Ever wondered what makes someone truly relatable—both in life and leadership? In this energizing episode of the Marli Williams Podcast, I get to sit down with keynote speaker and author Rachel DeAlto, who’s spent a decade researching relatability and its impact on workplace culture, leadership styles, and human connection. Rachel unpacks her signature "Connect, Communicate, Inspire" framework, and together we explore the real difference between being likable and being relatable. Tune in to hear why authenticity and vulnerability are more important than ever in today’s age of artificial intelligence, why self-awareness is the ultimate leadership superpower, and what stops most leaders from letting their true selves shine through.

Get actionable inspiration to help foster cultures of connection, psychological safety, and purpose within your team—all while being more human. Ready to take your leadership and relationships to the next level?

About Rachel:

Rachel DeAlto is a communication & leadership expert and keynote speaker specializing in human connection & relatability. She is the author of “relatable: How to Connect with Anyone Anywhere (Even if It Scares You)” and “The Relatable Leader: Create a Culture of Connection.” Rachel maintains a law degree, a Master’s in psychology, and an influential social media presence where she shares psychological research updates and practical takeaways to connect and communicate more efficiently..

On a mission to connect people to their most powerful resource—each other—Rachel engages audiences of every size with tactical and practical tools to expand their emotional intelligence, empowering them to communicate more effectively and build stronger professional relationships and teams.

Learn more about Rachel and her refreshing relatability at racheldealto.com

Marli Williams is an international keynote speaker, master facilitator, and joy instigator who has worked with organizations such as Nike, United Way, Doordash, along with many colleges and schools across the United States. She first fell in love with transformational leadership as a camp counselor when she was 19 years old. After getting two degrees and 15 years of leadership training, Marli decided to give herself permission to be the “Professional Camp Counselor” she knew she was born to be. Now she helps incredible people and organizations stop waiting for permission and start taking bold action to be the leaders and changemakers they’ve always wanted to be through the power of play and cultivating joy everyday. She loves helping people go from stuck to STOKED and actually created her own deck of inspirational messages called StokeQuotes™ which was then followed by The Connect Deck™ to inspire more meaningful conversations. Her ultimate mission in the world is to help others say YES to themselves and their big crazy dreams (while having fun doing it!) To learn more about Marli’s work go to www.marliwilliams.com and follow her on Instagram @marliwilliams

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Have you ever wanted to be more relatable? Build cultures of connection with your team? Have better relationship with your friends and your family? Well, if so, you are in for a treat today because my guest, Rachel DeAlto has spent the past 10 years really studying and unpacking this concept, this idea of relatability, how to be a more relatable person, partner, and leader. She just came out with a new book called the Relatable Leader and is also the author of Relatability. So this week's podcast episode is not to be missed. Rachel is a powerhouse keynote speaker and author and she is here today to share some hot tips with all of you out there who want to be more relatable. Let's dive in. Hey, everyone, what's happening? I am super stoked to welcome you to the Marli Williams Podcast where we will explore authentic leadership, transformational facilitation, and how to create epic experiences for your audiences every single time. I am your host, Marli Williams, bringing you thought provoking insights, expert interviews, and actionable strategies to unlock your potential as a leader, facilitator, and speaker. Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth, transformation and impact.

Let's lead together. The Marli Williams Podcast begins now. Let's dive in. All right, everybody, I'd love to welcome you back to the Marli Williams Podcast where we are here today with a powerhouse keynote speaker, communication leadership expert and human connection specialist, Rachel DeAlto. Thank you for being here today.

Did I just use fear fingers?

I think I did fingers. And she just came out with a book called the Relatable Leader, wrote another book called Relatability, and that's what today is all about. How do we be more relatable in our life and our work and our leadership? So, Rachel, thank you so much for being here and welcome, welcome, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to have this conversation. I mean, we've talked in real life, but I feel like having this conversation right here is just such a perfect amplifier.

