Latest / Authentic Living / Holistic Communication Creates Authentic Relatiionships
Transcript
- 0:01Welcome to authentic living with Roxanne, a place where we have conscious cover about
- 0:09things that really matter in our lives.
- 0:12And now here's your host, Roxanne Turhage.
- 0:38Hi, everyone.
- 0:39It's, Roxanne Durgesh.
- 0:40Thanks for tuning in again.
- 0:42Tathleen Tink living with Roxanne.
- 0:44This week, I have a colleague, Lindsey La Paquette.
- 0:49Am I did I say that right?
- 0:51You did.
- 0:52Okay.
- 0:52Lindsey is a colleague of mine and communication specialist.
- 0:57So, I invited Lindsey here today to be able to share some of her wisdom about some of the
- 1:02things that she's done, in her career as a speaker and a trainer, and also a coach.
- 1:08So I will, I have Lindsay's, bio.
- 1:11So, Lindsay, thanks so much for being here with us.
- 1:14Well, thank you for having me.
- 1:15She's out in Montreal.
- 1:17For everybody that's listening.
- 1:19So, Lindsay's got a master's, and she's a human behavior and interpersonal communication
- 1:25specialist.
- 1:26She supports organizations to free themselves from stressful such interactions through
- 1:30consultations and workshops.
- 1:35Her work in the field of interpersonal communication has pro been profoundly
- 1:39influenced by her professional background as a former speech language pathologist, which talk
- 1:44about a microscopic, look at speaking, and her work with First Nations individuals who pre who
- 1:53prioritizes relationships and connection above all else.
- 1:57And the premature loss of both of her parents has kind of, informed what she does.
- 2:05Which left, I guess it's left her you feeling disconnected, to yourself and Lindsay's unique
- 2:12holistic conceptualization of of communication is that we we connect with oneself, the better
- 2:20we are able to connect others, and I'm sorry about that because I'm reading off my phone and
- 2:24I had to enlarge it for everybody listening.
- 2:27So, Lindsey, thanks so much for joining us today.
- 2:29Thank you.
- 2:31So, Lindsey, you and I were we were yapping before we got on, and I thought, oh my god.
- 2:36I should hit hit record because we were having such a great conversation about things.
- 2:40And, You know, it's interesting because your background, is a is completely in the mechanics
- 2:47of communication.
- 2:49And I would say that everybody out there wants to learn how to communicate better.
- 2:55Would you would you agree with the Adventancy?
- 2:57I think it's something that can benefit everyone.
- 3:00Yes.
- 3:00Absolutely.
- 3:01Even when you communicate very well, I think there's always things we can improve
- 3:06So from my perspective as my background with psychotherapy and a consultant, guess what I
- 3:11deal with all the time?
- 3:12It's constantly really working with people, having them understand what they're saying,
- 3:18having them kind of think about kind of the meta message, which is kinda what's under this,
- 3:23How does it fit?
- 3:24What do you value?
- 3:25What do you believe?
- 3:27What are some of the assumptions?
- 3:28All that stuff that kind of embeds one thing which is I'm trying to say something to you and
- 3:35all this stuff's going on.
- 3:37So when you kind of, what what got you interested in becoming a speech pathologist for
- 3:42Oh,
- 3:44good question.
- 3:46So I had, I think from a young age, I knew I wanted to work with children actually.
- 3:52And, you know, looked at teaching and there weren't a lot of job opportunities.
- 3:57So I had an aunt who had a friend who was a speech pathologist and she knew I liked to talk
- 4:02and felt it was a good fit.
- 4:05So I I looked into it and and, I don't think I knew really what it was when I got into it, but
- 4:11it has been a perfect fit, I think, for my interests and has led to so many benefits in my
- 4:19personal life to be able to pull information from my professional background and see how it
- 4:23applies to my own life.
- 4:26So tell us, like, I mean, I'm, I'm talking like I was prefacing kind of as a psychotherapist.
- 4:32As a speech pathologist, you're you're you're teaching some kids to learn how to speak
- 4:37properly.
- 4:38You know,
- 4:39I'm gonna assume that there there could be impairments up to just helping people learn how
- 4:44to articulate a message even more?
