Episode 2 – Andrew Sloan | Human Futurist: Therapist, Strengths Coach & Technologist

Andrew is a Human Futurist: Therapist, Strengths Coach and Technologist. He supports individuals and teams to upgrade themselves to thrive in our faster future.

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Transcript

Murray Guest  

Welcome to episode two of the inspired energy podcast with strengths based coach Murray guest. We are exploring strengths and living an inspired life through having conversations that matter. I’m really excited about catching up with Andrew Sloane, today. He’s a human futurist, therapist, strengths coach and technologist. Andrew supports individuals and teams to upgrade themselves to thrive in our faster future. I’ve got to know Andrew through the strengths community. And Andrew is such an awesome guy. I’m really excited about our chat today. We caught up in the Clifton Strengths summit in Omaha earlier this year and had lots of fun. We meet regularly as part of the strengths community in Sydney, Australia. And I know he’s so passionate about this idea and this concept of our faster future. And I know we’re gonna get a lot out of this session today. So let’s go. Good morning, Andrew. 

Andrew Sloan  

Good morning, sir. 

Murray Guest  

How are you? 

Andrew Sloan  

Very good. How are you? 

Murray Guest  

I’m great. And you know, we are recording right now we’re straight into this podcast.  I have done the introduction. It’s you and me today talking about you, your awesomeness, what you bring. And this whole idea of faster future which we’re going to get into this morning. I’m using this new platform anchor which I love. It’s just bang, record, invite friends, let’s talk. And not just friends, people like you, which inspire me to be a better strengths coach.

Andrew Sloan  

Love it. That’s a very kind thing to say.

Murray Guest  

Oh, well, I believe in honesty, and you do. You’ve got a way of talking to people, I’m sure it’s one of your strengths shining beautifully, which just captivates people. Maybe it’s those bright blue eyes…

Andrew Sloan  

I was talking about my eyes the other day, they actually change color. And they go from blue to green. And I’m not sure what that cycle represents just yet.

Murray Guest  

Does it in relation to your moods or energy or anything like that?

Andrew Sloan  

Look, I can’t see a direct correlation. But I definitely feel like it might be my energetic output. Not so much my mood. But yeah, maybe they’re related.

Murray Guest  

Okay, how have you been?

Andrew Sloan  

Really well. It’s been an interesting four weeks post Omaha Summit.

Murray Guest  

So do you get or have you experienced post summit or conference downer?

Andrew Sloan  

Yes.

Murray Guest  

Yeah.

Andrew Sloan  

And and Murray, I didn’t know it existed.

Murray Guest  

Okay. 

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah, yeah, it’s a new thing. So I’m really fascinated to find that your your experience of this as well. But I had a bit of, you know, recreation time post summit in New York and LA with some really great friends and then came back home. And I was like, wow. And there was it was this feeling of a disconnect in some particular way. Which was, actually in retrospect, as I look back on those few weeks, it was my actual space for creating new things. And I think biologically, my body wasn’t ready for that space. And it felt like doing was the right answer, you know, and actually being was the right answer post Summit. And it caused me a really generative space to open up but it was a really hard space, like it was a it was fear filled, actually, it was a space filled with a bit of fear, fear that then gave way to a generative creative space, which was really surprising. I didn’t expect it.

Murray Guest  

I wonder if your travel plans post summit and at end of the day I don’t know exactly what you did. But I know that you had some travel times and downtime, as you said, I’m just wondering if that travel inhibited your chance to start to change maybe how you want it to be or do post Summit, and that added to maybe some internal frustration?

Andrew Sloan  

I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a I don’t think there is and this might come back to my ethos on how I approach strengths based coaching or life in general. I, I don’t think it was a bad thing or quote unquote, thing that needs to be corrected. I think that downtime actually prepared me for a pretty intense period of going What the hell and that that what the hell the depths of that what the hell are sometimes needed to create things for the first time. And, you know, I’m looking now at so much more clarity, Murray than I probably had ever about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it and all of the things that have been curated in my life to get me to, you know, the middle of or just beyond the middle of 2018.

Murray Guest  

What was it that contributed to you getting that clarity?

Andrew Sloan  

I think it’s the intensity. I think it’s the intense shifts from those contractive spaces to those expansive spaces that we find in life. You know, I think whatever happened through Summit, it was a wonderful expanse of connective time. And then coming back felt a bit more like contraction that sort of the yin and the yang of that, the pull and the push of that.

Murray Guest  

So it’s not like one conversation you had at the summit or one session, it was the intensity of the experience.

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah, I think it was a whole lot of different things. You know, I remember doing a bit of a live video with Kath Baker, before I went to Summit, and I teared up thinking about walking into a space of people that had the same perspective as I did on life, that people were more good than bad. And I remember the pull of that coming into that moment, and what it meant to me at a very deep level. It’s interesting when you get there, there were so many other things that were equally as important, some challenging experiences, you know, some really amazing conversations, but many conversations, you know, I’ve got Woo, as you know, in my second position in my top five.

Murray Guest  

Isn’t woo your top five, like you’ve got woo, woo, woo.

