300 - How to Be a Conscious Leader Without Closing Off Your Heart with Julianne Guinasso

Oct 16

“Nothing makes you connect to your parts more than being a leader.” - Julianne Guinasso

How do leaders keep their heads clear and hearts open in the heat of difficult conversations? I ask because it’s only natural for leaders (and any human, really) to bristle at opposition to their ideas, critique of their efforts, or recommendations for improvement.

Being in community with each other requires a high level of mutual responsibility. But the practice of accountability can activate deeply entrenched defense mechanisms, even in the most self-aware among us (note to self). In part two of my conversation with Julianne Guinasso, LMFT, and co-founder of Level Up Leaders, we explore the challenges leaders face as they try to balance the needs of the collective and the desires of the individual.

“I had a series of harmful experiences as a clinician,” Julianne begins. “When I unintentionally became a leader, I went into it feeling like I could do something different, something better.” Her excitement was short-lived. “Humility came, and I was like, wow, this is a lot f*cking harder than I thought.”

What followed was a series of lessons on establishing trust with her team and acknowledging the harms she inevitably contributed to as someone in a position of power. Julianne has transmuted those early career mistakes into a leadership development program. Level Up Leaders helps mental health group practice owners cultivate psychologically safe, trauma-informed work cultures.

“It’s very tempting to wanna close off, to not want to hear or have hard conversations,” Julianne observes. Ultimately, however, a leader’s behavior influences how those around them respond. She champions open dialogue over retreat, especially when the situation is complex.

“You're having these conversations [and] it's a continual practice. It's a continual conversation,” Julianne explains, adding, “This is a relationship. It’s bidirectional; it needs to go both ways. If we don't consistently talk about the relationship and that reciprocity of showing up and creating space, then this is gonna feel transactional.”

Genuinely collaborative environments require courageous leaders. “If you're truly about being part of a work culture, a community, you do have to take that collective stance or approach at times,” Julianne says. “You're not going to get a hundred percent consensus.”

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness

Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel

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Changing Systems From The Inside With Julianne Guinasso

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Julianne Guinasso is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice and co-founder of Level Up Leaders Inc., where she partners with Poonam Natha to support group practice owners in cultivating psychological safety through trauma-informed leadership. With over a decade of leadership experience, she helps practice owners move beyond performative policies to tend their relational ecosystems, creating collaborative cultures that reclaim joy and sustain vision.

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