December 24, 2024 • 32 mins
🎧 Episode 149: The Human Side of Leadership: Building Lasting Impact with Dr. Mandolen Mull
In this powerful episode, we dive deep with Dr. Mandolen Mull, founder of MullMentum Consulting, into the transformative power of authentic leadership and the critical importance of human-centered organizational development. From her early influences to her innovative approaches in leadership development, Mandolen shares insights that bridge academic theory with real-world application.
We explore:
- The impact of generational mentorship on leadership style
- Breaking both chains and cycles in professional development
- The fallacy of standardization in modern workplaces
- Creating sustainable organizational change
- The connection between employee wellbeing and organizational success
- Customizing leadership development for authentic impact
- The importance of experimentation in organizational growth
🔑 Key takeaways:
- 80% of any workforce is disengaged - we're measuring the wrong things and asking the wrong questions
- Standardization doesn't work - customization and flexibility are key to employee engagement
- A disengaged employee lives a disengaged life - workplace impact extends far beyond office walls
- Leadership development must bridge theory and practical application
- Organizations need to experiment more and be willing to reinvent themselves
- Employee wellbeing directly impacts sustainable organizational success
💡 Quotes to remember: "If I cannot reach them, I cannot teach them." - Dr. Mandolen Mull
"You have to make absolutely certain that you have done your part as a leader to really honor the responsibility that they've asked of you. They may have forgotten that they asked you to look out for their livelihoods, but you don't get to." - Dr. Mandolen Mull's father
"We've been talking to talking points rather than talking to people's pain points." - Dr. Mandolen Mull
🌟 Featured Insights:
- The crucial role of customized self-care in leadership
- The importance of breaking both chains and cycles in professional development
- Why standardized performance evaluations are outdated
- How workplace wellbeing impacts societal fabric
📚
https://mullmentum.com/meet-us
https://www.instagram.com/mullivation/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandolen/
Pick up a copy of “Grit for the Pearl”: https://www.amazon.com/Grit-Pearl-Mullings-Mullivation-MullMentum/dp/B0DCRVY8BH
A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!
Check out my website: www.evokegreatness.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Evoke Greatness.
We are officially entering yearthree of this podcast and I am
filled with so much gratitudefor each and every one of you
who've joined me on thisincredible journey of growth and
self-discovery.
I'm Sunny, your host and fellowtraveler on this path of
personal evolution.
This podcast is a sanctuary forthe curious, the ambitious and
(00:27):
the introspective.
It's for those of you who, likeme, are captivated by the
champion mindset and driven byan insatiable hunger for growth
and knowledge.
Whether you're just beginningyour journey or you're well
along your path, you're going tofind stories here that resonate
with your experiences andaspirations.
Over the last two years, we'veshared countless stories of
triumph and challenge, ofresilience and transformation.
(00:51):
We've laughed, we've reflectedand we've grown together.
And as we've evolved, so toohas this podcast.
Remember, no matter whatchapter you're on in your own
story, you belong here.
This community we've builttogether is a place of support,
inspiration and shared growth.
Where intention goes, energyflows, and the energy you bring
(01:12):
to this space elevates us all.
So, whether you're listeningwhile commuting, working out or
enjoying your morning coffee,perhaps from one of those
motivational mugs I'm so fond of, know that you're a part of
something special.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your curiosity,your openness and your
commitment to personal growth.
As we embark on year three, Iinvite you to lean in, to listen
(01:35):
deeply and to let these storiesresonate with your soul.
I believe that a rising tideraises all ships and I invite
you along in this journey toevoke greatness.
(01:57):
Welcome back to another episodeof Evoke Greatness Today.
I am absolutely thrilled.
I've been waiting for this time.
With Dr Mandolin Moll, we havehad some life things happen, and
I will tell you this is onethat I can't wait to sink my
teeth into.
So you guys all just betterprepare yourself.
Mandolin is an author, she's aspeaker and she's ultimately a
(02:18):
dynamic force in the world ofleadership, development and
organizational change.
As the founder and principalconsultant of Momentum
Consulting, she brings a wealthof experience in fostering
sustainable growth forindividuals, teams and
organizations.
She's got a PhD inorganizational development and
change and an MBA ininternational business, and
she's not just a consultant, butshe is a bridge between
(02:41):
academic theory and real-worldapplication.
Her journey is one ofresilience, one of perseverance
and determination, having builta successful career while
navigating severe Crohn'sdisease and acquired torsion
dystonia.
Her unique blend of expertise,humor, storytelling and her
authentic leadership style hashelped clients globally, from
(03:04):
union building trades tohealthcare executives.
She's an advocate for peoplewith invisible illnesses.
She's redefining what it meansto lead with grit and grace
Mandolin, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Thank you so much, Sunny.
It's been lovely getting toconnect with you.
I've been so excited to get tohave this conversation with you
today.
I want to dive right in.
Like I said, I've been soexcited to get to have this
conversation with you today.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I want to dive right in.
Like I said, I've been waitingto sink my teeth into your story
and just learn more about you,because you're a fascinating
human being for so many reasons.
But let's go back a little bitright.
There was a lot that led up toMandolin and who you are today.
Tell us a little bit about thatstory and how that kind of led
you to the current version ofyou.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I am the beneficiary of some incredible mentors.
You know I had a phenomenalgrandfather who really invested
in me.
He was a colonel in the AirForce and, you know, base
commander, and so he didn'treally get to see his children
grow up and I was the baby andfor whatever reason he connected
(04:08):
with me.
It was the greatest honor of mylife to be his favorite.
He had no problem tellingeveryone I was his favorite, so
I can say that with greatconfidence.
And so you know, I learned somuch at a very young age how to
treat people well, and my fatherwas a master stonemason.
(04:29):
He had a really roughupbringing.
He had some maladaptive skills.
He was a very messy person, sohe was kind of the opposite of
my maternal grandfather.
But then as I got older Istarted to really appreciate
what both of these men wereteaching me.
Where my grandfather was reallyteaching me to love complex and
(04:50):
messy people, and there in myhome was a complex and messy
person and my father hiredindividuals from all walks of
life.
Running a stone masonry companyin Texas didn't exactly draw
near a whole bunch of employeesthat wanted to do manual labor
(05:14):
in that Texas heat right, and soI got to see my father give a
lot of grace to individuals thatwere navigating all kinds of
things, and my father built avery successful career through
developing people.
So that left me to building mycareer forward into earning my
(05:40):
degrees.
I got a degree in politicalscience because that's what my
grandfather he had become apolitician when he retired at
the Air Force.