- 4:47Is it the full spectrum?
- 4:48It's the full spectrum.
- 4:50So the field goes from anything to from stuttering and dyslexia all the way to, working
- 4:57with clients who have significant global impairments So I ended up getting very
- 5:03specialized in working with clients with diagnoses like attention deficit disorder,
- 5:08autism, fetal alcohol syndrome disorder.
- 5:11And so I was working a lot with clients who not only struggled to communicate or to sometimes
- 5:18understand, but also has struggled to relate to others around them.
- 5:22So their social skills were often significantly impaired.
- 5:27And part of that too was they were clients that had a hard time keeping their bodies calm.
- 5:32And what I started to realize the more I practiced and the more I had personal life
- 5:36events.
- 5:38I started to realize that when a client struggles to stay calm, It's very tough to
- 5:45sustainably influence the communication piece or to improve that.
- 5:50So I started to work in tandem a lot with other professionals who could help the clients stay
- 5:56calm or so that I could get further with the client's communication skills.
- 5:57So it was it was eye opening to me how much the 2 are linked, our ability to stay calm and and
- 6:05our ability to communicate well.
- 6:07That's interesting, you know, because I spend a lot of time talking to people about, you know,
- 6:13kind of the, you know, the state of I call it the window of tolerance or the relaxed states,
- 6:19and, you know, I will often see, let's say, a couple and, you know, she starts talking and he
- 6:25gets upset and he remembers one small part of potentially something or nuance of a word and
- 6:32he quits listening.
- 6:34And he and he holds on, like, to that one word, and that's all the client remembers hearing.
- 6:41Right.
- 6:41And then and they say, well, you just said this.
- 6:43And and she goes, well, no.
- 6:44No.
- 6:44No.
- 6:44No.
- 6:44No.
- 6:45No.
- 6:45You didn't hear.
- 6:45Did you listen to everything else I said?
- 6:48And he goes, no.
- 6:48You didn't.
- 6:49You didn't say that.
- 6:50And then I would say and then they would look at me and say, what did you just hear?
- 6:53I said, well, okay.
- 6:54Well, I can tell you objectively what I just experienced.
- 6:57So it's interesting, right, because our perception based on so many variables kind of
- 7:03impacts what part of a message we buy into and which ones we either stop listening to or we
- 7:10negate or we overemphasize or deemphasize.
- 7:14Would you agree with that?
- 7:15Absolutely.
- 7:16Absolutely.
- 7:17And I I think part of, you know, one of the underlying skills to this, as I'm sure you
- 7:21know, but is simply the ability to take someone else's perspective into account.
- 7:26Right?
- 7:26So a lot of the clients I work with have a tough time thinking flexibly.
- 7:31You know, they get really stuck in their thinking.
- 7:34When I work with kids, we call it rock brain, which is some social thinking terminology.
- 7:40And and what I started to see was that so my clients, you talk of a window of tolerance.
- 7:46My clients with disabilities, their window of tolerance is very small.
- 7:49But what I started to realize as I had kids and I actually have 2 kids of my own with special
- 7:55needs and they have a small window of tolerance themselves.
- 7:59I started to realize that I have moments of rock brain.
- 8:03Right?
- 8:03I have moments where I'm just having a hard time thinking flexibly, and I don't have a
- 8:10disability, but I started looking around realizing, oh, this is something you know, I'm
- 8:16specialized in doing this with clients with disabilities, but it's it's a message that is
- 8:21important for us all to be self aware of When are these moments when for whatever reason
- 8:27based on our patterns and and and whatnot that I'm falling into communication patterns that
- 8:33are not as responsive as what they sometimes can be.
- 8:37And I think it happens to all of us, you know, we're human.
- 8:40But that's self awareness and the ability to put yourself into someone else's shoes, as I'm
- 8:44sure you know, I think really, allows us to, engage in these interactions differently.
- 8:52And, you know, it's it's interesting that you said that from your perspective, which is,
- 8:56again, I'm gonna use the perspective that I use is I will say so to someone, flow back in time,
- 9:02the last time, you know, you felt like this, and what was the thought that was coming to you
- 9:07at that time, and they'll go, I'm not good enough.
