Deep Work Out Loud

The First Work of Leadership: Wellbeing as a Foundation for Leading in Complexity with Dr. Michael Hein | Deep Work Out Loud

Julie Harris Oliver welcomes Dr. Michael Hein, author of "Shifting Toward Unorthodoxy," to discuss "the first work" of leadership: prioritizing wellbeing as foundational leadership work in volatile, complex environments, especially healthcare. Hein explains that leaders often forget they have a body, yet leadership performance depends on physical health, recovery, relationships, and spiritual meaning; without these, leaders struggle to stay composed, curious, and effective. He describes how socialized workplace norms push high performers to work harder rather than recover, and argues CEOs especially must model healthy boundaries because behavior sets organizational expectations more than words. Drawing parallels to athletic overtraining syndrome, he notes burnout reflects the same maladaptive effects of unrelenting stress without recovery. Hein recommends a regular recovery cadence—daily routines, monthly reflection time, and periodic longer breaks—planned on the calendar and approached as experiments. 00:00 Welcome to the Show 00:37 Meet Dr Michael Hein 01:41 From CEO to Coach 03:12 Defining First Work 04:39 Body as Leadership Platform 06:51 Why Self Care Fails 09:57 Leaders Set the Tone 14:30 Athlete Burnout Parallel 17:58 Cadence of Recovery 24:42 Start Small Experiments 28:34 Wellbeing Is Leadership Work 30:21 Wrap Up and Invitation To find Dr. Hein —MEDI Leadership's page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/medileadership/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/medileadership/] —Dr. Hein's page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heindoc/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/heindoc/]

Listening to Your Inner Compass: Intuition, the Rational Mind, and the Protector with Louise Hansell | Deep Work Out Loud

Host Julie Harris Oliver welcomes leadership coach Louise Hansell to discuss listening to and trusting your inner voice or "internal compass." Louise shares how she moved from corporate HR and transformation work into coaching, and explains that intuition is often subtle, felt through the body, and can be drowned out by societal, family, and logical "shoulds." They explore distinguishing intuition from the rational mind and a protective ego voice that reacts with fear and urgency, noting Louise's view that intuition appears in the first few seconds before other voices take over. Louise suggests building discernment through mindfulness, silence, and low-stakes experiments, using full-body cues like expansion, contraction, relief, tension, or persistence. They also address people-pleasing, clear no's, and tolerating uncertainty while doors gradually open. Louise closes with an Einstein quote about honoring intuition alongside reason. 00:00 Welcome to Deep Work 00:40 Meet Louise Hansel 02:18 Louise Coaching Origin 04:01 Theme Inner Compass 04:44 Hearing Versus Trusting 08:35 Body Based Yes No 09:29 Julie Pivot Story 13:32 Louise Three Voices 16:45 Naming Mind Protector 19:03 Ego and Body Listening 19:40 Mindfulness vs Thoughts 20:29 Silence and Inner Voice 23:02 Clean No Boundaries 25:15 Waiting for Doors 27:20 Trusting the Compass 28:48 Seattle Moving Example 31:26 First Three Seconds 32:42 Low Stakes Practice 34:41 Einstein Quote Wrap 35:30 Where to Find Louise 35:46 Final Invitation Louisehansell.com [https://Louisehansell.com]

I Am Who I Am, Not What I Do: Dion Elliott Jensen on Identity, Ego, and Love-Based Leadership

