00:08 Hi, I'm Denise Simpson, a master life and leadership coach who helps women step into their authentic and feminine power so they can lead like visionaries, influence with grace, and create a legacy of contribution and service. You'll hear about real leadership clients with real problems navigating their success in life, business, and career. If you're ready to become a masterful leader, then this podcast was made for you. So let's get started.
00:47 Welcome, leader. I have a special bonus episode for you today. Today's episode is a recording of a live stream. I did a few days ago. This live stream was put out on my YouTube channel, on my LinkedIn profile, and on my Facebook page. So we streamed it into three different platforms, and it was so much fun. It was so good to be back doing live shows. So this revival of lead with intent is so exciting for me. We did this about three years ago. We had about two seasons, I think, under our belt. We, we, I keep saying we, I was so excited. And we, as in the collective came to, you know, ask questions, answer questions, um, you know, comment on their insights. So we had such a great time. Three years ago, I wanted to revive this show again because a lot has happened in three years, right?
01:52 We had a pandemic , we had a lot of interesting things happening to us collectively. And during that three year period, I really focused on my executive coaching skills and working with high level, high, high, high potential, um, executives. I mean, these are women who are entering the executive suite or the C-suite and helping them bridge that gap from being a mid-level manager or mid-level director into executive level positioning. So there's a little gap there, and that's really my specialty, which I'm having such a wonderful time and have really grown a wonderful client base of referrals. And so I've been focused on that. I've also been focused on developing masters of leadership, which is our monthly membership program for women leaders at, from all levels of leadership and experience levels. So from the aspiring to the emerging to the mid-level and to the seasoned C-suite woman, we get to serve her no matter where she is on her leadership journey.
03:02 And so I have spent the last three years really honing my craft and mastering my skills, right? Just because you reach a certain level in experience or in formal education does not mean you stopped there. For me, it's continuous growth and expansion, not because I'm trying to prove something to anything or anyone outside of me, but it's really to prove it to myself. I do so much selfishly so that I get to grow and expand, and more importantly, to blow my own mind, like, to just like surprise my mind, right? It's really about the drive to, to excel for myself, not for anybody else outside of me. Honestly. It's, it's just a, I think this is what happens when you get into your forties. I'm now in my mid forties and I think so much has, has really changed in my neurology when it comes to achievement and ambition.
03:58 And so just know that the last three years I've spent a great deal of time really honing that and owning that and caring for myself and having my own back, no matter the failures or even the successes. And so I always have my own back and that's what's been happening the last three years. So we revived lead with intent. I'm inviting you to join us. If you are not a subscriber, if you're not a follower, you should be head over to the YouTube channel, head over to my LinkedIn profile, head over to my Facebook page. And it's the same, uh, handle, which is Dr. Denise Simpson. So at Dr. Denise Simpson, at Dr. Denise Simpson. So you can find me with the same handle everywhere. So head over to one of those platforms and get notified when I go live. So we will not have a regularly scheduled live only because my calendar is crazy.
04:57 And I answer to my clients . I work for them, actually. I call them a client, but I am, I'm, I really work for them. They are my boss. And so my calendar primarily is focused on serving my clients. So either my one-on-one clients or my membership clients, they take presidents over anything else I do. And so what I like to do is just look ahead a week in advance and tentatively put on the calendar, this is a potential live that I can do. And once I have it confirmed, I certainly will book it. Uh, and I'll set that calendar on one of those three, or on all the platforms, on those three platforms so that you can at least get notified, um, and put that in your calendar. So these topics will be about leadership, obviously. Um, I I'm gonna run this episode for you, this live stream for you as an episode because it was so good.
