Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Welcome everyone to the Lead Change podcast. I am so excited to have Dr. Cindra Kamphoff on the podcast today. Dr. Kamphoff is an award-winning keynote speaker and certified mental performance coach for leaders, athletes, and championship teams. has provided mental training for the Minnesota Vikings for four years, working one-on-one with the players.

Mary Mulcahey: Welcome to the Lead Change podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Mary Mulcahy. I'm an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon with a huge interest in contributing to the growth and development of other leaders. On this podcast, we will share stories from many leaders in all medical specialties to understand the skills necessary to be an effective leader. We'll celebrate their success and hear about strategies to overcome hurdles. We will also highlight some of the unique challenges faced by women in medicine who are interested in pursuing leadership positions and the importance of mentorship.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Cindra worked with the United States Olympic track and field team while they were at the Tokyo Olympics, working with the athletes one-on-one to help them train their minds. She is the author of an Amazon bestseller, Beyond Grit, 10 Powerful Practices to Gain the High Performance Edge, and the corresponding workbook. upcoming book, The Confidence Habit, Seven Core Practices to Turn Self-Doubt into Self-Belief, will be published in September by Simon & Schuster. ⁓ is the owner of the Mentally Strong Institute, a firm that provides coaching to leaders and athletes.

Mary Mulcahey: sponsorship, and allyship in achieving and being successful in those roles. Let's work together, build on shared experiences, learn from those before us, and use these lessons to propel us forward in our career. Let's lead change.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: And her podcast, the High Performance Mindset podcast has over 2 million downloads and is ranked in the top 0.5 % of all podcasts where she interviews thought leaders about mindset. That is incredible. I had the huge pleasure of meeting Syndra at the Inspire Women in Orthopedics Summit in October, 2025. She gave an incredible talk entitled Beyond Grit, Embracing Passion and Perseverance to Gain the High Performance Edge. It was really a very engaging session. I have enjoyed following Syndra on social media and I'm inspired by her content and all the work that she's doing. I can't wait to discuss many details related to her leadership roles and her book during this conversation. Syndra, welcome to the podcast.

Cindra Kamphoff: Mary, thank you so much for the amazing introduction. I should just have you follow me around all day. know, makes me feel so great. Thank you.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Well, it's easy. You are incredible. And that session at Inspire really was one of the most energizing and engaging sessions I've ever seen at any meeting. So congratulations. Thank you for how you lead that and really get everyone involved.

Cindra Kamphoff: I recently learned that from a neuroscientist that you have to change things up every seven minutes when you're speaking. And that's made me more engaging and more inspiring. So thank you for saying that.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that's amazing. That's a great like philosophy to adopt as you're approaching talking. And for any and all the current leaders, aspiring leaders listening to this, take that into account as you're preparing talks and really wanting to engage with your audience. So before we get into some of the specifics of your leadership role, Syndra, and the very inspiring work that you're doing, can you share a little bit about your background with us in terms of where you grew up and your education and kind of how you got to where you are?

Cindra Kamphoff: Sure, absolutely. So I grew up in a small town in Iowa called Sheldon, Iowa. It's about a 5,000 people and I grew up playing lots of different sports, racing against the boys growing up and ⁓ I learned I was really great at cross country and track. So I was a state champion my senior year in high school and that inspired me to go to college, get a college scholarship to run cross country and track and it was actually there where I was just. I constantly beat myself up and I thought that the way to get ahead was to be really harsh and critical of myself. But as you could imagine, Mary, what ended up happening is just my confidence continued to decline and I was shattering my own confidence without even realizing it. So that made me pursue a PhD in performance and sports psychology. ⁓ that's my experience in college is a lot of the reasons I do what I do today because ⁓ I had so much talent and grit and I worked so hard, but in the moments that mattered the most, I didn't know how to deal with pressure and I didn't have the mental tools and skills to really be at my best. so, know, 20 plus years later that really inspires me ⁓ to be on the podcast with you, right? So people can learn tools and strategies. Cause I find like we all need a high performance toolkit to be our best more often.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah. Yeah, that is fantastic. And I love that. And it's so applicable, not just to athletes, but to everyone, to professionals, to physicians, to all different careers and aspects of your life. you know, I ran track in college too. I was a sprinter, not a distance runner. know, anything over like hundred meters was distance for me. I was also a long jumper.

Cindra Kamphoff: That's awesome.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: But I totally identify with you. I hear what you're saying about, know, athletes, think in general, tend to be very hard on themselves, right? With the desire to perform well, to, you know, be winning, but just to be constantly improving. ⁓ took that experience and really it fueled you to pursue your degree and now sort of inspires and is the foundation for a lot of what you're doing in your career. And the impact that you get to have on so many people. on athletes and other professionals. ⁓ And we're definitely gonna into some ⁓ more of that as move through the podcast. But you are the CEO and the founder of the Mentally Strong Institute. can you explain what the Institute is, what your mission is, and what are really some of the groups that you target?

