Writer LeeAnn Mallorie joins me today to chat about her new women’s leadership self-help book, Guts & Grace: How to Dissolve Glass Ceilings, Lead Consciously and Dismantle the Patriarchy Within.
Bio:
LeeAnn Mallorie is the founder and CEO of Guts & Grace, an embodied leadership training and consulting firm whose mission is to steward the evolution of business by advancing diverse women leaders and elevating the role the feminine plays at work for all people. She began her work in 2005, as a hard-charging coach for leaders from around the globe, but soon found something was missing from traditional leadership models: the body. This led her on a personal journey of physical, mental, and spiritual healing, to eventually embrace the feminine side of leadership. She now brings these lessons to clients in the corporate, non-profit and government sectors. Her book, Guts & Grace provides a roadmap to integrate simple, actionable somatic practices into your day, creating a more balanced leadership approach that amplifies the impact of your existing gifts, skills and tools.
LeeAnn is on a mission to make business a force for good, bridging the gap between the hard-driving logical mind and the deeper wisdom of the soul. Today she specializes in bringing feminine wisdom and diverse cultural values into the boardroom to solve some of our world’s stickiest problems.
Welcome, LeeAnn. What inspired you to write this book?
I started my career as a consultant and executive coach at a top boutique firm in the SF Bay Area, working with executives from around the globe. Because I was young, I’d often be tasked with supporting the most junior person on the team. Which, at that time almost 20 years ago now, was sadly often the only woman on the team, or the only BIPOC person on the team. And it became clear to me that their needs were different, both in terms of leadership development and support for their wellbeing. At the same time, I was going through my own experience of burnout (and, you could say, an emotional and spiritual crisis). I found my own solace in mindfulness and somatic practices which brought me more deeply into communion with myself, through the doorway of my own feelings and bodily sensations. At the time, very few people were putting these things together. And for my female clients in particular, it was a revelation.
And so, Guts & Grace was born from my own personal experimentation, which I would test-drive with my clients at the time. Practice-by-practice, I created a series of steps women in leadership could take that would help them get a head at work while avoiding the typical pitfalls that lead to burnout. This approach got beyond the shortcomings of traditional leadership models, which typically teach women to override their bodies and instincts in order to get ahead. If you want something different, it requires some un-learning. Guts & Grace helps women unlearn those habits and provides a much needed “permission slip” to build some new ones.
What exciting project are you working on next?
To be honest, my next big project is not going to be a written piece – we’re working on a very exciting series of live events that bring the principles of Guts & Grace (and our shorter course, ACTIVATE) to life for women who want to get in there and experience them in person. We’ve been taking groups of women from across industries and sectors to Costa Rica and Sonoma, CA for three and five-day gatherings where we practice together, host rituals based in indigenous wisdom practices native to the area, and envision a better future. This past year a lot of women joined us who had lost their jobs due to budget cuts or industry changes. So we’re using the tools of Guts & Grace to build a community and a movement that helps women get in the right roles and then shape change in their companies from the inside out – or even build new ones.
Beyond that, I’d say I’ve got a pretty interesting memoir in me. And I’m intrigued by the intersection of innovation, technology, AI and embodiment – as well as the advancement of human consciousness and the use of our human operating system in collaboration with the unseen forces around us like nature and spirit. So stay tuned for more writing on these topics soon!
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Since I was young, really. I have always loved words, sound and expression. When I was about six years old and my sister was two, I remember sitting with her with toddler books and essentially teaching her how to read. But I found in high school and college that I didn’t always want to follow the conventions of traditional grammar or structure, so I didn’t always get top scores in class when it came to writing.
This trend carried through when I began to work. As I mentioned, the writing that led me to publish Guts & Grace was a very specific project in service of my clients – both executive coaching clients and also fitness class clients (I was teaching dance fitness at the time). I would sit and meditate, tapping into what the person or group was going to need to hear, sense or learn about in our upcoming time together. I’d put my fingers on the keyboard and the writing would just happen. Then I’d share these short pieces and they would become the jumping off point for our transformational work together – and more often than not, something important would get unlocked by the combination of reading and somatic practice. So while I LOVE to write, I think of myself more as a mover who channels words, than a traditional writer.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
Nope, not full time. My writing these days still takes the form of bringing short pieces of writing, connected to necessary embodied transformation and world-events related themes into being. Each piece is unique. Reading these pieces (often in the form of blogs) is less like reading a business journal article or scientific post and more like the experience you have when you drink plant medicine, receive Reiki or sit in a shamanic ritual. Something is getting rewired as you read, practice and complete the activity or journaling questions I tend to include. Clients often say, “how did you know I needed to hear that now?” It’s built that way. I’d say this is one of my greatest gifts and superpowers. Readers experience it a bit like an x-ray vision, that creates intimacy and a deeper invitation to continue down their own path of transformation.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Well, if what I shared just now isn’t enough of a quirk, I’ll add this: my two favorite phrases are “and”… and “it depends”. So in my writing you’ll often see two options, or a series of three things at the end of a sentence or thought. Because I’m born to be a bridge – and I desire to be inclusive – I write in a way that has a bit of choose-your-own adventure to it. I also include a lot of caveats, by-the-way ideas, and thought interruptions. Pick the word that resonates. Move on. It’s not “grammatically correct” (and even too wordy) some of the time, but I like it. And, if you can stand it, it opens doors in the mind.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A Country Western singer. I grew up in a small Midwest Steel Mill town, so it wasn’t exactly that I loved Country, but its what I was hearing around me. What I did know is that I loved music, sound, words, and the way they could make you feel. And although I was shy, I also loved the feeling of being on a stage with all eyes on me. Some things haven’t changed.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Trust yourself. Beyond any coach, doctor, consultant or expert… your body has so many of the answers you are looking for. I’m not saying to ignore others advice. I’m just saying that most likely, you know (deep in your gut) more than you give yourself credit for. If that’s all you take away from this interview – and my book Guts & Grace – and you really take it to heart… it will change your life.