In this episode we unpack the topic of: "Cracking the Code: Exploring Emotional Literacy and Embodiment” This is Part 1 in our emotional literacy and embodiment series. Our special guests are returning alumni with Divinia Knowles, Founder of the COO Roundtable and Maddie Fox, a leadership development coach across venture-backed organisations.  Bethany and I discuss the concept of “reading the room” and “the pause”.  We discuss the following with Maddie and Divinia:  How far can you push as a challenger COO to the CEO? What is emotional literacy and embodiment? How do you move from your head and into your bodyCan you have emotional literacy without embodiment? Is embodiment a personal journey? If so, what does that mean? How do you stop yourself from taking on other people's emotions? What was your personal journey to embodied leadership?  References: COO Roundtable - https://www.cooroundtable.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/diviniaknowles/ Divinia’s email - [email protected] Biography:  Divinia was COO, CFO & a director at both Mind Candy and Pact Coffee, where she also served as interim CEO.  She has held or still holds chair and board seats at too many companies to list and is occasionally an angel investor. Divinia re-trained as a coach in 2017 and combined it with her previous experience to become the COO Coach, working with start up/scale up COOs/CEOs to help guide them through successfully starting up, scaling up and exiting. And in addition to all that, she is also the Founder of the London COO Roundtable, a community that brings operations professionals together to define what it means to be a highly effective startup and scale up Chief Operating Officer. Maddie has over 20 years experience in HR and Learning & Development working with various organizations from corporate to fast growing tech, in Europe, the US and Australia. She is an ICF accredited executive coach, leadership and HR consultant with a wide range of experience, however specialising in developing leaders from emerging leaders to seasoned CEO’s, building high-performing sustainable teams and helping clients successfully navigate change. Her style is eclectic, using research, theory and direct experiences to ensure individuals find ways to effectively embed new behaviours, build resilience and deliver results. More recently she has been working in VC backed start-ups, series A-B, working for mostly founder led businesses as a Chief People Officer, Leadership Coach and Advisor. Clients include Blippar, Lantum, Trint, Mixcloud, amongst others.  Summary: Emotional intelligence and leadership in the workplace. 0:05Brandon and Bethany discuss emotional literacy and embodied leadership with guests Devaney and Maddy, focusing on reading the room in tense team situations and galvanizing the wider organization around new initiatives.Reading the room in meetings. 1:31Bethany and Brandon discuss leadership skills in meetings, with Bethany focusing on reading the room and Brandon using a surprising tactic to get teams to work together.Participants in a meeting shared their emotions using a "vibe check" technique, allowing for a more empathetic and understanding atmosphere.Emotional preparation for...