Joshua McNary [00:00:02]:
Hello and welcome to Intentional Change, the podcast for business owners and leaders who want to navigate growth, technology and transformation not by accident, but with intention. I'm your host Joshua McNary with my co host Sean Fitzgerald. We explore practical ideas and share insights to help you lead through change with clarity and confidence. Be sure to follow, share and and subscribe so you don't miss the next insight that could change how you think, lead and grow your business. Today on Intentional Change, we're joined by Lindsay Leahy, executive coach, USA Today best selling author and a trusted guide for leaders navigating what's next. Her clients often call her their business therapist and for good reason. Lindsay has a gift for helping people untangle complexity, reconnect with what matters, and move forward with clarity. Her debut book, Take It All Apart, challenges leaders to pause, examine their systems and stories that shape their work, and rebuild in ways that are more aligned, sustainable and true. It's not just a leadership book, it's a blueprint for transformation. Lindsay brings a rare combination of sharp insight and grounded empathy. In this conversation. We'll talk about growth through discomfort, the power of intentional transitions, and what it really takes to lead meaningful change. Lindsey, welcome to Intentional Change. We've been looking forward to having this conversation and I thank you for being here.
Lindsay Leahy [00:01:37]:
So good to be reconnected and I am very grateful to be here.
Joshua McNary [00:01:41]:
Yes, we've been business friends for a long time. I mean, when I moved back to the Midwest from the east coast back in the aughts, I think you were one of the first people I met in town here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. So I'm happy to have you here and introduce you to Sean, my co host.
Lindsay Leahy [00:01:58]:
It's been so fun to watch all the cool things that you're doing and I remember listening to you describe what you do for a living to me way back in the day. And then I listened to the episode that you guys hosted about you and your practice and what you're doing now. And it's just fun to listen to how it's evolved. And my husband walked by when I was listening your episode and he's like, who is that? That person is really smart.
Joshua McNary [00:02:23]:
Well, wow, this is an episode. We're talking to you, but that makes me feel good as we start this thing off today. And with that, because I'm introducing you to Sean and also our audience today, why don't you tell us about what you're doing and the awesome things that you're doing because you've evolved what you've done over the Years in an amazing way as well. So tell us about what you do and what drives you.
Lindsay Leahy [00:02:44]:
Sure. Thank you very much. So I would say I started my career in sales and have always had a passion for helping organizations become the best they can be. And long story short, in 2019, I started having dreams about Moses in the desert. And I thought that God was calling me into mission work of some kind. And my husband encouraged me, take some time off because you've been exploring and seeking something. What is this really that you want to do? And So I hired two coaches and promised that for 90 days, I would not commit to anything. And during that exploration journey, this word restoration kept coming up for me. And when I explored what that meant, it really was reflecting on my own career and leadership and life journey. Understand helping. I really had a desire to help people better understand their. Their identity and their intentions. So their unique gifts, their passions, the way they're wired, and then who are they trying to become and how do we create more alignment? Because in my own journey, there was a lot of cultural pressure or the way things people thought, the things people thought I should do, the way people thought I should be, that I needed to kind of take apart and then redesign for myself. And I wanted to help other people, individual leaders, teams and organizations do the same.
Joshua McNary [00:04:09]:
That's great. And we're going to talk about your book, which is by the same title there. Take it all apart here in a few moments as kind of a guide to our conversation today. But tell us a little bit more about your organization and kind of what you do day to day, and then maybe start leading into a little bit about what led to the book then.
