Authentic Leadership ✨ Goals, Themes, Possibilities

Hello, Cadre family. Happy Monday. Jean Mitchells here. I'm legitimately hiding out in the hallway right now because the place that I'm working from is a little extra loud. But here we are. We do. We do our best and we show up and we hang out and we do all the things. So my name is Jean Mitchells. I wear many hats, literally and figuratively, throughout all of our times together. I'll have varying hats, most likely. But mostly I wear different hats in how I show up in my day. Some days I show up as a coach.

Good morning, Speak Wonder. Excited to see you here. Happy end of 2025. So on this beautiful Monday, it's winter cold in Minneapolis, but my name is Gina Choles, and as I was mentioning, I wear many hats. This hat here is one of many. I wear a lot of hats, but not just physical hats. Sometimes I feel like the hat I choose to wear in my head also represents the role I'm gonna play in that day. So I'm manifesting my inner Mickey today. Speak Wonder. Let me know if you can hear me. Okay. Because I'm in a hallway.

Cause the space that I'm working from today is a little loud. So hopefully it's coming through, not choppy. But today I wanted to talk about those different hats, the hats that we wear. So I wear a hat of a coach. Sometimes I am a leader, Sometimes I'm a follower. Sometimes I'm a partner. Sometimes I'm a consultant. Sometimes I'm a friend. Right? We wear all these different hats. Sisters, aunts, whatever. Those hats are for you. But what lies within that hat? What is underneath that hat? Thank you, Speak.

Under is you. So inside that hat comes you. First. There's that center part, that part that is your heart led self. Now, I find that this time of year, we go through a lot of emotions because of holidays. We have a lot of emotion about the changing of a year. So similar to when we have a birthday, I feel like people almost feel the same way at the changing of a calendar year that they do. A reason why it's coming out so much right now is that we often equate our calendar year to big shifts, big changes.

What is our theme for 2026? What are our goals for 2026? We like it, actually. Don't like buckets. I don't like titles. I don't like any of that because it feels too confined, feels like there's too much structure. But I do feel a lot of things energetically. And the year of the Snake, if you Think about it and just to learn more about it as you as a leader is a year of release. It's letting go of old thought patterns, it's letting go of old paradigms, old mindsets. Sometimes it's letting go of relationships or people.

So as the leader, if you think about it, it all starts with you first, whether you're leading or following. Setting the bumpers. As an individual, as a manager of people, we are leading through our own lives and it's a very centric process. Megahertz energy will tell us that the heart has the most amount of energy than any other organ in our body. So we really are heart centric beings. So when I think about that and I lean into my heart as a leader, what mindset do I need to let go so that next year I can lead stronger?

I've been going through it this month and especially this last week, some changes in our team at the studio and some changes in some of my work. So it's really caused me to feel off balance. But I know that this off balance, I'll get through it. How I get through it, I don't know. Right? We might not know the whole story, but I know that there's something different on the other side of this discomfort. And that's going to allow me to grow. So I can look back to see when I've been here before. I can look back to see all that I've learned and grow with.

But when I look ahead, Fear the horse is about movement, action direction, momentum. Those are really action oriented, bold words. They're not soft words. So if you pair a snake and the horse together, a snake will shed layers of skin, but it sheds the old layer, the layer of its skin that isn't working anymore, that's not protecting the snake anymore. So it's required. I have all these little fruit flies. Do you see these? So it's required for us to shed a layer for us to move into the year of the Horse, which will start in February.

Movement, action, direction, momentum. But also the year the course is about leading from the heart. Clarity. So as we're moving into 2026, I wanted to bring that insight forward. Whether you're into Chinese calendars or not, the words I think are so powerful. And the feelings that people have been going to, through and not even understand are important. If you are feeling uncomfortable, if you're feeling like the old ways aren't working for you anymore, listen, listen with your heart. And as you lean into, however you choose to leap into a next year, the New calendar year.

Because when we wake up on the 1st, it's not really going to be different than the 31st. It's simply a new day. But our mind and how we've been trained to think over the years is that something magical will happen on that, that brand new day at the very start. It might. But what might be is just a new fresh way of thinking, a new fresh way of stepping our days. So I want to put this out there to you, just a few questions for you. Where are you feeling the most discomfort right now? Is it in your work?

Your relationships? Is it in your mindset? Is it in your bodies? Our bodies are manifestations of what we feel in our heart. So what, what, where are we feeling it? What are you actually ready to truly separate from? That must have been powerful cuz all the lights just went off. So I'm going to move again. There we go. What are you truly, truly ready to step away from, to let go? What are you ready to shed the light on? What are you ready to take action on? How are you ready to move as you move into the next season, the next year, the next opportunity?

So when I have been thinking because I'm waiting for this speak wonder, I know you're gonna have mag words next time I listen to you. I've been trying to think really aspirationally about what my theme for this year is. The last two years it's been grace, gratitude and give back. That has felt really important to me and they have grounded me. So while it's not one year, it's one word, it was three. Grace. Having grace for myself and how I move through the world, how I move through challenges, move through life.

Gratitude for all the gifts that have surrounded me because there have been many throughout my entire life. But also there have been a lot in the last two years alone. Giving back. How do I give back to the world? What does the world need right now? What can I offer through my leadership, through my opportunity as a business owner? How might I help inspire a community to give to a community that maybe needs something right now? And that doesn't always mean money. Sometimes it could be clothing or encouragement.

So as I prepare to lean into this next year and really think through what are my words? What I know is that the year of the course is around action, direction and momentum. So my three words that I'll find a word for myself, a word from my heart, and a word of action will be guided by those. And I'll unveil those next year to you. They're not quite there yet, but my invitation to you is to really reflect and look back, see where you're at and really look ahead. How might you charge into the next year like that?

Horse in action. Strong. Think of a stallion. How bold they are as they race into the sunset across the open plain. The courage that it takes for them to just lead in that way, to plant courageously on the ground beneath them, not knowing what might be ahead. That's us this year, and I can't wait to see how we show up. I hope you all have the very best day. Take some time for you this week and explore.