00:42:29.480
glad I can make you laugh at
that, because I meant I meant it

537
00:42:29.480 --> 00:42:31.400
to be meant it to be silly. Yeah, but I love on this

538
00:42:31.519 --> 00:42:35.960
show. What I like so much
is I want it to be always educational,

539
00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:38.199
one part education, one part inspirational, and I always want listeners and

540
00:42:38.239 --> 00:42:42.599
viewers to be able to walk away
with something they can immediately put into practice.

541
00:42:43.039 --> 00:42:45.639
And So what I want to go
to next here is you offer toward

542
00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:50.559
the end of your book, this
brain on audit that you can help that

543
00:42:50.920 --> 00:42:54.960
people can use to help assess how
their organization and culture are activating the principles

544
00:42:54.960 --> 00:42:58.599
in the book. So if let's
spend a little bit of time talking about

545
00:42:58.599 --> 00:43:02.239
each of the four buckets in that
assessment, if we could. Yeah,

546
00:43:02.280 --> 00:43:08.239
So, the four buckets like when
you are auditing for a regenerative culture.

547
00:43:08.800 --> 00:43:15.880
There's care, there's emotional intelligence,
there's communityation and growth. Those are the

548
00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:23.559
foundations of a regenerative culture. So
for care, we have moved into the

549
00:43:23.719 --> 00:43:30.400
mission of HR or talent or whoever
you are in that organization to not only

550
00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:35.679
attract and retain. We are now
attract, retain and care for Yes,

551
00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:42.000
I love that attract. Yes,
employer contract has changed. And when you

552
00:43:42.079 --> 00:43:46.159
bring on someone and when they join
you, you are now united in caring

553
00:43:46.199 --> 00:43:52.320
for the organization and that individual.
And so that is an audit, and

554
00:43:52.360 --> 00:43:57.079
I give several different topics within there
that you have to start to focus.

555
00:43:57.119 --> 00:44:02.639
It's new, but that is essential
to build a regenerative culture. Teaching everyone

556
00:44:02.920 --> 00:44:08.519
emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, whatever
you want to call it, is the

557
00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:17.239
core communication blowing through the culture.
So I think there's several different studies,

558
00:44:17.280 --> 00:44:23.760
but summarizing them, we as a
society can name six different emotions usually like

559
00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:27.599
how are you feeling good? How
are you feeling Oh, I'm happy,

560
00:44:27.639 --> 00:44:32.719
sad, angry? Just six,
But there's twenty four hundred different emotions that

561
00:44:32.800 --> 00:44:37.559
when you get very clear on them, can help navigate and elevate your life,

562
00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:44.960
and so teaching emotional literacy being understanding
of how your words impact the others,

563
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:49.400
if they have emotional literacy or if
they are learning emotional like, all

564
00:44:49.480 --> 00:44:53.280
of that comes into play. So
I am a big fan of integrating that,

565
00:44:54.440 --> 00:45:01.280
which then doves tails into communication.
We often at an HR or organizational

566
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:07.920
level, are pushing out communications.
And I had the chance to ask Daniel

567
00:45:07.960 --> 00:45:14.960
Goldman personally, well, how do
you build emotional intelligence into communications, especially

568
00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:20.400
email? And what he said was
to me profound and he said his wife

569
00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:28.719
said he didn't even know. His
wife said, if that email strengthens the

570
00:45:28.880 --> 00:45:35.159
relationship, that is what you're going
for versus degrading it. So before you

571
00:45:35.239 --> 00:45:38.440
hit send in your communications, is
it going to make people worried? Is

572
00:45:38.480 --> 00:45:43.960
it unclear or uncertain that's going to
cause chaos among the brains and turn them

573
00:45:43.960 --> 00:45:50.880
off? Does this communication strengthen your
relationship with employees or degrade it? Those

574
00:45:50.920 --> 00:45:54.800
are the filters or audits you look
at from a communication perspective, and then

575
00:45:54.920 --> 00:46:01.800
growth growth mindset. It's either fixed
or it's growth, but they can be

576
00:46:01.880 --> 00:46:07.800
both, right, But what we
want to nurture is those words that I'll

577
00:46:07.840 --> 00:46:13.840
open up the growth of the organization, the willingness to try something new because

578
00:46:14.039 --> 00:46:19.000
change is going to be constant and
uncertainty triggers us brain off all the time,

579
00:46:19.519 --> 00:46:22.960
and can be strong enough to say
I think I can try this,

580
00:46:23.159 --> 00:46:30.199
or curious enough to say, oh, can you tell me more? Growing

581
00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:37.760
versus constricting or contracting is the only
way to move forward and create that regenerative

582
00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:42.440
culture. I am completely in line
with that, as you can well imagine,

583
00:46:43.519 --> 00:46:45.719
So okay, so dat, We've
managed already to come through the show.

