📍EEA: The Journey to Intuitive Leadership with Leslie Rochelle

RJ Redden:

Very good. Well, grasshoppers, it's time to put on your goggles because today, we're going to have some special, direct, awesome learning from my friend Leslie Rochelle. Leslie, I have no idea where we met. I am just so glad we did it. Yeah.

Leslie Rochelle:

Through a friend, mutual friend, she, said, hey. I think you need to meet RJ, and I said, let's do that, and we did, and we had a great conversation. And, you know, a couple of months later, here we are, today, and and I'm So grateful and thankful to you for, providing me with this opportunity to have this conversation with you and your audience today.

RJ Redden:

Absolutely. My audience is absolutely going to love you and what you do. Can you tell us a little bit about, you know, give us the business. What do you do? Who are you? Where do you live? Hat size. Whatever you wanna tell us.

Leslie Rochelle:

Perfect. So my name is Leslie Rochelle, as as RJ has mentioned, And I live near Montreal, Quebec, so I am, a Canadian. And we, moved here a little while ago, and and the whole French English thing is being it's a little, challenging for me at this point in time, so I get To increase that skill set for sure, which which is really, really great. And I'm an intuitive leadership guide. So what I actually do is I help Corporates people in corporates, as well as the business owners and the entrepreneurs really to Tap in and develop, that leadership for themselves from personal leadership because we are all leaders, into that, professional type of leadership space. I came I come from, like, 15 years in the oil and gas industry, and I had the privilege of being the 1st visible female leader at our site locations, so that was an interesting, evolution for me, at first. Sometimes being the only woman, leader in the room was challenging at first, and I ended up honestly not knowing how to do it at at the beginning, and it completely depleted me until I, I really had to kind of fall to my knees and just say something has to change here and realize that it was, me that needed to change. It was no external factor that needed to change.

Leslie Rochelle:

And once I finally realized that, I was able to create a team that nobody wanted to be on. I inherited a broken team, into an absolute dream team that everybody loved being there, and people wanted to cross train with us as well too. It's the environment that, we created as a team. I didn't do any of this myself. The catalyst, yes. However, it takes a village to create the the the team and the environment and the community that you're looking for.

RJ Redden:

Well, absolutely. It takes the efforts of many for sure. And I really relate. I relate to your story, about being the only visible female, you know. I mean, so many times when I'm work when I was I I know it's hard to believe, but I did work in corporate for a little while. And, and, really, the only women were in the customer service department, and, like, I was not. And, oh, That was and there's nobody there to, like, teach you and go, okay. This is how you do leadership when there's not a lot of people that look like you in the vicinity.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. Gosh. That's right.

Leslie Rochelle:

Yeah. I worked for in a in a maintenance department, So, like, an operating facility, for our planners and schedulers who are amazing human beings. And, You know, when I first came into that role, people didn't know how to take me either. So it was a learning process for all of us To to really kind of figure that out. And once I did, then I went from just surviving to actually thriving and becoming that go to. So I would have other managers, other leaders, tapping me on the shoulder and saying, hey. Can you help this person? Can you come, and mentor this person. I was asked to facilitate, mentorship programs as well as our circles of influence.

Leslie Rochelle:

They asked me to pilot that as well. So When I finally got myself into that place of being comfortable, then I was able to help, a lot more people that way as well too. So it was really great experience for sure. You

RJ Redden:

had we had a conversation right before we popped on. And you were saying you said something in that conversation that I wanna go back to because it was fascinating to me. And that was, you said, you've got to lead yourself first. What do you mean by that?

Leslie Rochelle:

Well, there's guess this kinda comes into that cause and effect. Right? And when we can take the radical responsibility for our lives, good, bad, or otherwise, and and really saying, okay. I'm here at this point, and this is all on me. I am here based off of all of the decisions that I have actually made, regardless of the circumstances or the things that have happened to me in the past. The other side of the coin, of course, is blaming everything and everyone for where you are. I can't do this because of this. I'm here because of this. Really what you're doing is you're giving your power away to that situation or that person continuously over and over and over again.

Leslie Rochelle:

So when it comes to leadership, we are always leading ourselves first. So can we count on ourselves? Are we, stepping into that best version of ourselves? Are we helping other people become the best versions of themselves? And from that leadership, really from that leadership space, it is helping others to become the best version of themselves by you becoming the best version of yourself, which means you are actually taking that radical responsibility most of the time. Sometimes it's difficult. Right? And really taking a look and saying, hey. You know what? I love my life. Good. Congratulations. That's on you.

