Leanne Grechulk: ALL IN with Game Changing

Interview with Leanne Grechulk
 
Alicia Dunams: Hi, my name is Alicia Dunams here and we are ALL IN: Elevating Your Leadership Game. And, I’m very excited to introduce Leanne Grechulk. You’re getting situated there in your daughter’s bedroom… But, it’s all good, you’re ALL IN. You’re here, you’re ready to get pumped and that’s what we’re gonna be doing. So, first of all, hi Leanne, how are you doing?
Leanne Grechulk: Amazing! Thank you so much for having me; I’m super pumped to be part of the series.
A: Okay, wonderful! So, I have to ask you a question… Are you ready to play ALL IN?
L: A hundred percent, totally!
A: Absolutely, okay! So, first of all, I want you to introduce yourself to the audience and tell a little bit about yourself.
L: Sure! Hi everybody, and welcome to our chat today. My name is Leanne Grechulk; I’m a lifestyle and leadership strategist. I’ve been working over the last nine years to teach people how to design your lifestyle instead of just sort of waiting day –to-day to see where it ends up. So, I spent about 10 years working in corporate, and I did my Masters in Business, and then I did my own business. So I’ve sort of tried a ton of things and I’m also a mom, a marathon runner, a yogi and a clinical nutritionist. And I’m super passionate about teaching people how not to live average lives. Like what does it take to be ultra successful and have a lifestyle where every year, the progression is so insane, that you’re actually completely moving quickly every year and transform your lifestyle to a life that actually inspires you everyday.
A: Okay, that’s great and you’re totally positioned for that, and I love how you help other people. You are a huge community builder and leader. It is seen through your Game Changers International, through the work that you do from all the businesses that you are currently working on. And that’s why I wanted you on this show – a powerful female leader that really encompasses both the masculine and feminine energy of being a completely compassionate and empathetic get it done woman. And that’s what we’re talking about here. But, I love to start ALL IN with sharing a leadership quote that’s very powerful and impactful to you. So, I would live for you to share your leadership quote.
L: Yeah, I would say there’s a really simple one that struck me when I first started my own business. And it was a quote by Jim Rohn, and he said, “We all have two choices: We can make a living or we can design a life.”And at that point, I had spent 10 years making a living and I was like, “Wow! I’ve never heard of this before.” It was a completely new concept. So that’s when I shifted my life entirely, like every single aspect. And that quote is something that I use often, and I think of it everyday. I am designing a lifestyle not only that helped me become successful, but that I feel fulfilled with.
A: Excellent! And let’s talk about that, we should use that as a jumping off point. What is the life that you designed?
L: Well for me, I looked back to what my core values are; so mentoring wellness and freedom. So for me, in every business position I pick, I’m very strategic on having leverage in my life and having a business model that isn’t completely dependent on my time. So that has really played a huge role for me in how I make my decisions. So, over the last 9 years, my first goal was to become financially independent by 35, and I wrote a book about that called 30 Days to Wealth. But for me, it’s about creating time freedom so you can create financial freedom, so you can create emotional freedom. And that’s really the pillars that I worked to work. So what I dreamt of is having no alarm clocks, having a life where if I want to travel to the other side of the world tomorrow and take a 6-month Sabbatical, I have that freedom because no one has control over my time or anything to do with my life. And that was my dream, and I actually didn’t think it was possible at first, but everytime… You know that’s the great thing about being an entrepreneur, you get to make your decisions, you get to max out a lot, but you also get to enjoy creating a lifestyle that really is the one that you want. I didn’t want success by being in time jail, and that’s what I had in my 20s, right? Like great success in corporate, but I was in total time jail and I wasn’t myself. So today, being able to be a mom… Last year I travelled to 14 countries with my 6-month old, having complete time freedom to travel the world, and give my family an international life, which is what my dream life is.
A: That’s so amazing and I see you doing it. I love it! You’re such an inspiration to young women, creating a lifestyle business and being able to use that to travel the world and to give back in the ways that you’re doing. Now I want from your words, I wanna know how you are showing up as a leader in your life, and in your business.
