In this special Mental Health Awareness Month episode of Access Your Leadership, Hakim guides you through a brief 5-minute medidation dedicated to creating peace, power and passion in who you are as a leader. Hakim wants ever leader to absolutely love their leadership journey, both for what that creates for the life and career of the individual as well as for those they lead.

This guided meditation is designed specifically for leaders to highlight the importance of mental health, especially in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month. As leaders, the pressures and responsibilities can often lead to stress and burnout, making mental health practices not just beneficial but essential. This meditation session serves as a tool to enhance awareness, reduce stress, and cultivate a mindset of connection and clarity.

During this short meditation, you will be guided through techniques that focus on deep breathing and mindfulness, encouraging a moment of pause in their busy schedules. This practice helps leaders step back from the day-to-day demands and reconnect with their inner calm and wisdom. Even a short session can improve concentration, foster emotional stability, and boost decision-making capabilities by clearing the mind and alleviating the weight of constant high-stakes thinking.

Mental Health Awareness Month serves as a vital reminder of the importance of mental well-being, particularly in leadership roles where the ripple effects of one's mental state can influence entire organizations. By engaging in guided meditations, leaders not only enhance their own mental health but also set a powerful example for their teams, promoting a healthier, more mindful, and empathetic workplace culture. This meditation is an invitation for leaders to prioritize their mental health, ensuring they lead not just with skill, but with their hearts and with wellness as their foundation.

Angel Gonzalez, the CEO of Millennium Benefits, joins Access Your Leadership to share his journey learning about and then ultimately leading his family insurance practice. Starting in the business in 1996, Angel worked closely with his mother and (then) step-father to support them in building the business. Never expecting to stay in the business long-term, he evolved not only as a professional but as a relationship-focused leader of their family owned and operated insurance brokerage focused on employee group benefits. In this episode, Angel shares what it was like to learn the business at a young age from his experienced, successful and quite different mother and step-father. He explains how he gained a deeper understanding of all aspects of running and business and how big a role relationships play in sustaining and growing such a business. What’s it like to start your career working in a family business? How does managing the operations of the business differ from the client relationship side and how do they support one another? What about insurance and benefits was appealing enough to build a career around that? How did your mother and the way she led herself influence the leader you’d come to be? How did your personality and love of people contribute to your success and love for the business you now run? Why was your shared focus on relationships such a big factor in the work dynamic that you shared with your mother? What has it been like to step out from your mother’s shadow and now lead on your own? How did it feel to not be partnering with your mother after working side-by-side for so long and after her diagnosis? How does one make the shift from doing it all themselves to being able to delegate? What are the benefits of delegating and accepting support? What role does ego play in delegating? How can being self-aware, leading oneself effectively and doing a regular self-audit be helpful as a leader? Why is caring about clients and treating them like family a differentiator in business and how does it impact how you target prospective clients? This conversation is all about heart and how being relationship-focused not only benefits your family and working relationships, but how your clients experience you and how your business grows. Angel is clearly committed to his own leadership journey and bringing others along with him as he and his company continue to rise. Enjoy the conversation!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Angel on LinkedIn

To connect with Angel and learn more about Millenium Benefits visit https://www.mbimiami.com/

You can also connect directly with Angel at angel@mbimiami.com

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or someone you know, then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Deirdre Nero, an immigration attorney and owner of Nero Immigration Law, P.L., joins Access Your Leadership to share her incredibly inspiring story about her life and career after being diagnosed with alopecia at the young age of twenty-one. In this episode, Deirdre shares how you came to learn of her disease and how it impacted and also didn’t impact her success as a law student, young attorney and eventually law firm owner. Deirdre describes the unique circumstances and the self-leadership that was required to venture into immigration law in her first year as a practicing attorney and how that determination allowed her to power through various personal challenges to celebrate great success in her career and recently 15 years of owning her own firm. How do we react to potentially devastating challenges in our lives? Where does self-leadership play a role in managing oneself and their career? What happens if we never have the courage to simply ask or advocate for ourselves? How do we prioritize our personal lives and self care while also building a career? What is the mindset required to process a completely unexpected situation where your self-image is in question? How important are the people around you and building a community when coping with challenging circumstances? Why is knowing oneself and our own personality type (strengths, fears, vulnerabilities) so important when leading ourselves and others? What does it mean to be called to a cause and how can helping others also be a way of helping ourselves? How do we continue to move forward when it feels like the chips are stacked against us and what does that teach us about ourselves? So many of these questions and more are discussed in this powerful conversation with Deirdre, an attorney and advocate for so many! Enjoy the episode and please take the time to educate yourself about and support the National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF).

