One of the things that I would always say, you know, you have to put one step in front of the other. Don't look at the the magnitude of the change, but just put one foot in front of the other and go in it with positivity because there's so many negative thoughts in your head and fear and, you know, what is this... Is this gonna impact me? Because it's all what's in it for me. Change is all about what's in it for me. So when you're leading change, my suggestion is to think about the other person, right, that's on the other side of you and suggest that they think about it from, you know, what it... What do I need to do? What's important to me right now? How can I pivot? How can I think about this in a positive way? Like, what are the positives and the cons? And go through your own mental load first before trying to pull your team through it, to make sure that you're change ready and that you're being adaptable. Because, like I tell my team, like, you don't have to always agree with the change, but you have to align. Mhmm. And so alignment doesn't necessarily mean agreement, but you gotta go through the things that we need to do to get it... Get us to a better place. At the end of the day, for our clients, it's not for each of us. It's for our clients. They deserve that. Mhmm. They deserve evolution in our products and strategies, etcetera. So --. Change is in about inevitable, and we all go through it. But I think too, as a Christian, I think about that as how much change did Jesus walk through. Right? Like, how much change was out there that he had to walk through, and he did it with kindness. He did it gently. So when we... When I do it personally and think about that, like, how... Whose hand can I hold to go through this that's struggling? This change at the individual level, not at the organizational level.

Right. Yeah. It's, yeah, every person has to make that journey, right, for the organization to do it. But there's a lot of things that you just said that I really do love. Seeing the person on the other side of the change. Yes. And having empathy for that person, I think, is really important. I think also something else that you said that I really love, you said, ultimately, this is for our clients. Our clients deserve this. Yes. Explaining why we're doing the change. It's not change for change sake. It's change so that we can be who we need to be for our customer and and our clients. And and if we are not thinking about the people that we're serving

Yes.

Like, we have no company. That's right. None of us have a job. Right? None of us have a job. Paid.

You're doing the song and the checks. You know?

That's right. Cool. That's right.

Every week you get paid, you need to thank the client.

Yeah. Yeah. So good. That's... I'm I'm so glad that you dug into that because I do think... And especially, we see it now with AI, you know, and there's so much change at a very rapid pace. And it it does. It's... There's a... Creates a lot of uncertainty for people.

It's intimidating. No doubt about it. It's intimidating.

It is. It is.

Talk about, you know, AI replacing so many jobs and how that's gonna happen. And, you know, we still are human. We still have to have human touch, but this just means how do you pivot and think about your skill set and your capability in the AI world? Like, how can you evolve? We should be evolving every day every every day about something different, that, you know, we need to do.

I'll tell you just a little a little fun thing here. Arasa, I know that you did too. I read so many of Zig Ziglar's books back in the day. I remember when we first had our kids, I, read his book, the the raising positive kids in the negative world. I mean, I just love Zig, but I had his, son on. Zig has now passed away, but Tom Zigler runs the Zigler group now. And he was on the podcast. It's been a couple of years ago now. And he said, Lisa, he goes, I love the title of your podcast, Something Extra. He said, my dad would love it. He said, think about this. If we just learn a little something extra every day... And, of course, that's not... You know, it's like the something... The gifts that God's placed inside of us, but he said, learn just a little something extra every day, just how much we're off we would be. Right? And so, you know, I just... I think about that as you're talking about the change. It doesn't necessarily always have to be quantum leaps. It's like every day, we need to be improving. We need to be learning. We need to be growing every day. So... Oh my goodness. Well, I've got learner.

I think it's... I think the point of learning is such a key element of leadership. Every day, we should be learning something new. Reading, you know, speaking to a mentor, coaching, whatever it is, but be in that learning mindset because it's such a gift. And I just believe that how God set up this world, you know, that we are all to be learners. We are all to be learning by the good look. You know? He he had paved the way. But how many people don't invest in themselves is discouraging. You know? And That's an opportunity that we all need to do differently.

Yeah. So, listeners, take this as a challenge. You know? Learn something new every day. Just keep growing. Keep moving forward. The people that you're serving need you to do that. Your family needs you to do that. So... Well, we... I've got so much more to talk about, Irazza, but we've got, to take a quick break here, and we'll be right back on the something extra podcast with my friend.