- 9:12And I'll go, oh, interesting.
- 9:15Oh, so the thought is I'm not good enough.
- 9:17So Is that why you're responding in the way you are?
- 9:20And they'll go, well, not really.
- 9:22Right.
- 9:23You know, defensively, but then really, truly, what they're doing is responding to the fact
- 9:27that maybe a supervisor raised their voice, which made them think I'm not good enough.
- 9:32So they're responding back kind of, you know, you know, in an offensive mode.
- 9:36Yeah.
- 9:37At the supervisor.
- 9:38Maybe did elevate their voice, but it it's it's kind of separating out those 2 to recognize
- 9:44Okay.
- 9:45This is not being being 7 and being reprimanded.
- 9:47This is me, you know, speaking to a supervisor.
- 9:50And how do I kind of vacillate between the two?
- 9:53To be able to respond in a way that's more appropriate.
- 9:56So I'm gonna assume that you see a lot of that when you're working with.
- 10:00I do.
- 10:00I do.
- 10:01So I think so a lot of the clients that I have worked with historically, have
- 10:05a very tough time.
- 10:05They're often in fight or flight mode.
- 10:11And some of it can be due to trauma, but some of it is disability and just having a hard time
- 10:17tolerating, you know, the noises and the lights and the sensations and So they get into this
- 10:22very reactive mode.
- 10:26Like you're saying, where they're responding out of instinct, and part of what, you know,
- 10:32what I do and what I've transitioned into as I've moved out of working in the disability
- 10:37world and work you know, moved into working with just typical individuals is looking at how
- 10:45How can we how do we create this awareness?
- 10:47And I think part of that is psychotherapy and and other related services that are, you know,
- 10:52outside of what I provide, but you know, I I do have a big focus on mindfulness because I think
- 10:59mindfulness training can bring that awareness of is this about this situation, or is this
- 11:07about something that's not related to what this person said?
- 11:08So I think there's many paths to it.
- 11:13And I think, that I do really think though that crux of being able to have that self awareness
- 11:19of is this about what's going on here or not is so key to,
- 11:23maybe not always being able to catch ourselves in the moment
- 11:30You know, I'm guilty of that, that I, you know, I respond.
- 11:34I say something to the kids.
- 11:35And, after I think, oh, I was I was in a you know, a reactive mode, but I think at the very
- 11:42least, you it gives chance for repair.
- 11:44Right?
- 11:45You can go back and say, hey.
- 11:46I'm really sorry.
- 11:48I spoke to you a bit harshly, and I I think there's a lot of value in having that awareness
- 11:52of,
- 11:53so tell tell me more about RockBrain.
- 11:56I'll
- 11:56tell you.
- 11:57Yeah.
- 11:57And what how you kind of approach that when you're when you're teaching, or training people
- 12:02to kind of recognize Rock Green?
- 12:04What are some of the strategies that you might suggest or teachables that, you know, you you
- 12:10share an ongoing basis.
- 12:11Right.
- 12:12So Rock Rain is actually terminology from, Michelle Garcia winner, through social
- 12:18thinking.
- 12:19So she's a speech language pathologist who has worked a lot in or with clients who have, you
- 12:24know, executive functioning challenges with challenges with things like planning and
- 12:28organizing and flexible thinking.
- 12:31And so rock brain, like I said, really represents when we're really stuck on one idea.
- 12:37So for instance, just to give you an example from from my life, you know, my son had said to
- 12:42me that he wanted to stay up late every night to play video games with his friends.
- 12:48And I right away go into Rock Brain of, no, you're not.
- 12:53Staying up until 9 o'clock or eight years old.
- 12:56And, you know, he was very insistent, and I called my sister to say, Can you help me think
- 13:02of this differently?
- 13:04And, you know, what we came to was, well, can we make a deal with him that one day a week he
- 13:08to stay up a little bit later.
- 13:10Right?
- 13:10That's that flexible thinking.
- 13:12Yes.
- 13:12Yes.
- 13:13Of how can I I I need to meet my needs, which is I can't have you up every night and and I
- 13:19have, you know, you have a need to go to bed, but how can I be somewhat flexible in this
- 13:23situation?