L: I think, honestly how I show up is… One of the biggest things I did was I picked the perfection. That’s why I was very structured and systemized and extremely efficient, and I’ve really learned to just let go. Like with the 1-year old, some days, my leadership has to show up even more because I have to produce the same amount that I used to in 8 hours in two. So everyday is about, very simple, “Am I in alignment?” Because for me, I will never teach something that I won’t do myself. For me, that’s total leadership – being in alignment with what you teach and what you do. That’s one of the voices in leadership. We have a lot of people telling us what to do; it’s not authentic and they’re not doing what they’re teaching. So for me, that was my goal for myself. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have days where I could be out of alignment, but I’m very focused on being efficient with my habits. Always learning and challenging myself to be out of my comfort zone. For the past 9 years, I’ve been out of my comfort zone everyday, and I think that is really one of the things that you have to commit to. The other one, which I already talked about is you have to be hungry for something huge. Otherwise, you’re gonna sit on your butt and you won’t be in action or your action is gonna be small. So for me, to be hungry, it’s about what is, on a global level, what is the contribution that I wanna create? And, when you’re clear on that and you think big, and there are so many people to help, you don’t have time to wake up and be lazy and complacent. The biggest thing with leadership is it’s easy to get knowledge, but to really transform it into wisdom means that you act and you do. So there’s a ton of people that learn a lot… so for me, just observing this over the years, I really committed myself to always turn that knowledge into wisdom by taking action every single day.
A: Absolutely! Action is so important, and that’s one thing that you see missing a lot in how we operate in the world. I mean the Puritans say you gotta pray and move your feet. It’s about moving your feet, so with that, I want to share… So you absolutely have shown up as a leader in your life and I love that, talking about action. And as we mentioned before, as the Puritans say, you gotta pray and move your feet. So we talked about action a lot and doing, and there’s a lot of ways that leaders do – whether you’re speaking, building your business, creating a community. But what specifically do you have to be? Or, what I’d like to say, who do you get to be in your life? Just really getting down deep and grounded. What type of person do you get to be in your life to attract and to show the world that you are a leader?
L: That’s a really good question. I think it kinda goes hand in hand ‘coz if you’re really stepping into it and pulling out all of the fears and beliefs that are holding you back, and you really commit into really getting yourself into a space where you’ll float in spite of whatever fears you have… I think you just open the floodgates to attract success everywhere you go. So, I think one of the great things about leadership, is the more you work on yourself to be aligned and to be amazing, and to inspire others and the intention behind what you do… when it’s really awesome, you obviously have to act, but you’ll just attract opportunities in a much more flowing way. And the very simple formula or test that I use is, “Am I flowing or forcing?” And I find when I’m not stepping into my full leadership, I have to force more. Whereas when I’m really just standing into it and doing things that are in alignment with who I am and really serving and being in a place of gratitude, and doing awesome, things just flow so much better. Opportunities sort of fall on your lap, you definitely have to be out there, but it happens so much easier with less drama when you’re flowing. You have to really be committed to finding all those hidden cobwebs, you inner conflicts where you really have to work through anything. That’s the leadership journey, but it’s awesome.
A: I heard a lot of things. I heard being committed, I heard again in action, really representing that. Being committed is something I see from you, being in the flow, and being in gratitude. And it’s something where when you are being those things, instead of always doing, ‘coz we can do so much that we push things away. When we think of great leaders, like Martin Luther King for example. Who was he being? 11:13____________ love, peace.
L: Totally! And one thing I noticed too about leaders that I admired when I was a bit younger is they never seem too stressed out, they never seem chaotic. There is this inner peace about the way they are. And like you said, you know a lot of times we spend, after graduation maybe over a decade, being over productive, and then we get into our true self and really being aligned with who we really are and what we really want. And then we get into that place of being a leader, instead of trying to chase leadership. But what I really know is that, as I’ve said early on, is that awesome leaders don’t have chaos energy about them. And that was really something that I noticed, and in some days I go like, “Oh god! It’s not easy to be like that.” But you know, some days it’ll fall apart but you have to look at your habit, and how good are you at managing your time, how clear are you on what your priorities are? How good are you at saying now and setting boundaries? Those are some of the things that I think to be a great leader, you have to ask yourself daily.
A: Excellent, excellent! And specifically, one thing that I really wanted to talk to you about is being a woman leader, and having an amazing community around you and building your business… What advice would you give to women in terms of being a source for leadership and really standing as a leader in their life?
