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The Hard Skills: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Dr. Mira Brancu
Welcome to “The Hard Skills” podcast, a practical and research-driven show that explores the core leadership skills needed to fuel leadership to activate real change, such as creating inclusive and healthy workplaces. Through expert interviews and live coaching calls, we challenge the notion of soft skills, question long-held but inaccurate leadership development beliefs, and offer real, practical solutions for complex leadership challenges. Hosted by Dr. Mira Brancu, a clinical and organizational development psychologist with extensive leadership experience, we’ll delve into topics of leadership identity, leading with uncertainty, navigating workplace politics, and creating critical organizational change. This podcast will especially appeal to high-achieving leaders in healthcare, tech, and academic industries. Whether you're seeking personal growth, looking to enhance your leadership abilities, or interested in Dr. Brancu's coaching services and membership community, join us as we unravel the complexities of leadership and inspire you to embrace the hard skills.
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- 4 days ago48 min
A Unique Way This Psychologist Helps Leaders Reduce Burnout in 52 Weeks, with Dr. Dana Gionta
Most leaders were taught that self-love is soft, or even selfish. It is actually the skill that keeps you from burning out. Self-love is the real foundation of sustainable leadership.In this episode of The Hard Skills, Dr. Mira Brancu sits down with psychologist and life coach Dr. Dana Gionta, author of "52 Weeks to Self-Love." They get into what self-love actually means for someone in a high-pressure leadership role, and why it has nothing to do with being self-centered. Dr. Dana shares the health scare and the two-month sabbatical that forced her to change course, and how fear turned out to be the first step toward courage every single time.You will also hear why so many high achievers only stop when a health crisis stops them, how to spot the early warning signs in your own self-talk, and the simple shift from gap thinking to gain thinking that changes how you lead your team. If you have ever felt like people are walking on eggshells around you, this one is worth your time.Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, burnout, and mental health.Find our guest here:Connect with Dr. Dana Giontawww.danagionta.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/danagiontaphd/@danagiontacoachinghttps://www.facebook.com/DanaGiontaCoaching/ https://lnkd.in/giKvuDqc (book link) To find more of my work:Subscribe to this channelSubscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksGet 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-assessmentGet 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
- 1 weeks ago34 min
Stress, Burnout, Disengagement, vs. a Toxic Environment, with Dr. John O'Brien
Most leaders spot rudeness or a toxic workplace and rush to shut the behavior down. But incivility is often a symptom of stress, burnout, and something deeper nobody names.Dr. Mira Brancu sat down as a guest on Dr. John O'Brien's show, Civility Matters, and this is the full conversation. They get into why punishing rude behavior usually backfires, and how to tell the difference between the symptom you can see and the root cause you cannot. Mira breaks down organizational grief, the quiet loss people carry after layoffs and reorgs that shows up as disengagement, quiet quitting, and cynicism instead of tears.You will also hear her simple two by two office politics matrix that reveals whether your influence at work has turned self-serving, whether ambition and civility can actually coexist, and real advice for anyone stuck in a toxic job right now. The point they both keep coming back to is this: Leaders have to deal with their own stress first, because you cannot steady anyone else while you are running on empty.Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, burnout, and workplace mental health.Connect with Dr. John O’Brien : www.activatesuccess.orgLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmobrienphd/Host: Civility Matters Podcast: https://civilitymatters.buzzsprout.comRudeness Rehab Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1957651911?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RudenessRehab Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksGet 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-assessmentGet 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
- 2 weeks ago1h 31m
The 13 Human Needs Your Workplace Forgot
The modern workplace got great at performance and quietly stopped meeting basic human needs at work. This is a full season on those needs, and the leadership that brings them back.Dr. Mira Brancu closes out Season 11 of The Hard Skills by walking through 13 human needs organizations have learned to ignore. Across eleven guests and two solo episodes, each need comes with a short, powerful clip and a practical way to rebuild it on your team. You will hear why self-deprecating humor makes leaders more human, why 85% of what makes a great boss has nothing to do with intelligence, and what a meaningful life actually asks of you. If you lead people, or you feel like something at work has quietly gone missing, this one is for you.Subscribe for weekly conversations on leadership, burnout, and workplace mental health.Dr. Daniel Cruz Lattimore: https://www.instagram.com/omiyoconsultingllc https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellattimore/ Dr. Paul Damiano:www.creategoodworks.com www.linkedin.com/in/pauldamiano Ira Chaleff:www.irachaleffauthor.com Valerie Zolezzi-Wyndham: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valeriezolezziwyndham https://promotinggoodllc.com/ Dr. Mehul Mankad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmankad/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/psychiatry-and-law-podcast/id1352806975 https://www.novumhealth.com/ Dra. CarolLaine Garcia: https://www.drcarollainemgarcia.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcarollainemgarcia https://www.instagram.com/drcarollainemgarcia Duygu Alptekin Gursu: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duygualptekingursu https://www.instagram.com/duygualptekingursu/ Candice Schutter: https://thedeeperpulse.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/candiceschutter/ https://www.facebook.com/candice.schutter https://www.instagram.com/candiceschutter/ Margaret Andrews: https://www.margaretandrews.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretcandrews/ Dr. David W. Robinson-Morris: www.reimaginelution.com www.centerforthehumanspirit.org www.drmphd.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrm/ Dr. Mark L. Vincent: https://www.youtube.com/@MARKLVINCENT www.marklvincent.com www.maestrolevelleaders.com To find m
- 3 weeks ago59 min
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/@MARKLVINCENTwww.marklvincent.com www.maestrolevelleaders.com Connect wth me:Subscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksAdd this podcast to your feed: www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-hard-skills-dr-mira-brancu-m0QzwsFiBGE/
- Jun 30, 20269 min
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 channelSubscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksGet 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-assessmentGet 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
- Jun 23, 202645 min
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.comwww.centerforthehumanspirit.orgwww.drmphd.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrm/ To find more of my work:Subscribe to this podcastSubscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksGet 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-assessmentGet 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
- Jun 16, 202651 min
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 AndrewsWebsite: https://www.margaretandrews.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretcandrews/ To find more of my work:Subscribe to this channelSubscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksGet 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-assessmentGet 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
- Jun 9, 20261h 10m
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 channelSubscribe to my free newsletter at: mailchi.mp/2079c04f4d44/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksEpisodes 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/subscribeWork with me one-on-one: calendly.com/mira-brancu/30-minute-initial-consultationConnect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/MiraBrancuLearn more about my services: www.gotowerscope.comGet practical workplace politics tips from my books: gotowerscope.com/booksAdd this podcast to your feed: www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-hard-skills-dr-mira-brancu-m0QzwsFiBGE/
About The Hard Skills
Welcome to “The Hard Skills” podcast, a practical and research-driven show that explores the core leadership skills needed to fuel leadership to activate real change, such as creating inclusive and healthy workplaces. Through expert interviews and live coaching calls, we challenge the notion of soft skills, question long-held but inaccurate leadership development beliefs, and offer real, practical solutions for complex leadership challenges. Hosted by Dr. Mira Brancu, a clinical and organizational development psychologist with extensive leadership experience, we’ll delve into topics of leadership identity, leading with uncertainty, navigating workplace politics, and creating critical organizational change. This podcast will especially appeal to high-achieving leaders in healthcare, tech, and academic industries. Whether you're seeking personal growth, looking to enhance your leadership abilities, or interested in Dr. Brancu's coaching services and membership community, join us as we unravel the complexities of leadership and inspire you to embrace the hard skills.
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