Cindra Kamphoff: Absolutely. So I would describe us as like a speaking and coaching company. So I'm a speaker and we have a few other trainers that continue to teach the 10 practices of being mentally strong. That's what you really heard me speak on. And then we coach people. So we coach leaders and we coach athletes. And so the leaders that we coach and, know, by the way, I think everyone needs a coach that, you know, elite, elite athletes have a coach. And so We all need coaches to help us get unstuck, to help us get more clarity on where we're going and to get out of our way quicker and also to learn different tools and strategies to help us do that. And so a lot of the leaders that we coach are executives or middle manager leaders. Like people just want to be their best more often and really appreciate the personal development, appreciate having like this confident by their side, helping them be their best more often and getting out of their own way. And so what we really focus in on is like these tangible tools ⁓ to help people build confidence and grow their leadership. again, we do this like through one on one coaching. We also have an amazing mentally strong Academy where I teach live every month. And then we have this really amazing mentally strong coach certification and that coach certification is for people who. our leaders who want to bring back the mental tools in their leadership, but also people who want to, you know, who are coaches or want to be coaches. So those are the things that we really focus in on. ⁓ the best part is my sister is one of the people who kind of is helping us lead the company. So it's fun to work with your sister every day.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah. ⁓ that's... Yeah, that's amazing. So it's a family affair. That's fantastic. point you made straight away in your is about value of coaches, right? ⁓ It's like really invaluable how much coaches can have an impact on the and ability to impact, ability to lead effectively of professionals. We've talked about this a handful of times throughout different episodes on the podcast, but I think it is one of the most critical aspects of leadership and things that can help you be a more effective and impactful leader. I love that you're doing that with your team and the different groups that you can reach and the impact that you can have, because obviously by working with one person, you are then indirectly impacting, of course, ⁓ the people that that person works with. this role and working, know, coaching different groups, different people, what are really some of the most valuable leadership lessons that you've taken away from being in that position?

Cindra Kamphoff: Yeah, that's a great question. think ⁓ one leadership lesson I've learned is just the importance of leading by example and how my energy is contagious. ⁓ My stress is contagious. My passion is contagious. You know, like all the things. ⁓ And you know what, Mary? I also have my own coach. I have multiple coaches over the last 10 years, and I think what's helped me to do is helps me get to my goals quicker. It's helped me make more impact and.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah.

Cindra Kamphoff: I think, you know, what I've learned just coaching leaders and executives and even elite athletes is like we all get in our own way. We all like experience this inner voice inside our head that's telling us we can't do it. You know, we're not enough, whatever way that shows up for you. And what a coach does is helps you like choose that inner coach, right? That those the thoughts that are really helping you that and really that are serving you. And you get to choose either that inner critic or that inner coach to listen to. And I think that's so important to really recognize that inner voice. And that's what I've also recognized, you know, a second leadership lesson I would say for me is I need to keep on choosing my inner coach, the one that tells me the truth, the one that's wise and all-knowing, because when I'm doing that, I can lead my team more effectively. And our default, my default, your default is this inner critic, finding the ways that you aren't good enough and what you don't have and what's missing instead of what you do have and what's right.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that's fantastic. And just like such a great point that you bring up. We do have these voices. We do have these things that we tell ourselves. And I think we all realize that we are hearing things and we can tell ourselves negative things. We can tell ourselves positive things. But I love how you broke that down to say the inner coach or your inner critic. Right. And that how much more effective it is and impactful to listen to your inner coach and how much more beneficial that is for you, for your team, for all the people around you is to listen to those positive things and be inspired and motivated and just keep moving forward, right? So really love how you framed that. I think that that's so important. ⁓ By ⁓ being motivated and inspired, you're much more likely to move forward in a positive direction.

Cindra Kamphoff: I think what's helpful to know is like we all have that inner voice inside our head, right? That inner critic or inner coach and you might be watching the Olympics right now. And I love ⁓ when Olympians talk about this. Like one time, Michaela Schiffrin, who's a downhill skier was asked like, what do you think about when you're on the top of the slope? And she was like, I have an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. And the angel is telling me, I got this, you know, I'm gonna win. And then the devil says, you're gonna die. You know, the first thing interview, Michaela was like, you think about dying and you're an Olympic athlete. And she said, yeah, I think about dying because I'm human. And I just love the vulnerability on that. And so just recognizing that we all have automatic negative thoughts and you don't have to believe everything that you think and your identity that you have as a leader, right? You can intentionally shape that by what you tell yourself about yourself. You know, Mary, I used to think that I was terrible at learning people's names.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Oh no, oh no!

