Lead strategically with calm confidence with Estelle Read, Bestselling Author, Coach, Speaker, and guests. Optimising Leader Brilliance is the self-improvement toolkit for leaders ready to break performance ceilings and achieve next level results. Get science-backed strategies and mindset shifts to tackle imposter syndrome, workaholism, anxiety, and self-sabotage. We provide stress relief and burnout solutions to help you reduce your workload and reclaim your time. We also share tools to clarify your strategic direction and deliver the brilliant results you're capable of. Visit: EstelleRead.com
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Why Leaders Stay Stuck: How Soft Addictions Sabotage Success and What To Do About It
Season 9 · Episode 85
Monday, September 14, 2026 • Duration 46:14
Why do high achievers often feel stuck despite theirsuccess? In this episode, Dr. Judith Wright, a neuroscientist and coach featured on Oprah and Good Morning America, shares her insights on the hidden patterns that keep leaders trapped in burnout, conflict, and underperformance.
Discover how “soft addictions” and unmet deep yearnings silently sabotage your leadership potential. Learn practical strategies to name your true feelings, reconnect with your core needs, and embark on a path to clarity, calm, and authentic success.
What You Will Learn: 💡The universal human yearnings wired into our brain that drive behavior and leadership success 💡How overdoing strengths like discipline or caring can become “soft addictions” that hold you back 💡One powerful question you can ask anytime to understand and transform your emotions instantly
(00:00) – Welcome and Episode Introduction (02:15) – The Hidden Patterns that Keep Leaders Stuck (06:30) – What Are Soft Addictions? How They Impact Leadership (11:00) – The Role of Feelings and Emotional Intelligence in Success (17:45) – The Neuroscience of Naming and Managing Emotions (24:30) – Understanding Our Deep Yearnings and Their Evolutionary Roots (32:15) – How Unmet Yearnings Trigger Burnout and Conflict (38:00) – The Power of Awareness: Catching Your Soft Addictions in Action (44:30) – Practical Steps: What To Do When You Notice Being Overwhelmed (50:00) – Building New Neural Pathways for Self-Compassion and Resilience (55:45) – Leadership Lessons: Balancing Strengths Without Burning Out (01:01:00) – Reflective Questions to Understand Your Yearnings and Patterns (01:06:30) – Closing Thoughts and How to Take the Next Step
From Invisible to Influential: Empowering Leaders to Be Seen
Season 9 · Episode 84
Monday, September 7, 2026 • Duration 48:59
Feeling invisible in rooms where your leadership should shine? This episode dives deep into leadership visibility and how to raise your profile authentically. Discover why many leaders struggle with imposter syndrome, fear of failure, or uncertainty about how to present their leadership presence confidently. Host Estelle Read chats with Katie Radel, CEO of Ripple Consulting Group, about proven strategies to stop hiding and start leading with visible impact that advances your career and organization.
What You Will Learn: 💡How to raise your leadership presence without feeling like bragging or inauthentic 💡Why confidently taking up more space is a vital leadership skill for greater influence 💡The real costs to your career and organization when you remain invisible—and how to change that
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Host of Optimising Leader Brilliance
Timestamps:
(00:00) – Welcome and Introduction to Episode Theme (01:45) – Estelle’s Personal Story: Being Invisible as an Introvert Leader (04:30) – Guest Introduction: Katie Radel, CEO of Ripple Consulting Group (06:15) – What is Executive Visibility and Why It Matters (09:00) – Katie’s Entrepreneurial Journey and Early Career Insights (12:30) – The Rollercoaster of Entrepreneurship: Faith and Resilience (15:45) – Katie’s Daily Routine and Connection as an Introvert Extrovert (19:00) – PR Misconceptions and What True PR Means for Leaders (22:45) – Early Lessons from Growing Up in a Funeral Home (27:00) – The Cost of Staying Invisible as a Leader in Business (31:15) – How AI and Earned Media Influence Executive Visibility(34:45) – Reasons Leaders Stay Hidden: Fear, Imposter Syndrome, and More(39:30) – Red Flags of Inauthentic Visibility and Ego-Driven Success(42:15) – Gender Differences in Imposter Syndrome and Visibility(46:00) – Overcoming the Fear of Being Seen and Embracing Leadership Brilliance(50:30) – Personal Challenges and Triumphs Around Visibility(54:45) – Practical First Steps to Build Your Executive Visibility(58:30) – Crafting Your Messaging: Who You Help, The Problem You Solve, The Result(01:02:00) – How to Show Up Authentically and Create Connections(01:06:15) – Value for Your Audience vs Ego-Driven Communication(01:10:30) – Building a Leadership Legacy That’s “Good and Kind”(01:13:45) – Final Advice and Reflective Practice Coaching Questions
