Reimagining Leadership: Embracing Flexibility and Authenticity in Your Style

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for High Velocity Radio.

Stone Payton: Welcome to the High Velocity Radio show, where we celebrate top performers producing better results in less time. Stone Payton here with you this afternoon. You guys are in for a fantastic treat. Please join me in welcoming to the broadcast with My Best Shift, Chantée Christian. How are you?

Chantée Christian: Hello. I’m doing well. How are you?

Stone Payton: I am doing so well and I’ve really been looking forward to this conversation. I am so excited to share you and your work with our listeners. Uh, maybe let’s start with, uh, kind of a brief description. Mission. Purpose. What are you really out there trying to do for folks, Shante?

Chantée Christian: Oh, I love that. Uh, so I like to say that my mission and my purpose are also the same for the company, which is to be a catalyst for change and growth through inspired action. And so we say yes to a lot of things that fall in alignment with that, which, as you can imagine, is a lot.

Stone Payton: Well, I know you’re a certified facilitator, a three time international best selling author, a television producer and host, probably a ton of other things. But tell us about the the journey, if you would. How in the world did you find yourself in this line of work?

Chantée Christian: Oh, yes. So I honestly, when I started out in college, which I won’t go too far back in those days, but when I started out, I started off as a business major, and then I realized that I maybe wasn’t cut out for that in undergrad. And so I was working in a, um, an office where I was in charge of the, um, the newsletters. Letters. And I was like, oh my gosh, like, I love doing this. And it sent me into this thing of knowing, oh, I could get paid to do this. And so I started doing a lot of comms work, and I changed my major to communications. And as I progressed into my career, I realized I wasn’t really using it in the same way. And so I got to a really pivotal point in my career where I was like, oh, wait, it’s no longer them that’s getting on my nerves. It’s me. Um, and it was because I wasn’t in alignment and I wasn’t doing things that really spoke to my spirit and all of those things. And so one of the companies I worked for, they had things that they called reinvestment into the firm. And I realized that everything that I loved doing from a work perspective wasn’t the 9 to 5 stuff, it was all of the extras. And so I all the extras is literally what my company is, is the coaching. It is the multimedia side of the house and those things that really bring me joy, which stemmed all the way back to business is cool, but it’s not really the thing that I that makes my heart sing.

Stone Payton: All right, so speak a little bit to the to the coaching work, the topics and competencies that you’re working through and maybe the mechanism for the work. Uh, talk a little bit about that. About that.

Chantée Christian: Sure thing. So, um, I do a lot of leadership and executive coaching, although I like to say I coach people, and I say that from a perspective of I like to think of it from a holistic perspective, but not the woo woo holistic, although I do believe in some woo woo things, but more so from a holistic perspective of if I’m having a challenge at home and I’m coming into the office, whether virtually or in person, and I haven’t worked through that challenge that I’m having at home, like arguing with my partner or something like that, then I’m going to bring it into the office, even if I’m not trying to, I’m going to have a little bit of an attitude and be a little bit more snippy. I’m not really going to laugh at all the jokes that I thought that I used to think are funny? Because I’m still dealing with something else on my mind. And so I really like to coach from a perspective of who are you and what do you need in this moment in order to make sure that we are fulfilling your needs and getting you to where you need to be? And so I like to think of coaching as a a space where we get to help people unlock their true potential and their desires. And that’s what makes it a little bit different from therapy, because a lot of people say, well, what’s the you know, they’re the same. And I would say that the biggest difference that I can think of, and I would say most of my community would agree, is that therapy is healing you from your past, where coaching is pushing you into action, which falls in alignment with everything else that. Um, my mission and my purpose is to help people with inspired action.

Stone Payton: Now, do you find that most of your clients, or many of them, come to you and want to work on a specific thing? I’ll, uh, make an analogy to sports. Like if I came to you and wanted to really work on free throws. You know, like, did somebody want to come to you and work on something specific, or is it usually broader than that? And they just they’re not it’s not feeling right. And they just want to and you’re even helping them uncover what they should be working on.

