Most leaders don’t struggle with motivation—they struggle with clarity. In this episode, we break down why teams miss expectations even when goals seem “clear,” and how leaders unintentionally create confusion, overwhelm, and misalignment.

This conversation dives deep into the four root causes behind execution failure: unclear goals, vague expectations, unconfirmed commitment, and delayed accountability. You’ll learn practical leadership frameworks to replace assumption with alignment—without micromanaging or becoming reactive.

What You’ll Learn:
• Why silence and nodding are not signs of agreement
• How to set goals that actually drive results
• The four elements every clear expectation must include
• How to confirm understanding and commitment—before execution fails
• Why accountability should feel fair, predictable, and supportive

Key Takeaway:
Great leadership isn’t about saying things better—it’s about confirming they were understood.

FREE Resource Mentioned:
• Leadership Clarity Toolkit - DOWNLOAD

Call to Action:
Download the Leadership Clarity Toolkit and start leading with precision, confidence, and consistency.
Subscribe, follow, and share this episode with leaders who want fewer surprises and stronger execution.

Podcast Links:
🎧 Follow the Podcast
📺 YouTube – Shed the Corporate Bitch TV

Support the show

What does it take to shift from goal-driven leadership to identity-led leadership? In this episode, we sit down with Bianca D’Alessio — star of HBO Max’s Selling the Hamptons, top-ranked real estate broker, and author of Mastering Intentions: 10 Practices to Amplify Power and Lead with Lasting Impact.

Bianca shares why ambition isn’t the enemy — misalignment is, and how setting intentions (not just goals) transforms your confidence, leadership style, relationships, and long-term success.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro: Goal-driven vs identity-led leadership
01:15 Why Bianca felt successful… but not aligned
03:10 The real shift: “Who am I becoming?”
05:00 Reframing failure into growth + resilience
06:20 Why Bianca seeks failure (and what it unlocks)
07:45 Perfectionism kills creativity + connection
08:30 Leading with vulnerability vs being “stoic”
09:20 How to know you’ve hit a growth ceiling
11:00 Work identity vs personal identity (and why it causes crisis)
12:10 “If you don’t want to be a people person… don’t be a manager.”
13:40 Mastering Intentions: transformation starts with self-awareness
15:40 Bianca’s family intervention moment (rock bottom clarity)
19:45 Teamship: why life and leadership aren’t solo sports
23:10 Stop trying to be liked by everyone — focus on respect
25:50 When inner circle resistance reveals your priorities
27:20 What misalignment feels like (the warning signs)
29:10 Bianca’s alignment reset: daily/weekly check-ins + giving yourself grace
30:20 Bianca’s #1 tip: write down your story + use it as your superpower
31:10 Where to find Bianca + closing remarks

Connect with Bianca D’Alessio

Website: biancadalessio.com
Book: Mastering Intentions: 10 Practices to Amplify Power and Lead with Lasting Impact (Available on Amazon)
Follow Bianca: LinkedIn, Instagram

Calls to Action

✔️ Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share this episode with a colleague, friend, or leader who needs alignment right now
✔️ Watch on YouTube: Shed the Corporate Bitch TV
✔️ Follow the show: balloffirecoaching.com/podcast

Support the show

I am hooked! I can't stop watching and listening @TarynSmithMovement on Instagram.

She is rowing across the Atlantic all by herself... she's on roughly, Day 44.

What can a 24-year-old rowing solo across the Atlantic teach seasoned corporate leaders about courage, endurance, fear, and leadership?

More than you think.

In this episode, we explore leadership through an unexpected but powerful lens: crossing an ocean alone. This is not an adventure story—it’s a leadership case study on how to lead when certainty disappears, fear shows up, and endurance matters more than intensity.

If you’re navigating ambiguity, pressure, burnout, or high-stakes decisions, this episode will challenge how you think about strength, courage, and what leadership actually requires today.

⏱️ CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Opening
Leadership when the horizon disappears

02:10 – Why an Ocean Is a Leadership Classroom
Uncertainty, isolation, and sustained effort

04:45 – Leadership vs. Management
Why leadership must work without clarity

07:30 – Endurance Over Intensity
Why you can’t sprint leadership (or an ocean)

11:15 – Burnout and Corporate Myths
Why exhaustion is not a credential

14:20 – Fear as Data, Not Danger
How leaders misuse fear—and how to use it properly

18:30 – When Fear Becomes Taboo
The innovation cost of fear-based cultures

22:10 – Beginner’s Mind and Adaptability
Why leaders must become students again

25:40 – Solo Doesn’t Mean Alone
Vulnerability, support, and leadership trust

28:45 – Practicing Courage Daily
You don’t need an ocean to lead boldly

31:00 – Final Reflection & Call to Action
What’s the ocean you’re facing right now?

FREE BONUS - Start assessing your leadership capability with our free Powerhouse Communication Assessment. DOWNLOAD HERE

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Leadership isn’t proven by certainty—it’s revealed by consistency under uncertainty
• Endurance beats intensity in long-term leadership effectiveness
• Burnout is not a leadership credential
• Fear is information; suppressing it kills innovation
• Cultures that shame fear create cautious leaders, not bold ones
• Beginner’s mind is a strategic advantage, not a weakness
• Vulnerability builds trust without eroding authority
• Courage is a daily practice, not a personality trait

🎯 CALLS TO ACTION: Reflect on these three leadership questions this week:

1️⃣ Assess your courage
What conversation, decision, or risk are you avoiding?

