Lead Between the Lines: The Unwritten Rules of Leadership & Power
Welcome to Lead Between the Lines, the podcast where we expose the unspoken truths and hidden strategies that fuel real power and lasting leadership. I’m Lois St. Germaine, your guide into the sophisticated, no-BS arena of authentic influence. This space is designed for the accomplished woman who’s ready to play a bolder, deeper game—who wants more than surface-level success and is ready to embrace the true essence of what it means to lead.
Each episode dives beneath the conventional, dissecting the subtle dynamics that define power in both corporate and entrepreneurial worlds. From breaking down the myths of authority to exploring the transformative journey of self-mastery, this podcast brings you raw insights, candid conversations, and the unfiltered strategies that will challenge you to step into your full power.
Here, we go beyond the expected. You’ll explore the hidden principles of influence and authority that don’t make it into the guidebooks but drive real, lasting impact. This isn’t just a podcast—it’s an invitation to forge your own path, navigate uncharted territory, and define success on your terms. If you’re ready to rethink leadership, challenge the status quo, and unlock the power to lead between the lines, then let’s dive in.
Get ready to see leadership differently. Here, we navigate the unspoken rules of power and unleash the leader within.
In this week's episode, we dive back into one of my favorite conversations with an updated perspective—'Encore Episode: Navigating Inner Narratives with Depth and Mastery.' Since Easter, my relationship with self-honesty has reached new depths as I continue exploring my ShadowOS—the unconscious operating system that subtly controls my actions and beliefs. This episode offers a profound reflection on how that system once limited my belief in what's possible and kept me playing small.
I'll share personal stories of how this realization hit home in my career and entrepreneurial journey, revealing the ways my ShadowOS tried to keep me in 'reputation protection' mode. More importantly, I’ll highlight the transformative power that comes when we consciously shift outside of these narratives.
Join me in this encore presentation as I guide you through the evolving layers of self-awareness and mastery, inviting you to challenge your own hidden systems. You’ll walk away ready to step outside your self-imposed limits and embrace the expansive possibilities waiting for you.
Let's master the depths of our inner narratives together.
Ready to elevate your personal power and step into your most authentic self? Download the Reinvention Roadmap now and start your journey toward unmatched clarity, self-mastery, and bold transformation. This powerful guide will help you redefine your path and create a vision for your future that aligns with your deepest values and aspirations. Get instant access and begin crafting the life you’re meant to lead.
Welcome. Back my friends. This is episode number. 70. And it's Easter. And I'm recording this it's Easter morning, very early. I'm about to bake bread. Kids are all coming over. Grandkids are coming over. And so this is I think, going to be a short podcast. But when I was, um, struggling. Do you decide. What do you talk about today? I thought about airing older podcasts as an Encore. And the one I had in mind, I listened to and I kind of giggled because it was from 2022. It was probably episode number one, I think. And my. Um, beliefs. My, what I want to talk about these days has shifted so drastically. And yet not shifted at all. So the episode was called, be the adult. So after listening to a little bit of that episode, I decided that's not really. What I want to put out for you guys today. I want to share something that I've been going through. And then, um, in the coming weeks, I'm going to break all of this down to show you. This, um, structure that I have, or this framework. That I've been using myself and all my clients and getting massive success in the world of transformation. So I have a client. She actually messaged me yesterday. It was so awesome. She keeps me up to date. As she continues to use what we put in place. Uh, to expand her own. Um, Business. And she's. I think she's blown away by the results she's getting based on the, this technique. So this week, I just want to share the story of how this is all coming together for me. And then wished you a happy Easter. And next week we will actually dive into breaking this down step by step. So that you can do it for yourself, right? So it started. Um, As always like. The evolution of my personal development. Always takes me back to almost the very beginning of time when I first got into personal development and I can see. The onion being peeled as I get deeper and deeper and embody some of the outer layers that I learn, I'm able to go in and connect dots with everything. It's like, oh, I had to learn this thing. In order to get to the learnings that I have today. So I'm not going to take you all the way back. I'm just going to take you back to probably late last year, mid to late last year. When I recognized that. Everyone. Operates from a driving sentence, anyone who is accomplished, which I'm assuming. Everybody listening here is. Um, If you've accomplished a lot in your life. You were probably guided. First by this driving sentence and. I don't remember the podcast, but I know I talked about this. Uh, Quite a while back. Mind was when my mother. Was very frustrated with me and she told me, she wished I had never been born. And I took them that. And ran with it. By proving. Everything for me was proving worth proving relevance, proving integrity. Proving that I was meant to be born and that I have something to offer. And that, you know, Realization that I was operating on that sentence for most of my life. And. Very good part of my career. Helped me. Two. Recognize when I was proving just to prove and where I didn't actually need to prove. Because as you know, you were all born worthy, you don't have to prove worth ever. That's. A waste of power within us to spend time believing that we have to do that. And it can all be. All that energy can be used to actually achieve things that you want. Right. So fast forward. Up to the most recent. Times