Chantée Christian: Oh my goodness. It’s so specific. It’s usually I can’t tell you how many times people have come to me and said that they wanted to work on their communication, or that they wanted to work on their executive presence and not fully understanding what executive presence is and or communication is. And so a lot of times people will say, you know, Chanté, I really want to work on my communication. It seems like if I send an email to the team, they still don’t do what I asked them to do. And one of the first questions that I asked when someone asked me that is, where else are you having this similar communication issues in your life? Because it’s not just at work. I’m 100% sure, right? And so when they start thinking about it. They’re like, oh, well, everywhere. Exactly. So let’s talk about maybe it’s not the actual communication, right? Maybe it’s what you’re conveying, how you’re conveying it. Um, the timing, the method and those sorts of things. So we really do sift through and work through that type of stuff.

Stone Payton: So in that kind of work, I guess this could be related. Have you identified over time a handful of different I don’t know, I’ll call them leadership styles for lack of a better term. But like, yeah. Does that impact any of this work?

Chantée Christian: Oh, I love that. Yes. Um, so I have an MBA. So I know I started off saying that I hate business, but I just I couldn’t get away from it. And so I have an MBA, and I tell people all the time that there are things that they don’t teach you in your MBA program. And because they teach you the the normal top four, top five leadership, um, styles. And what happens is what I see is that people try to fit themselves into those and not realizing that you’re not linear. You are so dynamic as a human that your leadership style ought to adapt to you, and not to just a textbook theory. And so what I see a lot of is people, um, really being in a space of not knowing and just taking on what their bosses are doing or their bosses, bosses or some amazing book that they read. And so they’re like, you know, I’m an authoritative leader, or they want to go the opposite direction of that and say, I’m a collaborative leader. And research has shown us that a lot of collaborative leaders lean so heavy on collaboration that their teams are still feeling neglected from having an actual leader to provide them with direction and make a decision versus it being, well, everyone gets to decide which we know in leadership, that’s not necessarily the case.

Stone Payton: How about another topic that seems to come up quite a bit in some other interviews, as we’ve been doing this coaching series, is this idea of, uh, of what like emotional intelligence is. Is that is that you finding that in your work as well?

Chantée Christian: Oh, absolutely. Emotional intelligence is so important because a lot of times we think about how others perceive us, and we don’t realize how we are perceiving ourselves and how we’re also showing up. And so when you think about emotional intelligence, it’s also it’s not just being able to read the room, but it’s also being able to self-regulate. It’s the ability to be able to process information in real time, and to be able to make decisions based off of that, where you understand the impacts of others and yourself. Right. And so it’s one of those things that so many people, um, so many people require a deeper dive into it to understand that it applies to every aspect of leadership, to management, and to just operating as a human being and not just, um, something that’s within the leadership circle.

Stone Payton: Okay. Clearly, a theme I’m picking up in this conversation is all the work you’re doing. While the frame might be to help me lead my organization more effectively, it really is. I guess it’s the pure definition of holistic. It’s it’s impacting. It has to because it’s sourcing from but it’s also impacting my entire life with the kids, with the spouse, with friends. Right.

Chantée Christian: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, because if you think about it, right, when you think about leadership and your own leadership, what are the top like three things that pop into your head when you think about it.

Stone Payton: Are you asking me?

Chantée Christian: Yeah.

Stone Payton: Uh, I don’t when I think about leadership, it’s it’s the idea of. I guess it is that clearly communicating where we’re going and why. And what I want to come out of those conversations is someone as excited, if not more than I am, about getting it done and feeling like, okay, you know, I can check that off the list. You know, Susie’s got that. She’s going to run with it.

Chantée Christian: Yeah. Yeah. Right. And so when you think about that, right, like when you were talking about the theme that can apply to everything, it doesn’t just apply to your your business. It applies to your family. Yeah. It applies to your children. You know, it applies to literally everything that we do. And I think a lot of times when we think about leadership, we compartmentalize that. And we don’t realize that in order to fully show up and to be influential and to be impactful, and for people to want to go along with what we’re doing, we’ve got to believe it, too. And that typically means that we’re just not believing it for a 9 to 5. We’re believing it completely and fully.

