Potent with Steven Lawson Steven Lawson

What’s stopping you from returning to the truest version of yourself?
On today’s episode of Potent, Steven is joined by Kelly Wendorf, founder and CEO of EQUUS, as they talk about rewilding, authenticity, and integrating nature-based experiences for personal and professional development, along with the challenges of finding belonging beyond societal labels, specifically presence, and self-awareness. Throughout the episode, the two also discuss embracing wisdom traditions, opening up to new perspectives, and optimizing personal growth through connection with oneself and nature.
About Today's Guest
Kelly Wendorf, Founding CEO of EQUUS, a leadership development firm, is an author, a socially responsible entrepreneur, disruptor, and expert in the art form of taking people through transformative change and onto meaningful levels of success, purpose, and profound fulfillment. She has been assisting her clients to navigate transformation for over 30 years, and in so doing has extensively researched this question: what conditions need to be created to allow people to live a life of deep authenticity, freedom, and joy? Having also experienced numerous tectonic shifts in her own life, she intimately knows the landscape of metamorphosis and transformative change. She has been called a corporate shaman and a CEO whisperer. Her work has been featured in Forbes, VOGUE, Huffington Post, and The New York Times. Her latest book Flying Lead Change – 56 Million Years of Wisdom for Leading and Living published by Sounds True, invites us to look to the evolutionary intelligence of nature, and nature-based wisdom to meet the challenges we face today. She works inside a spectrum of clientele – from Amazon to Microsoft to some of the most underserved communities. She serves her clients from all over the world remotely and also in person, alongside her talented co-facilitators––a herd of eight equines––on her small ranch just outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. 
***Save 50% off Kelly's book "Flying Lead Change" by entering MONKMANUAL50 at checkout.
https://kellywendorf.com/
https://www.equusinspired.com/
Instagram: @EQUUSinspired
LinkedIn @ Kelly Wendorf or @EQUUS
Facebook: @EQUUSinspired
Show Notes
00:00 Intro
02:52 What is Rewilding?
11:28 From Corporate to Coaching with Horses
27:28 Navigating Spirituality and Business
38:12 The Essence of Presence and Overcoming Categorization
44:00 The Power of Presence
54:43 The Essence of Presence in Equine Principles
01:06:21 Practical Tips for Cultivating Presence
01:09:22 Rapid Fire Questions: Insights and Advice
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The Potent Podcast is produced and edited by Justin Sinclair, who also composed the theme music. Additional editing support and mixing by Aaron Feeney.
This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more intentional with your time and energy - please visit monkmanual.com.

Why isn't your life making sense, and how do you fix it?
On today’s episode of Potent, Steven is joined by Andy Hickman, founder of hēl, as they discuss the coaching practice’s core principles for achieving wholeness and alignment by reconnecting with physical senses and innate sensibilities. The two emphasize the importance of moving beyond abstract thought to nurture mental, emotional, and action-oriented aspects collectively, along with highlighting the significance of reflection, writing, and surrounding oneself with an inspiring community for personal growth and creativity.
About Today's Guest
Andy is the head coach and founder of hēl, a high-touch coaching practice that helps creators cultivate their spirituality through the reorganization of their physical senses. Interviewed by the David Allen Company® for his groundbreaking research on the connections between medieval philosophy and modern project management, he's been invited to speak for members of the U.S. Congress, Business leaders at organizations like FOCUS and Ernst & Young, and numerous popular podcasts.
https://hel.co/
Show Notes
01:55 Intro
02:22 What is hēl?
05:23 Experience of mental breakdown that led to hēl?
08:11 What's the way out of stress?
12:35 Productivity- not an isolated problem
15:53 We think of thinking as abstract
20:57 Ruminating takes energy
25:22 Practical advice to get moving?
33:53 The problem you think, probably isn't
38:32 Importance of pausing
44:59 "Rhythm" instead of schedule
53:05 1-year program
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The Potent Podcast is produced and edited by Justin Sinclair, who also composed the theme music. Additional editing support and mixing by Aaron Feeney.
This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more intentional with your time and energy - please visit monkmanual.com.

