TSLP Season 4 Ep. 35- The Bold Framework

🎙️ Transformation Station Leadership Podcast
What does it take to lead boldly in today's ever-changing world?

Join me for an inspiring conversation with Audley Stephenson as we explore The Bold Framework, a practical approach to developing courageous leaders who communicate with confidence, embrace challenges, and create lasting impact.

Whether you're leading a team, an organization, your family, or simply preparing for your next opportunity, this conversation will encourage you to lead with courage and conviction.

Learn more about Audley: 
Website: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theaudman/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/THENBABREAKDOWN

Thanks for tuning in to Transformation Station! If this episode fired you up, smash that subscribe button, share it with someone who’s ready to level up, and tell me the moment that hit hardest. Your voice keeps this movement unstoppable. 

Until next time, stand tall, step bold, and own your transformation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

What if leaders who create the greatest impact are not the ones who play it safe, but the ones willing to lead boldly, think differently, and take intentional risk, even in uncertain moments? This is a real question because audacious leadership is not about being reckless. It's about having the courage to move forward with clarity. Come on, let's get this conversation started. I'm your host, Adrienne Vinson, and today's conversation is about bold leadership. We're talking about the kind of leadership that stretches beyond our comfort zones, that that challenges our limited thinking and creates transformational, courageous action. Today I'm super excited because I have a guest that I know you're going to connect with. And we're talking about the bold framework. All right, so before we start talking about the bold framework, you know, we have to celebrate. Let me tell you what we're about to celebrate. Because of you being such an amazing community, guess what? We hit 6,000 podcast downloads. I can't thank you enough for being the type of community that has helped us to grow. We literally are all around the world. Now, let me tell you this. We're in season four. Isn't that amazing? And if you have missed even one episode of season one, season two, season three, I need you to go back. I need you to go back right now. YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, BuzzProut, Apple Podcasts, wherever your preferred platform is for podcasts. I need you to go back. And I need you to watch the replays. And then I know that you love to give. You're generous, aren't you? So give the gift of sharing the podcast with a minimum of five leaders in your network. Transformation Station Leadership Podcast, guess what? Literally, it's the gift that keeps on giving. Well, I'm super excited to tell you about today's guest. Our guest, his name is Odley Stevenson. Oddly is the host of the Audacious Living Podcast with over 600 episodes dedicated to helping people like you and me live life audaciously through bold conversations, real stories, and purposeful living. Oddly believes that audacity isn't about being reckless or having grand gestures, it's about everyday courage, choosing yourself, and inspiring others to do the same. I am inspired already. He's an author, the author of an upcoming book, Living Your Best Audacious Life, set for release in fall of 2026. That's right. Right now, it is my indeed honor to welcome to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. Audely, we're so glad that you are here with us today. Welcome.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

I can't say enough how excited and honored and pleased I am to be here. Adrian, you this is absolutely phenomenal. And I need to, I need to, well, first and foremost, congratulations on the 6,000 downloads. As an individual who's I've been in the podcasting space since 2008, and I've done many, many, many podcasts, and I know how hard um uh the work is. Uh it comes from a place of your heart. Um, not because you're, you know, there's other ulterior motives, it's a true design to share, and and and you know, the I'm sure certain the lots of sleepless nights and early mornings, and all of that goes like the behind-the-scenes stuff. I get it, I understand it, and it's a big deal. And I and you also do something that I'm a really, really big fan of is celebrating everything. I believe in celebrating all of our wins, all of our accomplishments, all of our milestones, and you are to be celebrated. So, congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Thank you. We are living audaciously right here. I have been excited about this episode because I believe that this is a topic that we need to talk about as leaders, celebrating the wins and living life on purpose, not averagely, but audaciously. So, you know, as I was thinking, I was thinking to myself that many of us as leaders, we want growth. That's that's a part of being a leader, right? We want to have impact. We look for that. We believe in innovation, but many of us, even though we want growth and impact and innovation, we still tend to lead from caution, from fear of failure, or from a need for approval. So I want to start off by asking you this question: the bold framework. Like, what does the bold framework mean? And why is audacious leadership so important right now?