Stone Payton: So typically for you, the mechanism for the work, the the way you execute, is it a lot of one on one work? Is it group work? Is it virtual asynchronous. How do you execute on this?

Chantée Christian: Oh, I like that question. So um, because of the pandemic, like the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, a lot of the work went virtual. And what that was able to do for me was able to reach people that weren’t just in my city or, you know, within a local space. So, um, a lot of the work that I do is virtual and I do both. I do one on ones and I do group work. So a lot of times with the group work, it’s around team dynamics or um, so I use, I use some assessments at times, and sometimes those assessments help teams be able to communicate better, to be able to help work through conflict. Um, and just be able to understand, like, if I understand how you operate at a general and basic level, then I can actually understand that you’re not you’re not intentionally doing something against what my default, um, desire to do the work is. It’s just we’re coming at it at different at different lenses and at different angles. And so really helping people grasp that. And so I do that virtually. I do it in person now that we’re back doing things in person. Um, and so I do a little bit of both, but I don’t do asynchronous, um, so much.

Stone Payton: Well, I can see tremendous value in the one on one work, but I’m thinking, like in the group work, I’m trying to envision, you know, like me sitting in the in the air quote room, you know, the virtual room. I could see just virtually any topic being a catalyst and then letting people even apply it there, or go and apply it at work and come back to the next session. I could see them learning from each other.

Speaker4: Yeah.

Chantée Christian: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Because when we because that’s what happens when we bring people together. Right. They start to actually start picking up on things on their own. They’re like, hey, wait a minute. We’re not that different. One and two. I really like the way you handled that. I might tweak it a little bit. I’m going to go try it. Right. And so it’s it’s something about having the community and the people in the room that allow people to really glean from each other and be able to feed off of the energy that that they’re giving to each other. And it provides a different type of support system. Right. So I can be there to facilitate and to encourage the conversation. But when it comes to accountability and it comes to like that full cheerleader cheering them on mode, that’s where the community comes in.

Stone Payton: So when clients are first getting started, do you find that sometimes they have like some preconceived notions or maybe even in their mind, what you and I might consider myths associated with the coaching profession, that you sort of have to educate them around or through before you can really get in and do the good work.

Chantée Christian: Absolutely. Um, so often people either don’t know what it is or they’ve seen something on TV or social media and I’m like, forget all of that. Forget it all. It’s none of those things and a little bit of some. Um, I think so. I like to ask people if they won, if they’ve had experience with coaching before, because not all coaches coach the same way. You know, just like how you were talking with sports. Not every coach within a basketball or football team are going to coach each of their teams the same. Um, that doesn’t mean that they still don’t go out there and coach. Right? Um, and so we had that conversation. But I like to really ask them about the different modalities. So I like to do a word association, um, where I ask if you hear the word advisor, what comes up for you if you hear the word um, uh, mentor, what come up for you? If you hear a therapist or therapy, what come up for you. And then last but not least, when you think of coaching, what comes up for you? And I listened to what they say, and then I and then I in a debrief, I tell them, you know, well, one I tell them there is no right or wrong answer to this. It’s just what they believe and what comes up for them. But I like for them to think of it like a Venn diagram, how each of them have very similar components and concepts to them. However, they do have very distinct differences. And because of that, that’s why I want to make sure that we’re clear about what coaching is versus what it isn’t, if that makes sense.

Stone Payton: It certainly does. So at this point in your career. What are you finding the most rewarding? What’s the most fun about it these days for you?

Chantée Christian: Oh my goodness. I would say that the most rewarding is actually watching people live out the things that they said they wanted to live out. So, um, or like moving into that action. So I just had a Conscious Leadership summit, uh, last week. Well, I don’t know when this is going to air. So I just did a conscious leadership summit, and one of the things I love most about it was that as I was walking in and out of the room because I was coordinating and doing things, I could hear people literally saying, oh, I just wrote that down, and now I’m doing it. And it’s those type of moments for me that bring me the most excitement and joy, because it it’s a confirmation for me that I am walking in my purpose, and I’m creating these spaces for people to be able to, to grow and to do the things that, that that syncs to their hearts.

