Latest / Serious Lady Business / The Leadership Gap No One Talks About with Logan Yonavjak
Transcript
- Leslie Youngblood (00:00) Welcome back to Serious Lady Business. Today we are talking the leadership gap no one talks about. Logan, I am so excited to have you here. Thank you so much for joining us on Serious Lady Business. Logan Yonavjak (00:13) It's great to be here. No, I appreciate you having me. Leslie Youngblood (00:16) Ya yes, and you have had such an incredible career experiences. You've worked across investing, startups, advising. What patterns kept showing up that led you to build your own company? Logan Yonavjak (00:29) Well, it's, you know, a combination of light bulb moments and just observations over the years. I would say people are always like, What was the light bulb? I did have some of those, but I also was just like on teams and watching leaders my whole career. So yeah, I would say that what I noticed was and I have better language for it now, but it's really this mismatch between visionary leadership and how people show up on a regular basis. And how teams are constructed to optimize for people's best skills or not. So just a few patterns to draw out. A lot of times people are promoted to being a manager for their concrete skills or their credentials, but not necessarily being people managers. Or you have very visionary people who are indecisive and don't have the right people around them to help augment their decision making, or they're not very relational in nature. Leslie Youngblood (01:13) Mm. Logan Yonavjak (01:26) So there's just a lot of patterns that you start to see, you know, there's people are complex, but they kind of boil down to a number of patterns. And so developmental psychology, which is the field that we're in with our company that our tools are based on, really highlights some of these factors. So I sort of stumbled into that space, but the what led me here was was observation. Leslie Youngblood (01:51) Yeah, that is so true. And I think that's really important to share with our listeners because you see people, or I mean, first of all, let's just start. Who has not had a job where you saw somebody in a manager position or like in a director, and you're like, this person sucks? Like, how did they get this job? Or like, and you think, like, what am I missing? How did they get here? Like, this seems like crazy, but like Logan Yonavjak (02:10) Yeah, like how did they get here? Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (02:16) there's a a a reason or like a mismatch there, right? And we've all been through like those experiences. But also when you see those things too, you then you kind of realize, if they can do it, I can do it. Or I can build something better. I can, you know, improve upon these situations. And I think that is, you know, so important that not every person that's going to recognize those patterns may be inspired to start their own company, but you will recognize those patterns and it will inspire you to be a better leader. And that's I think the most important key for all of us is that those things to kind of take those can be f potentially frustrating situations and take and make a benefit out of it. And you've made such a benefit out of it by starting your own company. Logan Yonavjak (02:54) Yeah. Yeah, I mean the idea so one of the things I I think is an overused phrase, but I really like to bring it in in this context is democratizing access and language around some of these patterns that can be learned and implemented. So I think a lot of people just you know, we can't be experts in everything. And a lot of people have intuitions about what can make them a better leader or why their manager isn't maybe the best team leader, but they don't necessarily have the time or the expertise or the roadmaps to really chart a course for how things could be different. So we started this company partly because AI is enabling you know, how we do this to be scalable and lower cost. And I can get into a little bit of why that's important for the specific types of tools we're using. But it's just suffice to say, I think we're in a really interesting time of acr actually democratizing this information and access to it. So that's what really got me excited from an impact perspective. Leslie Youngblood (03:58) Yeah. Yes, definitely. I mean, how utterly important is that, like truly to get that in the hands of all the people and not just a select few, because it benefits everybody so much, like monumentally more when access is democratized in in all ways and shapes and forms. And so I think that's really cool. And you've said before that great companies and funds fail because of people in leadership. And I And maybe even access, like two, right? So I would love for you to go a little bit deeper and unpack that a little more for us, Logan. Logan Yonavjak (04:35) Yeah, so I'll start with you know, there's two two s elements I like to also talk about, which is the access plus more unbiased decision making. So one thing we we didn't necessarily touch on explicitly is that often decisions about who gets a promotion or who gets a job can be perceived as unfair and often are based on unfair assumptions or biases. Sometimes they're not, but often they are. so what We as humans all have biases. That's okay. Like we come in with patterns from our experience, from our past, from our genetics. so not to say that pattern recognition and gut feeling aren't valuable tools, but but also we come in with biases. and so there can be many reasons for that too. But what AI can help us with is to create more quantitative