L: Yeah, so there are a couple of things that I would suggest that have been really fundamental for me… I would say the biggest piece for female leadership is to really become an expert in your own emotional intelligence. Because that’s what’s gonna hinder you and cause blockages in your leadership journey, and I get this question all the time. You know, you have to be really clear of what triggers you emotionally and to be a great leader, it’s really important that you get that under control, and you’re always working on that. Especially if you’re a mom, you know? That’s something that… I like books by Dr. Judith Orloff, she has a great book called Emotional Freedom and Positive Energy. Those are two that are really great. We need to work on that more than guys do; it’s just the way it is. The other thing that I would really recommend is be clear on your priorities because as a female, I think Sheryl Richardson is a great mentor and teacher for this. We really have to be clear on what our priorities are because we can’t do everything. And so what I like to do is every Christmas around this time, I setup a Mastermind session with myself for one day with no electronic distractions, and I really think about what are the three lofty goals I have for myself for the following year. I can’t do everything, but the reason I like 3’s is for some reason it’s the magic number that mine likes to work that way. These three have to be so huge that it’ll inspire you for 365 days. They’ll have to challenge you, get you out of your comfort zone. But thirdly, what it does is it teaches you how to set boundaries, because if you only have three and they’re awesome, you’re going to have to say no to things, and this is where I find women have trouble. They wanna do everything and they’re worried someone’s gonna be disappointed, they’re worried to say no because of somebody’s feelings and it just sets them back. So I think by setting 3 that are massive, I do this every year, I put it on my wall – it’s measurable, it’s specific and it inspires me to really grow as much as I can throughout the year, and it teaches to say no to things that maybe would have been great 5 years ago, and maybe it’ll be great 5 years down the road, but right now, it doesn’t serve me.
A: To commit to 3 things as you suggest, what it does is it encourages you and invites you to focus, focus on those 3 things. So on a daily basis you can say, “Are any of these contributing or are gonna support my overall goals for this year?” So that’s really powerful ‘coz focus is important. And when you are spread thin an all over the place, you’re not really staying at a place of leadership which is having an overall vision of the life that you want, or the vision you have for the world.
L: Totally! And for me at least, this system has worked for me in the past 9 years. These 3 have to be so big that you have to act. If they’re mediocre goals, you’re just gonna be, “Ah, I’ll do it tomorrow.” But if they’re huge, you have to get off your butt everyday and again, one of my big goals when I started was to teach people how to create freedom in their life. And I wanted to teach a hundred women, specifically, how to create time and financial freedom. So that goal was too big for me to be in my own way, because I have to go to work everyday to do that and be the best leader possible for myself. Goals like that that are really gonna shake the globe; those are the types of goals that are gonna inspire you to be the best you possible.
A: Goals that will shake the world. Okay, that’s a tweetable my friend, everyone’s gonna tweet that. Leanne, and I get that from you. That’s the energy that you give off that you are completely ALL IN, you are not playing around.
L: Yeah, totally! Sometimes I have to like calm it down a bit, but yeah, sometimes I get a little too focused and that’s what I need to be careful of because you can get tunnel vision. But, you have to have posture that nothing around you is gonna shake it. And I think that comes down to self-esteem, right? And that’s what for women especially, that’s really what’s missing in our lives. We’re not taught that, it’s not developed for a lot of people early on. And it comes back to haunt us when we’re trying to develop leadership.
A: I love that! And I love goals that will shake the world. So let’s talk about what ALL IN means to you. When you hear ALL IN, what do you think?
L: I think, again for me, maybe it comes from being a mom and expecting my 2^nd now, that I’m more in my female energy than my male energy, but what it has taught me is to love mistakes, and be totally cool with screwing up. But instead of being hard on myself, it’s like what is the leadership lesson in it? To be honest, that’s how I show up in leadership. Everyday, whatever happens that maybe doesn’t go my way, it’s asking a different question that I used to ask. So what have I learned from this? What could I have done differently? What habits are 17:54____ me today, and almost doing just like a check in everyday with, how many people have you inspired today? And if you’re in your own junk, you’re not serving. It’s completely selfish, right? So everyday, showing up as a leader is about putting, thinking more on a global scale, on how have my actions and my behaviors and my thoughts be impacted to the globe in a positive way today?
A: How am I serving the humanity? I mean 18:25 _______. In everyday, asking yourself how am I serving humanity? ‘Coz what it does is it takes yourself out of your life, out of the ego and really puts you in a place of service.
L: Totally! And then you’ll have this beautiful, Caroline Myss talks about this, Earth School. You have these beautiful places to practice these. I had a meeting this morning and I didn’t have anyone to watch my little guy, so I had to bring him to this meeting and he peed on me, it was just crazy, but I stayed present. And you learn to just let go of things that are so unimportant, and that’s leadership in action.
A: When you have a vision that is so big and bigger than yourself, you will do whatever it takes to make it a reality. ‘Coz again, it’s not about you… your baby peeing on you and all of that, you still get the job done and completely fearless and fierce.