Cindra Kamphoff: But then what happened is I never even tried to learn people's names because that's what I believed about myself. And so you've got to keep leveling up your belief in yourself and your identity to help you get to your goals quicker and to help you dream even bigger than you are right now.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, such a great point and fantastic. And we're gonna dive into an aspect of that for sure when we start talking about the book. But before we get there, so you also currently serve as the director of the Center for Sport and Performance Psychology at Minnesota State University. So I'd love for you to share just a little bit with us about what are some of your responsibilities in that role?

Cindra Kamphoff: Yeah, absolutely. You know, one of the moments that has really shaped my life, Mary, was I was at the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. So that was about 13 years ago. I had just completed the race when the bomb went off. And I can certainly tell you more about that experience. But I came back realizing that I was playing small with my life. And I had these big goals and dreams like working for the Minnesota Vikings and writing a book. But, you know, all that was really scary because I didn't play football. And I worried if people wouldn't read the book, you know, so I didn't, ⁓ didn't, I just held myself back. And another thing that I started when I got back is our center. And so it's called the Center for Sport and Performance Psychology. I've been a faculty member in sport and performance psychology now for over 20 years ⁓ at Minnesota State and now teach part-time. ⁓ But I still do it because I'm really passionate about helping the next generation of graduate students. be their learn how to do really amazing applied work, help athletes be their best. And so through the center, I help coordinate the applied work in our community. And we have about 30 graduate students in our program. And I help coordinate ⁓ one on one sessions that they start doing with athletes and performers and then the work in the community with like different high schools and colleges. ⁓ And I it because, the graduate students keep me fresh. They keep me like, I gotta keep, understanding what the newest research says about sports psychology and performance psychology, but they also keep challenging me to keep growing and learning, which I really appreciate.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that's fantastic. And you know, I mean, I'm a sports medicine surgeon and work with a lot of athletes and other patients who just want to be active. But I think that your sports psychology is so important, absolutely a critical role. And I think there's a huge need for that in the U.S. and around the world. So I love that you are having an impact on training and educating all of these future sports psychologists and helping them learn what you've learned from your personal experience, but also all these other activities you've participated in. We touched on this a little bit, Syndra, ⁓ but I think as leaders, it's really important for us to understand our why, right? Our purpose, our motivation, and what drives us in all that we do. What gets you out of in the morning or ⁓ in words from your book, Beyond Grit, what are you fighting for?

Cindra Kamphoff: Yes. Yeah, I love that. You know, when I think about how I got to really get clarity on my why, I think the first moment that I shared with you is that time in college where I really struggled. And, you know, that made me just more passionate about teaching tangible tools that people could use and teaching people the how to because so many people are overwhelmed by ⁓ anxiety or lack of confidence or again, this negative voice inside their head. And then the second moment that helped me really get clarity on my why was being at the Boston Marathon. I remember asking myself really big questions that day, like, why am I still here? And what difference do I make? And why do I do what I do? And it was coming back from that marathon that made me really, I thought I was plain small. I knew that I had more gifts to give to the world. And it was like, teach about like, going after big goals, but I was holding myself back. And so I've done a lot of work on just like better understanding my purpose. And I think I'm here to help people play bigger. And that might mean in the on the field or in the courts or in their leadership or in their life, like going after big courageous goals. I think I'm also here to be ⁓ like an example of authenticity. and showing up as my true authentic self because ⁓ that's how as a leader you connect with others is being your true self. I think for so long, particularly at the beginning of my career, I was trying to be like my male mentors, you know, which like I'm not anything like them instead of like embracing my own passion and what I love. so. I've learned to do this unapologetically and I think that I'm a role model for that. So I would describe my purpose statement I have on my grit board right over there. it says my purpose of my life is to help people play full out by providing the wisdom and the truth and being an authentic example while doing so.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, wow. That is fantastic. ⁓ the whole concept of like, thinking big, right? Dreaming big and really thinking about all the possibilities and not living small life. what a, ⁓ I mean, traumatic, ⁓ but very eye-opening experience to be the Boston Marathon. remember that. Everyone remembers that. you were wherever you were, you know exactly what was happening at that moment because it was so impactful. ⁓ but to be there, to be present, have just crossed the finish line, know, really incredible. And kind of difficult questions to be asking yourself too, right? To say, what is my purpose? Like, why am I here? Why did I make it through that traumatic experience? ⁓ And ⁓ all the positive things you've with that is really incredible, Syndra.

