Mindful Desk Warriors: Wellness Movement to Boost Focus & Resilience
📑 Chapters
00:00 - Introduction
00:42 - Lisa introduces herself
02:03 - Why Lisa joined The Blanchard Companies
04:00 - Mindfulness at work
05:20 - Breathwork & the heart space
11:35 - Mindfulness & work performance
15:30 - Blanchard Leadership framework
21:00 - Multiculturalism & diversity in SLII
23:10 - Childlike wonder & playfulness
27:30 - The future according to Lisa
30:13 - Possible technology risks or challenges
32:58 - Lisa’s recommendations of thought leaders
34:50 - Jiani’s recap of the episode
37:02 - Lisa at 11 years old
42:09 - Lisa’s magic
Watch the full episode here.
💕 Story Overview
Welcome to a new episode of the @MAGICademy podcast! Today on S5E4, our guest is Lisa Cannata, a leadership development expert currently associated with The Blanchard Companies, with over 27 years of diverse experience under her hat in developing new and interesting learning strategies.
We talk a lot about mindfulness and the relation between a good state of mind and a good skill set to be a well-balanced and empathetic leader. As the work environment continues to evolve, the role of the leader needs to evolve as well, and Lisa shares a lot of valuable insights on this matter.
Currently based in Orlando, Florida, Lisa has focused on visionary learning and talent engagement, leveraging her extensive background in management and healthcare to enhance organizational effectiveness. In this episode, we delve into her pivot to Blanchard, multiculturalism and diversity in the workplace, and how to enter a focused state and concentrate to keep working when we don’t feel like it.
Mindfulness + Mindset + Results: Research shows that mindfulness significantly enhances performance of both entrepreneurial leaders and talents by improving focus and attention. Mindful individuals have a more functional emotional regulation and therefore experience lower stress levels, which helps them respond more effectively to challenges, fostering cognitive flexibility, emotional resilience, and attentional control.
The Situational Leadership II (SLII) model, developed by Ken Blanchard, teaches us to adjust our leadership approach based on the skills and motivation of our team members. It identifies four leadership styles—Directing, Coaching, Supporting, and Delegating—that correspond to four levels of employee development, from beginners to experts. By assessing where each team member stands on a specific task, we can apply the appropriate leadership style to support their growth and success, ultimately enhancing our overall team performance.
Establish regular breath work and heart space. To establish a peaceful space for our heart amidst all the challenges, we can establish a consistent mindfulness routine that begins with basic mindful breathing exercises, focusing on the sensations of each inhale and exhale. Gradually incorporate advanced techniques like box breathing and heart-centered meditations, where you visualize a radiant light in your heart center expanding with each breath. Infuse your practice with qualities such as love and compassion, imagining them flowing into your heart. Enhance your meditation with sound, like a gong, to further open your heart space. Approach these practices with patience and non-judgment, allowing your experience to unfold naturally as you connect more deeply with your breath and heart.
Multiculturalism and Diversity: Globalization has allowed us to build great companies or teams with people from different countries and cultures. Leaders need to have great levels of adaptability to be able to manage these multicultural teams. Situational leadership means having a leader who’s flexible in their way of leading; who is able to bridge cultural gaps to enhance problem-solving and innovation; who can see situations from multiple angles to make well-rounded decisions; and who promotes psychological safety by empowering their team members to express their ideas with any fear or judgment.
⭐ What’s Lisa’s Magic?
Lisa is super optimistic and she has the ability to find the silver lining in any situation. She takes life challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow instead of feeling defeated.
Conclusion
This conversation highlights essential insights on effective leadership and personal development for us. It emphasizes how mindfulness can enhance our performance by improving focus, emotional regulation, and stress management, which helps us respond better to challenges.
The Situational Leadership II model teaches us to adapt our leadership styles based on the skills and motivation of our team members, promoting their growth and success.
By incorporating breathwork and heart-centered meditation into our routines, we can cultivate inner peace and resilience. In today’s globalized world, we must also develop adaptability to manage multicultural teams effectively, bridging cultural gaps to enhance problem-solving and innovation while fostering a psychologically safe environment where all team members feel empowered to express their ideas freely.
If you would like to stay tuned with our future guests and their magical stories. Welcome to join us.
-
-
Russell, T. A., & Arcuri, S. M. (2015). A neurophysiological and neuropsychological consideration of mindful movement: clinical and research implications. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 9, 282.