Andrew Sloan  

In the second. You wish, no. Woo is, you know, probably statistically quite high, you know, in the when the maths are crunched. But,

Murray Guest  

Can I ask you a quick question? This is just a little diversion that I like to have. And I haven’t had this conversation with many people, do you think that it would be beneficial if there was a frequency rating to your strengths that was provided when you completed your strengths assessment. So what I mean by that is not just the order, but the percentage of strength of the strength of that strength. So for example, like you said, woo is quite strong with you as it is, and relator, for me is and responsibility. But because, you know, there’s other tools out there, which gives you this sort of frequency of the intensity of it. So I’m wondering, so as I’m processing this, and throwing it out there, I’m also thinking, hang on, that’s the role of a coach to help people unpack that and understand that. What do you think?

Andrew Sloan  

Well, you know, the BP 10, the Builder Profile 10, they release the frequency to coaches. And so I think that would be incredibly powerful for us, as certified coaches to get on behalf of our clients. Because in the, in immature hands or in uneducated hands that don’t understand the philosophy or the DNA of the strengths process, to have that information might encourage a deficit mindset, right, which we know already happens when people unpack their all 34 report. Yeah. For those that don’t know, the, all the 34 talents in an order. And so, you know, without having that coach, as you’re saying, that expert in the room, to be able to process some of that information, it’d be hard. You know, one of the examples that I have Muz, that helps me understand this a little bit more is, you know, when you meet those people in facilitation or in coaching that you’ve only got their top five, but they’re all relationship building themes, or they’re all like developer individualization, you know, harmony and restorative, you know, they’re tightly packed, they seem tightly packed. Just off the back of the themes. Yeah, that would be amazing to be able to kind of see where that top five fits statistically so that they can then broaden their reach to their top 15 if they need to, based on what that you know, what unfolds for them. Right now, I did a similar process. But yeah, just on that coaching conversation, like you are describing. 

Murray Guest  

Yeah, I’m just thinking about a template that I could draw up, which takes people through a process where you start to color or shade, the intensity of your dominant talents.

Andrew Sloan  

What a great idea and it’s kind of like a tactical tool on the line underneath, you know, the two lines that you draw on all 34 report.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, it’s going that bit deeper.

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah. Well, it’s actually bringing a visual metaphor, isn’t it to what you’re actually trying to coach is the oh, these are more intense than these ones. I like to describe you know, the All 34 as a toolbox sitting next to you, and you’ve got 34 tools there, you’ve got them all, you have all of these 34 tools. However, the five or the 10, whatever you’re coaching around, that are sitting on the top that you’ve used every single day of your life, that are well oiled, sharpened, you’ve got the instruction manual for, those are your go to tools that you grab. And these are the ones that are your dominant talents, these are the things that you should rush towards and ignore the rusty, blunt, I was forgot the word blunt for a second, at the bottom of the box, get rid of it.

Murray Guest  

So here’s the thing. So I moved house nearly four years ago. And we’ve got a nice colorbond roof on this house, the house was about five years old when I moved, so it’s getting close to 10 years old. When we moved here, our neighbors said, oh can’t remember his name, the previous owner, she said every summer or spring, he would be on the roof with a high pressure hose, cleaning the roof. And these hands weren’t made for that work, Andrew. So here’s the thing, I’m looking at my roof, it’s a, it’s a white, gray sort of roof. And it’s got these sort of black spots, and there are a lot but they’re here and there. And also being a Virgo. I like things, you know, looking correct, as I would like to see them. Anyway. So here’s the thing, I could climb up on that roof and get a safety harness and go and clean my roof. But that’s an, honestly for me even to think about it and set it up and plan it and do all that that’s not my natural talents at all. And every, here’s the other thing, as a business owner and a coach and independent coach as I am every hour I take away from my business doing that it takes away from my opportunity to earn income. And I’m not at my best or it takes away from me spending time with my family or with my friends or having conversations like this. So,

Andrew Sloan  

Or at worst, putting yourself into significant risk of harm, because that’s right, you don’t have that repetitive memory about doing that particular task, you know, time and time again.

Murray Guest  

Exactly. Right. So therefore, I’m currently going ok Air Tasker or who’s a local person that can be recommended, that’s going to cost me a couple $100 to get someone up on the roof to go and clean that. And I’ll get to where I want it to be. But I think it’s just a simple metaphor about where do we invest our time? And like you said, what are the tools that we are excellent at not just that we can use, that we are excellent at. And it’s our zone of genius.

Andrew Sloan  

But this is the this is the part of the shift post Summit, right? It’s exactly what you’re talking about. Because the shift for me was I was trying in very subtle ways, I was trying to do things that were expected of me not what I needed to do. If you understand. In life, in my work, in my approach to even just talking about what I do and how I do it, I was kind of becoming something that potentially was what people wanted me to be not who I needed to be for them. And so this sort of caring disrupter surfaced out of this really intense time, you know, this person who has high empathy, high responsibility, high belief, high arranger, and high connectedness in my next five, right, my next five talents, this person who then disrupts with their top five – me, I – with woo, activator, ideation, strategic and communication. And really owning that and sitting within that. So it’s really embodying that process. So that’s, that’s the full circle of what I got out of it, and try stopping picking up the roofing tools, you know, like, stop picking up the water pressure cleaner, and the harness and stay on the ground for a second and do what you’re supposed to do. That’s, I think exactly what came out of that intense period of time.