where I. Recognize that I was operating under a shadow operating system. And how everyone operates with this system. Of listening. We're always listening for a queue of some sort. By which we can act a certain way in order to. Like feed our shadow operating system. So for me. It is my SOS is. Protect my reputation at all costs. And. I'm always listening for where. I can step in. And take control or take responsibility for something. In order to enhance or protect my reputation. And I never. Made the connection that. A reputation is based on. You being a person who is reputable to begin with. And for me. That never mattered the skill. When it came to that, my SOS, right? My shadow operating system, the skill itself, whether I had it or didn't, didn't matter. The only thing that mattered when I was. Listening for this. You know, place that I could insert myself and take responsibility. Was that. The perception of how I wanted the world, the people, the team, my boss, whatever. To see me. I was more important than whether or not I actually did the thing I said I would take responsibility for or had the skill at all. And in fact, what I recognized most recently is. That I couldn't see that I actually was reputable because I was so busy trying to manage the perception. That I was. You know, Of my reputation. And. I recognize like all the different ways that it played out, depending on the group of people that I was with. Anyway, I noticed when I thought about that. And then the situations that I've been in that depending on the group, right? Sometimes I'm the murderer. Sometimes I'm the victim. Sometimes I'm the hero. It didn't matter. What role I had to play or amplify. As long as my reputation stayed intact or the perception that I wanted you to have of me. I stayed intact. And. I would stay. Has everyone does, when you see your S your shuttle operating system for yourself, you're gonna be blown away. By looking back and seeing the actions that you took. Along the way. That we're totally based on. Like getting a high from a hit to that. Actual SOS. But for me, I would either Excel, like in that proving of my worth and proving of my reputation. I would Excel or I would retreat. And, um, Probably in my most recent corporate life. When I decided to leave, it was a flight because I felt like there was no way for me to. Manage that perception. And I could not see that I actually had the skill. Required because I was so focused on the reputation protection. I hope this is making sense. So as I recognized that I could not protect my reputation in that position, I decided to leave. And that's when I entered entrepreneurship. Now. It wasn't just that, that made me leave. Obviously, I've been thinking about this for a long time and wanting to. Embark on my coaching full-time instead of part-time and all of that came together, right. It all tied it up in a nice little bow that made me feel like I was leaving. For one reason, but deep down. That SOS was in flight mode as well. So we fast forward. Now to entrepreneurship. Right. And I don't re I don't have a plan B anymore. Like, this is it. This is what I'm going to be doing for a. As far as I can see. In the future. And. It has gotten. Too. The point where my SOS is under attack. It feels like it's being attacked. Because I'm. Using this expectation compass, right? We talked about this a few weeks ago. The, um, universal human paradigm. Which I now see as an expectation compass. Of where I should be and what should be happening and how people should be coming into my world. Isn't. Matching up. With my expectations. So my SOS is coming in to like straighten things out because we got to keep that reputation intact and it. Was blocking me from seeing how good I really am and how much, how reputable. My services are. And even the call recently from my client who was telling me how amazing she's doing and how much gross she's getting out of it. Like all of that, it was like, oh, wait a minute. I'm over here trying to manage. Your perception instead of just relying on the fact that I am actually reputable. So my entrepreneurial journey feels, um, Feels discombobulated. Let's just say it's. It's making my SOS come out to play. Right. It wanted to protect me at all costs. So it diverted my attention. To the. Craze of the sourdough industry that is happening now. And it said, you know what? I bet you could open a, an amazing sourdough micro bakery. Because after all, you have a reputation. As an amazing baker. So I've done cookies. I've done wedding cakes, birthday cakes, like. Bake baking is a skill that I have, and I'm actually very good at it. So my winning strategy says let's just. Slow down a little on the coaching side. The business side of that, and let's divert our attention over here. I bet you could be really successful. At this. And, you know, Because what. Our winning strategy is our operating system. I'm like, oh, that sounds like a great idea. And for the last two or three months, I've been like immeshed in the sourdough industry and techniques and learning, and I'm actually selling sourdough bread. And it wasn't until. Like very recently that I recognize like, oh, that was my winning strategy. Uh, trying to divert me. From the coaching industry over here. Where my reputation is intact and I don't have to worry. About faltering. So very long story. This was supposed to be a short podcast, but. All of this is to sit. To highlight. That we all operate under. A shadow operating system. Something, we are listening for something so that we can act a certain way in order to something to people please, too. Have fun too. Um, Be the hero, be the savior, whatever it is. There is a program, a system running in the background. That has gotten us massive amounts of success. And. You like, I am. May be budding up against the, the ceiling of that. And realizing that if you want to create the next thing. If you want to venture into some impossible goal. We have two. Shift. That. S O S or become very aware of it and take action. Outside of it. And that's what we're going to be talking about for the next few weeks. So. I am going to wrap this up. Wish you happy Easter. One more time. And I will see you inside the shadow dominatrix podcast and next Sunday.
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