Lindsay Leahy [00:04:30]:
Sure. So the restoration project was born. I'm the original founder, and really it was Joshua with that dream of I didn't have a business plan, it was more of a calling for me. I just want to help leaders, I want to help teams, I want to help organizations. So, as you all know, the pandemic changed everything. And I launched in November of 2019. And when the pandemic hit for a lot of people, that was a real time of trial for me. That is what helped build our practice because I had all these trusted people coming to me saying, I don't really get what you're doing, but I like you. And we're having. Having all these people problems. We have this amount of money. What could you do for us? And so the first three years really of our practice, my business partner Brooke joined shortly thereafter and then Sarah to help with some administrative and behind the scenes things. And our first three years were really built on customized, I would call it leadership and organizational development solutions. And through that opportunity to just explore, we really honed in on. We are really good at individual coaching. So helping people really understand how do I integrate life and work and leadership in a really meaningful way? And then we do that at a team level. What are we actually trying to do? Who are we trying to be in the doing? And then pull that back out to a whole organizational level. Like what is. How do we bring strategy, culture and leadership all together? So we've built programs, we call it the restoration process around this idea of kind of bringing people back to what is true and how do we live in alignment with where we want to go and who we want to be. So then in 2021, we're, you know, a few years into this thing and a publisher actually reached out to me. They had read some of my blog posts and said, hey, have you ever thought about writing a book? And it was about that time that we had been discussing how in our practice, we really didn't want to scale. We wanted to live good lives alongside doing meaningful work. And for us, that meant keeping our practice small, but we wanted to reach more people. And so the book became this idea of packaging up our coaching, our individual coaching process, and being able to present that to the world.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:06:57]:
Lindsay, what are some of the signs? So as someone is listening to you now, and what are the signs that they may be seeing in their business? Because I assume these are things that you gradually suddenly find are a problem. It's not like turning on a light switch. Are there, are there symptoms? Are there signs, are there behaviors that you find common in businesses that are starting to have problems?
Lindsay Leahy [00:07:23]:
Yes. And a lot of these come at different junctures. Right. So it's usually growth phases or stages. So right around the 50 employee mark. Right around that again, the 100 employee mark. Right again. Then around the 200. And it's, I would say what's happening inside of the business is it just doesn't feel good anymore. So we, we are maybe having decent outcomes or sometimes we've lost our momentum and we're really struggling to get things done. But for me and for the clients that I work best with, it's. I can't quite put a finger on it, but I know this just doesn't feel right. And we're not all aligned in spirit or the essence of what we're trying to do here, though maybe we are still getting the outcomes. And the other Thing I would say is it's those our practice aligns really well with those executives who see the organization as a platform for helping people live better lives. And so, again, there's that tension between we have work to do, and these are human beings. And at different points, those things come into conflict.
Joshua McNary [00:08:32]:
And.
Lindsay Leahy [00:08:32]:
And it's those executives that really want to wrestle with that, like, how do we achieve our goals and create profit alongside honoring people and doing this in a way that feels good and is good for all that really align with what we're trying to help.
Joshua McNary [00:08:47]:
Everything you're talking about here is umbrella by intention. I mean, this is intentional change podcast. You're talking about being intentional. It's so easy, though, as we grow, whether as individuals, as a business, as a community, to be led astray because things change, the circumstances change. It's different to have five employees than 100 employees, as you mentioned, those kind of landmarks as businesses evolve. And so this idea of finding ourselves somewhere maybe, that we didn't expect, even though we're trying to be wise about how we're taking the next step, I think is a big part of what your. Your whole philosophy is brought upon. So can you talk about maybe that idea of where. How we end up there? You know, why do we do that as humans? Like, what's going on there? And then we can get into maybe the corrective actions and things that I know you prescribe to your clients.
