Jody Michael - Leading Lightly: Lower Your Stress, Think with Clarity, and Lead with Ease

Praise for LEADING LIGHTLY

Youve got this! Overwhelmed and exhausted executives now have a roadmap to choose and optimize effectiveness without stress and struggle. Leading Lightly teaches you to release inner noise and handle what comes your way with ease and clarity. Jody Michael brilliantly weaves together mental fitness, leadership systems, psychology research, and decades worth of experience as both a therapist and an executive coach. Using her reliable, data-driven recipe, you can systemically transform leadership for yourself, your team, and your whole organization.

SUZI POMERANTZ, CEO, Innovative Leadership International; best-selling author; and master executive coach

Jody Michael sets a high bar for leadership. Her book shows you exactly how to get there, and she makes no apology for dismantling your self-imposed limitations. Get ready to grow.

MATHEW ELENJICKAL, Founder and CEO, FourKites

Leading Lightly is a truly unique leadership book. Instead of advocating outward actions, it builds your intrinsic strength and psychological resilience, so you thrive in all facets of life and leadership. Jodys tools powerfully effect lasting and transformative change and personal growth, ultimately leading to radical accountability, mental fitness, and happiness.

OLIVIA NELLIGAN, EVP, Chief Financial Officer, CHS Inc.

Jody Michael has a secret. And shes sharing it with any leaders brave enough to take lasting action. Leading Lightly breaks through a crowded category with a highly actionable playbook designed to put leaders in control of the only thing they actually have control overthemselves. A refreshingly mindful leadership tool in an ever-shifting societal landscape.

BRENT STEINER, Founder & CEO, Engrain

Holy Cow! I needed this book so much I devoured it. My first thought was to reach out to every fellow EO member and BrainTrust memberall entrepreneurs and say, This book is for us youve gotta read it! But really, this book is for every person in a leadership position. No, wait! Its for every person who wants to be happier and healthier, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Im putting it right up there with Essentialism by Greg McKeown as a must-read, must-live-by book.

SHERRY DEUTSCHMANN, Founder & CEO, BrainTrust

Leadership is neither a checklist nor formula: its about your mindset. To increase your impact and navigate the toughest situations with clarity and ease, look no further than Jodys definitive book about transformational leadership. She has honed these practical and actionable insights over decades of coaching many of our nations premier leaders. Leading Lightly is a must-read for all leaders, both corporate and civic.

EDWARD WYNN, Former VP General Counsel and Secretary, Stepan Co.; Executive Chairman, Call One, Inc.

The best leaders have an ability to both take things seriously and hold them lightly. Taking things seriously seems easy enough for most. But to also remain lightfree of excessive stress, worry, or overwhelmrequires a degree of self-mastery. Jody Michael points the way in this practical and grounded book.

MICHAEL BUNGAY STANIER, Founder & CEO, Box of Crayons; author of the best-seller, The Coaching Habit

Leading Lightly how profound! When has anyone suggested we adopt a lightness in leadership rather than buckling down, being tough, and pushing through? When have we dared to imagine real change? I was fortunate to work with Jody Michael as an executive coach. Shes brilliant and impactful in her focus on the default perceptual lenses that limit us and repeatedly fail us, our colleagues, and loved ones. Her book, Leading Lightly, details her mental fitness approach to leadership, and its exactly what we all need, now more than ever. Its a method that will serve you well for the rest of your life.

MARTHA GILMER, CEO, The San Diego Symphony

Ive used Jodys mental fitness and accountability tools in every organization I have ledwith powerful results. Learning to lead lightly will change you, not just as a leader, but as an entire person. Youll come to Jody in search of executive coachingand come out with your whole life transformed.

MARGARET M. MUELLER, PhD, CEO, Executive Club of Chicago

Jody Michael is a leadership-effectiveness expert with a proven track record of helping executives maximize their performance. With Leading Lightly, she has unlocked the secret to operating at a higher level with noticeable effortlessness on both a professional and personal level. Youll find the practical guidance you need to be your personal best and level up your leadership.

WANJI WOLCOTT, Chief Legal Officer, Discover

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing herein shall constitute legal advice or a solicitation to offer legal advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press

Austin, Texas

www.gbgpress.com

Copyright 2022 Jody Michael

All rights reserved.

MindMastery, Mental Fitness, Mental Fitness Index, MindMastery Certified Coach, and JMA-MFI (Jody Michael AssociatesMental Fitness Index) are trademarks of Jody Michael Associates, Inc.

Thank you for purchasing an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright law. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder.

Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group

For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book Group at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100.

Design and composition by Greenleaf Book Group

Cover design by Greenleaf Book Group

Cover image: iStockphoto.com/themacx

Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication data is available.

Print ISBN: 978-1-62634-899-8

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62634-900-1

Part of the Tree Neutral program, which offsets the number of trees consumed in the production and printing of this book by taking proactive steps, such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees used: www.treeneutral.com

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

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First Edition

S ometimes you cant put your finger on exactly what you want.

Youre trying to make a decision, or determine a direction, or make some kind of change for the better. You search deep inside yourself for clarity but what you want seems elusive, murky, out of reach. However, youre very clear about one thing: You know what you dont want. In fact, you might have quite the list: Problems, people, situationsstress of all kinds. Feelings of frustration, anxiety, or sadness. You just dont want any of that anymore.

If youre a leader in todays world, you might have come to a place within yourself where leadership feels like the same difficult grind, day after day, a mix of stress, overload, and exhaustion. You wonder what could change to make it better. Is change even possible? You ask yourself if this is what leadership is and will always be.