- 13:23And I think that, you know, when we look in business, As a boss, having a boss who
- 13:32struggles a lot with locked brain, make it difficult to be an employee under them.
- 13:37Right?
- 13:38Because it means that we're never really truly hurt because if if what we're suggesting to the
- 13:43boss doesn't fit what the boss want, it shut down immediately.
- 13:48So I think having open conversations about this And, I mean, I don't necessarily use the
- 13:57terminology rock brain in in, the corporate world, but looking at an under standing of what
- 14:02does it mean to be a flexible thinker versus not flexible or not as flexible, right, that
- 14:09black and white thinking where it has to be one way or another versus being able to see lots of
- 14:14different solutions.
- 14:16And I think one thing one thing I coach people on is identifying where are the situations
- 14:21where you tend to get triggered into having rock brain?
- 14:25Because there tend to be patterns, right?
- 14:27Like you talked about earlier.
- 14:29Absolutely.
- 14:30So I think if you can identify So for myself, when I'm being challenged in a way that you
- 14:40know, if someone's maybe not listening to my contribution and and shoving their opinion down
- 14:45my throat, I tend to get rock brain to defend my position.
- 14:48And I know that about myself.
- 14:50So that awareness gives me a little bit of space to remind myself you know, to to really
- 14:59try to listen.
- 15:01So I think one of the things is, like I said, just identifying when you get triggered into
- 15:06rock brain by observing yourself.
- 15:08And in our house, we're allowed to say to someone else.
- 15:12I think you might be having a little bit of rock brain right now.
- 15:15And that's a message that is respected.
- 15:19Right?
- 15:19So I don't jump down my son's throat and say, well, I try not to.
- 15:24Say, no, mommy's not.
- 15:25I try to say, oh, yeah.
- 15:28You're right.
- 15:28Maybe we need to talk about this a little bit later.
- 15:31So that's one strategy is when someone in the room is having a moment of rock brain ask for a
- 15:36break because sometimes getting some time away from the situation and getting some time to
- 15:42process those emotions can lead us to more flexible thinking.
- 15:46So it's interesting.
- 15:47Right?
- 15:48Because it's, you know, I do it with, people on teams or whatever.
- 15:51They'll come up with a keyword that will get them out of the state.
- 15:54Right?
- 15:55Because if you're in Rock brain, you're in a state.
- 15:57Yeah.
- 15:57There's no flexibility.
- 15:58And if you could see something like, you know, the other day somebody said spatula is being
- 16:03the funny.
- 16:04Well, you can't, you know, they they couldn't keep a straight face without saying the word
- 16:08spatulas.
- 16:08Everybody broke up, but it took something really, really serious.
- 16:13And contentious and polarizing and put, you know, kind of, you know, oppositional.
- 16:18And and then they said something silly, which made them think, oh, well, this is kinda silly.
- 16:23What we're doing.
- 16:24So it's it's the little things that can come back.
- 16:28And I think we might because really at the end of the day, I always say to people we have you
- 16:33know, 3 parts of the brain, the boss, the Christmas tree, and, you know, you know, the
- 16:39part that just kinda runs her life, which is part that lets you see me, you're breathing,
- 16:43you're regulating your temperature.
- 16:45And when you're in rot brain, you're in you're in basically in the Christmas tree.
- 16:48You're having a bit of a light up.
- 16:51And the boss has decided to go on his extended vacation.
- 16:54I go, what?
- 16:55What do
- 16:55you mean?
- 16:56And I go, okay.
- 16:56So on and I I will joke with them and say, Who who's running the show right now?
- 17:01Like, all the Christmas trees all lit up.
- 17:02Okay.
- 17:03Perfect.
- 17:03So what do you have to do to bring yourself back?
- 17:06Right.
- 17:06To the boss, you need to come back.
- 17:08You have to come back a day early.
- 17:10Yeah.
- 17:10Let's let's bring you back.
- 17:11And it's really simple things like you're saying.
- 17:13Yeah.
- 17:14You don't have to take a
- 17:14big epiphany.
- 17:16Other than to recognize that I am being triggered and what am I what am I
- 17:19Yeah.
