The Power of Your Words

[Transcript]

00:03

Welcome to the Finding Gravitas podcast brought to you by Gravitas Detroit. Looking to become a more authentic leader. Finding Gravitas is the podcast for you. gravitas is the ultimate leadership quality that draws people in. It's an irresistible force encompassing all the traits of authentic leadership. Join your podcast host Jan Griffiths, that passionate rebellious farmer's daughter from Wales, entrepreneur, leadership coach, keynote speaker, one of the top 100 leading women in the automotive industry as she interviews some of the finest leadership minds in the quest for Gravitas.

Jan Griffiths: 00:50

It's a beautiful Sunday morning, in Birmingham, Michigan. There's a very light snowfall. It's a crisp Sunday morning, and I decided to go for a walk. And it was one of those walks. Normally my walks are very intentional, you know, I have a route that I follow. And I decided this morning to meander a little bit through the town. My ultimate destination was, of course, the coffee shop to get an oat milk latte, my new thing, but I wanted to be alone with my thoughts and reflect upon the week. And it made me think about the power of our words. This past week has been a milestone we celebrated the one year anniversary of the podcast. Now keep in mind that 18 months ago, I had no idea really what a podcast was. And now we have over 8000 downloads and 32 episodes. And very late on Thursday last week, I decided that we should have a podcast, first anniversary party. We all know in this pandemic world, we can't actually have a face to face party not like the launch party that we had a year ago. So I decided to have a zoom party. I really didn't put too much thought into it other than I firmly believe that we need to celebrate the good things in life much more than we do. And particularly now during a pandemic, when something good happens. We need to celebrate it and share that success. Not in a self promotional kind of way just to get some people together and say yes and recognize the milestone in life. We did it a few weeks ago when Brenda Meller published her first book, you know what an accomplishment. And particularly for women mothers, our daughters, and our children need to see us as successful role models, because remember, you can't become something if you can't see it. But I digress.

Jan Griffiths: 02:58

So I organized this party, and I threw out the invite on social media and really not much thought other than whoever would like to join us for a drink and a quick celebration. Great. Let's do it. And several people signed up. And it was great. It was nice to have an event, something to get dressed up for. We haven't done that in a long time. And I ran out to Party City and got some balloons and decked out the studio and promptly informed Dietrich and Gwen that it was happening. They're very, very supportive, and they tolerate a lot with me. And so the Party began, we had a bottle of champagne. And it was lovely. There were many faces on the call that I recognized. Some have been in my life for many, many years. Others are new, some of the people on the call just joined my group on the accountability call. And others I've known for decades now you've seen my journey and my transformation over all that time and it was lovely to have all the people together. Several people on that call said things like, Yes, you got to keep doing this.

Jan Griffiths: 04:10

Companies need this. Companies need you people need you leaders need you. We love what you're doing. And then a very kind and gracious offer from high level procurement leader who said you know what, I want to give back more this year, and I will do everything in my power to help you. I can't even begin to tell you the power those words and the effect that those words had on me in that moment to hear people say, keep doing what you're doing. People need you companies need you teams need you. There are times when I have doubts just like anybody else. And when you hear that positive affirmation from other people, it's tremendously powerful. So I speak to you, as humans, but also as leaders of teams in businesses. Don't ever underestimate the power of positive affirmation. Tell your team, I believe in you. Your mission is true, you're on the right path. Yes, I know there have been some bumps in the road. But keep doing what you're doing. These words have such power. There's another example.

Jan Griffiths: 05:42

And this is really more in the personal realm. I took two long walks yesterday. One was with a friend who I hadn't seen probably in about two or three years. And she's going through a difficult time, she's actually going through a divorce. And she was verbalizing some of the situations that she's been in during the marriage. And I remember doing this when I was going through my divorce many years ago. And it's one thing to acknowledge and think in your head about something that's going on in your life. But once you verbalize them, those words are so powerful. And for her, it was extremely therapeutic to be able to organize the thoughts and talk through it.

Jan Griffiths: 06:36

And again, from a leadership perspective, give people space to verbalize what they're thinking and feeling. It helps people organize their thoughts and then take action. When you verbalize a goal, and you hear it over and over, your unconscious brain continually hears it and goes into action to make it happen. The thoughts pop into your head, you see opportunities and people that can help you achieve your goal that you never saw before. And verbalization also helps you blow through those beliefs that you have those limiting beliefs that you have in your head that say that you can't do something. Words have such great power. And we should never forget that. These are the thoughts that came to me during my walk this morning. And I meandered through the town of Birmingham. I like the town because it reminds me of home. And it's a great time on a Sunday morning because stores are starting to open, people are starting to wake up there aren't too many people around. It's just something as a magic about that part of the day. But because it's a route that I know, I know the town, I'm able to walk through it without much conscious thought as to where I'm going. So my mind goes to a different place. And I'm able to access that more creative part of my brain. This is something that we have to take time to do. On Wednesday of this week, I'm going to release a podcast episode by David chestnut. I'm guessing you probably never heard of him. He is a creativity expert. And he says that a lot of these creative thoughts. You know, you've all heard about the fact that you think about these things in the shower, oh, I came up with that idea in the shower.

Jan Griffiths: 08:42

There's actually some science and some logic behind that when we're able to shut off our really conscious brain to a certain extent, and be in this space where everything is calm and quiet. And your subconscious is able to rise up and really peek through and start to talk. That's when the creative moments happen. And that's what happened to me this morning. And it made me realize how important it is to take time to go for a walk and just meander without an agenda without an intention. I never thought I would say that we often talk about being intentional and design your day have a plan and that's important. The in between times are also equally as important. Just let your brain meander and let the creativity come through. Have a great week.

09:46

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