Hanh, T. N. (2008). Mindful movements: Ten exercises for well-being. Parallax Press.
-
Lisa Cannata is a seasoned professional in leadership development and organizational learning, currently serving as a Solutions Architect at The Blanchard Companies since 2022. With over 25 years of experience, she has a strong background in facilitating learning experiences, custom content design, and strategic learning initiatives.
Her expertise encompasses areas such as change management, internal communications, and employee engagement, making her a valuable asset in the field of organizational development
-
Jiani (00:04)
Welcome to MAGICademy podcast. Academy podcast. Today with us is Lisa. She has been a learning development leader for decades and currently she is working with Blanchard communities and helping learning leaders to develop learning strategies. And also she's been avidly advocating for the important.
role of wellness and well -being among leaders in the workspace. So welcome Lisa to the podcast and such an honor and great gratefulness to have you here with us.
Lisa Cannata (00:39)
Thank you so much, Jiani. It's so great to be here with you.
Jiani (00:43)
It's been so many years and finally we get to have you here and if people were to kind of hear about you for the first time, people probably read about you in like different places but if you were to introduce yourself in a way that nobody has heard about yet, how would you introduce yourself?
Lisa Cannata (01:10)
So I have been a learning advocate and believer for my whole career, growing up through the learning and development space, having all types of roles, mainly in the healthcare space, but I've also ventured out into hospitality and all different industry. And where I am now is...
where I got to narrow into the thing I enjoyed the most through my career, which was developing leaders and teams and helping them achieve the success that they're trying to strive for in their organizations. And I'm also a yogi. I practice and teach yoga. And in the last decade or so, I've been trying to infuse my learning from yoga and breath work and meditation into
any type of corporate environment that I can find anyone to listen.
Jiani (02:09)
I love it. I love it. Very thorough introduction of yourself. And I would actually take a pause in the recording. I've been kind of seeing the light reflected through your glasses. So if there's any way for you to maybe, yeah, too bright.
Lisa Cannata (02:26)
Okay.
Is it too bright? Is that better?
Jiani (02:36)
Try to move around, let me see if the light is in there.
yeah, yeah, yeah, that's much better.
Lisa Cannata (02:49)
I can
also take them off. I don't even need my glasses, but that would be weird because I've already been wearing them.
Jiani (02:56)
Yeah, yeah, let's keep the glasses on. I actually like, I actually like you with the glasses.
Lisa Cannata (02:58)
I'm just putting them in.
there
it is again.
Jiani (03:07)
Yeah, that's...
That's good. That's good. That's good. That's good. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So people get to see your eyes. Very good. Very good. Okay. So move to the next question.
Lisa Cannata (03:12)
Anyway, I'll try not to move around too much.
Jiani (03:26)
that's that's beautiful and when you then that gets kind of kind of sorry let me start again
That's beautiful. Why, why bunch it and why mindfulness?
Lisa Cannata (03:44)
So I had an opportunity to come and work for Blanchard. It's almost coming up on two years because I've always been a Blanchard fan. Since my early days in my career when I was becoming a leader, I used the principles I learned from the Ken Blanchard writings and books and SL2, which is how to meet people where they are in whatever scenario, task -driven experience that they need your support and help.
That was something that I carried through all of my years of leadership. And when I had an opportunity to come work for what I considered the master of leadership development, it was amazing, especially because of the heart and the connection to the human spirit that the Blanchard company believes in. We really do practice and model what we teach.
And so I got an opportunity to come work here and work with clients all around the globe, helping them determine what kinds of leadership strategies that they should have. And the mindfulness really came into place for me through the pandemic because I needed it. I, yoga and mindfulness and meditation helped me survive through, I'm sure for everyone was a very difficult period of time. And.
When I think about back in the day, we didn't bring a lot of that to work. You left, you know, your personal issues and problems at home, and you didn't take the time as much at work to connect to your breath, to connect to your person, to take moments in your day to move and just be you. And now it's just such a more open thing.
people are very open to it. I'll have the beginning of a session, everybody close your eyes, take a couple of deep breaths to ready your mind for the learning. And people are like, okay, where back few years ago, it'd be like, what is she doing? She's lost her mind. So, you know, no pun intended, but.
Jiani (05:47)
You
I'm sorry.
Lisa Cannata (05:58)
It's definitely much more accepted and I love that. So that's one of the silver linings I think that came out of that really challenging period of time in the workspace is it is important to focus, to ground down, to take moments for yourself, to walk, to move, to breathe during your workday because if you're not breathing fully, you're breathing just to hear.