584
00:46:45.760 --> 00:46:49.719
It's crazy how fast it goes.
You know that this show is listened

585
00:46:49.760 --> 00:46:52.880
to by people around the world who
care about improving their own experience of work,

586
00:46:53.159 --> 00:46:57.599
being part of organizations and cultures that
help them realize their greatness. They

587
00:46:57.599 --> 00:47:01.079
would love to be led by inspiracial
leaders that really bring them to that task

588
00:47:01.320 --> 00:47:05.599
or become those inspirational leaders. And
we do business at Betters the World.

589
00:47:05.760 --> 00:47:09.239
What would you like to leave our
listeners and viewers with today? Every moment

590
00:47:09.639 --> 00:47:15.599
of every day, you are constructing
your reality, building it from the ground

591
00:47:15.719 --> 00:47:25.000
up, and your thoughts create your
perceptions. Your perceptions create your choices you

592
00:47:25.119 --> 00:47:30.840
see in view, and your choices
then create your results. If you practice

593
00:47:31.039 --> 00:47:38.519
just awareness and those mental fitness exercises
aligned with that, you can really find

594
00:47:39.440 --> 00:47:45.360
the fountain of youth. I believe
at least you can win your work day,

595
00:47:45.719 --> 00:47:49.880
and that is my hope for everybody
out there is to combat burn out

596
00:47:50.559 --> 00:47:54.719
and start winning our work day together. Oh Dad, what a beautiful finish.

597
00:47:54.800 --> 00:47:58.599
I'm so happy to know you,
to have learned from you, to

598
00:47:58.679 --> 00:48:00.480
have shared you with my listeners on
the world. Thank you for being a

599
00:48:00.519 --> 00:48:05.400
guest on Working on Purpose. Thank
you, it was a pure pleasure.

600
00:48:05.519 --> 00:48:07.760
I will treasure this. Thank you
so much. I'm very happy to hear

601
00:48:07.800 --> 00:48:10.920
that makes my heart saying thank you. Now, listeners and viewers are going

602
00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:14.440
you're going to want to learn to
follow this woman here. Find a way

603
00:48:14.480 --> 00:48:16.280
to do this. So if you
want to learn more about her, her

604
00:48:16.320 --> 00:48:20.800
work or her book, the best
way to do to do this is probably

605
00:48:20.840 --> 00:48:22.920
to start with her personal website.
It's deb Smolensky dot com. Let me

606
00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:28.559
spell that for you, so Deb
d eb and then Smolensky is s m

607
00:48:28.679 --> 00:48:34.079
O l e n Sky Deb Smolensky
dot com. Last week, you've missed

608
00:48:34.119 --> 00:48:36.760
the live show, you can always
catch it be recorded podcast. We were

609
00:48:36.800 --> 00:48:39.760
on the air with Marga Hooick talking
about her incredibly well researched and inspiring book

610
00:48:39.960 --> 00:48:44.239
Tech for Good. We talked about
some of the examples from the eighty five

611
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companies she showcases in the book that
are employing advanced technologies to tackle really complex

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problems in the world. This episode
will inspire you to look for new ways

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you can utilize today's technology to advance
your mission or causes. Next week,

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we'll be on the air with Tamar
Ryan of the Women's Being Project talking about

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the incredibly intimate look she gives of
the women who work at the Women's Beans

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Project and are struggling mightily to move
out of poverty and move from incarceration back

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into a life of productivity and happiness. Our conversation will open your eyes that

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the world is not at all black
or white by poverty is such a curse,

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and inspire you to help more people. See you there, and remember

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work is one of the best adventures
and means of realizing our potential and making

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the impact we crave. So let's
work on Purpose. We hope you've enjoyed

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this week's program. Be sure to
tune into Working on Purpose featuring your host,

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doctor Elise Cortes each week on W
four C. Why Together We'll create

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a world where business operates conscientiously.
Leadership inspires and passion performance and employees are

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00:49:47.760 --> 00:49:52.880
fulfilled in work that provides the meaning
and purpose they crave. See you there.

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Let's work on purpose.