In this episode of Executiveland, Elizabeth Freedman explores two subtle leadership styles that quietly undermine trust at the senior executive level. She unpacks patterns that often come from a place of integrity and commitment, yet can stall followership and enterprise impact: the Debate Gladiator and the Deflector.

Drawing on real executive coaching insights, Elizabeth explains why some senior leaders win arguments but lose influence, and why others unintentionally weaken credibility by avoiding ownership of tough decisions. This episode challenges aspiring C-suite leaders to rethink how they show up when stakes are high and trade-offs are real.

You’ll learn:

• The “Debate Gladiator” trap, why fighting every battle signals limited enterprise thinking
• The critical shift from “no, here’s why it won’t work” to “if it could work, what would that look like?”
• The Deflector pattern, how sidestepping ownership erodes trust and accountability

At the highest levels, leaders are paid to build the whole puzzle, not just defend their piece of it. This offers a clear lens into the internal mindset shift required to move from strong functional leader to trusted enterprise executive.

For more tools, insights, and strategies to lead with clarity and credibility, visit Elizabeth’s website, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executiveland on so you never miss a new chapter of the unwritten playbook!

Past Episode Mentioned: Ep 10 - The Executive Impact Formula: Master Effortless Executive Influence

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

In this episode of Welcome to Executiveland, Elizabeth Freedman is joined by Mark Berthiaume, former CIO and Chief Admin Officer at Hanover Insurance. With a career spanning over four decades, Mark has a unique perspective on the evolution of leadership. He shares his journey from early days as a computer programmer to navigating executive roles, and his ultimate transition from an IT-focused leader to a business executive with IT within his purview. Today, he leverages this hard-won perspective in his roles across multiple private and nonprofit boards.

You’ll explore:

• The critical evolution from IT leadership to broader business leadership
• Why aligning business strategy with IT is essential for organizational success
• The indispensable role of mentorship, leadership development, and succession planning
• How Mark’s personal leadership evolution and mentoring shaped his path
• The value of learning from mistakes on the way to the C-suite

This episode offers a grounded roadmap for elevating your leadership, whether you’re leading a team or navigating your own path to the C-suite.

For more tools, insights, and strategies to lead with clarity and credibility, visit Elizabeth’s website, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executiveland on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and so you never miss a new chapter of the unwritten playbook!

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

Too many smart, capable executives find themselves blindsided when change hits, whether it's a reorg, a new CEO, or a shift in market strategy. Suddenly, their roles are vulnerable. In this episode, Elizabeth Freedman explains why even top-performing leaders need to invest in their careers before they need to, and what high-impact executives do differently to stay ready, relevant, and in control.

This is a candid episode for any senior leader navigating change, considering their next move, or looking to stay one step ahead of the unexpected.

You will learn:

• Why waiting for the "right time" to focus on your career is a risk, not a strategy
• What strong career infrastructure looks like at the executive level
• How to pressure-test your story, your value, and your visibility outside your company
• The critical difference between performance feedback and reputation feedback
• How to manage the "inner game" of executive transition and decision-making

Whether you are actively in transition or simply thinking ahead, this episode offers a grounded approach to protecting your most valuable asset: your career.

For more tools, insights, and strategies to lead with clarity and credibility, visit Elizabeth’s website, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executiveland on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and so you never miss a new chapter of the unwritten playbook!

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

Strong leadership teams do not happen by accident. In this episode of Executiveland, Elizabeth Freedman focuses on why even smart, experienced senior leaders can find themselves on teams that underperform, and what it actually takes to build teams that deliver real enterprise value.

With teams under extraordinary pressure in 2026, Elizabeth explains why old meeting habits, misaligned agendas, and unclear accountability are quietly eroding performance, engagement, and results.From rethinking team meetings as engines for decision making, to replacing low value updates with real dialogue, to designing agendas that create space for strategic thinking, this episode offers clear guidance for leaders who want better outcomes without adding more complexity.

You’ll learn:

• Why leadership teams struggle even when individual leaders are strong
• How meeting design directly shapes team performance and accountability
• What separates productive dialogue from time wasting discussion
• How to prepare teams for decisions that actually stick after the meeting ends
• Why enterprise value, not activity, is the real measure of team effectiveness

This episode offers a clear, grounded approach to improving performance where it matters most, while within a team or leading one yourself. Tune in to learn how to strengthen your team, increase impact across the organization, and create a leadership environment that supports both results and careers.

