How to Make the Leap from Individual Contributor to Executive, with Dr. Mehul Mankad

The Succession Trap: Handoffs, Legacy, and Your 2,000 Weeks Left, with Dr. Mark L. Vincent

Most leaders think succession is just naming the next person for the chair. It is not. Real leadership succession is about protecting everything you spent years building. Dr. Mira Brancu sits down with Dr. Mark L. Vincent, author of The Maestro Effect, to close out the season on rediscovering human needs at work. They get into why handing off a company is so much harder than picking a name, and why the value you built can quietly leak away if you treat the transition like a finish line. Mark breaks down the two traps most leaders fall into. There is the one where you check out early and reach for the golden parachute, and the one where you cannot let go and slowly choke the life out of the team. He walks through his Maestro theory, the three turns of a leader's life, and the four key elements that actually make or break a succession plan. Near the end the conversation turns personal, and that is the part that stays with you. If you lead anything now, or you will one day, this one is worth your time. Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, mental health, and the human side of work. IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, CAN I ASK A FAVOR? We do not receive any funding or sponsorship for this podcast. If you learned something and feel others could also benefit, please leave a positive review. Every review helps amplify our work and visibility. This is especially helpful for small women-owned boot-strapped businesses. Simply go to the bottom of the Apple Podcast page to enter a review. Thank you! Connect with our guest: https://www.youtube.com/@MARKLVINCENT www.marklvincent.com www.maestrolevelleaders.com Connect wth me: Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe Work with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu Learn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.com Get practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/books Add this podcast to your feed: www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-hard-skills-dr-mira-brancu-m0QzwsFiBGE/

Stop Calling It Imposter Syndrome (It's Making Things Worse)

"Imposter syndrome" gets thrown around constantly in leadership spaces. But what if the label itself is doing more harm than good? Dr. Mira Brancu breaks down why the original researchers never called it a "syndrome" and what that distinction actually means for high achievers. If you've ever been promoted into a leadership role and suddenly felt like you had no idea what you were doing, this episode explains why that's not a flaw. It's the normal experience of someone learning a completely new skill set that nobody trained them for. Mira also gets real about why this hits harder for women and marginalized professionals, and draws a clear line between the kind of self-doubt that comes with growth and the kind that needs clinical support. Whether you're navigating this yourself or trying to support someone who is, this conversation will change how you think about it. Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, resilience, and the hard skills nobody teaches you. To find more of my work: Subscribe to this channel Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe Work with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu Learn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.com Get practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/books Get my free Strategic Clarity and Leadership Resilience assessment: https://mailchi.mp/e1ebf8505764/slr-assessment  Get my Free Burnout Root Cause Assessment: https://mailchi.mp/29d7d18fae4a/burnout-root-cause-assessment Get my Workplace Grief Guide: https://mailchi.mp/46873b910380/workplace-grief-field-guide  Find other free resources to support your leadership growth: https://gotowerscope.com/other-free-stuff  Join the next Towerscope leadership workshop or fellowship: https://gotowerscope.com/fellowship  Episodes and other resources referenced: https://gotowerscope.com/fellowship  Clance, P. R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). The imposter phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 15(3), 241–247. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0086006 - https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1979-26502-001

The Leadership Skill MBA Programs Don't Teach You, with Dr. David W. Robinson-Morris

Imagination as a leadership skill? Most people wouldn't even put it in their top 10. But what if it's the one thing separating leaders who repeat old systems from those who build new futures? In this conversation, Dr. Mira Brancu sits down with Dr. David W. Robinson-Morris, founder of Reimaginelution, to talk about why imagination might be the most underrated leadership competency of our time. David breaks down how imagination shows up in strategy, finance, and communication, and shares what happens when skeptical, numbers-driven leaders finally slow down and start asking: what have we been conditioned not to see? This is a business discussion like none you’ve ever heard. You'll hear about the connection between Ubuntu philosophy, contemplative practice, and how historically marginalized communities have been practicing imaginative leadership for centuries! And here's the biggest reframe: scarcity thinking is already an imaginative act, just pointed in the wrong direction. It takes the same energy to imagine futures of possibility as it does to imagine futures of loss. If you've ever felt stuck in reactive mode or trapped in a cycle of cutting, controlling, and surviving, this episode offers a completely different way through. Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, resilience, and the human side of work. Find our guest here: Websites:  www.reimaginelution.com www.centerforthehumanspirit.org www.drmphd.com  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrm/  To find more of my work: Subscribe to this podcast Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe Work with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu Learn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.com Get practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/books Get my free Strategic Clarity and Leadership Resilience assessment: https://mailchi.mp/e1ebf8505764/slr-assessment  Get my Free Burnout Root Cause Assessment: https://mailchi.mp/29d7d18fae4a/burnout-root-cause-assessment Get my Workplace Grief Guide: https://mailchi.mp/46873b910380/workplace-grief-field-guide  Find other free resources to support your leadership growth: https://gotowerscope.com/other-free-stuff  Join the next Towerscope leadership workshop or fellowship: https://gotowerscope.com/fellowship