05:57 It was so good in that, you know, I talked about the revival of lead with intent, and I also talked about, um, the question I was asked by a potential client who asked, What is your definition of leadership? Cuz there's so many definitions out here, and I, I like, what is it? And so she tasked me to answer that question, and you're going to hear the answer to that question on this episode. And let me tell you, it is clear, it is concise. It's probably something you've never heard before, honestly. It, it really had to, I had to constrain my brain to come up with a one simple sentence definition for you, and it's gonna blow your mind. I know it will. And this is the definition that we are going to adopt. And should, you know, 2, 3, 5 years from now, I change that definition.
06:47 So what, Right? Things have evolved, things have changed, and now, and, and I'll have, um, a much greater perspective by then. And so know that whatever we change it to is gonna be fire no matter what. But today's definition is so current, so relevant, and it is so helpful for you. So my friend, take a listen to this live stream of the very first live stream episode of Lead With Intent Show. I know you're going to find this episode so helpful, and I can't wait to hear your comments or your feedback. So join me on one of those platforms. Would love to see you over there, especially on one of those live stream shows. All right, let's go ahead and roll this livestream episode. Welcome to Lead With Intent. And yes, of course, we're going to have a ticker, I'm using Stream Yard, by the way, which is such an easy, uh, intuitive platform to do these live streams from.
07:44 I, I'm not an affiliate, I'm not an aba, an ambassador of of Stream Yard, but this is something that's been really easy to work through. So I have a little ticker there that says, Lead with intent. Isn't that fun? Awesome. Uh, so I am, for those of you who don't know me or are getting to know me, I am Dr. Denise Simpson. I am a former higher education administrator. I know how fun, former higher education administrator and academic, and I am now the CEO of Simpson Strategies. We are a leadership development and training company for women and their allies. Isn't that fun? Women and their allies, which means the whole world. Yeah. So I get to serve as many people as possible who are invested in seeing women, uh, rise, uh, to the potential of leadership. And so we, um, have a great time at Simpson Strategies, developing programs and workshops and curriculum specifically for helping women navigate their path to leadership because they need support along this path.
08:56 Support that looks like coaching support, that looks like masterminding with other, uh, incredible, brilliant female leaders. It also looks like work shopping. It looks like ma uh, masterclass, uh, trainings. And so it's, it's an opportunity, um, for us to develop very specific products for the woman leader. So whether you are an aspirational leader, yeah, someone who, uh, has been, has been entertaining the desire of leadership. So you don't have a leadership title or formal one at least in the organization, but you are very interested and you, or perhaps you are an emerging leader, meaning you have a leadership title, you have been bestowed upon, uh, this, this duty and privilege to lead others. And you are learning how to navigate these waters because emerging leaders, very interesting, you, you folks, because this is a very delicate stage in your leadership career. The emerging leaders, so many people drop off, uh, drop out of leadership because of lack of support, lack of sponsorship, lack of mentorship, lack of development, and training for the female leader.
10:17 And so this is a very delicate stage. So careful emerging leader, I'm watching. You are, you're a seasoned leader, You're in the C-suite, you're an executive, you've spent a great deal of time. Um, of course between between the season there's a and the emerging is a mid-career leader who's in there too. So you, um, have been around the block a few times. Yeah. You know how to navigate politics, you know how to navigate, um, systems, you know how to navigate, um, interesting, uh, personalities and challenging or difficult conversations with others. So you've been around the block, so I see you too. So whether you are an aspirational and emerging a or a seasoned leader, you are welcome here. I am someone who has spent 26 years in the field of leadership. I have a PhD in leadership studies. I've had a consulting firm for nine years, and an executive coaching a component of my business for the last five years.
11:13 And so I've been able to, with what a privilege and an honor for me to serve other, uh, incredible leaders, conscientious leaders that, um, are doing amazing things in this world, uh, through their work in the organization, through their work and their communities, through their work with their constituents. Um, these are female leaders that I get to serve every single day. So you will find some interesting topics that will cover, uh, on our, on our weekly journey together. Here on the Lead with Intent show, we will have topics that, um, are hyper focused on the female leader for obvious reasons. Um, this is my specialty, this is my expertise. And so this is where we'll spend a great deal of time. Uh, not that we wanna exclude anybody else. Your others are welcome to join the conversation. Um, I have plenty of, of non females, non women in my audience who have really great questions about how to support women leaders and how to recognize them, celebrate them, reward them, promote them.
