Telling yourself the truth might be the most radical leadership skill you’ll ever develop.

In part three of the Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders series, Sarah Lockwood is joined by Beck Sydow and Marina Suholutsky for a conversation about the power of radical self-honesty in leadership. They explore how self-awareness for leaders isn’t just about introspection but a foundational strategy for building resilient businesses, leading aligned teams, and navigating high-stakes decisions with integrity.

Beck and Marina reveal how easy it is for entrepreneurs to hide from their own truths, especially when fear, ego, or pressure to perform take over. They unpack how avoidance and overcompensation often mask deeper insecurities and explain why facing those hidden parts with compassion is key to true emotional self-regulation. When leaders name what’s really going on without judgment, they create space for better decisions, stronger relationships, and more authentic leadership.

This episode offers a powerful reframe: self-honesty isn’t weakness, but actually one of the most courageous and transformative skills you can build.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Why Radical Self-Honesty Is a Leadership Skill

02:56 How Your Relationship with Yourself Shapes Your Leadership

04:49 Embracing All Parts of Yourself to Build Self-Awareness

06:03 Coping Mechanisms That Lead to Dishonest Leadership

10:03 The Hidden Relief in Facing Hard Truths

14:07 Practicing Compassionate Accountability

17:59 Sovereignty, Self-Honesty, and Emotional Self-Regulation

21:32 Practical Tools to Strengthen Self-Honesty

25:02 Emotional Mastery for Leaders

Links

Connect with Beck Sydow:

Connect with Beck on LinkedIn

Humankind Business Leaders

Connect with Marina Suholutsky:

Connect with Marina on LinkedIn

PurposeBuilt

Connect with Sarah Lockwood:

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Visit HiveCast

Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:

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HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Curiosity is the leadership skill that helps you regulate your nervous system, interrupt fear loops, and make conscious choices in real time.

This episode is part 2 of the Emotional Self-Regulation for Leaders series, where Sarah Lockwood is joined again by Marina Suholutsky, the founder of PurposeBuilt, and Beck Sydow, the founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, to discuss how curiosity plays an important role in nervous system regulation and managing emotions. They break down how fear contracts our experience and narrows our view, while curiosity invites expansion and presence. When leaders learn to pause and ask questions like “What else is true?” or “What story am I telling myself right now?”, they create access to agency, opening up space to shift out of reactivity and into conscious, grounded response.

Marina and Beck offer tools that don’t require time away from work or structured rituals. These moments of emotional awareness can happen mid-meeting, mid-sentence, or mid-meltdown. Whether it’s noticing your peripheral vision, softening your tone, or naming what’s happening in the room, curiosity becomes a live practice that leaders can use to stay connected to themselves and others. The discussion also explores how modeling this curiosity builds team trust and strengthens leadership presence. For founders who want to lead with more ease and intention, this episode is an invitation and a toolkit.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Curiosity as a Tool for Emotional Mastery

01:24 Using Curiosity to Shift from Fear to Possibility

02:55 How Curiosity Regulates the Nervous System

04:32 Interrupting Autopilot Responses with Better Questions

06:12 Building Agency Through Conscious Choice

09:59 Real-Time Techniques for Managing Emotions

12:34 Somatic Practices for Curiosity and Expansion

15:23 Leading with Curiosity in High-Stakes Moments

16:48 Asking Open-Ended Questions That Invite Collaboration

19:31 Why Curiosity Reflects True Leadership Confidence

Links

Connect with Beck Sydow:

Connect with Beck on LinkedIn

Humankind Business Leaders

Connect with Marina Suholutsky:

Connect with Marina on LinkedIn

PurposeBuilt

Connect with Sarah Lockwood:

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Visit HiveCast

Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:

Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram

Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Fear isn’t the enemy of great leadership. Ignoring it is.

How often do you walk into a meeting already bracing for impact? Or catch yourself shrinking back in a moment where you meant to lead with clarity? Sarah Lockwood sits down with Beck Sydow, the founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, and Marina Suholutsky, the founder of PurposeBuilt, for a conversation on emotional self-regulation, fear in business, and the kind of inner work that makes better leadership possible.

They explore how fear lives in the body, how it shows up in the boardroom, and why most founders are still operating from old survival patterns without realizing it. You’ll hear why simply pushing through isn’t a strategy and how learning to notice your internal state (tight shoulders, shallow breath, reactive thinking) can open the door to more aligned decisions. Beck and Marina walk through tools for getting out of autopilot, including body scans, self-inquiry, and what they call “active choice,” the skill of pausing just long enough to shift out of fear and back into presence.

This doesn’t just explain why inner work matters. It shows you how to begin. Whether you’re leading a team, building a company, or trying to show up more fully for your own vision, this is the kind of episode that gets under the surface and invites you to lead from a deeper, steadier place.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Emotional Self-Regulation in Leadership

02:19 Why Fear and Suffering Matter for Founders

05:03 How the Amygdala Shapes Fear in Business

06:08 Welcoming Fear as a Tool, Not a Threat

10:08 Tools for Recognizing and Naming Fear

14:06 The Leadership Power of Softening and Owning Fear

18:13 Making Active Choices to Lead with Awareness

Links

Connect with Beck Sydow:

Connect with Beck on LinkedIn

Humankind Business Leaders

Connect with Marina Suholutsky:

Connect with Marina on LinkedIn

PurposeBuilt

Connect with Sarah Lockwood:

Connect with Sarah on LinkedIn

Visit HiveCast

Connect with The Conscious Entrepreneur:

Visit The Conscious Entrepreneur website

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on LinkedIn

Follow The Conscious Entrepreneur on Instagram

Subscribe to The Conscious Entrepreneur on YouTube

HiveCast.fm is a proud sponsor of The Conscious Entrepreneur Podcast.

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm