“The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your emotions.” - Jason Wilson

Jason Wilson might be one of the top 10 leaders in the world. To say Jason Wilson is a transformational leader would be woefully understating his impact. Through his non-profit The Yunion he is truly transforming lives. 

At STC we call a leader of this caliber a “Broker.” 

In business, a broker arranges a deal. They serve as an intermediary or “middleman” between two sides. They arrange deals. The types of deals Jason Wilson is arranging may not move the needle on his own personal monetary net worth, but the arranged deals he brokers have the highest ROI for the recipients. Most brokers profit greatly from the deals they arrange. For a Broker leader it is no different. 

Jason Wilson is serving as a middle man between at risk adolescents and a truly life-changing experience. It is through this arrangement that he has successfully built up over 15,000 youth and young adults in metro Detroit through culturally relevant, and innovative programs since the beginning of his non-profit work in 2008. 

He’s a leader of the highest order. A true transformational change agent in some of the darkest places. From the inner city streets of Detroit he is building up young men before they become truly broken. He is the CEO of The Yunion and director of The Cave of Adullum, a martial arts and emotional stability academy for adolescent boys. He is a broker, arranging a transformational life changing experience for the boys in his academy under the sound of his voice.

We could list more of his rap sheet of accomplishments, but instead we’re going to study HOW he is leading in such a powerful way.

The truth is, he wasn’t always at this “Broker” level of leadership. He may be transforming lives now and helping adolescent boys win on the inside and in life, but for decades before this transformational work began he had to transform himself on the inside, in his own life. 

How To Be Transformational

“When a man cannot introspectively confront his negative thoughts and emotions, he will always be conquered by them, communicating without composure and hurting those he loves.” - Jason Wilson

For years we’ve been studying the domain of transformational leadership. Much research has been done on the art of transformational leadership. Workshops have been led, books have been sold, we all can probably recall a transformational leader or two in our lives. The world admires transformational leaders. We all love the idea of transformational leadership, and even strive to be a transformational leader on our best days. 

But with all the resources out there on transformational leadership. All of the academic literature, the pages and pages of transformational leadership articles and case studies written, few are able to actually teach someone HOW to be a transformational leader. 

The wisdom from the life of Jason Wilson can provide even more pieces of the puzzle on how to actually become a transformational leader. 

For years, Jason suffered from what he called “emotional incarceration.” The inability to successfully process and show his emotions. This led to suppressing all kinds of emotions and ultimately hurting those around him due to his detachment to his thoughts and feelings. 

Trauma, loss, and the insatiable desire to portray himself as a tough, fearless leader, and man led Jason to live day after day in a lifestyle that portrayed strength on the outside, but rarely felt strong on the inside. Transformational leadership is about what is going on on the inside of a leader far more than what is stated and aspired to on the outside.

Eventually this led to emotional outbreaks, physical violence, damaged relationships with his wife and family. Jason was living shadow mission after shadow mission as a musician and business owner in Detroit. While he may have had success, he wasn’t leading anywhere near the level he aspired to, and was a far cry from the transformational leader we see today. 

We’ve often written at STC, about the relationship between a leader’s capacity and the lifestyle they are living. Leadership is the overflow of lifestyle. 

Simply put, you can’t lead at a level that you aren’t living at. 

If we’re going to learn how to be a transformational leader we must ingrain in our hearts and minds the reality that - leadership is the overflow of lifestyle. 

No matter how much we desire to lead in a transformational way, if we are conquered by our negative thoughts and emotions we won’t be able to show up to our environments in the way often attributed to transformational leaders or “brokers” like Jason Wilson.

Leadership philosophy formation is important, but only takes us so far. Core values are necessary but when the stress of life comes - it won’t be the core values from the notebook that will shine, it will be the mental, emotional, and spiritual state we live in. What is inside our core will be on full display more than our aspirational core values.

How often are you asking what is happening in your life at a mental, emotional and spiritual level? Even the most introspective among us have a really hard time dialing in the awareness to really know that status of our internal state and how it might be negatively impacting the way we show up to the world around us. 

As we go through life, different experiences can have a profound impact on how we live. This is especially true when it comes to emotional or spiritual trauma. 

A betrayal of a close friend. Job loss or financial hardship. A failed relationship. Hopes and dreams that never came to pass. There are all kinds of experiences felt on an emotional and spiritual level that we can easily be swept under the rug and ignored.

