Discover Your Pivot: How Strong Leaders Adapt to Any Situation

What happens when your entire world changes overnight?

In this profound and moving episode, Julie Brown shares how she found the strength to rebuild her life and leadership practice after the tragic loss of her husband and business partner, polar explorer Dixie Dansercoer.

Drawing on her new book, Discover Your Pivot: How Strong Leaders Can Adapt to Any Situation, Julie reveals how leaders can find stability in uncertainty — not by resisting change, but by learning how to pivot with purpose.

Together, we explore:

• Why pivoting is better than managing change
• How collaboration and teamwork sustain resilience
• Why strong leaders need a suitcase of options
• How to "innovate" grief and find meaning in adversity
• Why challenge is a privilege
• And why attention may be a leader’s most powerful skill

This conversation is about grief, resilience, and hope — and what it really means to lead when life takes an unexpected turn.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Episode Setup
• 1:49 Introducing Judy Brown And Her Book
• 3:26 Judy’s Path From Classroom To Poles
• 6:24 Remembering Dixie And His Legacy
• 10:00 Why Write Discover Your Pivot Now
• 11:16 Pivot vs Reality Management
• 12:47 Innovating Grief And Redefining Strength
• 16:00 Leading The Team After Loss
• 18:20 Applying Pivots In Organisations
• 20:43 Who Joins Adventure And Why
• 22:23 Networking Journeys In Nature
• 23:20 Keynotes, Workshops, Coaching, Writing
• 24:21 Training Tips: Take The Stairs
• 26:02 Language, Listening, And Clear Communication
• 28:03 Sleep, Fitness, And Mental Readiness
• 30:10 Mindfulness, Flow, And Focus
• 32:20 Perseverance And Human-Centred Leadership
• 34:05 One Big Takeaway On Embracing Change
• 35:10 Savoring What Comes Next
• 36:05 Offers, Links, And Closing
• 37:06 Teaser: Training Your Brain For AI

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

Welcome to Leading People with me, Jerry Murray. This is the podcast for leaders and HR decision makers who want to bring out the best in themselves and others. Every other week, I sit down with leading authors, researchers, and practitioners for deep dive conversations about the strategies, insights, and tools that drive personal and organizational success. And in between, I bring you one simple thing: short episodes that deliver practical insights and tips for immediate use. Whether you're here for useful tools or thought-provoking ideas, leading people is your guide to better leadership. What happens when your entire world changes overnight? How do you find the strength to rebuild not just your work but your sense of purpose and leadership? A few years ago, I reached out to invite a world-renowned polar explorer to join me on the podcast to talk about leadership. Sadly, that conversation never took place. But the story didn't end there. It has since evolved in remarkable ways, and today I'm joined by his partner in both life and adventure, Judy Brown, whose new book, Discover Your Pivot: How Strong Leaders Can Adapt to Any Situation captures the lessons she's learned about resilience, purpose, and self-leadership. In this profound and moving conversation, Judy explains why pivoting is better than managing change, why collaboration is the key, and why strong leaders need a suitcase of options. We also explore how she's learned to what she calls innovate grief, why she believes challenge is a privilege and how the ability to pay attention may be one of the most powerful leadership skills of all. It's a conversation about leading through adversity, finding meaning and loss, and redefining what it means to be strong. Curious? Let's join Julie. Julie Brown, welcome back to Leading People.

SPEAKER_01: 2:17

Thank you, Jerry. It's great to be back with you.

SPEAKER_02: 2:21

So, Julie, you've just published a new book, Discover Your Pivot, How Strong Leaders Can Adapt to Any Situation. But before we dive into the book, and so my listeners can get to know you better, especially those who haven't heard you on a previous episode of Leading People, how did you get to where you are today? What pivotal people, places, or moments shaped this journey?

SPEAKER_01: 2:46

Well, I was born in the United States in a time when uh things were quite uh uncertain in the in the 60s when when there was all sorts of social unrest happening. Uh and I think that that has shaped a big part of my life as I've moved forward. Uh, it makes me quite resilient, I think, and uh very uh slow to say that, for example, these times are so horrible. I have a lot of of uh perspective on that, I think. Uh almost 28 years ago I moved to Belgium. And in the time between being born and that move to Belgium, I led several professional lives. I was a school teacher. Uh, I taught history and English to uh 12 and 13-year-old students in Ohio. I was a flight attendant for an American airline and a Belgian airline, and so I traveled the world in a in a very uh what could have been considered a superficial manner, but I made the most of every trip and enjoyed the learning experience of that career. And then for the last almost 28 years, I've been working together with uh my husband Dixie on polar expeditions, organizing polar expeditions, and translating the skills necessary for polar expeditions, successful polar expeditions, uh, to corporate life and to professional life for people.