Lindsay Leahy [00:09:44]:
I mean, this happens to all of us at an individual level. And like you said, Joshua, at a team and an organizational level, when we're in growth mode and things are going well, we kind of go on autopilot. That's just who we are as human beings. And that's great. And like you said, oftentimes during those autopilot journeys, we end up in a different place or it doesn't feel the way that we thought that it would. So I have a company right now I'm working with. They have quadrupled in size in the last three years. And so that's a great thing, right, that any company that wants to grow, that's a great problem to have. But the same strategy, structure, systems, and culture don't fit where we are today. And it's taking those opportunities to reflect on, where are we now? What is actually happening? What are our needs? What are we? What issues are we facing? And let's slow down enough to recreate the foundation. That's what happened to me in my own leadership journey. I was very successful and climbing the ladder and making more Money and having more opportunity and more responsibility. And then one day I woke up and was just like, I don't feel. This doesn't feel good. I'm lonely. I'm on the road all the time. Um, and it, at that moment, whether that's you as an individual, your team, or your organization, we have an opportunity to keep pushing forward and kind of kill the spirit and the essence of who we are or what we're trying to do. Or we can have the courage to take that intentional step back and say, what is this trying to tell me? What am I actually feeling? What's really happening here? And let's evaluate what's working and what we need to keep doing more of. And then maybe what's not working, what we need to let go of or shift.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:11:35]:
When you are working with an executive and they're sensing these issues in their business, I would think that there's going to be one half of that equation which is going to be individual. It's going to be the problems that are happening with that executive in their own personal life, outside, or whatever is driving them. And then the other side of the equation is the team, which they can't really control. All the things that are happening with the individuals that, you know, outside things of that sort, do you find that you have to resolve one before the other, or do they work best when you're solving individual and team together? How do you balance those two different aspects?
Lindsay Leahy [00:12:18]:
Very insightful question, and one I have learned the answer to the very, very, very hard way.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:12:27]:
Yeah. Share, share. What did you learn?
Lindsay Leahy [00:12:30]:
It's so interesting how many CEOs, I will say, have brought me in thinking that it's a team issue or a team and them issue, but they want to focus on everyone else first. And when I have done that, it has created negative outcomes for everybody involved. So one of the prerequisites now, we kind of scare CEOs when they come to us to say, are you ready to look in the mirror? Are you ready to do the hard work and really get in touch with mind, body, soul, heart, what, where you're at, what's happening, what you want for the business, and when we can start there at the individual level and at the person that's at the very top and get really clear and really aligned and really reset and restored, then the rest of it kind of happens naturally because then we have a clear vision for strategy, culture and leadership without doing that inner work at the top first. What happens is we create a new vision at a different level and we get a team aligned to it, and then there's resistance because we have misalignments with that executive and that. Right. That's when Lindsey ends up having teams crying to her about, we've raised the bar of hope. Like, we want a different future, but we can't get the executives to align to that hopeful future. And I never want to put anyone in that position again.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:14:02]:
Do you ever find that you have to let people go or shuffle people around or rehire? I mean, if the vision's changing, the scope's changing expectations, changing the speed of how you work, that's changing. And the employees have to face that whether they like it or not. Do you find that sometimes the issue is you got to build a new team or some change, and you can't.
Joshua McNary [00:14:27]:
Usually let go of the CEO. Right. If they're the problem either. So that's a problem in this. In this scenario too, perhaps.
Lindsay Leahy [00:14:34]:
And that, that's. I think what our secret sauce is, is creating the really safe space for CEOs to be radically candid about where they're at and how they're feeling, and then create a no judgment zone. But how do we actually address this? So I have one that I've worked with now for four years, and he's ex military, and so that he has a certain style for his leadership and a certain culture that he wanted to create. And those were conflicting very regularly, especially when things are good, we're in a pretty good spot. But when things would start to break down or we weren't meeting our goals, this very militant, controlling part of him would come out. And I. And I have to have the courage to point out what's happening and how that's in opposition to the culture that we're trying to build and then reflect back to him, his options. Like, we can either stay the course and this is what's going to happen. Right. Or you can decide to shift your behavior and honor the commitment to this culture that we're trying to create? It's your business. It's up to you. And I can work either way, but it's kind of up to me to present those things back. And to your point, Joshua, like, yeah, I can't. I can't let him go. But I have been in scenarios where as the outside third party, I will say, if you make this choice, I feel like it's time for us to end our engagement, because then I'm out of my integrity. So I feel like my role is more of that intermediator, truth teller, and then let's really one. When we're courageous enough to get it all on the table and have really good, healthy conflict, we can find a way. But there's going to be compromise and sacrifice. And sometimes that is Lindsay saying, peace out, Good luck. When you're ready, I would love to re engage. Best of wishes to you.
