Graced to Lead

Ep. 12. Leading Well: Strategies for Resilient Leadership with Candice Jones

• Belinda Gaston • Season 1 • Episode 12

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Listen to our incredible guest, Candice Jones, as she shares her profound insights on leading well in this episode of the Graced to Lead podcast. Candice, a seasoned leader and executive coach, passionately discusses the vital role of mental, physical, and spiritual well-being in leadership. Learn how emotional intelligence, comprising self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness, and relationship management, can transform your leadership effectiveness.

Join us as we delve into the importance of self-care and the power of taking regular pauses to maintain overall wellness. Candice opens up about her personal journey of coping with loss and the revelation that busyness can hinder effective leadership. Find out how spiritual and wellness disciplines, along with reliable accountability systems, can help you lead from a healthy place. If you are ready to lead well, this episode is for you!

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Belinda Gaston:

Welcome to the Graced to Lead podcast.

Belinda Gaston:

I'm Belinda Gaston, your host and listen. If you are a Christian woman who leads at work, in your own business or even in ministry, you are in the right place here. You'll find practical advice and encouragement as you lead through real conversations that will challenge and inspire you. So join me on this journey to becoming better leaders God's way. Are you ready? Let the journey begin. Welcome to the Graced to Lead podcast. I'm Belinda Gaston, your host, and listen. I am excited about today's topic. I know I say that every time, but I really mean it. I really mean it, and so today we're going to talk about leading well and what that means mentally, physically and spiritually, and our guest of the hour is none other than Candice Jones.

Belinda Gaston:

Candice is a passionate leader, affectionately known as the leader's coach and the faith activator. She has a wealth of experience in leadership, as a minister, a connections director, an executive leadership coach, and she uses all of this experience to help leaders grow and to help organizations grow. She has 20 years of leadership experience, including being a Christian life coach, an executive leadership coach and a consultant for organizations and business leaders who desire to elevate their leadership, improve interconnected relationships and create environments that foster growth and development and create environments that foster growth and development. Candice is also an author of the Devotional Food for Faith, which I can attest is a great book. It ignites people to speak life. Her mantra is speak life or shut up. I like that. Candice has earned degrees in human resources from Baker College, a Bachelor of Science from Liberty University and a Master's in Organizational Leadership from Columbia College. She is also currently pursuing her PhD in Organizational Leadership with a ministry track from Southeastern University.

Belinda Gaston:

As the President, founder and CEO of Regal Strategies LLC, she focuses on leadership, development, connections, growth and retention strategies. She also has a community who I love, explicitly dedicated to uplifting women in leadership in market and ministry spaces, called Uplift Leadership. I am a part of Uplift LeadHership. It is a place that equips and empowers women worldwide to lead well. This faith-based community also has a mentoring circle, development courses and monthly empowerment sessions and has grown tremendously, and she also has a signature event her Uplift LeadHership Wellness Summit. Last year, over 100 leaders came from 13 different states for this event and it was a wonderful experience. So listen, you are in great hands with our expert today as we talk about leading well. I love for you to welcome Candice Jones to the Graced to Lead podcast. Welcome, candice.

Candice Jones:

Oh, my goodness, it is such an honor. I'm so excited to be here and be able to share with you all today Such an honor.

Belinda Gaston:

Thank you. We're excited to have you and listen. As always, we're going to jump in and start here, and so I want to start with. What does it mean for a leader to lead well?

Candice Jones:

Wow. So I think that can be such a loaded question. There's so many ways I can go with that, but I really think that leading well is really about holistic leading, like leading whole it's about. There's a quote that I love, and it says health is a state of body, wellness is a state of being, and it's so. It's about your total being.

Candice Jones:

So often, when we're leading, we focus on different facets right Of who we are, like our intellect or our intelligence, our cultural intelligence or you know, different parts, but leading well is really making sure that all of who we are is well, nothing lacking, nothing missing, and I think that that's one of the best definitions I can probably give you. As far as what it means to lead well, I also think that it means that you're leading yourself first, and so you mentioned this. I started a mentorship program and we call it lead her first, and it's exactly what it sounds like it's lead her first, and so it's leading yourself first before you lead others, and I think that that is a major component of leading well. So often, we want people to do what we say, but not what we do, and so leading well absolutely is leading by example, and I think that that's really important. Another thing I'll mention as far as leading well and you've heard me talk about this several times it's something I'm really passionate about is making sure that we're leading with a level of emotional intelligence, and so that's something that has kind of surfaced over the last few years.