I know. I mean, that's like my favorite part about having a podcast is like, I get to have really cool conversations with amazing humans that other people get to benefit from. It's like such a win, win. I feel like for everybody, the thing that I think I love about leadership is there's always things to learn, there's always room for improvement. And this invitation for everybody listening today is like, how can I do it even better than I'm already doing it? And just these small tweaks and mindsets and having some Tools and frameworks and ways of seeing something maybe you didn't see before. Right. So I'd love for you to just kick things off with a little bit of, like, your story, your journey, and, like, what brought you to, you know, as keynote speakers. It's like you have to, like, figure out, like, what is the thing that you came here to say? Right? That's what they say.

Like, what did you come here to say? How did you choose relatability as the thing that you're like, this is my jam, and I want to see all over the world about this. As much time as you want. Rachel, how far back do we go?

Be like, well, in the second grade. You know, it's a funny thing. It actually started, and this is going to sound really hilarious. It started from a reality television show. So I was one of the experts on merit at first sight for a couple of the seasons. So season four and five, I think it's on, like, season 20,000 at this point. So this is years and years ago. This is, like, 10 years ago.

Side note, someone just, like, commented on one of my posts and was criticizing something I did on one of the episodes from 10 years ago. And I was like, people, we need to move on.

Wow. Way too much time.

Really, really attached. But, yeah, so I was on this show, and after season five, I left, and I kept getting all of these messages from people. And, you know, it was back when Twitter was alive and people were on Twitter and they're on Facebook and they're sending me messages on Instagram and all of these other areas of trying to reach me saying the same thing. And it was like, why did you leave? You were such a relatable expert. And I'd never really thought about the word before, and so I wanted to understand why did they feel connected to me? And so I really kind of ran with the word because I thought it was if I'm being defined as this, and I'm taking it as a compliment. So, like, I like it. I want to understand what it means. And so I started to research it.

And the deeper I went into the research, the more that I was intrigued by it and then trying to understand how to help other people, because I didn't think it was innate. Like, sometimes we talk about charisma or some people have just like that, that little sparkle or whatever it is that's very innate. It's very much a part of their soul, their makeup, their humanity. But I always believed that relatability was something that people could learn, even if you're super introverted or you're socially anxious. And so that's really where this all came from was people labeled it. And I was thinking, well, that's really cool, but what does that look like at a bigger scale? And so that's what I've been studying for the last 10 years is really, what does it mean and how can we be it? And then like you mentioned, the leadership book came out of that iteration of, okay, we can be relatable to each other on a person to person level, but our team leaders need to be more relatable than ever, especially in the age of AI.

I think that's, that's so true. Right. When we think about AI, I like to say, you know, there's artificial intelligence and there's authentic intelligence. Right. This idea of like, how can I. Human to human relatability and how important that is both in our, in our life, in our relationships and in our leadership and in how we're connecting to our teams and how we're creating those cultures of connection, like you say. And I just think it's like such an invaluable skill to have and I'm excited for us to like, get to dive into, like, you know, what does it mean to be relatable? What are some of the things like the pitfalls or the things that stop us or get in the way? And I appreciate what you said, like, these are all things that we can learn.

And I think that you're right. Some people think like, you're kind of like either born with it or not. Like, you either have confidence or not, or you have that spark or that charisma or you don't. Right. And so I think seeing it as a way that we can enhance our ability to connect and to lead and to serve. And I think it's really neat when our. It's like, it's easy as keynote speakers to be like, what's my thing? What's my thing? What's my message? And sometimes our message and our thing finds us as like people being that mirror for you of like, wow, you were such a relatable expert and a relatable leader. And you know, it's like. And then almost like peeling back the onion of like, well, what did I do?

What the heck does that mean?

Yeah. And like diving in and figuring out like, so, so what is relatability? Where do we start?

Yeah. So for both leadership and person, it's a person to person relationships. I think it's similar but different. It's nuanced for leadership Obviously. But when I was really looking at relatability from person to person, I always used a framework of connect, communicate, inspire. And I do the same thing for leadership. It's just some of the aspects are different. It's how do I build that authentic conn, how do I build trust, allow that person to feel trust in me.