Break Free from the Overachiever Trap: Leadership Tips for Sustainable Growth
Season 8 · Episode 83
Thursday, September 3, 2026 • Duration 19:24
In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, leadership coach Estelle Read dives into the "Overachiever" saboteur—the relentless drive to prove worth through endless achievements and output. Discover how this pattern creates burnout, toxic work cultures, and personal exhaustion by tying your value solely to performance. Drawing on over two decades of coaching, Estelle reveals the emotional roots of this trap and shares breakthrough neuroscience methods to reset your mindset. Learn how to reclaim balance, set healthy boundaries, and lead with calm confidence for sustainable success.
What You Will Learn:
💡 Why overachieving can be a harmful leadership saboteur that stunts growth and damages well-being
💡 The deep emotional causes behind the need to constantly outperform and why rest feels like weakness
💡 Three practical strategies—like scheduling rest as non-negotiable and setting daily shutdown boundaries—to break free from burnout and thrive
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:16) Meet Your Host
(01:42) The Seven Leadership Saboteurs
(02:52) The Overachiever Pattern
(03:51) Free Saboteur Scorecard
(04:32) Impact & Root Cause of the Overachiever
(08:46) The Science of Behavior Change
(13:53) Client Case Study
Leadership Beyond People-Pleasing: How to Have Difficult, Brilliance-Building Conversations
Season 8 · Episode 82
Wednesday, September 2, 2026 • Duration 18:23
In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, leadership coach Estelle Read explores the “Chronic Harmonizer” leadership saboteur—a pattern where leaders avoid difficult conversations to keep the peace, often at great cost to their teams and businesses. Learn how this tendency to avoid conflict stems from deep emotional triggers and childhood survival mechanisms, and discover the neuroscience-backed technique that enables leaders to break free from this self-sabotage. With real-world examples and actionable strategies, Estelle guides you through reclaiming accountability, setting boundaries, and leading with clarity and confidence.
What You Will Learn: 💡 Why avoiding difficult conversations stalls business growth and damages team accountability—and how to recognize this pattern in yourself 💡 The neuroscience behind breaking deep-seated conflict avoidance habits and why traditional willpower isn’t enough 💡 Three practical strategies—like the “24-hour feedback rule” and reframing conflict as clarity—to build your boundary muscles and foster a culture of accountability
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:37) Meet Your Host, Estelle Read
(02:02) Welcome to the Saboteurs Miniseries
(03:05) Let's Get Started
(03:12) Saboteur #6: The Chronic Harmonizer
(03:45) The George McFly Story Continues
(04:03) Take the Free Saboteur Scorecard
(04:30) Defining the Chronic Harmonizer Pattern
The Strategic Procrastinator Is Killing Your Growth (3 Fixes That Work)
Season 8 · Episode 81
Tuesday, September 1, 2026 • Duration 17:36
In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, leadership coach Estelle Read unveils the hidden leadership saboteur known as the "Strategic Procrastinator." Discover why many leaders get trapped in chaotic busywork as a way to delay critical, high-stakes decisions. Learn how underlying fears and old survival patterns block bold action and stunt your business growth. Drawing on over two decades of coaching experience and breakthrough neuroscience techniques like Havening, Estelle shares powerful insights and practical strategies to break free from procrastination, unlock your true potential, and lead with renewed confidence and focus.
