UPDATE: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, this topic is now more relevant than ever, as you can see in news reports and social media posts by very lonely professionals all over the world who have been isolated for months. In addition to YouTube and Apple Podcasts, you can now find this episode on other platforms, including Spotify and Anchor. There’s also a new podcast cover to help illustrate the power of purposely cultivating your own growth and transformation.

How do you like the new podcast name and cover art for the renamed podcast “Plant Your Seeds of Transformation”?

[ORIGINAL ARTICLE]

As I write this, I realize that the topic of “vulnerability” has been hot for several years because of the popularity of a researcher and author who has been featured on the TED Talks video series and on Oprah’s OWN network (i.e., Super Soul Sunday). Her name is Brene Brown, and she has influenced me, but this is not the reason for this blog article.

In the summer of 2018, I started a series entitled “Loneliness and Leadership” on my previous blog and podcast. To see the video about this topic, visit my youtube channel for Lead Like A Queen at this link (click here) or watch it below:

Here is a summary of the main points from what I addressed in this video:

#1 Admitting loneliness is difficult due to its social stigma* and due to unwillingness to be vulnerable. (See research resource listed below.)

#2 Failing to admit you need help dealing with loneliness keeps you in bondage to it.

#3 Failing to get free from the impacts of loneliness within you affects how you act and react at home and at work. It may cause you to lead in unhealthy ways.

#4 Failing to admit your need for help prevents you from seeking help which empowers you to plant seeds for your own transformation.

“Personal and professional transformation, just like gardening, takes time, but it can’t even start until you start seeking help as your way of planting the seeds for your own change.”

~ Donna Marie Johnson @leadlikeaqueen

*Resource: Rokach, A. (2013). Loneliness updated: Recent research on loneliness and how it affects our lives. Oxon [England]: Routledge.

Note: This is an older video, so the offer included in the video is no longer available. To get updates about current offers, join the email newsletter community for Lead Like A Queen (click here).