Drop In: Lead with Deeper Presence and Courage

by Sara Harvey Yao

Overview

In a society that deeply values productivity, speed, and external rewards, we often find ourselves with less of what we really long for: space, clarity, connection with others, and a sense of well-being. Our attempts to improve our lives and bottom lines by adding more to our calendars, expanding our to-do lists, and constantly being plugged in to technology is backfiring. Instead of getting more done, our minds are spinning, leaving us stressed, disconnected, and unable to focus.

Drop In challenges our assumptions about the effectiveness of our busy lives and offers a compelling alternative approach to living and leading by inviting people to “drop in” to the present moment. Deepening our awareness of the present moment, asserts Sara Harvey Yao, is the most efficient and sustainable way to navigate the complexities of work and life and to access our clarity, connection, and courage so we can lead your life more powerfully. Full of practical tools, Drop In will help busy professionals get out of the spin cycle of their minds—and tune in to their already-existing wisdom and clarity that resides within all of us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631521621
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Sara Harvey Yao is an Executive Leadership Consultant who specializes in helping leaders strengthen their presence and improve their impact. She is the founder of Yao Consulting Group and has personally developed more than 4,000 leaders across the globe, including executives from Microsoft, Brooks Athletics, and Smuckers. Her work has been seen on CNBC, NPR Marketplace, and Bloomberg Business Week, and she is the author of the book Get Present: Simple Strategies to Get Out of Your Head and Lead More Powerfully. Yao is the mother of two school-aged boys, Ethan and Logan, and has been married to her husband, Jesse, since 1998.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Tenets: Foundational Principles for this Book xvii

