The breakdown isn't the mistake. The breakdown is refusing to let it be perfect.
"You can't coach like you've got 10,000 hours because you don't have 10,000 hours," Croft says. "You've got five. And your practice is to look at it as perfect."
This is the beginner's mind in action. Not as a Zen concept, but as a self-leadership practice. Every repetition you survive is one step closer 10,000 repetitions.
What if your worst mistake wasn't a failure but an invitation to acknowledge exactly where you are in your learning journey?
That reframe is what separates people who burn out from learners who grow. It's also the leadership mindset shift most leaders never make, because nobody told them to embrace mistakes as part of the path.
Croft Edwards is a former Army officer turned ontological coach who trains new coaches to stop performing and start practicing. His mentor coaching philosophy is simple: enjoy each one of them. You still have many more mistakes calls to go.
Watch the full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHN0wUhgvTM&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=1&t=5s
What You'll Take Away From The Full Conversation:
• Why psychological safety isn't just about what you say, it's about what your body is already communicating before you open your mouth
• The body-armor story that revealed how Croft's own nervous system was treating connection as a threat
• How embodied coaching and self-leadership work together: you cannot co-regulate someone else if you haven't learned to regulate yourself first
• Why the body is, in Croft's words, "the Holy Grail in coaching and leadership"
Croft Edwards is a somatic and embodiment leadership coach who helps leaders move from command-and-control to embodied presence.
A former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Croft's journey from military leadership to ontological coaching shapes his approach to psychological safety, emotional intelligence, and trauma informed leadership. He believes the body holds the intelligence most leadership development leaves untapped.
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Watch Next:
• Nervous System Regulation: Take Back Control of Your Responses with Ashley Douglas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yim5d8FO7Oo&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=13&t=677s
• Nervous System Regulation | Trauma-Informed Leadership with Sharon Podobnik Peterson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX6Hs-CQp4c&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=3&t=1522s
• Your Voice Always Tells the Truth, Even If Your Words Don't | Barbara McAfee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CPwnUdqKwU&list=PLbWfh34FP_dUcAaCrI31z00_fLdphi6b7&index=1&t=1021s
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*** Don't miss another conversation: https://www.youtube.com/@WDYKTBT?sub_confirmation=1 ***
In the full episode, Croft answers the following questions:
• How to create psychological safety?
• How to regulate my nervous system?
• What is embodied leadership?
• How can I be more authentic as a leader?
Resources mentioned in the episode:
• Croft’s company: https://croftandcompany.com/
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/croftedwards/
• Croft’s latest book: "The Liquid Accordion: A Somatic and Embodiment Primer for Coaching In, With, and Through the Body for Coaches and Leaders”
Music in this episode by Amplify Music.
What Do You Know To Be True?" is an invitation for those who are in the middle of a mid-career reinvention, attempting to pivot from the old version of you, into one that is more aligned with purpose and values, and becoming more of your possible self.
These conversations are with leaders who have been at that pivot point, who’ve navigated the messy middle, and now creating more meaning in the world through their work.
Want more info about What Do You Know To Be True?
➡️ Check out the channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WDYKTBT?sub_confirmation=1
➡️ Subscribe to the What Do You Know To Be True? newsletter to get insights into each conversation: https://rogerkastner.substack.com/
"What Do You Know To Be True?" is hosted by Roger Kastner, is a production of Three Blue Pens, and is recorded on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish and Suquamish people. To discover the ancestral lands of the indigenous people whose land you may be on, go to: https://native-land.ca/
Keywords
#GrowthMindset #BeginnersMind #SelfLeadership #coaching #personaldevelopment