Courage to Learn: Leading Beyond Your Comfort Zone

VIDEO (Audiogram) VERSION Are you learning, or just choosing opportunities that prove you’re already good? Explore how experienced leaders can grow beyond familiar answers with Lesley Southwick-Trask and Maureen Metcalf. You’re expected to lead change, inspire innovation, and have the answers. But developing your own leadership means entering situations where you feel uncertain, awkward, or inexperienced. In this archival episode, cultural anthropologist and leadership strategist Lesley Southwick-Trask shares stories of unconventional leaership learning, and the resistance that often comes before a new perspective. IN THIS CONVERSATION: • Why knowing good leadership practices doesn’t mean we apply them. • How acting helped soldiers communicate difficult experiences. • Why accomplished professionals choose easy training where they expect to succeed. • How approaching a problem with a scientist’s curiosity opens room to experiment. • What Maureen learned from improv—and an unforgettable blowtorch performance. • How Lesley’s Camino journey illustrates taking the next step before knowing the destination. Whether you’re leading an organizational transformation, stepping into a bigger role, or considering your next chapter, this conversation invites you to examine where familiarity may be limiting your development. A QUESTION FOR YOU: When did an experience outside your expertise change how you approached your work? Share your story in the comments. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, organizational change, and developing your capacity to meet unfamiliar challenges. ARCHIVE NOTE This interview was recorded in 2016 and has been edited for reissue. Personal circumstances and organizational references reflect the time of recording. Other episodes you'll enjoy: A Dozen Lessons Learned Running Dunkin’ Donuts with Robert Rosenberg When Women Lead: Courage, Change, & Representation with Joyce Beatty How Purpose-Driven Women Redefine What It Means to Lead with Karen Longman For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. RESOURCES: Learn more about Lesley’s work with Bounce Beyond at https://www.bouncebeyond.global/. Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here. Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ. Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here. ----------------------- OUR PODCAST TEAM: Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan Booking Producer: Jenna Reik Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay. CONNECT WITH US: YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! ----------------------- About Our Guest: Lesley Southwick-Trask is a cultural anthropologist and strategist whose career spans transformation initiatives in more than 500 organizations. She is Co-Lead Steward of Bounce Beyond, where her work focuses on systemic transformation, communication, and engagement. Her approach draws on systems change and Theory U. An author of three books, she has been recognized among Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women and Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEOs. From 2010 to 2020, she hosted a regenerative farm and intentional community on the Portuguese Camino de Santiago,an experience that continues to inform her work. #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipMindset #Unconventional #ExecutiveLeadership #ExperientialLearning #InnovatingLeadership