What You Will Learn: 💡 How the Strategic Procrastinator hides behind busywork to avoid costly but necessary decisions—and how this limits your leadership growth 💡 The neuroscience behind self-sabotage and why traditional willpower often fails to overcome entrenched procrastination habits 💡 Three actionable strategies—including “eat the frog first” and microstepping—to build momentum and create lasting behavior change
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:59) Welcome to the Saboteurs Series
(03:08) The Strategic Procrastinator
(03:55) Saboteur Scorecard
(05:57) The Impact
(06:50) The Root Cause
(08:24) The Science of Habit Change
(13:32) Case Study: Sales Procrastination
(14:03) Next Steps & Options
18% of Leaders Have This Saboteur — Do You?
Season 8 · Episode 80
Thursday, August 27, 2026 • Duration 19:15
Do you live in a permanent state of frantic panic — forever putting out fires, running on adrenaline, and never quite reaching the strategic work that would actually move your leadership forward? If busyness has become your badge of honour, you may be trapped in the "Constant Firefighter" saboteur.In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, leadership coach and bestselling author Estelle Read unpacks the second most common leadership saboteur — a reactive pattern that affects 18% of leaders and quietly places a false ceiling over your true potential. You'll discover how a chaotic childhood often wires this hypervigilant, crisis-addicted behaviour, why willpower alone rarely breaks the loop, and how a neuroscience-based approach (Havening) can reset the autopilot itself — so calm, confident, strategic leadership becomes automatic rather than aspirational.
What You Will Learn
💡 Why you keep treating everyday tasks as emergencies — and the hidden root cause that keeps you stuck in "frantic panic" mode
💡 How the Constant Firefighter quietly damages your team, blocks your business from scaling, and drives you toward burnout
💡 Three practical tools to break the cycle fast — the Eisenhower Matrix, a daily 60-minute "strategic firewall," and the power of de-escalating your language — plus how Havening clears the pattern at a neurological level
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
"I Own This Table" — Breaking the Doubting Imposter Saboteur
Season 8 · Episode 79
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 • Duration 18:14
Do you hold yourself back from big opportunities even when the evidence says you're more than capable? If you've ever felt like a fraud waiting to be found out, you're not alone — 34% of leaders report this "doubting imposter" as their number one barrier, and it's quietly keeping careers, businesses, and incomes stuck below their true potential.
In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, bestselling author and leadership coach Estelle Read unpacks the third of the Seven Leadership Saboteurs: the doubting imposter. You'll discover where this relentless self-doubt really comes from, why willpower alone never seems to fix it, and the neuroscience-based technique that clears the pattern at the root — so calm, confident, strategic leadership finally stops feeling like something you have to force.
What You Will Learn
💡 Why the doubting imposter keeps you passing up promotions, big clients, and projects you've already earned — and the hidden childhood patterns that created it.
💡 The neuroscience-based "Havening" technique that resets your nervous system and clears self-doubt at the neurological level, delivering faster, lasting change than traditional methods alone.
💡 Three practical strategies you can start today — a fact-based win log, accepting praise with a simple "thank you," and separating the stories in your head from the facts — to retrain your brain and break through your performance ceiling.
Timestamps:
00:00) Introduction
(02:45) The Doubting Imposter
(04:53) How This Pattern Shows Up in Others
(06:03) The Impact: Building a False Ceiling
(06:54) The Root Cause
(08:19) The Science of Behavior Change
(09:57) The Autopilot Challenge
(11:11) Havening: Modifying Your Autopilot
The Relentless Perfectionist: Why 'Perfect' Is Costing You Results
Season 8 · Episode 78
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 • Duration 19:33
In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, coach and bestselling author Estelle Read unpacks the Relentless Perfectionist — the leadership saboteur that currently affects 4% of leaders and quietly sits in fifth place on the saboteur charts. If you recognise that endless urge to tweak, refine, and chase flawless work, this one's for you. Estelle reveals why impossibly high standards actually create a false ceiling over your true potential, how perfectionism slows execution and stunts team growth, and why the root cause often traces back to childhood environments where praise was conditional on being flawless. She then introduces a neuroscience-based technique called Havening that resets the nervous system and de-links the emotional triggers behind the behaviour — plus three practical, no-willpower strategies you can apply today.