I was going to be the firstfemale politician out of the
third generation internationalbusiness MBA.
And then I got a PhD in humanresource development and change,
(06:00):
dedicating it to my father whohad dropped out of high school
and giving him that degree.
And then I've since got apostdoc cert in positive
psychiatry because of the peopleI've worked with have really
been similar to my father inmany ways.
So yeah, it's kind of aroundabout way and through that
(06:23):
process I navigated, you know,health issues and some
challenges that I think a lot ofthe grit that I had from my
grandfather and my father reallykept me going.
You know my motto a lot of timesis I am Johnny West's daughter.
You know, like there is that,like I am his daughter, I am
(06:44):
taught I'm scrappy and you knowmy grandfather lives rent free
in my head all the time, and soit was really about having a
purpose-driven life of trying todevelop leaders who go on to
develop other leaders.
So that's brought me to where Iam today and really been the
through line is trying to getback to that generational
(07:07):
mentorship.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
That explains so much on why you have the love of
people that you do and thatsense of like being able to see
through the messiness.
You work with a lot ofdifferent industries as you have
built your consulting firm, andit's really intriguing just the
wide variety that you work witha lot of different industries
as you have built yourconsulting firm, and it's really
intriguing just the widevariety that you work with.
I love following your storieson LinkedIn because you share
(07:30):
this, such a sense of diverseexperiences.
Your upbringing and yourbackstory helped me to
understand why.
Was there a moment where youwere like had this light bulb
come on that crystallized yourmission to foster this like
sustainable growth inside ofleadership development?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You know my father once told me.
He said you know, amanda Lynn,if you, if you terminate an
employee, you have to rememberthat you are repossessing their
car, you're taking food offtheir table, you are shutting
off their electricity.
So you have to make absolutelycertain that you have done your
(08:13):
part as a leader to really honorthe responsibility that they've
asked of you.
They may have forgotten thatthey asked you to look out for
their livelihoods, but you don'tget to, and you know that was
such a resounding piece ofadvice for me, right.
I don't get the luxury offorgetting that my
(08:37):
responsibility is to have theirbacks right.
I have to be the eyes and earsfor them.
I have to have their backs tobe able to say not on my watch,
I'm not going to let you fail.
If I see you stepping out ofbounds, I'm going to nudge your
back.
And that was something that wasreally really important to me,
to have that insight right.
(08:57):
So it resonated so much with meand Sonny.
The most crazy thing about allof this is I got into leadership
, so I was in corporate before Iwent into the academic route,
so I came in the back dooressentially, and it was.
I've only had three months outof my entire working career
(09:20):
where I was not in a supervisoryrole, where I was not leading
others, and so I was very, verygreen from the get-go of being a
leader in all I knew to doBecause we don't typically get
great leader development inonboarding and as a kid I was
running a satellite location ofa healthcare clinic in Austin,
(09:43):
texas.
I was so green and all I knew todo was try to live up to the
ideals of my grandfather and myfather, and so that stuck with
me was how could I develop myemployees and say, not on my
watch.
And then, as I continuedclimbing the corporate ladder in
(10:11):
a couple of differentindustries, as I got my master's
and all of that, it was throughmentoring my employees that
they brought me the jobdescription that got me into
academia, because they said wethink you should be a professor,
we think you should go andteach people how you're teaching
us, because here your scope islimited, but if you're in
college you're getting a wholenew group of people that you get
(10:32):
to develop every 16 weeks, andso that's how I got into higher
education and then intoconsulting eventually.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And you describe yourself as balancing that line
between a scholar and apractitioner which is so
perfectly and accurately depictsthat.
How do you think that dualperspective has shaped your
approach to leadership, toconsulting, and then what unique
insights does that offer thepeople that you work with?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
You know, I would say there's an I think I give an
element of surprise.
Okay, so I am four foot 11,ginger ninja, right, so you get
this PhD right.
And so, like, organizations getexcited because like, oh, we
have this PhD coming in withthis customized leadership
(11:25):
development training program,which is cool.
So the organization getsexcited to show their employees
like, hey, we've got this personwith their bona fides who's
going to come in and we've hiredsomebody that's going to give
us a customized, uniqueexperience, a bespoke experience
.
(11:45):
But then I get in front of thattraining room or in front of
those employees and I'm offscript you know what I mean Like
I'm talking about myexperiences and trying to
shorten their learning curve andI'm able to weave in cognitive
(12:05):
biases that we have as leadersand the things that get in our
way, like imposter syndrome andthe Peter principle and things
like fundamental attributionbias that says I judge you based
on your behavior, but I judgeme based on my intention.
And how can we navigate that?
We know that that, from ascholastic point, is something
(12:28):
that fundamentally exists ineveryone.
So then we say, okay, well, howdo we navigate that in real
time?
What does that look like withyour colleagues and how do we
create space for grace with yourcolleagues when you witness
that?
And so I think what people endup finding about me is I start
off being a professionaldevelopment and very, very
(12:51):
quickly it becomes personaldevelopment and interpersonal
development, because, seriously,I have no idea what
professional means anymore.
You know, by that realm Iwouldn't be in my position, you
know, 30 years ago because Iwouldn't be professional.
So it's things like that that,I think, gives me an element of
(13:15):
connectivity.
I often say, if I cannot reachthem, I cannot teach them, and
that is something that I havefound to be such a motivator in
how I am able to bridge that gapbetween the scholastic realm
and the practitioner realm.
(13:36):
It's just that sense of likehey, if you're not relating to
them and they can't buy into youand you don't have credibility
with them, you're dead in thewater.
I don't care how good yourcontent is if you don't have any
kind of connectivity.
So that, I think, is what hasbeen my asset there.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
And what a powerful combination, right?
So there's this element ofsurprise that you bring, because
there's this immense sense ofdegrees and background and
education that you bring with it.
But I think that is sobeautifully tempered by what you
said earlier, which is you havea deep sense for humanity.
Like there is such a deep,probably partially unexplainable
(14:17):
way that you have like thisconnection with people and a
sense of deep humanity in theway that you approach people,
and so I think all of that islike boom, you probably walk
into a room and the roof startsto shake a little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You know, I appreciate that.
I think you know this is Iheard my nephew say once I don't
know what my nephews are mybrother-in-law is from Mexico,
so my nephews call me Tia and hesaid I don't know what my Tia
does, however, but I know shegoes in and helps people from
being stuck in their jobs.
And I thought, oh my gosh, he'smy marketing guy now.
(14:56):
You know, right on, bro.
But, sonny, it fundamentallybrings us to know that we've got
and over the last 40 years thatwe've been researching employee
engagement, we've got 80% ofany organization in any industry
, in any geographical region.