Candice Jones:

We've heard people talk about EQ. It used to be all about IQ If you were smart and you had the degrees and you had the knowledge and the skills, you could get the job. Now, more and more employers and even ministries and different industries are looking for people who have emotional intelligence. And so I think leading well is not just having skill set and having intelligence and all of those things, but I think it's really more importantly, it's having emotional intelligence, and we know that we can break that down into four different areas, and I'll just shoot them out there real quick. That's self-awareness, it is self-regulation, it's social awareness and it's relationship management. And so when we talk about leading well and what that looks like, it looks like self-awareness, it looks like self-regulation, it looks like social awareness and it looks like really good relationship management.

Belinda Gaston:

Well, candice, you said a lot there and I kind of want to take a minute to unpack some of this, because this is really important and I think women who lead, whether they're in corporate spaces or in ministry, are used to.

Belinda Gaston:

What we talk about often is this servant leadership I'm serving the people that I lead, serve, serve, serve. And I think the realization that, in order for us to lead well, we have to lead ourselves first, and what wellness means about being whole, is an important concept that I don't think that we focus on enough, and so I thank you for sharing all of that, as well as the emotional intelligence, and I'll say I want to explore a little bit about this leading yourself first concept before we move on. And I think if you were to tell me, lead yourself first, depending on where I am in the state of my leadership, I could either take offense. I am in the state of my leadership. I can either take offense, like what do you mean by that? Or I could kind of sit and think well, you know, should I be looking at some type of assessment? So I would love for you to share a bit about what it means to lead yourself first.

Candice Jones:

I think about. So in the mentorship program that I have, one of the first things we do is assessments. Right, because that self-awareness component is really understanding who I am. What are my individual strengths and opportunities? What are those areas? You know, we know what we're great at. People tell us all the time, but are we assessing and really digging in to what are my areas of opportunity? Where do I still need growth and development? And so I think the jumping point, the leaping pad, if you will, is is really identifying who you are and what those opportunities are that you have, so that you're able to develop them.

Candice Jones:

And so, when we think about leading ourselves, how do we lead other people? We assess them, we evaluate them and then what do we do? We put them on a development plan. So when's the last time you put yourself on a development plan, right? When's the last time you put yourself on a development plan right? When's the last time you held yourself accountable to a smart action plan? When is the last time you did an annual or quarterly evaluation on yourself?

Candice Jones:

And then, to take that a step further, if we think about I spent many years in the retail industry and I can remember when I had to develop. We called them IDPs individual development plans for my staff. I would then take that a step further and make sure that they had all of the tools that they needed in order to be successful, right, and so we look at that and think about our individual self-leadership. What tools are in your toolbox? What books do you need to read? What collaboration, what people do you need to be surrounding yourself with? What mentors do you need to be connected to in this season of your life to be able to develop those areas? And so it's really no different in how we lead people. We're just putting the focus on ourselves.

Belinda Gaston:

I love that. Thank you so much for sharing that, and you know, this idea of the tools and the resources seems to be a theme on the last few episodes. We're talking about being intentional with leading and making ourselves better leaders, and I think the last three interviews all talked about the importance of mentoring. I love how God is putting this all together, but the importance of mentoring, of having the resources, of looking at yourself and what is it that I need, and so I think what I would like for you to share, as we talk about reflecting on ourselves for a moment, when we think about looking at ourselves and you talked about these assessments and looking at understanding who we are and what our opportunities are for growth Can you talk a little bit about how to begin that process?

Candice Jones:

So I think that it really starts with you know, there was a book that I think it was entitled the Growth Mindset and really, really identifying like what I'm really big on what tools are in your toolbox, like, what do you have that you can go to on a consistent basis that will guide you through your processes?