12:19 And I'm always open to providing you my recommendations. So, uh, you are also welcome to join the conversation here. So what brought me to today's, uh, lead with intent topic was that I was asked a very, very good question. Y'all have some very, very good questions for me. And one in particular was, what is my definition of leadership? Because there's so many definitions out there that are floating around. And, um, I thought, let's bring that conversation to our stream today. What is my definition of leadership? Especially being a practitioner, someone just like you who's molding the clay with their employees. You are in the trenches. You are in the workforce. This is the world that I came up in. Um, and this is, this is what led me into actually studying theory in my thirties. So I was, it wasn't a linear progression into a PhD program.
13:17 It was much later in my career and in my life where I decided to then really, really hone in on mastery on this, on this, um, skill of, of leadership. And so I started just like you as a practitioner and still a practitioner of leadership for o o obvious reasons. Um, and so this is a question that I've, I've, I've a I've been asked and I've, I've pondered myself, What is the definition of leadership? And so we're gonna talk about that today. And if you have any, um, questions or comments or your definition of leadership, please feel free to put that in the comments. Um, let's go back to, uh, the lead with intent title of this show. Before we get into the definition of leadership. I think it's so interesting cuz I was looking up the word intent. You know, there's a saying, you're not, you're, you're not judged by your intentions, you're judged by your actions.
14:13 The leadership is, is a, is a culmination of mindset, skillset and actions. And so lead with intent, lead as in the verb, we are leading with strong intention, with an intention to create change, an intention to create change in our culture, change in our employees. Um, we are looking for change in a result. Change in performance measurements, change in policy, change in, um, you know, objectives change in, in the minds of our constituents, right? We are always intending the best good intentions. And leadership tied with this word intent is really important. And so lead with intent. And I can't say I, I, I had that much thought. I didn't put that much thought into the title three years ago. , by the way, you can go to YouTube and you can see those, uh, old shows, uh, uh, the lead with intent episodes over there.
15:11 Uh, they're very interesting. Um, obviously we we're older, we're wiser. And, uh, our, you know, there's, there's just a lot more that, um, that we've gained and earned lot more wisdom, a lot more knowledge, so, and confidence. So you'll see, uh, vast contrast between, you know, the lead with intent show back then and, and today hopefully. And so with that in mind, lead with intent, and I love the definition of intent, uh, used as an adjective is having the mind attention or will concentrated on something or some end or purpose. So we are leading with concentration on something or some end on purpose. That's what we're doing. So we, as leaders, we have goals. We know where we're going, we know where we wanna take our employees. We are forward thinking. We look to the past to, to, for, with gratitude, right? To thank it, to thank those learnings, to thank those people that were, that were on the journey with us.
16:15 But now we are forward thinking and we're looking at how to move our employees forward so that we can reach objectives, reach organizational goals, reach performance measurements. And so we're always looking forward and we're always taking close care of our employees. We are careful with them. They are under our careful watch while they are in the institution or the organization. And, and as we are caring for our employees, we're moving them forward together in unison all, however, using their unique creative gifts and attributes and knowledge and abilities. And so the, and skills of course. So this is, this is, um, what we get to do as leaders. And it's such a privilege to be able to do this as leaders. So lead with intent is why, uh, is why the show is named, um, why we named this show Lead with intent for all those reasons I just shared with you.