(15:17):
80% of that workforce isdisengaged.
One, the reason that that's thecase is because we've been
asking the wrong questions andmeasuring the wrong things.
Two, we haven't moved theneedle in all that time, so we
haven't had the right strategies.
I think we've been talking totalking points rather than
talking to people's pain points,and once we understand those
(15:40):
pain points, we can start tonavigate forward.
But what hurts me so much is Iknow that a disengaged employee
lives a disengaged life.
They do not suddenly go homeand be like work sucked.
But my life is amazing.
They carry it home with themand it eats away it's their
(16:00):
quality of life.
It's not just people'slivelihoods we are talking about
.
It genuinely is theirlivelihoods Not on my watch.
We have to care about thesepeople and understand that what
is happening in the workplace isabsolutely carrying home and
disrupting them, and I know thatbecause I know the names of all
(16:22):
of my parents' colleagues, ofall of my parents' colleagues
and I bet you heard that beingsaid when we went home of like
what people you know who didthis at work and who did that.
People were taking it home, andso we've got to care enough
about them to try to be moresupportive.
And so, yes, absolutely.
I think that's an accuratestatement that I care so much
(16:43):
about the humanity of those.
I think that's an accuratestatement that I care so much
about the humanity of those.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
When you talk about that, we're looking at the wrong
things and asking the wrongquestions.
What should we be leaningtowards?
And I don't even think it'sprobably industry specific.
I think there's probablygeneralizations around what we
should be leaning towards tobetter connect, to better
understand.
What would some of those thingsbe, just in your experience?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
So great question.
You know, the reality is onepeople always want to talk about
culture and nobody knows whatthe heck that means.
You know it's such an amorphousword, right, because it means
so many different things.
The other thing, you know, Iknow our buddy, Scott Heathman,
colonel Scott Heathman.
He and I have theseconversations about.
He's such a wonderful humanbeing, but we have these
(17:30):
conversations about how it cameout of the Air Force that
standardization doesn't work.
So here's something that'spretty fascinating, sonny.
Okay, in World War I, out of themilitary came these standard
performance evaluations.
During that time frame, though,the US Air Force was starting
(17:56):
to experience random and rapidaircraft crashes, and they
couldn't understand why this washappening.
It was happening from pilotsbeing trained at different
locations, different aircraftsdifferently, like everything was
different.
They're saying why areperfectly great aircrafts and
airmen crashing?
And so they start to think well, in 1929, the cock pilot had
(18:22):
been designed.
So they're thinking.
Well, by this time in the 1940s, going into 1950s, possibly the
average size of those pilotshad changed.
So a young airman does someresearch over 4,000 airmen,
takes all these differentmeasurements on 10 different
criteria, and so he comes up andcalculates an average.
(18:44):
What he finds is that not asingle one of those 4,000 plus
airmen fit the average.
So he goes back to theengineers and says, okay, one
size fits all fits none of theseguys.
So we've got to not design forthe average, we've got to design
(19:04):
for the edges.
We've got to not design for theaverage, we've got to design
for the edges.
So let's, you know, make theseadjustable foot pedals, these
adjustable seats, all of thiskind of stuff.
And engineers said it's notpossible.
They said, well, you got to doit.
And finally they got it doneand that's why you and I, my
four foot 11 self, can drive,you know, in the car today.
But at this same time.
(19:30):
So in World War I, we've gotabout 60% of organizations using
performance evaluations,standardized performance
evaluations.
The same time all of this isgoing on, the Air Force is going
oh crap, standardized doesn'twork.
By the end of World War II,over 90% of US organizations
were using this standardizedperformance evaluation.
So we continue to use thesestandardized metrics that do not
(19:53):
fit anyone.
We never went back and fixed it.
Organizations don't use enoughexperimentation, they're not
agile enough and they continueto use these like smart goals
and metrics that are very, veryconstraining, and people don't
like it.
We're dealing with a distractedworkforce, more than I think
we're dealing with a disengagedworkforce, and we really haven't
(20:16):
asked the question of how canwe customize support for our
employees that allows them tohave some autonomy.
How can we let our employeesactually customize their
benefits packages?
How can we allow them tocustomize, maybe, their work?
There's a wonderful model forwork called results-only work
(20:37):
environment ROW.
I have a client of mine who'sbeen ROW since 2012.
They have, I think, a 98%employee retention during that
period, hand over fist profitresults and returns for
shareholders.
Employee happiness andsatisfaction is extremely high,
(20:58):
consistently.
And more organizations are justnot doing this because it's not
the way that we've done it allof that kind of stuff.
So I think we're having doingthis because it's not the way
that we've done it all of thatkind of stuff.
So I think we're having.
But so I think the employeestoday are rebuking
standardization.
I think we're tired of it.
I think we very much want tohave more specialization,
customization, and I thinkthat's the strategy we've got to
(21:20):
go towards, and I think it willrequire some creativity, some.
You know it will require somecreativity, some agility, some
communication with employees,and so I think we're getting
there.
I think it's just very, veryslow for us to get there, but
that is really.
We've got to abolish thestandardized one-size-fits-all
(21:41):
process.
It just does not work.
It's all a process.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It just does not work .
I love that concept because itis.
We take things from long, longago and we try to put, like that
round peg in the square holeand somehow we can rationalize
how that makes sense.
And then we come out withoutcomes where, to your point,
eight out of 10 people aredissatisfied.
(22:05):
I think six or seven out of 10right now are actually looking
for another job or open toleaving their role for another
one.
And yet we can stand here andsay, why are turnover rates so
high?
Why are people not engaged?
And we don't understand theunintended consequences of
having people of our role inactually keeping them engaged,
(22:26):
maintaining them being a part ofthe company which, again, to
your point, isn't always about,like that, professional role,
like it's intertwined of thehuman that they're made up of.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I absolutely agree and I am optimistic that we're
getting better at this.
I really am.
But I do think it's going torequire a very honest
conversation and top leadershipof saying where can we put if
our employees' well-beinggenuinely is what we care about,
(22:58):
because we've always knownhappy employees create happy
results.
You know, you just said thisabout rational things, right.
But the reality is we don't actrationally because we know like
mass layoffs is the worst thingthat an organization can do in
financial straits, right.
So we have hundreds andhundreds of studies that say
(23:22):
don't do this.
This is terrible for you.
Financially long-term, this isnot a good thing, and yet it's
the go-to of organizations.
Still, it's totally notrational.
