013: Evolving your leadership through a writing practice with Alyssa Burkus

Writing about trauma isn’t easy. It’s a big, heavy word. But I wanted it to feel more accessible so people can relate it to their own work. Writing a book can feel like your thoughts are a jumble of puzzle pieces and sometimes, you need someone to help you to fit them all together. This is what Alyssa helped me with and I jokingly call her my book doula. We went through alternating levels of confidence when working on the book and experienced deep feeling, thinking and learning together. It helped me realise that writing is not only therapeutic but a way to self-regulate and raise your self-awareness. I invite any leader to introduce writing habits into their work. We discussed topics such as the process of writing my book, how our partnership evolved, the benefits of writing and what habits you can incorporate to self-regulate. 

We discuss:

• Going from editor to reader mode when working on the book and using it as a learning experience.

• Our writing partnership turned into a thinking partnership. 

• The metacognitive benefits of writing about your thoughts and opinions to help manage stress and understand ourselves.

• Writing habits leaders can incorporate into their routine to self-regulate and connect more deeply with their team.

• Integrating our head, our body and our heart and how they are part of the Evolve leadership model. 

Connect with: Alyssa Burkus

Website: https://www.shiftwisdom.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shiftwisdom/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssaburkus/ 

I hope you enjoyed this episode of Evolve: A New Era of Leadership. To learn more visit my website: www.carolynswora.com or send me an email to [email protected]. I'd love to hear from you.