Because relatability is really being able to see yourself in another person, feel seen by them. You know, really that mutual energy versus likability, which is you could like a lot of people, but there's a huge difference between liking someone and relating to them. I can like someone on a one way street, but relatability is a two way exchange. And so I use those frameworks to kind of shape it. And talking about communication and how we communicate and then really just being this lighthouse of an individual that draws people in is really how I've seen relatability define itself over time. Like you said, I didn't even pick it. And so, yeah, I didn't choose a definition. Yeah, I was like, I didn't have a definition for it.

I had to learn that. And you know, I always say I don't believe in sample sizes of 1. So this is how I do it is not the answer. And so it was really from looking at the research and trying to understand it from like a larger, broader scope.

And I think that's such an important distinction, like the difference between someone being likable and relatable and building that, the trust and that rapport and that initial. So I'm here, it's connect, communicate, inspire. So when it comes to that connection piece and building that relatability moment, what are some of the tools or tips or ways that you help people build that initial connection beyond the likability into the relatability space.

So when I was transitioning from relatable as a more personal concept to the leadership concept, I wanted to understand what does that mean from a leadership perspective. And so I did a whole other study on that and did some proprietary work. And really what I found for that connect piece was it sounds so simple. And as I say it out loud, I was like, well, you could just skip those chapters. It's our humanity, it's showing ourselves and it's authenticity defined within the context of being a human being that actually shows their human sides. And one of the things that I oftentimes have leaders do is just really take a look at the words you say, whether you're writing them, whether you're speaking them, whether you're presenting them, and where Are you in them? You know, and that's where, you know, I mentioned AI before, and I don't talk about AI a lot, but I feel like it's just on my heart recently where I'm sure you've received them. You get an email and you think, wow, there's definitely not a chance a real person wrote this. All the fun is sucked out of it.

And so sometimes it's really just putting in the flavors of you back into how you show up. Because what we found, I think, was over 73% of people were saying that our leaders are following an outdated model, lacking in humanity. So that means that even, probably even before the AI surge happened, it's something that people were preventing themselves from showing to one another because they thought they had to be perfect or had some sort of modelized version of what a leader is. When our team's really just saying, I want somebody real.

Yeah, right. And how hungry we are for that, especially as AI amps up, which is, it's going to continue to be here. It's like not going anywhere. Like how invaluable and irreplaceable our humanity is. And I think that there's a piece here when it comes to leadership. Like, leadership is an inside job, meaning that connection, that relatability, that humanity piece. And like this, like, how can I bring myself to the work requires a level of self awareness of like, I know who I am, I know my maybe idiosyncrasies or my quirks or my. And I can, you know, dance with those.

I can own them. I can play in that playground and not have this again. It's like this old model where a leader has to have all the answers and they have to be perfect. And the tie has to be straight or the dress or skirt or whatever has to be perfect. And this, like, this perfect, polished version isn't what people want anymore because we're all just humans, you know, connecting to other humans. And we're going to be way more, you know, feel more connected and feel more. I would imagine there's an element of psychological safety that comes into play here where it's like, oh, if they aren't perfect, maybe I don't have to be perfect. And like, we're all on the same team and we're all just here doing the work together, you know?

Yeah, that was one of the biggest things, is that when you talk about psychological safety, it's humanizing mistakes, humanizing growth, humanizing not having all of the answers. And all of the research kept pointing to it was some of the biggest flaws of leaders was that they don't do that. And I also think in terms of mistakes, I think there's certain times where you have to kind of temper that because you don't want to lose trust in your competence. But at the same time, that's such a part of things is allowing people to feel safe enough to potentially make a mistake when the innovation could be, you know, the reward from that could be far exceeding what the mistake is. And so that's where I feel like we are running towards a need for this more than ever because of how put in a box so many feel.