Cindra Kamphoff: I think also Mary, you I love this quote by Byron Katie and she said, what if everything happens for you and not to you? And I really tried to embrace that in my life, even though that's hard, but it's like, I think that these moments really are there to teach us something and they're called crucible moments that change everything in your life. And typically they're more of like a difficult moment. And I think those two examples have. Because I've reframed them because I've understood what they meant in my life and I use them to better understand my passion or my purpose I think those moments have is what shaped me still and you know We at the mentally strong Institute have a huge goal of helping 10 million people be mentally stronger in the next 10 years and that's huge that's a huge audacious goal, I think we can all turn these moments into like learnings moments or perhaps these difficult moments have shaped you, right? These crucible moments have led you to where you are today. And it's more about just us reframing them and better understanding them in our lives.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, I think that's absolutely true and such a great point to say, you know, at it from a different perspective. instead of why did this happen to me and instead framing it as did this happen for me, right? I think that is absolutely critical and is a complete ⁓ in your mindset and how you can look at things. And I mean, I truly do believe that things happen for a reason and everything works out the way it's supposed to. ⁓ Sometimes in the moment, it may be hard to really embrace that, but I think as you're reflecting on it, it is important to have that mindset is like. how or why did this happen for me and what can I do moving forward with this experience and this lesson? So I love that you shared that. So I am so excited. I've been just like waiting to dive into this book really. I cannot wait. And now for any of you guys just watching I'm just gonna show you, I am reading ⁓ this We're gonna get into this now. So as I mentioned in the introduction, you are the author of Beyond Grit, 10 Powerful Practices to Gain the High Performance Edge.

Cindra Kamphoff: Yes.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: I'm well into reading the book now and I am absolutely loving it. So I'm curious, can you share with us what really inspired you to write the book and who can benefit the most from reading it?

Cindra Kamphoff: say anyone can benefit from reading it. know, the best part about the book is it's really easy to read and simple short chapters. They're broken up into 10 practices within really short chapters within it. And so ⁓ my teenagers have read it. ⁓ You can read it as, ⁓ a year old, a 30 year old, a 40 year old, a 60 year old, it doesn't really matter, but it provides really practical tools to be your best. And what I love about it is it's like the toolkit I wish I would have had when I was struggling. Because every part of the chapter is like a story and then a point like why do you need to implement this strategy or this tool or build this practice within yourself? And then it gives you like a tool. And what I also love about it is that people can go to the section they need the most. You don't have to read it from the beginning to the end. Although that's a great strategy too, is to help you build the 10 practices within yourself. We also have a mentally strong index that ⁓ does help you measure the 10 practices and and like helps you understand where you are in it. And so I appreciate that because then people can see, OK, what am I strong at? What do need to grow in? And Mary, you know, I had a meeting planner say to me a couple weeks ago to someone who was bringing me into speak and she said this is the work of a lifetime. You know, practices like grit and understanding your purpose and mastering your thinking and.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: ⁓ Yeah.

Cindra Kamphoff: living and letting go and dominating what you can control. And that's absolutely true. That no matter how old we are, we have to keep practicing these things. And they're ultimately practices. They're not strategies we're born with. And we have to keep practicing them. Let's say, for example, Mary, you looked at the list and said, you know, I'm really great today at like owning my purpose, but I'm really not great at letting go and, you know, moving on when things don't go perfect. moving on from mistakes or difficulties. next month, maybe you're stronger at that than you are today. And so it's ever changing. It's something we have to practice every day to really be our best and be mentally strong. the outcomes are, it helps you get to your goals quicker, helps you influence more people because you're being a really good, role model of like how to respond and yet you're not not reacting with heightened stress or anxiety.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that is fantastic. I love the overview. There's so much and that there's something in there for everyone. I think the other point of this too, right? This I love too. It's a lifetime of work. Absolutely. But that means you can continue getting better, right? You can continue to learn and grow those skills and get strong and refer to the book and just get some pearls on what are some effective tools? How can you implement this? How can you get stronger in these different areas? And we're gonna touch on a few of the practices. ⁓ I wish we could talk about every aspect of the whole book, but everyone listening, you should read it because you will get a ton out of it. So the book touches on 10 practices that can help you gain the high performance edge. So I definitely want us to go into detail on at least a few of these. The first practice in the book described is called get gritty. And you start with a quote, the world's best know what they want and why they want it. In the face of adversity and setbacks, they go after their goals with deep commitment. This is really where you introduce the value and importance of grit. So in the first part of this chapter, you discuss grit over gift. Can you explain for everyone listening, what is grit? And what are you trying to get at when you discuss this concept of grit over gift

