How your thoughts are ruining your leadership

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, host Taaka Awori sits down with Dr. Gillian Hammah to unpack the inner dialogue every leader carries and how those unexamined thoughts quietly shape behaviour, decisions, and team culture. What we cover: - The "voices" leaders carry: the critical voice, the fearful/catastrophizing voice, the comparative voice, and their lesser-known cousins: imposter syndrome, scarcity ("poverty mentality"), and the fear of being outshone. - How these thought patterns show up as real leadership problems: micromanagement, indecision, and burnout-driving overcompensation. - Why shifting behaviour without shifting the underlying thinking rarely sticks - Metacognition as a leadership skill. - The difference between what we believe about ourselves (worthiness) and what we believe about others (trust, capability), and how those beliefs quietly drive how we lead. - A neuroscience-backed way to think about changing beliefs as building new pathways rather than fighting old ones. - The "empty boat" parable and what it teaches about the stories we tell ourselves about other people's actions Key Takeaways: - Thinking drives behaviour, not the other way around. Trying to change a leadership behaviour without addressing the thought pattern underneath it rarely lasts. - Most leaders carry more than one "voice." Rarely is it just one, and compound each other. - Common leadership problems trace back to specific mental models: micromanagement often stems from "no one else can do this as well as I can" or "there's only one right way." Burnout often stems from a scarcity belief that stopping means losing ground. - Awareness (metacognition) is the starting point for change.  - Beliefs about yourself and beliefs about others operate differently but both shape your leadership. Self-beliefs show up as self-compassion (or lack of it); beliefs about others show up as how much freedom, trust, and room to grow you extend to your team. Go deeper: Join Rogue Leadership, the exclusive community built around the inner work of leadership: rogueunion.org/courses/rogue-leadership If this episode resonated, catch Season 4 Episode 1 first, it lays the groundwork on worthiness that this conversation builds on. 🔔 Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the season.