Stone Payton: Now I’m operating under the impression that some, if not all of these folks who come to you are, you know, they have some goals. There’s some things they want to accomplish. Uh, what has been your experience and what counsel, if any, do you have with regard to setting goals, achieving goals? What’s your slant on that?

Chantée Christian: Oh my goodness. I feel like you’re setting me up. Um, I would say the first thing is and as as someone who has spent almost 20 years doing strategic planning and project management and program management, I will say something that feels so off kilter from that, which is I really don’t like goals for person, for people. And I say it from a perspective of so often we set up, we set goals the same way that we would within an organization, and we don’t account for the work that it took to potentially get to the goal. And so when we don’t meet it, we leave ourselves feeling depleted and very defeated at times. And so I prefer to start off with intentions and then build the build out the actions and the tasks to get to those, so that even if we don’t fulfill the goal, I’m putting that in air quotes that we’re able to take note of all the work that it took to get to where we got to and then be able to assess, okay, well, what happened here? What is something that we can shift? And is this even something that we want to continue to do? Now for organizations, I don’t take that same approach.

Chantée Christian: I think I think that we have to talk about goal settings, but we have to be realistic about them, because a lot of times when we’re setting goals, they’re based off of a strategy from five years ago. And so we need to be clear about who’s in the organization, what is what the what the people are able to do and what the market will allow. And so it’s still kind of taking that same flip with my clients when they come to me saying, you know what? Um, like a common, a common one that comes up is that people want to move from, um, a certain level within the organization into the executive suite or into executive leadership. And so we have to get realistic about where are you at right now? What have your past performances looked like? What does it take from an organization perspective for you to get there? And let’s talk about where are your gaps. Right. So then it’s less of a I’m going to get you promoted in a year and more. So is your intention is to get promoted. So then we have to make sure that you’re prepared you’re ready and that you’re showing up like that already.

Stone Payton: Now now you’re a prolific writer. Apparently. You’re certainly a successful writer. Talk a little bit about the books. What compelled you to to write in the first place? And the whole experience of, I don’t know, man, committing your ideas to paper and putting it out there for the world to enjoy and or poke at.

Chantée Christian: Yeah, um, definitely scary and thrilling. So I’m a comms major and I love to write. However, I also like to keep things very private. And so with the first opportunity, I was asked to share what it looked like to lead through. Through the pandemic. And I was really apprehensive about that. So I said, oh my goodness, everyone’s going to know my business. Um, and honestly, one of the things that helped me get over that was that I knew that me sharing my story would help someone else who was either in it currently or help someone that was going through it. Right. Like someone being able to say, oh, I see me in this. I see that there’s an option. I see that there are a couple of options, and there are ways that I can continue to honor myself from an integrity perspective and still show up for my teams, the people around me. And so that one was really the biggest motivator for me. Um, the second one was around women in leadership, and I thought, how cool would it be to have an all women leadership book when the top ten leadership books right now still are all written by predominantly white men. And so I was like, how cool would that be to have a whole book of women talking about leadership? And so I said yes to that one without blinking. And then the third one is a little different because I was able to co-publish it.

Chantée Christian: And so I had this idea of being able to have people talk about what leadership looked like for them, when awareness was, when awareness was present. And so, um, they talked about pivotal moments in their lives when awareness was the was the primary shift in what they did different. And they talked about leadership in all different facets. So whether if it was professionally, mentally, um, through their families and all of them, they brought it all back to just how that shift really changed the trajectory of their lives. And so, um, that one was the easiest because I wanted to be a part of not just something that I was, um, cultivating, but I wanted to be a part of it from being able to tell my story in a way that I hadn’t told it yet. And so, um, I, too stepped out of my, my comfort zone to, to do that chapter in that book. But, um, I think that one of the biggest things for me is that you got to be the one to tell your story. And if you allow other people to tell it, they might not tell it the way you would have. And so being able to write it down and to publish it was really a way for me to make sure that my side of the stories are always told.