It's just, you know, if you're breathing and it's just in your lungs, it's that shallow breath. And that's what you're offering your work, your capability, your connection to others. But if you take the time to breathe solely through from deep in your belly or all the way from your feet, all the way up, you actually are bringing that into the way you think, the way you connect. And it's like an extension of the mindfulness you can bring to your work.
if you're fully present, fully aware and fully focused. So I do think that this mindfulness practice is going to keep coming into the workspace. And I'm just so excited to be a part of it.
Jiani (07:08)
That's beautiful. And I think you probably heard Pluto working on the background. And yeah, he's Parker. And apologize for that. And since we already have you here in this space.
Lisa Cannata (07:13)
I thought it was mine. I actually thought it was my dog because my dogs are like, yeah. That was a deep art.
I love it. No.
Jiani (07:34)
Are you open to kind of take maybe one to two minutes and guiding our audience to, before we dive deeper into the mind space, guide us to dive deeper through our breath work and into the heart space.
Lisa Cannata (07:50)
Absolutely. So what I recommend for people to do is, especially if they're having a busy, challenging day and you know, when you get that moment where your shoulders are creeping up to your ears, you know it's time. Our watches tell us time to take a walk, time to stand. You know when it's time. I'm sorry. That sounds like a, did you hear the beep in the background? Yeah. Where's the cooking? So, okay.
Jiani (08:13)
Yes, I think Chris is nailing the recipes. Yeah, he's implementing them.
Lisa Cannata (08:20)
All right, so what we do is if you know your shoulders are, Chris, can you turn that off? Yeah.
Jiani (08:27)
Hahaha.
Lisa Cannata (08:30)
We're recording. Okay. So in the middle of your work day, when you feel your shoulders creeping up and you're tense and just, there's a lot going on in your workspace, that's the opportunity to sit back, relax and take a mindful moment. So I'll walk you through what that mindful moment could look like. Really simple, taking your feet and grounding down, placing them on the earth, all corners of,
the pads of your feet, grounding down, closing your eyes, taking your palms to the top of your legs, and just settling in, relaxing your shoulders down, closing your eyes, and coming into your breath. Our breath is such an amazing thing because it breathes all on its own, all day long without us giving it a second thought. But we can also have conscious breath.
So when you're coming into a mindful moment, bring yourself into your breath, be conscious of your breath and start to pay attention to your breath. Taking a deep belly breath from your belly, breathing in deeply, inhaling through your nose.
all the way up to your neck to the top till you can't take any more air in and hold it at the top of the breath.
and then release it out exhaling either through your mouth.
or through your nose.
then taking another deep breath in through your belly.
all the way up to your shoulders, to your neck, all the way up to the tippy top. Take that breath in.
and let it go.
And with your breath, you're even having movement, bringing yourself up and down with your breath, inhaling up.
Exhaling out.
Inhaling.
exhaling
And taking a few moments to breathe in this conscious breath, focusing, it brings your mind into the breath. It helps you focus on the here, the now, the present moment, letting all that busyness in your mind escape you for the moment.
And the next thing you can do is bring some movement in, either shrugging your shoulders up on an inhale.
and exhaling them down.
You can also bring your arms up to the sky inhaling.
And exhaling them down.
You can also do side stretches over to the right, inhaling.
And exhaling. Inhaling to the other side.
And exhaling.
Twists are also great, twisting over to the right.
And then back to the left.
So you can see that if you just get some movement and breath, you've definitely centered and you focused and all that shallowness and all that tension and stress that you were feeling moments ago is gone magically. And you can continue on with your work. So if you can do something like that, just each time you feel the need or scheduling it in your day, or just any time that you feel like you need just to step away.
Taking a brisk walk is also a wonderful way. And on your walk, thinking about your breath. So coming into your breath as you walk, coming into your focus and centering in, maybe even doing a body scan from the crown of your head to the tip of your toes, just following your breath all the way along. So there's all kinds of simple things that you can do, just even sitting at your desk where you're being mindful, you're being present.
You're bringing your breath into the moment and you're giving yourself a little vacation, a little escape from the current moment and the workday. And then you come back totally focused in a better space, ready to tackle the next task.
