From Executor to Builder: Meeting Your Future Self | Coaching in Real Time with Marlenne Johnson
- Jun 10
- 4 min read
Summary:
Many talented professionals reach a moment when they know they're capable of more influence, more impact, and more leadership, yet something keeps them standing at the edge of that next chapter.
In this episode of The UpLevel Podcast, we invite you inside a real coaching conversation with Marlenne Johnson, an organizational transformation strategist, storyteller, and systems thinker who helps organizations move through complexity with greater clarity, intention, and humanity.
Throughout her career, Marlenne has partnered with leaders and teams to guide change, strengthen employee experiences, and create meaningful transformation. Now she finds herself facing a leadership question of her own:
How do I move from being known as an executor to becoming a builder, thought leader, people leader, and community leader?
Together, Christie Mann and Marlenne design a coaching alliance and explore the beliefs, habits, and assumptions that can keep even the most capable leaders from fully stepping into their potential.
Through a future-self visualization rooted in Co-Active coaching, Marlenne connects with the version of herself she hopes to become, only to discover that the qualities she's seeking may already be present.
In This Episode:
Designing an alliance for safety, bravery, and growth
How future-self coaching can open up leadership growth
Why so many leaders wait for permission before stepping forward
The difference between executing work and creating lasting impact
How self-trust shapes leadership presence
The role community plays in personal and professional growth
Practical ways to bridge the gap between who you are and who you're becoming
Order of Topics:
Designing the Coaching Alliance
Defining the Coaching Topic and Goals
Future Visualization Exercise
Reflecting on the Visualization Experience
The Power and Impact of Community
From Execution to Building: Overcoming Perfectionism
Anchoring the Vision: Crafting the Statement
Action Planning and Accountability
Session Completion and Reflection
Action Items:
Establishing a Strong Coaching Alliance
Clarify Boundaries: Set clear expectations for both coach and coachee to ensure psychological safety.
Invite Vulnerability: Encourage open requests for deep exploration or redirection during sessions.
Use Coaching Tools:
Practice Bottom Lining to maintain clarity and focus in conversations.
Highlight internal obstacles with curiosity to increase self-awareness.
Define Your Goals and Desired Outcomes
Identify Transition Goals: Shift from being an executor to embodying leadership roles like builder, thought leader, or creator.
Align Leadership with Personal Aspirations: Ensure your leadership style is authentic and impacts systems positively.
Visualization Techniques
Future Self-Visualization Exercise:
Project yourself into the future environment you desire.
Envision details that symbolize confidence and ease in your future role.
Insights on Community Impact
Value Community Support: Recognize community as vital for support through challenges; investing in others is also self-investment.
Overcoming Internal Challenges
Address Cultural Saboteurs: Challenge perfectionism by taking action despite not meeting external standards fully yet.
Anchoring Experience & Accountability
Create an Anchor Statement: Develop a personal mantra (e.g., "You already are, but come find me when you forget") to remind yourself of your empowered self.
Visible Affirmations: Place reminders of this statement in visible locations such as laptops or phones.
Regular Connection Practices: Schedule time for meditation, journaling, or walking, focused on connecting with your aspirational self rather than only engaging critical inner voices
About Marlenne:
Marlenne Johnson is an organizational transformation strategist, storyteller, and systems thinker whose work lives at the intersection of people, power, and change. With a career spanning recruiting, employee experience, and organizational effectiveness, she specializes in helping leaders navigate complex transformation by turning ambiguity into structure and intention into action.
Her perspective is grounded in a deep curiosity about how individuals move within systems: how culture, incentives, and identity shape the choices people make inside organizations. Marlenne is known for her ability to see patterns others miss and for bringing both strategic clarity and emotional intelligence to conversations about leadership, transformation, and personal agency.
Through her writing and her work, she explores what she calls the work of the “Soul Architect”: the ongoing practice of examining the systems we inherit, the roles we play within them, and the conscious choices available to us as we build something new.
She is also the co-founder of the storytelling podcast aMy Story Is Not Unique, a space for honest conversations about identity, resilience, and the shared human experiences that shape how we lead, live, and grow.
My Story is Not Unique Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5SmIJHSXzrzOARwItGEAT6?si=2d0080f2e74041cc
🎉 The UpLevel Podcast was listed as one of the Top 10 Best Coaching Culture Podcasts!!! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/coaching_culture_podcasts
🎉 It was also ranked #4 among the top 50 Best Workplace Mental Health Podcasts! https://podcast.feedspot.com/workplace_mental_health_podcasts
About UpLevel Productions: Founded by Christie Mann, MA, CPCC, PCC, and Rachel Baldi, CPCC, PCC, UpLevel creates, produces, and delivers Transformative Experiences, Workshops, Training, Events + Media that develop leaders who make our world a healthier, more alive, and connected place to be. As Associate CTI Faculty Partners, UpLevel is licensed to sell, produce, and deliver Co-Active coach training and leadership development programs around the world to support the transformational growth of individuals and culture inside the workplace and organization. www.uplevelproductions.com Instagram @uplevelproductions Facebook & LinkedIn @uplevelproductionscompany
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