SPEAKER_01 5:52

So I want to give you a little bit of background on how the bold framework came to be because I think it's really, really important because um the bold framework was developed over my own personal journey and understanding that the seed of audacity was always inside of me, and I just didn't know it was there, and it needed to be awoken. And and I would say that is the case for each and every single one of us. I I wholeheartedly believe that we all are born with this audacious spirit, and somewhere along the way, whether it be life, um, our own doubts, whatever, has dampened that and made us feel that that is not the case. And if you're looking for evidence of that, watch a baby learning how to walk. By far the most cutest thing ever, right? They'll get up, they'll, and we all have that image, right? They'll get up, they'll walk a little bit, they may take a step or two, and they'll fall down. And what do they do? They'll get back up again and they'll try again and they'll make another step or and it doesn't matter how many times that baby falls down, it'll always try to get back up. And there's no one on the planet that can tell them that you're not meant to walk, you do not have permission to walk. You're or here's the rules of what walking. No, that doesn't matter. And that's and that's the audacity that I'm talking about. That despite the concerns, despite the you know, the exterior voices or the distractions, that you still move forth. And so when I had sort of gone to that realization myself, I'm like, wait a second, I am audacious. And I literally, I literally remember going through um a snapshot of my life. And I was kind of looking at all my milestones, my victories, my accomplishments, and even the setbacks. And and you know, what was very clear to me was that that common red thread of audacity, it was there the entire time. And it was at that point, I'm like, oh my gosh, like I've been doing it and not knowing I'm doing it, and and then that sort of got me on the path of being more intentional. How do I continue to do it? How do I not make it accidental? How do I make it very intentional? And and that's kind of the seeds of what developed the bold framework. And the bold framework is an acronym, four letters. Um, B stands for better than yesterday. It's built on a foundation that we're always improving, we're always learning. So, Adrian, you know, it's fantastic. You had 6,000 downloads, and I'm glad you celebrated it, and I'm glad that you reached that milestone, but you can get 10. Why not go for four? Right? It doesn't rest on what you did. Like, you know, so that's fantastic. That when I was in, when I was 12 years old, you know, my my team won the little league championship in basketball. When I'm 40 years old as a grown adult, that doesn't matter anymore. So it's always looking to build on what you did. And so that's better than yesterday. It always outlasts adversity. And you know, for anyone that's listening that thinks, uh I don't want to burst anyone's bubble here, but you know, life is hard and life is different challenges, and and we don't get out of this scot-free and unscathed, right? We are gonna have some bumps, some bruises, some scars, some residue. It's gonna happen. The reality is we still need to continue to push through the other side. So I oftentimes use the analogy of a boulder, right? We've got a boulder on our path, and it's where it's incumbent on us to find a way to get up, over, around, or through. Because on the other side of that boulder is where the greatness lies. When I say greatness, I'm not talking about material wealth or I'm not talking about you know riches or anything of that nature. It's a growth that happens with you, right? Like how many times, Adrian, do we go through something difficult and hard? And in that moment, it's the most difficult thing on the planet, we don't know how we're gonna do it, and we find a way to overcome, and all of a sudden, it's not as bad no more. It doesn't matter to the rear view. And then when we encounter something similar, we go, Oh, yeah, I've done this before. Here's what I did again. That's the growth I'm talking about. So lasting adversity is huge. L is live your truth, and it's directly tied to authenticity, being who you are, living your life, that what was intended for you. And I truly believe that we all are intended to live our own individual pathway. And not that, and I think one of the problems in our society today is we kind of look to the left and the right and we compare ourselves to others, and we want what they have and we see what's going on with them, and we want to kind of you know take that for ourselves. And it's not that we can't learn from each other, it's not that we can't uh gain some insights or glean or gloss, but the reality is this you know, the suit that you're wearing, it looks fantastic on you. And if I want that, I gotta recognize I need to have it my size. So it's really understanding what we need has to be tailor-fit, tailor-made for us. So that's what living your truth is all about. And then last is disrupt the norm. And that, quite frankly, look, if you're gonna do any level of greatness or achievement or any level of success, you may have to go off the beaten path. And you know, look at a guy like Steve Jobs as an example, it's a perfect, you know, perfect example. He could have continued to make iPhone, he could have continued to make you know cellular phones in the same way everyone else was, or or or or use, you know, or develop and create the iPhone. And that's funny. I'm not an iPhone user, I'm still natural, but I still recognize the power and what was created. And so, and that's really what we're we're talking about. And so when you look at when you look at leaders today, um, I think the bold framework fits beautifully because it enables leaders to understand, well, first off, the bold framework isn't linear, which means that I'm not saying you have to start with the B and then you gotta go the old. That's not what I'm saying at all, because perhaps you're already, you, you, you've got, you're pretty good at you know learning and developing and or going through adversities. But perhaps you know the authenticity piece is something you need to work harder on, right? Those are sort of so the bold framework allows leaders to be able to sort of figure out for themselves where they can start and work on those specific things. And the key, and and I think what makes it so so so key in all this, and this is really you know, underscores the significance of leadership, that if you are able to do any of these things, even just one of them, you're allowing yourself to build a connection with the people who you are leading. And that connection is the key to success of any leader, and so um I I it's it's it's something that I I believe wholeheartedly in, uh, something that I I promote as much as possible. Because I think that's I think that's the starting point for success in our lives and for leaders especially.

