In this solo episode, LaTonya Wilkins explores a feeling many leaders, coaches, and consultants are quietly naming right now: the sense that traditional leadership frameworks and learning models no longer meet the complexity of today’s world.

Drawing from recent client work, leadership development experience, and conversations across industries, LaTonya unpacks what’s no longer working, what leaders are truly craving, and why presence, trust, and community matter more than ever in this moment. This episode offers reflection prompts and a grounded invitation to consider how leadership and coaching must evolve beyond transactional approaches.

🎥 Prefer to watch? This episode is also available on YouTube with chapters:

https://www.youtube.com/@changecoaches/podcasts

Episode Chapters & Key Moments

[00:00] Why leaders feel ready for something new

• Naming the collective feeling many leaders and coaches are experiencing

• Why this isn’t burnout or lack of skill

[02:45] What’s no longer working in leadership development

• The limits of frameworks, checklists, and box solutions

• Why ROI-driven models fall short in today’s environment

[07:20] The realities leaders are navigating right now

• Constant reorganization, overload, and shifting expectations

• What gets lost when everything becomes a priority

[12:10] What leaders are actually craving

• Presence, trust, hope, courage, and community

• Why adaptability alone isn’t enough

[17:05] From information to experience

• Why information is no longer the currency

• The power of containers, practice, and self-authorship

[22:30] Community at work and why it matters

• The role of connection, psychological safety, and belonging

• What happens when leaders don’t have space to process

[27:40] What works at this stage of leadership

• Presence as a practice

• Trust built in real time through listening and empathy

[32:10] Reflection questions for leaders and coaches

• What are you craving differently right now?

• What no longer works for you?

[36:00] Coaching Below the Surface and what’s next

• Creating containers for leaders and coaches

• Upcoming March 2026 pods and organizational offerings

Calls to Action

🔹 Explore Coaching Below the Surface™ (ICF-approved):

https://changecoaches.io/coaching-below-the-surface/

🔹 Follow Change Coaches on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/change-coaches

🔹 Connect with LaTonya Wilkins on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/latonyawilkins/

What does it really mean to be trauma-informed—and why does this matter far beyond therapy? In this deeply personal and educational episode, LaTonya Wilkins sits down with Lion Goodman, coach, author, and founder of the Clear Beliefs Institute, who shares his incredible story of surviving being shot in the head four times—and how that life-altering moment shaped his approach to healing and leadership.

Lion breaks down the difference between surface-level coaching and therapeutic coaching, how trauma shows up even in “successful” people, and how we can begin to unhook the past to truly move forward. Whether you’re a coach, a leader, or someone who wants to support others more skillfully, this conversation is rich, grounded, and unforgettable.

🔗 Learn more about Coaching Below the Surface:

https://changecoaches.io/coaching-below-the-surface/

📲 Connect on LinkedIn:

Change Coaches: https://www.linkedin.com/company/change-coaches

LaTonya Wilkins: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latonyawilkins/

🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@changecoaches/podcasts

📝 Timestamps + Summary

[00:00] Welcome and how LaTonya met Lion Goodman

• Connection at ICF Converge and why Lion’s work stood out

• Meaning behind the name “Lion” and his Leo identity

[12:00] A near-death experience that changed everything

• Lion recounts being shot four times and surviving

• The experience deepened his spiritual and professional journey

[21:10] When coaching falls short without addressing trauma

• Clients often loop when past wounds go unexamined

• Lion begins to integrate deeper healing techniques

[28:20] What it means to unhook a belief

• Beliefs are formed through experience, not logic

• Memory reconsolidation can rewrite core identity structures

[38:00] Psychedelics and trauma work

• Powerful for deconstructing beliefs—but dangerous without integration

• Coaches must be trained to guide responsibly

[44:10] Coaching vs. therapy: how they overlap and differ

• Coaches walk with you, but must know how to help offload trauma

• Why trauma-informed doesn’t mean “doing therapy”

[48:00] Common mistakes when talking about trauma

• Overgeneralizing what trauma is—or avoiding it altogether

• Coaches need to clear their own trauma to avoid projection

[51:30] Where to start with trauma-informed support

• Ask “what’s underneath that?” to go deeper

• Be grounded, breathe, and avoid judgment when holding space

Tags:

Trauma Informed Coaching, Lion Goodman, Therapeutic Coaching, Executive Coaching, LaTonya Wilkins, Leading Below the Surface, Coaching Below the Surface, Psychological Safety, Memory Reconsolidation, Coaching and Trauma, Psychedelic Integration, Clear Beliefs Method, Coaching Tools, Executive Development, Limiting Beliefs, ICF Accredited, Personal Growth, Coaching Conversations, Coaching Podcastand

Show Notes

In this episode of Leading Below the Surface, I reflect on the lessons that quietly shaped my year — not through big milestones or dramatic changes, but through slower growth, healing, and learning to listen more closely to my body and intuition.

Rather than setting rigid goals, I share why I’ve been leaning into intentions and clarity, supported by science around behavior change, visualization, and motivation. We explore what it means to set “soft stretch” goals that are ambitious but achievable, why manic manifesting can actually work against us, and how progress often unfolds more slowly — and more sustainably — than we expect.

I also talk openly about endings, healing, and the quiet shifts that signal real growth, even when it doesn’t look loud from the outside. This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and enter the next chapter with more intention and less urgency.

If you’re someone who feels called to move forward thoughtfully — not frantically — this conversation is for you.

This episode is also available on YouTube. You can watch and subscribe to the Leading Below the Surface Podcast on the Change Coaches YouTube channel, where we’re focusing our energy moving forward.

Key Themes & Takeaways

• Why intentions can be more effective than rigid goal-setting

• The science behind “soft stretch” goals and sustainable motivation

• How visualizing challenges (not just success) supports real behavior change

• The difference between intentional growth and manic manifesting

• Why the next step forward is often already in front of you

• How endings create space for healing and clarity

• What quiet growth looks like — and why it still counts

Reflection Prompts from the Episode

• What is your body telling you that you may be overriding or ignoring?

• Where might you be forcing progress instead of allowing it to unfold?

• What endings — habits, roles, relationships, or expectations — may be asking for your attention?

Listen, Watch, and Connect

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@changecoaches/podcasts

🔗 Coaching Below the Surface: https://changecoaches.io/coaching-below-the-surface/

🔗 Change Coaches on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/change-coaches

🔗 LaTonya Wilkins on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latonyawilkins/

🔗 Full Article on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-2025-taught-me-letting-go-healing-trust-latonya-wilkins-udscc