What are the challenges when it comes to leaders feeling like they can bring their full self to the table, Right. And that it's that dance, right? It's like, maybe I don't want to like, air all of my dirty laundry, right? It's like authenticity isn't necessarily like, here's everything that's quote unquote wrong with me. Or, you know, it's like revealing too much, but it's also not hiding who you are. I feel like there is a balance and there is a dance. What do you think gets in the, in leaders way or people's way when it comes to like bringing like that authenticity and being relatable and bringing their humanity to their work? In the research or like, what did you find? Or what did the like leader say was like, I can't be this or do that, or then people aren't going to what you just said, they're not going to trust me, right? This fear of I'm going to like lose trust in the people that quote, unquote, like, look to me for this, like leadership or guidance.

It's the fear of trust being lost or the fear of not being respected. That slippery slope where they think that if they start acting too real, if they start acting too human, then they think they're friends versus colleagues or that leader individual relationship. And that's where people get stuck because they think that they can't put boundaries on that. And like you said before, you're not expressing everything. This isn't sharing all parts of you. No one deserves all parts of you unless it's an intimate relationship where they've gotten to that level. But it's some parts of you. And that's where I think there's so many nuances in it that at times it can feel overwhelming.

They're like, well, forget it then. I'm just going to be buttoned up and professional because it's too Complicated, but it's really not. I think, of. If you want to be a great leader, think of the person that shows up to the cocktail hour of a wedding. You know, you're probably feeling pretty personable. You're not telling them your life story. Maybe you're talking about your dogs. Maybe, you know, there's elements that come out in those kind of environments that are completely appropriate for your workplace as well.

And yet we even tune that out. I think there's so many people that will actually filter out anything that they would say in that kind of environment. But it really is. It's figuring out what those levels are. To look at yourself in other elements of your life and think, well, how do I show up here where I'm not looking to let everything loose, but I am looking to connect with people? How do you act in those situations?

Yeah, I think that's so interesting. Right? And to me, the interesting piece is, I think the fear of losing that trust is, I think the ultimate result of you bringing that humanity to the table is that you build trust and you build that. The know, like. And trust factor. It's like, I know who you are. You're letting me in a little bit to your world. I like who you are. So there's like, you know, the likability piece is a part of the puzzle.

It's not the whole thing. And then it's like, and I trust you. I trust you because you're real when people aren't. It's like, you can be perfect and polished, and you're like. You get kind of a weird. Like, I don't really know if I can trust them because it seems like they're not being honest. Right. So it's like, I think that the fear of losing the trust, I think the opposite happens when we kind of are able to bring that.

And I think it's really interesting how so many people that I guess I've met in leadership that those boundaries are kind of different for everybody. And there are people that I've met, they're like, well, I'm this way at work, and I'm this way with my kids, and I'm this way with my family, and I'm this way with my partner, and I'm this way when I go work out, whatever, or play pickleball. You know, there's, like, different parts of you that come out. And. And it's interesting to me because if you were to interview, like, a person from each of those areas of my life and said, like, can you describe Marli as A leader or something like that. I would imagine all of those people would say very, very similar things. And it's like this, like I'm just bringing me kind of to everywhere I go. But like, that's also taken a lot of intentional work to like, again, that self awareness part of like, okay, I know who I am, I know how I show up.

I know I'm able to read the room and dance with the energy and know like what's enough and what's not, you know, because it is a dance. Right, like you said.

Yeah, you just hit the nail on the head. I think intentionality is what you just said. Self awareness obviously is a huge, huge aspect of leadership. Or just being a human in general. And connecting.

Yes, intentionality, oh my gosh.

But our intentionality can change every situation, every connection. So when there is a leader that feels overwhelmed with the thought of being a little bit more authentic or being a little bit more relatable or connecting to their teams in a different way, get intentional about it. Have an actual thought process of how you want to show up instead of just saying, I want to be more relatable, I want to connect better. What does that mean? Of course you're going to be curious about the boundaries or concerned about them because they don't exist. So how do you set that intention? And I say it's a new ROI, It's a return on intention, and it's figuring out what I want to show up as in every situation. If you're not used to being a little bit more relatable or being a little bit more human in your interactions, set an intention before a call or before a meeting. Don't just say, I'm going to be in general and expect it all to fall into place, but be intentional for all of those small pieces of your life and then they turn into those big aspects and more broad strokes.