Murray Guest  

So, what are you not doing? Since you got back from Omaha?

Andrew Sloan  

What am I not doing? I think…

Murray Guest  

What are you consciously choosing to not do?

Andrew Sloan  

Think and overanalyze.

Murray Guest  

Oh, okay. And what’s the impact of that?

Andrew Sloan  

Zeroing in on and really marinating in purpose, principles, intentions, and what I’m standing for. Because what I’ve noticed is I and look, to be honest, I’ve got great support around me. The biggest thing, the biggest thing that we can do as independent people in the world to coaching and all that sort of stuff is have our support team around us. And so I have a really great clinical supervisor. Because I’m a certified therapist here in Australia, I have to have a certain amount of hours every year towards supervision. And I have probably the world’s best supervisor. She’s a narrative therapist, and I use narrative therapy in my practice. And we’ve been talking about the differences between the over analysis that might happen in one’s brain. And that pulling apart of whether that be your brand identity or service, the quiet question that you just ask or the reflection you’re using next, with that client, and putting, not stopping the analysis, but defavoring it for the principles and the purpose of that conversation, or that piece of communication.

Murray Guest  

I love that a lot. And I’ll come back to it. But also your three points, you said what you’re choosing or consciously not doing around purpose, process, and there was another one in there.

Andrew Sloan  

 What I’m not doing or what I am doing? 

Murray Guest  

What you are doing better. Sorry. Yeah.

Andrew Sloan  

Intention, principles, and what I’m standing for.

Murray Guest  

Intention, principles and what you’re standing. 

Andrew Sloan  

And I did say purpose, actually. You’re right. Yeah. Purpose is always there, though, isn’t it?

Murray Guest  

Well, hope it is. Yes. Yes. Hey, you are familiar with the term analysis paralysis?

Andrew Sloan  

Oh, yes. Very much so.

Murray Guest  

You’ve heard about it maybe once before? 

Andrew Sloan  

Once before? Yeah. But isn’t amazing. You can know that that saying, but then you get caught into a bit of a loop. And it’s a biomechanical loop I think, it’s, it’s within the body, right? This sort of when you’re in a fear space, you pop back up into analysis, because potentially in the past, that’s what’s helped you get there. Or get out of it in the past, and it’s kind of getting out of your head and into your gut.

Murray Guest  

Can I say, changing that language from you to I? Yeah, I, I’m getting out of my gut into my head. I need to manage that.

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah, I think I am. I mean, the continual process of doing that more and more, it’s a continual unfolding, isn’t it?

Murray Guest  

Yeah. I came back from the strength Summit, and went into about 14 or 15 days straight facilitation. So you want to talk about a blind spot of responsibility? Yes, client number one, I can do that. Yes. client number two, I can do that. Yes. I, I was a little burnt out. And I wasn’t at my best at home as well. So I’ve had some great conversations with Tammy just about how I’m saying no, or saying yes and. Because as you know, we give a lot when we’re coaching and facilitating energetically, and what’s going, where are we going? What do they need? What’s the questions? So, post summit, I was on a high, I mean, the connections with people, the conversations, which is so good, and I think here’s the thing, as humans, we are pack animals. You agree? Yep. Whether it’s the tennis club, the bowls club, the, you know, whatever it is, there’s a club or a group that people like to be associated with, might be four wheel driving? I don’t know. But there’s something and then so you’re right. We go to Omaha. And as you know, I’ve been there for the three of them. It’s like, there’s your pack. There’s your tribe, you connect with them. And the conversations over dinner or breakfast, or at any time, it’s just ah, these are the connections I want to have. Yeah. And then I think I did get a bit of that post Summit lull, because now my endorphins have dropped back down. Yeah, I’ve just been facilitating for two weeks. Yeah, I had a few tears one afternoon. I was feeling a bit like that. But it’s these conversations and connecting with people like you that then keep, I think my energy up as well.

Andrew Sloan  

I think that’s essential. It’s part of that support crew I’m talking about because when we are endeavoring to support people through the world right now, you know, in 2018, you know, it’s a lot of stretch for us. It’s almost like we’re the modern Shamans in a particular way, you know, I know your wife is, is focused on naturopathy and I think they are most definitely a part of that league as well. But it’s that modern sort of work in the world that you know, it’s called a coach and it’s called a therapist or it’s called a facilitator and trainer but we’re really supporting people to understand and discover themselves. And that takes time and, and we have to do the work as well. So we’re doing the work on ourselves and with ourselves. But then we’re also supporting others in that space as well. So it takes energy.

Murray Guest  

I’ve had a chat before to a couple of people about Coach burnout. And, and just that passion that we have, and coaches as a coach, therapist, counselor, let’s, let’s call them shamans service, that we’re gonna call them, that we are serving people day in day out that we’ve also got to serve ourselves. Yes. And Tammy said something to me a while back, which was, you know, that responsibility strength of yours that you own like a badge? I said, Yes, honey you’re right. Yeah. Well, she said, you also got to be responsible to yourself. Yeah. And that was, she was so spot on. So true. Because otherwise, we can’t be at our best for others, if we don’t look after ourselves as well.