Cindra Kamphoff: Absolutely. Well, I would say grit is defined and this is defined by Angela Duckworth who kind of coined this term. She's a University of Pennsylvania professor and she talks about how it's having passion and perseverance for your very long-term goals. And we know that grit is one of the strongest predictors of our success. So this means that we stick with things even when they're hard and that we stick with them, because we're passionate and we know what our purpose is and we know why we want those goals. And that's what high performers really do is they know exactly what they want. They have it written down, but they also understand their why and their purpose behind it. And sometimes that people misunderstand grit. They think it means grind. And what I mean by that, they think it means like, gotta keep grinding and grinding and grinding. But Mary, you and I know when leaders keep on grinding over time, they burn out. grit is really about passion. purpose, life giving words. And when I think about grit over gift, right? ⁓ this means is that we have to continue to understand what our passions are and ⁓ our gifts to be our best. ⁓ many times people don't really even take a step back and say, what is it that I really want? And why do I want it? And in the book, I talk about this idea of like how pearls are made and a pearl is made by this tiny piece of grit or sand in the oyster. Right? and the grit, goes around and moves around the oyster and then becomes this beautiful pearl. But it takes like seven to 10 years to become this beautiful pearl. And that's very similar to us when you're thinking about like starting your career and it might feel like, ⁓ this grind once in a while, right? You got to stick with your goals because then you're going to get to where you really desire, but you got to do the hard things. And, and even what I was saying is these hard moments we've all had difficult moments like that. had difficult moments like that. And to be able to reframe them to keep going, to stay gritty towards your goals is key. And not giving up in the face of adversity and setbacks, because that's going to be a given.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, such important points and a few things I just want to raise about what you said, like a couple things about that people seeing grit as grind. I love that distinction. I think that that's so important and that using that grit really is associated with a more positive words like passion and purpose. think that is a really that's a critical distinction. And so thank you so much for bringing that up and framing it in that way. It's not about just hammering away and keep doing the work and doing the work and doing the work, but doing things that you're passionate about that aligns with your purpose. And yes, it is hard work and it takes time. ⁓ But when you're doing things that you love, right, then it's not work and you're moving forward and you're having an impact and you're you're doing things that align with your purpose and your why. And so I really appreciate that you made that distinction. And I also I love the analogy about the pearl. I had never ⁓ heard that before. I it's such a great analogy. So one final point in that first section, so related to that first practice is to dream for a living. So you have a great quote in that section. If your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. So what do you mean by that, Syndra?

Cindra Kamphoff: Most people lose the ability to dream. And when you think about when we were growing up, maybe when you're in grade school, maybe when you're like a young teenager, you thought a lot about all the things you'd want to do, right? Like I think about, man, I loved racing the boys and I love dreaming about going to the Olympics and doing all these fun things that I wanted to be. know, here's an example of my son that relates to this. So when my son was in sixth grade, He called me upstairs and he was laying in bed and it was like 11 o'clock at night and he was crying. And I was like, Blake, know, what are you upset about? At first he wouldn't tell me. And then finally he said, you know, I thought he was like bullied or something. I didn't know what was going on. And he said, mom, I just realized how hard it was gonna be to get to the NFL. And I was like, oh, my heart just broke for them. Because like I think about when he was growing up, he like he dreamed of becoming getting to the NFL and then all of a sudden in sixth grade, he realized like how hard it's going to be right. And he still plays. He plays high school football. These are running back. He's getting lots of offers and possibilities that potentially playing division one or playing division two. So like that possibility of getting to the NFL is still real. But you know, we're we're told all the reasons we can't or. We're told all the, what's the small possibility? You your chances of getting to the NFL are like 0.03. And then we believe that like that can't be for us. And so what dreaming for a living means is that we have to get back to dreaming like a kid and we can let our own negativity bias, this belief that we're not enough. We can let setbacks get in our way or frankly, what other people say we can and can't do. You know, when I told people, when I got back from the Boston Marathon and I was like, you know, I started claiming that I wanted to work for the Vikings and, ⁓ working in the NFL as a mental performance coach. And I, I remember like many people kind of looking at me strange, you know, or just saying like, yeah, that I don't know how you're going to do that. Or that seems impossible. And at first I listened, but then I was like, you know, I'm going to believe in the impossible and I'm going to change that idea of impossible to like I'm possible and that's what we need to do, you know not listen to the naysayers and we have to give ourselves space and grace to keep dreaming and so many times as leaders Mary we're just stuck in like the tasks like here's what I got to do today here's what I check off my list and we don't give ourselves like time to dream and believe time in our week or month to say like where am I going and why am I going there?

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah.

Cindra Kamphoff: and how do I need to adjust it? And dreaming for a living is really about like dreaming consistently, not giving up on your dreams. Cause I've seen so many adults just say, you know, I'm, I'm just stuck in this job or I can't make a change or they let fear and anxiety just overwhelm their choices instead of believing that they are in the driver's seat and they can keep dreaming no matter how old they are. We all need that to thrive. We all need big audacious goals, right? That is the good kind of grit to have goals that you're going after and sticking with those goals, even when they're hard, even when they're setbacks, even when it seems impossible.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, is such great points, Syndra. Really fantastic that you shared that. think the key is never stop dreaming, right? Dream like you were a kid. That is such a fantastic way to think about it. But I think also important, because you were absolutely right, that as leaders and as professionals, as we're moving through our careers, we're very much caught up in the day to day or week to week or what has to be done with regards to work or home or whatnot. But equally important is to set aside that time, very purposeful and intentional time to dream. to reflect, give yourself time to really think about where are you going, what are your goals, what impact do you wanna have? ⁓ And so it's so great that you brought that up. ⁓ And this whole practice of dreaming for a living, we should never stop dreaming because the impact really or the opportunities are limitless.