Yeah, I love that so much. And I think, you know, it's both you disclosing about yourself, but it's also that relatability part is connecting with your team, with your people and getting to know them. What are their passions, hobbies, interests? Do you know their family? Do they have a partner? Do they have kids? Like, what are the things that you can connect about, you know, travel or books that you have read. Right. Like, it's not just a one, like you said, it's not a one way conversation, it's a two way interaction. Dr. Jodi Carrington, who I was just on her podcast, who I love, she's like the funniest person alive.

But she has this line where she's. It's hard to hate people up close. And I love this invitation and building this connection piece. And the relatability is like, am I asking in good and interesting questions? Because it's easier to relate to someone if you know them.

There's no one you wouldn't love if you knew their story. So it's kind of the premise of, remember New York Times, they published those 36 questions to fall in love. I think it was 36. And if you actually read the questions, they can be very much platonic. You know, the majority of them are very much platonic. And they can be utilized in any situation of really just getting to know people and being curious about what makes them tick. And that's a huge part. That's actually the premise of the whole communicate section of relatability is having that curiosity.

It's communicating with an intention to understand. And so getting curious about the people around you. And. And that again is something that I find a lot of leadership is focused on the one way street. And there's not a whole. Yeah, like I'm directing, I am giving a directive. I am. It's more authoritarian versus having, you know, a more reciprocity environment.

And the best situations that I have witnessed and been a part of experience myself have always been that two way street where you're asking questions, you're learning about the person, you're trying to understand them, you're showing them that you care enough about them to be curious about them.

Yeah, I love what we're shifting into, the communication.

Yeah. We just naturally got there. I was like, perfect. Way to go, Marli.

It's a transition. I'm here for it. Right. And this like leaning in with that curiosity piece, it's like I love your history with like the marriage. What was it? Love it.

Married at first sight.

Married at first sight. Married at first sight. Which is such a wild show, by the way. I, like was going to comment on it and I'm like, this is actually nuts.

First of all, very much insane. Yeah, very much.

Like, what's crazier? Love is blind or married at first sight? I don't know.

Definitely married at first sight. Because at least love is blind. They're making the decisions.

You're making the decisions, someone's making the decision for you. That is just like wild. But when we think about like this idea of communication, relatability, going on dates, getting to know someone in the, in your personal relationships, again, it's not Just a one way conversation. And if it were, that would be the first and last date by exactly.

Think about like a bad date that you went on where you're like I don't think they asked me a single question. You're like I never want to see this person again. Well, what's the difference if your leader does the same thing? You're just there to, to look at.

And I feel like everyone wants to feel like they have a contribution like there to contribute their knowledge, wisdom, experience, ideas. Otherwise they would just like be working for someone that didn't care about that. But it's like do I care about that enough to like invite them into the conversation, ask more interesting questions? Right. So what else around the communication piece? So we're talking about curiosity, engaging in that like that two way dialogue. What else can leaders do when it comes to enhancing their communication with their teams that really kind of elevate that culture of connection that you've seen.

And obviously communication is a huge aspect. And I think the stat that I recently read was 86% of all workplace issues are due to poor communication, which does not surprise me at all. And communicates clearly was the top three trait when I did my research study that our teams were looking for. They want someone who can communicate clearly. And that's where I believe leaders get a little caught up. Because communication is one thing, but comprehension is another. And so you could say whatever you think you wanted to say. You could say it in an email, you could say it in a zoom, you could say it in a text message, on a slack message, whatever it is.

But if your person at the end of that message is not understanding what you mean by it, it's a fail. And we communicate based on our own perception, our own experiences, our own knowledge. Everything around our communication is built from a very self centered perspective. And so the biggest thing that I see for leaders really needing to shift is how does this land versus what do I want to say that's so good that shift?