Leslie Rochelle:

I don't like what's happening right now also on you. Right? So it is It is sometimes that difficult that it it is that difficult point of saying, okay. What is, you know, what is there the the lesson that I should be learning at this point in time. There's something here for me to learn, and sometimes when you're in it, it it ends up being a little bit difficult to To figure out what that is, ultimately, we can figure that out if we do the introspection for ourselves and and really asks our get curious and ask ourselves some really great questions. So first and foremost, before you lead anyone or anything from your family to your corporation to your business, you are leading yourself first and foremost always.

RJ Redden:

That's, that's one of those things that you don't really think about. At least, I haven't really thought about it, but it makes so much sense when you say it because how you lead yourself will be how you lead others.

Leslie Rochelle:

That's right. Mask. That's right. And, you know, when you when you're leading other people, people are within your charge. You are not in charge of other people. And when you can create an amazing space and an an environment that people feel seen, herd, valued, they have a sense of belonging, they're all working towards that same goal, you will they will always do more for you by default because they know you legitimately care about them as a human being, the welfare of of them. Right? So, you know, one thing that is I think more corporations need to really take into account is their people are their most valuable assets. Bar none.

Leslie Rochelle:

Nothing else, compares to the people that are actually working, for that for that company so you treat them well, they will treat your business well.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. Because many people do not wanna deal with the up and down roller coaster that is entrepreneurship. Many people would much, much rather have reliable stuff coming in but also work at a place that they'd love to go.

Leslie Rochelle:

That's right. There's so many people that quit their jobs but remain working at the company. Right? People have quit. They're out. They're just going there and they're giving you the bare minimum. They're not giving you

RJ Redden:

Oh, quite quitting?

Leslie Rochelle:

Yeah. Their heart and soul aren't, you know, that that quite quitting or whatever it's called. Yeah. They're they are they're there, and they're doing only what they need to do in order to, collect their paycheck, but they're not giving you their best because you are not giving them your best.

RJ Redden:

No. No. Oh, gosh. We will not get into tales of my corporate days because yeah. I mean, almost almost the same stories as me in Catholic school also didn't work out very well. Too many rules. Too many rules. But but, yeah, I mean, there are my wife and I were talking about this last night, you know, a work environment, and all of that and just kinda discussing bosses and in, you know, different situations.

RJ Redden:

Working when I work for someone that I know has my back, I'll do anything. I'll say late, I'll come early. You know, I mean, I will do anything. If I know that my contribution has worth.

Leslie Rochelle:

That's right.

RJ Redden:

The second that I believe that my contribution doesn't have worth, there's the back of my cape. I gotta go, baby.

Leslie Rochelle:

Exactly. And and there's so many people who have, I mean, when you know, back in 2020, when our world kinda turned upside down, people really Got a chance to reevaluate what they will accept in their lives and what they won't. And people decided, hey. You know what? I don't need this anymore. I would rather not work for you, so I'm going somewhere else. Right?

RJ Redden:

Mhmm. Oh my gosh. Yes. And and yeah. Oh, well, the work world changed, I mean, dramatically. Now I have been, working from the Batcave here, also known as the 2nd bedroom in my house. I've been working here for you know, since 2015, so there wasn't much of a change for me. But most of the world, you know, it was that what's really important, what's really important in our lives.

RJ Redden:

And what you continue to do, which I just love, is you go out there and work with people and, you know, it's the same thing. What is important and valuable about what we're doing and and the people that we serve? I'm a I'm a huge servant leadership person. I am not a leadership by mandate, authoritarians of all kinds. You know, I can't even write online paper. Alright? I I just cannot do it, and, I know I know a lot of entrepreneurs are the same, but, but, yeah, I really wanted to unpack that statement because it really feels like one of those foundational things. What got you into this? What got you into, I really wanna work with leaders in this particular way?

Leslie Rochelle:

It really comes back to helping that earlier version of myself. So I had kind of gone through that 2 years of, it was hard. I worked a 7 and 7 shift, so I worked 12 hours in a day and then come home and then have 7 days off, and I would need so much time to recover. I had my miracle little boy at the age of 42, and I had to send him to daycare because I just couldn't. Like, for 2 days, I just had to kind of chill out and recover essentially is what I needed to do. And I said, I just can't keep doing this anymore. If I if I continue on this way, I'm either gonna break, myself or my family, so I needed to find a different way. And once I found that way, it just kinda naturally happened that people I've been that person that people just come to and they wanna have conversations with, and they want to help, they want some support and things like that.