And so we're still seeing a lotof these really irrational
behaviors that organizations aredoing and sadly, it's trying to
get people to really understandthat if your goal is to truly
(23:45):
get organizations to besustainable, to be sustainably
successful not successful, butsustainably successful you're
going to have to keepreinventing it.
I always call it like the U2 orthe Cher motto.
U2 and Cher are really great atreinventing themselves and
that's how they've beensustainably successful.
(24:07):
That's what organizations needto be thinking about.
How can they adopt more of thatkind of mindset.
I think if they do, we're goingto really find a wonderful
aspect that benefits employeesand then you know, a greater
good all around.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I had a conversation earlier today that consisted of
someone kind of defining whattheir business was about, like
who they served, and she sharedthat when she first started the
business 10 years ago, thatdefinition looked so different.
But she said I've given myselfpermission for that definition
to change.
I didn't get locked into thisone thing because, like, once
(24:48):
you have this, you can't everchange it.
No, it is.
That is going to evolve with me, and I thought, gosh, that's
brilliant, Not only for yourpersonal, not only for your, but
like for life you.
Our goal should be tocontinually evolve, to
continually become moreknowledgeable, more experienced,
have more wisdom, and that'sgoing to change how we view the
world.
(25:08):
And so we should be open to thefact that our definitions of
whatever it is fill in the blank, are constantly evolving.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
I would agree with you.
You know the reality.
So I've asked organizationalleaders for a while now what
would happen if you paid youremployees for a 40-hour work
week and instead of an eight tofive Monday through Friday, you
had them an eight to five Mondaythrough Friday.
You had them work eight to fourMonday through Friday.
What do you think would happenwith your productivity?
Every single one has said itwould go up.
(25:37):
I'm like great, so why aren'tyou doing that for three months
and just experimenting andseeing what happens?
If your concern is productivity,give that time back to your
employees.
You know that if yourproductivity goes up, you're
still going to make hit yourmetrics.
You're going to get yourprofitability, all of the things
that you're wanting while doingright by your employees.
(25:58):
Like this should be a thing.
And if it doesn't work well,then you can still tell your
shareholders that look at howinnovative you are for trying
something new.
Like come on now.
Like this should be stuff thatwe get excited about.
And yeah, I am finding moreorganizational leaders are
starting to buy into this, thankheavens.
(26:20):
Probably because they're likeoh my gosh, we're going to deal
with the mandolin if not, butwe're getting there.
You know it's like a slow roll,but we're getting there.
(26:42):
You know it's like a it's likea slow roll, but I do.
I stay optimistic in all ofthis because employees deserve
it.
Again, you know, if people arenot going to church, they are
not going to counseling, theyare going to work.
In how we invest in our peopleat work that fundamentally can
change their lives in totalityat home and the way that they
parent or the way that theybehave with their spouses or
their partners, the way thatthey engage with their community
.
All of those kinds of thingsstart to shift our societal
(27:04):
fabric.
And I know that sounds likeincredibly optimistic and
Pollyanna of me, but I really dobelieve that again, we can't be
asleep on the job of that asorganizational leaders.
That is the stakes, that is howhigh it is, because employees
that are this disengaged,they're going home with these
maladaptive skills because one,many of them have never seen
(27:27):
healthy coping mechanismsmodeled for them.
They've seen distraction,they've seen disengagement
numbing out.
They haven't seen people havehealthy strategies for
regulating themselves after abad day.
And we talk about like self-careand all that kind of mess, but
we don't talk about, again,customized self-care.
(27:48):
You know, you and I can sithere and talk about self-care
and again kind of talking aboutthat culture.
We may be having two totallydifferent conversations of what
is comforting to you and what iscomforting to me, and we've got
to know our brand.
So I tell people all the time Idon't need to know how you
regulate after a bad day, but Ineed you to know what it is a
(28:09):
healthy way, how do you getyourself out of a funk when it's
there?
What are your tools?
What are your touchstones?
Plan for chaos, because chaosis going to come.
And then what are you going todo to steady yourself?
And I don't think a lot ofpeople have been asked that they
haven't had the tools availablefor that.
(28:29):
And the ones that seemavailable, or the go-tos that
mean well, genuinely mean well,seem like they're such a heavy
lift for folks, right, it's like, oh my gosh, I don't have time
to meditate.
I am the worst.
Do not ask me to go meditateLike no, it's not going to
happen.
But you know, if I've had a badday, I sure am going to wrap
(28:58):
myself in a giant fluffy pinkblanket, watch Moonstruck and
quote the entire dadgum movieword you know, line for line
Right and I'll feel better doingthat, and that's such a
healthier way for me than evenstuff that I had previously.
You know, because it used to bego home and have a couple of
glasses of wine and realizing,wow, this is my life, this is a.
This is not what I want.
I saw this type of coping skillmodeled for me growing up.
(29:20):
I would like for that not to beI.
You know, my father once toldme that he had broken a chain,
but he had not broken a cycle ofhis dysfunctional upbringing
because he was an alcoholic.
He had broken a chain, but hehad not broken a cycle of his
dysfunctional upbringing becausehe was an alcoholic.
He had a lot of anger and hehad affairs on my mother, and so
I thought about that a lot.
What was the difference?
(29:41):
Was I continuing on the cycle?
And I was.
I broke the chain, I moved awayfrom my family and all this
kind of stuff, but I went awayto college.
I did these things, I built acareer, but at the time I had
not broken the cycle, and sothere's a big distinction.
And I've talked to people aboutthat over the years and folks
(30:02):
have said you know what,mandolin, I didn't realize it.
I'm really good at breakingchains.
I'll rip it up out of theground and walk across the
street and plant it and justkeep it going Right, and I think
that's so true for so many ofus and so shifting that mindset
of being like we have to do both.
You know, we have to break thechain and the cycle for
(30:25):
ourselves, and when we do it forourselves, we start to do it
for other people around us andagain, I really think that that
becomes inspiring.
And I think when we talk abouthow do we create workplace
well-being, people crave beinginspired.
That is what we're seeing.
Not how can people be moreengaged?
(30:46):
How can they be motivated?
They want to be inspired.
Not, you know, how can peoplebe more engaged?
How can they be motivated?
They want to be inspired, andif we can create that for folks,
it's extremely contagious okay,guys, you know the routine.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
This is where I hit the pause button.
I hope you have enjoyed partone of the human side of
leadership with my guest, drmandolin moll.
Make sure you come back nextweek.
You are not going to want tomiss part two, where we deep
dive into breaking free from theachievement trap and redefining
ambition, finding purposebeyond accolades and external
(31:17):
validation, the power ofvulnerability in leadership
development and creating spacefor real conversation in the
workplace.