Candice Jones:

From this last quarter, my mentees, we did a decision-making framework, and so it's something that you probably have never even heard of, right, and so we actually created framework to make decisions that would help us to make ethical, good quality decisions in the moment, and so you may not think that you need framework for that, but what happens is we end up in situations that we make quick decisions and we don't go through a process because we haven't created a process, and so there can be tools in your toolbox that you create, right, and you go back and reach for those tools to help you, whether it's making decisions, whether it is having courageous conversations, right, and so there's framework for that.

Candice Jones:

What does that look like? When you have to have those tough conversations with peers, with a spouse, with whoever it is that you're leading? What does your framework and what is your point of reference that you can refer back to and say, hey, this is how I'm going to start this courageous conversation, because I have this tool and I have this reference that I'm able to do that and you're able to ensure that it's quality every time.

Belinda Gaston:

Oh, that's so good, that's so good. And so, as we are building our toolbox and we are assessing ourselves and leading ourselves first, all of these things work together to help us to lead well. And I know that often when we hear about people leading well and we talk about wholeness, the first thing that people talk about is heart, and we did a whole series on heart issues. We did a whole thing on, you know, dealing with the matters of our heart. But I know, because I attended the wellness summit no, here's a plug, plug, plug for the Wellness Summit leaders out here listening that you know, one of the things I don't think enough about are our minds as leaders, as our minds. So can you tell us why it's also important to address our minds and our soul, in addition to our hearts, in order to lead well?

Candice Jones:

Yeah, so I love that you've already talked about the heart, because I talk a lot about leaders. We have to do the hard, hard work and make sure that our heart is right as we lead people, and we lead through conversations and decisions. But the mind and the soul is where it starts, and so part of that self-regulation so we talked about self-awareness part of the self-regulation starts in your mind. It starts with your thought process, and so every thought becomes a behavior and every behavior can turn into a stronghold, and so sometimes we look at patterns and habits and we're like how did we get here? Well, it started with a thought that we did not, and I love the scripture that talks about how we have the ability to take thoughts captive, right, and so when we don't take those thoughts captive and we allow them to take root, they become strongholds in our lives, and so there's a scripture, also in Romans, that says be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and so that lets us know that transformation starts where it starts in our mind. It starts with our thoughts, and every day we have to make a decision to transform our thinking, transform our life, transform our leadership through our thoughts, and so that is so important. I was doing some research last year and found out that it is actually a scientific. We know it's a biblical fact, we know it's a spiritual principle, but it's actually a scientific fact that your emotions precedes thoughts. So people who have emotional breakdowns or emotional stress, or they're not exhibiting emotional intelligence, that scientifically starts with the thought, and so, scientifically, your emotion precedes thoughts, thought precedes behavior. And so what's the biblical principle there? For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he, and so everything starts with a thought.

Candice Jones:

And so, as leaders, I think sometimes we have to do the thought work, if you will, of making sure that we are monitoring, that we are aware of what our thoughts are, because sometimes, you know, thoughts are just like second nature, like they just happen. And so I think sometimes journaling you know, if you journal your thoughts, it'll kind of help you to see the patterns, like what am I really thinking about? And then understanding what is the fruit of these thoughts. And so we all know the scripture that talks about think on these things, those things that are pure and lovely and kind and have a good report. The reason you have to think on those things is because your thoughts produce fruit Because your thoughts produce fruit. Your thoughts are producing something, and so you have to make sure that you're monitoring and managing your thought process well, so that your fruit is what you want it to be.

Belinda Gaston:

Wow. I'm just allowing the moment, this pause, for people to digest that, because I think we take for granted sometimes how our thoughts impact how we lead, that well, if I put forth the action and the behavior, that everything else will line up and that's not what I hear you saying it actually starts with our emotions and our mind. Emotions lead to the thoughts, the thoughts lead to our behavior, and so that is, I think, a very important statement, and I hope leaders that are listening that you are reflecting on that. Where in your leadership journey has your emotions listeners led to thoughts that led to behavior that influenced how you led? Maybe you didn't lead so well because of it? That's a very good thought and a very good point.