based large data-based informed tools that can actually help us remove or at least force us to point to some of the biases that we're using to make decisions. So that's something I'm also excited about. I think with the movement of, you know, people call it different things, but DEI for shorthand, I think the whole idea of diversifying, you know, who gets jobs, et cetera, is a very noble one. It's just how do you actually do that? in a fair way. And so I think AI and some of these tools can actually help us, which is what I'm really one of the things I'm really excited about. but you asked about some of the stats. So I think there's three stats I've been drawing from broadly. And you know obviously these are not these are based on larger studies, but do your own research. It might not be as as precise what I'm trying to say with these stats is directional. Leslie Youngblood (06:07) Yeah. Yeah. Right, that yeah. Logan Yonavjak (06:34) in nature. So 65% of startups fail because of some sort of people related problem. if you go on Instagram or LinkedIn, people have different percentages that they throw out there. I'm not saying this is a perfect stat, but I do think it points to an important factor, which is we're under estimating the fat the fact that most of the time people problems are leading to company failures in some pr like pronounced way or another. So whether that's the founders not getting along, lack of emotional resilience, inability to pivot and make a decision quickly, those are all those are all important factors. 70% of MA deals are not working out because of culture clashes. again, large number, but I think it points directionally to something. Like if you're gonna merge companies, Leslie Youngblood (07:04) Mm. Interesting. Logan Yonavjak (07:30) There's a lot that goes into that, right? Analyzing the free cash flow and the EBITDA and all these different financial metrics. But how much goes into really assessing the teams and whether these the cultural fit and the the manager fits and things like that? and the last one I'll throw out there is around forty percent in corporate America of promotions are not really working out within the first 18 months. And that could be Someone gets fired, they quit, they stall out. You know, it it that's a broad statement, but I also think that's a pretty significant portion of promotional decisions. so taken an aggregate, we have people problems, is what I'm trying to say. Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (08:11) Yeah. Mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, too long. Don't read. Like we have people problems. That is interesting. I would never knew that it was 40% within 18 months. Like it doesn't work out. That is wild. And the whole the MA that 70% like don't work because of the culture clash, that actually makes sense. And you think that, I mean, when you're in business you realize there's a lot that goes into that, but still to have it be like at the core of culture, like mismatch is just and I love that like I Logan Yonavjak (08:49) Yeah, exactly. Leslie Youngblood (08:52) The That's something that I love so much about business. Like no matter what. And it's in even technology, right? It's like at the core. Like people are still at the core of all these things. And like you think it's the the sales and the abidda and all like the but it's like really it's the people. It's the relationships. And it's just like peop humans, we're just we're just crazy. Like it's just crazy and endlessly fascinating, right? This whole human experience from beginning to end, business to not, right? But it's just You know, you're like, wow, like that is just so interesting. And I'm curious what your thoughts are specifically on like that forty percent of promotions don't work out. Like is that a leadership capacity issue, Logan? Like what is and like what's the difference between like leadership skills versus leadership capacity? Logan Yonavjak (09:45) Yeah, no, I'm glad you asked that question. So of course I can't answer all of you know, these are many of these are situational problems. They could have political issues that, you know, we we would have to dissect a lot to really answer the question in nuanced detail. But what I would say is there's in broad strokes, people are often making a decision of whether someone's ready for a promotion based on their past performance, their credentials. maybe some potentially bias feedback from their colleagues. It could be unbiased too, but often three sixties can have some bias associated with them. and so there's this past performance does not equal future performance concept that I just want to illustrate. Skills are important, like you have skills, communication skills, writing skills, Cognitive thinking skill. mean, there's all sorts of skills and not negating that. What we're talking about is capacity, which is related to someone's developmental level. And this is a this is where the body of developmental psychology comes in without getting too technical. What it's measuring is the structure of someone's thinking and things like how many perspectives they're taking, how Leslie Youngblood (11:08) Sure. Logan Yonavjak (11:13) How complex is their thinking in terms of holding multiple perspectives objectively. so it's when someone and the these these capacities are are somewhat exponential. So if you have someone who is kind of mid-tier or maybe lower tier in their ability to hold complexity, then they're gonna have a difficult time getting to the next level of complexity with like AI getting thrown at them. And all the tools and all the information. So they might have gone from being a really good floor manager, to then being in in the in some sort of next level where they're having to manage even more projects and eat with even more complexity associated with them. And they're just not there yet in terms of their capacity. so they might have good communication skills and they might really be able to they might have a high IQ, but they're not necessarily like Leslie Youngblood (11:45) Hmm. Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (12:12) holding that ha that complexity. That's just one aspect. Leslie Youngblood (12:17) Yeah, that is so interesting. Can they learn? Like is that something that you feel like that somebody can adjust to or or recognize within themselves? Like, and I'm in this position now and I'm I can this feels like too much and I have to actively work to hold more capacity. Is that are there any tips or ways that somebody can work on that if they recognize it within themselves or within a promotion that they've made within their organization? Logan Yonavjak (12:45) Yeah, absolutely. So well that's what we are I would not be in this business if I didn't think people could grow. I think it's just that we've actually we have some interesting charts that show people's developmental trajectory with and without coaching. And they're kind of illustrative in nature, but everyone's evolving. It's just depends on how fast you're doing it. Some people Leslie Youngblood (12:53) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (13:12) for whatever reason early in their life are like, I'm gonna do a lot of self-development. I'm gonna work on these things. They might not even have the language, but they're just working on them. with certain coaching intervention, you can expedite this process. And so it's really, I think fundamentally based on your coachability, like how growth-minded are you as a person? I think each of us is capable of multitudes and Leslie Youngblood (13:21) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (13:40) I'm I really deeply believe that at my core. I just think a lot of people have emotional blocks that prevent them from they're they're afraid of the growth and the and the feedback and just the uncomfortableness of that of that growth. So Leslie Youngblood (13:44) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes. So True. I am such a believer in coaching, business coaching, like specifically. And I I I think a lot of people look upon it or j maybe it's just like within my circles and I'd be curious to get your take even on this too, where it's like you almost feel not like you're a failure, but like, do I need this? Like or how you know, is this like admitting I need help or whatever. But it's like I will what I always think about is Serena Williams. Do you think she like wants All her like grand slams and became the goat without a coach, and like all these, you know, big Oprah, right? And all these like incredible leaders, founders, like do you and Oprah is very open about coaching and and you know, learning and development and all of that. And it's like you have to admit like what you don't know to grow to grow. but it is so true at the end of the day, it's like it's that difficult, it's that easy and that difficult because it can be very hard to admit that to yourself and then to take the step. And I think. Logan Yonavjak (14:32) Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (14:57) we kind of fear what is reflected back to us. And I'm kind of like s even just like s I have a business coach and they're amazing. And it's like it's really hard to to ref to face like your shortcomings, right? And to recognize where you do need to grow. But you also have to know, and I know that people that do that like realize that it is a necessary step to get to where they want to be. And there are when you also look around at so many leaders that miss the mark pervert like if you will, you know, it's not that they're not smart, but they lack capacity when you recognize, no, I don't want to be one of those leaders. is there anybody that like you can think of, Logan, that's like smart, a smart leader, but maybe lacks capacity? Logan Yonavjak (15:48) hate to call people out. I mean I think that it it does help I can talk about some of the people we've assessed in in more like without naming them so yeah I will I'll come back to that I just wanted to say one thing to make it more concrete you asked a question earlier about like what does it mean to have like skills versus capacity and so think of a person who's really good at Leslie Youngblood (15:58) Mm-hmm. Mm. Logan Yonavjak (16:17) Crunching numbers. they might be seen as somebody who's like needs to go to the next level as a manager because they're such a good coder or such a good analyst. but when it comes down to it, they're not great at handling different tensions. So when two things they care about pull in opposite directions, they might reflexively just pick a side. Like say three people come to them that they're managing and they have Leslie Youngblood (16:35) Mm. Logan Yonavjak (16:47) a problem with the other person or they have a problem with something that happened on the team. Because they don't want to handle all the tension and emotional complexity, they'll just pick a side and just go back to their work. Really they didn't resolve anything. And so some but somebody with a higher capacity with this would really sit and enable like allow those perspectives to all hold at once and then make the best decision for the team. So that can Leslie Youngblood (17:12) Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (17:16) kind of make the difference between people feeling satisfied with their manager and that has spillover effects like team satisfaction, team motivation, being able to hit, you know, execution goals at the end of the quarter. So just to illustrate kind of a flow kind of what those kinds of capacities can result in. Leslie Youngblood (17:39) Yes, that is such a good example, I feel like, because when you are rising or in your looking to become a bigger leader, you are going to have to deal with those types of issues and And it's not easy. but that's why not everybody wants to be in those positions. Like there's plenty of rock stars and organizations that are like, I'm just gonna be here. I I don't wanna run the department in the future. I just wanna do this and like and I'm good. But like when you do feel called to be a leader, whether it's with you're in your own business and you're hiring employees underneath you or department or whatever you're doing, like that is such a great example of it. And it's it's tough. But like you said, to be able to have the capacity to hold those multiple tensions and to see those perspectives, that's really incredible. And it's not easy, but it's like something that capacity to cultivate and develop. So that's a great, great example. I'm so glad you shared that. and I'd like to go more into you know leadership you know, traits like with you. You have built a system of six dimensions of leadership specifically. I would love to hear you share those at a high level, Logan. Logan Yonavjak (18:56) yeah, absolutely. And this came from aggregating hundreds of research studies. So that's a whole process we went through. for those who are really excited about the deeper layers of that, we've actually published some of our methodology and are planning to come out with a white paper. but suffice to say, we picked these because originally we were focusing on high-growth startups as kind of our main focal area for the assessment. We've since broadened. our f our area of our ICPs and kind of our customer base, but initially we were looking at cap we call them constructs, constructs that had some sort of positive predictive value or correl correlative value with positive startup outcomes. So we looked at studies that show that people with higher constructs levels basically sh showed that their companies had higher performance in some way, whether it's fall-on investing and exit, that sort of thing. so lots to do still to kind of build bigger data sets and continue to validate this. But we chose relational intelligence. We chose team climate IQ, so the ability to hold psychological safety and and create a flow state within a team. Leslie Youngblood (20:20) Mm. Logan Yonavjak (20:23) Coachability and identity flexibility. That is again someone's growth mindset and how wedded they are to their identity and how flexible they are in taking in feedback and using it strategically. What we call strategic complexity is the fourth one. That's that ability to hold many, many, many perspectives at once and get away from black and white thinking and to be objective about frameworks and just hold multitudes at once. and yeah, we have resilience, which is that's that ability to ensure that you have a system around you to mitigate exogenous stress shock. So like there's inevitably going to be stress. How do you actually handle that within your own system? And what if you what kind of like Leslie Youngblood (20:54) Mm. Mm. Logan Yonavjak (21:21) positive coping strategies do you have to deal with to build your own resilience? And then the last one is purposeful agility, which means how do you pivot quickly when given information like and direction? How do you pivot while holding your goal in mind? Leslie Youngblood (21:38) Mmm, I love it. What do you see th is there one that people struggle with the most, Logan? Logan Yonavjak (21:45) Well, I think most of the time you see correlations with low coachability and s the other ones being low. Because again, like if you're not growth minded, you tend to stay stuck for a long time. unless like something tragic happens. You know, we hear stories of people completely changing their lives because of some tragedy or outside thing happens and it just shocks them. You know, people can get shocked out of their Leslie Youngblood (21:57) Yeah. Logan Yonavjak (22:14) Their mindset, but for the most part, that prevents a lot of growth. And then I would say at the higher levels of development, you also have problems that that can come. So, like we've all met those people who are maybe have a lot of strategic complexity, but maybe they're not good at pivoting quickly because they kind of like take in too much information. They're always like iterating and they won't take action because they're almost like, well, I don't have enough information yet. Leslie Youngblood (22:15) Yeah. Mm. Yeah. Logan Yonavjak (22:43) They're tensions that can occur at every level, but yeah, those are two meaningful ones that I've come across. Leslie Youngblood (22:49) So interesting. I think all those are like spot. I'm like, yeah. yeah. Of course. Yeah. That's that's awesome. And we were talking earlier too about AI and like the, you know, the future of leadership and what the technology means and how we can cultivate, you know, additional leadership and democratize a lot of this. how tell us like how that is specifically coming into play right now. in terms of like workforce and in the business world. you know, do you think people are using AI to to grow or like they still