Stone Payton: Have you found in that work that some parts of the book come easier than others you really like? Some just really just almost writes itself and then others you struggle over for a little while.

Chantée Christian: Oh my goodness. Yes. I mean, you know, people talk about writer’s block and I don’t think that for me it is less of the writer’s block and more of the well, what do I say? Like what do I say and how do I say it in a way that doesn’t sound like I’m complaining, I’m whining, or, you know, something in a way that allows the the audience to feel connected. And so when you don’t know who your I mean, you have an idea of your audience in theory, but when you actually don’t know who’s picking up the book, you’re like, well, will they get this? Will they hear me in it? And so, um, it’s one of the most challenging things for me. I think the, the hardest part is always the intro for me, because I realized that a lot of people don’t read it. However, the few people that do it’s magic in there, and it’s an opportunity to show people exactly where my mind was when we created the project and where we want them to go in it. And so I like to say that I am an an ambassador of awareness and as your ambassador of awareness, guiding you through the book. And so I have a vision for it. But actually writing it a lot of times causes me much, much stress.

Stone Payton: Has it had an impact on your whole sales and marketing and education about like, does it help with the authority credibility thing, like so many say that it will?

Chantée Christian: Absolutely. Um, I can’t tell you how many times people say, oh my goodness, you’re an author, you’re a best selling author. How can I do it? Oh, I have a story. I’m like, I’m great. You have. I’m glad you have a story. And I hope that we can get you to it. But I think what happens is that it helps you become a thought leader, right? And so I tell people all the time, don’t write about something that you’re not willing to talk about 3 to 5 years after you’ve written it, because people are going to want to talk to you. They’re going to want you to show up at places to talk about it. They’re going to want you to remember what you wrote about it, you know, and that might not even be the you right now that it was, but you’re still going to have to talk about it. It’s almost like singers, right? They write a song and ten years later it’s a hit, and they’re still going to play that song at every concert. So it’s the same thing.

Stone Payton: So while we’re on the topic, how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practitioner like you? Like, do you have to get out there and shake the bushes like some of the rest of us? Or is it mostly referral based at this point or. Yeah. How do you get the new business?

Chantée Christian: Yeah. Great question. Um, I think it’s a little bit of both. So, um, there was a time in my business where I only took referrals because I wanted to be very selective about who was coming in the door. Um, and then as I started to grow the business, I realized, well, there are a lot more people out there than just, you know, within my network. And so, um, I do almost like an application process. So if someone wants to work with me because I don’t know how they found me. And so I’m always curious about that, but it’s kind of like a it’s a slight application process because in order to do coaching specifically, you have to be ready and you have to want to do it and not need to do it right. A need is going to be a therapy type of thing. A want is more of a coaching. And so, um, I really want to assess upfront what does it look like to work with them. Um, but it comes from all different types of places. So it comes from speaking engagements. People hear me speaking or they run across my podcast, or they saw a article that I wrote. Um, and they’re like, or they know somebody who knows me and so they or has worked with me and they want to they want to inquire what that looks like. And so I just I do a little bit of that to weed out the process, because I used to get on the phone or get on a zoom with everyone, and I realized my time could be better spent.

Stone Payton: Did you just say a podcast? You have your own show?

Chantée Christian: Yes, I have a award winning podcast called My Best Shift because at that time in my life, everything was called my shift. Um, but yeah, I have a podcast. We’re on season five right now. Um, and it’s all about awareness, acceptance, and authenticity. I like to call them the Triple A’s. And so I interview people and we talk about their journey in one way or another, um, around those three things.

Stone Payton: Oh, I have to believe that you learn a ton and get to build some marvelous relationships. And you’re sharing some really important information for the listening audience. I bet you love doing that.