Belinda Gaston:

So thank you for sharing that, Candice. So I'm listening to you talk and taking my own notes here and thinking clearly, this woman has never had a time where she struggled to lead well, and she's got it all together. She's got one, two, three, almost four degrees, a whole business mentoring group. Clearly she's got this all together. And so I'm going to ask this question and the answer may be like well, no, I've got it together. That's what I think you're going to say, but has there ever been a time, Candice, where you struggled to lead well, and if that was a time, can you share with us how you navigated that space that time?

Candice Jones:

Or navigating. So I you know I'm going to definitely just have a moment of transparency here, because that's how I lead, right? I'm a very transformational and transparent leader and I think it's so important for us to be transparent to a degree. A lot of times we like to go through things and then we want to tell people how we get through, but sometimes, especially those who are walking very close with you, they need to experience you going through. They need to see what it is that you're doing and how you're navigating through that. So I would even say, more recently than I probably should admit on a podcast, I've definitely struggled to lead well, but have been able to identify how I got there, and I think that's so important.

Candice Jones:

I talk often about when God, when Adam ate the fruit and God went looking for him and he said Adam, where are you? Elijah did was under a tree. The prophet Elijah, we know he was under a tree ready to die, and the spirit of God came to him and said why are you here? And so sometimes God asks us these questions to help us identify, asked us these questions to help us identify how did you get here? How did you get to this place where you're not leading yourself well. You can't lead others well if you're not leading yourself well. And so I need you to identify what got you to this state so that you don't repeat. And so I would say December of last, the year before last, so almost a year and a half ago, I lost my uncle. My uncle passed away and he was like a dad to me, and we found out on a Sunday and on a Monday. That Monday morning we were on a flight, automatically in what do you call it? Damage control, trying to stabilize stuff, trying to plan, and from that point up until about four months ago, I stayed in that mode. And so what God began to show me, probably about the end of last year, around October, was busyness was my drug of choice. Let me just pause there for a minute. Yeah, I didn't. I haven't ever, I've never been a drinker or no. He said busyness is your drug of choice. And this is what the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said I can't heal what won't be still. I was like, well, just beat me up, holy Ghost. He said I can't heal what won't be still. He said that there's refreshing and restoration and realignment and rejuvenation. All of that stuff happens in my presence. According to scripture, there's refreshing in the presence of God. He said so, but the presence of God has to be practiced. It has to be entertained and engaged. You've got to sit there for a little bit and he said, because you have not set here what has happened, can I just tell my story? I'll just be transparent on this good old podcast, because I was not allowing God to heal that.

Candice Jones:

Then I began to make decisions from a place of grief. I heard on another a few weeks ago someone say what said what you do in grief is not what you would do outside of grief. What you do while you're grieving is not what you would do when you're not grieving. And so what I started noticing is the quality of my decisions was diminishing. And because I was busy, the things that made me a good leader, like my spiritual disciplines, like my wellness disciplines, like the time that I spent in the presence of God, like the time that I spent with covenant relationships my busyness prevented me from doing all of those things. That was my wellness plan. And so, because I neglected my wellness plan, I ended up at a place about October of last year where it just collapsed and you know, and I'm so grateful that I am a coach that has a coach, a mentor that has a mentor, and I have a spiritual covering.

Candice Jones:

And she looked at me and she said oh no, no, you're going to sit down, you're going to sit down and you're going to allow yourself time to heal. And so many people who walk close to me right now will tell you I've been on and off of sabbatical since October and if you're in uplift, you know that I just put up a post that said it's okay to take a break. And we're on a break Because we have to again. It goes back to I cannot heal what won't be still. And so do you know that we constantly need healing.

Candice Jones:

So our summit on last year, our scripture, was Jeremiah 30 and 17. I want to read that. It says for I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds. Now, when you look at the definition of wounds, it's injury caused by impact cuts, blows or brokenness. So now I want you to think about yourself, lead her. We take all day long impact cuts, blows, blows, and we constantly are walking around fragmented.

