#239: She Fasted For 36 Days and This is What She Learned | Jaclyn Orent, Co-founder & CEO of the Cultural Catalyst Network™

EPISODE SUMMARY AND KEY TAKEAWAYSWhat does a 36-day water fast, a decade of rebuilding, and 60 years of change research have in common? They are all part of how Jaclyn Orent became one of the most uncommon leaders Bart has ever had on the show.Jaclyn is the co-founder and CEO of the Cultural Catalyst Network, the first infrastructure built for societal-level change, connecting leaders across organizations to create the kind of cultural shift none of them could pull off alone. She joins Bart live from Boulder, Colorado for a conversation that moves fast, goes deep, and does not stay in the comfort zone.They unpack the difference between leading from power and leading from force, why the leaders who have achieved the most are often the loneliest in the room, and what it actually takes to stop performing success and start becoming who you were built to be. Bart opens up about his own story, from panic attacks to a podcast in the top 2 to 5% globally, and Jaclyn reflects back what she hears in a way that reframes the whole journey.This episode is for the leaders who have done everything right and still feel like there is something left undiscovered.What You Will Walk Away WithPower vs. force is not just philosophy. It is a leadership system. The leaders who give to life produce results that grow over time. The leaders who take from life produce results that cost everyone around them. Jaclyn has spent seven years building a research-backed framework to help leaders move from one to the other.The loneliest leaders are often the most successful ones. When you reach a certain level, everyone around you needs something from you. Peers become rare. That isolation is not personal. It is structural. And it is a problem worth solving intentionally.Change happens through resonance, not information. Most organizations try to change culture by rolling out new strategies. But research from intentional change theory tells us that real change requires three things: shared vision, shared compassion, and shared energy. Without all three, the initiative stalls.Most people are comfortable. That is the whole problem. Jaclyn's fill-in-the-blank moment lands hard: most people do not take the level of risk required to find out who they really are. Even high achievers stop short of discovering the greatness still inside them.Transmutation is the real work. Bart shared his story of a botched surgery at 12, years of panic attacks, and the fear of losing control. Jaclyn named it clearly: he transmuted trauma into a platform for empowerment. That is not accidental. That is the work. And it is available to every leader willing to go there.It is easy to be. It is better to become. Bart's line, and it is the throughline of the whole conversation. Staying who you are is comfortable. Becoming who you are meant to be requires action, risk, and the willingness to keep launching off the bridge even when it does not make sense to anyone around you.Learn more about the Cultural Catalyst Network at culturalcatalystnetwork.com and connect with Jaclyn Orent on LinkedIn.