A Call to Leaders for More Connections

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How are you? Welcome to the Leadership is Feminine podcast. I'm Chris Plecki, and I'm your host. And I am still in Hawaii, having a wonderful January. Just finished my retreat. I don't even know what number this is. I should probably go back and count. But as you have heard me say, I've been doing these since 2012, and so sometimes I did up to four in a year. So I've had a lot of time in this journey. And I can honestly say every single retreat is just simply magic. And the women who come all just fall in love with each other. It's just delicious. I'm so grateful I've said this before to my past self for making this decision and sticking with it. Even in the years that only, you know, three people came, sometimes nobody would sign up and I would cancel it. I would still do it again. This vision, this dream never let go of me. And I'm just so grateful that it didn't, because women who come change their lives. They transform their lives. And I will take and accept credit for creating this vessel, this kind of container, this journey that they take with me. But the transformation is all on them. It is a choice they make. But there really is something so magical about this place. It's just delicious. That's all I got. Okay, so on the heels of that, this podcast is. Is really twofold. So I. I know that a lot of people ask me on a regular basis, kind of like about team and team meetings and getting together with teams and how do I build more, better team connections. And, you know, over the past five years, right, we've just become such a. So much more of a digital society, a digital culture. And that's also true in business. And there is a lot about digital connection communication that is valuable, especially with people and talent, really the talent we need all over the world. So I have nothing against digital connection and communication. However, one of the things that I do find to be true is nothing replaces in person.

Connection. Nothing. Nothing replaces it. And for those of you, I'll just invite you to think about even your family, right? So if you have parents, siblings, children, your best girlfriend, your cousins that you love, like, sure, we text each other, we send each other stupid things from Instagram. We may even FaceTime. And even if we FaceTime a lot, nothing feels better than when we're in the room with the people we adore, right?

And nothing feels better than someone you respect, you appreciate, you value when they look at you in your eye, like, really, when they reach out and Touch your arm when they give you a hug, when they touch the. Touch your back.

When they smile at you and invite you and welcome you into wherever they are. There's just nothing that replaces that.

And I've been leading people.

Teams, employees, and now clients, really. Right. I consider myself in that sort of a space, that kind of a role with them.

And I can tell you the same thing is now true. Like, when I get to see a client that I haven't ever met in person, in person, I move to tears. And so are they. It's like irreplaceable. We're human beings. And so as you think about. So for you, as a leader, I want you to think about this as a team leader. Like, if you run a virtual environment, I really want you to consider that there is tremendous value in pulling people together periodically in a room. It doesn't matter what the room is. It doesn't matter what the agenda is. It doesn't matter what the. It doesn't matter. Bring people together, talk about relevant things.

Share ideas, eat some food, have some laughs, connect. It is through that connection that we are able to transform, I mean, I'm gonna say the world. Even in your little pocket of it. When someone who works with and for you has the opportunity to spend time with you in the reals, in real life.

It changes them.

It changes their connection to you and to the work they do and to the mission and vision of the business. It changes them. It changes you when you have the opportunity to be with them and see them in person and experience them and read their energy. Even though I know many of you would say, I don't know how to do that, it doesn't matter. You are doing it. All humans do it.

All humans are connecting on all those levels, and leadership is understanding that it's all of it. You cannot just hire people to get tasks done. You are hiring and engaging and inviting people's hearts, people's minds, people's energy, and people's hands to a vision. I feel quite compelled at this juncture.

With everything that I'm experiencing, given the changes that have happened here in this country.

I have been in Hawaii for almost three weeks. I have been with my clients this past weekend, which was heaven. But a lot of the time I've been here, I was alone. And a lot of the time that I'm at home, I'm alone because all of the work, with limited exception that I do, is virtual. And my husband and I, you know, to be quite honest and vulnerable with you, have had quite A few conversations about this because he goes to work and he has an office and he sees patients all day.

I am home and I have dogs, and occasionally I have a kid who's there. But we live in an area where.

For whatever reason, and I. I try really hard not to slip down a lot of slippery slopes. Any of the friendships I might have had over the past.

20 years raising children.

They'Re gone.

But I still live in the same place.

And so I recognize who I am, and who I am is a woman who also wants, in person, energetic connection. And I also know that I am a woman who is very good at that.

That I can help my clients heal.

Learn.

Transform, tap into wisdom, see and understand in a way that I believe is diminished.

On a zoom call. Does a zoom call work? Yes.

Is it better in person? Yes.

And we're at a time, I believe that we have got, as women, as women who are sensitive to a lot of things that could be happening or feel like they're happening right now. I believe we need to be together.

We need to be with people who hold us in trust and insecurity and in validation and in love and in commitment to improvement and chasing the dream, making it happen.

Finding the channel to go and achieve it. So for all of us, this is like a casual.

Invitation to evaluate my words. Not just from the vantage point of you being a leader and bringing team members in, but I also want you to think about you being leaders and wondering and thinking about how much time do your team members have being alone and does that impact them.

In a world where loneliness is literally a health crisis?

Does it affect you? Because there's a few of you I know listening to this, where you're like, no, please don't make me be with people. I get that. I really do. I'm much less of an extrovert than I used to be.