Candice Jones:

And so god said I can heal, that I can do something about that, but you've got to be willing to, to to step away from your responsibilities long enough for me to do that and I say this all the time to leaders, belinda and I really had to own that and sit with that. I tell people all the time if you're the only person who can do it, you're not doing it well. And so what that means is, if you can't take a break because you're the only person who can do it, you're not leading well, because who are you mentoring? Who are you pouring into? Who are you teaching to be able to do what it is that you do? That's often why we can't sit down, and so recently, recently, I've had to do that self-evaluation and look at my leadership and say you know this, belinda?

Candice Jones:

I say often we don't pour from an empty cup. What we pour matters, the quality of our pour matters, right, right. And so I can keep pouring and pouring and pouring from a polluted place, from an unhealed place, from a dry place, and eventually the people who are drinking that are going to still be thirsty. You can fool them for a minute, right, but at some point they're not growing, they're not getting the nutrition, they're not getting what it is that getting the nutrition. They're not getting what it is that they need from you because you don't have it and you cannot give what you do not have.

Candice Jones:

I think about the man at the gate I think it was at the gate called Beautiful. When they're walking in and the guy and he and Peter looks at the man who's begging for money and he said to him it's silver and gold I don't have, but what I do have I will give to you, and I use this a lot when I'm talking to leaders. We don't take that same mental model. We just want to give everybody everything and anything, even if we don't have it. How can I give you healing and I'm not walking in healing how can I get you delivered from something I'm still wrestling with? How can I try to develop you in an area of your leadership that I'm still struggling in? And so sometimes we got to evaluate what are we pouring? Is it really quality, or do we need to go back and sit with, sit with Jesus for a minute and let him heal us in those areas so that what we pour into others is quality?

Belinda Gaston:

I am again quiet, intentionally, because you said a lot Not being able to be healed because we can't be, still Not being able to pour from an empty cup. Giving, trying to give what we don't have is all in alignment with what God has been sharing with us over the last few episodes. Leanne Marquez, who is a life coach, and she talked about busyness in one of our episodes and she was asking the question. She said busyness is not bad, so it's. You know we all can get busy, but are you being intentional with your time? Are you busy with the things that you should be busy with? Are you just busy because you're obligated or because you feel like this is what you should do, or now you've added another layer to that Cand, like this is what you should do, or now you've added another layer to that. Candice is, have you not even equipped someone else to do that thing that you're doing? And so I love how this is coming together and I have to say I'm surprised. I do know, because I'm a part of the LeadHERS group, that you were taking sabbaticals and I did see the post about that and was cheering about the time. You're taking sabbaticals, and I did see the post about that and was cheering about the time you're taking for yourself, but I didn't know the details, so I appreciate your transparency.

Belinda Gaston:

I think that a lot of our listeners can relate. And again, the theme of pausing, the pause. Pat Layton talked about the power of pause. You talk about the power and the pause, and Leanne talked about pausing and being still, and so there is something. Listeners, if you have been listening for the last few episodes, there is something to receive from the idea of pausing. And so, Candice, we talked about why it's important to lead well. We talked about being intentional. You shared what it looks like to lead well and even through your experience that you shared just now, about strategies you put in place, and one of those is that you talked about was this, pausing and being still Can you share some practical tips for our leaders to help us all be intentional about leading well?

Candice Jones:

Yeah, absolutely Absolutely. I think it's so important that we do walk away with tools right in our toolbox as to how do we do this. So some of the things that I've committed to, even during this journey of self-evaluation and self-leadership, is have those spiritual and wellness disciplines that are just non-negotiable. This is what I'm going to do, and I'm going to do it whether I feel like it or not, and so for me, that's walking right now, and so I track it. I try to share it on social media just for that extra motivation. But have spiritual and wellness disciplines that are just non-negotiable, that I'm going to do it, whether I feel like doing it or not. Avoid decision fatigue. I teach a whole workshop around decision fatigue and I won't go into it too much. You can research it. It's something that definitely has a lot more research around it right now, but we have a very finite amount of mental energy, right, and sometimes just practically we use that energy on. Can I say this on this podcast Dumb stuff, dumb stuff. And so I was looking at this research the other day that talked about women only wear 20% of what's in their closet, but we'll spend an hour looking at 80%. It makes no sense that's dumb stuff, right. And so part of avoiding that decision fatigue is pre-deciding things. I put these braids in my hair cause I pre-decided that I was not going to have to think about a hairdo all summer. Pre-deciding outfits we saw with Barack Obama and, I think, a few other people, where they would wear the same outfit. They have the same shirt and they own it in 20 different ones. If you know me, you know I've got 20 pair of black leggings and 20 denim jackets. What does that do? It saves my mental energy for bigger, better decisions, things that I have to use that energy on. So pre-decide, pre-decide what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear, anything that you can pre-decide, pre-decide, because your mental energy is finite.

