On The Shoulders Of Mighty Women: Honoring The Women That Came Before With Lesley Michaels

Something that surprises people more often than I would have ever dreamed is that I am an intense introvert. I put so much content and so many words, tapes of podcasts and what have you out into the world, or I'll speak to groups. People are shocked to find out that at the end of the day, I just want to go into a room where there's no one but— no oxygen but mine. And just relax.

Resilience. It's the unsung hero in every success story that you will ever hear about. And in times of massive change and disruption, the kind of rapid change that we're all experiencing as leaders, as business owners, as entrepreneurs, we have to learn how to not only increase our own resilience, but that of our teams. So right now, we have a powerful opportunity for you to find out just how resilient you are. Some years ago, my team and I created the Resilience assessment that more than 5,000 business leaders across the globe have taken. And all you have to do to get your own free resilience leader assessment is go to resiliencerank.com. It takes less than 3 minutes, and it's our gift to you for being the leader that you already are. Other free resources and tools will accompany your score instantly. So go to resiliencerank.com and find out just how resilient you are. Somebody once said that it's described as being a situational extrovert. I thought that was pretty cool, actually. It's the idea that when the moment arises to make a difference, to connect, to help someone or say something that might be helpful, then whatever we call it, the way we recapture our energy is less important than being a giver. I don't know how you—

That's right.

Think about it, but that was helpful to me to hear it in those terms. And I do think it's about energy, right? That when people are extroverts, they gain energy from being around a lot of other people. I know in my work as a keynote speaker, primarily resilience and mental health and work-life balance, things I give speeches on, people are always surprised, like you said, when I declare that when I'm looking to recapture my energy, to be resilient, to recover, to regenerate, I don't wanna be around other people. Mhmm. It's a solitary experience for me. Similar for you, right?

Absolutely. And I have to have it every day. It's what allows me to come in fresh the next day with an outwardly expressed passion for the passions that I carry inside of me all the time.

Yeah. Interesting. I love that choice of words. I always— you're a bit of a wordsmith, so I love the use of your language. And you have a book sitting right behind you, actually, a brand new book. That's out, or it's maybe not quite brand new.

Not brand new.

But it is a new bestseller and a book that I think many, many people have already heard of. But if they haven't, would you share just a little bit about this book? Because I think that's one of the things that you and I immediately connected on was that you had this passion that was inside of you to express certain things and that were related to your life experience, which has been very diverse. And also like a roller coaster, tremendous successes and, and some real challenges too. And you wanted to express all of that encapsulated into a book. And when we met, you didn't have a book and now you do. Would you tell us a little bit about this work?

It is the culmination of my life, but it also includes the lives of quite a few other women. Our trials, our challenges, our I mean, I'll just say it right out loud, the times I absolutely crashed and burned, and I wasn't sure there was even going to be any ash left to rise from, and how those became the moments that fed us. But in addition to that, it is a book written by women and for women, which doesn't mean men won't enjoy it. And I'm having a surprising number of men reach back to me and say, I loved this book. I bought it for my daughters. I bought it for my granddaughters. But it's a book that brings together a perspective of many different areas of women's lives and what they are addressed with and where the oppressions sit and the impact that they have. A lot of the books written by and for women address one topic, and I will never besmirch them. In fact, I have a whole bookshelf right over there full of them. But I wanted to come at it from a place of a broader picture, how one part of our life impacts this part of our life, and to not present such a compartmentalized perspective of women. And it also includes some really powerful, actionable practices that have been developed by me, that have been developed by some of the other women who contributed to the book, so that issues that are common to women, common to everyone, but more common to women— imposter syndrome,

Mm-hmm.

perfectionism syndrome, issues like this, there's a space where women can look at whatever the template is that they're being presented and realize that, oh, this was written for me. This was written by a woman for a woman. I can relate to this template. I can put this into practice in my life, and I feel that this can work for me.

Wow. The pace of change over the last couple of years has been rapid. And if you're a leader, a business owner, an entrepreneur, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Every day it's something different and something new. But the one thing that I've learned in performing at the height of all of those roles has been that we must be resilient. In fact, it's the unsung hero in every success story that you will ever hear about. And it's the reason why my team and I created the resilience assessment that more than 5,000 business leaders across the globe have taken. And all you have to do to get your own free resilient leader assessment is go to resiliencerank.com. It takes less than 3 minutes. And it's our gift to you for being the leader that you already are. Other free resources and tools will accompany your score instantly. So go to resiliencerank.com and find out just how resilient you are. On the Shoulders of Mighty Women.

On the Shoulders of Mighty Women.

That's the title. And I think in the day and age that we're living in right now, Women are more coming into their own than ever before?

Women want to come into their own more than they have in a very, very long time. Some of them are walking on very unsure legs. And it is my premise and the premise of a growing number of female leaders who I speak with on a daily basis that If we come together and we support each other, then we can in fact all rise as a collective. And you may know this, Adam, because you're a smart guy and you're always— every once in a while I think I'm going to surprise you, but you already got there. But the pop— women are 50.53% of the population. But to this day, we still only take in 33.372% of the national income. So as we come together, that among many other issues of female suppression or females being overlooked or being subjugated in some way can be addressed because we will have our numbers work with each other.

And the term for that is— am I getting this correct if I say gender equity is what describes that? the movement that would bring us into a harmony there, that there wouldn't be that disparity if there was gender equity. Am I correct in saying that?

Close.

Thank you. Please.

It isn't that gender equity is the movement. Gender equity is the goal.