Jiani (13:29)
That's so beautiful. Thank you Lisa for guiding us through this just such a mini moment but have such a deep cleansing and recalibration kind of impact in us. And sometimes when people think about health and wellness I need to do this one hour yoga I need to do this one hour meditation but people are like my mind is always like
running around and it's hard for me to sit and just like meditate. But I think your approach is much more doable and it's even like one minute, two minutes, like maximum five minutes that everybody has in their days instead of going through LinkedIn, scrolling, just like, wait, okay, so I guess it's time for me to do this breath work and help myself to feel centered.
Lisa Cannata (14:11)
Rolling.
Jiani (14:22)
It's such a small investment but has such a big, big benefit. Then my question would be, let's transit from this heart, body space into the brain space or the mind space. That gets me curious. Is there a sort of like maybe a connection between...
the idea of the situational leadership from Blanchard framework and the mindfulness, the wellbeing part of leadership. Is there any sort of connections where they help us to lead better in particular situations? And maybe for folks who don't know about the framework, maybe it's time for us to share that as well. I'm curious to learn.
Lisa Cannata (15:11)
Yes. So as I was thinking about mindfulness moments, one of the things that we teach at Blanchard is that in each area of leadership, there's a mindset and a skill set. And the skill set are the tools, the approach, the ideas, the conversation starters, the model, the framework, the way to really connect and lead. The mindset is
framing it up, getting the right thinking. Because if you're leading, you have to be in the right frame of mind. You have to find the right space in order to model and to connect with others and to be able to embrace the skill sets. And so if what better way to consider your mindset, but to center yourself, to ground yourself, to breathe into yourself, to be connected with yourself.
that level of awareness and being present. And there's so many areas of connectedness that you can gain from mindfulness. You can be, for one, present in the moment with the people you're serving and the people you're supporting and the people you're leading. You can be more open -minded when you've taken the moment to be more mindful and present and connected and...
It actually calms you down. I was thinking a moment ago when we were talking about taking that moment. If you think about when people are stressed or there's a moment of tension or something's happening or somebody's having a panic attack, what's the first thing we tell them to do? Breathe, right? We talk people who are so pent up and stressed and in tension and whether you're having an accident or an emergency or something.
We talk them off the ledge or into the center and into the moment through breath, like breathe deep, take some deep breaths, take some deep breaths. What if you're taking deep breaths just in your normal day -to -day goings about, right? Then if you're practicing that, you're going to be even more ready for those urgent matters because your breath is going to be so instinctual. You're just going to automatically go right to your breath. And then those tense moments will start to dwindle.
and you'll breathe into them and you'll find a way to stay connected in every interaction and every connection. I think it's just, I'm just thinking out loud that it's such an amazing concept to breathe into your work, right? Breathe into your work. And then you're empathetic, you're connected, you're building yourself and your presence with others and...
Jiani (17:51)
Breathe into your work. I love that.
Lisa Cannata (18:04)
You're also going to model and help them to come with you along that journey. So if you're a leader who believes in being present and taking time for yourself, you're going to showcase that and others will do the same. And then we can all be healthier and more connected and present together.
Jiani (18:23)
I love that. I love that. And as we kind of breathe into our work and our leadership, people may wonder what is the framework that Blanchard has developed? What is that situation leadership? Can you kind of share with us a little bit on that as well?
Lisa Cannata (18:49)
So we have lots of frameworks and very cool ways of approaching leading others. Probably one of the things that we're most famous for, or we are most famous for, is our SL2, which is leading situationally. So dependent on your direct report, the person you're leading and guiding, where they are.
with the task. So what is their confidence and competence and capability in that task and how committed are they in that task? And you're constantly weighing that out and then meeting that person where they need you. So you're giving them the right support or the right guidance in every situation. So you're literally coming to them where they are.
And it can be the same person that you meet differently depending on the task at hand. So I may have a seasoned employee that needs more direction and support in one task, but much less direction and support in another task based on their own capability. So if they're competent and committed, it's going to be the difference of how I come and provide that direction to them.
And the whole model really helps people to lead in a situational way where they're not overpowering and they're not underpowering. They're not over -supervising. They're not under -supervising. They're meeting in that beautiful sweet spot of leadership that people appreciate. You know, my boss knows what I need. They're meeting me where I am. And so, and we also teach the same thing to direct reports and individual contributors.
Jiani (20:22)
Mm.
Lisa Cannata (20:41)
how to ask for the right support, how to be a self leader and help get the guidance that you need. And so our framework is very simple, it's very obvious and it works. And I've used it through my entire career having learned it early on.