Cindra Kamphoff: Yes, they are. And we're the only one, really, that limits ourselves. So we have to continue to believe that the opportunities are limitless.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: So in the second practice in the book is get clear on purpose. So as part of that section, you touch on the importance of owning your why and finding your fight. Right. So why is that? Why is that so important ⁓ to everything that you're for leaders, aspiring leaders or just in our sort of day to day life? Why is that critical?

Cindra Kamphoff: Because our why is what powers our what. And most people know what they do. They know what their job title is. They know their tasks that they need in their role. But maybe at one point they've thought about their why, but they don't own it. And the difference to me means is like when you know your why, like you've probably heard of Simon Sinek's work, right? When you gotta know your why. But I'm gonna have people level that up a little bit. And what I mean by that is not just know your why, but own your why. And that means to me, like you use your why to inform your decisions. You use your why to say yes to some things and no to some things, but also you remind yourself of your purpose every day and you let that purpose guide you. And I think about my purpose of like showing up authentically and helping people play big, right? Like that, fuels me to share what I'm sharing with you today, because I'm hopeful that I'm trusting that people are listening and saying, yeah, I got to listen to what Cindra saying. got to. you go after these more bigger courageous goals or maybe they go back to saying, yeah, you know, five years ago, I really wanted to run a marathon. I need to get back at that. Or I've always had this goal of like starting my own business. You know, I'm going to make one step today. And I love this idea of ⁓ the acronym of fear. You know, I don't know who wrote this. It's not my acronym, but fear stands for false evidence appearing real. And that's really important because When you're going after big courageous goals, when you're living your purpose, you can listen to the fear. But remember, it's just false evidence appearing real. It's not most of the most of our thoughts aren't even true. There are just, you know, ways we put ourselves down. So we really need to give ourselves this truth meter. Like what's true? What's actually serving me? And what can I what can I believe right now? And when I think about owning your why to me, what that means is like you got to write a purpose statement out, you know, in Beyond Grid. I gave you a

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah.

Cindra Kamphoff: a model and like a template to do that. And as I do this all around the country and speak about this, Mary, when I speak longer than like 60 minutes, I usually give them the template and like in a two hour or three hour talk, ⁓ we would actually write a purpose statement together, a draft. And that can be really hard for people because ⁓ some people have not really thought about their why. It can feel like this thing that should just be downloaded.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah.

Cindra Kamphoff: But in fact, I think that when I go back to my experience at the Boston Marathon, I was getting more clarity on my why. But it took me to write a few drafts of that purpose statement before I was like, yep, this is actually why I'm here. And so I'm going to challenge people who are listening is ⁓ pick up Beyond Grit, go to the section about purpose, maybe purchase the workbook, because that gives you really more details on how to write your purpose statement. But write it. Write a first draft, put it on a sticky note, put it on your bathroom mirror. And I would say, look at it every day. Do you want to keep tweaking it? If you think this is exactly why you're here, then start using that to guide you, to guide your decision making, and to guide how you show up every day and continue to be an intentional leader, living that purpose statement.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: That is such important and insightful advice and I think so critical to emphasize, right? The point that you made about writing it down to, right? Writing down, I don't actually, I shouldn't write it down to, I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of my why, but I don't have it written down somewhere where I can see it every day, I should do that. And absolutely, I love the critical point that you made about using that, using your why, using your purpose. to guide everything that you do and help you make decisions. I should do this, I shouldn't do that, let me consider it. It's directly in alignment with my purpose and what drives me. So that is a great way to frame it and really for people to gauge like what you involve yourself in. So. I want to jump ahead a little bit in the book. The sixth practice is to own the moment. As part of this, you describe the value of being mindful and you state that mindfulness is choosing to be awake in the moment and know what you are thinking, feeling, and doing. So how can mindfulness actually benefit leaders?