What You Will Learn:
💡 Why the Relentless Perfectionist sabotages exactly the thing it promises — high performance — and how it builds a false ceiling over your leadership potential.
💡 How this saboteur quietly causes overwork, team friction, and a risk-averse culture where innovation dies and growth stalls.
💡 Three practical antidotes — the "good enough" benchmark, the 15-minute time-box, and celebrating lessons from errors — plus how the neuroscience-based Havening technique clears the root cause without relying on willpower.
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:46) The Relentless Perfectionist Explained
(04:05) The Impact of Perfectionism
(06:59) Root Cause: Where This Pattern Comes From
Your Need to Control Everything Is Killing Your Leadership
Season 8 · Episode 77
Monday, August 24, 2026 • Duration 20:12
In this episode, Estelle reveals how this unconscious pattern creates a false ceiling on your leadership potential — leading to burnout, disengaged teams, and stalled projects. She shares the neuroscience behind why willpower alone rarely fixes micromanagement, introduces the transformative Havening technique for resetting your nervous system, and gives you three practical, actionable strategies to break the cycle: the "What, Not How" Rule, low-stakes delegation experiments, and the 24-Hour Buffer Rule. If you're ready to stop being the bottleneck and start leading with calm confidence, this episode is for you.
🎙️ Full episode ➡️ search for the Optimising Leader Brilliance Podcast.
What You Will Learn
💡 Why micromanagement isn't a personality flaw — it's an unconscious saboteur pattern often rooted in childhood experiences, and recognising it is the first step to breaking free
💡 The three practical strategies to stop micromanaging today: the "What, Not How" delegation rule, low-stakes trust experiments, and the 24-hour intervention buffer that rewires your leadership instincts
💡 How neuroscience-based techniques like Havening can reset your nervous system and delink the emotional past that created your control patterns — so change becomes automatic, not another exhausting item on your to-do list
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:30) Meet Your Host & Series Overview
(02:59) The Microcontroller Saboteur
(04:05) The Data & Statistics
You Don't Solve Anxiety — Here's What You Do Instead
Season 7 · Episode 76
Monday, August 17, 2026 • Duration 55:16
In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, Estelle Read sits down with author and mental health advocate Bryan Sachetta to unpack high-functioning anxiety — the hidden struggle that drives so many ambitious leaders to appear confident and in control while internally battling stress, perfectionism, and relentless overthinking. Bryan, author of the Get Out of Your Head book series, reveals why the most common advice around anxiety is wrong, and what actually works to build a healthier relationship with fear without sacrificing your edge. If you're a high achiever who's tired of using busyness as a shield and ready to lead with calm confidence, this conversation is your starting point.
What You Will Learn
💡 Why high-functioning anxiety is especially common in leaders and high achievers — and why trying to "solve" it makes it worse
💡 How to spot the coping strategies that once served you but are now quietly driving overworking and perfectionism — and what to do instead
💡 Three practical, immediate habits for managing anxiety in the workplace — from moving your body to doing a quarterly stress inventory to giving yourself permission to do nothing
Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth!
Estelle Read
Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach & Speaker
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:22) Welcome & What Is High-Functioning Anxiety?
(02:13) Interview Begins
(10:43) Unpacking the Patterns – Behavioural Coping Strategies
(15:20) A New Season of Anxiety – When It Gets Broader & More Nebulous
(21:35) Keeping Up With Everything – Where Does It Come From?
This podcast is for informational purposes only and shouldnot be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
(00:00) Introduction
(02:41) The Constant Firefighter Explained
(09:17) The Science of Behaviour Change
(14:25) Case Study: Breaking the Firefighting Cycle
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice. Don’t suffer alone ❤️.
(28:21) Using Anxiety as a Gateway to Intimacy & Connection
(37:36) Tools & Techniques – What Actually Helps
(40:16) Early Influences – Writing, Music & Movement
(42:15) Brian's Books
(44:19) Question from the Previous Guest – Coping With Change & Uncertainty
(46:25) Question for the Next Guest
(47:17) Closing Tips & Words of Compassion
(52:48) Pause, Reflect & Act – Mini Coaching Practice
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Please consult a qualified professional for specific advice.