looking upon it as f like something to fear? Because I think at least I I'll just let you answer 'cause I have a perspective on that too. Logan Yonavjak (23:39) Been meaning to look into this a bit more. This came from a friend, so I don't know the source of this, but someone told me recently that the main f use case of AI for the everyday individual has been more of like a therapy kind of coach companion. I think that connects some dots in my head, again, without underlying statistics. Leslie Youngblood (23:57) Hmm. Sure. Logan Yonavjak (24:05) Most Americans have very few close friends. There's a epidemic of loneliness. I think AI has sort of surfaced as this like safer for the people who are comfortable using it, safer way to ask maybe more complex or questions they don't feel like they can ask other people or don't have anyone to ask. so the I think that's happening and I and of course I think there's a lot of fear about what this is gonna look like for people's jobs. Leslie Youngblood (24:08) Mm, mm. Yeah. Logan Yonavjak (24:35) So I think there's like multiple multiple things happening at once. yeah, it's a really complicated situation. And that's why having a higher level of strategic complexity will help people navigate this process because you have to hold multiple things at once, like what I just said. it's both being a coach and kind of a therapist for people. and it's kind of Leslie Youngblood (24:35) Yeah. Wow. Logan Yonavjak (25:02) a rising fear. Like I have fear around it, even though it's the basis of my company. So it's like Leslie Youngblood (25:08) Right? It's a new frontier. It's the wild it's a wild west, like another wild west of our generation. Like with you know, there's been so you know, I kind of like think about that. And I'm an elder millennial. And so in how drastically life has changed since we were kids and there was business and our parents did it execute it upon and in my mobile like I mean, like for a hundred years there was like light bulbs and then it became, you know, radio and TV, and now it's like Now you have like everything. Logan Yonavjak (25:39) The pace of innovation. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (25:41) Yeah, the pace of innovation, it's crazy and it's another thing and and it is like scary, but I also like like similarly I'm very much excited by it and it has like potential to improve lives and it's not going anywhere either. Like that's also the thing. Like when people kind of like get ru like have a really severe stance on it and I get it, it's really bad for the environment and like and it can hallucinate or what you know, what all like the things, like I totally get it. But it's also not going anywhere either. Right. So you might as well like use it for good. And again, I think that comes down to the people that are using it and how are they using it? Are you using it for good? And the people. And I think that is also so cool that people are using it not just for good in that way, but to develop themselves and as like a personal therapist. Because I've even asked questions or just as like a for example, I was My business coach told me I needed to get hobbies and I was like, Hobbies, yeah, I remember hobbies. Like, what are hobbies? And so then I was like, Okay, maybe I'll learn how I played the guitar, like tried to learn how to play the guitar when I was in college and I never came around to it. So I'm like talking with Chat GPT and like, how do you learn how to play the guitar? And and how do you get good? And it was like it's a skill. Yeah, and it was like, stop it it like broke it down in this really way, is like your goal shouldn't be to learn how to play a song. Your goal should just be to have a Logan Yonavjak (26:56) Yeah, it's a skill. You're acquiring Leslie Youngblood (27:07) And I was like, my God, like that's so true. Like, what am I? I'm already setting myself up for failure with a hobby because I want to like be the best at it. Or I'm like want to like figure out how I can excel at this. And it's like, that's not the purpose of hobbies. And it took Chat GPT to like tell me this. And I was like, damn, chat, like, okay, I see you. And so I think like just in those little things that people kind of dabble in when talking with chat, outside of how ha having it be a really great business tool. and you know, something that is going to allow them to do. more work with less people and all the opportunities that it presents itself. So it's just like such a wild it's a wild time, but a really fascinating exciting. Logan Yonavjak (27:47) Yeah. Well, something I'll say about the develop on the developmental with the developmental lens in mind is that, you know, research broadly shows that most people are at kind of a mid tier or low tier of of development according to like things like integrative complexity and some of these abilities we've been talking about. that doesn't mean it's bad. It doesn't mean we're not putting a good or bad stamp on any of this. It's more just Leslie Youngblood (28:11) Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (28:15) a developmental trajectory. But so that the everyday person is coming from a certain perspective. we'll just take the complexity angle. A lot of people are black and white thinkers, for instance. and so when they talk to Chat GBT or they're talking to another AI, they're asking it questions from their developmental level. And it being trained at kind of a mid tier Developmental level because of all the data and aggregate of society is talking back to it to the person from maybe a little higher perspective. But one of the