The Elevating Leader: The Counterintuitive Choice To Shift Our Identity
How to lead through change? How do we recognize and celebrate different abilities in every person? How to adapt our leadership approach based on different situations and needs?
Often we double down on what we know to solve new problems. However, there is a famous saying that we need to consider: “What got you here won’t get you there” by Marshall Goldsmith.
Join us to explore:
- Why move away from something that’s working?
- What does the awareness of our identity have to do with solving new problems?
- What holds us back from shifting our identity?
- What are some creative frameworks and models for thinking about identity change?
RESOURCES
We invite you to join live talks with Olympians and Performance Coaches to explore topics that help us break our limits.
HOSTS
Inga Stasiulionyte, Olympian in javelin throwing, performance coach at Valor Performance, and founder of ofounders.com
Joe Jacobi, Olympic Gold medalist at whitewater slalom, author of “Slalom: 6 River Classes About How To Confront Obstacles, Advance Amid Uncertainty, & Bring Focus To What Matters Most,” performance coach at Valor Performance, and founder of joejacobi.com
Adam Hjerpe, Chairperson of the Board for the Special Olympics 2026 USA Games. Bringing over 100,000 people to Minnesota to celebrate the incredible ability of over 7,000 athletes and the inclusion movement.
LIVE TALKS: The Elevating Leader — The Counterintuitive Choice To Shift Our Identity
Watch the LinkedIn Live recording here.
TIMESTAMPS
5:55 — Why is it important to talk about identity when we are trying to evolve our leadership? What happens if we do not pay attention to our identity?
- What does it mean to move people?
- Our brain pushes us to stay in the current place. By lifting the same amount of weight, we will not get weaker or stronger.
- External pressures to change are high because everything around us changes, but how do we find internal motivation to evolve ourselves?
- The leader sets the tone by being flexible and stretching themselves. Vulnerability is not a weakness but a strength that gives us the ability to connect with people, resulting in greater leverage and impact as a leader.
- Which parts of our identity remain the same, and which need to evolve for a leader when they are going through change?
- Leadership is a team sport — finding people to help us and advise us.
11:20 — When should we not rely on past expertise to solve similar problems in the present? How do we know when we need to change? How do we know what needs to change?
- If something is not working, it is time to change.
- What incremental experiments can we undertake to make changes?
- Setting reminders to evaluate ourselves. How are things progressing monthly or quarterly? Is our current approach still aligned with our intentions?
- Is our current approach still serving us? How can we challenge ourselves? What is propelling us towards bigger goals, and what is impeding us from reaching them?
- Having the courage to take responsibility and ask ourselves what role we played in the failure.
16:30 — How can we determine the type of leaders we are?
- Are we impostor leaders or authentic leaders?
- Having the choice to opt out of leadership positions if this role is not suitable for us.
- Is our leadership identity grounded in our values? Do these values require any changes? How do we embody those values?
- Granting ourselves grace as we acknowledge daily failures while navigating a complex, difficult, and challenging life.
20:00 — How do we confront changes when they are forced and involuntary?
- Constantly training ourselves for change. What is our daily practice for training for change? Being interested not only in how we handle big, scary things but also in the work we put into training our balance and technique in calm waters.
- If we are prepared, external pressures will propel us forward, but if we are unprepared, they can sink us.
- Modifying the description of ourselves that no longer aligns with our current reality.
26:00 — What can we expect when we undergo a shift in our identity?
- We should hold our concept of ourselves loosely, recognizing that beyond our self-description lies a vast world that we have yet to explore.
- We need to evaluate what led us to this point. Often, we heavily rely on external voices to define and discover ourselves. It’s crucial to start questioning how those concepts we strongly held in the past influenced both our capabilities and limitations.
- We must reintegrate our inner selves into the conversation to redefine who we are. Achieving a balance between our inner and outer selves allows us to cultivate a 200% purpose, where both aspects of ourselves are fully engaged.
- The poem by Emily Perl Kingsley “Welcome to Holland” offers insight into accepting change and making a choice to embrace new learning and make the most of it.
- How can we embrace changes as personal and professional opportunities?
38:00 — What would happen if we didn’t shift our identities when leading through change?
- Being always prepared but never ready — embracing the journey of life, which is filled with changes and uncertainty.
- Embracing the future by envisioning how far ahead we can see, focusing not only on immediate recovery from setbacks but also considering how we handle similar situations with a long-term vision. What are the long-term significance and consequences of our actions?
- Continuously questioning ourselves about where we are heading, how we plan to get there, and why it is important.
- Instead of burning the team to reach goals, align the team with the purpose and determine the collaborative actions required to reach it.
42:00 — What could be done when leaders with different leadership styles clash?
- Who is the person showing up on this journey? Embrace the fact that we all have different approaches, and it is our unique qualities that make us effective.
- Direct the focus towards creating conditions and an environment that allow us to align our authentic abilities and optimize the given situation.
- Instead of solely creating a safe space, prioritize the creation of a brave space that encourages courage and openness to elevate the conversation.
- The leader takes the lead in setting the stage, committing to actions, and being the last to offer opinions.
50:00 — Key tools to help us to lead through change
- We cannot simply wing things. To bring forth the best and fullest versions of ourselves, we must intentionally facilitate it. Failing to prepare puts us at risk of complete team disengagement. How can we bring out the best in people rather than the worst? How can we create an environment conducive to success instead of failure?
- Being prepared to receive difficult feedback about ourselves.
- Actions and deeds are what truly matter.
- As a leader setting the tone and then stepping back to allow others to shine.
- Leading through the use of questions.
- Recognizing when our drive is harming us and hindering our ability to achieve desired results.
- Holding deadlines loosely, releasing the pressure of time constraints in growth situations.