SPEAKER_02: 4:18

Yeah. And I must say the the English aspect uh comes out in the book. It's beautifully written. I know you had the natural flair. You mentioned the book at school, you had a natural flair for writing. So you you can for all the listeners out there, this is a beautiful book to to read. It flows really nicely, very prosaic, prosaic, and and so it worth worth getting a copy. So um you mentioned Dixie, and uh I think it's three years now since he passed away, sadly. Four, four four years.

SPEAKER_01: 4:52

Four, yeah. Yeah, I know, I know.

SPEAKER_02: 4:54

Time I know time goes. Um yeah. For our listeners, uh uh Dixie, uh Judy's a neighbour of mine, so we we knew each other quite well, and you dedicate the book to Dixie, Dixie Dansecourt, um, and in memory. And when you say at the at the beginning of the book, you encouraged me to pursue every dream. Here's one more. So, for the benefit of my listeners, perhaps explain who who Dixie was and how he shaped your world.

SPEAKER_01: 5:22

Well, as uh a human being, he was, in my humble opinion, a very unique person, in that he truly lived what he said in accomplishing anything he set out to do. Um he knew success, he knew failure. Uh he's one of those uh inspirational figures who quickly took failure uh and rewove that into a future success. He was an incredibly positive human being, um, but could also be uh quite hard on himself and at times also on teammates around him. His expectations were high. Uh he was uh my partner in life and in business. He was the father of our four kids. He gave me three stepchildren at our wedding, and we had one together. Um and he was somebody who was uh, I would say an adventurer in in many aspects, but his niche was polar exploration. And so Dixie spent over 30 years exploring literally all corners of the earth, uh particularly north and south. And we we lost him. We uh we lost him in June uh of 2021 during a relatively simple guiding expedition with a client, and uh there was an accident and he passed away in in Greenland.

SPEAKER_02: 6:50

Yeah, and um my memory is always that Dixie could light up the room with his smile. He had this brilliant presence when he would walk in. So it was uh always a pleasure to be around Dixie. So let's get into the book now. So why this book and why now?

SPEAKER_01: 7:08

Well, I've spent the last at the time of starting to write, it was three years. I had spent three years navigating this new pathway, uh, a pathway that was built for two. Uh if a couple is ambitious and sets out to accomplish things together, both professionally and personally, it means that uh you need all four hands of those two people to keep it going. And when two of those hands fall away physically, um I needed to find a way to continue on that path that meant a lot to me, uh, that was just as much my path as his. Uh, I think we were pretty equal partners in a lot of ways. And so I needed to learn. I needed to be humble, but that type of grief and loss makes a person very humble very quickly. And I like to think I always was a pretty humble person. So uh I learned how to take back life into footsteps, literal one for one each each moment of each day. Uh, I gave up what I call long-term planning for a short time uh and created what was very important to me, something I could do as Julie Brown.

SPEAKER_02: 8:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 8:30

Because authenticity is so necessary in this world, and there was no reason for me to try to be Dixie. No one could, and who would want to? Uh and so that I had under under my belt, I think, pretty early on. Um, and I also had uh four adult children looking at me and their partners, uh, and now two grandsons. So uh also Dixie's parents, Dixie's sister and her family. People were looking to me for some reason to keep it all together, and that's a wonderful motivating factor. The book was uh a sort of natural uh well, I don't know, natural, but I I love to write, and I hadn't really been able to write after Dixie died. It's it was too confrontational, I think. And so after three years, I was ready. Um, and from the time I decided to start writing, which was the end of August of last year, the deadline of the manuscript was January 2nd of this year. So it came out, once it got going, it came out pretty well. I think these sorts of circumstances allow us to decide either we're going to get through something very, very difficult with our head down and our blinders on, or we're going to share as we go. And collaboration is everything in this world right now. It's it's something that to me is the key to the success of our civilization. We can compete healthily with one another, help each other raise our bars, but collaboration is the key. And so sharing sometimes the difficult moments uh allows other people to see that they can get through tough times as well.