Jiani (21:02)
I love it. As you're kind of talking through that, it's resonate with, it's connect me with like teachers as leaders. Like when we, when educators educate or teach a class, they are always assessing, they're always assessing the situation and guiding the learners through different.
challenges and give them as support as they needed and meet where they are so they can go to where they want it to be. And the breath work, the mindfulness and the movement that you are advocating fits also perfectly into this framework in terms of if we are super stressed or super when we stress we tend to close our mind.
And when we breathe into our workspace, the situation that people need to lead or be led, then our perceptions are able to be opened and we allow multiple perspectives to come in. And that will help the leaders or the followers to better identify what themselves need and what the other person needs so they can work more harmoniously.
and mindfully together.
Lisa Cannata (22:32)
Yeah,
you know, Jiani, if you think about like teaching, I just, I'm really excited about at within our facilitation network, our consulting partners across the world. Something that I'm excited about offering is that mindfulness moment at the start of every session. You know, now that we're so virtual, we spend the time to get the virtual norms out of the way, you know.
turn everything else off, don't get distracted, be focused, be centered, get in your little Zoom frame and have everything that you need to really focus and pay attention. And we talk about the tools and the tips and tricks and the things that we can use on the Zoom or the Teams or the WebEx so that we're engaging because it's more difficult to engage when you're on Zoom or, you know,
virtually than of course if you're live and you can like feel the person's charisma and presence. So we go through the virtual norms, but I love the idea of taking a mindful moment to center and to get your mind fit and ready to learn. Because learning is flexing your mind muscle, right? We exercise to develop a better physique and to be healthier for our body, but...
But if you think about a fit mind and exercising your mind, learning is a huge way to exercise our mind. And the breath work and the mindfulness together can ready your mind to be open and engaged for the learning. So I'm hopeful that that will be something that we start to infuse in all of our classes at Blanchard as well.
Jiani (24:22)
I love that. I look forward to that. And so what role do you think multicultural or inclusion diversity play in the context of like mindfulness, wellness and situational leadership?
Lisa Cannata (24:45)
Yeah, so I think that other cultures may be advanced in some aspects of mindfulness. I know just from my own experience with yoga coming from, you know, coming over to our civilization, it came from, you know, other parts of the world that were mindful and meditating. And it's a more
I think it's a newer exercise here in the States alone and also European countries as well. I think that maybe the Northern hemisphere has some catch up work. So I do think it's important to recognize that there is some cultures that may consider things unique and different.
Jiani (25:29)
Hahaha
Lisa Cannata (25:41)
and maybe the mindfulness activity is unique to their own bring. So you bring whatever mindfulness activity makes sense to you. Now moving your body around obviously could get into, you know, some concerns if somebody has a disability or can't move, you know, in a certain way. So having modifications, and we do that in yoga practice, having modifications for the body movement. But honestly, I think breath work is universal.
Like our bodies breathe the same way. And I think if we can all, it's almost like from a diversity and inclusion perspective, breath is something we all have in common. So we could all find ourselves together in our breath.
Jiani (26:24)
Yes, it's like a human language. I love that. And in the workplace, and the next question can be a little bit challenging. The role of like childlike wonder and childlike play usually in the workplace are seen as something.
should not be encouraged and it's like a form of like unprofessionalism or when people think about it it's like you know not sure what do you think how do you define childlike wonder and what role do you think it can potentially play in the in the work workplace moving forward?
Lisa Cannata (27:11)
So I guess I could speak to this from two spaces. One, at Blanchard we play. So there's no issue there. I mean, I think that we bring our dogs to work. Now I'm remote, so my dog lives with me. My dogs live with me, so it's a little different. But at our corporate headquarters, dogs are coming to work. We play with our dogs at work. And cats, I've seen cats come to work as well. And...
Jiani (27:17)
Yeah.
Love it.
Lisa Cannata (27:39)
Playfulness is part of our culture because we believe in the human spirit. You know, we believe in leaders powered for good. So most of our principles and thinking are around being connected, definitely business oriented and serving our clients in the best way that we can, but along the way we do play. But if I look back at my experience in working in industry,
I think that playfulness has sometimes been there, sometimes not. And I do think that the more we can engage in the human spirit, you can tap into that creativity. We have a course, a newer course called Fearless Innovation. And one of the key things about innovation is to play, to be curious, to open your mind up to some of those childlike ideas that you had.
that got taken away when you started to come into the structure of life.
Jiani (28:42)
I love that.