L: Yeah, and I think a good question to ask everyday too is, “Am I hungry? What am I hungry for?” And if there isn’t a hunger there, and when we’re not attuned into what we’re passionate about… Sometimes, we lose our passions, right? If we’ve gone through some different personal experience, sometimes we just feel like, “Oh my gosh, I don’t have passion right now and I don’t have hunger.” For me, that’s when I know that there’s something totally off. Because everyday, we should be hungry for something. You know, I think early in our lives, about getting our own stuff in order and having a car, and having enough money. And then as we get older, it ends up being about hunger to have an impact and meet a legacy.
A: That’s excellent! So now Leanne, I want you to use this podcast as a platform to really put some skin in the game and tell us all in this audience, something that you are committed to, something that you’re gonna be playing ALL IN, putting it out there, the accountability, something that’s gonna be happening for you in the next coming days, weeks, months and into next year, so we can hold that intention for you.
L: Okay, well there’s quite a few, but one that I’m working on right now is to have a Global Summit it’s called the Wicked Life Summit. And it’s me playing ALL IN and picking my most favorite leaders around the world and putting that together for women entrepreneurs. So that is really one of the things that I’m working on right now, now that I’m going to be launching and I’m 100% committed to.
A: Awesome, awesome! That sounds great. But we got a lot of Poker players in the audience, we know how it is to play ALL IN from all the states. ‘Coz really, in life it is a game. Sometimes it’s a light-hearted and fun game, and sometimes it’s fully serious. Because you know what? The world needs more female leaders. And I know, for me the reason that I created this podcast is I just felt… I had the realization that I was just scratching the surface of how powerful I am.
L: I love that!
A: And when I am holding back, we’re doing ourselves a disservice; we are doing the whole world a disservice as well.
L: Yes, totally! And I think that’s one of the reasons of having mentors, right? You’re gonna feel sort of that because you’re not playing all out. You see what they’re doing, and it’s not about comparing or envying somebody else, it’s just about, “I know my personal power is way bigger than this, and I’m playing at totally a temperament.”
A: Oh yes, and we don’t have time for that. We’ve established, but we no longer have time for that – to playing full in ALL IN at a hundred percent all the time. So, I would love for you to share where people can find out more about you and this Wicked Summit that you’re gonna be having pretty soon.
L: Yes, amazing! Everything’s 22:25______ right now, but you can join the Wicked Life Club and get a sort of instant access and insider access to it launches. And it’s on my personal website which is LeanneGrechulk.com, type that there and you can join the Wicked Life Club there.
A: Okay, excellent and all that information will be on the podcast blogs. You’ll be able to click on that and get access to Leanne Grechulk and all of her event that she’s gonna be putting out. Her female entrepreneurship, really chapping the female entrepreneur… And I would love for you to share a book on leadership that you think would be powerful for our audience.
L: Sure. I would say one of my favorites on the topic of leadership is by John Maxwell; it’s called The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. That is the book that is almost like a handbook for leadership. I’ve read it so many times; it’s a favorite. And I also really love for the more insightful leadership, and more quiet leadership, anything by Pema Chödrön. I really love her for so many reasons, it’s the leader within. So both of those authors I adore.
A: Excellent. And what would you like to leave the audience. A lot of Poker players here who are really looking for inspiration and encouragement in terms of playing all out and in elevating their leadership game. I would love for you to share some final thoughts.
L: So here’s a question that I would like to ask all of you on the podcast, take a couple of minutes today and really be honest with yourself, look back at the last couple of years in your life and ask yourself, “Am I really in the driver’s seat for designing my life? Or am I just letting time pass by?” And, do a little measurement, look at you know, three years ago and… “Hey, have anything really shifted closer towards the life you really want?” My homework for you today is if the answer is no, is to take action. Do something today that’s gonna shake things up. Hire somebody, sign up for something. Make a commitment to yourself that you’re not going to spend one more day living where you’re in the passenger’s seat. So, that’s what I’d like to leave you with today.
A: And that is so great ‘coz when you are comfortable, that means change is not happening. It’s when you get uncomfortable, that’s when the real growth is, when you’re staring discomfort in the face, when you’re staring rejection in the face, when you’re staring failure in the face. That’s where success lies. So, that’s an excellent way to leave. So Leanne, I so appreciate you sharing your leadership and how you are playing ALL IN. We’re gonna hold you accountable here.
L: Thank you for having me, I love chatting with you.
A: Thank you so much Leanne, you take care. Bye.
L: Take care, bye.