JJ Vega returns for a second conversation — and this time we go deeper. JJ is a leadership coach, founder of Art of Unfolding, and someone who has spent over two decades helping leaders navigate the transitions that don't come with a roadmap. In this episode, we move from disorientation into territory most leadership development never touches: grief, natural cycles, regenerative systems, and the embodied awareness that makes a different kind of leadership possible.
In this episode:
- Why grief is a leadership skill — and why we keep it out of the room
- The three phases of real transition (and why leaders skip the crucial middle)
- Resilience vs. permeability — and why resilience alone is no longer enough
- Regenerative leadership as a practice, not a framework
- Embodied awareness: moving from laser attention to relaxed, open presence
- What "rewilding" looks like in organizational life
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⏱ CHAPTERS
0:00 — Introduction
4:32 — Report from the Field: What We're Both Noticing
6:48 — Slowing Down vs. Checking Out
8:49 — The Cave, the Wall, and a New Kind of Boundary
11:03 — Resilience, Relationship, and the Inner Work
13:09 — Loss, Grief, and the Leadership Taboo
15:07 — The Dissolving Social Contracts — and Who We're Becoming
16:20 — William Bridges and the Three Phases of Transition
20:11 — The Neutral Zone: That Crazy In-Between Time
22:44 — Regeneration — What the Word Actually Means
25:12 — Nature as the Model: Cycles, Rest, and Fallow Seasons
27:53 — JJ's Fallow Season in Practice
31:25 — A Different Kind of Agency
34:16 — The Industrial Production Mindset — and the Alternative
40:09 — Connection as Regeneration: The Circle Experiment
44:24 — Rewilding the Human Being and the Organization
46:59 — Dave's Practice: From Situational Awareness to Embodied Presence
51:28 — Awareness as a Practice, Not a Tool
57:58 — Making It Accessible: Flow States and Shared Mind
59:13 — Taking a Stand for What Actually Works
1:03:43 — The Conversation as the Practice
1:09:28 — Parting Inquiry: Where Are You in Your Own Cycle?
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🔗 CONNECT WITH JJ VEGA
Website: artofunfolding.org
Inside Out Leadership: leadinsideout.io
Co-Creation Loft Berlin: co-creation.loft
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jj-vega/
🔗 CONNECT WITH DAVE
Website: daveschoof.com
The Pivot Newsletter: [https://tinyurl.com/4vn8832a]
Substack: [https://dschoof.substack.com]
Podcast: [https://thepivotpodcast.net/?v=zm7s]
LinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveschoof/ ]
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#leadershipcoaching #transition #consciousness #executivecoaching #thepivot #leadership #grief #regenerativeleadership #futureofwork #transformation #embodiedleadership #williamsbridges