- 17:20Yeah.
- 17:20Cues.
- 17:22Absolutely.
- 17:22I think that's a process.
- 17:24Right?
- 17:24Like, I see over my life that I'm constantly learning, even though I teach this, I'm still
- 17:30learning you know, when my Christmas tree is getting lit up in new situations, and I think
- 17:35the more you can have that awareness, the more you can stay calm in your with others because
- 17:41you can take this space, that you need to get yourself back to a calm state you know what
- 17:48triggers you and what can bring you down.
- 17:50And I think that's different for everyone.
- 17:52You know?
- 17:53So it's not a one size fits all solution, but like
- 17:56you said, it's not necessarily a huge life shift other than the awareness, of your
- 18:03patterns.
- 18:04So what so you talked a little bit about mindfulness.
- 18:07So, and that you would work concurrently when you're in disability to kind of work with
- 18:13someone to help individuals get more mindful or more relaxed in order to, be able to hear the
- 18:21message clearer.
- 18:21Yeah.
- 18:23What kind of things?
- 18:24So now that you're kind of working in different environments, how do you incorporate
- 18:27mindfulness to assist people to communicate better?
- 18:31Right.
- 18:32So, just to give you a bit of the backstory, so I think my, journey to mindfulness came out of
- 18:39my own personal need as a parent of 2 kids with special needs who was feeling very overwhelmed
- 18:47by tantrums and and their demands in constant therapy sessions.
- 18:52I then lost both of my parents suddenly within a 2 year span as well as my uncle.
- 18:59And I was having a tough time.
- 19:02And So I I I started, I guess, basically forging into mindfulness.
- 19:11And, so part of that is for me, is meditation.
- 19:15Part of it is trying to incorporate mindful moments throughout my day.
- 19:23So again, I think a piece of it is the awareness.
- 19:26I think we live in a society where there's often messages that the more you do, the harder
- 19:32you work, the better a person you are, and I think that's a very dangerous message.
- 19:37Yes.
- 19:38I think it's one I bought into for many years.
- 19:41But I think it's a very dangerous message.
- 19:43So I think the first step is just shifting thinking around you know, maybe my value
- 19:50doesn't come from what I produce or accomplish.
- 19:54And,
- 19:54you know, Renee Brown talks about how people use exhaustion
- 19:58as status symbol.
- 20:00Right?
- 20:00Yeah.
- 20:02Yeah.
- 20:03And so to have that awareness of the impact that constantly being busy has on our brain,
- 20:11you know, I talk about how, we've ship to do a society where we scroll through our phones in
- 20:18waiting lines in lines in stores for 2 minutes because we can't We've learned to not be able
- 20:24to tolerate 2 minutes of boredom.
- 20:25So I start with small steps, right?
- 20:28Like trying to challenge yourself to turn your phone off for x amount of time depending on
- 20:34what you're used to, you know, after picking a reasonable goal.
- 20:38But choosing to not always be attached to your device, choosing to incorporate moments where
- 20:46you're exposed to no stimulation at all.
- 20:49So it could be driving to work without the radio on or without listening to a podcast, but
- 20:54I I love podcasts.
- 20:57And I love to listen to them, but I do sometimes choose to just have silence.
- 21:03And, you know, it could be incorporating even just a 5 minute meditation when you wake up or
- 21:10at work before a big meeting, closing your door for 5 minutes, and sipping a hot tea or coffee
- 21:16before you step into that meeting.
- 21:18So centering yourself before you have to engage in a tough decision or tough discussion, can we
- 21:25make it or break it sometimes between that conversation going well and not going as well,
- 21:30not getting as triggered.
- 21:32So, really, what we're talking about is, I I often say, I call it, depletion versus
- 21:37replenishment.
- 21:39So you're talking about and I think a lot of people truly were so connected.
- 21:45We, you know, we kinda get up.
- 21:46And, of course, you have kids.
- 21:48I, you know, you have to and you're you're busy.
- 21:50Right?
- 21:50Like, you constantly go into your day.
- 21:51You gotta run your business and and kinda, you know, and then as a parent in there, you're
- 21:56doing all that other stuff to care for them and, you know, run your home.