Lisa Cannata (28:43)
So I do,
I think there's always room for play and I think it's important.
Jiani (28:47)
And also you mentioned about like in in the early school years, we usually do and like the physical activities and we play and we do all sorts of music. And once we start to get into the workspace, then that kind of opportunities are taken away. So I think the mindful movement, the breath work is that beautiful way to kind of nudge that message in and through.
movement and breathing and bring people back to the center of themselves. That's beautiful. And
Lisa Cannata (29:16)
Absolutely.
Yeah, I was going to say, I think that the creativity or the, the, the movement, the breath and movement and exercise and like your whole self stopped being invited. Once you get between college and workspace at some point, it just wasn't in the recipe for the day anymore. Because if you think about.
growing up as a child, you had physical education, PE. There was always some physical movement throughout your growing up years. And even in college, a little bit, but pretty much after you finished your academic career, you come into the workplace and only those really innovative and very playful organizations.
would consider keeping the movement and the breath in the day -to -day activity for employees. And now we have a workforce that's unhealthy because we don't have it as set as an expectation to be mindful of exercise and connection and movement. You can't only use your mind, you need to use your whole self. And it should really be a part of an expectation that people are healthy and moving and...
connecting as part of your holistic self to be healthier and bring your whole self to work.
Jiani (31:02)
Yeah, and then be a better situational leaders to identify what the situation requires and needs and meet everybody at the moment of needs and therefore projects will get moved, you know, to the right direction and people are feeling energized and motivated and happy and to work and it's just countless benefit that's coming from that perspective or that lens.
Beautiful. And as we kind of look into the future with the mindfulness, the movement, the situational leadership that Blanche has always kind of embodying, we see fast technology developments like artificial intelligence, extended realities, Web3 and brand machine interactions, and there may be more crazy ones coming down the road. How do you see, what would be the best future look like? Can we?
Lisa Cannata (32:00)
So when
we start to talk about technology, I think that the best thing technology can do for us is tell us to go for a walk and then leave us alone. Like, I'm not so sure that technology should come into our mindfulness, our breath work and our movement space because then we're bringing something artificial into the human element. And I think that's a great idea.
I love your step tracking and I love meditation apps. So I definitely take advantage of technology in my mindful space, but you also need to just go out and put your feet in the grass and enjoy nature and get away from technology and stop the scrolling and actually take time away.
But you know what, I'm sure there's some AI out there that's got a way of coming in and helping you along. I'm sure there's more to come where that is being thought about.
Jiani (33:05)
Hehehehehe
How would virtual reality play then? So you would prefer not to be in an artificial environment in nature.
Lisa Cannata (33:19)
I would rather be in real life,
you know? But I mean, for some, we come back to being inclusive. If a virtual reality is going to make you move, like they have the games and you know, you're, hey, it's good for you, right? Because it's getting you to move. If there was a virtual space that helped you to breathe fully, you know, maybe that could be something. So if it's helping you to...
get to the result of being more mindful and being more connected with your breath. Sure. I still believe though that the outside world, the fresh air, the things that we've gotten way too far away from are really important.
Jiani (34:03)
I love that. It's also coming back to the theme is like centering, grounding and nature, just like breath work. It's been there forever and it has this grounding effect for us. Once we step into the nature, nothing can really kind of replace. That's great.
Lisa Cannata (34:24)
Yeah, virtual
nature just doesn't do it for me.
Jiani (34:27)
Yeah,
I can definitely see from that perspective. Do you think there's, were there potential challenges that you can foresee or potential risks that you can foresee as we kind of move into more of a technology abundant world, even more?
Lisa Cannata (34:49)
I think
it's the danger of too much technology. You know, like I'm very guilty of going to sleep with my phone. Not because I'm scrolling, but because I'm using it for a meditation. Where if I could just meditate on my own, I could leave the phone across the house, plugged in, and be, you know, separated from it.
So I think challenges are that we are so programmed to need technology right near us, that it's definitely playing a part in creating less movement, less breath work, less connection to people, you know? And so I just hope that there's a balance that's established. We don't want to just let it take over, you know?
our minds, our body, our breath. We want to keep that even relationship with technology, I think.
Jiani (35:51)
So ideally, we would like to enhance our own kind of ability to be present, to see the situation, to identify what's needed, rather than being dictated by the technology. Unless the technology can do a great job.
Lisa Cannata (36:08)
Yeah, I like the idea of technology always staying under the line and being a support and never stepping above the line and being a takeover. If we could still be in charge, that would be great.