things we're arguing as a company is that AI actually needs to be developed in these higher levels of development from like a relational perspective, from a strategic complexity perspective. It's not that it has its cognition is really good, but its ability to hold space for some of these more complex. Leslie Youngblood (29:08) Mm. Logan Yonavjak (29:12) conversations could be improved. And so we're looking at AI coaching and and other ways to scenario based stuff to like really highlight some of these patterns and help AI also improve. Because think about it like if you had someone in a rural area who didn't have a lot of friends who could talk to like their second brain or have AI come in, multiple AIs come in and as different coaches. Leslie Youngblood (29:25) Yeah. Logan Yonavjak (29:40) maybe they could really work on something they've been struggling with. So that I think that those are the exciting visionary like dimensions of AI that I think we in addition to the cool stuff that you're, you know, seeing it do. Leslie Youngblood (29:43) Goshed Had Right. Yeah. There's just that ha the potential and the opportunities. I mean it's just endless. It ain't really, you know, for good. Right. And I think and I always choose to focus on on the good, but again, 'cause it's not going anywhere. There's no other so you might as well focus on the good. It's not going anywhere. and and I love that too, because whether you're an entrepreneur or, you know, intrapreneur, which Logan Yonavjak (30:00) Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're just Yeah, it's not going anywhere. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (30:19) and I will you know maybe your definite how I would define an entrepreneur, somebody that works at an organization but still is very like motivated to grow. you know, why is like this conversation and the leadership conversation important and relevant for both of those groups, Logan. So whether anybody listening right now is like, I'm never gonna start my own business, like, but I wanna do better at work and whether it's somebody's like, I have this business and I want to grow this business, like I would love for you to talk to why it's relevant and important for both of those groups. Groups. Logan Yonavjak (30:50) Yeah, for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs. Well, I think all the capacities we we talked about are relevant for for everybody, but I think they can give you a competitive advantage in that it's good to get it's good when you're starting a new workout program, you wanna have a baseline. Like they're gonna do an assessment of you and give you a program. So this gives you a structured program. I mean you could certainly Leslie Youngblood (31:15) Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (31:19) Try to piece it together on your own or get feedback from other people. Our own sense of perceived ability can be biased in and of itself. Most humans tend to think they're above average in you know, that's been studied it in great detail. I've found it in a lot of my own sales conversations. and that's okay. That's just that's just the way it is. But Leslie Youngblood (31:30) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Sure. Mm-hmm. Logan Yonavjak (31:47) It's always good to get an outside perspective and have a baseline for anything that you're working towards. So the vast majority of people aren't doing this yet, you know, and I think it pre prevent like pre I'm stumbling on this word. It is it can give you a competitive advantage, it can give you a structure, and it can give you kind of defined ways to to look at your improvements. And then, you know, in terms of the people around you, I think it it shows Leslie Youngblood (31:56) Yeah. Logan Yonavjak (32:16) a lot of dedication and people will start to pick up on like the results, you know. I've noticed that even as I've been focusing on it more in my own team. So yeah, I mean those are just some of the reasons I think it's valuable. Leslie Youngblood (32:31) And I think specifically for women, you know, where we see when, you know, venture VC money, only three percent, still only goes to women. We need to start showing up more, right? That horde statistic and the gender pay parity, right? Like we're still a hundred and twenty plus years away from gender pay parity. You know, tell tell me how Logan Yonavjak (32:47) Is that right? Leslie Youngblood (32:49) Yeah. That's like one of the reasons why Logan Yonavjak (32:50) Wow. Leslie Youngblood (32:50) I started seriousity business because I got really mad about I think back when I started, it was like a hundred and thirty-six years to get to gender pay parity, and that's just for like white women and men. And it's like more for black women and his black teen X women. But I think it came down to like a hundred and twenty-three is the latest statistic, but still, come on. And so the more we can lead, you know, step into our leadership roles, that we can, you know, take risks and learn to advocate for. Logan Yonavjak (33:04) Wow. Leslie Youngblood (33:19) ourselves and others, you know, financially and in the business world and and learn and understand that we are just as capable and we deserve just as much and, you know, break through these some of these structures, whether it's our own internal structures or the external structures, the faster we can get to gender pay parity. And so, you know, I would love to see how how you would want to see women or what you feel like, you know, what you want them to know to step into the leadership today that you know that everyone is