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Welcome back, everyone, to the Something Extra podcast with my friend, Arasa Downing. Arasa, I've just loved loved loved loved this conversation so far, but I wanna I wanna talk about this because I know... And you've already mentioned it, several times now, but I know how important it is to you. You know, your... The community really does recognize you as a leader whose impact is guided by your faith. Mhmm. Tons of compassion. You know, how does your faith shape the way you make decisions, how you led people when you were at Jones, and how you define success?

Oh, wow. That's such a great question. So a couple of things that I'll say. I I I read this book called, doing business by the good book, as you know, with Dave Stewart. And I value that book because I think it's such a very good, parallel to how we are supposed to lead and show up in life. And God lays out his principles. He lays out how we should work together, how we need each other. Our... Each one of us have have our own unique purpose, but it is to serve others. And so I've always had that kind of mindset of how can I be of service today? When I get up, my feet hit the ground in the morning. I'm like, god. How do you wanna use me today? How do you want to improve my leadership? You know? What are things that I need to be aware of that that are not on my radar today? So I have this whole conversation every morning with God about, you know, how I wanna show up and what he needs of me, you know, on a day to day basis. And, you know, even in retirement, I think about that because now I have time to think about where I wanna serve and how I wanna serve and that. So I wanna be very, intentional about that. And when I think about success, I just... You know, success for me has just been being planet where god wants me to be. And I I feel he gives us direction and, you know, have us showing up in places you're kinda like, how did I get here, and what am I here for? Because, like, my my degree was in criminal justice, but I... You know, because I was so, passionate about serving the underdog when I chose that major. I really wanted to understand how we help people, you know, successfully get out of prison to, you know, have normal jobs and families, etcetera. And so... You know? But that wasn't where god wanted me plan it. He put me in a different direction, and that was to be a reef force for multiple humans. Right? So Yes. Working an organization and, being able to help so many people. But I I truly believe that the harmony of, purpose, resilience, joy, you know, when I think about what success is for me. And having all of that together, I think, is, you know, how I would define success.

Yeah. That's so good. So dig into purpose. Mhmm. I had John Pepper on the podcast a couple of weeks ago. And John, you may not know that name, but, he was the CEO chairman of Procter and Gamble for a

long time.

He's eighty eight years old now. Wow. I thought it was so much fun having him on. He's, you know, physically... You know, he's declined just a little bit, but, boy, he is still mentally so sharp. But at the end, I asked, you know, about something extra, And and I told him, I'll give you two, John. And so he said purpose and love. You've got to have purpose. Dig into purpose a little bit, Raza. And what if what if somebody's sitting out there and they're listening and they're like, I don't even know what my purpose is. And I do believe a lot of people struggle

Yes.

About why am I here? What is my purpose?

So I would strongly suggest Purpose Driven Life, that book. Yes. Because I think it's very clear when you read that book what our purpose is. And it's simply put, I think it's to serve others. So I would say as you think about your purpose and you think about all the things that people say you're excellent at, like, you know, your listeners have so many different skills and capabilities out there and wonderful people. So what is it that people say that you're excellent at, that you're really good at? And then how do you take that and put it into a job or a entrepreneurial opportunity or serving others on a board, but your purpose is driven by who you are and the special gifts and talent that God has given you to, serve others in the world. So for me, I... You know, my purpose is to be a helping hand and to lift others. Simply put, that's how I would tagline it. So I think you gotta think through, you know, what is your tagline? What is your Mhmm. One thing that you want to make sure you make decisions based off of that one thing? So when I think about my purpose, and and I'm a very intentional purpose, so I don't wanna get into something that's not aligned to my purpose or that I can be of good service to you. So I purposely try. And, I mean, I hit my head on this in my twenties, like, super hard because I couldn't figure what I wanted to do, how I wanted to do it. And I think the older I've gotten, the better at it I am and really clear around how I make decisions around my purpose because I used to not do that.

And so

now it's helped me get rid of a lot of stuff that I don't need to be involved with and do and be very intentional with my time and my talent and my treasure on the things that I really want to do.