Leslie Rochelle:

I think it's my nurturing nature that I have, and I really came to the point of, you know, what leadership needs to change. It it it is We're we're evolving past the current, I guess, ideas and ideals of what people consider leadership to be. And to me, I really feel that leadership is neither a title nor position. It really is a way of being. And you will find way more leaders by leading by influence than you will, find leaders by, leading an organization or people, in in in any way. So I guess it just really ended up being a passion of mine to be able to help other people, who are maybe stuck in in what they're doing and finding a better way, to be able to create their own, dream teams and to be able to really step in and step out, into a different, I guess, into a different leadership realm.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. Mhmm. Well, and and, you know, I mean, we we talked about that. What is what is the definition? You know again, in my corporate days, I was told over and over again, well, we can't we won't be promoting you to the head of that department because you leadership qualities. And I believed that statement because here's my bosses saying it, but as I, you know, and I'm I'm not in a corporate situation anymore. I don't lead a team, but I do work with clients. And I I lead a tribe of humans. And so, like, you know, what what you've been saying has really inspired me to to think beyond, well, that was that company and that person at that time who really didn't know me very well.

Leslie Rochelle:

That's right. There are so many organizations that promote somebody because they're really good at their job. They're terrible with people. They have promoted the wrong person. Right. When you're looking for a leadership position I came into a leadership position, and I declined when they asked me to take the position because I said, well, I'm neither a planner nor a scheduler from that professional aspect. I said, so I can't sit in their seat when they're gone. And they said, this is not what we want you to do.

Leslie Rochelle:

We want you to lead the people. You have the skills to lead the people. We want you to lead the people. And it took some time because that was very different from what they had previously done. They would take who's really good at being the planner or the scheduler and put them into the leadership position. So there was there was a little bit of backlash. I've got some interesting questions kind of asked my way and, some people who, I guess had their knickers a little bit in the knot, and so there were some really hard conversations, that we had to have, after the fact. Self.

Leslie Rochelle:

And and when you can get somebody, you don't have to be a subject matter expert. You have to have them on your team. Party. You need to know who to go to, but you don't need to be an accounting, expert to be able to lead the accounting group of people. That makes sense. Yeah.

RJ Redden:

Well, no, it totally makes sense. And and, you know, I mean, it it might go without saying for most people, but, but we'll say it anyway that it's not the subject matter. It's the people that you need to understand and relate to and know, you know, what motivates them, what, you know, makes them frustrated, all the things. Right?

Leslie Rochelle:

Yeah. More when people leave a company, they're usually leaving the leader. They're not actually leaving their job. They're leaving the leader. Like, I just I feel like I'm micromanaged. I feel like I'm not being heard. They don't value my ideas. I don't feel like this is a place that I belong, and it has that's all to do with the leader.

Leslie Rochelle:

Yeah. The leader the leader creates the environment, for sharing and for growth and for collaboration. And that's one of the reasons I, like, I love the book, Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek. And that's really the concept of sometimes you if when you're asking for, input and advice and and things like that for from other people, never say what your thing is first, what your idea is first. Always ask your team for it because you may have changed your mind 4 times, and it really opens it up to, more conversations and a greater conversation. When you hold back, ask them to present first or to collaborate first, present their ideas. Even the shy, quiet ones, you gotta get them to, to provide that input as well, and then you can They come up at the end and go, oh, you know what? I never thought of that. However, sometimes when you speak first, you cut off.

Leslie Rochelle:

People are like, okay. Yeah. That's good because you're the boss. You Should probably know know all the answers, and that's just not the case. No.

RJ Redden:

Well and, you know, I I often those those ideas car. So applicable in that that environment that you're in. But as I listen to you, I recognize that the same ideas are applicable to me. I'm a coach. I have a tribe, and, and giving that tribe plenty of voice. You know, a lot of people think, you know, in the traditional, like, marketing sense, they're thinking, oh, I gotta get people in a community because then I can keep them warm and invite them to events and sell to them. You know what I mean? Like, the end goal of everything, transaction. And, that may work for some people.

RJ Redden:

It don't work for this one. That is not how I want to live my life. These ideas of leaders eat last, tape or your ideas. You know? Can you have some influence in this tribe? Am I the only person, you know, the things that I have influenced here. I wanna belong to a group where we're influencing each other.

Leslie Rochelle:

That's right. Where you can have some Or you can have dialogue, really, that goes through because sometimes it's a matter of have do you do you create an environment that allows that back and forth? Right? Can you have those hard conversations back and forth? Can you have a, you know, can your perspective actually be shifted based what somebody else is saying. Are you hard set in your ways, which is never a good thing because it will really limit your growth, In all areas of your life. So yeah. Yeah.