Host Julie Harris Oliver welcomes Dion Elliott Jensen, author of "Conscious Footsteps," who describes becoming an "accidental author" by using writing and long walks to process intense life changes and consolidate his journals into a book structured as standalone "walks." They focus on Dion's central theme, "I am who I am, not what I do," shaped by being abruptly fired from a CEO role and realizing he had outsourced his worth to his job. Dion explores how "what do you do?" creates instant masks, bias, and power dynamics that block real human connection, and suggests asking disarming, deeper questions about who someone is. He reflects on hardship-driven ego death, and how he now leads with less outcome attachment, wider "guardrails," and greater softness, trust, and authenticity. 00:00 Welcome to Deep Work 00:39 Meet Dion Jensen 01:37 Why He Wrote 03:41 Core Theme Identity 06:05 Masks and Job Titles 12:28 Better Questions to Ask 15:46 Tell Me About You 18:50 From Ego to Love 20:55 I Am Poem Exercise 23:56 Leadership After Shift 26:05 Parting Advice and Links 27:13 Closing Invitation Instagram: @dionelliottjensen Web: www.consciousfootsteps.com [http://www.consciousfootsteps.com/] Amazon: https://www.amazon.com.au/stores/Dion-Elliott-Jensen/author/B0G3WJP22G?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true [https://www.amazon.com.au/stores/Dion-Elliott-Jensen/author/B0G3WJP22G?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true]

Time Billionaires: Reclaiming 90-Second Gaps for Happiness, Focus, and Agency with Rebecca Shaddix

Host Julie Harris Oliver interviews business leader and Time Billionaires podcast host Rebecca Shaddix on reclaiming 90-second to 15-minute gaps between meetings to reduce frantic context shifting and improve happiness, energy, and fulfillment. Shaddix describes how a COVID-era habit of replacing scrolling with tiny actions—like brief audiobook listening, pushups, breathing, or stepping outside—compounded into hundreds of books a year and a research-backed framework of six micro-moment categories (reflection/mindset, connection, movement, nature/sensory awareness, play/creativity, and gratitude/mindfulness). She emphasizes planning ahead via a weekly Friday reflection ("what went well, what didn't, what do I want more of") and focusing on a realistic "floor" rather than aspirational "ceiling" goals. They also discuss labeling meetings with a single intuitive word to clarify next steps and reduce lingering anxiety, and the broader theme of agency over time as a guardrail against resentment and burnout. 00:00 Welcome and Format 00:36 Meet Rebecca Shaddix 01:50 Time Billionaires Origin 03:35 Why Micro Gaps Matter 08:38 Nature Minutes Add Up 09:10 Plan Your Micro Moments 09:38 Six Micro Moment Categories 10:24 Tiny Creativity Reset 13:31 Balance Without Perfection 15:21 Micro Workouts Not Gyms 16:13 ADHD and Starting Small 18:35 Stop Self Blame 19:14 Floor Not Ceiling 20:13 Mindful Micro Moments 23:11 Gratitude Deep Dives 24:37 Mindfulness Anywhere 25:31 One Word Debriefs 31:06 Reclaim Time Agency 34:10 Closing And Invitation

Leading with Humanity in a Polarized, Fast-Changing World with Dr. Kim Stepanski

Julie Harris Oliver welcomes Dr. Kim Stepanski, an executive coach and organizational psychologist, to explore what leadership feels like right now amid rapid change, AI disruption, geopolitical volatility, and polarization. They discuss how leaders face loneliness, pressure to have answers, and the challenge of guiding teams whose perspectives are shaped by narrowing information "echo chambers." Kim emphasizes building capacity to see beyond one's own lens, getting comfortable with not knowing, and using reflection, connection, and community to stay grounded and humane. Julie shares practices such as acknowledging heaviness, simple meeting check-ins (e.g., green/yellow/red), and creating space for people to share what they're carrying without leaders needing to fix it. Kim describes using small experiments, grounding tools, and peer groups—especially for senior women—to build vulnerability, perspective-taking, and support, and closes with ways to connect with her online. 00:00 Welcome to Deep Work 00:33 Meet Kim Stepanski 02:17 Why Kim Chose Coaching 04:16 Leading Right Now 06:56 Filters and Echo Chambers 09:30 Simple Human Check Ins 12:26 Coaching Tools and Experiments 15:07 Practicing the Uncomfortable 15:53 Building Leader Community 20:37 Systems and Human Centered Work 26:42 Staying Grounded and Closing