SPEAKER_02: 10:19

Yeah. And maybe you could say a little bit about the title, you know, Discover Your Pivot. I mean, what was it about the word pivot that drew you to this word? And you built the whole book around pivots. So just explain for the listeners what you mean by pivot and how you came to that title. On Leading People, the goal is to bring you cutting-edge thought leadership from many of the leading thinkers and practitioners in Leadership today. Each guest shares their insights, wisdom, and practical advice so we can all get better at bringing out the best in ourselves and others. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and share a link with friends, family, and colleagues. And stay informed by joining our Leading People LinkedIn community of HR leaders and talent professionals.

SPEAKER_01: 11:16

It's a beautiful word because in today's terminology we hear the words change management, which I have renamed reality management because that's what it is. Change for many people draws up a very uh strong fear emotion. But to me, a pivot is uh is a pole. There's a solid pole that we maneuver around. We can go this direction, we can go that direction. But the solidity of our values, the solidity of our experiences that have formed us and made us who we are, that never goes away. And so a pivot allows us to make effective change with a solid background behind us. It it's a beautiful term. Uh, people say, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Well, many people expected me after Dixie passed away, for example, which is just one of the pivots I talk about in the book. But after Dixie passed away, many people expected me to sell this house and move back to the United States, which seemed so strange to me because my my life was here. Our children were here, our business is here. Uh it made uh absolutely no sense to just give it all up. And uh and that word pivot kept coming back to me. I I know I I realized at the time I had to make radical changes, but I didn't have to throw everything away.

SPEAKER_02: 12:47

Yeah. And you you took, uh just let me refer to that one chapter in the book because it kind of jumps out at you. It's not the first chapter, it was one of the early middle chapters, the ultimate pivot you call innovating grief. What do you mean by innovating grief? For anybody out there who's experienced grief, what does Judy Brown mean by innovating grief?

SPEAKER_01: 13:10

The beauty of saying that is that I said it from the beginning of this experience, and even more today, I believe in it. I believe that grief in a bizarre way is a privilege because it means we loved deeply. And in this particular situation, I was so annoyed at how society perceived grief and how we were treated, especially a widow, the word widow. I'd like to eliminate that from every dictionary. Um, I understand that we want to place terminology on things, especially things that are difficult to understand. Uh, but Dixie was my husband. You know, we he didn't divorce me. And uh, so I talk about my late husband if people really need that context, but sometimes I still just say my husband. Um the the love and the and the dedication to one another did not end the day he died. In some ways, it probably strengthened or or or morphed into something uh, dare I say, eternal. It's just always going to be there, that love. But that doesn't mean that life here without him won't go on in a in another way in the physical realm that we all understand.

SPEAKER_02: 14:34

And so Yeah, you said my husband at the beginning of this uh conversation, actually. Um do you sense, do you sense, do you have a sense of his presence uh in the things you do?

SPEAKER_01: 14:47

And everything, in everything. Um but you knew him. The energy of Dixie, if if if anyone was going to crack that code of coming back or at least sharing with us that that beautiful um mystery, uh, it'll be him. He'll figure it out. But until that time, uh everything I still live in the same house. He was in uh the the children and I still share wonderful stories about him. Uh I'm not saying it's easy. Uh I'm not saying that grief should be uh pure joy, that not at all. But there are ways, there are tips and tricks to make it lighter at times, recognize it when it needs to be recognized, get it out, do the crying, do the do the sadness, do the anger, do all of that. Um, and then return to this beautiful thing called life that someone like Dixie doesn't have anymore. Uh, and so I feel I would say the word obligation to him, to my parents, to my brother, people I've lost, um, to live and live well and and and enjoy when I can.

SPEAKER_02: 16:00

Okay, so let's contextualize that now around the subtitle of the book, How Strong Leaders Can Adapt to Any Situation. Because people might be saying, what's the chapter on grief got to do with strong leaders? But one of the things I notice is this human aspect to being a leader that you try to really bring out through the book. So perhaps tell us about some of the other pivots that you've structured the book around and maybe explain, give some examples, how those are so meaningful to being a strong leader and being able to adapt to situations.