SPEAKER_00 12:16

I love that. So you know transformation space. We always give our leaders the opportunity to assess, to stop and and really hone in on what is being shared. So, leaders, I want to invite you right now, what is resonating with you from what Audley has been sharing with us when you contemplate and consider and reflect on what audacious leadership is for you. I want you to go ahead in the chat right now and begin to tell us what's resonating with you, what comes to mind, and tell us how are you audacious in your leadership? Let's sharpen one another. You know, I was thinking as you were talking that this is so important right now in the environment and the world in which we're living because there are so many distractions that are happening, and you know, it's it's it's you have to be audacious if you're going to sustain in leadership right now, and if you're going to do it well, not just for the uh, I want to achieve, I want to be, I want to have money, but if you're gonna really hone in and be a true leader, you're gonna have to be courageous and audacious. So I want to ask you this question, right? Why do so many leaders hesitate to lead boldly, even when we know that change is necessary?

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Yeah, I'm gonna start with the F word. That's fear. That's a big one. We we we look at um uh fear if you if you analyze fear, uh, that's at the heart of so many of our issues and our challenges, because we feel that, and fear, fear is I'm a big fan of acronyms, so fear is false evidence appear and real. So we see something, we feel that this might be, and we've got and here's the thing we have no evidence to back it, to support it, but it's just what we feel. And as a result of that, we don't hold back, we lessen ourselves, we shrink ourselves, we hold our voices in, and we don't allow our true uh our true beings to shine. And and and and it's really unfortunate because I truly believe that we all have the ability to learn from one another. You know, Adrian, I'm absolutely uh blessed and honored to be able to sit down and share with you and have this conversation. Well, if I was holding myself back and thinking, well, I don't know if it's gonna make sense, and I don't know if we'll that we're not having this conversation, and and our listeners are missing out on the opportunity to even learn and develop, or because that's how we learn from one another. And so um fear is a huge one. Uh, you know, people are afraid that they lose their credibility, they're afraid of being wrong. That's a big one. I leaders see the there seems to be a belief that leaders have to have all the answers, right? And and and you know, when I think back to uh it's funny. Um if you go to if you go on any person and say, you know, who is your favorite leader? Kind of like your favorite teacher, right? Who are your favorite teacher? Who's your favorite leader? And everyone, I I don't doubt every oh yeah, this person, everyone has that person in mind. And take it a step further and say, okay, what did you like about this person? What did you appreciate? They're gonna say the things that we're not talking about. They weren't afraid, they encouraged me, they supported me, they helped me, um, they still you know they guided me. And and and and so these, and so but you don't do those things without the connection I talked about earlier. So once you're able to connect with people and you're able to do these things that have to have impact and and then allow you to positively lead them uh to where they want to go. But for sure, fear, fear is a big one. Uh, fear of being wrong, fear of being vulnerable, uh, fear of not having all the answers. Uh that that that that would be my if I star and hot haul, you know, underline and and bull that wants all caps for fear. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

