Leadership often looks confident and composed from the outside. Inside, it can feel very different.

In this UNFILTERED compilation, we slow down and talk honestly about what leaders carry beneath the surface. Self doubt. Imposter syndrome. Loneliness. The pressure to stay in control. These are not flaws or failures. They are human responses to responsibility, care, and growth.

We explore why imposter syndrome shows up most when we are stretching. Why leadership can feel lonely at every level, not just at the top. And how control, even when it comes from good intentions, can quietly drain energy, engagement, and creativity.

This episode is not about fixing yourself. It is about recognizing what is happening inside, naming it, and understanding the cost of holding everything alone. If you have ever felt like you had to keep it all together while carrying more than anyone sees, this conversation is for you.

You are not broken. You are growing. And you are not alone.

Key Takeaways:

03:11 – Naming the Inner Experience - Greater understanding of why naming internal experiences changes how leaders relate to them.

09:05 – The Meaning Behind Imposter Syndrome - Clearer perspective on how uncertainty often accompanies responsibility and expansion, not incompetence.

Listen to the full episode of UNFILTERED: Courageous Conversations about… Imposter Syndrome at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/unfiltered-courageous-conversations-about-imposter-syndrome/

13:58 – Leadership and Loneliness - Recognition of how leadership transitions can subtly change connection and relationships.

21:14 – Designing Support on Purpose - Insight into the importance of intentionally creating spaces where leaders do not carry everything alone.

Listen to the full episode of UNFILTERED: Courageous Conversations about the Loneliness of Leadership at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/unfiltered-courageous-conversations-about-the-loneliness-of-leadership/

27:07 – Control with Good Intentions - Awareness of how the drive to do things well can quietly limit trust, engagement, and shared ownership.

34:09 – The Cost of Holding Everything Tight - Deeper understanding of how control shows up physically and emotionally, and why it affects creativity and momentum.

Listen to the full episode of UNFILTERED: Courageous Conversations about The Cost of Being in Control at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/unfiltered-courageous-conversations-about-the-cost-of-being-in-control/

Resources Mentioned

The Inspire Your Team to Greatness assessment (the Courage Assessment) - In less than 10 minutes, find out where you’re empowering and inadvertently kills productivity, and get a custom report that will tell you step by step what you need to have your team get more done. Get it here: https://courageofaleader.com/inspireyourteam/

You don't need to have all the answers to lead well. Get your copy of the Clarity Kit for just $17 to learn the five practices to bring more clarity, confidence and courage...

As we look back on 2025, this conversation brings together five voices who helped shape how we think about leadership when things feel uncertain, human, and real. Russell Harvey, Genevieve Retzlaff, Pat Broe, Mary Lynn Fayoumi, and Susan Inouye each offered a different lens on what it takes to lead forward instead of clinging to what used to work. Together, their insights reflect a year marked by pressure, change, and growth. We’re reminded that leadership is less about having the right answers and more about learning, self-awareness, connection, and trust. From personal resilience and emotional intelligence to empathy, authenticity, and belonging, these reflections point toward a more grounded and human way of leading. This look back isn’t about perfection. It’s about progress, perspective, and choosing to move forward with intention, even when the path isn’t clear.

Highlights

03:53 - Russell Harvey - Rethinking resilience as learning forward instead of trying to return to who we were

Listen to Russel’s full interview at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/redefining-resilience-moving-beyond-survival-to-growth-russell-harvey/

09:25 - Genevieve Retzlaff - How leadership growth begins with self-awareness and expands outward to teams and organizations

Listen to Genvieve’s full interview at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/redefining-resilience-moving-beyond-survival-to-growth-russell-harvey/

15:51 - Pat Broe - Holding empathy and accountability at the same time as the foundation of trusted leadership

Listen to Pat’s full interview at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/how-leaders-can-support-mental-health-while-strengthening-accountability-and-trust-pat-broe/