SPEAKER_01: 16:33

Well, the one thing that I had to decide rather quickly was would I keep our company going, yes or no, with our polar guiding team that Dixie had assembled and trained and uh and made into this amazing, amazing group of people. And that decision we as a group made together in less than I think it was two weeks, two, three weeks, that we just said, okay, we're going forward. And then the responsibility of leading without Dixie there to lead with me was um mysterious and at the same time familiar. I knew these guides, I trusted them implicitly, their dedication and their loyalty, especially after the situation of losing Dixie, because they all lost someone very important to them when he died. This made us as a team incredibly cohesive and I would dare say efficient. And I think that's a very important pivot for a leader. If we're talking in a professional context, uh if you're a good leader, a strong leader and a sustainable leader, your teams are going to go through ups and downs. And a strong leader is someone who can allow those down moments to not hold and drag, but to stir things up and shoot that team back out on the other side in some new fashion. You'll be holding on to the values you always had, but the behavior will change. The way of actually moving will change because perhaps you've lost a team member, perhaps there's been a restructuring, perhaps there's uh a directive that you can't ignore, that you have to start following. Change is constant. And those types of pivots mark a strong leader. A strong leader is not afraid of change. A strong leader has a sort of uh suitcase packed ready with alternative options. And if we don't know what to do, I think strong leaders say, I don't know yet. I'm working on that. Uh being honest, being forthright, um, and uh and keeping that passion as long as you can. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 19:01

Yeah, adaptability has been a theme of several of leading people episodes. And I work a lot with some tools around this myself in trying, you know, helping people understand their range of adaptability and how they respond to situations and whether or not the response that the you know their habitual response works across many situations. So it's a it's a fascinating area. As you say, the the challenge with this concept of change management is it's often presented as an event when it's not. I mean, it you you hear about change programs as though they're something and companies throw loads and loads of money at them, and yet actually a more useful way to frame the notion of change is that it's just a constant. Every day you are we do we cannot predict the future. We can anticipate, we can try to estimate, but we can't predict it. So we're we're always dealing with change every morning. We don't know what's going to happen next. So, you know, it's uh I I I thought that some of the messaging you had in the book is very, very powerful around this. And um, I I'm just wanted to explore a little bit because people out there might be going, okay, polar exploration, and I what what the hell, you know. And I was then had a question here about could you give us a flavor of how organizations are applying your insights about you know the pivots? But at the same time, I also thought maybe who goes on a polar or adventure expedition? Because it's not always to the polls, because I know you guys go to Switzerland up into the mountains, you do lots of stuff. So who typically, if anybody's listening out there going, is this for me, who typically goes on these these sort of adventures with with you and your company?

SPEAKER_01: 20:43

Well, first of all, it's very important for you to know that that expeditions are just one part of what I do. Um and the people who go on those expeditions tend to be people who are ready to explore something quite profound that takes them completely out of any recognizable comfort zone. Um the average age of people that we take is in their mid to late 40s. So it's usually people who have done the world travels, seen, seen, traveled, uh, experienced, and now they want to understand nature. They want to often, in recent times, understand the climate change that's going on. We only take these people in very small groups and under very strict parameters. Any travel is, of course, uh, I'm not going to greenwash, but we we truly do work under incredibly strict parameters in getting them there, getting them out of there, and meandering around in sensitive areas. Um but what we the niche that I've developed, especially in these last four years, is that my strength in our in our partnership was always the team building, the team work, uh, and more recently networking. And so we've developed networking trips, soft adventures, uh, and we call these trips in the footsteps of Dixie Dansercourt, where we bring together entrepreneurs and business leaders on a collaborative networking adventure. And we start with a very easy uh yet incredibly profound trip through Iceland. Um we don't stop even in Reykjavik. I have nothing against Reykjavik, but most people can travel there on their own. We have a local guide team who takes us immediately out into the wilderness. We have very comfortable refugios and a couple of nice hotels in and out. But the purpose of these trips is that we're together all day long and all night long in conditions that inspire and make us want to collaborate and share and trust one another and encourage one another. And uh business gets done out there. I have no problem with that. Um, it's networking for a reason, but I think the the personal enrichment is what really sticks with all of us.

SPEAKER_02: 23:13

And what else are you doing apart from obviously the the big polar stuff plus these softer exploration tours? What else is Julie doing?

SPEAKER_01: 23:25

Well, I continued what I actually ran for us uh all along, which is the corporate interventions. So I do keynote speeches, um, I do workshops, uh, I've developed two uh duo keynotes with uh new partners here, both on leadership and on resilience. Uh I am very, very, very proud to say that I've started coaching. Um, that was something I never really saw myself doing. Uh, but having had a uh time as a young woman as a tennis player, uh, I know the power of a good coach. And so I've started doing some coaching, uh not personal so much, but uh for leaders, uh business leaders, and uh writing. I think uh it's come out this first book, and uh and there's more to come.