For more tools, insights, and strategies to lead with clarity and credibility, visit Elizabeth’s website, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executiveland on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and so you never miss a new chapter of the unwritten playbook!

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

Robert Clarkson, former Chief Revenue Officer (Americas) at Stripe, joins Elizabeth Freedman to unpack what it really means to lead revenue at scale. With a career that spans public, private, and high-growth tech companies, Robert shares the mindset and habits that separate effective CROs from the rest and why great sales leadership has little to do with charisma and everything to do with consistency, clarity, and customer insight.

Together, they explore how the best revenue leaders align sales with enterprise strategy, earn credibility across functions, and drive focus in fast-moving, high-pressure environments. Robert also talks about what he's learned in the C-suite, how he’s coached teams through major transitions, and the critical shift from being a top performer to becoming a top leader.

You’ll explore:

• The modern CRO mandate and why it’s not just about hitting targets
• What strong sales leadership looks like in the C-suite
• How to keep teams aligned without micromanaging
• The biggest mistakes leaders make under pressure
• What to do when execution is strong, but outcomes still fall short

For more tools, insights, and strategies to lead with clarity and credibility, visit Elizabeth’s website, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executiveland on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and so you never miss a new chapter of the unwritten playbook!

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva, founder of the Reinvention Academy and seasoned corporate executive, joins Elizabeth to unpack what it really means to reinvent, personally, professionally, and organizationally. In a world where 1 in 5 companies now reinvents faster than the annual budget cycle, change is no longer a one-time event. It’s a continuous, strategic capability that separates the organizations that thrive from the ones that disappear.

You’ll explore:

• Why the old rules of episodic change no longer work
• The psychological contract leaders must rewrite to reduce resistance
• How “kill parties” and micro-experiments can re-energize teams
• The critical difference between reinvention, innovation, and change
• What executives often miss about political intelligence and business modelling

To start building your reinvention capability, visit Dr. Nadya’s website and subscribe to Nadya’s “Reinvention Weekly” newsletter. You can also download her full digital book The Chief Reinvention Officer Handbook: How to Thrive in Chaos. For additional tools and strategies to lead with confidence at the top, visit Elizabeth’s website and take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment.

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

Mary Lou Andre, founder and CEO of Dressing Well, joins Elizabeth to explore the often-overlooked power of executive image. Drawing from decades of experience coaching senior leaders, Mary Lou shares how clothing, grooming, and etiquette are not just surface-level details, they’re strategic communication tools that support leadership performance and presence.

Together, they unpack what executive image really means today, why “fit, fabric, function, and flair” still hold up, and how to handle situations where appearance gets in the way of performance or perception.

You’ll explore:

• Why executive image is a communication tool, not a vanity project
• The subtle signals leaders send with poor fit or “anything goes” looks
• The three words that should guide how you dress: appropriateness, boundaries, and respect
• How to eliminate decision fatigue and show up ready, every time
• The real reason image impacts confidence, trust, and credibility

To learn more about Mary Lou’s insights visit dressingwell.com. And for more strategies and tools to lead with greater impact, visit Elizabeth’s website, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executiveland!

Mary Lou’s Links:
www.dressingwell.com
IG @marylouandrestyle
Linked In | Mary Lou Andre

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader

Everyone says they want IT to be strategic. But what happens when the business doesn’t know what it actually needs and the CIO can’t get in the room? Kevin Dushney has led IT across nine biotech companies. He knows what it takes to drive value as CIO when your seat at the table isn’t guaranteed, the business moves fast, and the tech budget comes with scrutiny.

In this episode, Kevin Dushney joins Elizabeth Freedman to talk straight about what works and what backfires when it comes to earning trust, building influence, and delivering outcomes that actually stick.

You’ll explore:

• What to do when you've delivered, but the business isn’t satisfied
• How CIOs earn trust and drive business results without the title
• The hidden cost of “solving problems on your own” across functions
• A better way to define success, and avoid the “post-mortem letdown”

Looking for more? Visit Elizabeth’s website for free resources, take the C-Suite Readiness Assessment, and subscribe to Executive Land so you’re always one step ahead of the unwritten playbook!å

Grow Your Executive Impact: Registration for Spring 2026 E-Suite Impact is now open – register before March 31 for preferred early rates. For details and to sign up, please visit https://esuiteleader.com/impact-program

• Free C-Suite Readiness Assessment
• Website: https://esuiteleader.com/
• Forbes Column: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethfreedman/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethfreedman
• Twitter X: @‌esuiteleader