Well, listen, um I'm an acronym person as well. And so another one for fear that I love is face everything and rise.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Well, and it's funny because you also could run too, right? Like, but you don't. You you have to rise. See, it's getting injury, it's a choice. It really is a conscious choice. And we can think that around that corner there's a line coming, but until we go around that corner, we don't know. And and and and and and therein lies the audacity. You know, Martin Luther King Jr. has a quote that I oftentimes reference because it talks about taking that first step when you can't see the entire staircase, right? The uncertainty, there's darkness, we don't know, but we're just trusting our instincts. And and and we're never gonna have the entire all the answers. We won't. But we have to be able to trust in ourselves that we're making the decisions for the right reasons. Uh, we're keeping our people in mind and their best interests. Also, uh obviously also bearing in mind the needs of the organization, the business, because that all that you know that's is paramount as well. But there's a balance between the the or the organization's needs and the people's needs. Those two are in synchronous.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

I love that. Leaders, let's pause for a moment. And I'm gonna give you another invitation to just pause and reflect. What is it that causes you to when you hesitate to lead boldly? Maybe today there was an opportunity that you had to speak up, to let your voice be heard, and you stepped back. Maybe there was an opportunity where someone wanted to give you an opportunity to experience something that you have not experienced before, give you on-the-job training, but you decided in your mind that this was not the right time, or you didn't have what it takes to be able to complete the action. What causes you to hesitate when it is and when the opportunity arises for you to lead boldly? I want you to write it down and I want you to come back to that, and then I want you to reframe, remind yourself how you can push past, move forward. Even we're all human beings, we're going to have those anxious moments, those fear, but but we will not let it control us. And we want to share with you, Ali and I want to share with you this leadership principle that says courage grows through action. So you want to grow your courage, that means you can't sit still. You must so Ali, I want to ask you this question.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Can I just add to that, please? Because I hope that's so beautiful because so many think that I have to have the confidence first. If I can't, I get I have to have confidence. Once I have the confidence, then I'll take action. And there are times you just when again, when when you're entering that period of uncertainty, there's just times that you won't know, and you just have to step forward. And so thank you. That's a that's a beautiful, beautiful point. I'm glad you raised that.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Absolutely, absolutely. So, from your perspective and your experience, how can leaders balance that that word balance is big now? How can leaders balance bold decision making with wisdom and intentionality?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

So um through my through my travels and my my work in this field of audacity, um uh I I there's actually three key myths that I've I've identified. Um, and the one that I want to zero in on it dies directly to this point because there's many, there's an impact on my, I'll never forget this. I was listening to a podcast once, and I heard um they were there, they were actually talking about audacity. And the guest was giving a description of audacity, and the word reckless was included in this definition. And I was I was personally offended. Like I remember just being upset for the word audacity. Like if the word audacity was my friend, I'd be upset for them and want to fight for this. No, that's not what it is, because people seem to think that if unless you're you're um uh uh you're recklessly jumping up, so you know, tomorrow I'm I'm tired of my job, I'm gonna quit. Um that's that's being and that's being audacious. And and and what I would say is perhaps that's an element of audacity, but what I would add to that uh is audacity without wisdom, it is reckless, but it doesn't have to be reckless. And so that that that is very much a key part of it. Uh for some reason there's a belief that audacity and speed are linked together, so you gotta do it fat now, you gotta do it fast, and and and you, and you don't. You can do it, you can take your time, you can, you know, you can do research. There's nothing that says that you have to be impulsive. Uh, you know, you can think things like listening to your people and understanding their concerns, understanding what matters to them, understanding the things that they care about, and then and then you then it provides you the opportunity to gather this information and do some analysis to better understand, okay, what our next steps can be. And maybe at the end of the process, you make an audacious decision, and that very well could be the case. But it doesn't mean you're flying off the handle so fast because it doesn't, you know, I need to be audacious right now. Um, there's no there's no impulsivity, it's not a there's no speed gun that says you gotta move quicker now. Uh, you know, decisions are made, they can be rooted in in service, uh, in growth, uh, they can be made with integrity and as well, also keep keeping in mind the long-term impact and what it means for not only the organization, but the people as well, too.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yes, absolutely. Leaders, we are inviting you right now in the chat. Go ahead. I want to hear, we want to hear what is resonating with you. And if you have any questions, please go ahead and put them in the chat right now. We will answer your questions in a future episode, but we want to hear from you. So, Ali, you know, this takes me to this next concept and you know, mindset. What role does mindset play in developing audacious leadership? Because it's not just about the doing, right? Like just being audacious, but it's that mindset that will give you sustainability. So, what role does mindset play in developing audacious leadership?