But I am an extrovert.

And I do. I recognize now. I've spent. I've spent too much time building a business.

That is spot focused on digital connection for obvious reasons. It's obviously way easier.

So as I've been here in Hawaii and obviously just had this retreat, I actually went on a retreat myself, which I mentioned in the past podcast, which I loved. I recognize now I am going to build more.

Opportunity for us to work together in person. And, you know, there are very considerable objections to that. And I can hear them already. I can't. I can't leave. I can't be gone from my team that long. I can't. I can't pay for that, or I don't have anybody take care of my kids, or I don't have, like, I can hear it all and I understand it all. But I'll also tell you, when people sign up to do digital live, digital training with me or coaching with me, right on Zoom.

They don't show up there. They sign in, they turn off their camera.

They sign in. I can tell they're on. They actually literally pick up their phone and have a conversation on their cell phone while they're on a Zoom call. They don't come, they sign up, but they don't show up. So I don't actually think that offering things digitally is somehow making things easier. And in some ways, I think it's kind of like when you sign up for the gym and you keep paying the dues, but you don't really go. It's like that. It sort of satiates that you need to get into shape. So you sign up for the gym, but you don't really go to the gym. Right. I think we all can relate to that. And so what I know is if I get to be in a room with you, with your attention for four days, I know what will happen.

I know that you will experience transformation. I know that you will find solutions to your problems. I know that you will experience a level of validation and confirmation that you are doing the very best you can. I know that you will know that you are not alone as a woman leading her business. And I know that you will tap into a level of wisdom that's. That's just in the room that you would never get on a Zoom call. And so I'm taking a really big risk because I'm rolling out a new program called the Sages Pathway.

And I'm going to do it in person, I'm going to do it live.

And it will be at least four days for working out the agenda now.

And I'm really excited about it. And I'm also really nervous because.

There'S a lot of people who have a lot of reasons why they would prefer things to be digital. But I would really ask you.

When you invest in something that you.

Get digitally, how much time do you really give to it?

And what's the investment worth to you? Because it would cost the same.

To do it digitally on Zoom, or to come and be in person. Aside from your travel.

What'S it worth? What is it worth for you to solve these challenges that you're having in your business? As a woman.

As a leader.

What would it be worth to you not to take that into this year with you to find.

Some of the answers you've been looking for? Would it be worth four days?

I want you to ask the same thing about team meetings. If you don't regularly bring people together in person, it's expensive. I understand that. But what would it be worth.

To have people know one another at another level? To have people know you at another level, to. For you to know people at another level?

How might that change the trajectory of your results, your connection, the commitment that people have?

There's something happens when you look at people in the eye, and I'll tell you what. Sometimes it tells you exactly what you have been able to pick up on virtually, but you haven't been able to put your finger on. You meet them in person. It's like, oh.

There it is. Now I know why this person hasn't been working out. I know you know that. So think about it. We're in a swirl. Everybody knows that.

Everybody's in a swirl for different reasons. It's just that time of year. It's just that time of the world. I don't. I feel like we're in a cycle and I know it's going to be okay. I really do know that.

But I do think we've been in a Covid fog and we're trying to find our footing. And as leaders, we're trying to find how we can sort of reset those expectations and really attract people who are committed and focused and, you know, start to separate from quiet quitting and text quitting and people who have a lot of reasons why they can't perform. And I can tell you the flip side of that is there's a lot of employees, a lot of team members who are also looking to work for leaders who are committed to helping them, who want to help them be better, who want to teach them, engage them, pay them, invest in them. That's the bridge I would love to help everybody cross. Because we don't just have a leadership issue and we also don't just have an employee issue. We have a problem all around.

And I do believe a lot of this has been stimulated by our lack of.

Active, like real ecosystems. We've just had these. I am.

Microsoft Teams slack.

Right? And it. I don't know, I think we can do better. So I'm going to take this risk and I'm going to invite women who want to.

Learn how and be coached through the process of developing the leaders who will lead and manage their businesses for them. We're going to do that in person, we're going to do that live, and we'll probably do it in March. So if you aren't on my, you know, subscriber list and you want to know more, I recommend always that you go to the visionary CEO and opt in. Right now we have a free opt in. It's called the Next step and it is focused on developing leaders to lead your business. And then you will be on the list and you'll probably be invited even to be on the wait list, which could work to your advantage from a pricing perspective. But all this is also to say I think that there's a lot of really talented people who are wanting to do a really good job.

Who are isolated and the isolation is not serving them and therefore they're not giving you their best work. And more connection isn't going to hurt anybody.

Especially because we're human beings and we are a high touch species. So that is my invitation to you today is to consider if that might be something for you to look into for your business and your team.

And also for you.

Because I know taking four days out of your life to come be in a room with women who are eager to be better, to invest in themselves, to connect, not to vent, not to complain. We don't do that. But to seriously strive to move beyond some of the challenges that have plagued them as leaders of their business. I want you to think about being in that room, being held, being seen, being honored, being cared for, and also being pushed and challenged to reconsider the limits that you've placed on that. So.

That sounds good to you. There might be an opportunity real soon here for us to share the room together.

Thanks for tuning in.

Sa.