Joshua McNary [00:16:33]:
So I want to get back to kind of how our listeners, individual listeners listening to this today can maybe use some of these skills that you're talking about using with your practice and use the book as a bit of a framework that. Because you have kind of different parts of the book to think about that. But before we actually dive into those sections, I want to ask, okay, what type of person? I mean, or what are some of the prerequisites that you would see in a person and maybe those that are listening to be ready to go down this journey of restoration that is represented, whether it be in your practice or in the. In the book. Taking it all apart. So, like, tell us maybe just what are there kind of a punch list of, like, here are the things I see in people that say, okay, they're ready to reset.
Lindsay Leahy [00:17:23]:
So two things come to mind. One is somebody who is really hungry to live out their full potential in this lifetime, right? There are some of us who just have that innate hunger to keep getting better, growth, mindset, forward, focus, have big dreams, big ideas that they have the discipline and courage to want to see lived out. Those are a natural fit. Then there are the rest of us, I would say, me included, who the discomfort of what has been and what I really want has gotten so intense that I can't do this anymore. I mean, I have so many executives that come in to my office and just say, I don't know what's happening, but what has been working is no longer working, and I need to figure this out. So I think the book is a really great place for people that are in that space. Right. And we all, hopefully, I mean, a lot of us. The reason I wrote the book is I read a book by Bronnie Ware called the Top Regret of the Dying. And it's the top regret is I wish I would have lived a life true to myself. And I don't want anyone dying with that regret because there are things we can do, and I also honor and respect that. Living an intentional life, as you two both know, takes a lot of courage. And it is messy and it is challenging, and there are times where it is exhausting. So I. I wrote the book for people like that, and it's not a book of answers. It's really a framework for inviting to listen to your own inner teacher and rediscover without all the cultural pressures and the noise of the world. What did you. What were you put here to do? What is on your heart to bring into the world? What unique gifts do you have and how do you want to see that lived out? And some. For some of us, the. The really scary part, Joshua and I know you've experienced this is you face resistance, distance in the culture, right? So the people around you as you start to pursue who you could really be and who you were called to be, the probably the people that have been around you in the society that surrounds us is not going to like that because they can't control you anymore and you're changing. And so there's that dichotomy too, where I sit in that space with people and say the more resistance you're facing is probably a sign that you're on exactly the right path. I'm sorry to tell you, you got to find new people, gotta find new spaces. But keep going. If this in here in your heart.
Joshua McNary [00:20:04]:
Feels good, okay, I want to kind of run through, broadly speaking, the sections of the book, because they're good. I have the index of the book up on my screen here right now just so I could kind of make sure we encompass it. So let's just go through the parts, the big parts of the book here in the next few minutes. So the part one, rebuilding Connection. So that's kind of what we've been discussing to this point, right? It's the idea of kind of naming it, recognizing your situation as an individual or in your business or whatever challenge you're facing, and then figuring out how to move forward off of that, which is kind of the next section, which we're going to love because it's got the word intention in it. But let's go ahead and talk about rebuilding connection first.
Lindsay Leahy [00:20:46]:
So the best way to sum this part up and where you know you are winning and ready to move forward on rebuilding connection is when you're no longer seeing, seeking external validation for what you're doing, but you're really listening inside to what feels right or for me, I'm a faithful person, so I bring my faith into that journey. But it is quieting noise externally and making time for silence and solitude and taking some really big quest important questions and rolling them around in your head, walking with them, journaling them, but really tapping back into who am I and what do I really want? And how am I feeling right now and what's going well and what isn't? A lot of us haven't been doing that because we're so focused on the external world. And, well, they say I'm doing a good job and I'm going to get a promotion, so I better keep doing these things. That was my own journey. And then that day that I was like, oh, this doesn't feel very good anymore, I had to start at the beginning of, who am I? What do I really want? Where am I? What. What matters? What doesn't? What does success look like for me? And reconnect with that deeper part of myself. So that's for my clients. I tell them, you know, you've mastered rebuilding connection when you have a practice that gets you to stop seeking external validation and start really using your inner internal radar about decision making.
