Written by: Mandy B. Anderson
It’s been five years since my last real vacation. When you live on the river, summers feel like a dream and so it really didn’t bother me that we hadn’t been anywhere since our trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas in January of 2020. Right before the pandemic. Time flew by and this year we ended up going to Phoenix, AZ for a week. And while I’m not a fan of a vacation without the ocean, I did enjoy the time away.
The thing about this vacation is that it was the first vacation since owning a business where I completely unplugged from work things. No emails. No worrying about sales. No worrying about my role as the President of my BNI chapter. I was 100% checked out and it was the best thing for my mental health!
On this vacation, I decided to set down my favored fantasy books and spend time with a book called, Under The Influence, by Noelle Crooks. It was a fun, fast read that brought all the nostalgia back to mind of our Big Blue Couch Coaching days and the company we dreamed of building back then.
Why?
Because this book is a snarky, fictional look inside a lifestyle company called, The Greenhouse, founded by a successful online influencer named, Charlotte Green. It was written by someone who used to work for The Hollis Co. - the company that had been created by the real life Rachel Hollis. Needless to say, this book is a fictional tale of art that mirrors real life. Allegedly. 😉
I loved every moment of this story. And I found so many important leadership lessons within it. For the sake of this blogpost though, I’m narrowing it down to three.
3 Leadership Lessons from the book: Under The Influence
1️⃣ Pay attention to your intuition.
The main character, Harper, accepts a job in this fast-paced influencer world that she had never paid attention to before. She quickly starts to override her intuition for the sake of being a team player.
And isn’t that what often happens in the real-world? No matter our job title, we humans often overlook our intuition so we can be a team player and WIN at work, no matter the cost.
But that strategy doesn’t cut it in today’s professional landscape. If you care about authentic leadership, you’ve got to be willing to pay attention to your intuition. This means you need to know your values, and the value you bring to the workplace (a principle we teach you inside the AUTHENTIC Leadership Course). It means you need to grow in confidence and be willing to stand firm on the decisions and boundaries that honor your intuition.
2️⃣ Stay honest.
A funny thing starts to happen in this book. The influencer, Charlotte, starts to fabricate stories to manipulate her audience into purchasing tickets to her event. She goes live on Instagram and pretends to be sick because an ex-employee has spoken out against her, and this ex-employee didn’t do her job so ticket sales are low for an upcoming big event.
Now, here’s the thing. If you want to win over an audience - whether that’s online or in the office with your team, you’ve got to be honest. People can see through the BS. Especially today.
And if they can’t see through it right away, they will certainly lose trust in your leadership when they find out the truth. So, while it might not be as entertaining, it certainly is best to just stay honest. (If you need help growing your communication skills in this area, apply to work with myself or Coach Raychel in a private coaching package.)
3️⃣ Practice boundaries around social media and content creation.
This one is a big one. In the book, the life of every employee at The Greenhouse becomes content that Charlotte uses to further her brand. Nothing stays private. And that’s just unhealthy.
Social media and content creation can be great tools for business. But only when they are used properly. Yes, there are evergreen strategies that work in the online space. I’ve used some of them in this very blogpost that was also emailed to our list! However, if you’ve been feeling like your life has to constantly be turned into content, dear leader, you’re doing it wrong. Take a social media/content break and get some clarity on what is good for your mental health and how you can create boundaries around that.
Your mental health is worth it!
In closing, this book made me laugh several times, and I really enjoyed it. It also made me reevaluate how the influencer/content creation world can be better handled with healthy boundaries and integrity.
Have you read this book? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it so drop them in the comments below!
Until next time,
~Coach Mandy 💛
