Episode 59: What Can Third Turn Surprises Look Like?

What Can Third Turn Surprises Look Like?
Episode #59 of the Third Turn Podcast with Donna Schmuell

While Third Turn leadership is all about being planful and intentional about a future beyond our own, it’s also about leaving room for serendipity and surprises. Today’s guest Donna Schumell’s Third Turn leadership journey definitely exemplifies that. And come to find out, serendipity and surprises are the bedrock of her whole career.

From kindergarten teacher to football coach wannabe to law school and wealth management work with an international footprint. As Donna tells it (in her very charming way), each transition had its own unexpected twist and turn. ‘Yeah, my life is like Christmas’, she says.

Digging into her current Third Turn, there’s the big surprise of a health scare that was accompanied by an equally surprising calling to work with women leaders. Followed by a surprising invitation to shut down her own practice and join a practice (The Disruptive Element) with two other entrepreneurial women. (The story of three serendipitous connect-the-dot mentions certainly underscores the element of surprise.)

But Donna goes on to share about her experience of some of the surprising shifts that happen within us as Third Turn leaders, as well. Shifts from:

• Relying on our sense of competency to realizing it’s primarily about our ability to think through complexity and ambiguity
• Realizing that it’s not our capability people need as much as our ability to be vulnerable and let people learn as much from our struggles and failures.

Additional Resources:

• 7½ Lessons About The Brain by Lisa Feldman Barrett – Donna is reading this book and says, “There’s a lot of bad neuroscience out there…I’m trying to use Feldman Barrett’s work to equip coaches to understand more fully that her work and the idea of our brain being an integrated functioning thing is super powerful, and equipping people to access neuroscience in a way that helps them as leaders.” (Yep, she’s a fellow neuroscience geek.)
• The Disruptive Element – Donna is a partner in this leadership performance company that helps businesses identify and ignite potential in their people. Their breakthrough approach combines empathy and neuroscience to connect people’s behavior, brains and hearts to deeply engrain change.
  
  

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- Kristin Evenson

About The Third Turn Podcast & Maestro-level leaders:

With each episode of the Third Turn Podcast, we host a conversation among leaders who want the world to flourish for generations beyond their lifetimes.

Listening with others in some way and enjoying in-depth conversations of your own as you reflect and choose what you would do the same or differently is a plus!

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The Third Turn Podcast is part of the Maestro-level leaders initiative, a production of Design Group International. Strategically Connected's Jennifer Miller is the producer.