Candice Jones:

Okay, create accountability. So have those people that will pull your coattail and say sit down. I know you're performing, I know you're gifted. I know you're gifted, I know you're talented, I know you're called, I know people are waiting on you, but I'm more concerned about you. So have those people that will be honest with you and tell you to get somewhere and sit down, take a sabbatical.

Candice Jones:

Before I willingly took a sabbatical, I was put on one, so now it's just for me it's like oh, I'm going to take a sabbatical, I'm going to take a break, I'm going to pause because there is power in the pause. So create the accountability and then practice the pause often. Pause it is okay, they will be okay, the job will be okay, the children will be okay, the husband will be okay. So, candice, what do I need to pause for? Pause for healing, pause for clarity, pause to regain strength, pause for peace, pause for wellness. And pause when God tells you to pause, even when you don't know why, because he's been before you and he knows so often that we need to pause before we hit that next battle, that next thing that might take us out if we don't take the time to get that refreshing, to get our strength up, to get that clarity of vision and mission. And so pause and pause often.

Belinda Gaston:

Those are really good tips. The spiritual and wellness disciplines is something that I'm practicing right now as well. So I've always been. I guess within the last year or so, I've been really good with my fitness journey just because I had to get in shape. Where I have lacked was my time alone with prayer and meditation, and so I am quick to pray for others and quick to study. If I have a teaching assignment Maybe there's a Bible teaching assignment or I'm speaking at an event or something like that I'm quick to do that. But doing that just for myself has been a struggle, and so I've really been.

Belinda Gaston:

I put the time on my calendar, I have alerts on my watch, on my phone, on my computer, so I don't miss it. So I think that's a great tip, and decision fatigue is something I hadn't thought about, candice, so thank you for sharing. I don't know listeners, let me know. You know, if you're listening to this and you make comments, there is a button for you to text me. Text me if you have thoughts about this. But the decision fatigue and then creating accountability I think that's also really important. I think that's a great tip and I would say creating accountability with people you know who will hold you accountable? Because we all have that one friend where you say hold me accountable, girl, and then when you call her she's like well, ok, it's OK, you didn't do it, it's OK. Just you know, I know your heart Like she'll cut you.

Candice Jones:

She, her is not me. My friends know, like if you tell me something is going on my calendar, you're getting an alert. We're going to check in about it. So that is so important about who you link up with as it relates to accountability.

Belinda Gaston:

Yes, yes, I love it. I love it. So I think those are really good tips. So thank you for sharing that. I'm going to ask for you to share before we tell people how to connect with you. Can you share maybe a final thought here, as it relates to leading? Well, if you had to leave us with a final thought for our listeners the one thing you want them to take away from this conversation- what would you say First of all, let me say you look amazing because you talked about your wellness journey and working out.

Candice Jones:

You look amazing. Listen, I would leave as a final thought that wellness is your portion and it's your responsibility. It's your portion and it is your responsibility, it's your responsibility, and so don't conceal it, heal it. Don't conceal it, heal it. I was getting ready for a monthly Zoom that we do inside of Uplift, and I shared this story.

Candice Jones:

I was getting ready and the Holy Spirit always speaks to me before I go live, as it relates to what to pour into the women and I was doing a little touch up on my makeup and I noticed here I'm gonna be transparent again I noticed that the older I get, I keep getting these little chin hairs and I'm like what is this? And so I got my little blend brush out and I started to put on more makeup because I didn't want those to be, you know, seen on the camera. And so I started blending and I could still see them. So I went and put some concealer and I could still see them. And so I didn't have any tweezers because I'm not used to having these little chin hairs. So I got some scissors and I went to cut these little chin hairs. So I got some scissors and I went to cutting these little chin hairs off my chin and the Holy Spirit said look at you. And I was like what are you saying, holy Spirit? And he said some stuff we work so hard to conceal, to blend, we get that little blend brush. We, good at it. Now we get that little blend brush and that setting spray and we get rid of all the blemishes. But it didn't matter how much I put on, those hairs were still really long and could be seen right. And so the Holy Spirit said you can cut it with those scissors, but those are hairs that need to be pulled at the root.