How can you make discomfort work for, rather than against you?
On today's episode of Potent, Steven Lawson and Shannon Huffman Polson, founder of The Grit Institute, explore the transformational power of grit, and how you can build grit in your own life to live into a deeper potential through moving towards rather than away from discomfort, change, and difficulty.  Uncover how discomfort, service, and challenging experiences pave the way for transformation and a more purposeful existence.
About Today's Guest
Shannon Huffman Polson is the author of The Grit Factor: Courage,Resilience and Leadership in the Most Male Dominated Organization in the World, as well as the memoir North of Hope. She is the founder of The Grit Institute, a leadership institute committed to whole leader development, and host of The Grit Factor podcast. Polson also teaches on the faculty of the Tuck School's Leadership and Strategic Initiative Executive Education Program.
As one of the first women to fly the Apache helicopter in the U.S. Army, leading line units on three continents, Polson combines her passion and firsthand experience in and study of leadership, grit, purpose and story to address the needs of her clients in the face of challenge and change with world-class keynotes and executive education.
After serving for a decade in the armed services, Polson earned her MBA at the Tuck School at Dartmouth, and later her MFA. She went on to lead outstanding teams in the corporate world in the medical device industry and at
Microsoft. As a community leader, Polson successfully envisioned, founded and led the completion of a $6.5M new library and civic center.
Polson has a decade of experience speaking to companies and organizations around the world, and is consistently the highest rated speaker at her events. Polson lives with her husband and two children in Washington State.
https://shannonpolson.com/
https://www.thegritinstitute.com/podcasts/

Show Notes
02:00 The Grit Factor
03:20 Why grit?
04:16 The double crucible
05:50 What to do when the cards are against you?
10:19 Encounters with death
13:23 Courageously engaging death/life
16:52 Danger to be consumed with purpose
18:32 Trusting oneself
19:42 Connect with inner compass
22:36 A holistic approach
24:29 Raising kids with grit 
27:55 Belonging and significance
29:55 Doomsday news
32:32 Can't make friends?
33:54 Comfortable with uncomfortable
38:13 Outgrowing the box analogy
39:13 how you navigate growing
42:24 What does great look like
46:14 Trust the process/love the work
47:50 Mary Poppins
50:27 Gratitude changes you
52:36 Look for ways to serve

This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more intentional with your time and energy - please visit monkmanual.com. 
The Potent Podcast is produced and edited by Justin Sinclair, who also composed the the theme music. Additional editing support and mixing by Aaron Feeney. Design by Kristin Bural of Soulbeam Studios.

How Can You Redesign Your Internal Programming a Live a Full(er) Life?
On today's episode of Potent, Steven Lawson and master coach and podcast host Chris Yonker dive into overcoming trauma, the power of spirituality and self-awareness, the impact of mentorship, and the journey toward self-acceptance and deeper connections.
About Today's Guest
Chris is a Certified Family Business Advisor accredited through The Family Firm Institute. Chris helps to consciously navigate the challenges of succession, leadership transitions and family conflict, while creating long-term strategies for business continuity. Dubbed a “Life Journey Sherpa,” Chris’ holistic approach allows each individual in the family to be seen as an integral piece to the work. He uses his experience as a Neuro- Linguistic practitioner, a student of Philosophy and Psychology, and a thought leader on Personal Performance and Transformation to create a one-of-a-kind methodology that fuses heart and soul — helping families achieve extraordinary results that become permanent ways of being. Drawing upon more than 25 years of driving change and leading sales with 3M, and over a decade in Family Business and Executive consulting, Chris has built a process that has become his special sort of alchemy. His strategy helps clients move beyond the obstacles family organizations face that often prevent them from leading deeply fulfilling lives, both individually as well as collectively. Many of Chris’s clients say the process of working with him leads to profound healing within their families, bringing a sense of deep peace, better relationships and higher levels of happiness alongside a thriving organization. As a sought-after speaker, Chris has been a special guest of Camden Family Wealth, The Institute for Family-Owned Business, and The Center for Family Enterprise, and has been a featured contributor to Forbes. Education Chris is a Certified Family Business Advisor accredited through The Family Firm Institute. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business and a Minor in Communication from Western Michigan University. He was personally mentored by Tony Robbins’ original trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). Personal Chris is a seventh-degree black belt in an Okinawan style of karate and a student of yoga and meditation. He enjoys fishing, travel, cooking and spending time with his wife of 28 years and their daughter
www.chrisyonker.com
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-secret-thoughts-of-ceos-podcast/id1543246164
Show Notes
01:02 Chris early life
02:03 Connecting with God
03:24 Martial arts, validation
04:37 Mentorship
06:00 What is God teaching me?
08:04 Developing a practice of connection
09:04 Coaching thru end of life
13:56 Immersion
18:43 Developing personal presence
22:28 Fear of loneliness
26:43 Emotions, awareness, and karate
28:53 The elevator from heart to head
31:20 Potent presence; it's a soul massage
33:04 Healing our bodies
35:49 Parenting, upbringing, self-parenting
36:54 Being/doing, Values alignment
39:29 Community affiliation, fear of lone wolf, searching out your people
41:26 Trusting the process
This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more intentional with your time and energy - please visit monkmanual.com. 
The Potent Podcast is...

