Psychology at Work | Career Success, Leadership, Communication Skills

Episódios

• 
  121. Disagree with Powerful People: 3 Sneaky-Smart Scripts 09.09.2026 24min

  Disagreeing with powerful people can feel risky. One wrong word and you worry you’ll sound difficult, defensive, or like you’re challenging their authority. But staying silent has a cost too. In this episode, Melody shares three “sneaky-smart” ways to push back on executives, board members, senior stakeholders, or major clients without damaging the relationship. These subtle responses will help you raise concerns without triggering defensiveness. What You’ll Discover: ▪️ What separates ...
• 
  120. Answer Any Executive Question Without Overexplaining (It’s Always One of These 3 Things) 02.09.2026 18min

  You give an executive a thorough answer and they still look unsatisfied. One question turns into five, you walk away wondering what you missed, and a week later you hear they were uneasy with where things stand. What gives? In this episode, discover the three underlying needs behind almost every executive question and how to diagnose which one is driving any given question in seconds so you sound more influential and convincing. You’ll Discover: ▪️The reason a thorough, well-orga...
• 
  119. Perceived as “Too Tactical?” 4 Communication Mistakes Reinforcing the “Too In the Weeds" Feedback 26.08.2026 29min

  You're operating at a senior level, yet you’re seen as "too tactical," "in the weeds," "great executor, not quite ready for what's next." Melody identifies how and why that label gets in place and gives you 4 subtle communication mistakes reinforcing it every time you speak up in a meeting, email your skip-level, or update your boss. What You’ll Discover: ▪️ The questions you’re posing in meetings that scream “please give me more day-to-day minutiae" ▪️ Seemingly polite language trainin...
• 
  118. Influence Without Formal Authority: Communicate So Senior Leaders Trust (and Reward) You 19.08.2026 39min

  You don’t need direct reports or a bigger title to prove you can lead at a higher level. You just need to communicate with greater authority. In this episode, Speak Like a Senior Leader™ client, Karla, shares how she shifted from permission-seeking to bringing forward a recommendation confidently, how to adapt a message for different executives, and explains the recognition now coming her way. You’ll Discover: ▪️The seemingly harmless words and phrases that keep you trapped in you...
• 
  117. Negotiating with Powerful People, featuring Worldwide Negotiation Expert Kwame Christian 12.08.2026 44min

  The toughest negotiations at work happen with people who outrank you. Whether you walk away with more headcount, a faster yes, an extension on a deadline, or a project sponsor's full backing depends less on the strength of your case than on what you understand about the psychology of negotiating up. In this episode, attorney and negotiation expert Kwame Christian breaks down what works when the other side holds all the formal authority. Why Kwame doesn't play for neutrality in any negotiation...
• 
  116. Beat the AI Job Search Black Hole & Get Hired in Record Time with Emily Durham (@Emily.The.Recruiter) 05.08.2026 47min

  It's no secret that job searching has completely changed. With AI infiltrating applications on both sides, how do you stand out and actually get a human to review your application when one job posting pulls 2,000 applicants in a matter of days? Melody sits down with Emily Durham, known to her 1.3M+ followers across Instagram and TikTok as @Emily.The.Recruiter), for a straight-shooting look at how hiring really works now. Emily spent years on the inside at major companies, and she's here to te...
• 
  115. Build a Team That Takes Ownership & Doesn’t Depend on YOU for Answers with Michael Bungay Stanier 29.07.2026 39min

  How do you get your team to be more resourceful? What’s the best way to help people think for themselves before they come to you? And how do you stop being the person everyone relies on for the answer without becoming hands-off, unavailable, or unclear? In this episode, Melody sits down with Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit (+1 million copies sold) to talk about how busy leaders can build smarter, more capable, lower-drama teams through becoming more coach-like. You’...
• 
  114. How to Turn a High-Stakes Stretch Into a Promotion Accelerator 23.07.2026 32min

  🚨CLOSING: Apply for the final Lead from Within cohort of 2026 by Sunday July 26th 11:59pm ET: https://melodywilding.com/lfw Certain stretches of your career are compressed. The reputation you'd normally build over 18 months of steady work gets decided in a matter of weeks. Handle it well and you accelerate onto the shortlist for the next role. In this episode, engineering manager Alejandro walks through how he used a high-stakes product launch to accelerate his own path to the next level.&nbs...
• 
  113. Are You Executive-Ready? Here's the Real Test [MINI MASTERCLASS] 20.07.2026 39min

  🚨APPLICATIONS CLOSING 🚨Apply for the final Lead from Within of 2026 by Sunday July 26th 11:59pm ET: https://melodywilding.com/lfw This is a mini masterclass on the four pillars of executive readiness. These are the things no business school will teach you, no performance review captures, no leadership book breaks down with this level of specificity. Melody walks you through all four, with a clear diagnostic as to where you stand and what’s holding you back before year-end opportunities get de...
• 
  112. Top of Mind & Tapped for More [FULL TRAINING] 15.07.2026 2h

  📢 NOW OPEN: Apply for the final Lead from Within cohort of 2026: https://melodywilding.com/lfw Whether you want to position yourself for a promotion, step into a bigger scope or go from tactician to enterprise-level leader, the next six months will make or break your shot at what's next. Leverage Q3 & Q4 to rise into the role, projects, and pay that match your caliber. You'll discover how to: Get handed high-visibility opportunities (no groveling, pitching, or proving necessar...
• 
  111. Escape “Hero Mode”: The Overfunctioning Leader’s Guide to Letting Go 08.07.2026 32min