20:12 - Mary Lynn Fayoumi - Leading through uncertainty by balancing vulnerability, confidence, and personal processing

Listen to Mary Lynn’s full interview at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/the-new-rules-of-courageous-leadership-in-uncertain-times-mary-lynn-fayoumi/

25:30 - Susan Inouye - Creating cultures where people feel seen, accepted, and connected across generations

Listen to Susan’s full interview at https://www.courageofaleader.com/captivate-podcast/five-leadership-shifts-that-create-connection-and-build-belonging-susan-inouye/

About the Host:

Amy L. Riley is an internationally renowned speaker, author and consultant. She has over 2 decades of experience developing leaders at all levels. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Deloitte and Barclays.

As a trusted leadership coach and consultant, Amy has worked with hundreds of leaders one-on-one, and thousands more as part of a group, to fully step into their leadership, create amazing teams and achieve extraordinary results.

Amy’s...

Crisis and change have a way of revealing what truly drives leadership. In this episode, I explore how leading through uncertainty is less about control and more about clarity, trust, and intentional choice. I introduce a simple but powerful formula for composure and reflect on why staying steady does not mean ignoring emotions yet learning how to lead through them. Trust takes on new weight when answers are limited, and alignment often matters more than certainty. Even without the full picture, it is possible to move forward with courage, make grounded decisions, and guide others through change in a way that builds confidence rather than erodes it.

Key Takeaways:

1. Lead from What Matters Most - What anchors leaders when external conditions are unstable and priorities compete.
2. Composure That Builds Confidence - How leaders can stay steady and present without pretending everything is fine.
3. Trust as a Leadership Advantage - What creates trust when people are watching every move more closely.
4. Shared Leadership in Uncertain Times - How inviting others into leadership strengthens commitment and resilience.
5. Moving Forward Without Certainty - How to take meaningful action even when the full path is not visible.
6. The Trust Equation - Trust equals credibility times connection times commitment times customer focus plus creation.

Resources Mentioned

Get your copy of The Courage of A Leader: How to Inspire, Engage, and Get Extraordinary Results - https://a.co/d/iyWioC0

The Inspire Your Team to Greatness assessment (the Courage Assessment) - In less than 10 minutes, find out where you’re empowering and inadvertently kills productivity, and get a custom report that will tell you step by step what you need to have your team get more done. Get it here: https://courageofaleader.com/inspireyourteam/

You don't need to have all the answers to lead well. Get your copy of the Clarity Kit for just $17 to learn the five practices to bring more clarity, confidence and courage into your leadership - https://courageofaleader.com/the-clarity-kit/

About the Host:

Amy L. Riley is an internationally renowned speaker, author and consultant. She has over 2 decades of experience developing leaders at all levels. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Deloitte and Barclays.

As a trusted leadership coach and consultant, Amy has worked with hundreds of leaders one-on-one, and thousands more as part of a group, to fully step into their leadership, create amazing teams and achieve extraordinary results.

Amy’s most popular keynote speeches are:

1. The Courage of a Leader: The Power of a Leadership Legacy
2. The Courage of a Leader: Create a Competitive Advantage with Sustainable, Results-Producing Cross-System Collaboration

What if one of the greatest challenges in leadership isn’t decision-making or pressure but loneliness?

In this Unfiltered Series conversation, leadership experts Amy Riley and Daphna Horowitz get real about the isolation that often hides behind confidence and success. Even the most connected leaders can feel unseen when everyone’s looking to them for answers.

Amy and Daphna explore how this quiet loneliness shows up at every level of leadership and why it’s not a flaw but a signal—a call to pause, reflect, and reconnect. They share how to build your personal “A-Team,” drop the mask selectively, and find spaces where you can be supported as much as you support others. True leadership, they remind us, isn’t about standing alone at the top—it’s about finding the courage to lead with openness and connection.

Key Takeaways:

1. How to Recognize When Leadership Feels Lonely - Learn the subtle signs of isolation that most leaders overlook—and why noticing them matters.