How does this land versus what do I want to say is such a different place to communicate from? And like how do I communicate this in a way that people are going to get it, understand it, know what to do, is there a clear call to action? Right. Sometimes you get a correspond, you know, an email, what am I supposed to do with this?

Yeah and it's figuring out like how can I condense this and this also how can I alter this for the different audiences. Sometimes you have one team that maybe it's all Gen Zs and God forbid you write K as a text message. They think that you're mad at them. That's my daughter. She's like, you didn't say kk And I was like, I am so sorry.

Interpretation. Yeah.

So it's all that comprehension changes. So figuring out who your avatars are, you know, and if you are speaking to an, you know, a larger mass of people, it's how do I make sure that it's as inclusive as possible so that it does reach as many people as possible and then asking the follow ups to make sure that they do understand it. Because again, when we're speaking from a megaphone with no dialogue, it's the highest likelihood of having confusion.

Yeah. And what's the best method for communication based on what you're communicating?

Sure.

And the person. Is it an email? Is it an in person meeting? Is it an all hands on deck? Right. Like what to communicate when and what's the best way, like kind of methodology to communicate that? Right. It's like the meetings, people just joke like this could have been an email. Right. Or an email that's like this should maybe be a larger, bigger conversation, you know, and not just like especially I think navigating change and challenge, which is one of the things that I talk about is like how do we co create with our teams and like to invite them in, to have them be a part of like if things are changing or shifting like that they in some way shape or form get to have a say and. Or it's clear on why that change or shift is happening. So often what I hear is like, this is just the way that it is now.

Kind of just deal with it. And you're like, why is it that way? Or like what happened? And there's that dance of like how transparent can you be? And sometimes you're the one that's just having to deliver the message. You didn't maybe make the decision. Yeah. How to get everybody to remind everybody that you're like playing on the same team sometimes versus it's like, oh, it's like leadership versus management versus the people and really building that culture of connection and how communication is just such a key piece of that puzzle. Like am I clearly communicating based on not just me knowing, thinking that I did, but like actually asking my team, how did that land for you? Does that make sense? Do you need any clarification? Right. Like making sure that you're following up. Right.

Yep, a hundred percent. And that intentionality goes hand in hand with all of that. Is so often we are Just shooting the email out or picking up the phone, having no understanding of what we're going to be saying when they pick up on the other line or asking for the zoom meeting without having that intentionality of like, what is the North Star of this? What is the purpose of this communication? I use this in my book and many of my keynotes. I talk about the who, how, why before you have any communication of substance. Honestly, even if it's lacking substance, practice it out, see if it works. But it's the who is the person behind the screen or in front of me, how is that being deployed? Which is what you just said is, you know, figuring out, is this best of an in person or an email message or is it a phone call? And the why is that North Star? Why are we doing this? What is the purpose behind this? And let that guide you so that you're actually formulating things in a way that makes sense and people can actually retain.

Yeah. And I think that that why is so important to again, continuing to establish that rapport and that trust with people. Right. So that they understand what's happening, how it's happening, why it's happening. And you keep everybody on board.

Yes, that's the goal.

That is the goal.

Our engagement rates would show otherwise.

Speaking of engagement, the last piece of this puzzle is to inspire. Yes. So when it comes to relatability, I mean, and I'm here for the inspiration. So how can leaders inspire their teams? And like, what are some of the challenges that you saw or heard from leaders around this piece of wanting people to feel like, yeah, engage and empowered and motivated and like, you know, it.

Was the two areas of inspire was our motivation, but also that level of purpose and really connecting the dots. So we found research wasn't surprising. It was around 80% of people feel like they are more connected to their work when they understand the mission or purpose of the organization. And so it is that back to a start with why kind of conversation that needs to be reminded. But it's also in the minutiae that it's so important I tell this story where I think it was 1962, JFK is walking through NASA for the first time, their offices. And there was a janitor sweeping. And he stopped and he introduced himself and he said, what do you do here? And the janitor said, I send men to the moon. And I think it's such a beautiful representation of whatever broom you're holding.