Andrew Sloan  

That was me. So responsibility, I don’t think I mentioned last time, but it’s in my eighth position. And my maturing into that was essential to this work right, as it sounds like for you. And that’s when I realized that the talents have to be offered out but offered back within, you know, empathy back within, responsibility back within, communication back within, how you communicating with yourself. That’s when it started to turn for me. On another point here, I think the therapy community has got this a little bit more structured. Now. There is strengths and weaknesses in too much structure, right? So it’s a little bit bureaucratic, there’s a lot of conditions, a whole bunch of different stuff that happens in the background. But um, on the, you know, in the guts of it, it looks like, oh, I have to have a clinical supervisor to support me in processing my clients work, who’s under the same amount of confidentiality that I’m under. Now, it’s emerging, I’m hearing it in just in our strengths based coaching community, this concept of coaching supervision, and having group based coaching supervision as well to support us. But we will get there, I think the coaching community and ICF will grow in their capacity to support us around burnout, and balancing some of this stuff for ourselves, regardless of what modalities you’re using in coaching.

Murray Guest  

I think when you look at the the welcomed and the much needed focus on mental health, well, being in organizations in corporate, it’s just as important for people running their own business or as independent coaches or anyone in let’s be honest, everybody, and having those conversations and creating a safe space for those conversations.

Andrew Sloan  

I totally agree. Yeah.

Murray Guest  

It’s funny, just going back when you mentioned about support, so as you know, Tammy, my wife, mentors, coaches, that traditional health space. One of the biggest challenges she often sees is people who’ve started a business majority women, and they follow their passion, whether it might be massage, naturopathy, being a herbalist or nutritionist. But the challenge I often find is the support around them is lacking. And I actually wonder, and I wonder, because you work with a lot of entrepreneurs, as well, and startups and people that, you know, find their passion that the sole entrepreneurs that go out there, but they don’t have that support around them, or that sort of negative perception that Oh, you just following your passion, you know, you’ll go back to a real job one day or it’s not going to work out or it’s just a hobby, you’ll never make any money, all that stuff. And I think, 

Andrew Sloan  

Or even the beliefs around if you just work hard and burn the midnight oil, you will be successful. You know, push harder, harder, you’re not pushing hard enough. And I think that’s happening in large sections, sections of our community right now. It’s this sort of cultural story around success being a lot of busyness.

Murray Guest  

There’s this awesome article I read recently on HBR, which I shared online. I don’t know if you saw it, but basically the title is, why are you working 70 hours a week if you’re so successful?

Andrew Sloan  

That’s amazing.

Murray Guest  

And I I’ve shared it with a few of my clients because I, maybe that’s your thing that you want to work 70 hours a week, but I don’t know. Yeah. What are your thoughts?

Andrew Sloan  

Personally, I don’t find it sustainable for my own body, my own Human Experience needs more rest. And I love the new I don’t know if it’s new, but it’s it’s ancient thought and new thought resurfacing anyway that relaxation is the most revolutionary act, you know, being calm and relaxed, could be seen as a revolution in our lives. And so I tried to I try as much as possible to cultivate relaxation, as much as I can, you know, that I’m in, in certain spaces quite intense and quite energized. But I really need the opposite of that at times. I read this amazing book a few years ago now about five years ago, called Presence, Human Purpose and the Field of the Future by Peter Sangay and a whole crew of people, Otto Sharma and Jaworski, and someone else. And in it was a chapter around John P. Milton, who was one of the guys he’s an old guy in the states who started the EPA in the US. And he runs these awareness training programs in the deep jungle. And one of the chapters was focused on this experience. And I said, I will never ever, ever do that. I will never do that. That’s just and it didn’t leave, you know, when these concepts don’t leave your body for a while, and you kind of like, oh, gosh, what is that? Is that important? I should look at that. You know

Murray Guest  

What is it for you? That is like, I’ll never do it. What is it about that activity?

Andrew Sloan  

Well, I’m, I’m a very protected Potts Point princess, some people might say. And so, you know, I live a very considered and manicured life from, you know, all reports. And so walking into a jungle for seven days by yourself with nothing, no books, no notepads, no pens, nothing. You know, no technology, except, you know, what you’re sleeping on, was not my idea of something that was familiar to me or something that was mapped to a past experience at all. And the next week, I spoke to my partner and I said, Look, this is what I’m thinking about doing. And they were like, yeah, absolutely, just go do it. And so I booked it. And I prepared for six months to go into the jungle for seven days. And so I flew into Costa Rica, we had two days of training with John,

Murray Guest  

Can I just say how awesome is Costa Rica?

Andrew Sloan  

Ah, beautiful. If it is just one of those places in the world that probably won’t be there very long. Because how how destructive we are as a human race, but um, it is one of the most beautiful environments that I have ever been in. And so I was very fortunate to then walk into the jungle for seven days, and I sat on a rock, and we were doing meditation and awareness training type activities and things like that with ourselves. I didn’t see a human face for seven days. And I cultivated a sense of deep relaxation and deep calmness.

Murray Guest  

Can I just say that that is awesome. You, your first part there was this resistance, this I can imagine that very much an internal just you know, resistance. Trying to describe it. But yeah, it for me it would be if someone said I’m going to drop you in the ocean and swim back to the shore. I’ll just I’ll just sink here. That’s fine. Thank you. So I understand that in that perspective, but for you to have that complete repelling have that idea, that concept, to then say I’m going to do this, What did you get out of that?