Joshua McNary [00:22:13]:
Okay, well, let's get into part two, then, Restoring Intention, and we're on intentional change. So we love intention. And of course, as we noted earlier, all of these things are overarching with the word intention. But go ahead and explain what you meant in the book and kind of the framework that the book represents with regards to what restoring intention means.
Lindsay Leahy [00:22:36]:
This is the fun part, right, that a lot of us love to do is sitting down and thinking about, what do I really want? Who do I really want to be? How do I get there? Intention for me is really mapping out what's calling me. But I think the reason rebuilding connection in part one is so critical and that I wrote the book in these three parts is most of us set our intentions or our goals from a place of fear or superficiality. So part one is really to peel back all of those layers so that your restored, restored intention looks like setting goals and intentions and pursuing things from a place beyond fear and superficiality. Like, I don't. I don't need to do this. I want to do this. And I don't feel obligated to do these things. I feel motivated. In a prime example is one of my clients during COVID She decided that homeschooling her kids was going to be the best option for her and their family. She had a really successful career. Well, externally. Right. She was facing all kinds of resistance in that decision because it's so countercultural. And she had this successful career, and so we had to really get in tune with the motivation behind doing it and what outcomes she was looking for. And so some of the questions in Once we rebuilt connections, some of the questions in the restoring intention part of the book helped her get really clear and specific on what she wanted, why she wanted it, so that she could stay committed to the pursuit, regardless of the resistance that she was facing.
Joshua McNary [00:24:17]:
I love that idea of clearing the decks before you start planning the intentions. I think there's been times on this show where we kind of assume that, okay, we're coming from a clean place or from a proper place, but if you have that baggage dragging alongside of you while you're trying to make the intentions, you're going to be pushed astray, at least somewhat, you know, slightly off course maybe by that, by the extra weight on you.
Lindsay Leahy [00:24:45]:
Yes. And you know, Joshua, because I've seen you do this in your business. When our intentions are pure, we have a release from the outcome. Right. So I have to. This is a daily practice for me because control is my number one saboteur. So even with my clients, I have to be like, okay, my job is not to get them to an outcome. My job is to open up space for us to figure out where they want to go and how we're going to do this and allow it to unfold and emerge and happen the way that it should. And so that for me, it's always a feeling in my body. I know my intentions are pure when I am open and calm. And I have faith that this is going to work out just as it says supposed to. And that's a. A lot of us have never experienced that feeling before.
Joshua McNary [00:25:36]:
Okay, let's go ahead and get into part three, then, of the book. There's many chapters in each of these sections. We're just kind of breezing over them for the sake of the. Of the audio here today, but aligning action. So, okay, we. We reset the plan. We put some attention behind it. Now we gotta figure out how to actually take action.
Lindsay Leahy [00:25:56]:
Yeah, this. So writing this book, as you can imagine, this was the most boring, tedious part because I had to bring together a framework like, okay, now we've dug all these things up. You're a new person, you have new perspectives, new beliefs, there's new behaviors you want to incorporate. You have different ideas and dreams about who you want to be and how we need to live that out. That's all well and good, but it's a waste if we can't take action on it. And I think I took for granted that my strategic arrange. Your brain can perfectly see how to pull all those things together. So in the book, you'll find a framework for then putting in your new vision and a purpose statement and some new truths and Some non negotiables so that you can really align your beliefs and behaviors. Because that's the hardest part is we want something new. And you know, the most common example is diet and exercise. Like I want to lose weight. Well, there's certain beliefs that have to shift in you to enable that to be possible. And there's certain behaviors that have to shift in you to enable that to be possible. So that's really the framework in part three to help you put together. What do I need to focus on? Both internally that needs to continue to change things I say to myself, beliefs that I have about other people, and then externally, what are the steps that I need to stay focused on so that then this just becomes part of habit. And one example is for me personally, over the last three years, I realized my definition of success is to have more peace. Well, and Joshua, you know this like I was not living a life that was conducive to peace. So there was a lot of internal beliefs that had to shift for me to get to that space. And there were a lot of external actions like Lynn's. You can't have peace if you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off. There's some real behaviors that need to shift here. And so that framework will hopefully help you take all that you've learned through the book, put it in a plan. And I've had people say, I wrote that out. I use that template and then I put it up on my bathroom mirror so I can see it every day.