capable of, specifically in spaces like investing and tech, which are still very male dominated and male centric when it comes to leadership and investment. Logan Yonavjak (33:56) Yeah. I mean, well, first of all, I think it is you're taking a lot of aspects of your leadership more seriously, to use your serious lady business term. Like when you hone in on some of these capacities, it is really fundamental to you becoming the best version of yourself. And this is a this includes concepts such as self-actualization and you know, a lot of the people to your point earlier that are great leaders have been through Leslie Youngblood (34:05) Mm. Mm. Logan Yonavjak (34:25) deep coaching and analysis and they've been evaluated by the best of the best and they're like constantly working on that themselves. So you need an attitude of, you know, coachability and constant growth. to be a serious professional. I mean, hands down to be a serious woman professional, to be a serious man professional. But yeah, I mean since we're talking about women primarily, it's like, let's get let's get more serious about these Leslie Youngblood (34:31) Yeah. Yeah. Mm. Hm. Logan Yonavjak (34:53) dimensions of leadership. And yeah, I think to me it's the ways you measure it, like we have assessment tools, we can use transcript analysis. I mean, it's getting easier and easier all the time. We also have coaches, we're building a a coaching affiliate network. so it kind of just depends on how people want to engage with it. But we're trying to get into more corporate settings, like if people have connections at their firms that they want to bring this in, like That's how it's gonna really infiltrate the system. So Leslie Youngblood (35:27) Yeah, and I think any corporate business, whether it's a giant organization or even a medium sized one, how Amazing and beneficial would it be to bring that into their business, not just for like them and their bottom line, but for the employees that are there that want to feel like they are contributing and that they have opportunity to grow and that they are learning and you know becoming a better professional for themselves as well as the the corporation that they're a part of. And I think that that's really important. And I, you know, and hope that is something that just could catches on like wildfire because I think that we just need more of that. And it's not, it's not having a ping-pong. table and not like and the snacks in the kitchen. It's like really like looking at people and saying like I see you and I want to help you grow and you matter and and you know and these tools are here for you. Like if you choose and have that, you know, interest and desire to grow in that way. We want to help you with that. And I think that that's just really cool. And I hope that it again just explodes and we see all the people doing that and working with you guys. This is so important Logan Yonavjak (36:33) Thank you. I love that beyond the ping pong table. Beyond the ping pong. Leslie Youngblood (36:36) Yeah. Right. I mean I love a ping pong table, but I'm like really like y invest in the real the real things, right? It can become cliches where you think we're having a great culture, but No, like there's so much more and it's just about it's about people, right? As we were the whole thread, I feel like, and coming back to what we've been talking about. Logan, I would love to know what is one piece of serious lady business advice you wish more women actually took seriously? Logan Yonavjak (37:06) You know, I've been listening or following Instagram and LinkedIn. Those are kind of my two go-to social media platforms. And there's this group that has been posting a lot about articulation. And I've been interested to follow up because it's a training program to become a better speaker and better articulate yourself. I think that is one of the most under Estimated undervalued skills as a professional. Being able to get across your point, like you can have a really compelling message, but how do you get it across in a way that really tells a good story and gives people an emotional experience? Like I think that is we've gotten really lost in statistics and white papers and headlines and and whatnot. And I think Leslie Youngblood (37:39) Mm-hmm. Mm. Logan Yonavjak (38:05) those who can really articulate their message are just gonna be movement makers. I so yeah, I've just been noodling a lot on that a lot. A lot of people have really good content but then they don't just they don't necessarily know how to put it out there. So yeah. Leslie Youngblood (38:20) I love that. That's such I agree. That's an awesome piece of advice. Thank you for sharing that. And as we wrap up, Logan, I would love for you to share where our listeners can follow you and connect with you outside of the podcast today. And we'll also make sure to drop these in the show notes for everybody. Logan Yonavjak (38:36) Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn constantly. I really think that's the best go to platform. you can also reach me through our website, readinessengine.io. We have a contact form and an email. So those are the best two ways. Leslie Youngblood (38:50) Love it. We will again drop those in the show notes. Thank you so much for joining us today, Logan. What an incredible conversation. Incredible things you are doing. We look forward to following you along as you grow and make incredible leaders for everybody, especially our listeners here. And you know, we wish you all the best. Thank you. Cheers. Logan Yonavjak (38:57) It was a pleasure. Yeah. Thank you, Leslie.