Cindra Kamphoff: some question. know, practice six is about owning the moment and I want you to think about a continuum that your mind can only be in the past, the present, or the future. But underneath this past we can feel emotions like depression or frustration or regret. And in the future we can experience emotions like anxiety or pressure or we're so focused on the outcome that we can't really be at our best. And just even recognizing you know, and noticing where your mind is, is key. The power of the present moment is that's the only place flow happens. That's the only place peak performance happens when your mind is fully in the present moment. I recently read this research study by two Harvard professors that showed ⁓ only 48 % of our waking moments are in the present moment. So that means like over 50 % of our time, we're focused on the past or the future. And that can serve us in that, you we can plan for the future. We can think about what we've learned from the past. But, you know, today I was just ⁓ coaching this leader who has so much anxiety around her son and her son's possibilities for his future that she's spending probably 90 % of her time in the future. And it's causing so much anxiety, so much pressure. so, ⁓ mindfulness is being awake to the present moment. It's just a notice, non-judgmentally. how you're feeling, ⁓ you about your body? Are you stressed? What's happening in your mind? And it means like doing it non-judgmentally. So, you you could easily be like, come on, Syndra, you shouldn't be thinking about that you know, no judging yourself. Just gently bring your mind back to the present moment. And we know think about athletes that you've seen ⁓ practice mindfulness or practice meditation, for example. know ⁓ research on mindfulness allows you to be ⁓ your best more often and helps you thrive. under pressure and peak performance moments. those are all the reasons you want to just continue to practice mindfulness. Again, that just means being aware. And then you're less likely to get your buttons pushed. You're less likely to, you know, react instead of respond and ⁓ react with heightened frustration and anxiety if you're really paying attention to yourself and what's going on with your body.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, such a key point. You're absolutely right, right? Whether that's very positive emotion or negative emotion, your team feels it. They see it, right? And so that is really, really important to try to help regulate that. In the last section related to the sixth practice of owning the moment, you discussed the value of seeing pressure as a privilege. So what do mean by that, Syndra?

Cindra Kamphoff: What I mean by that is, know, pressure, we experience it when we are focused on the outcome and we feel like we're judged by the outcome and the outcome is important to us. So the one word there with all three of those statements is outcome. And we tend to, feel pressure. Again, pressure is more a future based focus where we're focused on the outcome, potentially what could go wrong instead of what could go right. And we want to shift our attention and see it as like, a privilege and it comes that comes from like a Billie Jean King quote, who's this legendary tennis player, where she says, could you see pressure as a privilege? ⁓ And ways that we do that is, you wouldn't be in this moment if you couldn't handle it. I think about like an athlete, if you know, they're in the game winning ⁓ play, if your coach didn't believe you could handle it, you wouldn't be in the game winning play. You know, for me, I think about like this opportunity to be a keynote speaker and, ⁓ you know, every week I deliver a keynote somewhere and sometimes it feels a lot of pressure. ⁓ last week I was in San Antonio and I was speaking at the national business aviation association, you know, so it was kind of fun speaking to aviation professionals and I was the closing keynote. right before it, I can feel a lot of pressure, like

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: awesome.

Cindra Kamphoff: I better deliver, but that pressure also helps me rise to the occasion. And so when pressure is too much for you, I have an acronym in the book called POP the pressure. And this is what it stands for. ⁓ P, a few couple power breaths, just get back to the present moment. Even counting with those power breaths can help you just get back again, mindfully to the present moment. ⁓ O for what's the opportunity right now. So that means like,

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah.

Cindra Kamphoff: getting your attention back to the present moment. What can you control right now? What's one step you can take right now? And then the other P for POP is process. And we know that you're best when you're focused on the small things that you can do instead outcome that you fully control. Let's say, for example, that you are applying for a new job. You can't actually control if you're gonna get that new job because you can't control what the the people interviewing you thinks you can't control who else applies for that job, but you can focus on being your best one question at a time. ⁓ And could be part of your process. I will show up on purpose. I will give my best one question at a time. I will reset if ⁓ a question doesn't perfectly. Those are all kind of examples of more process goals. And we know people are at their best when they're in the present. Focus on the process, the small things they can do to be at their best.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that's great advice and an awesome practice to, diffuse the pressure. But I think also, you know, that quote by Billie Jean King is just fantastic. But you're absolutely right, You wouldn't be feeling that pressure. You wouldn't be in that situation if someone or many people didn't believe in you and your ability to be successful or have an impact in that setting. It also means that you care. Right? It's like you care, you want to do a good job with your keynote. You want to play well on the tennis court or, you know, we want to do well in surgery. We want to take great care of our patients. Right? So we feel that pressure because we care so much about what we're doing. But it is really important to not be paralyzed by that pressure. So that practice that you described is really fantastic and is something that is really straightforward to implement. But just be thinking about it and practicing it so that when you are actually faced with the situation, you know how to kind of counteract that.

Cindra Kamphoff: Exactly.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: So I wanna close, Syndra, with a few questions that I like to ask everyone. So first, the title of this podcast is Lead Change. So what does lead change mean to you?

Cindra Kamphoff: Lead change means to me, like not being afraid of change and embracing change and be the leader of the change that you think needs to happen in the world. And I think so many times we can let fear get in our way of making changes and leading what we think is gonna really support and help the world. In practice number 10 in the book, I talk about choosing courage over comfort. And comfort is where we let fear overtake us, but courage is like doing the things that are hard and Most people don't love change. They respond negatively to it. But as a leader, as a mentally strong leader, you can say, bring on the change and lead through it. And those people who can lead through change, not only are you at your best more often, but you can help other people ⁓ keep leveling up because you're being a good role model through change. And ⁓ you can help people embrace the change that many times they're afraid to do so.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that is so true, really great advice. Just embrace it, own it, own it, and never be afraid. I try to dismiss that fear. Don't be afraid of change. Don't be afraid of taking advantage of an opportunity and really setting a great example for all of those around you. So I love how you framed that. Now, besides Beyond Grit, ⁓ have you read any leadership books that you have found to be particularly impactful?