Part 1 What Prevents Us From Dropping In 1

Chapter 1 Autopilot: The Opposite of Dropping In 3

Am I on Autopilot? Quiz 5

How Did We Get on Autopilot? 7

Our Cultural Bias Isn't Doing Us Any Favors 7

Our Brain Is Conditioned to Be on Autopilot 13

We Are Wired to Avoid Emotional Discomfort 18

Summing Up Autopilot 21

Chapter 2 Being Present: A New Foundation of Awareness 23

What Is Presence? 27

Present-Moment Awareness 29

Experimenting with Present-Moment Awareness 32

Chapter 3 The Presence Tug-of-War 47

Safety in the Status Quo 48

Moving Beyond the Status Quo 50

The Reactive State 52

The Three Reactive Tendencies 56

The Mind's Spell 64

A New Perspective 67

Part 1 Reflection 72

Interlude-The Revealing of Stable Ground 75

Part 2 Accessing Clarity, Connection, and Courage 81

Chapter 4 Accessing the Clear Mind 85

Gathering Attention 87

The Why of Stillness 88

Setting the Stage for Meditation 93

Progressive Meditation Experiments 100

Acknowledging Mind Stories 106

Tools for Working with Mind Stories 109

Chapter 5 Accessing Your Connected Heart 115

The Transformational Power of Listening 116

The Underpinnings of True Listening 117

The Art of Nondoing 119

The Art of Nonknowing 120

The Art of Nonattachment 121

Deep Listening 124

Listening to Yourself 125

Experiments in Deep Listening to Self 128

Listen for Silence 128

Listen for Insight 128

Deeply Listening to Others 129

Experiments When Listening to Others 131

Uninterrupted Listening 131

Share What Is There 132

Turning Toward Emotion 133

Emotional Maturity 134

Dropping into Emotion 136

The Journey of Dropping into Emotion 137

Step In 138

Rest into the Emotion 138

What's Even Deeper? 139

Give Voice to the Emotion 139

Let It Flow 139

Acknowledge Yourself 140

Tools for Connecting to Heart 141

Gratitude 141

Assuming Decent Intent 141

Goodwill Meditation 142

Chapter 8 Accessing Your Courageous Gut 145

Incremental Courage 146

Claiming Space 148

Choosing Space 149

The Value of Prioritizing 152

Tools for Claiming Space 154

Calendar Reflection 154

Saying No 156

White Space 157

Family White Space 158

Aligning Action with Awareness 158

Surrendering to Awareness 159

Tools for Aligning with Awareness 163

Put Yourself in the Field of Presence 163

Take the Very Next Step 164

Get Support 165

Body Integration 165

Part 2 Reflection 166

Chapter 7 Going Forward in the World 169

Tell Me What to Do 170

The Hero's Journey 171

Own Your Journey 175

Notes 177

Acknowledgments 181

About the Author 183

Editorial Reviews

Drop In is a potent and practical guide for the journey of turning inward, but there is an even more powerful aspect to this book. Sara Harvey Yao warmly and continually points the reader to foundational truths about the human experience and offers perspectives that have the potential to radically and positively shift your orientation to leadership and life.”

—Cy Wakeman, New York Times Best-Selling Author of Reality Based Leadership

“ Drop In is a beautiful book with a tremendous amount of insight and inspiration. Sara has captured beautifully, that 'presence' is indeed who and what we are, not a tool or something to acquire. It is our birthright, whether we are aware of it moment by moment, or not. Drop In is a wonderful guide on the journey of a lifetime.”

—Maria Gonzalez, President, Argonauta Consulting Inc., and Best-Selling Author of Mindful Leadership: The 9 Ways to Self-Awareness, Transforming Yourself and Inspiring Others

“Sara Harvey Yao builds on the powerful premise of her first breakthrough book, Get Present to guide readers in creating a proactive presence—a state of enlightened awareness, wholeness, energy, courage, clarity choice, connection, and potent possibility. This book should be required reading in all leadership development courses. So, read this book, and gift it to others.”

—Bob Anderson and Bill Adams, coauthors of Mastering Leadership and cofounders of The Leadership Circle

“ Drop In explains why being fully present is so hard but at the same time why it is so crucial for leadership. Author Sara Harvey Yao offers compelling perspectives, tools and stories to help guide the reader on their personal journey. The wisdom is both tangible and lofty enough to stretch your assumptions about how to live a purposeful life.”

—Christian Cocks, President, Wizards of the Coast

“Mindfulness is a vital component for a leader's effectiveness and Drop In takes you on a rich and sometimes edgy journey towards deepening your mindful awareness. It’s clear Sara walks her talk through her compelling personal and client stories that help make this book feel not only accessible, but incredibly useful.”

—Tasha Eurich, New York Times best-selling Author, Bankable Leadership

“In a time of digital platforms and information worship it seems we have lost something. Drop In gives us not only the missing human component, but she also kindly allows us access to her inner wrestling match with that missing link, Presence. The first leg of the developmental journey to awakening is that of authenticity. Presence is simply the essence of an authentically rooted and aware individual. Sara, in her work, has given us a pointer to that destination.”

—Alan Shelton, author of Awakened Leadership: Beyond Self-Mastery

“Whether you are a stay at home parent or work full-time, the rigors of our daily lives can be overwhelming. Drop In is a powerful guide for anyone struggling for balance and presence. This book simultaneously challenges your foundational patterns while supportively opening your eyes to a simpler and more sustainable path forward rooted in present moment awareness. Sara Harvey Yao brings an inimitable authenticity to her writing through tangible examples we can all relate to in both our personal and professional lives.”

—Jeana Jorgensen, General Manager, Microsoft Corporation

“In a society that values doing over being, sound over silence, Drop In is a breath of fresh air. It provides an insightful, practical framework to reconnect with our inner wisdom, based on neuroscience, Yao’s work with clients, and her own personal experiences. Yao’s message is compassionate, smart, and relatable. In the end, we learn that being is the most important thing we can ever do.”

—Beth Buelow, PCC, author, The Introvert Entrepreneur: Amplify Your Strengths and Create Success on Your Own Terms

“ Drop In is a must read book for leaders and those who aspire to lead. The ideas on these pages are profound, transformational and relevant, and will have you asking, ‘Why didn’t someone show me this before?’”

—Bret Neely, Executive Vice President, Greenpoint Technologies

From the Publisher