Joshua McNary [00:28:10]:
What I like about this general framework we're quickly going over today is you're putting things in the right order. I mean, so often we have the symptom of like being in chaos, as you were just talking about. Okay, that's. We'll see that. And then. Or maybe we're even. Okay, we see the chaos arc now. We need to reset our intention, but we don't go all the way down to like the actual base level and do that rebuilding connection part. So you've put the prescription is in the right order. You know, you're actually getting down to what is actually happening first, then figuring out, okay, how are we going to deal with that and then making the prescription at the end. Right. So that's. I like that. I kind of sense that as you were going through this, and I see it often in my own work in technology, it's like putting things in the right order. I know Sean and I have talked about this in his work, making sure we're thinking about things in the proper sequence. And it's so easy to kind of maybe latch on to that pain we're feeling in our actions and not actually ever be able to fix it because we're. It's superficial.
Lindsay Leahy [00:29:14]:
Yes. Thank you for pointing that out. I never thought about that before, but that was the intention is there's a lot that has to shift here. And to your point, it has to go in the right order or you won't get the outcome right. It'll just be a quick fix or a silver bullet that will never be sustainable. Thank you.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:29:35]:
One of the things that I've heard you say over and over again, and you said it real subtly and I just. I think that for. I want to come back to it because I think it's really important that you know when you're dealing with fear and because I've been in some situations where I've had to work with other partners and things of that sort, and there's issues that they bring in, which I always call the baggage that they bring to the equation. And I think one of the things that is really interesting about what you're saying versus what I experienced is that your recognizing that the problem exists, but recognizing it doesn't equate to solving it, fixing it, removing it. And. And I find that as I have talked with other people, especially through this podcast, that there's such an intention to spot the problem, fix the problem, move on. But fear, we've spent our entire life letting this fester and grow inside of us. And you can't remove something that you have been letting grow for years and decades. You can't resolve that in an hour or a year even. Sometimes it takes forever. And I think that the way that you position, which I think is really refreshing, is that you just need to spot it and acknowledge it. And then once you find out what your behavior is that you want to change, recognize that you've got to remind yourself. And you mentioned putting that sign on the mirror and I think that is so important and that that might be my takeaway because I was thinking, you know what? There's all these problems that I've been working with, but I keep them in my head and I never put them out there to remind me, like, oh yeah, there's that sign, I'm doing it again. And I fallen back into that trap. And I. And that. That I think is really, really fantastic. But one of the things that I wanted to ask you about as I'm. As I'm processing everything you're talking about is that, you know, as I was looking through your website, you have this really, what I think is really interesting worksheet called the courage to remove your armor. And as I was looking through that and the questions that you're asking and the introspection that's required, and then you move that introspection into action. One of the things that you mentioned in there is that you need to find someone who can support your journey. And I, as I was looking at, I'm thinking that's a really interesting question because sometimes the people we surround ourselves with are the problems or reinforce the bad behaviors and things of that sort. So to my point is, as you recognize you've got this problem and it's an individual issue that you're looking to resolve, not the team issue. And you're like, I've got a behavior plan that I think I want to do and I need to start reinforcing that. Talk to me a little bit about who do you turn to. To support who are those people who are not those people? What are some of those things that make someone better than other people? There's a lot in there I just. I realized. But so I'll serve that up on a plate and then you can talk to.
