Train Your “Monkey Mind” So You And Your Team Can Have
Greater Success And Fulfillment With Less Stress.

Meet “Max” – The arch nemesis of effective leadership

Executive presence means being thoughtful, productive, balanced, confident, and unflappable in any situation. This is also known as “Mental Fitness.” Max represents the part of the brain that is more primal. You may have heard of the fight-or-flight response or the amygdala-hijack. Our brains are wired to respond quickly to threats in our environment. But sometimes, we describe everyday situations as a “problem,” which causes our brain to shift from executive thinking to survival thinking.

Which Monkey Mind is undermining your leadership?

These are the most common manifestations of the “Monkey Mind” that undermine leadership and teamwork. We all use these tactics sometimes, but we have two or three that show up most often. Knowing what your patterns are is very powerful.

Learn More About Your Monkeys

Take our quiz to find out which monkeys are impacting your performance.
Learn more about how our monkeys take over, and what you can do about it.

Hi, I’m Shawn Clark, business owner, leadership coach, team building facilitator, father, and proud owner of a highly active “Monkey Mind.”

I spent years letting reaction run my life. As a business owner, being concerned about deadlines, projects, employees, and customers seemed like the right thing to do. But the endless inner-chatter made it hard to focus on priorities – and even harder to relax. It infected my team and my family, causing stress, confusion, and resignation.

But once I learned how to train my mental monkey, I found that he could be helpful. He keeps me excited about projects, mindful of deadlines, and eager to improve – but with-out using stress to get me to take action. Now my team, and my family, perform better, are more en- gaged, and happier.

In the last 25 years, I have worked with over 3,000 teams and their leaders. I have seen firsthand the impact of leaders who inspire others positively versus manipulate people with negativity. You and your team can be highly productive and impactful, all while enjoying the journey. This guide will give you tips for doing just that.

Shift From Monkey Mind to Leadership Presence

We all have those moments where we respond gracefully and thoughtfully. And we all have those moments where we react badly and selfishly. We will never be perfect, but we can increase the time we spend operating wisely and decrease how often we are agitated.

How To Create Resilient Leadership

If you are diligent about developing your mental “muscles,” you can actually see the results in MRI imaging: an increase in grey matter in the parts of the brain responsible for happiness, fulfillment, and executive functioning; and a decrease in grey matter in the regions of the brain that trigger the “fight-or-flight” response. Here’s a quick overview of the process.