Working Hard But Your Team Still Doesn't See It? (Here's Why), with Margaret Andrews

You've been working so hard to be an effective leader, and somehow your team still doesn't see it. This episode shows you exactly why, and how to close the gap before it stalls your career. Margaret Andrews ran the MBA program at MIT Sloan for seven years and is now an Associate Dean at Harvard. She's spent two decades teaching leadership and emotional intelligence to high achievers, and her conclusion is uncomfortable: some of the highest achievers still get stuck in the people management skills even when they have developed the greatest business strategies. In this conversation with Dr. Mira Brancu, Margaret breaks down the S-curve framework that explains why your growth sometimes feels like regression, six questions that build real self-awareness, and an interactive Best Boss Exercise you can do right now. Plus the story of Phil, an executive who looked in the mirror, didn't recognize the leader he had become, and rebuilt himself from scratch. Subscribe for weekly conversations on the intersection of culture, mental health, and the real hard skills of leadership. Find our guest here: Connect with Margaret Andrews Website: https://www.margaretandrews.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretcandrews/  To find more of my work: Subscribe to this channel Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe Work with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu Learn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.com Get practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/books Get my free Strategic Clarity and Leadership Resilience assessment: https://mailchi.mp/e1ebf8505764/slr-assessment  Get my Free Burnout Root Cause Assessment: https://mailchi.mp/29d7d18fae4a/burnout-root-cause-assessment Get my Workplace Grief Guide: https://mailchi.mp/46873b910380/workplace-grief-field-guide  Find other free resources to support your leadership growth: https://gotowerscope.com/other-free-stuff

Signs Your Cult-ure Drifted Into Cult-like, with Candice Schutter

Emotional intelligence is supposed to make workplaces better. But what if it might also teach people to tolerate what should be intolerable? Candice Schutter spent two decades inside the wellness industry, leading programs, training instructors, building cultures of care, until her body started screaming that something was wrong through panic attacks and a nervous system in overdrive. She started digging into cult dynamics, coercive control, and the psychology of mission-driven organizations. What she found changed everything. In this conversation with Dr. Mira Brancu, Candice breaks down what she calls "the drift," the slow, invisible process by which caring cultures slide into high-control environments. You will learn when wellness programs can train people to tolerate dysfunction, why high emotional intelligence can suggest greater ability to manipulate, and what the dark side of transformational leadership looks like from the inside. If you have ever felt a disconnect between the language of psychological safety and the reality of structural control at your workplace, this episode will give you the frameworks to name what you have been feeling. Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, mental health, and navigating workplace dynamics. Find our guest here: https://thedeeperpulse.com/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/candiceschutter/  https://www.facebook.com/candice.schutter  https://www.instagram.com/candiceschutter/ To find more of my work: Subscribe to this channel Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe Work with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu Learn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.com Get practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/books Episodes and other resources referenced: How to Speak Up When it Matters Most, with Ira Chaleff: https://youtu.be/_sUAHNUw6N0  IF YOU ENJOYED THIS EPISODE, CAN I ASK A FAVOR? We do not receive any funding or sponsorship for this podcast. If you learned something and feel others could also benefit, please leave a positive review. Every review helps amplify our work and visibility. This is especially helpful for small women-owned boot-strapped businesses. Simply go to the bottom of the Apple Podcast page to enter a review. Thank you! Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe [http://mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribe] Work with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation [http://calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultation] Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu [http://www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancu] Learn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.com [http://www.gotowerscope.com/] Get practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/books [http://gotowerscope.com/books] Add this podcast to your feed: www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-hard-skills-dr-mira-brancu-m0QzwsFiBGE/ [http://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-hard-skills-dr-mira-brancu-m0QzwsFiBGE/]