The Electric Power of Insight-Infused Habits and Training
by Christine N. Lee
The efficacy of “Atomic Habits” is undeniable - long-term impact of building micro habits and pursuing small wins often outweigh exerting immense willpower and taking massive action - and are catalyzed by designing environments that make good behaviors easy and sustainable.
There is however, a potent multiplier factor that can electrify James Clear’s 1% better each day trajectory and yield upwards of 20+% returns in mere weeks - that multiplier is the Five Voices training that both motivates and equips you to identify which habits would yield the highest ROI for your particular leadership style, surrounded by a cohort of like-minded professionals who are pursuing similar growth. I have seen this for myself again and again.
The power of Five Voices-Infused Atomic Habits is in highlighting the differing leadership strengths and blind spots for individuals, then paving a pathway for growth for each person, since no leader is naturally equipped on all five fronts. Simultaneously, the power of the training cohort is in providing both a momentum for growth and safe space to consider our blind spots, because let’s face it - that topic is often off limits for us all. Not surprisingly, however, these may also be the very places where our greatest growth opportunities come from.
I had a finance client earlier this year who was excellent at details and did great work. Yet she had a tendency to jump right into business on her remote work calls and found herself receiving multiple, lateral transfers within her company. Then, just by building this one habit of taking a few minutes at the beginning of calls to connect with her team on a personal level by getting to know the person, what they’re about, their family, weekend, and interests - she found that this connection oiled her work relationships which made all the parts work much smoother. Her colleagues were replying to her email requests for information much more quickly and noticeably more willing to collaborate on issues that came up. The power of Five Voices Training is in the exacting diagnosis of strengths and areas for growth, not just general leadership principles.
Another engineering client was a Connector with a natural ability to work with cross functional teams and see the big picture - but struggled to bring “challenge” to her team because she had a tendency to protect them and dominate herself. She learned to frame her challenges as bringing help rather than confrontation from her perspective, which enabled her to bring appropriate levels of challenge to her direct reports and lead them well. She also chose to strategically partner with Guardians on her team who were energized by the detailed work that truthfully drained her. By leaning into her natural strengths and people skills while focusing on big picture strategy, which is what she most enjoyed and where she brought the most value - she was promoted within months.
But what’s more, there is joy in self-discovery vs. being told what to do. Motivation is simply a key factor when facing difficult tasks in life. And the Next Level Leaders training cohort provides the space to explore and opt into learning opportunities on one’s own terms. Because let’s face it, looking in the mirror is arguably one of the hardest things we can do in real life. Leaders have perpetual blind spots because it is that painful to look at oneself in the mirror honestly.
The beauty of cohort training is that growth inspires growth, and letting down of guards is similarly infectious. Normal allergic reactions to the topic of blind spots are medicated away by coach-led discussions that embrace vulnerability towards powerful change. And one person experiencing insights and practical applications motivates the next to pursue similar growth for themselves. The Five Voices framework wonderfully highlights varying strengths and blindspots for all, with no one excluded from the human predicament of having room to grow in diverse ways. Professional coaching has a fantastic forward thrust and often feels like therapy for high-functioning professionals who simply want to be better.
Further, the sharing of learning opportunities forges a mutually beneficial experience where participants get to hear and experience different Voices in the cohort, process their growth - and learn from their perspectives. These varying Voices may be representative of their very colleagues in the workplace, and their insights and growth often shed light on how to better understand and collaborate with other Voices surrounding them at work and in all spheres of life.
The bottom line is this - we all need a safe space to process our challenges to help us grow, an environment that will give us ample support without judgment, all the while holding us to high standards without coddling and also giving us the tools to build on our strengths. We need both high support and high challenge. We couldn’t do one without the other, if we want to make progress with anything in life, and most of all when it comes to our leadership development.
This became as clear as day when I was coaching elite pianists - it’s painful enough making mistakes already, and some of you may have experienced that having a teacher who perpetually corrects you can lead to an exhausting experience. However, framing the corrections with deep support and building excitement around experiencing growth is what makes long-term development both sustainable and fun. And I got to see magnificent pianists develop before my very eyes over the years. Everyone would love to be a great pianist - but are you willing and wanting to put in the work? Likewise, everyone wants to be a great leader in theory - how can we entice you to take on this rewarding challenge in practice?
The surprising thing about our Five Voices training for me has been in participants witnessing palpable results in such a short period of time. People were experiencing real empowerment and change in mere weeks instead of years. Not only were people getting promoted, they had salient pathways for ongoing growth and development in their career for always thereafter. The ROI on the 4-month training cohort was astounding. Another benefit: The cohort model also democratizes executive coaching and makes it accessible.
So there’s my invitation to you and those whom you may oversee as well - build the right habits and “daily cast a vote for the kind of person you are becoming.” And remember that insights aren’t enough - practicing new skills and habits is what will build your muscle memory for leadership. Find a coach or cohort that will both inspire and equip you for the journey. Everyone around you at work and in your family will thank you for it.
Your default habits may be weighing you down and undermining your communication and leadership. And you may want to be better. But James Clear would agree - “pursue lasting change, not from setting goals, but through your actions.”
The power of inspired intentionality combined with the support of experienced experts who give you deep support to face hard truths about yourself and empower your growth, corralled by others in the cohort pursuing the same - this is the unique opportunity and your invitation. Yet this takes that spark of intentionality on your part, you have to buy in and invite this process in.
As daunting as this may feel, let’s face it - what’s the alternative? Staying put is not a good option long-term, not if you want to thrive. What’s more, learning and growing is what makes life fun - and you wouldn’t want to miss out on all the fun you can have becoming a “leader worth following,” championing contributions of all the various Voices on your team, and maximizing your impact everywhere you go - would you?