SPEAKER_02: 24:19

Yeah. Okay, so i if we get to the final chapter, um you entitled that How to Pivot Training Tips. So please share some of these. Some of them are quite fascinating, just please share them with our listeners today. So, what are some that stand out for you and and how did you arrive at these and and how do you translate them into day-to-day activities? Listening to leading people with me, Jerry Murray. My guest this week is Judy Brown, author of Discover Your Pivot: How Strong Leaders Can Adapt to Any Situation. Coming up, Judy shares some simple yet powerful ways to train yourself to pivot. Practical habits that help you stay grounded, focused, and ready for whatever life throws your way.

SPEAKER_01: 25:19

Well, a couple, I mean, they're so simple, some of them, but uh one of the things you you and I had talked about uh taking the stairs. Uh it's it's such a simple concept. It's not mine. I can't own it. I don't even know uh where I probably absorbed it. But there's something about in a world that's moving so fast, if you're given the opportunity to take a motorized elevator or escalator to another area, or you can take a staircase, take the stairs. Um do your body a favor. Bodies today move way too little. Uh, probably myself included, I I find myself craving uh movement or a short walk even. But taking the stairs is also beyond the the physical uh benefits. There's a disciplinary mental click of, oh yes, I need to make the time to take the stairs, or I need to be in good enough shape to take the stairs. And it's a trigger that has for decades served me very, very well. Even when I was a flight attendant and in airports with those enormous deep uh uh escalators or uh long train tunnels, even some of those train tunnels and airports have a walkway accompanying it. Um, so it's it's a simple tip, but it was something that that meant enough to me to share it. Also, I talk about learning languages. I think uh there's not just standardized languages per culture or country, but there's business lingo as well. And it's very important for us to be able to communicate with as little barrier as possible among us. And so uh Belgium is the best example. You know, I moved to this country that didn't just have one new language, but it has three official languages and a bunch of dialects, and making the effort to learn particularly uh Dutch and French and the uh West Flemish dialect of my husband's parents, uh it's it's served me well. It's a lot of effort, and and uh I make a lot of mistakes still, but it's served me well.

SPEAKER_02: 27:38

Um I also I admire your ability. I think the first time I ever heard you speaking Flemish was in the post office, and I don't think we even knew each other at the time. Uh you were you were speaking and you're standing in the line and speaking Flemish. And I my own experience is that I can have certain basic conversations uh in Flemish. I understand a lot. As one friend said, you have a passive kinis uh very well. The the more important aspect of this is because we live in this kind of anglophonic, uh almost monocultural world, is if you really want to understand a culture and a people, the language is how they express that culture a lot and how they express their values and belief systems and their norms, etc. So actually making an effort is not just about displaying that I can speak something, it's actually about understanding, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01: 28:33

It's about understanding because to me, communication begins with listening and absorbing and digesting. And again, I sense that time is is has another meaning right now. I I think we may swerve back. I I not back, but I think we may evolve into a place where we allow people the time to take information in, digest, and then and then respond. Um but I I think that language today is something so vital. And our choice of words, um, particularly the perceived normalization of harsh words and and uh and anger. Uh people tend to feel that they can just say whatever they have on their mind with no filter, and that's not being authentic all the time. That's just sometimes being rude. It's it's okay for us to use our language with respect of its power and and how it will affect other people. Um, I talk a lot in the book about communication because communication has always been my role, uh, one of the roles that I filled uh at Polar Circles. And when when we're communicating to people. Who are out in a remote area on the ice, our words are so carefully chosen because the battery power on the phone is limited. Um, because they themselves may not be in a place where they're able to communicate very well. Um and it it just taught me so much about clear, effective communication. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 30:21

Yeah, and one other um training tip you've given, and I just like to touch on this one, is the physical and mental preparation. So talk to tell us a little bit about how you you process that and and what advice you give people who are listening.