17:17 And so we will be intentional in, in how we think moving forward. We're going to be intentional and the identity that we take on as leaders, we are intentional in how we treat ourselves first and foremost, because how we treat ourselves, it's a reflection on how we treat our employees. And so we want to, uh, be intentional with, with how we think, how we behave, and how we, we create results in our organizations with intent. So I wanted to share that, uh, backstory or that context with you, Uh, because three years ago, I didn't put that much thought into the title . And as I was revisiting that title, I said, Well, this is perfect and let's keep it, uh, why reinvent the wheel? And this just brings on a, a newer purpose for me, Uh, more refreshing, um, purpose, uh, in, in doing this live stream for you and naming it, what, what, what it is, lead with intent.
18:12 So let's get into the question that I was asked. What is my definition of leadership? Because as you know, there are so many, so many definitions out there. You can go on all these different blogs and you can see, you know, Fortune 500, Fortune 100, Fortune 50, uh, uh, CEOs talking about what their definition is, describing what their definition of leadership is. And so everyone has a vast, um, just a, a vast perspective on leadership, depending, sometimes even on the industry, depending on even their job role, right? You know, what, what they were hired to do as CEOs. And so it is so interesting to see a list of all these definitions of leadership and not one is the same, which is so important. Not one is the same. And so I want to task you to start thinking about your definition of leadership. What does that look like for you?
19:10 What does it mean for you? And so when I was asked what is my definition of leadership, I had to sit down and really think about this one because I've, I've used so many, um, descriptors, qualifiers even, um, I've, I've, I've, I've come up with so many different definitions and I thought it's important that, that, that we entertain this one definition for the sake of this show lead with intent . And so this is the definition that I present to you, my friends. And by the way, comments are open and I can see them from here. So if you are watching from YouTube or watching from LinkedIn, watching from my Facebook page, um, feel free to, um, post any comments. I can't see who's on with me. Um, but, but I could see comments. Um, so say hello or, or also share with with us what whatever your leadership definition is, um, and for those of you who are watching, will watch the replay.
20:07 So I know a lot of you are at work, I know a lot of you are not able to watch this live . Um, I did this be this timeframe because it fits my schedule. Um, and that's how it'll work moving forward. Uh, there's an opening in my calendar. I will give you 24, uh, hour advanced notice so that you could put that on your calendar to join me. So it will not be the same day or the same time every week, but we get to at least, um, get a heads up when we're going live so that you can come and join me. And so, um, and also one more thing. I committed to the next, uh, three weeks. This is the first week. So total of four weeks doing a live stream with you here. Um, we'll see what happens after four weeks.
20:46 We'll see if we continued, uh, this live stream depending on, um, the scheduling, depending on, uh, my client's needs. Uh, and, and then we can go from there. And so we're gonna get into, Oh, hi Alyssa. Oh, I love this so much. Let me put this on here. So glad you're here, Alyssa. Alyssa says, Leader one who uses wisdom, skill, and compassion to guide others on a part of their journey of life. That's so beautiful. Alyssa. Let me tell you something, Alyssa, because I know her so well, is a leader. There, there, there are inherent leadership attributes that Alyssa has and, and attributes and skills that she's building right now as a coach. And so she is truly a leader in her family, in her life, in her relationships, in her business, in her coaching practice. And so she is one who is wise, she is skillful, and she's definitely compassionate.
21:40 And she as a leader, is able to, to guide others on their journey of life. And I think that's such a good definition. Wow. I love that one. Thank you for that, Alyssa. Um, awesome. So, so I wanna, wanna answer that question for that person who ask, who asked me, what is your definition of leadership? And as I said, this is an opportunity for us to come up with a simple, although leadership can be simple, uh, it it, we overwhelm it with our minds, but it's actually a very simple practice. And so I wanted to make this definition so simple for us and for our brains. And so the definition I came up with is a leader influences a change in employee beliefs, feelings, and actions to produce an effect on results. So let's break that down a little bit. I use the word influence, not inspire, not inspiration.