Andrew Sloan  

Is this deep sense of it, look, I had done a lot of body awareness work up to and before this point, which probably prepared me to even open up to this opportunity after that resistance. But deeply you know, seven days of not seeing a human face I lost all perception of who I was. I lost all sight of who I was versus who the universe was and the nature around me was. It was just absolutely bizarre. And so it’s this hanging space that I can now experience anytime I need to within myself, this body awareness of that essence of being between worlds in some ways, in some weird way. You know, I’m not overly spiritual or overly you know, what people might describe woowoo in that sort of spiritualism space, but I am in some ways because I, I’m in awe of the mystery of being a human and peering out these, you know, eyeballs. But I think to really put it simply, I got a sense of infinite calmness within my body that I can now tap into anytime I can, I want to.

Murray Guest  

I imagine that there’s a point that you’ve now anchored, that you can go back to, and you’ve even built some resiliency towards that. So my middle child is in year 10. And earlier this year, there was a school trip to Malaysia, it was a World Challenge trip, and we’re going to chat about it on the podcast, him and I, he’s a beautiful, inspiring young man anyway, leading up to it, he’s like, I don’t know if I want to go, I do want to go and so is sort of switching backwards and forwards. Anyway, we get to a point, and I said, you don’t know what you don’t know, when you go on this trip. As much as there’s an agenda, there’s things you’re not going to work out. And so a couple of his mates pulled out, but there was others going and then he made some new friends, of course. And so he went and had a bit of Wi Fi early on, and it was about, I’m feeling a bit homesick, I’m not too sure if I’m a bit homesick. And then he went for a trek, I think it’s four days in the jungle in Malaysia up north. And then when he was back into Wi Fi, it was the most beautiful message, which was, ‘This has been life changing. I can’t wait to talk to you about it, I feel so awesome.’ And that experience, that emotion, I’m sure when I talked to him about it, it’s going to be again, it’s going to be hard for him to articulate because it’s it creates, I’m sure it’s a shift inside of someone which sets them up for so much in the future.

Andrew Sloan  

I think it’s those parts of experience that words don’t come easily for because they’re unexplainable in some ways, it’s almost like I feel like my words cheapen it in some particular way. And maybe that’s his experience. I want to say there’s, there’s a beautiful parenting idea you just gave us all, which is this opportunity to coach and guide our children towards the unknown, you know, what happens when we turn towards the unknown and open up rather than contract and shutdown. And you’re gently in a in a very direct but indirect way, offering him the opportunity to do that.

Murray Guest  

Thank you, I appreciate that. And I’ve learned over the years. And I’m still learning, trying to be the best that I can. And part of that is having a strengths based approach. And also also, I’m just trying to think how to explain this also trying to acknowledge where each one of my children are on their journey. Yeah, yeah, with with a bit of stretching.

Andrew Sloan  

I’m noticing a bit of a theme Muz, to our conversation, which is this, this idea of a movement between that sort of fear space, and that, that Space of Creation, and which might be termed love, you know, create and generate new things, mapping that throughout all of these examples, really.

Murray Guest  

And I think it’s so important, whether you’re a leader in a business a, a partner with people in your life, or with friends, that there’s a space to have these conversations. And if you ask me what my purpose is, it’s the purpose where these conversations are happening more often than not. And I know this can be my blind spot of the Relator, which is if we’re not going deep, sorry, I don’t really want to have the conversation. Woo is number nine, and I dial that up when I need to. But then that Relator comes back in that’s for sure. Yeah, if you had to get one of your strengths tattooed on your neck, that you just owned, you know, it’s like, this is me who I am. Maybe you might get two, one on either side of your neck, I don’t know, across your head. Which which ones are they going to be?

Andrew Sloan  

Connectedness.

Murray Guest  

Which isn’t in your top five? 

Andrew Sloan  

It’s in my top 10. 

Murray Guest  

Yeah, okay. That’s interesting.

Andrew Sloan  

I feel like my, my top five are what walk into the room before I do. And my next five, six through 10, are the engine room of my experience and my existence. And so these are very, very important to me. You know, things, ideas around connectedness, for me, is this sort of stuff that I’ve tapped into in the jungle.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, I can hear that now and that, yeah.

Andrew Sloan  

Connectedness would be on the left hand side and on the right hand side, ah probably, Woo.

Murray Guest  

You said that with such conviction, probably Woo.

Andrew Sloan  

I say Woo because, look people experience Woo in very different ways. Some people are really jealous about Woo. And, and, and there’s this negative dialogue around being too much, and all this sort of stuff. And it’s all crap, because I use it to build really quick, warm, trust filled relationships. And that’s how I use Woo. And sometimes it works. And sometimes it doesn’t. And so Woo up here is, is my ability to, you know, create quick and warm environments for people to connect within. And, and that’s kind of why I would have it up there.

Murray Guest  

Do we point out in others what we fear in ourselves? 

Andrew Sloan  

What do you mean? 

Murray Guest  

Well, let’s say someone goes, Oh, Andrew is a bit high in Woo. Is that because someone possibly, but what I’m putting out there is they fear that showing up in themselves soo they point it out in you? 

