Life & Work with Krystal White

Today we’d like to introduce you to Krystal White.

Hi Krystal, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
It’s an open question that is as open as the plains of Wyoming, where my life mysteriously started.

I was adopted as an infant in Wyoming in the late 70s and grew up with simple values and wild surroundings. I was always a black sheep, that’s for sure. Nevertheless, I also was, in all ways, cared for and shepherded.

I have a life-long history of being valued and supported by a diverse group of teachers, mentors, distant “family members,” friends, classmates, coaches, and strangers-turned staff or leaders. For over 25 years, I’ve been mentored by my 6th-grade school teacher, who retired decades ago. She changed my life as a tween, and she changes my life today, with our continuous monthly written postcards and letters.

For the last twenty+ years, I’ve been involved in multiple community development initiatives and services. I have graduate degrees and experience weaving together diverse fields, ranging from spirituality and psychology, education and learning to military strategy and leadership. I’ve written books that are wildly different in scope and tone. I’ve accumulated and moved on from the best of friends, partners, mentors, and leaders. Today, I direct organizational leadership programs and executive coaching services, and recently launched a non-profit that takes an unconventional approach to supporting emerging community influencers.

If by any measure I am intelligent, disciplined, well-traveled, compassionate, and resilient, it is mostly due to my taking advantage of the brilliance that brilliant people shared with me. At my core, I am stubborn, hyperactive, and foolish. How did I get here? It’s through the grace of others who chose to connect with, occasionally guide, and even sometimes, love me.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth roads are only temporary for any human being.

I suffer from weekly bombardments of bright and big ideas, and the biggest struggle I always face is discerning which one to flame and which one to tame. Mostly, the obstacles I’ve encountered were ego-driven and self-imposed.

The most critical struggles I’ve encountered in my work as a leadership psychologist have to do with establishing mutual agreements with others that are authentic, realistic, and progressive. Many people really WANT to collaborate, but don’t have the emotional bandwidth for the process, nor the available time to do it well. I have struggled with over-committing to projects or possible work requests that weren’t viable or energizing from the start. If I could go back and undo things I said no to because I had said yes to the wrong things, I would. Perhaps I wouldn’t be as mindful about the process today, though—so my mistakes probably serve me well today.

Another struggle for me always has been not burning the candle at both ends. I feel like I’ll always be learning how to slow down, to simple-fy, to soothe myself from the costs of adulting. I think our culture esteems pedigree and perfectionism and toiling and never leaving money on the table. I struggle with being able to take naps, so I’m left to use my leftover daylight energy to filter out this nonsense.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I think I’m like everyone else you’ve featured here—I’ve witnessed tragedies (I graduated from Columbine High School in the 90s) and I’ve had my triumphs (I later graduated from Harvard, studying under impressive cognitive and learning psychologists).

 I am willing to admit I’m quirky at times, but eager to contribute.   You asked what I am known for: the truth is that only other people can provide you and your readers with an accurate response to this question. I think one thing about my work is that it makes me more prone to ask questions than give direct answers.

 What I am most proud of is my friendships. Those I didn’t earn, and those I committed to when there was no rational benefit to them. The ones that broke up and broke me open, and the ones that saved my spirit when I least expected it.

I specialize in group, team, or community optimization. I’ve always had a knack for being able to identify influencers before they knew they were powerful. My dissertation 20+ years ago involved establishing community indicators for boys who were at risk vs thriving, and then studying them, developing them, and supporting them. All these years, I still believe that the best ways to live involve disciplined interdependence and experimentation with new social paradigms.

The Executive Shaman focuses on enhancing elite leadership and the development of highly reliable cultures and teams. Most leaders or managers never get high-quality training or mentorship before they are expected to be responsible for other people’s choices. It’s a weight many cannot bear. In addition, many leaders and organizations can publicly pronounce or preach about being people-oriented and collaborating and handling conflicts and other DEI standards, but only a select group sustains commendable dynamics for long durations.

It’s too easy to be complacent these days. The teams and organizations that contract out a TES-led development program get high-powered, highly entertaining group coaching and change management training. We focus on engineering intrapreneurs, and ensuring ego management from seasoned organizational experts. The best part? It’s never dull and most people can’t help but laugh at themselves with us in the room.

What’s energizing me lately, however, is a newbie non-profit we are launching this autumn called Free Leadership, Inc. Instead of focusing on conventional solutions of culture development, which start at the top with key leaders in charge of the culture, our approach is unconventional. We are inciting change within individuals and populations at the neighborhood, and personal relationship level and are targeting grassroots, everyday people. We want to empower people who naturally like to help others or already are positioned as listeners, to be more effective influencers, leaders, mentors, and coaches.

We aim to improve their willingness and skill in collaborating and thinking systematically. Many do-gooders waste time recreating the wheel or doing everything in-house, by trial by fire, or by their own grit and personal creeds. They need an easy way and a plan to learn how to quickly coach others toward better health behaviors, how to talk about something in a way that garners engagement, who to join forces with (and who to avoid), and how to recycle/upcycle and share processes and resources.

A lot of folks in the Tampa Bay area care and then launch projects, step out as solopreneurs, or decide to join a board, become community or neighborhood advocates or start a non-profit without very little or no social or business support or mentoring at the start.

Why is it that elite executives perform better? One of the reasons is that they have accumulated “wealth” of a LOT of social support…not simply inherited money management habits. Free Leadership wants to build a bench of mentors and coaches and informed “friends” within specific neighborhoods and districts so that more people can access free, and high-quality social resources.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.freeleadership.org/
• Instagram: @drkrystalwhite
• Facebook: @freeleadershipinc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystal-white-phd-801179109
• Other: http://www.theexecutiveshaman.com