22:39 A leader influences because the difference between influence and inspiration is the inspiration means to make someone feel that they're capable of doing it. But the word influence encompasses feelings, it comp, it, it it's the means to affect change, to affect change or to, to do something differently. So influence versus inspiration, we influence every single day. And we sometimes have to use inspiration when we're having one on one conversations with our employees. When we're having one-on-one conversations with our peers or with our CEOs or our stakeholders, we are ins we, we use our inspiration to help them feel a certain way about something you are influencing them to do. So I use the word influence intentionally here, not inspiration. So a leader influences a change. That's what we do as leaders. We influence a change in culture. We influence a change in policy. We in influence, a change in performance.
23:43 We're influencing a change in behavior, We're influencing a change in beliefs, we're influencing a change in feelings. And that's the thing is we, leaders have completely forgotten what our roles are, and it's to influence a change in our employees' beliefs about themselves, the beliefs they have about their contribution to the organization. I mean, think about when you, you currently in a, in an organization in our institution who, who, who, where you don't feel respected, where you don't feel like you're contributing because no one has told you that your role is really important. No one has, has cheered you on, no one has supported you. Your leader has not bothered to engage in your beliefs, right? So many of us leaders, because of the pandemic are burnt out, we're exhausted. And even before then, a lot of toxic leadership was going on. But I think more so the last two and a half years, three years, where we have seen really exhaustion, overwhelming leaders out here who are burned out, the last thing they can do is give to their employees.
24:54 They can barely give to themselves. So the last thing they're doing is helping the employee believe in themselves. And this is how, how, how disengaged. This is how, you know, disgruntled employees are developed. We ignore them. We completely disregard their beliefs about themselves and their identity in the organization. So we are, we as leaders are responsible for influencing that change in their beliefs and their feelings. A lot of leaders tell me emotions have no business in leadership. Well, first of all, you can't remove your brain or your heart from leadership. So that's part of neurology, It's part of neuroscience. You're going to have to think and feel a certain way. And so why not really focus on the feelings of the employee? How are they feeling working for you as a leader? A lot of you are afraid to ask that question. How many of my employees right now feel confident in me and in themselves as an employee?
26:06 A lot of you are afraid to ask these scary questions and they're scary because the truth is, a lot of these employees are not happy with you. I know, sad truth, but it is, it is it, it could be true. Don't know your current situation, but a lot of employees are frustrated, very, very overwhelmed, also burnt out, and they're looking for employment elsewhere. And so let's be mindful of their feelings and actions. Let's talk about actions. Well, how do we get results, right? We get results from the belief that causes the feeling that then inspires action. That's what's happening in the brain. You think a thought you feel a certain way and you act from that feeling. That's as simple as this will get. We're not gonna get into the neuroscience of all of this, but that is a linear progression that's happening. The belief creates a thought, a feeling, and then the action.
27:03 So we need to pay close attention to the behaviors and the actions of our employees. You are the leader, aren't you? We're looking to influence a change in their actions and behaviors, but not just their actions, their beliefs and their feelings as well. And we wanna produce an effect on results. But notice how I did not put favorable results or a successful result, cuz leadership is about impacting or or producing an effect on those results. Sometimes those results will not be in your favor, and sometimes those results will be. So I wanted to exclude that adjective here. I wanted to make sure that we, we kept this definition very simple because chances are your leadership will fail. And if that hurts your feelings, that's not my intent. It's the truth. Leadership is, is also about experimenting. We're always looking for ways to implement strategy, new ways to create new results, different results. So we're always in this science, science, um, this scientist point of view, we're always looking at neutralizing circumstances so that we are able to produce new results, right? So that's why this definition is so simple and something that we can use every day. A leader influences a change in employee beliefs, feelings, and actions to produce an effect on results. So now my question to you is, are you capable of influencing a change in someone else? Are you capable of doing this role of leadership? Are you even capable? Are you the person to do this?