Jiani (36:26)
I agree with you. That's
great. Yeah. I think some of our audiences, they are building new technologies and I think that's always a good reminder to keep in mind that there's, you know, there's called innovators bias. So people who build tools usually feel like, that's perfect. Can't change the world.
Lisa Cannata (36:51)
can do everything we can take over.
Jiani (36:55)
Yeah, so
Lisa Cannata (36:55)
Yeah.
Jiani (36:56)
be authentic, be honest about the potential and be open to potential risks and take ethical and reasonable measures and preventative care to make sure that we as human beings can still master the technologies moving forward.
Lisa Cannata (37:18)
rather than them
mastering us.
Jiani (37:21)
Yes, and it's tricky, it's hard. Beautiful. So let's, before we move to the magic piece of the conversation, were there any particular thought leaders or startups that you follow that you would recommend our audience to kind of continuously learning about?
Lisa Cannata (37:42)
So, you know, I love the FitMind app. I bought the app about a year, maybe two years ago, and I went through the entire course, and it really opened my eyes up to ways to actually exercise your mind. And it was learning about exercising your mind through also meditation, and I learned a lot.
And it was just a really great resource. And I actually go on their website and tool around in their blogs because it's just all that neuroscience and the discoveries that we have been able to achieve around the mind and how amazing it is. You know, it's just crazy that just such a small percent of our mind is in the conscious space and so much is happening in our unconscious space. I think it's really interesting.
And then I love the apps on the phone that allow me to meditate or talk me through like Yoga Nidra is a big fan. I'm a big fan of being able to relax into sleep. And also I like to be engaged in like ideas and unconscious thoughts while I sleep, especially things I want to work on. So I love it's Insight Timer is a great app that I use for that.
Jiani (39:01)
you
Lisa Cannata (39:09)
And yeah, and those are two technologies that I've really enjoyed. And then when I'm designing my yoga classes, I will use some of the thinking of teachers around the globe from the Insight Timer to bring into my own classes. So that really helps as well.
Jiani (39:29)
I love that. I love that. And so then let me kind of do a quick recap for our audience and then we'll talk about the magic. So we talked about Lisa's story and the, you know, the kind of whole reason why she ventured on this.
whole focus on mindfulness and wellness and why Blanchard framework situational leadership really resonate with the whole message that she's trying to advocate for. We luckily we got to practice a brief session of breath work and body movement and that helps us to get centered into the mind space moving to the next.
We talked about the benefits of wellness and mindfulness. We talked about the inclusiveness and multiculturalness that comes with a mindful present and how that resonates with the framework of situational leadership that Blanchard has developed and put forth.
We also explored the role of childlike wonder and how that can potentially make a difference in the modern workplace, helping our leaders and individual contributors to be more situated, to be more creative, innovative, and to create a much safer and innovative space for everyone, and especially in a time where there's so much uncertainty.
And that helps us to actually feed those uncertainties into, you know, as a delicious source of inspirations and into a potential output of solving solutions and better leading people and better meeting people where they are and give what they give all the support that they need. We also looked into the future, how modern technologies can potentially impact the, the mindfulness space and how
according to Lisa's suggestion, how we as human beings manage to kind of stay at the master level over the technology is very important for us to have a sustainable future as human beings. So then the question would be, so Lisa, when you were around like 11, you know, between maybe between 11 and 16, you know, what did you enjoy?
playing or creating or doing that time just disappeared.
Lisa Cannata (42:17)
So I was thinking about this and honestly at 11 I was dancing. Creating dances with my neighbors and entertaining my parents and whoever else would watch through dance and movement. So it's funny because all these years later movement and breath is so important to me and I think it's so...
it probably brings in the inner child inside of me that I always loved movement and dance. And I took tons of tap and jazz and ballet when I was young. I didn't extend it into my life and become a professional in any stretch, but I always enjoyed, you know, entertaining and connecting and dancing is a form of, you know, expression.
And yoga, I think, is also a form of connecting with yourself and understanding yourself. And if I hadn't discovered yoga, I'm not sure what kind of dancing I'd be doing, but it's definitely filled that space for me to be able to move, to breathe, and to connect with people.
Jiani (43:31)
I love that. I like to dance as well. We have those folk dance and I think when we're dancing, we're very centered within our body, within our existence as human being. The feeling is pure joy and you want to share the joy with others.
Lisa Cannata (43:35)
Mm -hmm.