It's connected to something bigger. But it's our jobs as leaders. And 30% of leaders are actually good at that, which means that 70% of people aren't connecting the dots. And if you don't connect the dots, it can be difficult in some organizations to figure out, okay, what do we do? I was speaking to someone in the. They were in the foreclosure industry, and obviously that's a. It's a rough industry to really find kind of the positive aspects of what they were doing, obviously foreclosing on homes. And, you know, when we were talking about this, because they brought up the question of saying, well, you know, how do we connect those dots for people when there's some negativity attached to it? And I said, well, the stability of our housing market relies on you. If you don't exist, if this doesn't happen, the economic outlook of our mortgage industry, of our housing industry is gone.

And so even though there's elements of it that didn't quite make sense, if you work for some beautiful organization that has these amazing missions and goals, it's really easy. Think of shelters. Be like, we're helping dogs find homes. There's nothing more heartwarming. I cry at every video. But there are times, and I'm sure there's people who are listening, like, how do I make this feel like it's a part of something bigger? You have to look up, like, you have to look beyond, and you have to be willing to say to all the people on your team, this is why what you do matters. Because if what they do doesn't matter, and especially as our workforce gets younger and more in tune to the importance of this, this is not going away. So you could, you could try to ignore it, but guess what? That Gen Z that's eventually going to be a leader will or already could be a leader.

At this point, I feel like Gen Z's getting, you know, getting up there. It's always going to be at the forefront.

Yeah, 100%. And helping people tap into that and reminding them of that, you know, as a leader, to create the energy and the engagement. And I think everybody, I think, has a desire to do work that feels meaningful and purposeful, whether they know it or not. I think that that is what creates that engagement and it helps people be more effective and more productive and like, enjoy their work to stay longer. Right. We know, like, retention rates at companies and organizations, like, it is way easier and way less expensive to keep really good people than to find new people. Right. And there's a book that I absolutely love.

It's called the Dream Manager. I don't know if you've heard of it, it's like a fake story about a janitorial company, right? Speaking of, like, being a janitor, it's like, okay, you can have this, like, the lowest job. You clean toilets for a living. They hired this position at the company that was called the dream manager. Anybody could meet with them. It was optional. And they just sat down like, what's your dream? And it was like, sending my kid to college or buying my wife a car or whatever. It was buying my first home.

And really what it was, like, a financial advisor, where they would just set aside money from their paycheck and then let them know,

You can do this now.

You can do this now. But this idea of, like, are we seeing our people? And, like, seeing that, you know, it's the meaning and purpose within the company, but also, how is this job helping them, like, live out their goals or their dreams? You know, it's both, like, what's the goal and the dream and the vision for the company? But also, like, yeah, like, what are you working on outside of work? Because we know when people have, like, meaning and purpose even outside of work, or they're volunteering or, like, they're, you know, on their school board for their kids, whatever. And you support that, that they're more likely to be engaged at work, too? Because we all are looking for meaning and purpose, and, like, maybe it's in our work and maybe it's outside of our work, and hopefully it's both. But I love that book, just for that example of, like, how do we, as relatable leaders, like, inspire our teams and help them feel seen and engaged and, like, they matter and not like, they're just replaceable. Go. We could just find someone else to do this, right? Everyone wants to feel like they matter.

100% I love that mattering has become this movement. I feel like in the last probably five years, I've heard the word mattering and matter so much more. And it brings me so much joy, because I think that's really at the heart of really bringing us back together is understanding we aren't cogs in a machine. It isn't human capital. You know, we're humans that are looking to have meaning in our life. And I do believe it can be very coexistent between what your personal meaning is and what your professional meaning is. And they can work both for each other. And, my gosh, if you can get them both aligned, how incredible is that? And that's someone you'll never lose.