- 21:59We all have full lives.
- 22:02Yeah.
- 22:02What what the small breaks, you call it the, mindful moments.
- 22:07I like it.
- 22:07I always like that term, is that people don't realize it.
- 22:10It's that sometimes you know, just taking those moments can actually replenish them with a
- 22:17cumulative effect so that when when they're done their day, they're not completely drained.
- 22:23Yes.
- 22:23Yes.
- 22:23Would you agree with that?
- 22:25I fully agree.
- 22:26And my experience has been because, listen, I as I've taken mindfulness classes, I find it
- 22:31hard to carve out an hour every day to meditate because I also like to go to the gym and, you
- 22:38know, I have kids in a job.
- 22:39So I have found that I, I do sometimes meditate for long periods, but I found it for myself
- 22:44just as effective to, you know, meditate 10 minutes in the morning.
- 22:50You know, be not put the radio on on my way to work.
- 22:53Take a few minutes you know, over lunch to go for a nice mindful walk and connect with how
- 22:58the leaves sound and the wind on my, you know, on my body and and try to not get into my
- 23:04thoughts of what I have to do, but really just be with myself and the environment.
- 23:10All those I find accumulate for me actually as well if not better than just doing one longer
- 23:17event.
- 23:18And I think the other realization for me was that I hadn't really understood the difference
- 23:23between self care versus mindfulness, which is, you know, being present in the moment because
- 23:30I've always, well, always for many years, I've done lots of self care.
- 23:34I love going to Zumba, and that's part of my self care, but it's not a mindful moment for
- 23:39me.
- 23:40I'm not It's fun and it replenishes me, but it's not connecting myself necessarily with how
- 23:46I'm feeling.
- 23:48So that's been a distinction I've had to pay attention to is when do I need to replenish?
- 23:53And how can I do that with a mindful moment?
- 23:56And to believe that most people listening would would agree.
- 23:59Sometimes you don't have an hour out of your day.
- 24:03Right?
- 24:03Like, I mean, ideally, you'd wanna be able to get an hour to be able to between exercise and
- 24:08and doing a a mindfulness activity.
- 24:11But in reality, you know, things, you know, you can preplan your day as much as possible.
- 24:17But stuff goes down.
- 24:18Right?
- 24:18And then you've gotta shift it.
- 24:19And then what's the first thing that goes?
- 24:21Right?
- 24:21Time for yourself and all that stuff.
- 24:24But, like, I often say to people Sometimes I will say, okay.
- 24:27Take out your phone.
- 24:28I said, who has a phone when I speak?
- 24:30And I say, everybody have a phone?
- 24:32Or should I ask who doesn't have a phone.
- 24:34And
- 24:34then I tell them to walk through some things with the phone.
- 24:37I said, load up 5 of the most fantastic pictures Yes.
- 24:42On your phone.
- 24:44And and I go, can you think of, you know, and people will come up, like, you know, if kids or
- 24:48pets or scenery or whatever.
- 24:51And then I say, okay.
- 24:51What what's the favorite music you have?
- 24:54Yes.
- 24:55And then I tried I don't know how to hook it, but I tell them to hook the music to the
- 24:59pictures.
- 25:00Yes.
- 25:01Right?
- 25:01And periodically through their day, those are some of the just some of the things.
- 25:06Set your alarm If you can in the morning, do it in the morning, right after lunch, try to watch
- 25:12it again,
- 25:13and
- 25:13listen, and do it again, just after dinner.
- 25:16Absolutely.
- 25:17But just because, again, you're reminding the brain that it could be pleasurable.
- 25:22It can relax.
- 25:24Yes.
- 25:24It's okay, right, versus go go go go go go go go into depletion.
- 25:29Yeah.
- 25:29And I think the more you do it, the more you realize the impact it has on your life, the
- 25:35more you want to do it in incorporated, the more becomes part of your routine.
- 25:39That's been my experience at least.
- 25:40You know?
- 25:41I I completely agree.
- 25:43So with, when you go into, organizations and stuff like that, what what's your approach when
- 25:50you, kinda get called in to, send organization to work with them.
- 25:54How do you kind of create a plan?