RJ Redden:

My god. What an incredibly valuable idea because, you know, I mean, we were talking before. I've just never seen myself as that. I do not wear a tie. I am, you know, I'm not a dude. I don't have a huge team at my disposal. I mean, there's there there is a there's an image, you know, in our heads, or at least in my head of what a professional is and what a team leader is, butt. Holy moly.

RJ Redden:

We've got we've got teams we can lead now.

Leslie Rochelle:

We have our families That we can lead. We have our communities that we can lead. We have our organizations that we can lead. We have our volunteer groups that we can lead. We have our friends groups that we can actually help lead as well too. So it's not like it's a a formal type of, environment that you have To be in, to consider yourselves a leader. One of the things that, I guess, breaks my heart a little bit is that there are so many entrepreneurs and business owners who may be that, you know, team of 1 that don't consider themselves leaders. And you were leading your business.

Leslie Rochelle:

You were absolutely a leader. Right? When you think about, the hierarchy of your business. You're the CEO. You're probably also the social media manager. You are the content creator. You are the copywriter. You are the bookkeeper. You are this, that, and the other thing.

Leslie Rochelle:

So when you kinda take a look at all of the the organizational chart that you have. You are playing, a lot of different roles. So it's really, you know, you have to be able to look at it from that standpoint of the leader, so your CEO, the founder of your business, where are my money making activities and where should I be spending the most of my time. Right? And then when you get comfortable enough, then you hire gut first box. Right? Identify what's gonna help you the best at the, you know, at this point in time, and then really hire to that And hire somebody who's way better than you are, because you're gonna be kinda like that jack of all trades where somebody is gonna specialize in their area. That's who you need to be able to hire on. Yeah. Personal.

RJ Redden:

I I I gotta I gotta have the specialists. You know? I gotta have, those people who and it was really it was hard at first to to hire people that are smarter than me at anything because I've gotta control everything. Oh my gosh. No. Ego.

Leslie Rochelle:

It's just your ego. Yeah.

RJ Redden:

And and mine is creepy. So Yeah. I gotta That's whoo. I gotta tamp that down sometimes. But but, yeah, I mean, and and, you know, maybe there's maybe there's some management capabilities that I don't sincerely, don't come to me. I'm all the inspire type. I'm not the, did you get that done? I'm not good at that, you know?

Leslie Rochelle:

Job. Consider this though is that you can be a manager, you can be a supervisor. Leadership is in a class all its own. So that is the inspiration piece. Here is, you know, the vision of the company that we actually have. Here's we're gonna where we're gonna take the team. Here's the environment that we've created to remove all the stumbling blocks, and all of the challenging situations. We're gonna be that, gatekeeper for all the stuff that comes our way so our team doesn't get that.

Leslie Rochelle:

Right? So we're gonna be that stop, a goal tender. That's That that's right.

RJ Redden:

Right? Yeah.

Leslie Rochelle:

Yeah. I'm not sporty. They're gonna be, like, that goaltender that's actually gonna be able to take most of those hits. So you can, you can take that away from your team and let them do what they are brilliant at and allow them to do that. So when you're hiring somebody, it is who's can I consider them my strategic partner? Am I just going to say, hey. Can you please do this? Or they're gonna say, oh, by the way, did you think about this? That's who I want on my team. I don't just want someone to just because I don't know all the things. They know more than I do.

Leslie Rochelle:

So I wanna say, what do you think about this? And I want them To not just say, yeah. Yeah. That's great. I want them to say, good. However, let's take a look at this as well. Oh, okay. Great. I never thought about that.

Leslie Rochelle:

So it's really being, really being open, to it as well. The leader, the manager, the supervisor will never know everything. That's not their job. Their job really is to be able to, help the people within their charge become the best versions of themselves, so that they will always perform better, when that happens.

RJ Redden:

Yeah. Beautiful. Well, you know, I mean, I get it's like, for for me, my brain immediately says it's like the Star Trek enterprise. Seatbelts. I'm a Picard person. I'm not a Shatner girl. I'm a Frenchman with an English accent. Don't question it.

RJ Redden:

Yes. Love that guy, and I loved his style, you know, with leadership, which was get everybody thinking, because all of those brains are way greater than this one.

Leslie Rochelle:

Absolutely. Yeah.

RJ Redden:

What's your vision of your company in the years to come, my friend?

Leslie Rochelle:

I envision, doing more, I guess, doing more speaking events because it's something that I really love To do, is having great conversations. Somebody asked me the other day, and they said, what are your top three values? And I said faith, family and open and transparent conversations. So, being able to do more of that, maybe mail podcast, as well too. I think that would be really, really great, doing some writing and things like that, as well too. So, really, it's it's interesting because where I am right now is not where I'm gonna be in a year from now, right, and allowing myself that growth opportunity, in the meantime and, being open to how it's going to happen and not controlling the how it's going to happen. Because you limit yourself when you try to control all those things in your life. So, you know, I put it out there, and everything is always working out for my best interest whether I like it or not. So every challenge I have, any that I come across.

