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Shameless Leadership

911: LEADERSHIP MINDSET: How Women Leaders Can Replace Nervousness With Excitement

·26 min·2 clips
Sarah Dean shares how her 12-year-old son's nervousness about basketball tryouts sparked a lesson on reframing fear as excitement.
Sarah Dean hosts this solo episode focused on mindset shifts for leaders. She begins with a relatable anecdote about her 12-year-old son feeling nervous for middle school basketball tryouts, using it to introduce the core concept of reframing nervousness as excitement. Sarah explains that nervousness carries fear of failure, while excitement involves confidence and positivity. She then shares her personal experience with public speaking, noting she consistently felt proud and accomplished after events despite imperfections. This realization helped her anticipate positive outcomes and approach speaking engagements with excitement rather than dread. The episode transitions to five practical strategies for making this shift. First, recognize physical sensations of nervousness as signs you're about to do something significant. Second, focus on why the moment matters, connecting to deeper purpose. Third, coach yourself with correct evidence, like Sarah did with her son using a stranger's compliment. Fourth, harness positive self-talk through mantras, illustrated with her distance running experience. Fifth, breathe, practice mindfulness, and visualize a strong start, using her skiing lessons as an example where focusing on initial turns reduced overwhelm. Throughout, Sarah emphasizes applying these techniques both personally and when coaching others. She concludes by inviting listeners to share their experiences and promoting her LinkedIn connection for follow-up.

As heard by us

A grounded, practical reframe for leaders whose nerves show up before the opportunity does.

Shameless Leadership revisits a common leadership problem: the physical rush that can show up before a new challenge, from a racing heart to sweat to that uneasy feeling in the gut.

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Why you'd press play

When your heart races before a challenge, this episode helps you treat that feeling as a signal that you are about to try something new.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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