- 25:58They might call you in for communication skills, what or stress management, what do they
- 26:03might they source you out for and see.
- 26:05Yeah.
- 26:06So I do I do a few different workshops.
- 26:08So generally, my work with companies starts through workshops.
- 26:11I do consulting also, but the initial requests tend to be more for notes or workshops.
- 26:17And, so I do different ones.
- 26:20One is on understanding your own personality and the personality of others so that to help
- 26:25build an awareness of, you know, just because I might like to be really well, I'm I tend to
- 26:33like, to be more flexible and like change, but some people like a lot of structure and to
- 26:39build an awareness that just because I like it this way doesn't mean this is the way everyone
- 26:42else likes it and how can I understand how another person's needs might be different than
- 26:48my own?
- 26:49That I think is one way to improve communication.
- 26:52Right, to be able to have that awareness of other people's needs.
- 26:57One of my talks is on, resolving conflict so understanding, you know, how different
- 27:02personalities tend to respond to conflict.
- 27:06And so my my underlying goal in anyhow, I've few more, but my underlying goal in these
- 27:11workshops is to help people understand how to sustainably improve communication by
- 27:19interacting in in, I I think similar to your message, interacting in authentic ways where we
- 27:24truly try to listen to the other person's input.
- 27:30You know, we my training as a therapist taught me that when you listen to a client, you need
- 27:35to be ready to have a solution to fix that client's problem, which which is probably
- 27:41different from your training, but it's taken me many years to undo that idea that sometimes I
- 27:48just need to listen without a solution.
- 27:50Mhmm.
- 27:51Because sometimes I'm coming up with a solution and I haven't even fully listened to the other
- 27:55since problem.
- 27:56And so that has been a huge learning curve for me, particularly working up north where their
- 28:01listening skills are phenomenal.
- 28:04Up in Northern Canada with the Cree.
- 28:06So, that's part of what I teach to organizations now is if let's say you're giving
- 28:12an employee performance feedback, how do you do that in a way that respects that the employee
- 28:19has has content to contribute that is of value and respecting that they're an equal in the
- 28:27process giving feedback.
- 28:28So instead of coming in and saying this is what you need to approve.
- 28:31What do you think
- 28:31that's right online?
- 28:33How do we have a real conversation where we both truly discuss the strengths and weaknesses
- 28:39and where I see you as a partner in coming up with ideas and ways to support you in your week
- 28:46versus judging you for struggling with certain things because the reality is we all have
- 28:51weaknesses.
- 28:52Right?
- 28:52It's part of
- 28:53a huge
- 28:53mission.
- 28:55But those interactions sometimes are done in a way where, you know, as a boss, we are trying
- 29:01to send a message that it needs to be done a certain way.
- 29:04So I think shifting our thinking to looking at how do I meet the needs of different people
- 29:09differently and how do I have a conversation to truly identify what those needs are is a super
- 29:15important piece to business success, you know, and life success.
- 29:20So resource based, really, what you're heightening is people's resources, to to to
- 29:26recognize and make it more collaborative.
- 29:28And which really with my background, that's what I do all the time.
- 29:31You know, I'm I was trained differently than you and that I always say to people, when I'm,
- 29:37you know, either consulting or coaching is my job.
- 29:40I'll know I I don't have a job when you don't need me anymore.
- 29:44And I'm gonna pull the I'm gonna pull the things from you that will make you make the
- 29:51right decision because if I were to tell you what to do, which is different prop speech
- 29:55pathology.
- 29:56You're gonna go up there.
- 29:57You're gonna go out.
- 29:58You're gonna deliver.
- 29:58You're gonna fall flat in your face in a week, and you're gonna come back.
- 30:01Right.
- 30:02Based on my prescription, and then you're gonna be mad.
- 30:05Right?
- 30:06And so I'm circumventing that by allowing you to really come up with the solutions yourself.
- 30:12Yeah.
- 30:12Absolutely.
- 30:13And, I mean, listen, part of that may have just been my personality and how I interpreted my
- 30:18training and the messages may have shifted, but I've learned ton from working with, you know,
- 30:23psychologists, psychotherapist, and social workers on how to listen in a way that I didn't
- 30:29that I didn't before.