That's good. Well, I love what you said. I think the purpose when... A couple things. I think purpose, number one, gives you staying power.

Yes.

Don't you? When you have a clear purpose, it gives you staying power because some days are hard.

Very hard.

Let's just say, some days are really hard, but it's the thing that will get you up on a bet if you have a clear purpose. The other thing that I really loved what you said, Irazza, is the purpose when you're clear about that Mhmm. It really helps other things fall in place.

Yes.

It can it can give you that clarity to know what you need to say no to.

Yes.

And when you say yes

success because you'll have your time back. You'll have your, you know, you'll have truer relationship... More authentic relationships. Everything around your life starts to become more clear when you're able to identify what your purpose is. And it took several, you know, I don't know, me writing it out, putting it in my journal, praying about it, you know, asking God for clarity around it, before it really became concrete for me, on what is the one thing that I do extremely well that I feel God has, you know, put a special hand from me to do. And that... That's how I got to where I where I am today.

Right. Yeah. So if you're a listener and you're sitting there going, I don't know what my purpose is. You know, I'm I'm just saying, understand that you have to do... Sometimes you have to do hard work. Yes. You have to step back from everything and do what Ira has said. You write it down. Work on it. Pray about it. Right? It it it requires some work. It does require work. Well, let's see. Oh, let me ask you this question. So how's your faith shape decisions that you've made when the right path wasn't necessarily the easiest one or the most popular one?

So I... I'll start with my prayer life. I I think, you know, asking God for clarity and peace around a decision that I'm gonna make, is hugely important. And I think sometime when life throws you, you know, all these different balls at the same time and you've gotta make quick decisions and sometimes you don't have a lot of time to, you know, navigate through that, you always know that there's another decision behind that remember can be made even if it was the wrong call. But as a leader, you have to own it. You gotta say, you know, hey. I made a wrong call here. We're gonna go this direction instead, and here's why. And so I feel like leaders sometimes are afraid, and they stick to their own decision even if it was a bad one. And they don't come back to the team to explain that it was a bad decision and why. So I think I think work forgiveness in some of those situations are really important. But every morning, I ask God for direction, for clarity around my decision because I think being a good leader, you need to provide clarity, guidance, and expectation to your team. And so clarity is so important, and, I ask God every morning, you know, to give me clarity of my vision of what needs to be done around everything from my plate, help me prioritize my day, thinking about what the head, and, you know, contemplating tough decisions. You know? So I kinda do my pros and cons list of what I would... You know, direction I would go and, you know, what are the pros and cons of that decision, and, you know, they'll play it out. I also like to get other people's, perspective before I make decisions. So I'm huge on hearing from different voices, not by just my care group, but down the chain, up the chain, you know, before I make a final call.

Yeah. That's so good. That's another biblical principle. There's wisdom in many advisers. Right? There is. I just say make sure you got the right adviser.

Right. Right.

Yes. Oh, well, let's let's talk about this a little bit. I've got few more questions here, and I know that goodness gracious, we're not gonna get through it. There's just more to you than one podcast can handle, Arasa. It's true. But you you have dedicated, and I think I counted up. I don't know if you're still active, but you've done a lot of serving on boards. Yeah. You know, connections to success, Kathy and Brett, Lambert. You mentioned Kathy earlier. Covenant House Love, Covenant in a House, Saint Louis Symphony. You know, how do you decide on that, Araiza, which one of those you devote your time, treasure, and talent to?

It goes back to my purpose, you know, and Mhmm. Fundamentally, you know, serving others is what I do. And I like to, you know, lift others, give them a hand up. Not a handout, but a hand up. And so when I think about what the organization's doing and their purpose, their mission, like, what they're trying to drive and how does that align to my own personal purpose, that's how I make the connection of where I wanna spend my time. And so today, I'm the president, of the board for Covenant House, and we're having our big sleep out, executive sleep out, November nineteenth. So I would love all your listeners to join me in that. It's a very fun experience. And, Lisa, when I say something that has... It shook me to my core the first night I slept out and put myself in the shoes of someone homeless, the homeless youth. Imagine that. We have kids. Right? So imagine a sixteen year old, a fourteen year old that doesn't have, a place to call home. You know? They've left home for whatever reason or got kicked out for whatever reason, and they're on the street at night pouring snow, you know, rain, whatever the case may be, and they're under a bridge. You know? Can you imagine? And so when I slept out that night, you only get a cardboard box. And I slept in the cardboard box, and I was freezing all night. And all I kept hearing was the sound, sirens, you know, people yelling, breaking glass, like, all of these things. And I'm just like, how can they ever sleep in peace? You know? And so my purpose, you know, of wanting to join that organization and be a part of it is because I want to end homelessness for our kids. Yeah. There's no reason our kids should be on the street, you know, for any reason. So how can we end homelessness? And it's by each and every one of us taking a chance that helping one of those youth. So November nineteenth being our big day, for this sleep out, I would love for you all to experience that. It's it's... It will change your life completely.