SPEAKER_01: 30:43

I remember the first time someone talked to me about the importance of sleep. And and I was a relatively new biological mother. The other three kids were older, and I, of course, was in that phase where I wasn't going to be getting any real sleep for a while, and it it made a huge impact on me. Take it forward two decades later, and I see the impact of how sleep helps with physical preparation for anything we do. Because I was involved in rather extreme projects in the in the polar atmosphere, either on the ice, I was only on the ice for six weeks compared to Dixie almost four months, but there's something about preparing for such extreme situations that has been a gift for me in these last four years, especially. The physical preparation required just to live sometimes is is uh is intense. We we need to keep ourselves fit, we need to keep ourselves ready because we don't know what's coming. We absolutely don't know what's coming. And that physical preparation is directly, of course, linked to the mind. You know, it's it's one interconnected, beautiful mess. And so the mental strain that I sense that people feel today tells me that they're not they're not allowing the body and the mind to rejuvenate on a regular basis. And on polar expeditions, uh that's that's holy. They they have to stop at a certain time to be able to have a camp set up, a camp that will allow them to nourish, to rest, and rejuvenate. Now, sometimes on an expedition, the weather conditions are such that they keep pushing hard. When they do that, then it's up to the team behind, which was usually me and a few other people, to remind them, okay, you've pushed hard for two, three days, now it's time to stop and rejuvenate. Uh, one of the things that Dixie used and that I have used throughout my life is yoga. And in particular, for me, it's meditation. So I'm a firm believer in in the stretching aspect of yoga, the the unification of mind and body. I tend to get even more out of meditation and mindfulness. And those items feed the mental preparation for any large any large project, or even any small project. You know, we we wake up, we look around, we assess our conditions, we we see what the world is is throwing at us today. We decide whether or not to accept all of that in the first moments of our waking time, or we set up a structure that allows us to be able to allow life to filter in and to respond accordingly.

SPEAKER_02: 33:44

Yeah. Yeah, that resonates quite a lot. Uh I mean, I do a lot of work with people and they are going into stressful situations. And we I I like to explore what is the most useful state you uh need to be in to achieve what you're trying trying to achieve in that situation, and be able to become aware of when you're in those states. I mean, the ultimate state being the flow state, and being aware of when you're in those and how you get into those states. And if you need a certain state for what you need want to do next, and you're not there, how do you how do you get there? Because uh, you know, we've seen people very lots of talent who can do something repeatedly well, not do it very well because something's bothering them or they didn't get enough sleep or all these factors that come into play. So it's very, very useful advice and like yoga, mindfulness, meditation, it's just being able to stop really and pay attention to what's happening in your body and your mind.

SPEAKER_01: 34:46

That's it, attention. So for me, the number one, the number one, I I don't even doubt, I don't doubt it at all, is mindfulness. The idea that I'm sitting here right now, next to a window, and outside of that window is a beautiful, sunny, early summer day here in Belgium. Um, that I'm feeling well today, that that I'm seeing a face I really like and I feel safe in this interview with you. I'm I'm very aware of my surroundings. Um we're on a sort of virtual plane here, so the people listening can't smell my surroundings, but there's some basil uh that I have not too far away. I can actually smell it. Um, there are sensual triggers that keep me alert. Um, and these are the things that to me allow flow to begin its beautiful magical potion that allows for really strong accomplishments. But even the top athletes and and the Olympic champions, they don't achieve every day all day long. Um they they practice, they prepare, they nourish, they rest, they recover, uh, and they have themselves in a state that allows them, particularly surrounded by strong teammates and support, because none of us are in this alone. Um, but it allows them to achieve things that many of us say, wow, how how did they do that? Uh and so for me it's mindfulness, being aware. And uh I shared I shared a an anecdote that just shocked me recently. Uh on LinkedIn, I read a post where a person received a resume from a job applicant where one of their skills was listed as able to concentrate. What happened? That that is now a that's a marketable skill, I can concentrate. That says so much about this world where people are just constantly being pulled and and uh distracted. So to achieve really big goals, I believe mindfulness is key. And it sounds so simple, but perseverance. That idea that um like in my situation just uh which I I'm very happy to share, I'm four years into a a situation that is terrifying. I'm I'm operating without a safety net on the trapeze of life, you know. I'm I'm alone. I I'm choosing right now to to be uh without a partner uh because I'm still so connected to Dixie, I think. But that means that it's it's all it's all here, and and that could be just paralyzing uh in terror, but but I I'm very, very lucky. I have so much support around me. I have wonderful children and amazing friends and and family, and uh and so I think that that idea of prestation, of accomplishment, it's not just at work. Sometimes it's just everyday life. And that's what a leader needs to remind himself or herself of. The people working with you, you can say for you, but they're working with you. Um, these people are human beings, and and quite often they're going through something that they may not want to share at work. And so it means you have to be very mindful what's going on around you, who's who's falling a little bit behind, and why. Um, and quite often we can catch them in an early phase and help them. Sometimes we can't, sometimes, sometimes we can't, and we have to accept that too.