Andrew Sloan  

I very, very rarely give personal personal disclosure in my sessions, one to one right, in my private practice. But this client, we were finishing a series of 12 sessions, and they, they said, Don’t you ever get annoyed at people? And it was the last 30 seconds of the session and we were ending and walking out of the room. And I remember myself saying, yes, when they remind me most of myself. It was a very interesting ending to a session.

Murray Guest  

Have you closed that off. Have you gone back to that?

Andrew Sloan  

No, no, we haven’t gone back to that. But I think it’s a really interesting point that you bring up because it reminds me of me saying that. And often when I’m in that space, I’m using connectedness, and a bit of the more disruptive talents up top to kind of really shine a spotlight into why we might be so annoyed. And yeah, I think that it either reminds us of ourselves, or who we might want to be.

Murray Guest  

A couple of years ago, I was working with a bunch of men on a construction site. And they had completed their StrengthsFinder. And we’re having this discussion, I think there was around 18 in the room. And they are exploring their insight report, highlighting bits that connected with them. And then we’re at that sharing point, which is always so valuable. And in that one of the gentlemen had connectedness. And when he first saw it, he’s a bit like, I don’t quite get this, like I don’t quite understand what this is about. And I said, well read the report and then we’ll start the exploration around what it means for you. And so he read his report. And then in the group, people are sharing their top five. And he said connectedness and these blokes like oh, what’s that all about, ya bloody hippie. There’s a bit of that going on. He said, Hang on. So on this what would happen is, as a supervisor on a construction side, he described his connectedness showing up like this. He said, right, he said, you know, guys when we’re getting the sand delivered, and then we’re getting some materials delivered, and then I say to put it there, and then move that over here. And you guys start working at this part of the site. And then you start working here, because after lunch we’ll be up to here. And you’ll just go yep, we understand. Is it because I see how it’s all connected and how it’s going to work?  It was so cool. He’s just he just really claimed it. And then we had a bit of a chat in the, in the break a bit deeper. And he said, Yeah, I’ve got a bit of a theme in my life, just about how things are connected bigger than just his work stuff. He said, and I’m starting to understand that more now. So that was really cool. Now I’m gonna change topics and tell me about when you say faster future, because you know, time is just ticking along. What do you mean when you say faster future?

Andrew Sloan  

It’s a it’s a really interesting concept because I think at the same time as where our culture is moving quite fast, we actually have the need and the requirement to slow down. And so it’s, it’s it’s a little bit of an interesting what would you call it anomaly or dichotomy? Yeah, this tension between slow and fast, but when I talk about our faster future, I talk about the rapid pace of change. So you know, it’s only been 13 bloody years, since we had mobile phones and social networks, right? You know, we’re talking about 100 years of technological change only in the last 13 years, has spiked and accelerated pretty quickly. So I often think and ponder about the last 1314 years and wonder if our biology and our human systems, our cultural fabric, the way that we relate or exchange information, ideas or services or products has caught up. So noticing a lot of pre internet thinking that is still in organizations that’s keeping people not well in organizations, as we’ve already kind of touched on briefly. Pre internet thinking of hierarchical top down control, having conversations on the surface, rather than these deeper conversations might be a trope or a symbol of pre internet thinking, potentially.

Murray Guest  

So what are you, what do you see when you’re talking through all that? The needs for businesses to consider or take action on around faster future?

Andrew Sloan  

Well, I think we have to, number one, realize that the the experience of technology and culture is quickening and changing rapidly. And I think the next 10 years or 13 years will be double as fast as the last 14 in technological change. So what are we doing right now to cultivate that? So for businesses, I’m mindful that, you know, a lot of this is a bit far down the track. So I talk about fundamentals of, you know, future readiness, or future proofing, which is self awareness. Who am I? How do I express that to people around me? And how do I balance what I get to know? How do I regulate that? And then I talk about the fundamentals of then extending that to the other, which is the team, team awareness. Who the hell are we? Together how do we express that through our purpose, our values, our brand? How do we express that in team meetings? How are we expressing that in the things that we’re we’re focusing on? Or not focusing on as, as you might say? And then how do we balance that? And so these fundamental building blocks will prepare us for a future that we don’t really know what will look like. And so a lot of the faster future stuff is saying there’s a hell of a lot of complexity and uncertainty moving forward. So what are we going to anchor towards right now? Or what are we going to be sure of? Now, one of those keys for individuals and teams is your uniqueness. Lisa Cummings, our beautiful, your friend, and I’ve kind of tagged on because I love her but you knew that was gonna happen, I think.

Murray Guest  

Well she’s, she’s awesome. 

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah, she is awesome. She talks about diversity as our differentiation. And in one of our vlogs that we did last week, the week before, she was talking about diversity as differentiation, how diversity, our uniqueness might become our greatest asset moving forward. And if we’re doing pre internet stuff, you know, sitting in a large machine as a cog, not knowing our uniqueness, but just delivering on a piece of work because the hierarchy told us to, we may not be as future ready or future proof as someone who is right now in 2018, investing in exploring their uniqueness, what makes them especially unique in the world, and because that is what’s going to be applied in the next 10 years.

Murray Guest  

So when you talk about slowing down to match, or connect with the faster future, I’m getting the feeling that that slowing down is about let’s slow down and get to know each other, get to know ourselves and talk about that, understand that and then create a space for us to be ourselves.