It's the goal. So

this— It's the goal. And what I'm proposing, and Many other women. I'm finding them every day who have the same idea I did, but I didn't know them before. We didn't know each other. But what we are proposing is that as women form strategic alliance— and I'm finding that that term has been spreading around among us, and we're just now coming together and realizing it— as women come together in strategic alliance, just like the guys have had the secret handshake and the old boys network. Now, if women form strategic alliance, we can claim an actual power stage and help develop gender equity, which I got to say, it's going to benefit men, kids, society, our nation as a whole. It's not just for women.

Well, you know, I have married my much better half 30-plus years ago. I think after 30, we'll stop counting until the next big milestone. But we have 3 daughters as well as a son. And so, the world that you're describing, it's the world that I wish existed for my daughters today. But if it doesn't exist today, and it clearly doesn't, then my hope is that it isn't long in coming. And thanks to you and people that are doing the work that you're doing in the world, speaking about it, writing about it, sharing information with folks, I think there's more of a likelihood that that does happen more soon, more quickly.

Well, I trust so. And one of the things, of course, I love your family. And one of the things that I'm being so profoundly impacted by is that while we're not inviting them into our groups per se, we are finding more and more men standing up and being Quite vocal, quite proactive—

Allies.

In the quest for women's autonomy, for women's equity, for women's empowerment. And the more men speak up, then the more those men who oppose it are going to at least hear the words, even if they don't take a positive action on our behalf.

Yeah. Well, I mean, it's happening in places around the globe in different contexts, of course. And as you and I are recording this particular conversation, it's most notably happening in Iran. And women are, are absolutely standing in the ring of fire, just not metaphorically speaking, literally.

No, not metaphorically. Mm-hmm. So what is going on? in Iran is impressive. It is horrifying. Has me a bit verklempt even speaking of it. But these women know what they're risking when they go out on the street and they stand on the top of a building or the top of a car and they cut their hair very publicly. They know they will probably not come down off of that car alive. And the degree to which Being able to do that so that other women can live more freely compels them to make those stances. That type of action is what has for my entire life had me unapologetically in love with the female spirit and committed to supporting complete freedom of that spirit.

I'm so happy that we got to have our conversation today just to dive in a little bit, and I'm going to recommend people pick up a copy of On the Shoulders of Mighty Women. I'm sure there'll be additional volumes of it. And for those of you that have visited our show previously, you know that you'll be able to get the show notes on the website. You can leave a comment at adamarkel.com/podcast, comment for myself or comment for Leslie. Of course, we'd love it if you would share this conversation with others. If you know someone that might benefit from just These words, listening to Leslie share a little bit about herself, then please feel free to do that. Subscribe, leave a review. We love those five-star reviews, of course, and the comments more than anything are like oxygen to us. The feedback is everything. So we'd love to hear from you all. And how I want to close out this episode today is just thinking about this old TV show, and it's really old. I'm dating myself for sure, called Hill Street Blues. And Leslie, I don't know if you remember that show, kind of a police show based in— Of

course.

Yeah. And at the end of every episode, this sergeant who had the total sergeant's demeanor, kind of a rough and tough guy, as he was setting everybody, letting everybody depart into their day and start their very difficult work in the world, he would stop everybody for just a second And look out and say, hey, be careful out there. And it was a poignant moment. It was a sort of uncharacteristic sensitivity, especially from somebody in the role that he was playing, this very macho, masculine role.

Mm-hmm.

I just feel like in the world that we're living in right now, where we don't have to go to Iran to find that men and women are being courageous and standing up and being heard and where there's risk, involved in that, in that, taking those stances, including for people like you, Leslie, and for me, I suppose, as well, that we should be careful of. Be alert, be careful. And we're with you. So Leslie, thank you again for being a guest today.

Thank you, Adam.

Wow. Wow. Leslie Michaels. She is a powerhouse feminist, amazing woman, just an amazing human. And I love the book that she's written, On the Shoulders of Mighty Women, because I think we all stand on the shoulders of other people, the people that have come before us. And in her particular case, she is really honoring those women before her that helped her to do the work she's doing in the world right now, that set the stage for her and for other women who are doing their work in the world, are helping others, are living powerful lives and lives that are not free Even to this day, and especially in this day, they are not free from discrimination. They're not free from all sorts of things that are impeding their freedom and are, in fact, in many ways, disempowering young women and older women alike in ways that we didn't think, I think, were still possible. And yet it is happening around us, and we witness it. And as a father of 3 daughters and husband of more than 30 years. This is a cause that I feel so strongly about. I more than anything want to see Leslie Michaels, her message, and women like Leslie who are out there really doing something, starting conversations, using activism as a way to bring about new awareness, bring about change, because the process of life is an evolution. Doesn't mean we're always gonna get things right. Doesn't mean we're always doing things right, but we have this capacity as human beings to evolve, to grow, to improve, to change. And ultimately, our message is one of that in the process of that, which is difficult and sometimes extremely difficult, like today, excruciatingly so for many, we have to be resilient so that we can stay the course, so that we can move forward and be able to create a better world for those that come after us. So On the Shoulders of Mighty Women is just a wonderful book written by a wonderful person and a wonderful interview today with Leslie Michaels. I know I learned a lot. I know you will as well. So enjoy this conversation. Share it with others who you think might benefit, of course, and let us know your thoughts, your comments. Leave a comment at adamarkel.com/podcast. Leave a review. Those 5-star reviews are lovely, and we so appreciate you taking the time to do that as well.

Thanks for listening, everyone. We hope you now have even more tools and greater insights to build resilience and become change Help us inspire others by sharing this episode and leaving your comments over at adammarkel.com/podcast. For more resilience tips and strategies, including support for building change-proof teams, visit adammarkel.com/becomechangeproof.