2. Why Loneliness Can Be a Teacher, Not a Threat - Discover how reframing loneliness helps you grow instead of hiding behind busyness or success.

3. The Secret to Building Real Support as a Leader- Hear how to design genuine circles of trust that remind you you’re not meant to do it all alone.

4. What It Means to Drop the Mask Safely - Find out how to be open and authentic without losing credibility or composure.

5. Turning Loneliness into Leadership Strength – How connection and vulnerability can become your greatest sources of influence.

Connect with Your Co-Hosts 

Daphna Horowitz 

www.daphnahorowitz.com  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphnahorowitz/  

https://www.facebook.com/PEACSolutions  

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leadership-live/id1524072573  

Amy L. Riley 

http://www.courageofaleader.com  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyshoopriley  

https://courageofaleader.com/podcast/  

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the, podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,...

In this episode of UNFILTERED: Courageous Conversations about Anger and What your fire is trying to tell you, Amy and Daphna explore the misunderstood emotion of anger, an experience many of us are taught to hide or downplay. Together, they unpack why anger is often labeled as “unprofessional” or “unproductive” and instead reframe it as a natural, informative and deeply human emotion.

They discuss how anger can signal our values, highlight boundaries and even serve as a catalyst for meaningful change when expressed with clarity and intention. From leadership to personal relationships, the conversation encourages listeners to acknowledge their emotions rather than suppress them and to use anger as a tool for understanding and conscious action.

Timestamps

00:00 – Why anger feels taboo

00:04:32 – Anger as a catalyst for action

00:09:30 – What healthy expression looks like

00:13:18 – Gender differences & perception of anger

00:19:15 – Naming the emotion beneath the reaction

00:21:24 – Speaking from clarity instead of charge

00:23:45 – The cost of suppression and artificial harmony

00:28:10 – From reaction to response in 6 steps

00:32:57 – Anger as a sign of what we value

00:33:48 – Staying connected to our emotional experiences

Connect with Your Co-Hosts 

Daphna Horowitz 

www.daphnahorowitz.com  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphnahorowitz/  

https://www.facebook.com/PEACSolutions  

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leadership-live/id1524072573  

Amy L. Riley 

http://www.courageofaleader.com  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyshoopriley  

https://courageofaleader.com/podcast/  

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the, podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

We all want to do things well — to be responsible, stay on top of it, make sure nothing slips through the cracks. But when does that turn into control?

In this episode of UNFILTERED, Daphna Horowitz and Amy Riley get honest about the fine line between responsible leadership and the need to control everything. They unpack why leaders grip so tightly, what it costs in terms of energy, creativity, and trust, and how letting go can actually be a deeper form of wisdom.

Join Daphna and Amy for a raw, relatable conversation on hidden control, delegation of authority, and the courage it takes to loosen your grip without letting things fall apart.

Key Highlights

01:15 - The Illusion of Holding It All Together

03:15 - Hidden Control: Responsibility in Disguise

08:40 - The Bottleneck of Decision-Making

13:30 - The Illusion of Being ‘On Top of It’

17:45 - The Fear Beneath Control

22:00 - From Dependency to Capacity: The Real Leadership Shift

27:15 - Control Lives in the Body

30:30 - The Four Shifts: Transparency, Collaboration, Curiosity, Boundaries

34:15 - Moment of Stillness: Letting Go as Wisdom

Connect with Your Co-Hosts 

Daphna Horowitz 

www.daphnahorowitz.com  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphnahorowitz/  

https://www.facebook.com/PEACSolutions  

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leadership-live/id1524072573  

Amy L. Riley 

http://www.courageofaleader.com  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyshoopriley  

https://courageofaleader.com/podcast/  

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the, podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcasts review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Join us as we explore how courageous leadership helps us integrate technology with purpose instead of pressure. We look at leaders who chose clarity over complexity and used vision to guide innovation. Their success came from reconnecting to why the work matters, asking better questions, and shaping tools around real human needs. When we lead this way, we create space for confidence, trust, and momentum.