2️⃣ Become a student again
Where are you relying on past success instead of learning what’s changed?

3️⃣ Model vulnerability
How can you build trust by being honest—not performatively confident?

Leadership isn’t about knowing the way.
It’s about moving forward anyway—one stroke at a time.

CONNECT & FOLLOW

🎙️ Podcast: Shedding the Corporate Bitch
📍 Host: Bernadette Boas
📺 Watch on YouTube
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts and all major platforms

👉 Subscribe, rate, and share this episode with a leader who’s navigating uncertainty.

Support the show

Your job is not your identity—and believing it is may be costing you your energy, joy, and leadership longevity.

In this episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch, burnout coach and author Elisha Meek breaks down how high achievers unknowingly trap themselves in burnout through perfectionism, people-pleasing, and control. She shares practical tools to reclaim purpose without quitting your career, including her Brains-Body-Soul 5-5-5 reset and the power of identity diversification.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Why your title is not your identity
02:00 – Elisha’s burnout “lightning bolt” moment
05:30 – Hidden signs of burnout leaders ignore
10:00 – Identity diversification explained
14:30 – Control, perfectionism, and people-pleasing
21:30 – When strengths become career-limiting
27:00 – The Brains-Body-Soul 5-5-5 reset
33:00 – Why breakthroughs rarely happen alone
38:00 – One micro-step to reclaim purpose
42:00 – How to break up with burnout before it breaks you

Connect with Elisha Meek:
Website: elishameek.com
Instagram: @elisha.meek
LinkedIn: @ElishaMeek
Facebook: @Elisha Meek Coaching

Join the Book Launch Team of her upcoming book, Breakup with Burnout
breakupwithburnout.elishameek.com/launch

Call to Action:
Subscribe, rate, and share this episode with a leader who needs permission to stop burning out in silence. PODCAST VIDEOCAST

Support the show

This should shock you! Only 25% of executives feel prepared to lead through disruptive change. In this episode, we explore why reactive leadership fails—and how anticipatory leadership equips leaders to navigate AI, automation, workforce shifts, and uncertainty with confidence.

You’ll learn the four core components of anticipatory leadership, the future-ready skills leaders must develop now, and how to shift from crisis-driven decisions to opportunity-focused strategy.

Timestamps

00:00 – Why reactive leadership is no longer enough
01:00 – What anticipatory leadership really means
02:00 – AI, automation, and workforce disruption
04:00 – The hidden cost of avoiding uncertainty
05:00 – Reactive vs anticipatory leadership explained
08:00 – The four components of anticipatory leadership
09:00 – Environmental scanning and spotting quiet signals
15:00 – Scenario planning and testing your strategy
19:00 – Adaptive decision-making in uncertain environments
22:00 – Change shaping and building trust
26:00 – Future leadership skills you must develop
31:00 – Reflection questions for leaders
35:00 – Final thoughts and next steps

Calls to Action

✔ Subscribe & follow the show
✔ Leave a review to help other leaders find the podcast
✔ Share this episode with your leadership team

🔗 Podcast hub: balloffirecoaching.com/podcast
🔗 Discovery call: coachmebernadette.com/discoverycall

Host & Handles

Host: Bernadette
Website: balloffirecoaching.com
YouTube: Shed the Corporate Bitch TV

Support the show

As you probably have already experienced, millennials have changed the rules of leadership.

Sawubona Leadership can be the team development tool you've been looking for to elevate your connection and impact with your team.

In this powerful episode, executive coach and bestselling author Susan Inouye joins Bernadette to explore Sawubona Leadership—an approach that moves beyond generational stereotypes and into truly human-centered leadership.

Susan shares how leaders can shift from control to connection, recognize the gifts hidden in behavior, and build cultures of belonging that drive engagement, retention, and performance. Drawing from real-world leadership transformations, this conversation offers practical insights for leading millennials, Gen Z, and multigenerational teams through change.

What You’ll Learn:
– Why “I see you” is a leadership skill
– How to identify gifts beneath challenging behavior
– The five leadership shifts required for today’s workforce
– Why belonging directly impacts productivity and profitability
– How leaders can coach instead of command

Chapters and Timestamps:

1. Introduction to Modern Leadership Challenges — 0:00
2. Meet Susan Inouye: A Journey of Transformation — 2:04
3. Discovering Sawubona Leadership — 6:36
4. Implementing Sawubona Leadership in the Corporate World — 9:51
5. Transforming Gifts into Organizational Success — 19:50
6. Recognizing and Leveraging Employee Gifts — 21:10
7. Adapting Leadership for Younger Generations — 24:53
8. Why Cutting Training and Coaching Hurts Growth During Challenging Times — 27:14

About the Guest:
Susan Inouye is an executive coach, bestselling author of Leadership’s Perfect Storm. She has worked with over 600 organizations across 40 industries, helping leaders engage and inspire multigenerational teams worldwide.