Candice Jones:

Oh, let me tell you, and so so often, as leaders, we're covering up things that God wants to get to the root of so that we can lead well, and so I want to encourage the leaders that are listening today Stop blending it, stop concealing it, stop covering it. There is a book that I just read and I hate not giving credit to the author, so I'm going to try to get it to you, but I think the book is called Soul of Desire. He does amazing work that I'm using for some of my PhD work. But he says this. He says are you spending your life concealing guilt shame, I'm just going to say all the things or are you looking for the beautiful artifact that God is trying to create with your life? And so don't spend the mental energy concealing?

Candice Jones:

It? Took a lot for it took a lot of makeup that was expensive, like I'm just wasting makeup, trying to conceal something when God wants to heal it and then use it. How does he use it? He uses it so that we become better leaders. We can lead by experience and we can really tell people how to heal.

Belinda Gaston:

Well, that's a perfect way for us to end. I think we might need to do a part two of this conversation, because you dropped so many, as I say, wisdom nuggets. You dropped so many wisdom nuggets, listeners. I hope that you were able to take some notes. I know I have spoken to a lot of you who say you listen in the car so you can't take notes in the car, but go back and take notes, candice, thank you so much, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your time. This has been amazing. I know right now that our listeners are trying to figure out how can they find you, how do they stay connected, so I would like to give you an opportunity now to share, or share, you know, anything that you're working on, that you'd like to share with our listeners what's coming up for Candice Jones, and also how we can can stay in contact with you. How can, how can they reach you?

Candice Jones:

How can they reach you? Yeah, so again, it's been such an honor. I have a website, regalstrategiesorg, and so many of the things that I do you can find there, because I am living this leading well. We postponed our Lead Well Summit and so, again, just an example of we're not going to be an autopilot Like. I really wanted to make sure I gave myself time to grieve and to be whole and restored, and so that is going to happen, and you can find that on the website.

Candice Jones:

When we released a new date, I have a book that I'm working on and it's all about 30 days to lead well. It's a devotion and a guide to 30 minutes of three things you can do for 30 minutes to lead well, and so that will be coming out soon. You can find me on all the social media platforms. Instagram, candice Jones but, is where our hub is for the Uplift Leadership community, and so you just look up Uplift Leadership with Candice Jones and you can join our community there. We do all kinds of things. We're on break right now, but we're still doing monthly empowerment sessions. We have a mentorship circle. We do dig deep cohort series. There's just a plethora of things in there to kind of meet you where you are. I always say everything's not for everybody, but you'll definitely find something that's for you.

Belinda Gaston:

I and I I I do highly recommend you become a part of the Lead Her group. It has been so great for me to be a part of and it gives you a sense of community. There are people who are like me, who are doing similar things, that I can connect with, and so definitely make sure that you connect with Candice on Facebook, with the Uplift Leadership, with Candice Jones group, also on Instagram. I'll put all of that for my listeners, candice, on Facebook, with the Uplift Leadership, with Candice Jones Group, also on Instagram. I'll put all of that for my listeners. I'll put all of that in the description and the show notes for you on this episode so you'll be able to find it Again.

Belinda Gaston:

Candice, as my grandmother would say, it's been a plum pleasing pleasure having you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you for your yes, we appreciate it and to our listeners, thank you so much for listening. Thank you for your notes. I appreciate your notes and the text me function. If you have a note to share, feel free to text me. Also, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. You'll get email updates about when our new episodes are coming out and thank you again for listening. Please share the podcast with others and remember that you are indeed Graced to lead Until we meet again. Have a wonderfully blessed week. Bye-bye.

People on this episode

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Belinda Gaston

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