Lindsay Leahy [00:32:46]:
First of all, I want to commend Shawn what you said. Fear. Some of these internal things, they're not to be fixed. They're to. We have to learn how to cope. Right? We need to learn new ways of holding them, looking at them, processing them. One of the last chapters of rebuilding connection is surrender and release. And that is a practice that a lot of us need to. We don't want to face what we're feeling or face our fears because we don't know how to move through it. We don't know how to let it go. And so that is part of what we help people, that you have to learn that in order to be resilient. Otherwise you're going to be trying to control things all the time because you don't believe that if you let it go and let it evolve and emerge, you're going to have what it takes to move through it. And so allowing people to practice that in small and safe ways has been important. The. The courage to remove your armor piece and surrounding yourself with people. I recognize at the beginning it's very vulnerable because most of us are used to keeping our feet, fears and our feelings inside. And so I'll just share personally for me, the way that I was raised in some of the things that happened in my life journey. I Didn't trust anyone. And so I paid people, healers, therapists and coaches to be the safe place for me because I wasn't ready to expose some of those vulnerabilities to the people that were closest to me for fear of judgment or whatever that might be. And so I would encourage those. It's, it's wild to me these last two years how many conversations I have when I invite people to think about their network and who could be a safe place. They can't name somebody and sometimes that's our own stuff, but sometimes that's real. And so in, if you are in that position, I would encourage you to find a paid professional that you feel good, right? I'm like, I'm going to dump all this out here because I'm paying you to listen to me, so I don't care. And then once you get reps in doing that, then you can find you have a better radar for those people who I think the criteria is are going to be judgment free, they're going to allow you and they're. I really encourage people to find people who are not attached to, to the outcome. So sometimes the people closest to us, like you said, they're negatively reinforcing or helping us stay stuck in our pattern because they're a beneficiary of the pattern without even really knowing it. Right. A spouse or whatever, as you change your partner, that's kind of a scary space to be. And so sometimes that doesn't go the way you want it to go. So I would try to find somebody with a couple degrees of separation who maybe is out if you're a leader, somebody outside your organization that is not invested in the outcome of your organization naturally provides a better space for you to process some of those things. And it's been, for me, it's been the most unexpected. People like I have a 75 year old girlfriend who has become a really she. Because she doesn't care. She doesn't care. I mean she cares about me, but she doesn't have a vested interest in how my life goes. She doesn't even really understand what I do for a living. So I can say just about anything and she keeps it in the vault and there's no judgment and it's almost just more cathartic for I find my own answers in those spaces, you know, so that was probably a long answer but hopefully helpful for listeners.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:36:28]:
But I think it's important to talk about because you know, it's as a leader we don't let emotions in, but they Rule our world behind the scenes constantly. And I think that, you know, when Joshua and I had talked about starting the podcast, you know, we chose that intentional change because from my perspective is it's the fear of the unknown and it's the chaos that we deal with all the time, and we look at that as a negative. And I've always looked at those things as a positive. Of course they're stressful. But chaos, change, disruption, the unfamiliar, all of those things, to me, I've always viewed as opportunities to navigate. Of course, sometimes they go off the rails and hopefully you learn from it and fix it. But, you know, it's one of those things, and I think that's so refreshing about your perspective, is that you're challenging some of these things that we've always looked as negatives of. Embrace it, because it can be an opportunity to transcend in a way, you know, for us to evolve and adapt and change. And. And I.
Lindsay Leahy [00:37:36]:
That.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:37:37]:
I think that's something that we need to talk more and more about because.
Lindsay Leahy [00:37:39]:
We, you two will share, continue to share your perspective on that. That disruption is an opportunity. Right. It doesn't have to be feared that just flipping that single narrative in here and offering that perspective to people, challenging them to think differently, can be so powerful. So powerful. So I hope you will keep sharing that, because that is the truth and it can be kind of fun. It's like, well, we don't know what's going to happen. Let's try this out and see.
