[ScaleX Bite-Size] Staying Calm: The Experience That Changed JL Holdsworth

Staying calm once felt unfamiliar to JL Holdsworth. In this clip from ScaleX Insider, he tells Brendan McGurgan how a four-day workshop in South Africa led to an unexpected change that his wife noticed in just four words.

JL had travelled there to improve his performance. Instead, he describes finding himself responding calmly to a conversation that would previously have triggered anger. That experience began an 11-year exploration of the relationship between his nervous system, internal state and behaviour.

For business leaders, his story raises a relatable question: how does the state you bring into a conversation affect the people around you?

Timestamps

00:00 The four-day workshop in South Africa

00:15 The phone call that revealed something had changed

00:50 Staying calm instead of reacting with anger

01:25 "My wife could feel the difference in four words"

01:55 The beginning of an 11-year exploration

02:40 Reflecting on his past violence and behaviour

03:30 JL's perspective on internal state and behaviour

04:00 "I haven't even thought about being in a fight in 11 years"