Chantée Christian: Oh my goodness. It is one of the things of my business that I love the most. I absolutely love it because it’s the opportunity to learn about people that I may know a little bit about or nothing about, and I let the conversation roll. So I only asked two of the same questions at the very beginning and at the very end. And outside of that, they’re all unique conversations. And I just I love that. I love learning from people. And you know, what I learned I love most is when someone says, oh, I listened to this episode and I’m going to start doing XYZ or, um, I learned so much, I took notes, I’m like, you did, you did. And so it’s like, okay, it’s worth it. It’s worth it because it’s a lot of effort. But it is. It is one of my favorite parts of the business.

Stone Payton: Yeah. Okay, so not long after this conversation that you and I are having right now, I am headed to Lake Allatoona. I’m going to hop on the boat. I might fish, but I’m at least going to watch the sunset this evening. That’s one of the ways that I step away and go have some fun. Hobbies, interests, pursuits. What do you what do you do for fun and relaxation when outside the scope of this work? When you’re not coaching and writing and speaking and podcasting.

Chantée Christian: With all my free time? Yeah. Um, I really do love a good spa. Um, I, I love going for walks and not like, I know it sounds, you know, not long walks by the beach. That’s not fun to me. Um, but I do like to go on, like, lowercase h, hike, type of walk. Um, and honestly, I like to just be in spaces with people where I can laugh a lot. I love to laugh. Um, and if it’s a space where it’s a little too stuffy, it’s probably not my idea of a relaxation Taxation in a good time.

Stone Payton: All right, before we wrap, I would love to leave our listeners with a little bit of overarching advice or a pro tip. Um, you know, in, you know, the tagline of the show is producing better results in less time. But within the context of these topics we’ve been talking about, uh, let’s leave them with a little something to to chew on and look, gang. The number one pro tip is, if any of this conversation is striking a chord with you, uh, reach out and have a conversation with Chantée. Start tapping into her work. Listen to the podcast, read the books. Uh, but, uh, between now and then, let’s leave them with a little something to to noodle on. Shauntay.

Chantée Christian: Oh, okay. Um, the first thing that I will say is, um, if you’re finding that you’re challenged with the work that you’re doing or the spaces that you’re in, then there may be a misalignment. And one of the things that I like to offer my clients is to do just a personal assessment of who are you? And it’s similar to essentially what we’ve been talking about, right? Where we’ve been talking about the themes on how you show up. And so one of those things is I would offer you all to just take out a piece of paper or a notebook, however you decide to take notes. And at the very top right, who am I? And then under that, I want you to write out all the things that you are not inclusive of your work title, not inclusive of your parental title, of your spousal title, but literally getting down to the nuts and bolts of who you are. So doing an exhaustive list. And when you get down to that list and you find yourself saying, oh, I’m a good friend, I want you to like, elaborate. What makes you a good friend? Right? And you’re a lot of my clients are like, But I’m a great parent. Okay, great. What makes you a great parent? And those qualities and those aspects are us getting down to who you are. And when you start looking at those, also look at, okay, well, what in my life am I feeling like I’m not actually in alignment with? And that’s where the work starts.

Stone Payton: What marvelous, pragmatic advice. I am so glad that I asked.

Speaker4: Me too. All right. So what’s the best way for our.

Stone Payton: Listeners to tap into your work, connect with you, get their hands on these books, listen to the podcast. Let’s give them some coordinates.

Chantée Christian: Absolutely. So you can find the books on Amazon if you look for my name is Chantée. C h a n t e e. And then Christian. Like the religion, you will find them. Um, if you go to my best shift.com, you can also find a link to everything that I have, um, including a, uh, clarifying session with me or discovery session. Um, the books, the podcast and any upcoming events or anything that I have going on there.

Stone Payton: What a marvelous way to invest a Thursday afternoon. I have thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. I know our listeners have as well. Thank you for investing the time and the energy to be with us, and thank you for the work you’re doing. Please keep up the good work. We’re going to continue to follow your story and we sure appreciate you.

Chantée Christian: Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate this.

Stone Payton: My pleasure. All right. Until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Chantée Christian, with my best shift and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you in the fast lane.