We also show how cultures shift when leaders speak openly, encourage small tests, and celebrate learning. Bold, people-centered goals create energy and push teams to think in new ways. We share a simple framework built on clarity, communication, connection, and commitment that keeps us steady when change feels messy. When we act with courage, our teams feel it, and they follow with more creativity and readiness.

Key Takeaways:

1. Lead with Purpose - Learn how to anchor any new technology or change in a clear why that brings people with you.
2. Build Confidence Through Clarity - Expect tools to land better when you speak openly about what you know, what you don’t, and what matters most.
3. Create a Culture That Learns - Why small experiments, curiosity, and honest reflection spark stronger engagement than perfect plans.
4. Set Human-Centered Goals - How bold goals tied to human outcomes help people think differently and fuel innovation.
5. Use the Four C’s to Stay Grounded – A simple framework you can use the next time change feels heavy.

Resources Mentioned

Get your FREE Copy of Chapter 11 from Amy’s book, Courage of a Leader, by emailing rachelle@courageofaleader.com – Put “Visionary Chapter” in the Subject Line

Want a Complimentary Leadership Conversation? Email rachelle@courageofaleader.com – Put “Courage Conversation” in the Subject Line

The Inspire Your Team to Greatness assessment (the Courage Assessment) - In less than 10 minutes, find out where you’re empowering and inadvertently kills productivity, and get a custom report that will tell you step by step what you need to have your team get more done. Get it here: https://courageofaleader.com/inspireyourteam/

You don't need to have all the answers to lead well. Get your copy of the Clarity Kit for just $17 to learn the five practices to bring more clarity, confidence and courage into your leadership - https://courageofaleader.com/the-clarity-kit/

About the Host:

Amy L. Riley is an internationally renowned speaker, author and consultant. She has over 2 decades of experience developing leaders at all levels. Her clients include Cisco Systems, Deloitte and Barclays.

As a trusted leadership coach and consultant, Amy has worked with hundreds of leaders one-on-one, and thousands more as part of a group, to fully step into their leadership, create amazing teams and achieve extraordinary results.

Amy’s most popular keynote speeches are:

• The Courage of a Leader: The Power of a Leadership Legacy
• The Courage of a Leader: Create a Competitive Advantage with Sustainable, Results-Producing Cross-System Collaboration
• The Courage of a Leader:...

In today’s world of endless notifications, overflowing inboxes and constant noise, focus and presence feel harder than ever to hold onto. In this episode of UNFILTERED Courageous Conversations about Focus and Presence in a Distraction-Heavy World, Daphna and Amy take an unflinching look at the cost of distraction from information overload (the equivalent of 16 movies a day!) to the hidden toll of multitasking.

This isn’t about productivity hacks or quick fixes. It’s about courageous conversations. How distraction shapes our leadership, our relationships and even our sense of self. Through personal stories, science-backed insights and practical tools, they explore what it really takes to reclaim focus and choose presence in a world that thrives on pulling us away.

If you’ve ever felt scattered, reactive or simply longed to slow down and be fully here, this episode is for you.

Timestamps

[00:01:11] Information overload and distractions

[00:05:25] Distraction vs intention

[00:09:14] The importance of human connection

[00:12:35] Presence and focus in team engagement

[00:19:24] Tech boundaries for focus

[00:22:56] The benefits of being present

[00:26:36] Full presence in conversations

[00:30:24] Commitment to personal challenges

Connect with Your Co-Hosts

Daphna Horowitz

www.daphnahorowitz.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daphnahorowitz/

https://www.facebook.com/PEACSolutions

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leadership-live/id1524072573

Amy L. Riley

http://www.courageofaleader.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyshoopriley

https://courageofaleader.com/podcast/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!