Andrew Sloan  

100%. And it also includes, so uniqueness is one of those components, but body awareness, you know, what is your body asking of you? The body is whole, not the parts, is a huge part of this, you know, our medical and as you know, our medical system has cut the body into separate parts. We go to a doctor for the endocrine system, we go to a doctor for the brain, the heart, the guts. Now, if we can actually get support around us and knowledge and real time awareness around what our body as a whole is asking of us, we will be more prepared for the future as well. So I use somatic therapy as a particular tool in my toolbox for that.

Murray Guest  

And what is somatic therapy mean, for those that aren’t too sure.

Andrew Sloan  

Somatic means in the body or of the body. So of the body therapy, it is asking the body what is going on. So I do really simple things and anyone can do this. This is actually a tool that one of my really great colleagues, Vanessa au de Tore. She’s actually going to be there on the weekend away next week. So Vanessa created this tool around, hey, wow, you’ve got that strong emotion? Where does it sit in the body? When we first ask clients this who haven’t done any of this work, they have no idea how to talk about it. Well, I feel this, I think this is happening. Alright, so where is that in the body? It’s across the chest. Okay. What is the color? What’s the temperature? What’s the direction? What’s the movement? And then we end with what is it asking of you. And so an example of that, in my own experience was, you know, a lot of tension in my chest. I actually didn’t know I was so angry. You know, when I was a young person, I didn’t understand that I was holding on to this anger, and doing that body awareness process. So that somatic processing, I could actually find where that anger sat in my body. And I talked to it, communicated a little bit to it, understood what it needed.

Murray Guest  

So in 2006, 2007, I did an Advanced Diploma in remedial massage. I was a massage therapist for a couple of years whilst coaching as well. Yeah. And it just reminded me of something we’re doing in clinic. So as part of clinic, we will do some training, and you do a number of clinic hours, as you know, to get your qualification. And we had a couple of hours to develop our skills and what our trainer had us do was pair up. And when you first start massage therapy, you often get a routine that, okay, so you’re going to do a remedial massage session and here’s the routine. And it’s, you know, pretty much back of legs, back, arms, front of legs and pecs and finish with the head type of thing with a bit more detail. Then you build on that with, Okay, now, is there some trigger points? Or are there some specific areas and there’s body assessments and all of that. Anyway, in this session, we paired up and people lay down, lie down, lay down. Anyway, and we said, Okay, now start the routine. And so people started messaging people. And she said, Ok now stop, she said, Now, what I want you to do is swap over. So we swapped over, that mixed around so that we could sort of reset a little bit there. So what we did was, we then stood next to the person we were about to massage, and then hovered our hands above the person not touching them, say three to five centimeters, and just pass their hands over the body without touching at all. And our instruction was when you find an area or you feel an area or you sense an area that that person needs your massage, then start to massage them. And it was just this amazing energy in the room. And it’s amazing experience where you had all these people saying, I didn’t know my Achilles was so tight. Ah, just my knee. Ah, that’s right, that piece of my shoulder. I’ve been carrying it so much. I didn’t know. And there was this picking up of where it was somatically you know, in the whole body, like you’re saying, yeah, yeah. Then responding to that and serving that person from that therapist point of view.

Andrew Sloan  

Why have we snubbed out the the idea that our body is full of energy we can’t really explain right? So, you know, we’ve got nerve endings in every corner of our experience of our bodies right now, rushing, you know, information. And so modern medicine has kind of snubbed that out and said, well, that that information doesn’t matter. And there’s no way to interpret that energy field to energy field, like you’re talking about. And I wonder why I I think a huge part about becoming ready for the future is tapping into that. Tapping into that body wisdom, getting present enough and out of your head enough that you can interpret that and feel that and move towards what it’s asking. I am going this afternoon to my naturopath, Kinesiologist, chiro and osteo. Her name is Emma Macri in Bondi.

Murray Guest  

Ah sounds like someone that has collected or built some skills and knowledge and tools in a number of modalities and I can imagine she then combines those to really serve. 

Andrew Sloan  

In the second she’s combining, and it is quite remarkable. There is, she is very clear, and very straightforward. You know, there is actually hardly any conversation. And in my experience of therapy, I give a lot of empathy. And, you know, a lot of us and she has empathy, I’m not saying that, but that’s not her job in the room, her job in the room is to interpret what’s happening in the body, link it to past experiences, kinesiologists believe that 100% of our experiences are encoded in our central nervous system in our bodies. And so she’s tapping into that, and interpreting that with and with me, and then cracking and stretching, and this beautiful process of release. Now, three weeks ago, I had a significant nerve pain in my right hand side of my neck, and some skin pain to match just on the top of my shoulder. And I knew exactly I needed to call on my support team, Emma, and go and get that sorted, because I knew it was my body asking something of me, yeah, we processed, did a bit of work. And mate it was all about acceptance. It was acceptance of myself, not needing acceptance from others. Now, when we talk about the shift that I’ve had in the last four weeks, this was a central component of it, which was, you know, I’ve always known I needed to accept myself, Oh, I’ve known that I’ve had experiences in my life where I had the opposite of acceptance, you know, I could tell you some horror stories about not being accepted. But sitting here at, you know, 33, I still am processing that, I’m still working through that self acceptance, and not needing to look out and around for that acceptance, but also needing that in a particular way. But yeah, just through body awareness, through unlocking some vertebra in my back, was actually linked to this theme of acceptance that I really needed to look at, again, you know, and process,

Murray Guest  

I know, we’re going to have another conversation at some stage because I know you have so much value to share with people and, and stories. And you have a willingness to go deep, when it’s when it’s needed as well. So for anyone that is a StrengthsFinder coach, or evangelist or leader out there, I just was hoping you could sort of sum up for me, how you bring together strengths in the work that you do, because it is quite unique from what other people are doing around the world. So how would you summarize or bring that together in a description?

