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Learning to speak your truth effectively at work and at home

The Crane Rental Association of Canada (CRAC) has often included partners and spouses in its special activities and did so again during its latest virtual event held this week.

The event, “How to speak your truth and be an inspiration to others” on Nov. 25, was designed by leadership and influence expert Karen McGregor to teach how you can be a voice of inspiration and share your truth, whether for your children, grandchildren, in a boardroom or on a stage.

“We all have been inspired by the words of others at various points in our lives. Because of these words, we’ve been excited about making a greater impact on our family or community or even globally. In the past, many people have chosen to stay silent and repress their truth, but this is rapidly changing,” said McGregor.

McGregor helps business professionals and entrepreneurs have the greatest impact and influence they can through the integration of ancient wisdom teachings. She built her own company seven years ago from the ground up as a single mom. Through her own challenging journey, Karen shares how to access deep inner wisdom and harmony while getting extraordinary results professionally and personally. She has presented to thousands of people in a variety of industries and is respected as a speaker who motivates and inspires audiences to act.

McGregor started by letting listeners know this was going to be a very interactive and engaging online event. She then explained what ‘truth’ is to her and how it can cause problems when you have a hard time explaining yourself effectively and several ways you can get to know yourself.

“Truth is broken up into three pillars,” said McGregor. “Fact. Story. And Embodied Wisdom.”

She said Facts is based on your intellect and is mind-based. Helping you tell a story based on what actually happened. Story is based on your emotions attached to an event and can be heavy-laden with feelings. And Embodied Wisdom McGregor explained as inner knowing or intuition. It has less to do with facts and could also be called your inner guide or gut feeling.

What is truth?

Facts – intellect, mind-based.
Story – emotion, laden with feelings, upheavals.
Embodied Wisdom – inner knowing, intuition, doesn’t have to do with facts, inner awareness, guide.

The speaker then explained seven different traits of the mind that if unattended to can cause problems as we deal with people in our lives and workplaces. She then split the attendees up in smaller breakout rooms using the Zoom application and asked each individual to answer, “What are the things getting in the way of you expressing your truth in a loving, positive, joyful way? How does it impact the people around you? How does this impact your family or colleagues?”

“To be in full-truth you have to be in the present moment. Can’t make things from the past come into the present to create your current reality,” she added.

Seven traits of the mind

1: The mind is a problem-seeker
– Always potential for the mind to look for a problem instead of relaxing in a moment.

2: The mind is a storyteller
– Walking into a room, what kind of stories do you make up about people whether true or not?
– Are they flirting? Enjoying themselves? Gossiping? Reserved? Engaged?
– How do we perceive tone in a text message?

3: The mind is the judge
– Mind quickly makes judgments.
– Every time we see something our mind wants to make a quick internal judgment.

4: The mind is defensive
– When in traffic if someone honks at you, the first thing we tend to do is to get defensive.
– With colleagues or your children or partner is it easy to become defensive if you don’t like what they say.

5: The mine is reactionary
– Can be forceful, or withdrawn. You will always react in some way.
– Take a step back and watch how you react.

6: The mind is easily distracted
– Be present when speaking with someone.
– Allow them to feel heard.
– Remove distractions: phone, TV, etc.
– Practice being more present to each other.

7: The mind clings to the past
– Partner or colleague reminding you of something negative from the past.
– Can lose touch in what is happening in the present.
-Mind making up stories about what may or might happen before it happens.

There were about 30 attendees from the event and when the breakout room chats ended the group discussed lessons they learned from their conversions and it was agreed that all of these factors are intertwined with one another and could help in improving relationships with nearly everybody we interact with on a day-to-day basis.

Before bringing the event to a close McGregor shared what she calls the four power archetypes each individual has. Saying that each individual has one default or innate archetype but may also by a hybrid of one or more.

“It’s helpful to understand your archetype,” she said. “Each one I’m about to list off has wonderful traits about themselves but also comes with negative or ‘shadow’ qualities as well.”

Power Archetypes

The Boar
Can be focused, hardworking, follow-through on tasks.
Very goal-orientated people.
Successful in life and business.

Negative
– Can become highly controlling.

The Butterfly
– Extremely charismatic in a good and genuine way.
– Very magnetic. People love them when they are present. Listen well. – Beautiful spiritual quality.
– Float around a room and people love them.

Negative
– Tend to not be committed to a partner or business partner.
– They tend to ‘land’ but don’t stay long.

The Armadillo
– Intelligent and sensitive.
– If bullied will retract into a protective shell.
– May not speak up even if smartest in the room.
– Feel safest by withdrawing from the world.

The Cockatoo
– Requires relationship to stay alive and thrive.
– Usually the life of the party
– Has a very hard time in solitude.

Negative
– Easily hurt by other people.
– Can easily fall into a deep sadness and depression.
– Difficult to be with a cockatoo at their lowest moment.
– Everything looked at through a lens of negativity.

“When you choose to tell your truth, look at your stress patterns,” said McGregor. “It’s very hard to express your truth in a way that you feel heard and, in a way, that the other person feels received. Which archetypes do you live with? How is this a blessing or challenge in your home or workplace and where do we go from here?”

As a 2018 TEDx speaker with more than one million views and an international speaker Karen knows how to inspire others to become influential in the boardroom, in their communities and on the global stage.

Karen McGregor is a leadership and influence expert, international keynote speaker, and the bestselling author of several books, her latest being The Tao of Influence: Creating Lasting Change for a Better World. karenmcgregor.com/taoofinfluence