SPEAKER_02: 38:58

Okay. So coming to the end, and before everybody rushes off to update their CV or resume with concentration as a skill. What's well, who knows, eh? Who knows? What what's the one big idea or key takeaway that you'd like my listeners to leave with today if you haven't already expressed it?

SPEAKER_01: 39:24

It's it's life is so beautiful, and all of the challenges that we face are privileges. Uh it means you're alive, and it means you're in the game, and it means that you're you're there to do something. It means that you're needed. Um sometimes people feel very dispensable, and no one is dispensable. We need every single human being on this planet right now to do his or her best. And uh I think that uh I'd love to leave people with the idea that change is something that is to be embraced, even though it's not always comfortable. And please don't think I'm making light of some very heavy things we've talked about. Um I've gone through some of the most difficult moments I've ever had to in the last few years, and uh that doesn't make them easier, but it makes it uh an awareness that I'm still lucky, I'm still lucky to be here, and I have something to give. And I just want to remind everybody of that. Your your pivots mean that you're out there doing something, and it's probably something we really need. So uh I'd like to leave people with that.

SPEAKER_02: 40:37

Good. And the book itself is full of wonderful little anecdotes, and and this wonderful voice of Julie comes through all through the book. So uh go out and get yourself a copy, it's already available, and you have a chapter at the end of the book called Savoring It All. What are you planning to savor next?

SPEAKER_01: 40:59

Oh, so much. Uh, I think I'd like to start with just uh the coming months. Uh the coming months are are summer, so it's it's summer and then fall. You know, just I I want to enjoy some of this beautiful weather. I want to after the intensity of uh getting that book out, I'm ready to savor getting back into a little bit better routine for my own physical wellness. I have found myself moving a little bit less than I normally do, so just recalibrating that that fitness routine uh and spending time with my loved ones um uh and and writing. Yeah, savoring, savoring the opportunity to write.

SPEAKER_02: 41:45

Great. And finally, how can people get in touch with you? And is there anything special you'd like to offer them?

SPEAKER_01: 41:54

Well, if uh people would like to reach out to me on LinkedIn, uh, I'd like to offer uh a signed copy of my book uh to the first two people who reach out who heard this interview. Uh we also have our our website, which if there'll be show notes, is yes, there'll be links.

SPEAKER_02: 42:11

Links in the show notes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 42:13

Perfect, perfect. And I think for particularly for people who are looking at this in a professional context, uh it would be wonderful to meet you and your teams and be able to offer a little spark of something unexpected, uh a bit of inspiration, perhaps, uh bit of energy to accomplish the goals that uh you have in front of you.

SPEAKER_02: 42:37

So, as always, Julie, it's been inspirational chatting with you. And thanks for sharing your insights, tips, and wisdom with me and my listeners here today.

SPEAKER_01: 42:48

With pleasure, Jerry. Thank you for having me back. It's an honor.

SPEAKER_02: 42:54

Coming up on meeting people.

SPEAKER_00: 42:57

I think we're gonna start to see um teams of human AI performance psychology coaches in businesses actually helping people to understand their own brain and how to get this intelligence culture working so that people can get their brain working really well, understand how to use that AI and supercharge engagement, health, happiness, performance. Uh and I think you can create the world that everyone hopes for.

SPEAKER_02: 43:27

What if the biggest challenge in the AI era isn't the technology, it's our own brains. In my next episode, I speak with Dr. John Finn, founder of Tougher Minds and author of Train Your Brain for the AI Revolution. John explains why understanding how our brains actually work could be the ultimate key to thriving, not just surviving, in an AI-driven world. It's a fascinating and practical conversation that connects beautifully with the self-leadership themes we explored with Judy Brown, expanding the discussion into how we can train our brains to adapt and perform at their best in an age of constant change. You won't want to miss it. And remember, before our next full episode, there's another one simple thing episode waiting for you. A quick and actionable tip to help you lead and live better. Keep an eye out for it wherever you listen to this podcast. Until next time.