SPEAKER_01 22:06

I would simply say mindset is everything. That is the starting point because the mindset allows us to uh address whatever internal uh whether Be self-doubt, maybe we're dealing with the imposter syndrome as leaders. I talked about the earlier about the fear of criticism. And so the mindset allows us to address that. And that to me is absolutely the starting point because if you know the appropriate mindset allows you to see challenges, whether you see them as a challenge as a threat or an opportunity for growth as an example, right? A negative mindset will all you know, woe is me, there's problems. But if you're looking at it from the mindset of positivity and growth, you're thinking, okay, so maybe there's an opportunity here. Let's bring in some other people. Let's let's find where we can have uh some of the input from other people. Uh, because I don't, as a leader, I don't have the answer. So now I'm displaying my vulnerability. I I don't have the answer, but who else can we bring that has that expertise or has that insight or has that knowledge? Or where can we get these resources? Where can we draw them from? And so for for me, uh yeah, mindset is the key. It's a starting point. If your mindset is suggesting other anything other than a positive, optimistic viewpoint, um, you're gonna struggle, I would say. I think you're gonna struggle.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Yeah, absolutely. I think we would all concur that mindset absolutely influences our leadership capability. And I would I I think that because audacious leaders will train themselves. That's right, that's right, that's right. That's right, train themselves, right? This would be this is a discipline. This becomes a habit, a habit, right? We're gonna train ourselves to think expansively, we're gonna train ourselves to remain adaptable, we're gonna train ourselves to be aware and to lead with possibility.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

That's right, that's right. The whole idea of understanding that that discomfort is part of the journey, that transformation journey. We uh when we talk about change and pivoting, that there is gonna be periods of uncertainty. You're you are you are gonna have periods of doubt, but despite all of those things, you still act anyways, kind of like taking that step in the dark staircase. You take that step anyways, you don't know where it's gonna go, but you still continue forward.

SPEAKER_00 24:55

Yes, absolutely. Mindset influences our capabilities. I love that. So, how can leaders inspire boldness and confidence within our teams?

SPEAKER_01 25:07

Yeah, I that you know, when you think of a job of leaders, it's a tremendous role because they can um they have the ability to unlock incredible seeds inside people. Um, you you think you think in meetings where where everyone has an opportunity to provide input, and maybe there's that one person that maybe they don't feel confident, maybe they don't think they have a right to speak up, maybe they don't think their voice has a place. You know, leaders have the opportunity to to bring that out of individuals. So they've got to set the environment so that's really important the tone, the environment is set where it's safe. Because quite honestly, if I don't feel safe, I'm not sharing anything. I feel repercussions, I'll keep it to myself, and I don't care how right I may be, if it's not safe, it's not safe. And so creating that environment that's psychologically safe is so, so important. Um, being able to know that uh they're they're they're bound, setting up boundaries is is very key, very important. Things like being able to ask for help, um starting over if something doesn't work well and being okay with that, um, encouraging growth, encouraging learning, um, even your approach to how you see adversity. So I talk about outlasting adversity, you know, a leader's approach and how they respond to adversity is key because if if my leader is running around going, oh my gosh, oh my god, oh my gosh, what I'm gonna do, what's that doing for everyone else, right? And so to being able to be emotionally regulated and and and being able to make sound decisions, not from a place of emotion, but of a place of of um really common sense thinking, using the appropriate facts, knowledge, information at your disposal. And it's funny because all those little things, you know, they they're small. Even even um prioritizing your own mental health as an example. Like those things are all so, so small, but they can inspire the people around you because they can say they can look and say, oh, you know what? If so-and-so is doing this, then yeah, maybe I can too, right? And that's it's funny because we we um you referenced you referenced my book earlier, and I so it's the the book coming out of the fall is called Living Your Best Audacious Life Ever. And the subtitle is very key to what we're talking about here. The subtitle is how unleashing your inner greatness can change the world. And I truly, truly believe that those these are actions, these things that we do, we they there's ripple effects, and they have the ability to positively impact those who are around us, but we've just got to take that step, trust ourselves, and be audacious enough to do so.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

