Every business owner I know understands that leadership is a key aspect of growth.  Leadership is not the “command and control” type of approach to delegating.  Real leadership is so much more.

Our guest today is Janice Marturano, and she shares the four areas of leadership excellence in this interview.  Plus, we talk about the two competencies of excellence in leadership.  Janice spent more than 30 years being a leader and now her mission is to help others become the leaders they want to be.

Janice’s Target Audience: Janice’s target market is leaders who are juggling different aspects of their lives, including their work. She helps these leaders stop running on autopilot, and bring their best selves forward.

Janice attended law school at NYU and got her start as a corporate strategist. For the last sixteen years, she has worked on Wall Street and in-house for a number of different organizations. She is a former Vice-President of Public Responsibility and Deputy General Counsel at General Mills.

A training program introduced her to mindfulness. She enjoyed the practice so much she combined it with another passion of hers: the development of leadership excellence. Combining these two interests led her to develop her own practice on leadership. She started training other leaders at General Mills and was able to move forward with her training program globally. Recognizing the high demand, Janice left General Wells and started her own non-profit organization called the Institute for Mindful Leadership.

In this episode, Janice talks about how we can continue to cultivate our own ability to lead with excellence. She talks about how life is more chaotic than before. Janice mentions the four fundamentals of leadership and why our busy lives make achieving these so difficult.

It’s also invaluable to our role as a leader to know and explore ourselves. Leading ourselves is greatly related to how we understand ourselves and how we can stop from losing ourselves.

One suggestion Janice has for this is a method known as “Purposeful Pauses”. She uses this technique with her clients because it’s a valuable way to get present, whatever is happening.

Another valuable topic we covered is why it’s so critical to have a real connection when speaking with another person. The ability to connect is absolutely critical, so much can be missed if we aren’t fully present and paying attention.

In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover:

• Mindful leadership: why it matters to your business.
• Why it’s so important to lead with excellence.
• A technique to bring you to the present moment, wherever you are.
• The four fundamentals of leadership: Janice explains what they are.
• How to handle chaos, no matter how bad it gets!
• Why you actually can’t multi-task and you should stop trying.
• The two things that dictates your ability to lead with excellence.
• The important role presence plays in leadership.

Practical & Actionable:

Janice says the most practical and actionable thing that you can do right now is to put your feet flat on the floor for 30 to 60 seconds. Then, simply bring your attention to the soles of your feet and feel the weight pressing on your feet. You will have the feeling of being grounded. If you are curious, you will feel the warmth or coolness of your feet.

As you feel a sensation like this, you are going to come back to the present. Your mind might jump into another direction but you can always bring it back. When you realize your presence, you are in a place of clarity. From such a place, you can re-direct your attention and choose what’s next.