Yeah.

Guarantee.

Well, we'll put the information in the show notes, and there might be listeners that would love to do that. So I would love to do that, but, our daughter's getting married, so I will be, I will be reporting things less. Reporting things. Yes. Oh my goodness. Gosh. I've got so many more. Well, let's talk about this. You retired. You retired. And I'm gonna say I told my friend Paris Forrest that just retired from Boeing. I'm like, girl, you're not retiring. You're gonna be refiring. I... You know? Because I said, there is no way you're just gonna retire. You know? But Alright. You know, what is this transition taught you, and what what are you excited about? You're kinda taking the time to really think about where you wanna spend your time. Talent Manager and Covenant House is one of those.

Yes. Definitely. So it's coming up on a year already. Like, it's, like, shocking. And, you know, I I have heard so many things about retirement. So when I first retired and because I'm young, a lot of people were like, well, what are you gonna do next? What's what are you... What's on your agenda? I'm like, a part of retirement is you don't have an agenda. You are, you know, taking it all in. Everything you've hard for, you're going to enjoy. And so right now, this year, both my husband and I have been traveling all over the world, and trying to go to a couple places a month just to enjoy traveling, you know, with no... We can extend, we can shorten, whatever we wanna do, the most flexibility. So the freedom that retirement has given me has just been wonderful. But, obviously, as a, you know, constant learner, I'm always thinking about what's next. And so, I am definitely going to start an executive coaching business, next year, and I'm really excited about that. And I've also started writing a book. So Oh, cool. Those

are my...

Those are kinda my two big things that, you know, I'm working on. So, yeah, it's been exciting. It's like, you know, finding out who you are, you know, we kinda had a conversation about that. You know? Yes. What title about the things that's... You know, it's reflection. You know, you're reflecting on what do I want to do? What are the things that excite me? And, you know, without having any issues or, you know, concerns about everybody else, it's about you now. Yeah.

So Oh, that is so exciting. That is exciting. I know you've really been enjoying the traveling and just enjoying your family, your two girls. And Yeah. That's wonderful. So we'll have you on again, Arasah, when your book comes out. Okay? We'll have you on again. But I have to ask you this. This is called something extra. Mhmm. What do you believe is a something extra that every leader needs?

So I would say courage. Courage Mhmm. Is a huge one for me and authenticity. So not only should you be courageous in who you are and what you stand for and your purpose, but also be authentic to who you are. And sometimes corporate can change you, and, you become like everybody else. But that's why God gave you something special and something different so that you can be, you can be courageous in who that... Who you are and what you stand for. So when I think about that, it's not really how many people report to you. It's about how many lives are you impacting and touching that they're better because of your leadership experience.

Absolutely. I'm one hundred percent with you on that. Well, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much. I appreciate you sharing your wisdom. I know it's gonna help our listeners, Irazza. And I'm so excited. I'm so excited for this next chapter for you with your executive coaching and, yeah, the book coming out, that's gonna be really... That's awesome. So I just appreciate the time today, and, it's always... It's good to see you.

It is so great to see you, Leba, and thank you so much for having me. And what you're doing for us in our society and, you know, the impact that you have made has just been phenomenal. So I applaud you and everything that you're doing as well, and god bless you.

Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production. Copyright Technology Partners Inc. Twenty nineteen. To learn more about this week's guest, check out the show notes at tpi dot co slash podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review. Thank you for listening to Something Extra.