I know you're going to enjoy it, so I hope to see you back next
week in the workplace.
I know you're going to enjoy it, so I hope to see you back next
week.
Thank you so much for listeningand for being here on this
(31:38):
journey with me.
I hope you'll stick around.
If you liked this episode, itwould mean the world for me if
you would rate and review thepodcast or share it with someone
you know may need to hear thismessage.
I love to hear from you all andwant you to know that you can
leave me a voicemail directly.
If you go to my website,evokegreatnesscom, and go to the
contact me tab, you'll just hitthe big old orange button and
record your message.
I love the feedback andcomments that I've been getting,
(31:59):
so please keep them coming.
I'll leave you with the wisewords of author Robin Sharma
Greatness comes by doing a fewsmall and smart things each and
every day.
It comes from taking littlesteps consistently.
It comes from making a fewsmall chips against everything
in your professional andpersonal life that is ordinary,
(32:21):
so that a day eventually arriveswhen all that's left is the
extraordinary.
Welcome to Evoke Greatness.
We are officially entering yearthree of this podcast and I am
filled with so much gratitudefor each and every one of you
who've joined me on thisincredible journey of growth and
self-discovery.
I'm Sunny, your host and fellowtraveler on this path of
personal evolution.
This podcast is a sanctuary forthe curious, the ambitious and
(00:27):
the introspective.
It's for those of you who, likeme, are captivated by the
champion mindset and driven byan insatiable hunger for growth
and knowledge.
Whether you're just beginningyour journey or you're well
along your path, you're going tofind stories here that resonate
with your experiences andaspirations.
Over the last two years, we'veshared countless stories of
triumph and challenge, ofresilience and transformation.
(00:51):
We've laughed, we've reflectedand we've grown together.
And as we've evolved, so toohas this podcast.
Remember, no matter whatchapter you're on in your own
story, you belong here.
This community we've builttogether is a place of support,
inspiration and shared growth.
Where intention goes, energyflows, and the energy you bring
(01:12):
to this space elevates us all.
So, whether you're listeningwhile commuting, working out or
enjoying your morning coffee,perhaps from one of those
motivational mugs I'm so fond of, know that you're a part of
something special.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for your curiosity,your openness and your
commitment to personal growth.
As we embark on year three, Iinvite you to lean in, to listen
(01:35):
deeply and to let these storiesresonate with your soul.
I believe that a rising tideraises all ships and I invite
you along in this journey toevoke greatness.
(01:57):
Welcome back to another episodeof Evoke Greatness Today.
I am absolutely thrilled.
I've been waiting for this time.
With Dr Mandolin Moll, we havehad some life things happen, and
I will tell you this is onethat I can't wait to sink my
teeth into.
So you guys all just betterprepare yourself.
Mandolin is an author, she's aspeaker and she's ultimately a
(02:18):
dynamic force in the world ofleadership, development and
organizational change.
As the founder and principalconsultant of Momentum
Consulting, she brings a wealthof experience in fostering
sustainable growth forindividuals, teams and
organizations.
She's got a PhD inorganizational development and
change and an MBA ininternational business, and
she's not just a consultant, butshe is a bridge between
(02:41):
academic theory and real-worldapplication.
Her journey is one ofresilience, one of perseverance
and determination, having builta successful career while
navigating severe Crohn'sdisease and acquired torsion
dystonia.
Her unique blend of expertise,humor, storytelling and her
authentic leadership style hashelped clients globally, from
(03:04):
union building trades tohealthcare executives.
She's an advocate for peoplewith invisible illnesses.
She's redefining what it meansto lead with grit and grace
Mandolin, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Thank you so much, Sunny.
It's been lovely getting toconnect with you.
I've been so excited to get tohave this conversation with you
today.
I want to dive right in.
Like I said, I've been soexcited to get to have this
conversation with you today.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
I want to dive right in.
Like I said, I've been waitingto sink my teeth into your story
and just learn more about you,because you're a fascinating
human being for so many reasons.
But let's go back a little bitright.
There was a lot that led up toMandolin and who you are today.
Tell us a little bit about thatstory and how that kind of led
you to the current version ofyou.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I am the beneficiary of some incredible mentors.
You know I had a phenomenalgrandfather who really invested
in me.
He was a colonel in the AirForce and, you know, base
commander, and so he didn'treally get to see his children
grow up and I was the baby andfor whatever reason he connected
(04:08):
with me.
It was the greatest honor of mylife to be his favorite.
He had no problem tellingeveryone I was his favorite, so
I can say that with greatconfidence.
And so you know, I learned somuch at a very young age how to
treat people well, and my fatherwas a master stonemason.
(04:29):
He had a really roughupbringing.
He had some maladaptive skills.
He was a very messy person, sohe was kind of the opposite of
my maternal grandfather.
But then as I got older Istarted to really appreciate
what both of these men wereteaching me.
Where my grandfather was reallyteaching me to love complex and
(04:50):
messy people, and there in myhome was a complex and messy
person and my father hiredindividuals from all walks of
life.
Running a stone masonry companyin Texas didn't exactly draw
near a whole bunch of employeesthat wanted to do manual labor
(05:14):
in that Texas heat right, and soI got to see my father give a
lot of grace to individuals thatwere navigating all kinds of
things, and my father built avery successful career through
developing people.
So that left me to building mycareer forward into earning my
(05:40):
degrees.
I got a degree in politicalscience because that's what my
grandfather he had become apolitician when he retired at
the Air Force.
I was going to be the firstfemale politician out of the
third generation internationalbusiness MBA.
And then I got a PhD in humanresource development and change,
(06:00):
dedicating it to my father whohad dropped out of high school
and giving him that degree.
And then I've since got apostdoc cert in positive
psychiatry because of the peopleI've worked with have really
been similar to my father inmany ways.
So yeah, it's kind of aroundabout way and through that
(06:23):
process I navigated, you know,health issues and some
challenges that I think a lot ofthe grit that I had from my
grandfather and my father reallykept me going.
You know my motto a lot of timesis I am Johnny West's daughter.
You know, like there is that,like I am his daughter, I am
(06:44):
taught I'm scrappy and you knowmy grandfather lives rent free
in my head all the time, and soit was really about having a
purpose-driven life of trying todevelop leaders who go on to
develop other leaders.
So that's brought me to where Iam today and really been the
through line is trying to getback to that generational
(07:07):
mentorship.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
That explains so much on why you have the love of
people that you do and thatsense of like being able to see
through the messiness.