- 30:30And what I've seen is how you get so much better outcomes when like you say, when you
- 30:38view the other person as the expert of their own situation, and you're simply there to help
- 30:43guide them, but respecting that they have their own answers, like you said, That's, I think you
- 30:48get the best outcomes.
- 30:49You know?
- 30:50Abs absolutely.
- 30:51Absolutely.
- 30:52So you know what?
- 30:54So collaborative, full, compassionate kindness.
- 30:59Like, that's really what I hear.
- 31:00Some of the core things.
- 31:02Right?
- 31:03Transparency, emotional responsiveness, Yeah.
- 31:06Consistency and safety.
- 31:07Those are all the variables that are really needed for a an ideal situation.
- 31:12And that said, most of us, you know, We think we communicate well.
- 31:17But really, you know, we could all learn to communicate better.
- 31:22I think I I'm always learning I mean, how to, you know, kind of enhance things based on
- 31:28everybody's so unique.
- 31:30Yeah.
- 31:31And we're human.
- 31:32Right?
- 31:32I still catch myself myself.
- 31:34I have a conversation and after I think, oh, I was really pushing, you know, my perspective
- 31:39and not listening as or I was trying to give them a solution.
- 31:42So it's, I think it's always a learning curve for all of us, but I think the key is being
- 31:47open to reflecting on how to do things differently and being okay with being
- 31:52imperfect.
- 31:53You know, it's not to beat ourselves up for it, but, just to learn from those around us.
- 31:58Absolutely.
- 32:00Now this has been amazing, so I wanna know where people can get ahold of you.
- 32:04And, what kind of things is maybe there's something that you'd like them to reach out,
- 32:10you know, to look into.
- 32:12So why don't you tell everyone where they can get hold of you?
- 32:14Thank you.
- 32:15Yeah.
- 32:15So My my company's name is Collaborative Solutions.
- 32:19Felt that fit well kind of where I was trying to get people in their conversations.
- 32:24The website is www.collaborativedashsolutions with an s on the end.
- 32:31Ca So you can check out under my corporate tab.
- 32:36I have the 5 different workshops that I offer, and you can go take a peek there if you're
- 32:41interested in having any work shops or keynotes within your organization to look at how to free
- 32:47yourself from stressful interactions within the workplace and how to have people be able
- 32:52communicate in a respectful way that has everybody feeling valued, which ultimately, you
- 33:00know, leads to improved staff retention and and job satisfaction.
- 33:04So you can check that out there.
- 33:07And Awesome.
- 33:08Awesome.
- 33:09Well, thank you
- 33:10so much for being here with us.
- 33:12And, so when I when I listen to Lindsay's message, it's really about, Listening, but
- 33:20listening in a way that makes you understand, what is your stress response?
- 33:24Maybe potentially what is that other person stress response and how are you ensuring that
- 33:31your needs are being met, but at the same time thinking about outside of yourself to think
- 33:36about what else that other person's needs also.
- 33:39That said, it's not that easy.
- 33:41It takes practice and you might, you
- 33:43know, practice.
- 33:44And when you're a little bit heated, it's it's difficult for all of us, so to take that time.
- 33:48So I I thank, Lindsey, for sharing her wisdom.
- 33:51And if anybody's ever looking for you know, a communication specialist, by all means, please
- 33:57reach out to to Lindsey.
- 33:59And for anyone, companies that are looking for consultations or, mental health and wellness
- 34:05strategist or keynote, you can reach me at roxanderhodge.com.
- 34:10So, again, thank you for tuning in, and we'll chat with you soon.
- 34:14Okay, Lindsey.
- 34:15Take care.
- 34:16Thank you.
- 34:16This has been great.
- 34:18Okay.
- 34:18Talk to you later.
- 34:19Bye bye.
- 34:19Thanks for tuning in to authentic living with Roxanne, creating the space for positive
- 34:25healthy chain.
- 34:26Roxanne is a keynote speaker, psychotherapist, and coach to work with Roxanne, visit Roxanne
- 34:33Durha dotcom/blueprint.
- 34:36We'll see you next time on authentic living with Roxanne.