Leslie Rochelle:

I know that it's there for a reason, and it'll make me smarter, better at something else, more resilient in in certain areas, and then I get to grow then get the next one, the next one, the next one. When we, as as leaders, as entrepreneurs, and business owners, say, yes. I wanna do this. It is assigned to the universe to say, okay. I'm gonna give you some challenges to allow you to grow so you can actually have a bigger business than you ever thought that you could. And so once you say yes to the universe, look out for some, challenges coming your way. Hand. We can take them 1 at a time.

RJ Redden:

1 at a time. Absolutely. Well, so, miss Leslie, how computer. Get ahold of you. Tell me.

Leslie Rochelle:

The best way is to, just head over to my website and use my contact form. I'm also, on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, as well. But the best way if you wanna reach out and just use the contact form on my website, and I would be to have a conversation with you.

RJ Redden:

Beautiful. Beautiful. And what's that website name if people are listening to this podcast in their car?

Leslie Rochelle:

Certainly. It is leslie rochelle.com.

RJ Redden:

Leslie rochelle.com.

Leslie Rochelle:

Nice and simple.

RJ Redden:

That's Exactly. Alright. It sounds That's right. And, you know, gosh, if you, if you wanna talk more with somebody about leadership, I don't, I don't know a better expert to point you to and, and, you know, take advantage of missed person's knowledge, that, you know, if you wanna have a conversation, don't be afraid. Reach out there and get that piece of knowledge that you need. Hit up leslie and richelle.com. Hit up contact form, and and take advantage of, the, you know, our friends' kindness, and, in offering that that up to you. Well, last question, and then we'll close it out.

RJ Redden:

Is, well, and this is my futuristic brain going, But, leadership, how do you see it changing because of AI and some other tools we've never had before?

Leslie Rochelle:

I think leadership is in need of a change. I think leadership is in need of a massive turnover in different perspective, as to what is actually happening at this point in time, as well. We need better leaders within our communities within our governments, within our countries, as well too, and to have them more focused on what is in the best interest of the constituents or the people versus what is in my best interest, as the person that's actually heading that out. So when it comes to AI, AI is gonna be able to do a lot of things for you. I use it. I like to use it for, you know, idea generation and and things like that, as well too. However, people want that personal touch. They want somebody who can actually have empathy, you know, have those empathetic, conversations and they're really wanting that connection.

Leslie Rochelle:

So I think the more and more we, start using AI because it can I mean, it can do all your copywriting? It can do so many things, create you beautiful images, etcetera, etcetera. However, people are gonna gonna now start craving that human touch, to be able to create that, I guess, the synergies, between you and that other person because it's it's nice to ask AI, questions. However, it's nice to have a living, breathing soul. Right? Human being in the soul. On the other end, being able to, really create that connection because I think, people more and more these days are craving, the connection with others. You will never get that from AI ever.

RJ Redden:

Truth. That's absolutely true. And and from somebody who, like, that's part of the you know, that's part of my business. Absolutely true. AI cannot you cannot it will not have a relationship with you. It does not understand the concept.

Leslie Rochelle:

It doesn't have a soul.

RJ Redden:

It doesn't have a soul. It doesn't have emotions. It doesn't have all of the things that make us a, you know, a big bunch of greatness. So, so yeah. It's, we are always gonna need each other, and I think that we need each other and empathy more more now than ever.

Leslie Rochelle:

More now than ever. Yes, absolutely.

RJ Redden:

Well, I wanna thank you for coming and talking to my people, because this is, you know, this is what it's all about, exploring other people, what they do, how they view the world, and really really relating on a deep level. And so I wanna I just wanna say it's been an honor having you today.

Leslie Rochelle:

I am so grateful and thankful to you for giving me this opportunity for having this platform so that you can bring other your own voice and other people's voices, to the forefront because there's something that, you know, somebody is gonna resonate too differently, than somebody else is. So having, a variety of voices and opinions and perspectives and topics Some things like that I think is really incredibly important. So kudos to you, for the platform that you and and how you're using it, to be able to make this world a better place.

RJ Redden:

Vehicle. All right, my friends. Well, that's it for us today. We are going to, we're gonna go and and do other things. But until I see you again next week, same bot time, same bot channel. You know what I'm saying. Until I see you next week, take care of yourself. Take care of each other, and I'll see you in