Leadership Mindset 2.0
byR. Michael Anderson | Leadership Coach & CEO
BusinessManagementEducationSelf-Improvement
Leadership Mindset 2.0 is the definitive playbook for executives and entrepreneurs ready to break free from the "Doer Trap" and scale their business using psychology and strategy. Host R. Michael Anderson has scaled multiple software companies to the Inc. 5000 list and was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Now, as a 2x Executive Coach of the Year, he uses that experience to help high-performers transform from Tactical Operators into Strategic Leaders. In this podcast, Michael blends cutting-edge neuroscience, emotional intelligence (EQ), and battle-tested business strategy to help you overcome burnout, imposter syndrome, and the "Leadership Incompetence Trap" so you can lead...
Episodes(40 episodes)
Season 1 - Episode 43
AI Readiness (1 of 3): The Organizational Playbook for AI Success
Most organizations are not losing the AI race because of bad technology. They are losing it because honest information about what is not working never reaches the people who can fix it. You'll learn what you need to know to make sure your organization is successful in this new age of AI including; - Why most organizations are sitting in the Exposed Quadrant, high AI spending and low organizational readiness, and the specific signs that tell you if that is where your company sits right now- Why your...
Published: May 20, 2026Duration: 16m 17s
Season 1 - Episode 42
The AI Leadership Reckoning: Why 95% of Corporate AI Pilots Go Nowhere
Most managers will not be replaced by AI. They will be replaced by someone who understands it. The question is which side of that line you are standing on right now. - Why 95% of corporate AI pilots have no measurable financial impact, and what your organisation is almost certainly getting wrong about implementation right now - Why most leaders are halfway in on AI, and what halfway is going to cost you, your team, and your career when the other half catches up - The single leadership...
Published: May 13, 2026Duration: 11m 27s
Season 1 - Episode 41
Your Burned Out Team Does Not Have a Workload Problem. It Has a Leadership Problem.
A burned out team does not need better processes. It needs a leader who knows where they are going. The thing keeping your people stuck has nothing to do with their workload. In this episode I take a real question from inside the Growth Leaders Collective and break down exactly what is happening and what to do about it.- Why the loudest negative person on your team is currently setting the tone for everyone else, and what you have to do about it before anything else can shift- The...
Published: May 11, 2026Duration: 14m 35s
Season 1 - Episode 40
The Hiding Tax: Where Playing It Safe Is Secretly Costing You
A lot of smart leaders sit in high-level meetings and say almost nothing. They tell themselves they are being thoughtful. They are actually hiding, and most of them do not know it.SPOT THE HIDING YOU DID NOT KNOW WAS HIDINGMost leaders think hiding looks like silence. It actually looks like humility, deference, giving people options, testing the room before you speak. You will walk away able to name the specific way you are doing this right now, in the arena where it is costing you most.STOP...
Published: May 6, 2026Duration: 11m 3s
Season 1 - Episode 39
Overcoming The Guilt Cycle: How Your Instinct to Protect Your Team Is Failing Them
A managing director I coached cancelled his entire day of appointments to serve a client on-site, convinced he was protecting his already-stretched team. When he told them what he had done, they were furious.Guilt Is Not Virtue – It Is a Sign Your Identity Needs to Catch UpThe guilt you feel when you delegate, when you leave space in your calendar, or when you let someone else handle something you could do faster yourself – that guilt is not proof you are a good person. It is the gap between your curr...
Published: May 4, 2026Duration: 9m 32s
Season 1 - Episode 38
Being Strategic WITHOUT Knowing It All - How to Lead the Experts on Your Team
One of the most common things I hear from leaders is this: "I'm struggling to lead someone on my team because they know so much more about this subject than I do." I hear it from new managers. I hear it from senior executives. And every time, I have to tell them the same thing - that's not a leadership problem. That's a leadership fallacy. The higher you go, the more you will be leading people who know more than you about their specific domain. That is not a weakness. That is the job. And...