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Deirdre on LinkedIn, Instagram and her other social media sites

You can email Deirdre directly at dnero@neroimmigration.com

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Check out these links!

1. Nero Immigration Law, P.L. - https://neroimmigration.com/
2. Deirdre Nero’s firm bio - https://neroimmigration.com/about-us/deirdrenero/
3. The National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) - https://www.naaf.org/
4. To support Deirdre and her work with NAAF - https://support.naaf.org/campaign/deirdre-nero-fundraising-page/c250369

Jim McEleney, a franchise consultant with FranNet who helps people look at their options for business ownership in the franchise model, joins Access Your Leadership to share some of his amazing stories and lessons from his international work and how that all led him to what he’s doing now. In this episode, Jim explains what it was like and what he learned working in the U.K. and India for a combined nine years! He spent three years in London, then two in India and then another four years back in London before moving to Florida and embarking on another career adventure. Hakim and Jim discuss how Jim’s leadership of himself and others allowed him to create a reputation in his company as a leader who deeply cared for his people, could motivate and propel large teams/offices towards a common goal and could adapt his style to fit the needs of the company and those he led. How does one decide to seize an opportunity to work overseas and what are the considerations involved? What is it like to work and live in both English and non-English speaking countries? What is the value of community and why is it so necessary when acclimating to overseas work and expat life? What are some of the possible pitfalls of working internationally? How might working with a coach, especially a local culture coach, support you and set you up for success? What is the relationship between technical expertise and leadership, and how big a role does people management play? How does maintaining a growth mindset and being open to opportunities create a wealth of professional (and personal) possibilities? What skills are transferable from international finance/banks and franchise ownership and consulting? Why is being “culture conscious” so important when leading an existing or new team of employees? What might compel someone to leave a long-time, successful career to pursue business/franchise ownership and how can working with a consultant help with that decision? How does simply understanding people and meeting them where they are factor into the way we lead ourselves and others? All this and more is touched upon in this exciting and compelling episode. Enjoy!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Jim on LinkedIn

You can email Jim directly at jmceleney@frannet.com

To learn more about FranNet visit https://frannet.com/ (and look for Jim)

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Phyllis Sisenwine, aka The Lawyers Coach, joins Access Your Leadership to share how she got into coaching over 25 years ago and how she has successfully led herself and her clients during that time. Phyllis is a Certified Master Coach, a speaker and author and she works with clients (mostly lawyers) to help them develop themselves and build their business. She is a frequent guest at conferences, on radio and TV talking about not only the ways she supports her coaching clients, but also how other coaches out in the world can build their own practices. In this episode, Phyllis shares a few leadership wins, incredibly helpful tips that she offers clients around time management and delegation and why she has committed herself to coaching for the last 25 years. How did selling office supplies and office furniture turn into coaching lawyers? How important is it to be open to possibilities and to seize opportunities, signs or inspiration when they hit? How can being a public speaker or trainer of groups help in generating clients and how does one lead themselves through that process? When differentiating yourself as a leader, what sorts of things can you look for or do? Why is delegation so important as a leader of self, others and/or a business? How does doing only what you love factor into the way you do or don’t delegate and create a team of talented professionals around you? What’s the impact of interruptions on your productivity and how can you structure your days/weeks in a more effective/efficient way? Why would anyone want to “eat the frog”? What are some of the ways coaching, mentoring and accountability support helpful to you as a leader? Phyllis shares her wealth of knowledge and experience with listeners, to demonstrate what it means to lead oneself, lead a business, lead a team as well as highlight the value of coaching in the professional (and personal) world today. Enjoy the episode!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Phyllis on LinkedIn

You can email Phyllis directly at Phyllis@thelawyerscoach.com

Or you can visit her websites to learn more about her work (speaking, coaching, writing),:

• https://powerfulcoaching.com/
• https://thelawyerscoach.com/

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

In this solo episode, Hakim shares some food for thought pertaining to the harsh voice that sometimes shows up in all of our heads - our inner critic! In our younger years, our inner voice was much less critical and there to truly keep us safe. However, as we get older, gain experience and collect our stories, that inner voice turns into our inner critic and can really show up loudly at times, assuming that it’s still keeping us safe. Instead, that inner critic often has us playing small, avoiding any and all risk, overlooking opportunity and much more. It creates those responses in our mind because our inner critic does two things - it judges and it compares. Not only does it judge and compare ourselves in our own minds, but it also judges and compares others as well. In this short episode, Hakim gives some easy-to-use tips and strategies from his work with The Training Rock, that help to quiet that inner critic and recondition your mind to being more open and a lot less critical. If you think you’re the only one with an inner critic, you’re not alone. We all have it and we can all manage it. And when we do, we can catch ourselves in those moments when our inner critic is trying to run the show!

