Explore how to navigate modern leadership complexity by shifting from performance-based metrics to human-centred values. In this episode, visionary leader Mercedes Martin shares a practical five-point plan for rewiring your mindset, embracing diversity, and building inclusive, high-performing teams that thrive in a volatile world.Leadership burnout isn't just about long hours. According to 30-year veteran leadership coach Mercedes Martin, it's a "burnout cost" that comes from a lack of authenticity. She calls this "living on a hyphen" - the constant, draining pull leaders feel between profit vs. purpose, and productivity vs. human impact.
In this insightful conversation, Mercedes shares a global perspective on leadership, contrasting the US model with human-centred, authentic approaches she sees emerging in the Global South. She explains why psychological safety initiatives often fail (hint: it starts with the leader) and provides a powerful 5-step framework for "unwiring" old command-and-control habits to "rewire" a more sustainable, human-first leadership style.
In this episode, you will learn:
(00:00) The "Burnout Cost": Why leaders are burning out from performance and inauthenticity, not just overwork.
(02:30) A Global Perspective: How leadership conversations in India and Latin America differ from the US, focusing more on cultural identity and spirituality.
(07:30) "Living on a Hyphen": Mercedes' personal and professional framework for understanding the core tensions modern leaders face.
(13:00) The Practical Fix: Why creating "safe and brave places" at the team level is the key to building trust and rewarding vulnerability.
(14:45) Why Psychological Safety Fails: "You can't align a team... when you, yourself are confused." The leader must hold up the mirror first.
(16:00) The "Frozen Middle": Identifying the middle manager as the role holding the most tension in an organisation.
(18:30) The "Boarding School" Leadership Model: A fascinating look at how old models of leadership (squashing vulnerability) were formed and why they're failing today.
(24:30) The Core Task: How do you "unwire" to "rewire" your leadership identity?
(25:00) A 5-Step Plan for Rewiring Your Leadership:
Excavate your personal leadership narratives and identity stories.
Create safe places, starting with yourself.
Build trusting, transformational relationships, not transactional ones.
Hold the "Both/And": Manage the short-term and the long-term view.
Build external alliances to counteract the tendency to work in silos.
(33:45) The Leader Mercedes Admires: Ajay Banga (President of the World Bank).
Resources Mentioned:
Connect with Mercedes Martin:
Email: Mercedes@MercedesMartin.co
Platform: Sutra
Programs:
Rewire Leadership Journey (launching 2026)
Buddha Diva Retreats (for women leaders)
Leader Mentioned:
Ajay Banga (President of the World Bank, former CEO of MasterCard)
Music, jingles, and images - attribution.
Podcast Background Track: https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/
Guitar Jingle: https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/
Swoosh Sound Effect: https://pixabay.com/users/universfield-28281460/
Images: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/ & https://www.perplexity.ai/
Background: https://pixabay.com/users/tommyvideo-3092371/
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