Published: Apr 29, 2026Duration: 11m 1s
Season 1 - Episode 37
The Identity Leap: Why Becoming a Leader Means Letting Go of Everything That Made You Successful
If you've been trying to become a more strategic leader by making small, steady changes, this episode is going to stop you in your tracks. Most leaders think the shift from doer to leader is a gradual one. Read the right books, adjust a few habits, pick up some new skills. But that approach isn't just slow, it's the wrong model entirely. Real identity change doesn't work that way, and until you understand why, you'll keep putting in the effort and wondering why nothing is actually shifting. ...
Published: Apr 27, 2026Duration: 11m 30s
Season 1 - Episode 36
Live Coaching: Put the Presentation Away: What Senior Leaders Actually Want From You
A leader in my private community walked into a meeting with her most senior executive, presentation fully prepared. He looked at it and told her to put it away. Just talk to me. She froze. And in that moment, she missed an opportunity she didn't even know was there. That moment happens to leaders every day. The good news is it's completely fixable once you understand what senior leaders are actually looking for every time you open your mouth. In this live coaching session, we work through the real communication challenges...
Published: Apr 22, 2026Duration: 29m 0s
Season 1 - Episode 35
MASTERCLASS (2 of 2): Breaking the Tactical Cycle: 5 Steps to Think, Speak, and Lead Strategically
A Navy SEAL said something to me once about leadership that I have never forgotten. He told me if his general ever showed up on the front line while bullets were flying, he would physically tackle him and drag him to the back. Not because the general couldn't handle it. Because the general was the only one who could see the whole battlefield. And if he went down, everyone was lost. That is your team right now. They don't need you in the weeds with them. They need you three steps ahead. <...
Published: Apr 20, 2026Duration: 22m 32s
Season 1 - Episode 34
MASTERCLASS (1 of 2): Breaking the Tactical Cycle: 5 Steps to Think, Speak, and Lead Strategically
A business owner came up to me after a presentation. After five years of huge growth, they’ve levelled off. He told me: "I realized the bottleneck was me. I come from sales and I am still out there selling. But they do not need me to sell anymore. They need me to lead. And honestly I do not know what that means." That is the most honest thing a leader can say. And it is exactly what this masterclass is built to answer. WHY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ALREADY TRIED HAS NO...
Published: Apr 20, 2026Duration: 25m 39s
Season 1 - Episode 33
The Avoidance Instinct: How Your Body Signals the Conversation You're Refusing to Have
A leader in one of my APAC coaching sessions asked me what to do when someone rolls their eyes at him mid-meeting. My answer surprised him. Your Body Knows Before Your Brain Does When something needs to be addressed in a room, your nervous system will tell you first — a tightening in the chest, a tension in the shoulders, a twinge you have learned to ignore. Mindfulness is not a wellness concept. It is a leadership tool. I will show you how to read those signals as the early warning system th...
Published: Apr 15, 2026Duration: 12m 32s
Season 1 - Episode 32
Live Q&A: Rewire your Mindset in just Minutes a Day (Seriously)
Members of my private community asked me two questions that I know a lot of you are sitting with: What daily habits actually improve your leadership? And how do you truly switch off from work at the end of the day? The answer to both comes down to the same thing: rewiring. All psychology is, at its core, rewiring old beliefs and patterns into new ones. And the good news is you can start doing it in about three minutes. In this live Q&A episode, I walk you through the...
Published: Apr 13, 2026Duration: 12m 47s
Season 1 - Episode 31
Board of Directors MASTERCLASS (2 of 2) Creating Board Success with Russell Dalgleish
You've landed the board position — now what? In Part 2 of this masterclass, Russell Dalgleish and Michael break down what separates a high-performing board from a dysfunctional one, and how to make sure your involvement counts. In this episode you'll discover:-How to spot a toxic board before you join one — the behaviours Russell watches for that tell him everything he needs to know-What board members actually get paid — from monthly retainers to equity to a crate of whisky (yes, really)-How to assert yourself from day one — why waiting...