You work with a lot ofdifferent industries as you have
built your consulting firm, andit's really intriguing just the
wide variety that you work witha lot of different industries
as you have built yourconsulting firm, and it's really
intriguing just the widevariety that you work with.
I love following your storieson LinkedIn because you share
(07:30):
this, such a sense of diverseexperiences.
Your upbringing and yourbackstory helped me to
understand why.
Was there a moment where youwere like had this light bulb
come on that crystallized yourmission to foster this like
sustainable growth inside ofleadership development?
Speaker 2 (07:50):
You know my father once told me.
He said you know, amanda Lynn,if you, if you terminate an
employee, you have to rememberthat you are repossessing their
car, you're taking food offtheir table, you are shutting
off their electricity.
So you have to make absolutelycertain that you have done your
(08:13):
part as a leader to really honorthe responsibility that they've
asked of you.
They may have forgotten thatthey asked you to look out for
their livelihoods, but you don'tget to, and you know that was
such a resounding piece ofadvice for me, right.
I don't get the luxury offorgetting that my
(08:37):
responsibility is to have theirbacks right.
I have to be the eyes and earsfor them.
I have to have their backs tobe able to say not on my watch,
I'm not going to let you fail.
If I see you stepping out ofbounds, I'm going to nudge your
back.
And that was something that wasreally really important to me,
to have that insight right.
(08:57):
So it resonated so much with meand Sonny.
The most crazy thing about allof this is I got into leadership
, so I was in corporate before Iwent into the academic route,
so I came in the back dooressentially, and it was.
I've only had three months outof my entire working career
(09:20):
where I was not in a supervisoryrole, where I was not leading
others, and so I was very, verygreen from the get-go of being a
leader in all I knew to doBecause we don't typically get
great leader development inonboarding and as a kid I was
running a satellite location ofa healthcare clinic in Austin,
(09:43):
texas.
I was so green and all I knew todo was try to live up to the
ideals of my grandfather and myfather, and so that stuck with
me was how could I develop myemployees and say, not on my
watch.
And then, as I continuedclimbing the corporate ladder in
(10:11):
a couple of differentindustries, as I got my master's
and all of that, it was throughmentoring my employees that
they brought me the jobdescription that got me into
academia, because they said wethink you should be a professor,
we think you should go andteach people how you're teaching
us, because here your scope islimited, but if you're in
college you're getting a wholenew group of people that you get
(10:32):
to develop every 16 weeks, andso that's how I got into higher
education and then intoconsulting eventually.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
And you describe yourself as balancing that line
between a scholar and apractitioner which is so
perfectly and accurately depictsthat.
How do you think that dualperspective has shaped your
approach to leadership, toconsulting, and then what unique
insights does that offer thepeople that you work with?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
You know, I would say there's an I think I give an
element of surprise.
Okay, so I am four foot 11,ginger ninja, right, so you get
this PhD right.
And so, like, organizations getexcited because like, oh, we
have this PhD coming in withthis customized leadership
(11:25):
development training program,which is cool.
So the organization getsexcited to show their employees
like, hey, we've got this personwith their bona fides who's
going to come in and we've hiredsomebody that's going to give
us a customized, uniqueexperience, a bespoke experience
.
(11:45):
But then I get in front of thattraining room or in front of
those employees and I'm offscript you know what I mean Like
I'm talking about myexperiences and trying to
shorten their learning curve andI'm able to weave in cognitive
(12:05):
biases that we have as leadersand the things that get in our
way, like imposter syndrome andthe Peter principle and things
like fundamental attributionbias that says I judge you based
on your behavior, but I judgeme based on my intention.
And how can we navigate that?
We know that that, from ascholastic point, is something
(12:28):
that fundamentally exists ineveryone.
So then we say, okay, well, howdo we navigate that in real
time?
What does that look like withyour colleagues and how do we
create space for grace with yourcolleagues when you witness
that?
And so I think what people endup finding about me is I start
off being a professionaldevelopment and very, very
(12:51):
quickly it becomes personaldevelopment and interpersonal
development, because, seriously,I have no idea what
professional means anymore.
You know, by that realm Iwouldn't be in my position, you
know, 30 years ago because Iwouldn't be professional.
So it's things like that that,I think, gives me an element of
(13:15):
connectivity.
I often say, if I cannot reachthem, I cannot teach them, and
that is something that I havefound to be such a motivator in
how I am able to bridge that gapbetween the scholastic realm
and the practitioner realm.
(13:36):
It's just that sense of likehey, if you're not relating to
them and they can't buy into youand you don't have credibility
with them, you're dead in thewater.
I don't care how good yourcontent is if you don't have any
kind of connectivity.
So that, I think, is what hasbeen my asset there.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
And what a powerful combination, right?
So there's this element ofsurprise that you bring, because
there's this immense sense ofdegrees and background and
education that you bring with it.
But I think that is sobeautifully tempered by what you
said earlier, which is you havea deep sense for humanity.
Like there is such a deep,probably partially unexplainable
(14:17):
way that you have like thisconnection with people and a
sense of deep humanity in theway that you approach people,
and so I think all of that islike boom, you probably walk
into a room and the roof startsto shake a little bit.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You know, I appreciate that.
I think you know this is Iheard my nephew say once I don't
know what my nephews are mybrother-in-law is from Mexico,
so my nephews call me Tia and hesaid I don't know what my Tia
does, however, but I know shegoes in and helps people from
being stuck in their jobs.
And I thought, oh my gosh, he'smy marketing guy now.
(14:56):
You know, right on, bro.
But, sonny, it fundamentallybrings us to know that we've got
and over the last 40 years thatwe've been researching employee
engagement, we've got 80% ofany organization in any industry
, in any geographical region.
(15:17):
80% of that workforce isdisengaged.
One, the reason that that's thecase is because we've been
asking the wrong questions andmeasuring the wrong things.
Two, we haven't moved theneedle in all that time, so we
haven't had the right strategies.
I think we've been talking totalking points rather than
talking to people's pain points,and once we understand those
(15:40):
pain points, we can start tonavigate forward.
But what hurts me so much is Iknow that a disengaged employee
lives a disengaged life.
They do not suddenly go homeand be like work sucked.
But my life is amazing.
They carry it home with themand it eats away it's their
(16:00):
quality of life.
It's not just people'slivelihoods we are talking about
.
It genuinely is theirlivelihoods Not on my watch.
We have to care about thesepeople and understand that what
is happening in the workplace isabsolutely carrying home and
disrupting them, and I know thatbecause I know the names of all
(16:22):
of my parents' colleagues, ofall of my parents' colleagues
and I bet you heard that beingsaid when we went home of like
what people you know who didthis at work and who did that.
