The Moment Conscious Leadership
Becomes a Powerful Experience
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:00:02 Welcome to Heart Glow CEO, where high-performing leaders learn to regulate stress, strengthen self-trust, and make clear decisions without sacrificing their health or values.
I'm Kc Rossi, Integrative Leadership Coach. Expect practical nervous system tools, conscious leadership insights, and real conversations that bring achievement into alignment. Take a deep breath with me and let's dive in.
Hello. Hello. I want to do something a little different today as we step into 2026. Instead of opening with a framework, a teaching, or a polished leadership insight, I want to begin with a story, one that surprised me by how much it stayed with me.
Recently, I found myself really enjoying The Road, a reality show hosted by Keith Urban. Have you seen it? On the surface, It's a singing and songwriting competition. The stakes were high: opening for Keith Urban, a $250,000 prize, a Stagecoach performing slot, and a record deal.
But what unfolded by the finale felt like something much deeper than a competition.
Three finalists stood out.
There was Cassidy Daniels, a spunky redhead with undeniable power vocals.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:01:32 She dominated four performances as the “audience favorite.” Bold. Confident. Electrifying. Even Blake Shelton commented at one point, she's going to win this, isn't she? And I totally thought she was.
Then there was Channing Wilson, older, rooted, deeply committed to his country songwriting craft. He stayed true to himself the entire season. Steady and grounded.
And finally, Adam Sanders, a lifelong performer and songwriter known for his stage presence and ability to turn a song into an experience.
Now, all three were excellent. That part matters. It took grit, courage, and devotion to stand on that stage week after week.
So before we talk about who won or why, it feels important to pause and acknowledge something we often skip in leadership. They had already won by being there. Let that sink in for a minute. Take just a second for yourself. How many times do you leapfrog over your wins? We do it a lot. So I really just want to kind of highlight that piece. They had already won all three of them.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:03:06 Really. Everybody that was on that show had already won all of the contestants.
Now the finale. The performances took place at the Ryman Auditorium, often called “the Mother Church of Country Music.” That context matters.
Cassidy came out swinging. Big vocals, bold presence, incredible confidence. She leaned into her power and chose two rock-forward songs, including Crazy on You by Anne Wilson of Heart, who was one of her icons.
And it was impressive, no question.
And yet watching it, I noticed something subtle. Her focus was inward - on her voice, her talent, her performance. Which in many settings would be exactly what's required.
The other thing I want to say here is that all through the show, I noticed how much joy she was bringing. She would be singing along even when her competitors were on the stage. She'd be backstage singing along or practicing the guitar or the banjo. She had a bubbly joy every single show, but at the finale, she started doubting herself and comparing. She was comparing herself to the other two finalists who had number-one song hits, and she hadn't.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:04:45 So there was this doubt that was coming in that we didn't see all through the show, and I think that that actually matters too. The things that we say to ourselves and falling into a comparison mode.
And the other thing is, it's really awesome if you have this desire to be a rebel. And I think many times we share that as visionary leaders, there's a little bit of rebel in us, and there needs to be because a lot of our systems and paradigms are broken. And so there needs to be someone brave and bold and confident and willing to not only bend the rules, but change them.
But I want to just say here that you heard me say that the Ryman is the mother church of country music. And they were speaking to and singing to Keith Urban's audience. So much of this is knowing who you're serving and also respecting kind of the ground that you're serving on. So for her to come out, for Cassidy to come out with two rock-forward songs, it could have been just a little bit too rebellious for the audience and for the actual stage.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:06:04 So that's a little bit of a side note there. But I think important as we start to compare the difference between where her focus was, which was really about showing her pipes off.
And both of those rock forward songs leaned heavily, like, pedal to the gas, you know, foot on the gas pedal to really show these powerhouse vocals. Those choices matter to the point that at the final, where they were sharing who won her immediate thing when she found out she came in third was, “I should have, paid attention to what I already knew.” And Gretchen Wilson said, what was that? And she said, I shouldn't have done two rock songs at the Ryman.
So I think this is important because we all have intuition. We all have brain cells in our belly. And even if they're not strengthened, we know what a hunch is. We know what a gut instinct is. And many times we dampen it down, and we let the mind take over, and we listen to that storyline.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:07:26 And so I do want to highlight right here that we need to understand our audience. We need to respect our ecosphere while also honoring our authenticity, even if that includes some rebellion.
If there's an inner voice, it's like, not quite now, not quite that much. Maybe left instead of right. Let's try to turn the dial up on that so we can move forward as leaders with self-trust instead of regret.
So that was just a little bit of a digression, because I really want to get back to her competitor, who was Adam Sanders, and he did something different.
Before he even sang, He acknowledged the audience. He shared that they were helping him make one of his lifelong dreams come true, right there in real time. And then he invited them in. He asked them to clap along. He made eye contact. He actually even flirted with a couple of the female audience members. You could just tell, like he was on fire. He was having fun. He was connecting.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:08:43 He said something like, “This is between you and me.” Even though the room was full, he committed fully, saying he was leaving everything he had on the stage for them. He stepped into the audience. He climbed on a speaker. He turned both his original song and his cover into a shared celebration.
It wasn't just a performance, it was an experience.
Watching that clicked something inside of me.
Adam didn't win because he sang better; he won because he understood something fundamental about leadership. He made it about them as leaders. Whether we're leading teams, clients, communities, or movements. This is where I think many of us get tripped up. We're taught to refine our message, to strengthen our skills, to perfect our delivery. And those things matter.
But connection doesn't happen through perfection. It happens through participation. And I'm going to invite you to take a breath here and really let that sentiment land. Connection doesn't happen through perfection. It happens through participation.
Adam knew his audience. He honored the country roots of the room.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:10:27 He invited their bodies into the moment. Clapping, moving. Feeling. He let them be a part of the dream.
And here's the part that really stayed with me.
People want to help dreams come true.
People want to belong to something meaningful.
People want to feel included, not impressed.
That's as true in leadership as it is on the stage.
So I found myself reflecting:
Where in our leadership are we performing for people instead of connecting with them?
Where might we be relying on our credentials, our expertise, our pipes instead of our presence?
And where might we be forgetting that leadership is a shared experience, not a solo act?
Adam didn't diminish himself by including the audience; he amplified the moment.
And that's the paradox of conscious leadership. The more we make it about others, the more impact we actually have.
This doesn't mean shrinking.
It doesn't mean people pleasing, and it doesn't mean abandoning excellence.
It means remembering why we're here -
To serve. To connect. To create something together.
Kc Rossi, PCC 00:12:04 Why are you here?
So I want to leave you with a gentle reflection and invitation, really. It would be awesome if you took some time to think about these three questions as we close out today and see what they mean to you. I'm really curious what bubbles up. I would love to hear.
Question 1. Where in your leadership could you invite more participation?
2. What would change if you made your next conversation, presentation, or decision a shared experience rather than a performance?
3. How might your leadership evolve if you trusted that connection, not control, is what creates real resonance?
I'm learning these lessons right alongside you.
Watching, listening, staying curious.
I have a feeling that 2026 is going to ask all of us not to be louder, but to be more connected.
Until next time, my friend… breathe joy.