Published: Mar 25, 2026Duration: 22m 38s
Season 1 - Episode 30
The 100% Commitment Test: Why 99.9% Is Costing You Everything
What if five words could fundamentally change how you show up as a leader — and how your entire team shows up with you?In this episode executive coach R. Michael Anderson breaks down one of the most deceptively simple — and brutally honest — questions in leadership: Are you 100% in?Most leaders think they're fully committed...but they're not. There's a world of difference between 99.9% and 100%, and that tiny gap is quietly costing you your focus, your credibility, and your team's performance. Michael explains why holding back even one small amount is holding you and yo...
Published: Mar 23, 2026Duration: 12m 11s
Season 1 - Episode 29
Board of Directors MASTERCLASS (1 of 2) Securing Your First Board Position with Russell Dalgleish
Do you want to join a board - but not sure where to start? In Part 1 of this masterclass, Michael sits down with Russell Dalgleish, one of the UK's most experienced board strategists, to demystify how boards really work and how you get a seat at the table.In this episode you'll discover:-The difference between a Board of Directors and a Board of Advisors — which one you actually need, and why getting this wrong can cost you-How to land your first board position without paying a recruitment company — the simple, relationship-based appr...
Published: Mar 18, 2026Duration: 25m 16s
Season 1 - Episode 28
Ego vs. Authentic Self (2 of 2): How to Read People and Lead Them at Their Best
When someone on your team shuts down in a big meeting, or a client suddenly gets cold, or a colleague comes at you with arrogance and aggression, what is actually happening? And more importantly, what do you do about it?In this second part of the Ego and Authentic Self series, I am going to show you how to read what is really going on with the people around you and how to use that awareness to become a more powerful, more effective leader.In this episode, we explore:-The...
Published: Mar 16, 2026Duration: 11m 57s
Season 1 - Episode 27
Starting a New Leadership Role (2/2): The Mindset & Executive Presence - Live Coaching
When you step into a high-level role, the biggest enemy isn't the workload—it's Imposter Syndrome. You could be leading people who have been there for a long time and know more than you do. You may find yourself sitting in executive meetings wondering if you belong at the table.In the conclusion of this live coaching session with "Paul," we move from the intellectual to the psychological. We break down how to lead a team of experts when you aren't one, and how to project authority before you feel ready.In this episode, you wi...
Published: Mar 11, 2026Duration: 19m 54s
Season 1 - Episode 26
Ego vs. Authentic Self (1 of 2): The Foundational Principle That Changes Everything
Have you ever snapped at someone on your team, avoided a hard conversation, or micromanaged a project you should have let go? That wasn't a leadership failure. That was your ego. And in this episode, I'm going to show you exactly what that means and how to fix it. Every tool I teach traces back to this one principle. Once you understand it, you will never look at your own behavior the same way again. In this episode, we explore:-The Ego Trigger: Why your brain reacts the same...
Published: Mar 9, 2026Duration: 15m 49s
Season 1 - Episode 25
Starting a New Leadership Role (1/2): The Strategy & 90-Day Plan - Live Coaching
Starting a new executive role is high-stakes. You have 90 days to prove your value, navigate office politics, and set a strategic vision—all while learning a new culture from scratch.In this live coaching session, I work with "Paul," a newly hired Senior VP of HR at a 5,000-person company. He is stepping into a 100-year-old organization that is successful but stuck in its ways.In Part 1 of this 2-part series, we break down the Preparation Phase. We discuss how to decode the hidden motivations of the C-Suite and how to build a 30-60-90 Da...
Published: Mar 4, 2026Duration: 29m 36s
Season 1 - Episode 24
Leadership Blindspots: 11 Questions to Free Yourself
When top-tier executives come to me for coaching, their #1 request is always the same: "I want to know where my blind spots are." They know that the things holding them back aren't their obvious weaknesses—they are the invisible patterns they have accepted as "normal." Finding those blind spots requires you to challenge your current thinking. In this short, experimental episode, I am not giving you a framework or a 5-step process. Instead, I am going to ask you 11 "What If" questions. These questions are designed to by...
Published: Mar 2, 2026Duration: 8m 15s