I love that. It's like shifting from asking, what if I failed to asking what impact becomes possible if I succeed? That's right. Listen, we are truly being inspired to be audacious leaders today. And so, leaders, we want to remind you, you know, Audley spoke to us about psychological safety. This is not just a buzz phrase, but it is really truly leadership principle. And so we invite you today to remember that psychological safety encourages innovation. You want your team to feel as though they have ownership, you want them to feel as though they can be creative, they have a voice. You must develop a culture of psychological safety. How do you do that? You can do that by recognizing initiatives and learning, not just the end result, but the journey. Along the journey, as the team is progressing, recognize the wins, recognize the the not so great moments, right? But recognize them from the perspective of we are not perfect, but we're being progressive. That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Well, we start we started off by celebrating your 6,000 downloads, and that's that's what ties back to me. It's so important that we celebrate our accomplishments and milestones because I will tell you that as we go through life, we're gonna need to remember our greatness. I remember once I was on a very long bike drive, and I was I'm in Toronto, Canada area, and I was designing a bike. I wanted a bike to Niagara Falls, and you know, that's a pretty hefty ride. Yes, and I remember about three-quarters of the way through, I got to this one hill and looked at the hill, I'm at the bottom, like, I can't do this.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

I can't.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

And I'm and here I'm telling myself all the reasons why I can't go up that hill. I remember stopping going, wait a second, how many hills did you get through to get to this point already? Tell me, tell me you're tired, tell me you don't have energy, tell me you're exhausted, but you can't tell me I can't, because I've already done it.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 29:27

Yes, so that's what we're telling us, recognizing what we've done. The other thing we just can do really quickly, and I and I have this experience, I think it's irrelevant to share. I remember I was in a work environment once, and um our team was given an assignment to do. And that that the assignment that was given required a significant amount of creative thinking. And they wanted, you know, the assignment was to create something that was different, not the outside of the run-of-the-mill type of stuff you normally do. How do you make something different? And you know, everyone kind of looked around and goes, Well, well, and it didn't really have an answer. And I didn't really, I nothing really came to mind for me initially. And um, I don't know that the the manager approached me. My manager approached me and she said, Oddly, um, when I review this, when I look at what we're gonna ask for, this is tailor-made for you. Like, like there's no one here that can be able to lead this to where I know that you can, because a high level of creativity, and and I know you're very, very creative. Well, I gotta tell you, like, I felt good about myself in that moment because I was seen. I was seen for who I am and what I brought to the table. And that's what that you know, that's what that manager, that leader did for me. And so I naturally we did it, I put my all into it because I was seen for who I am, and that was a little thing. That wasn't a big thing, like it wasn't a big, there wasn't no big fan fur parade or anything like that. Uh, you know, after the call after the meeting, she came to me private and said, I need to talk to you. And here's what I'm thinking, here's what I'm seeing. And being able to see people is so, so key. It's huge. And so uh, I think that's a really simple thing leaders can do. Let's see your people. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

See your people. People want to know that they've seen, they want to know that they've heard. So, as we turn the corner on this amazing conversation, I want to ask you this one final question. So, into our community for a few moments, right? What is one mindset shift that leaders can make immediately, as soon as this podcast is over? What is one mindset shift that leaders can make immediately to lead more boldly, audaciously, and effectively?