Joshua McNary [00:38:07]:
You know, I mean, the genesis of this podcast was basically Sean and I saying, what can we do together? What can we experiment and. And learn more about each other and learn from other people? And so we're trying to do that. Maybe again, not. It wasn't super intentional other than we wanted to do something, but I think that is in the. In the vein of what we just talked about, which is pretty cool. Okay. I think we probably could go on here for much, much longer, the trio here. But we are kind of coming down to the end of our planned time, so I'm going to go ahead and move into our closing questions that we like to ask everybody on the show. Lindsay. So the first is, what's one piece of advice you'd give to business people who are navigating uncertainty and trying to grow? And I think we just talked about that. That's usually what I say when I ask this question, but maybe try to summarize or give some nugget that you haven't already.
Lindsay Leahy [00:39:05]:
Well, it. It has to be a Divine thing that we had that conversation right before this question and that what I was going to share already was a quote from Wayne Dyer, which is have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing. That has been, I think, the secret for us at the restoration project. Right. We set out with some ideas and intentions, but we've let it evolve and let doors be open that we never could have anticipated. And, and that sitting in that space, as you two know, because you're doing it, allows you to see disruption as an opportunity or. And really not to perceive anything as failure, but just an opportunity to learn.
Joshua McNary [00:39:44]:
That's awesome. Thank you. Well, the second question maybe come at from a little different angle. It's similar, but maybe you can offer something from one of your coaches or the people you've learned from over the years. What's the best piece of advice you've ever received that stuck with you?
Lindsay Leahy [00:39:59]:
I have this in my email signature now for and on my mirror and anywhere else I can put it. But it is great things only happen with a light heart. When I first read that quote a couple years ago and my coach offered it to me, it made me mad because I am a kind of a serious driven person and I have been actively working with that and what is the spirit of that look and feel like? And I am so much more fun and free and at peace trying to do great things. But keep that light heart like openness, allowing things to emerge and evolve and unfold and just my energy feels better and I know that I'm bringing that into the world in a different way. So I was would say that was the best piece of advice. My coach shared that with me. Great things only happen with a light heart and that has been a game changer for me.
Joshua McNary [00:41:01]:
Those are both those quotes are great messages that we can take with us here and we appreciate your light heart as well as awesome ideas on the show today. So with that, I'd like to ask you to share a bit more about where people could find you with Restoration Project, the Take It All Apart book, et cetera.
Lindsay Leahy [00:41:21]:
Thank you. The hyphen restoration project.com is our website. Your leadership coaches is our social media handle. And then the book you can find@takeitallapartbook.com it's on Amazon and all the major platforms. But I would highly, highly, highly encourage you to purchase local from your local bookstore. The bookstore Swamp Fox in Marion, Iowa here has been an incredible part of us getting this book in the world. So please support your local bookstore. And then on September 9th the audiobook will be released. So if you're more of a listener, stay tuned.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:42:03]:
And Lindsay, if I can put a little plug in for you. I was looking through your YouTube channel, watching some of the videos and I would recommend for our listeners to go and check that out. The videos are short, very conversational, very relaxed, and I just found your style of bringing things up really refreshing and and you tackle some really interesting topics. So there I'm sure there'll be plenty for a lot of people to get into, but that was something I was really impressed with. The content on your YouTube channel I.
Lindsay Leahy [00:42:38]:
Thought was very Sean, that's a new endeavor for us, so I will let Molly know that we're doing a great job.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:42:44]:
Keep it going. It looks and sounds great.
Lindsay Leahy [00:42:46]:
Thank you so much.
Joshua McNary [00:42:49]:
Lindsey. Thanks for joining us today.
Lindsay Leahy [00:42:51]:
Thank you so much for having me. This has been awesome.
Joshua McNary [00:42:55]:
Thanks for listening to Intentional Change. If today's conversation sparks something within you, I hope you will apply it with purpose in your own business. I'd love to hear how our Intentional Change podcast is helping you make a difference in your business. To drop drop me a Note, please visit mcnarymarketing.com and click on the contact button in the top right. To contact Sean Fitzgerald, my co host, visit readytolevelup.com and one last thing, don't forget to subscribe and share this show with others in your network. Help us bring Intentional Change to every growing business. Until next time, I'm Joshua McNary. Bye now. Sam.