  At a certain level, being the one everyone depends on can stop feeling like proof of your value and start feeling like a ceiling. The same pattern that makes you trusted can also keep you buried in execution and trapped making decisions your team should make independently. In this episode, you’ll learn how to recognize what Melody calls “hero mode” in real time, neutralize the hidden emotional driver behind it, and take steps to scale your team while positioning yourself for greater career gr...
• 
  110. The #1 Career Insurance Policy Most High Performers Never Build 01.07.2026 27min

  One look at the headlines and it’s clear: experienced professionals don't feel free or at ease at work right now. Middle layers are being flattened, the path upwards is narrowing, and even the most accomplished leaders are carrying worry about what's next. How do you escape it? Drawing on everything from finance theory to real stories of Lead from Within clients who've used this to land top-of-band offers, generous retention packages, and the leverage to turn down "great opportunities" withou...
• 
  109. Senior Leaders: Your Next Promotion Depends on What You Do This Summer (Here’s Why) 24.06.2026 27min

  📌 NEW CLASS 7/15 – Top of Mind & Tapped for More: Leverage Q3 & Q4 to Rise Into the Role, Projects, and Pay That Match Your Caliber: https://melodywilding.com/training Most mid-to-senior professionals treat summer as career downtime and then every fall, they're blindsided when the promotions, projects, and budgets get handed to someone else. The truth is that your next 12-18 months are being decided right NOW, while the clay is still soft and almost no one is paying attention. In this...
• 
  108. Endurance Beats Brilliance: What 700+ Interviews with the World's Brightest Leaders Taught Me (with Ryan Hawk) 17.06.2026 45min

  Early in your career, the metrics are clear and your effort translates into direct results. But what happens when that stops being true? When you have to reinvent yourself constantly, and when it seems - no matter how hard you work - success is slow to come? Ryan Hawk – host of The Learning Leader Show has spent years having over 700 conversations with the world's brightest authors, scholars, and researchers. In this episode he breaks down insights from his new book The Price of Becoming.&nbs...
• 
  107. Stop Talking Yourself Out of Opportunities You've Earned: The #1 Secret from Behavior Change Expert Nir Eyal 10.06.2026 40min

  What really drives your executive presence, career decisions, and ability to influence the people around you? No, it’s not talent, effort, or strategy. It's your beliefs. In this episode, Melody talks with Nir Eyal, a globally recognized authority on behavior change and human potential, about his new book, Beyond Belief. You’ll Discover: The critical difference between a fact, a belief, and faith Beware: positive thinking and manifestation can make you less likely to achieve your g...
• 
  106. The Niceness Trap: How Being a Good Girl Is Still Capping Your Career with Dr. Lois Frankel 03.06.2026 38min

  Twenty years after Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office changed the conversation about women in the workplace, the mistakes it exposes are still happening, but now in new settings, with higher stakes, and sometimes in subtler forms than ever before. In this episode, Melody sits down with Dr. Lois Frankel, the bestselling author behind the Nice Girls series, to talk about what has (and hasn't) changed for ambitious women navigating today's corporate landscape. You’ll Discover: Th...
• 
  105. Hope is the Strategy with Deloitte’s First Chief Wellbeing Officer, Jen Fisher 27.05.2026 36min

  What if the thing standing between you and the career and leadership impact you want isn't strategy, skill, or hustle…but hope? In this episode, Melody sits down with Jen Fisher, former Chief Wellbeing Officer at Deloitte and author of Hope is The Strategy. Jen shares the science of hope as a performance skill – one that the research shows directly predicts goal achievement, drives higher performance, builds stronger teams, and creates the kind of leadership presence that people genuinely wan...
• 
  104. Fear of the Unknown: Better Career Decisions in Uncertain Times with Simone Stolzoff 20.05.2026 40min

  How do you deal with uncertainty at a time when our careers and work have never felt less certain? Melody sits down with journalist Simone Stolzoff to talk about his brand new book How to Not Know and how to stop letting anxiety about the unknown dictate your decisions. You’ll Discover: The #1 reason your tolerance for uncertainty is getting worse (and it has nothing to do with stress or your job)How to identify which of three “certainty traps” is holding you back from career oppo...
• 
  103. The #1 Truth About Influence That I Learned the Hard Way 14.05.2026 18min

  🚨 LAST CHANCE: Speak Like a Senior Leader™ gives you the system to become a crisp, clear, confident communicator and be handed dream opportunities before you ever ask for them. Secure your spot: https://speaklikeaseniorleader.com Today, Melody is sharing something personal — the number one truth about influence she had to discover herself, the hard way. And why understanding it might be the most important thing you do for your communication and your career this year. https://speaklikeaseniorl...
• 
  102. Executive Presence in the Public Sector: How One Government Leader Got a First-of-Its-Kind Initiative Approved FAST 12.05.2026 33min

  📢DOORS CLOSING: Speak Like a Senior Leader™ gives you the system to become a crisp, clear, confident communicator and be handed dream opportunities before you ever ask for them. Secure your spot: https://speaklikeaseniorleader.com Work outside the traditional corporate or tech world and wonder how to apply executive level communication to YOUR world? This episode is for you. Speak Like a Senior Leader™ alumni, Roxanne – a leader in the government – shares how she went from feeling a constant ...