SPEAKER_01 31:28

Yeah, it's it's it's understanding I think you kind of alluded to it again, too, that you've got to embrace those uncertainties, those periods where you don't know, those times where it's like, I'm not sure. I would also, I would also encourage leaders to pay attention to that inner voice. You know, we we all get that little like, hey, why don't you or haven't you thought about this? And we sort of we kind of shut it down or or or you know lower the volume or lower the dial on that. But but our inner voice knows. And and and if we pay attention, if we're listening, uh I it really can guide us or point us in the direction where to to be in this audacious space that uh can have the biggest impact on people. So I would definitely say pay attention to that inner voice, understand the uncertainty, the suspicions, the fears. It's not about being fearless, right? Like I'm not a really big fan of being fearless. Um it's it's because the fear is a part of the process. And I think when you when you feel afraid, um that tells you that you're pointing the right direction, it's not safe, right? Audacity is coming out of your comfort zone, recognizing that yes, this place where I am, it's really, really safe uh and it's comfortable, but there's more on the outside. I I use, I use often I use an analogy when I talk about self-awareness. I use the analogy of the living room. And you know, and if we all can picture a living room, we've got a coffee table, we've got the couch, we've got our TV, right? And if you go into that living room and turn off the light switch, you don't see those things. But if you turn the switch back on, they now appeared. The light switch didn't put them there. Those things were always there, those things were always inside of us, is what we choose to see and recognize. And so now here's, you know, so now that I know this colour, and so now that I can see my entire living room, I can decide what do I need to shift? You know what? I like the coffee table on that side. That lab looks better over there. You know what? Maybe I'll mount my TV on the wall here. And and at the same time, it allows the, you know, maybe when I pull that couch back, I can see those dust bunnies that I've ignored, and I can sweep them out and do some house cleaning. Like that's the process that we have to understand that all of these things are already inside of us. No one has put audacity there. You didn't take a course on it, you didn't suddenly, it's always there. Uh, it's a matter of unlocking that, um, recognizing it, and then and taking action.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

I love it. I love it. Transformation station, what an amazing conversation we have had today. We invite you to go ahead in the chat right now, even if you're watching on the replay, still just take a few moments and join the conversation of the community. Share with us what you have picked up today, and also share with us what you're committed to go forth boldly and do in your leadership. Audley, I know that there are leaders that are listening. They want your book that's coming out in the fall, they want to engage with you, they may even have some questions. What's the best way for our listeners and viewers to be able to follow up with you after this?

SPEAKER_01 34:26

I I oftentimes say I'm probably the most accessible guy on the planet because I I, of course, my website, bestaudaciouslife.com, that's the hub. Um I've you know, obviously, my podcast is is is featured there. I also have a blog that I'm very, very, very active on, and I share just again insights and things of that nature. Uh, that's a great place. I'm also on social media, um at the odd man, so not odd, but aud the aud man. Uh I'm active and engaged there and I'm on LinkedIn as well. And Audley Stevens is my name. And again, uh I love to share. Hey, tell me, tell me you're you know, you're on Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. Yeah, for sure. You know, I'd be good to connect and share. And uh yeah, thank you. And and Adrian, thank you for this. Like I said, doing a phenomenal, phenomenal job uh as a lover of podcasting and the effort and work that goes into it. I can feel it. Uh it was great to share this energy with you and uh keep it moving, man. Keep going.

SPEAKER_00 35:20

Thank you so much, Listers and viewers. You saw the link on the screen, it's also in the description box. We're inviting you to go ahead, click on the link, go ahead and pre-order his book, contact Audley, and like you said, contact him and let him know that you saw you heard this particular episode, and also share with him what has resonated with you. And I really also am inviting you because I know you are inspired from this episode. So share with him how you are going to move forward with your audacious leadership. Audely, again, thank you so much. It has been wonderful to have you with us on Transformation Station.

SPEAKER_01 35:54

Thank you so, so much. All the best.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

Thank you. Wow. Today's conversation reminded us that bold leadership is not reserved for a select few, it's developed through intentional choices and courageous actions and our willingness to grow beyond fear and limitation. Again, we say thank you to Ottlee for sharing these incredible insights and for helping us to understand that audacious leadership is not about ego or performance, but about clarity, conviction, and purpose-driven impact. And to everyone listening, remember this leadership growth begins the moment that you and I stop shrinking to fit. Ah, but when we start leading in alignment, I know that this episode resonated with you. So I invite you to be sure to subscribe to Transformation Station Leadership Podcast. And I'm also inviting you to share this bold, audacious conversation with at least five leaders in your network who are ready to think bigger, lead bolder, and create greater impact. So until next time, you are invited to lead boldly, stay intentional, and move forward with boldness and purpose.