Resources & Links:
– Susan Inouye: https://susaninouye.com
– Book: Leadership’s Perfect Storm available at https://susaninouye.com/book

- Linkedin: @SusanInouye

Subscribe & Review:
If you found value in this episode, subscribe and leave a review—it helps more leaders find these conversations. https://balloffirecoaching.com/podcast/

Support the show

Drowning in meetings? Exhausted from your to-do list? This episode is your intervention. Discover why 94% of leaders are stressed, what's causing your burnout (hint: some of it's self-inflicted), and the exact frameworks to reclaim your time and sanity. Host Bernadette Boas delivers battle-tested strategies from 25+ years in the corporate trenches.

Here's the truth nobody's telling you: most of this is preventable.

What You'll Discover:

✅ Why multitasking is a myth and how it's destroying your productivity (it's not what you think)

✅ The calendar audit that eliminates 25-30% of wasted time without sacrificing results

✅ How to say NO strategically without tanking your career (your boss actually wants you to do this)

✅ The Pareto Principle: Why 80% of your effort produces only 20% of your results—and how to flip it

✅ Time blocking secrets that create white space for sanity, strategy, and breakthrough thinking

✅ The 4 D's Framework: Do, Delegate, Delete, or Delay—the simplest way to conquer any to-do list

✅ Digital detox strategies to eliminate the constant distractions draining your focus

✅ The 10-minute daily practice that transforms your performance and self-awareness

✅ Why reflection is non-negotiable for high-performing leaders (and how to do it right)

Time is the one resource you can't get back. How you use it defines your impact as a leader.

⏱️ EPISODE TIMESTAMPS

[00:00:00] Cold Open: What Keeps You Up at Night? The Alarming Statistics Every Leader Needs to Know

[00:01:00] Introduction: Why Time Mastery Is Non-Negotiable for Your Career

[00:06:00] The Self-Inflicted Causes of Burnout: What You're Doing to Yourself

[00:14:00] The Ripple Effect: How Your Overwhelm Impacts Team & Business Performance

[00:17:00] The Cost of Burnout: Career Stagnation, Work-Life Imbalance & Turnover

[00:21:00] 9 Strategies to Reset 2026

[00:34:00] Episode Recap: The Tools & Strategies You Just Learned

[00:35:00] Call to Action: Book Your Complimentary Discovery Call

[00:36:00] Outro & Where to Find More

🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS

Need help? 📞 Book a Complimentary Discovery Call: CoachMeBernadette.com/discovery-call 🌐 Ball of Fire Coaching: BallOfFireCoaching.com 🎙️ More Episodes: Subscribe to Shedding the Corporate Bitch

Connect on Social Media: 📺 YouTube: Shedding The Bitch Channel 📷 Instagram: @BernadetteBoas 💼 LinkedIn: Bernadette Boas

Subscribe & Listen: 🎧 Apple Podcasts
📺 YouTube 🔊 Wherever you love to listen

Support the show

What if one of the most overlooked leadership behaviors was also one of the most powerful drivers of engagement, performance, and retention?

In this episode of Shedding the Corporate Bitch, we reframe gratitude from being “nice” to being strategic. Backed by research from Harvard, Gallup, and the University of Pennsylvania, this conversation breaks down why leaders who fail to recognize effort quietly erode culture — and how intentional gratitude can transform results, morale, and loyalty.

Time Stamps & Key Talking Points

00:00 – Why Gratitude Shapes Leadership Legacy
People may forget what you say or do, but they never forget how you make them feel, Gratitude as an emotional leadership lever

04:00 – The #1 Thing Employees Ask For
Why employees just want to be seen, The underestimated power of “thank you”

09:00 – A 50% Productivity Increase
University of Pennsylvania research, Adam Grant’s findings on gratitude

13:00 – The Three Unspoken Employee Questions
Do I matter?, Does my work matter?, Do you even notice?

18:00 – Fuel the Climb, Not Just the Win
Recognizing effort and progress, not just outcomes

19:00 – Modeling Gratitude as a Leader
Why leaders set the emotional standard, Behavior gets mirrored

24:30 – The Real Question Leaders Must Ask
Can you afford the absence of gratitude?

26:00 – Leadership Reflection Challenge
What went unnoticed?, What culture are you quietly building?

28:00 – Final Takeaway
Gratitude isn’t changing who you are, It’s changing what you notice

Call to Actions

👍 Like this video if you believe leadership is about people, not just results
🔔 Subscribe to Shedding the Corporate Bitch for weekly leadership insights
🎧 Listen on your favorite podcast platform for the full experience
📞 Book a discovery call to strengthen your leadership culture: https://coachmebernadette.com/discoverycall
🌐 Visit balloffirecoaching.com/podcast for past episodes and resources

Social & Website Handles

Website: balloffirecoaching.com
Podcast Hub: balloffirecoaching.com/podcast
Discovery Call: coachmebernadette.com/discoverycall
YouTube: @ShedtheCorpBitchTV
LinkedIn: @bernadetteboas

Support the show