At the surface they are no longer a problem, for us at least. But the reality is, what is swept under the rug from unpleasant experiences shows up in how we relate to others, treat ourselves, and most importantly how we lean into true rest and peace - from the inside-out.

Unresolved emotional issues will always overflow out of our lives and into the people we lead and do life with. Overflow of lifestyle. 

That’s what makes Jason Wilson one of the most transformative leaders in the world. He didn’t just snap his fingers and launch an academy for adolescent boys. Long before the doors of his non-profit were open, he opened the doors of his emotional instability and began to regain a stronghold on what was happening on the inside. 

Through his non-profit work he is training others on his newfound blueprint.  It’s not just that what he is doing is sacrificial and others centric, it is HOW he has waged an introspective war on the inside that has put him in a posture to be of the most on purpose service of others.

What is in him, is overflowing out of his life and it’s impacting those around him. The truth is it’s available for all of us, but it comes at a steep cost. One that Jason has paid the price for and continues to train to reap the full benefits of. 

The secret to Jason Wilson’s approach to transformational leadership may be that he is living life in a flourishing state, and he is doing so by way of winning the introspective war.

Winning The Introspective War

“It is imperative that we learn how to wage and win the introspective war. We need to examine our own mental and emotional states so we can release emotional pain and trauma before we inflict them on others.”  - Jason Wilson

In 1994, The Polyvagal Theory was introduced by Dr. Stephen Porges. This psychological construct submits that our autonomic nervous system has a large impact on our emotion regulation, social connection, and fear response.

Emotion regulation, social connection, and fear response.

All critical components on how we live and lead. 

The Polyvagal Theory submits that our nervous system response limits the range of behavioral responses in certain situations. 

Essentially, the view is that the body has certain preferences for certain behaviors when it is in certain states. If in a heightened anxiety state, our body tenses up, our focus narrows, and we may not fully appreciate our surroundings or behave in the desired way. If in an internal relaxed state, we’re more open, generous, understanding, curious and show up in a way more fitting manner to the role of leadership.

Heightened anxiety state - Tense, defensive, on edge

Internally relaxed state - Open, generous, understanding

A flourishing state

So how does a leader learn to live in an internally relaxed state? That sounds like something only reserved for a summer vacation on the beach. 

In his emotional stability training Jason puts it this way:

“When our brains are stuck in this physiological response, emotional intimacy and vulnerability can feel like a threat, resulting in relational conflict and coercing us to live from our fears instead of our hearts.” 

Enter the Polyvagal Theory and its impact on winning the introspective war. 

The Polyvagal Theory places a heavy emphasis on the vagus nerve that helps link our brain and our body. The brain-body connection is central to living in a flourishing state.

The research on the Polyvagal Theory has led to all kinds of exercises that help us regulate our internal state. The truth is, all of us have to learn to be more mindful of our mental, emotional and spiritual states. If you’re not getting the social and leadership outcomes you want, chances are the mental, emotional, and spiritual states are impacting this.

That is what makes Jason Wilson such a powerful leader. Through his work, he is cutting to the core of emotional regulation. He has developed attunement with his internal states and has learned to regulate, not just be a victim to what is happening on the inside. 

“Staying free would require me to grapple with the toxic thought patterns and emotions that kept my brain in a fight-or-flight response.”

And in doing so, he leads from a flourishing state.

Living Life In a Flourishing State

If Jason Wilson is truly one of the top 10 leaders in the world, How does he live so impactful? If he is the benchmark for transformational leadership what has propelled him to leadership heights many are striving for?

Jason Wilson is one of the best leaders in the world because he has learned to wage war on the inside. He has mastery over his emotional state and is doing so regularly. 

The overflow of how he is living has propelled his leadership to heights he only dreamed possible decades ago.

This challenges the common notion and theories around transformational leadership. For years many have admired transformational leaders but often held views that believed that style of leadership was just reserved for a few rare individuals. “They’re such a natural leader.”

We’ve made transformational leadership into something unattainable. No one disputes the impact of a transformational leader in teams, but silently we all dispute how attainable it actually is for us all.

The truth is, Jason Wilson shows us that it is far more attainable than we originally thought. 

How we’re living on the inside will dictate our capacity on the outside.

But if we’re ever going to lead at the level we are capable of, we must get serious about waging the introspective war on the inside.

A leader must not only become very aware of their internal state, but learn the rhythms of altering and displaying dominion over their emotions.

The quality of your leadership is determined by the quality of your emotions.

Leading from a flourishing state is our only shot at leading in a transformational way.