And balance, you
know? Dance brings balance. That's another part of yoga that, you know, through movement, movement, breath and balance, you find great balance in the art and practice of yoga. And that would be like almost like the next step. Once you're having these mindful moments of movement and breath, once you've like ready for the next stage or you want to advance,
is to try to start to look at ways to balance. You know, maybe standing in a tree pose or standing just even on one foot, bringing the other foot up and finding ways to balance and then trying it on the other side. Or even just in some formal way, finding ways to center and balance is so focused. It's so centered. It's so connected that
That's another beautiful expression of being mindful and being in the moment.
Jiani (45:04)
Were there any challenges that you have to go through that helped shape who you are as of this point in time?
Lisa Cannata (45:16)
Well, I think, you know, I'll probably answer the one that everybody does. It's like those three years or four years of that crazy pandemic time. But if I go back before that, I definitely had ups and downs through my career path and always, you know, really enjoying developing people. And that's probably the most, if I look back on my career, the most satisfying part of my role has been the people that I've touched, the people that I've helped.
develop in their careers. And then if I look back on my personal life, of course, I look at my family and my friends and the connections and the ways that, you know, we've had fun and we've, you know,
been connected and loved on each other and just being present, being in the moment, I think is huge. It's so important. And I think in my older career and my older time now, I look back and I think the times that I've been most centered and connected have been when I've had the people in my life and I've been really close to them. And that's been my focus.
And that's also workspace, work people. Like I have a lot of best friends from work. I've never considered work and personal really separate. I consider like the whole experience of life altogether. So I do think you make best friends at work.
Jiani (46:46)
I love that because sometimes the challenges comes to the moment where we realize what we really value and make that decision to pivot, to realign and the courage to make that pivot would be very, very important. And that could be times of struggles and challenge.
in that. And I think it's hard to always align with first to know what really makes you thrive and then to make conscious decisions and pivoting point to realign with that as we go through our lives. And that's so important. It's kind of like the North light or the centered space that's going back to the centered space. So over. So what do you think is your magic then?
Lisa Cannata (47:32)
Yeah.
I think I'm super optimistic. I will always find the silver lining or the positive framing of something that might be tough or challenging. So taking on life's challenges with an approach to learn and to grow rather than to be defeated. Right? So just that, that optimistic approach to.
learn and grow in each and every encounter. And helping other people see it that way as well, I guess would be my magic. Yeah, because I'm really to a point where my career has been amazing, but I'm not looking to climb any more ladders. You know, I now just want to be able to contribute.
to add value and to give of my experience, of my knowledge, continue of course to learn and to grow, which you never wanna stop doing, but being able to give back some of the things I've been able to receive as a human.
Jiani (49:02)
I appreciate that. I think...
I think that that magic that you carry, people feel that. Like when I was like working with you and I can sense that your optimism and your care that you just naturally have with you is very embracing and it attracts people to surround you and...
be with you and be led by you and I think that's the underlying reason because the optimism and the desire to help and grow people feel that. So I'm a witness and yeah, that.
Lisa Cannata (49:53)
Awesome.
That's wonderful.
Even in the toughest and challenging circumstances, there's always some, you know, the people that you work with and you get to build relationships with is the most beautiful part about, you know, the space that you're in each day, right? We would really have humans need humans, right? We need each other. So I do think that.
finding ways to be connected, to be together, even if it's virtually is something that I strive and I continue and I hope that I always get to do.
Jiani (50:34)
Beautiful. I hope the world sees your magic and hope more people get to develop their own magic and so their magic can help other people and the magic evolve with us and something change, something does not change and that's a good part of life. It's always mysterious. That's beautiful. Thank you, Lisa, for coming to the podcast.
Lisa Cannata (50:35)
Hmm. Hmm.
Yeah.
Jiani (51:03)
Such a great honor to have you and for folks who want to know more about Lisa and her work and Blanchette, all the information is in the show notes below. So please, please connect, please connect and please co -create adventures together. And it's so good to have you Lisa.
Lisa Cannata (51:24)
So great to be with you. I'm so happy we got to do this. Good.
Jiani (51:28)
Me too.
Disclaimer:
The content shared is to highlight the passion and wonder of our guests. It is not professional advice. Please read our evidence-based research to help you develop your unique understanding.
AI technologies have been utilized to assist in creating content derived from genuine conversations. All generated material undergoes thorough human review to ensure accuracy, relevance, and quality.