29:01 And if you're asking yourself, Well, well, now that you put this, put it this way. And then, and, and, and as clear as this definition is, maybe I'm not, and maybe you are not, but you're leading still. And that's okay because now we found awareness, we found conscious awareness, and now we have intent to look at are we capable of doing this ourselves? Can we actually do this for our employees? And something I tell my clients all the time is lead th self first. Because if you don't know how to lead your mind, you don't know how to influence yourself, you don't know how to change your beliefs, you don't know how to regulate your emotions, and you don't know what actions to take that are creating unfulfilling results, then just maybe, maybe we should step back from leadership just a little bit. You lead thy self first before you lead another soul.
30:05 That's the privilege that we have as leaders. This is a privilege that we get to do. We get to lead humans and their brains every day. But how are you the leader leading your own brain? That's the question I will leave you with today, is, are you capable of leading yourself? Because if your sole role, your role of leader is to influence a change in your employee's beliefs, feelings, and actions for the purpose of producing results in your department or your organization or your community, then we need to look at what you're doing and producing in your life. And so are you leading your life? What results have you created? How fulfilled are you? Are you, do you have, you know, the tools, the mindset tools to regulate your thoughts and your emotions? Are you producing or, or creating results that are in your favor?
31:08 Right? If life is 50 50, 50% amazing, 50% not so amazing, chances are half the time you're doing a great job. The other half probably not. And so I I I take a very strong perspective on this because I, I coach so many leaders every day and there are some leaders that have really no business in leadership. And it's my job to help them fill the gap from where they are now to where they wanna be a masterful leader. There's a big gap. Sometimes it's as big as the Grand Canyon and sometimes it's a little puddle that we just need to hop over. And so I want for you to do this self-assessment today and my case capable of leading others. Am I capable of influencing them when I can't do that for myself? So that's the question I leave you with. And so if you're watching the replay, I definitely wanna see your comments on this also.
32:08 And I'm looking at the time I've been on now for 30 minutes. Um, I respect your time. You all are very busy leaders. We're busy running businesses, we're bus busy leading employees. Um, we, we'll get off in just about less than a minute here. If you notice my fancy ticker here, it says get on my weekly email list. So every single week I send out a thoughtful email to my email subscribers and it consists of leadership coaching, leadership training, leadership development, all the things that you need to be a masterful leader. And so this is our first step is doing the assessment today, asking yourself that question. Second thing I want for you to do is join my email [email protected] slash leadership. Get on there, especially if you are a woman leader. If you are a leader like me who is, is a founder and entrepreneur, you need to get on my list.
33:07 If you are, uh, a nonprofit leader, you need to get on my list, my list. If you are a leader in an organization or institution, you have to get on my list. Or you're a board member. Perhaps you are, um, um, a board, a board of director or a board member serving their communities, you need to be on my email list. And so those are the four qualifiers that I would highly recommend someone get on my email list. Um, and if you support women in leadership, you should also get on my, my email list. So again, that's dr denise simpson.com/leadership, and, uh, you'll see me in that in inbox very soon. Thank you so very much for spending some time with me. This is our first lead with intent. We will be back next week. Like I said, I've committed to the next three weeks to be with you here.
33:53 Beyond that, we'll see, we'll see what the schedule looks like, but if you have a specific, specific topic that you want to talk about within this field of leadership, please post them in the comments. It, there's no topic off the table. Um, if it affects how, if it affects how you lead, then this is a conversation we need to have. So please make sure you do that. So thank you so much for joining, Alyssa, thank you. So good to see you here and, uh, and, uh, appreciate your comments and your feedback. Uh, right here, either on YouTube, LinkedIn, or on my Facebook page. All right. Have a wonderful day. Take good care.
34:34 Hey,
34:34 Leader, do you want weekly leadership tips, coaching and training straight to your email inbox? Yeah, I thought so. Head over to dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Again, that's dr denise simpson.com/leadership. Just submit your name and your email address and we'll get started right away. I look forward to serving you inside your email inbox. See you soon.