What does a more Potent you look like?
On today's episode of Potent, Steven Lawson is joined by producer Justin Sinclair to discuss the roots behind the Potent Podcast and how exactly we plan to serve.
About Today's Guest
Steven Lawson is the founder and creator of the Monk Manual, a productivity company on a mission to fix productivity by serving the whole person, mind + body + spirit. After searching high and low for a more holistic and fulfilling approach to work and human flourishing, he found it amongst the ancient path of the monks. Featured in Inc, Forbes, and Fortune magazine, this new (old) model for work and personal growth has already helped over 100,000 people cultivate peaceful being and purposeful doing in their everyday lives.  Steven lives in Buffalo, NY with his wife and three children. 
Show Notes
0:00 Intro
02:27 Starting Point
02:43 Why Potent?
07:05 Create good, fulfill potential
07:28 Potent ideas change behaviors
09:21 Potential - realizing, not just achieving
13:47 Sprout - Oak - Potential
14:41 Deathbed, meaning
17:25 Two Pathways to meaning
18:29 Play, creativity
24:54 Tips & Tricks vs. transformative ideas
26:21 Walls vs. foundation
30:27 Journeying together
This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more intentional with your time and energy - please visit monkmanual.com. 
The Potent Podcast is produced and edited by Justin Sinclair, who also composed the the theme music. Additional editing support and mixing by Aaron Feeney. Design by Kristin Bural of Soulbeam Studios.

Scaling your life and business
On today's episode of Potent, Steven Lawson and Brendan McGurgan discuss behaviors for success in life and business, the importance of mindset, finding purpose in one’s work, and what it takes to scale your life.
About Today's Guest
Brendan is a global business leader who builds profitable, scalable businesses delivering on his strong personal belief that if you have a wonderful product or service then you have an obligation to bring this to the world. 
Over seventeen years, twelve as CEO of CDE Group, he helped the company achieve 25x revenue growth and become an industry leader. During his time as CEO the company delivered almost £500 million ($750 million) cumulative revenue and £50 million ($75 million) cumulative profit, scaled from 15 to almost 700 employees spanning 6 continents and exported to more than 100 countries. 
Driven by his own purpose to Inspire, Connect and Enable ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose, in 2020 he co-founded Simple Scaling with Claire Colvin with whom he co-authored the Amazon Best-Seller, Simple Scaling: 10 Proven Principles to 10x your business cited by Kirkus as comprehensive concrete counsel for business leaders. Through Simple Scaling he co-hosts the successful ScaleX Accelerator business scaling programme.
He is host of the acclaimed podcast ScaleX™ Insider now ranked in the top 2.5% of podcasts globally.
Brendan is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Chartered Director. In 2016, he was awarded the Institute of Directors, UK Young Director of the Year and Overall, UK Director of the Year. Brendan is also a coach and mentor to scaling CEOs, a regular keynote speaker, and graduated in 2021 as a Wim Hof Method Instructor.  
Outside of his professional work he has a love of all sports. He holds a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a sport he has practiced for 25 years and has previously competed in triathlon (completing Mallorca 70.3 Iron Man in 2019). In 2021 Brendan graduated as a Wim Hof Method Instructor which he now integrates in his ScaleX Accelerator Scaling programme.  
Simple Scaling https://simplescaling.com/
Personal LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-mcgurgan-11854a13/
Links to social media and website: https://linktr.ee/simplescaling 
Show Notes
0:00 Intro
05:34 Why do you care about helping businesses?
06:51 Becoming CEO - scaling to 700
08:03 Finding why
11:25 marga hoick "business for good is good for business"
12:43 Growth for growth’s sake
13:48 Anchoring in purpose 
15:18 Positive ripple effects
18:06 Entrepreneurs in community
19:47 People are usually stuck
21:35 How can I make selling rugs purposeful?
21:49 purpose 1
22:27 purpose 2
23:14 purpose 3 (Patagonia summary of 3 purposes)
24:59 Different starting points
26:18 Build people, not businesses
29:09 Use the Three C's
32:23 Hermit crab analogy
34:28 Four personas
39:48 Theater brain state - what were you told?
43:35 Get into a 'scaling club'
49:20 Community to scale your life
52:14 Summit scale Everest
54:07 The Scale X Framework
01:01:03 Gratitude
01:05:14 S.E.N.S.E
01:08:18 Not about too busy, it's choice
This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more...