Yeah, 100% and I love that, you know, the Simon Sinek TED Talk of how great leaders inspire action, right? And they talk about, people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And that why is that thing that can drive people to, like, give their heart and their soul and, like, really show up for the work because they feel like they're contributing to something that really does matter to their community, to their team, to their company, to the organization, to the world. Right? And it's like, if you don't know what it is, like, I love that idea of, like, kind of go bigger. Why does this matter in, like, this bigger, bigger picture? Because I think when. Sometimes when we get lost in feeling isolated in our role, right? Like that janitor at NASA could just say, I clean the floors and I clean the toilets versus this. Like, oh, I'm connected to something bigger. It's like I'm sending people to the moon. And I've heard similar things about, you know, people that work in hospital.

It's like, what are we making what we do mean? It's like, oh, like the hospital workers that clean the beds. And it's like, I help save people's lives or whatever it is that they feel like, what is their contribution to this big, huge organization or organism? Right? It's like. And they have the sense of meaning and purpose. Yeah. Much more likely to stick around. I love that.

That's the goal.

That's the goal, baby. So we have connect.

Yes.

Communicate and inspire.

Everybody's done and we're done.

We got it. We're doing it right now. And again, like I said at the beginning, I think this invitation of, like, where can I make a 1 degree shift? Where can I elevate my capacity to connect with people? Am I communicating clearly? Am I connecting people to a bigger why? Right? And like, really taking some of the things that we shared here today and inspiring, communicating, Connecting in an even better way. So, Rachel, what final, like, words of wisdom would you give to our people out there listening around relatability? What do you want to leave people with? And then where can people find you? Learn more about you. Read your book, all the Good Things.

Yeah, I'd love to just piggyback on what you were just saying is as the one thing I would take away is it doesn't have to be everything at once. I love the 80-20 rule. It's one of my favorites. 80% of your output is from 20% of your input. So you don't have to do everything. Choose one thing. Maybe there's one thing you heard today, you thought, okay, I could really work on that. I could be intentional about that and let that run, let that run for months and then go to the next idea versus there's so often.

That's why I wrote the book as a manual encyclopedia, if you will, where you can pick it up. You could pick up a chapter and say, okay, I'm going to focus on chapter eight right now and that's it. I'll read the rest of it later. And that would be my goal is I think oftentimes I know a lot of leaders have the best intentions and the road to what was it? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I don't know.

Yes, I think that's the one.

Yeah, it's a little dark, but it's the truth. It's like intentions can only get you so far, but what are you capable of executing, especially with probably small amount of time? So that would be my one thing to focus on. But. And do that one well, but Rachel DeAlto, quite literally everywhere, everywhere on social media and books are everywhere, books are sold.

I love it. So relatability, you know, personal life, relationship vibes, and then the relatable leader for those in the leadership world who want to elevate your ability to serve and just like a more human kind of way.

Damon.

Amen. Amen.

Well, I was like I had spirit fingers, I had snaps and Amen.

Spirit fingers. We got snaps. We got all the things. Well, Rachel, I am so, so grateful that you have taken the time to hang out with us today to share your framework, your work in the world, your book. I'm so excited for all of the leaders out there and I love the way that you've organized the book where it's like I can just take one piece at a time, right? Because one of the things I love to say is if information doesn't change our lives, it's the implementation of that information that will. So how will you take one golden nugget from our conversation today, Pick up the book, read a chapter, work on that one thing, and those small 1 degree shifts are the things that are actually going to be make big changes and big shifts in your life. So thank you, thank you, thank you for being here. Thanks everybody out there for listening.

If you love this, liked it, rate it, review it, share with a friend, spread the love. Let's be more relatable, shall we? Until next time, take care. Thank you for joining us on another inspiring episode of the Marli Williams Podcast. We hope you're leaving here with renewed energy and valuable insights to fuel your leadership, coaching and speaking endeavors. I'd love to invite you to subscribe, rate and review this podcast to help us reach more aspiring leaders and speakers like you. We have more exciting episodes and remarkable guests lined up, so make sure to tune in next time. Until then, keep leading with purpose, coaching with heart, and speaking with conviction. This is Marli Williams signing off.

See you next week.