Feedback (I want to hear from you):

If you’re a senior leader, or even an aspiring leader, and you are interested in the ways you can get out of your head and not only improve your effectiveness as leader, but also love it at the same time, click here to book time for us to talk.

You can also connect with Hakim at https://lakhdarcoaching.com/

To learn more about The Training Rock, our leadership programs and how you can work with us, click here.

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders and teams in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com.

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Dan Truex is a military veteran, a Lexington, KY law enforcement officer and the CEO of GuardLogic, a security company that provides top-notch security by pairing great people with real analytics to build out a custom program that focuses on constantly improving. He is also a devoted and loving husband and father. In this episode, Dan shares how, while touring college campuses at the young age of nineteen, he made a big life decision that set him on a path of learning and leadership. Dan shares the ways in which his commitment to self-awareness has served him throughout his life, both professionally and personally. He discusses with Hakim how doing a self-audit and consistently revisiting his values created greater clarity and confidence in making tough decisions and/or staying the course along his journey. So, can perfectionism be a good thing? How does a person meet or lead themselves when they’re feeling feelings of emptiness or lack of fulfillment? Why is self-reflection and self-awareness so important in both determining and creating what you want in your life? What happens if we aren’t able to clearly define success for ourselves? How does a person’s relationship to failure impact how they’re able to enroll others in their vision? What is the value of participating in a 360 Review and getting honest feedback from everyone around you? How important is it to have a loving and supportive spouse by your side? Why is it so necessary to create relationships with people who will provide you with honest, regular feedback? As a leader, how do you stay open to different perspectives and why is it so necessary to not always need to be right? There are so many valuable twists and turns that this powerful conversation with Dan ends up taking. Dan shares so many amazing leadership lessons and tips. So listen well and enjoy the conversation!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Dan on LinkedIn or Facebook

To connect with Dan directly you can email him at dtruex@guardlogic.com

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Check out these links!

Click here to learn more about GuardLogic and the amazing work Dan and his team are doing in the security space

Jeff Bast, a well-respected bankruptcy lawyer and cofounder of Bast Amron, joins Access Your Leadership to share his story and the leadership insights that allow him, his partner and their employees to thrive! Since launching the firm in 2008, Jeff and his partner, Brett Amron, have grown the firm to 25 employees and have a total of 6 partners at the firm. Last year, Hakim joined Jeff and Brett on their podcast, The Practice, and over time Hakim has had the privilege of seeing Jeff’s leadership in action. In this episode, Jeff kindly shares some details about what led him to co-founding his own firm with Brett and the mindset that was required to launch, lead and grow that firm. He talks about some of his approaches to leadership that allow not only him and his partner to be successful but also allow the lawyers and staff at their firm to feel seen, valued and heard as professionals and how developing his people has been one of the many reasons why Bast Amron has been able to attract/retain such great talent over the years. How does building a firm as a family contribute to employee well-being, success and loyalty? What are some of the most important factors to consider when deciding to partner with someone on a business venture? How do perseverance and confidence play into having the right mindset to start and run your own business? Why is your ability to ask for help and bring on talented staff so important early on (and at any time) in your entrepreneurial journey? Where does authenticity fit into launching and sustaining your own business with you at the helm? How does feedback support a leader’s vision and why is it so important to do more often than just one time a year during the annual review period? What’s the value of spending time doing regular 1:1 meetings with staff and team members as your firm/business grows? These are just a few of the questions discussed and answered in this amazing episode with Jeff Bast, who demonstrates what leading without ego really looks like. Jeff is also a dedicated husband and father and lover of the water and environment. He does open water swims regularly and is a staunch supporter of any and all efforts to protect and improve our environment. Enjoy this conversation with Jeff!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Jeff on LinkedIn

To connect with Jeff and learn more about BastAmron visit https://www.bastamron.com/our-team/jeffrey-p-bast/

To listen to Jeff and Brett’s podcast, The Practice, and the episode we recorded together click here

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Check out these links!

1. Miami Waterkeeper - https://www.miamiwaterkeeper.org/