Cindra Kamphoff: Well, the leadership book I've been working on writing comes out September 1. It's called The Confidence Habit with Simon & Schuster. So I did a lot of reading about confidence leading up to the book. And a couple of my favorite books related to confidence are ⁓ number one, I love Jamie Kern Lima's book called Worthy. I think that is a great book to read as a leader. I also love The Confidence Code. It is a book ⁓ mostly written kind of towards women and the neuroscience of confidence. So I'd recommend those two. You can also, by the way, get on our email list at drsyndra.com just by downloading our confidence report. And then you'll learn more about all the things we're offering leading up to the book launch. We're gonna do a really amazing high performance, ⁓ like a mental performance summit in April. We're doing a confidence summit in August leading up to the book. having just these amazing opportunities for people to learn a lot more about confidence. And I don't know, Mary, if you knew this, but confidence can fluctuate. It can come and go. it can impact, you can change like a light switch just like that fast. And so we need tools to really reset our confidence and to keep growing it. And the book covers seven core practices to turn self doubt into self belief. I can't wait to see what it does and how it helps people.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah, that is it's it's so important and I'm sure it's going to help a ton of people and that whole aspect of confidence. We could spend the entire podcast talking about that. So we'll just have to have you back, Syndra, to talk about the book and really share some of your insight about confidence, because that is really a critical aspect of leadership, too. So I appreciate you sharing those books that are largely centered around confidence. do you have any favorite quotes?

Cindra Kamphoff: do. One of my favorite quotes is, your dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough. And I love this quote because we were talking about dreaming for a living and like continuing to go after those big outrageous goals, right? And so I'd say if you don't have your goals and your dreams written down, you should start. How about you write down everything you want to achieve or give or contribute in the next 10 years and then divide that up to like, okay, what could my one year goals be? What could my five-year goals be? And just the power of doing that gives you a direction. You know, I did that ⁓ several years ago, Mary. I have them written on my bookshelf behind me. ⁓ ⁓ what's cool is like I've achieved some goals I thought took 10 years and three years just because I wrote it down. And what's amazing is, you know, I had a goal of working with an Olympic team and I had no idea how I was going to do that, but I wrote it down anyway. And then ⁓ Couple months later, I had someone on my podcast who works with USA Track and Field, and I was talking to her at the end, and I said, ⁓ know, I have a goal of working with the Olympic team. And she said, ⁓ we're looking for someone else to work with our team. And so if I wouldn't have had that goal written down, I wouldn't have had this amazing opportunity to support our Olympians. And so you never know how your mind works. ⁓ you for you once you write that down, kind of this abundance mentality when you claim it, right? It comes towards you because you're putting it out there and you're deciding what you want and then you're making it happen at a subconscious level.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Yeah. Yeah, and I think the other key part, and you just mentioned this story, the other key part is telling people, tell people what your goals are, right? Share that with them. Certainly don't be afraid to share it, but the more people you share it with, the higher the likelihood that you will be able to achieve those goals because like your guest, right, then helped you achieve that goal. So that's incredible. So, Syndra, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I have loved every minute of this conversation. So thank you for sharing your valuable insight and advice about how to be a successful, effective, and very inspiring leader. You bring an incredible level of energy, passion, and enthusiasm to all that you do. I can't wait to finish reading your book, and I really encourage everyone listening to check it out too. I hope our paths cross again sometime soon, and really thank you so much for being here.

Cindra Kamphoff: Mary, this was incredible. I love the way that you were so ⁓ prepared and ready to ask me the questions and thank you so much for reading Beyond Grit and I'm going to gift ⁓ anybody who's listening a free breakthrough call with myself or my team. We do these ⁓ every so often because Mary's amazing and you're and you learn so much about Beyond Grit and being mentally strong and so I believe everyone needs a coach and so. This is just our way of giving back to you and so I'd love to support you. ⁓ You can head over to freementalbreakthroughcall.com. We just put this little form together where you can write your name and your email and it's just our way of giving back to you to support you to have a breakthrough, a moment of more clarity and understanding. And so if you'd like to learn about coaching or if you'd like to experience it, know, coaching isn't ⁓ where you go back to the past and Think about the past, it's really helping you get clarity on where you want to go and we'll help you do that. So you can go to freementalbreakthroughcall.com to check it out.

Mary K. Mulcahey, MD: Well, thank you so much. That's very generous. And so I encourage everyone take advantage, take advantage of that, right? I think coaching is hugely helpful and it'd be amazing to work with Syndra and her team. So Syndra, thank you again and good luck with everything you're working on. I can't wait to read your next book.

Cindra Kamphoff: Thank you, Mary. I appreciate you.