People were taking it home, andso we've got to care enough
about them to try to be moresupportive.
And so, yes, absolutely.
I think that's an accuratestatement that I care so much
(16:43):
about the humanity of those.
I think that's an accuratestatement that I care so much
about the humanity of those.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
When you talk about that, we're looking at the wrong
things and asking the wrongquestions.
What should we be leaningtowards?
And I don't even think it'sprobably industry specific.
I think there's probablygeneralizations around what we
should be leaning towards tobetter connect, to better
understand.
What would some of those thingsbe, just in your experience?
Speaker 2 (17:08):
So great question.
You know, the reality is onepeople always want to talk about
culture and nobody knows whatthe heck that means.
You know it's such an amorphousword, right, because it means
so many different things.
The other thing, you know, Iknow our buddy, Scott Heathman,
colonel Scott Heathman.
He and I have theseconversations about.
He's such a wonderful humanbeing, but we have these
(17:30):
conversations about how it cameout of the Air Force that
standardization doesn't work.
So here's something that'spretty fascinating, sonny.
Okay, in World War I, out of themilitary came these standard
performance evaluations.
During that time frame, though,the US Air Force was starting
(17:56):
to experience random and rapidaircraft crashes, and they
couldn't understand why this washappening.
It was happening from pilotsbeing trained at different
locations, different aircraftsdifferently, like everything was
different.
They're saying why areperfectly great aircrafts and
airmen crashing?
And so they start to think well, in 1929, the cock pilot had
(18:22):
been designed.
So they're thinking.
Well, by this time in the 1940s, going into 1950s, possibly the
average size of those pilotshad changed.
So a young airman does someresearch over 4,000 airmen,
takes all these differentmeasurements on 10 different
criteria, and so he comes up andcalculates an average.
(18:44):
What he finds is that not asingle one of those 4,000 plus
airmen fit the average.
So he goes back to theengineers and says, okay, one
size fits all fits none of theseguys.
So we've got to not design forthe average, we've got to design
(19:04):
for the edges.
We've got to not design for theaverage, we've got to design
for the edges.
So let's, you know, make theseadjustable foot pedals, these
adjustable seats, all of thiskind of stuff.
And engineers said it's notpossible.
They said, well, you got to doit.
And finally they got it doneand that's why you and I, my
four foot 11 self, can drive,you know, in the car today.
But at this same time.
(19:30):
So in World War I, we've gotabout 60% of organizations using
performance evaluations,standardized performance
evaluations.
The same time all of this isgoing on, the Air Force is going
oh crap, standardized doesn'twork.
By the end of World War II,over 90% of US organizations
were using this standardizedperformance evaluation.
So we continue to use thesestandardized metrics that do not
(19:53):
fit anyone.
We never went back and fixed it.
Organizations don't use enoughexperimentation, they're not
agile enough and they continueto use these like smart goals
and metrics that are very, veryconstraining, and people don't
like it.
We're dealing with a distractedworkforce, more than I think
we're dealing with a disengagedworkforce, and we really haven't
(20:16):
asked the question of how canwe customize support for our
employees that allows them tohave some autonomy.
How can we let our employeesactually customize their
benefits packages?
How can we allow them tocustomize, maybe, their work?
There's a wonderful model forwork called results-only work
(20:37):
environment ROW.
I have a client of mine who'sbeen ROW since 2012.
They have, I think, a 98%employee retention during that
period, hand over fist profitresults and returns for
shareholders.
Employee happiness andsatisfaction is extremely high,
(20:58):
consistently.
And more organizations are justnot doing this because it's not
the way that we've done it allof that kind of stuff.
So I think we're having doingthis because it's not the way
that we've done it all of thatkind of stuff.
So I think we're having.
But so I think the employeestoday are rebuking
standardization.
I think we're tired of it.
I think we very much want tohave more specialization,
customization, and I thinkthat's the strategy we've got to
(21:20):
go towards, and I think it willrequire some creativity, some.
You know it will require somecreativity, some agility, some
communication with employees,and so I think we're getting
there.
I think it's just very, veryslow for us to get there, but
that is really.
We've got to abolish thestandardized one-size-fits-all
(21:41):
process.
It just does not work.
It's all a process.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
It just does not work .
I love that concept because itis.
We take things from long, longago and we try to put, like that
round peg in the square holeand somehow we can rationalize
how that makes sense.
And then we come out withoutcomes where, to your point,
eight out of 10 people aredissatisfied.
(22:05):
I think six or seven out of 10right now are actually looking
for another job or open toleaving their role for another
one.
And yet we can stand here andsay, why are turnover rates so
high?
Why are people not engaged?
And we don't understand theunintended consequences of
having people of our role inactually keeping them engaged,
(22:26):
maintaining them being a part ofthe company which, again, to
your point, isn't always about,like that, professional role,
like it's intertwined of thehuman that they're made up of.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I absolutely agree and I am optimistic that we're
getting better at this.
I really am.
But I do think it's going torequire a very honest
conversation and top leadershipof saying where can we put if
our employees' well-beinggenuinely is what we care about,
(22:58):
because we've always knownhappy employees create happy
results.
You know, you just said thisabout rational things, right.
But the reality is we don't actrationally because we know like
mass layoffs is the worst thingthat an organization can do in
financial straits, right.
So we have hundreds andhundreds of studies that say
(23:22):
don't do this.
This is terrible for you.
Financially long-term, this isnot a good thing, and yet it's
the go-to of organizations.
Still, it's totally notrational.
And so we're still seeing a lotof these really irrational
behaviors that organizations aredoing and sadly, it's trying to
get people to really understandthat if your goal is to truly
(23:45):
get organizations to besustainable, to be sustainably
successful not successful, butsustainably successful you're
going to have to keepreinventing it.
I always call it like the U2 orthe Cher motto.
U2 and Cher are really great atreinventing themselves and
that's how they've beensustainably successful.
(24:07):
That's what organizations needto be thinking about.
How can they adopt more of thatkind of mindset.
I think if they do, we're goingto really find a wonderful
aspect that benefits employeesand then you know, a greater
good all around.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
I had a conversation earlier today that consisted of
someone kind of defining whattheir business was about, like
who they served, and she sharedthat when she first started the
business 10 years ago, thatdefinition looked so different.
But she said I've given myselfpermission for that definition
to change.
I didn't get locked into thisone thing because, like, once
(24:48):
you have this, you can't everchange it.
No, it is.
That is going to evolve with me, and I thought, gosh, that's
brilliant, Not only for yourpersonal, not only for your, but
like for life you.
