Trail blazing -The inspiring journey of Holly Ransom

The Shaun McCambridge Podcast

Intro:

Holly Ransom has been named one of Australia's 100 Most Influential Women. She has achieved so much from a young age not to mention she has interviewed the likes of Barrack Obama, Richard Branson and the Dalai Lama just to mention a few.

Holly has a consultancy business, Emergent Global, she is also a board member of Port Adelaide Football Club, she is an author, global speaker and podcaster and discusses topics like how to conquer public speaking, how to create rituals to get you to your best and how to cultivate a healthier and better mindset. She is certainly inspiring and it is an episode not to be missed.

3.00 - Where did it all start?

A summary of quotes from Holly.

“Strong sense of direction and lose hold of the reins.”

“Always know what you are passionate about.”

“When you walk past things you tell the world it's ok.”

“What I have chosen to say yes to or put energy into comes back to the fact it was not something I was willing to walk past.”

“It's about putting yourself where lightning strikes, where you are going to collide with your purpose.”

“I was very lucky and I encourage people to do this; volunteering gives you so many different opportunities to test out your thinking and meet extraordinary mentors that have taught me so many lessons.”

06.36 - Which mentors have had the biggest impact on you and why?

A variety of people moved beyond a conversation to working together ongoing, some people you have one conversation with and it's life-altering. But ultimately my grandmother is hard to go past with her powerful influence in my life.

2 things her grandmother instilled in Holly:

• Incredible ability to leave anyone she interacts with feeling better. There are few gifts that you can have in life that are better than that. She would make people feel 10 ft tall and instil confidence in them.
• Leadership does not have to have a title. She could step into a situation where someone wasn’t being treated right and turn the situation around. If you walk past it you tell the world it's okay.
• We all have influence and power over our choices every day and that is leadership in action. We are all leaders, people are turning to us every day and are shaped by the attitude we are turning up with. We often overlook the power of this.

10.15 - Shaun says, "One of the coolest things about leadership is seeing it in action, not just words. It's about leading from the front."

11 - Leadership in today's time. What is your definition of what leadership should look like in 2023?

Leadership by its very nature is contextual. Leadership needs to work with or against the forces around it to be able to achieve certain goals and objectives.

What’s striking about leadership today is the way that we are putting it to work. It used to be hierarchical which would count a lot of people out.

In this day in age, it's a distributed model of leadership where we have to be involved.

A compelling vision, agenda level of trust and live true values. Where people get out of bed and want to be part of your vision.

The greater level of accountability. Closing the gap, don't say one thing and do another.

It's an exciting time to think of how we hold up different levels of leadership.

How we lead and manage younger people is totally different to what it used to be.

Diversity of influence around the boardroom is crucial.

15.42 - An important role for people to play that are influencers, advisors and in the ears of leaders in all types of all shapes and forms.

"One of the challenges for Changemakers is the way we tell the story to those we are trying to influence in a way that lines up effectively with what matters to them."

17 - "I invite people in those situations to see the need for adaptation is on us as the changemakers. We have to do the work to change the story because the systems around us won't do it."

18.15 - Tips around public speaking

It's perfectly normal to feel nervous about it, there is no silver bullet with it, it's a case of practice.

You need to be mindful of self-compassion and how you go about conquering it. You need to step out of your comfort zone not leap out of it, to set yourself up for success.

Think “what is my minimum tolerance right now? How do you get your reps up?”

The more you get your reps up the more comfortable you will become, and then you can take the next step. Make the commitment to regularly having a go and I would recommend buddying up with someone to chip away at the fear.

22 - "It's better to copy genius than to create mediocracy".

Practice self-compassion or you risk burning yourself too quickly.

23.20 - Gradual Voluntary exposure
You have to put your hand up for it. The word voluntary is crucial to do this, you have to be up for it not pushed into it.

24.45 - Managing your time and your energy

• It's never static, it's always evolving. Holly is passionate about managing your energy not managing your time.
• Do an energy audit, what are your natural high energy points during the day? When do you feel like you are low energy when you need to lift yourself up? Ask, “ Am I giving the return of energy that this deserves?”
• If you are using those high-energy moments of your day to scroll emails or instagram, they are not getting the ROE they deserve. ROE - Return on energy is something you need to be really passionate about.
• It needs to be anything strategic, something you are working with on your business, and key relationships. Make changes to where you put things in the stages of your day.
• What reenergises you? They need to be building blocks for your day not left until you have done everything you think you were meant to do.
• Work out what your 3-minute circuit breakers are.

30 - Habits and rituals Holly uses to make sure she is turning up for the people that matter in her life.

• You need a physical outlet every day to be the best version of myself, it's a mental reset as much as physical
• The discipline of journalling 3 pages every day, whether it's the start or end of the day. We say 300-900 words to ourselves every minute. Journalling captures the unconscious narrative and gives us a chance to change the outcome
• Box breath is her 3-minute reset

32 - Cultivating a positive mindset

Awareness split - catch and stop the thought faster. The negative voice comes up more often when you are stepping out of your comfort zone.

35 - Positivity and Energy

"My grandmother says I was born into petrol motion."

Holly's default is positive but it doesn’t mean she doesn't have times when she needs a support crew to help you get back into a positive mindset. You can't always do it yourself, so make sure you have a support crew to help you do this.

38 - What can we do to prepare our kids to thrive in this world?

One of the most critical superpowers we need is resilience.