Andrew Sloan  

So Clifton Strengths is a tool, which is a hack around self awareness and self discovery around what I naturally do well. It unites with my philosophy that the world has created the concept of weakness, the world’s stories have created a destructive force between us and them in this particular way. So my philosophy that people are more good than bad is throughout all of my work. I combine therapy and coaching in a particular way that helps people declutter the stories from outside of them and get closer to the stories from within them. And that might be body awareness. It might be just a therapeutic dialogue around the past. And it might be talking about Clifton Strengths. So specifically, I use Clifton Strengths throughout my entire relationship. But I’ll get the survey done and then shelve it until the client wants to talk about it, then when it’s right for the client to talk about it, because I don’t want it to become another declarative narrative in their life. I want it to be self selected and self communicated.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, and I think also, from my perspective, I don’t want to have a blind spot created by only thinking about the only tool to use in this situation is Strengths Finder.

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah. Because for a particular client there may not even need that right now. You know, I’ve had a client who had their strengths finder done or Clifton Strengths done, and, you know, we didn’t know at the first session what we would be ended up talking about what we would end up talking about, you know, some really intense experiences where, you know, Clifton Strengths really isn’t overly relevant there. But by God after 12 sessions, and they wanted to move on and up, and create something for their life, it was there was a beautiful gift of this universal language around enoughness. And so it is used tentatively like any of my tools that I use with clients. But you know, it’s a bloody good tool. It’s a it’s a, it’s a tool that I’ve never seen an incorrect result come back. And so much so when people are blind spots, it’s actually probably therapeutic work they might need. If they can’t see a particular talent, I go tell me more about that. That is a beautiful expression of what needs to happen next, you know?

Murray Guest  

Yeah. And I’m with you on that. I mean, for the number of people that I’ve, I think it’s 1300, or something now with StrengthsFinder, using Clifton Strengths. I’ve only had a couple where there’s are a handful where they’ve haven’t embraced one of their top five strengths, initially, but then coming back to them there’s like, oh, yeah, I see how that shows up now. They’ve just, it was a bit more of a journey for them.

Andrew Sloan  

It is. And I think when I think about therapy and coaching together, it’s talking about the past. And I, you know, in therapy, talk a lot about the past lifespan experiences, and talk about the present moment, getting present and aware of the present moment. And then the coaching conversation is that more solution, focused conversation about the future. And that’s how I’m combining them together. But Clifton Strengths is just a tool for a greater mission, you know, a greater purpose, which is connecting people to their enoughness and their capacity to change for themselves. And that coming out of their life force rather than from anything in the world.

Murray Guest  

So I love that we’re going to finish the conversation on that statement you just made. And I’ve got one thing to say and two questions to ask. So my one thing to say is, thank you immensely, I knew this was a good idea to reach out to you to have this chat. I love who you are as a person, your unabashful unashamedly embracing of who you are, authentically, inspires me to show up even more authentically, so thank you.

Andrew Sloan  

That’s a very kind thing.

Murray Guest  

So I really appreciate the chance to chat today, and then share your wealth of knowledge and insights. And I also know we’ve only just scratched the surface of your knowledge. So thank you. Now, the two questions, you’ve got: your definition of inspired energy. And if people want to connect with you, where can they find you?

Andrew Sloan  

Inspired energy for me is energy your aware of. I often talk about my purpose is to transform unconscious experience to conscious experiences more like conscious experiences. Any tool I pick up would be in the support of taking unconscious experience towards that known experience or that aware experience. So I think inspired energy is conscious. It’s aware of itself, like you’re describing your perception of me right now, which is a very kind thing for you to say and a beautiful image I’m going to take into my week. Yeah, it’s aware it’s connected. It’s serving others.

Murray Guest  

Awesome. Awesome. Thank you.

Andrew Sloan  

You can find more about me at www.Andrewsloan.com.au. You have everything there that you need to get in touch with me there.

Murray Guest  

It is a good looking website too.

Andrew Sloan  

It’s about to be completely renovated. So watch this space. 

Murray Guest  

Thank you, Andrew, you go ahead. Have an awesome week. Have a great session with your person this afternoon. Look forward to connecting with you this weekend. Can’t wait, inaugural strengths weekend. 

Andrew Sloan  

Yeah the Australian community is coming together. I’m very, very excited.

Murray Guest  

Yeah, go forth, be you. Thanks, buddy.

Andrew Sloan  

Thanks for the opportunity Muz. 

Murray Guest  

Thanks, mate. Bye, everyone. Bye

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