Our goal should be tocontinually evolve, to
continually become moreknowledgeable, more experienced,
have more wisdom, and that'sgoing to change how we view the
world.
(25:08):
And so we should be open to thefact that our definitions of
whatever it is fill in the blank, are constantly evolving.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
I would agree with you.
You know the reality.
So I've asked organizationalleaders for a while now what
would happen if you paid youremployees for a 40-hour work
week and instead of an eight tofive Monday through Friday, you
had them an eight to five Mondaythrough Friday.
You had them work eight to fourMonday through Friday.
What do you think would happenwith your productivity?
Every single one has said itwould go up.
(25:37):
I'm like great, so why aren'tyou doing that for three months
and just experimenting andseeing what happens?
If your concern is productivity,give that time back to your
employees.
You know that if yourproductivity goes up, you're
still going to make hit yourmetrics.
You're going to get yourprofitability, all of the things
that you're wanting while doingright by your employees.
(25:58):
Like this should be a thing.
And if it doesn't work well,then you can still tell your
shareholders that look at howinnovative you are for trying
something new.
Like come on now.
Like this should be stuff thatwe get excited about.
And yeah, I am finding moreorganizational leaders are
starting to buy into this, thankheavens.
(26:20):
Probably because they're likeoh my gosh, we're going to deal
with the mandolin if not, butwe're getting there.
You know it's like a slow roll,but we're getting there.
(26:42):
You know it's like a it's likea slow roll, but I do.
I stay optimistic in all ofthis because employees deserve
it.
Again, you know, if people arenot going to church, they are
not going to counseling, theyare going to work.
In how we invest in our peopleat work that fundamentally can
change their lives in totalityat home and the way that they
parent or the way that theybehave with their spouses or
their partners, the way thatthey engage with their community
.
All of those kinds of thingsstart to shift our societal
(27:04):
fabric.
And I know that sounds likeincredibly optimistic and
Pollyanna of me, but I really dobelieve that again, we can't be
asleep on the job of that asorganizational leaders.
That is the stakes, that is howhigh it is, because employees
that are this disengaged,they're going home with these
maladaptive skills because one,many of them have never seen
(27:27):
healthy coping mechanismsmodeled for them.
They've seen distraction,they've seen disengagement
numbing out.
They haven't seen people havehealthy strategies for
regulating themselves after abad day.
And we talk about like self-careand all that kind of mess, but
we don't talk about, again,customized self-care.
(27:48):
You know, you and I can sithere and talk about self-care
and again kind of talking aboutthat culture.
We may be having two totallydifferent conversations of what
is comforting to you and what iscomforting to me, and we've got
to know our brand.
So I tell people all the time Idon't need to know how you
regulate after a bad day, but Ineed you to know what it is a
(28:09):
healthy way, how do you getyourself out of a funk when it's
there?
What are your tools?
What are your touchstones?
Plan for chaos, because chaosis going to come.
And then what are you going todo to steady yourself?
And I don't think a lot ofpeople have been asked that they
haven't had the tools availablefor that.
(28:29):
And the ones that seemavailable, or the go-tos that
mean well, genuinely mean well,seem like they're such a heavy
lift for folks, right, it's like, oh my gosh, I don't have time
to meditate.
I am the worst.
Do not ask me to go meditateLike no, it's not going to
happen.
But you know, if I've had a badday, I sure am going to wrap
(28:58):
myself in a giant fluffy pinkblanket, watch Moonstruck and
quote the entire dadgum movieword you know, line for line
Right and I'll feel better doingthat, and that's such a
healthier way for me than evenstuff that I had previously.
You know, because it used to bego home and have a couple of
glasses of wine and realizing,wow, this is my life, this is a.
This is not what I want.
I saw this type of coping skillmodeled for me growing up.
(29:20):
I would like for that not to beI.
You know, my father once toldme that he had broken a chain,
but he had not broken a cycle ofhis dysfunctional upbringing
because he was an alcoholic.
He had broken a chain, but hehad not broken a cycle of his
dysfunctional upbringing becausehe was an alcoholic.
He had a lot of anger and hehad affairs on my mother, and so
I thought about that a lot.
What was the difference?
(29:41):
Was I continuing on the cycle?
And I was.
I broke the chain, I moved awayfrom my family and all this
kind of stuff, but I went awayto college.
I did these things, I built acareer, but at the time I had
not broken the cycle, and sothere's a big distinction.
And I've talked to people aboutthat over the years and folks
(30:02):
have said you know what,mandolin, I didn't realize it.
I'm really good at breakingchains.
I'll rip it up out of theground and walk across the
street and plant it and justkeep it going Right, and I think
that's so true for so many ofus and so shifting that mindset
of being like we have to do both.
You know, we have to break thechain and the cycle for
(30:25):
ourselves, and when we do it forourselves, we start to do it
for other people around us andagain, I really think that that
becomes inspiring.
And I think when we talk abouthow do we create workplace
well-being, people crave beinginspired.
That is what we're seeing.
Not how can people be moreengaged?
(30:46):
How can they be motivated?
They want to be inspired.
Not, you know, how can peoplebe more engaged?
How can they be motivated?
They want to be inspired, andif we can create that for folks,
it's extremely contagious okay,guys, you know the routine.
Speaker 1 (30:56):
This is where I hit the pause button.
I hope you have enjoyed partone of the human side of
leadership with my guest, drmandolin moll.
Make sure you come back nextweek.
You are not going to want tomiss part two, where we deep
dive into breaking free from theachievement trap and redefining
ambition, finding purposebeyond accolades and external
(31:17):
validation, the power ofvulnerability in leadership
development and creating spacefor real conversation in the
workplace.
I know you're going to enjoy it, so I hope to see you back next
week in the workplace.
I know you're going to enjoy it, so I hope to see you back next
week.
Thank you so much for listeningand for being here on this
(31:38):
journey with me.
I hope you'll stick around.
If you liked this episode, itwould mean the world for me if
you would rate and review thepodcast or share it with someone
you know may need to hear thismessage.
I love to hear from you all andwant you to know that you can
leave me a voicemail directly.
If you go to my website,evokegreatnesscom, and go to the
contact me tab, you'll just hitthe big old orange button and
record your message.
I love the feedback andcomments that I've been getting,
(31:59):
so please keep them coming.
I'll leave you with the wisewords of author Robin Sharma
Greatness comes by doing a fewsmall and smart things each and
every day.
It comes from taking littlesteps consistently.
It comes from making a fewsmall chips against everything
in your professional andpersonal life that is ordinary,
(32:21):
so that a day eventually arriveswhen all that's left is the
extraordinary.
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