Cinderella syndrome is the ultimate corporate fairy tale.

The belief that if you do your work perfectly, take on more responsibilities without complaint...

...one day, Prince Charming (aka a powerful leader in your company) will discover your talent and rescue you.

With the glass slipper of a promotion in hand.

Women have been fed a version of this corporate fairy tale since childhood. If you want to get ahead, you're told you should:

✳️ deliver exactly what's asked of you

✳️ keep your head down (and smile)

✳️ be lucky enough that someone notices and chooses you

This mindset has created an epidemic of strong, capable, ambitious female leaders…

...who are chronically overworked, burned out, and strung along with perpetually out-of-reach promises of promotion.

This week, I sit down with Dr. Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj, associate professor in entrepreneurial leadership and diversity at HEC Paris in Doha to discuss these dynamics and more. One of the first to write about Cinderella Syndrome, she shares her expertise in gender dynamics, leadership, and how to escape the fate of a modern Cinderella at work.

What You'll Learn:

• How the Cinderella story keeps us waiting on "Prince Charming" in the workplace

• The double bind for female leaders, and how we're encouraged to play "nice"

• How leaders can break out of Cinderella syndrome and claim their power

I can't wait for you to hear this powerful episode.

For more information, visit The Mental Offload.

If you've ever walked into a performance review expecting a gold star, and walked out feeling rattled, or even a little angry, you're not alone.

In fact, you'd be in good company. Many highly competent women have had a review in their career that left them questioning their abilities, their reputation, or their future at the company.

Sometimes, it's a specific piece of feedback that stings. But often, it's something that cuts deeper. A sense that you're unrecognized, unseen, or unjustly targeted.

And, it can leave you panicking as you wonder: how can I defend myself, without making it worse?

You want to stand up for yourself, but not seem defensive.
You want to correct the record, without escalating the conflict.
You want to protect your career, but it's hard to trust your boss.

That tension is exactly why I recorded this week's episode.

I walk you through the immediate steps to take when you're hit with a negative review. And, more importantly, how to respond in a way that keeps your reputation intact and your leadership presence strong.

This is the guide I wish every woman had before walking into a review that goes sideways.

Because the most common advice on performance reviews is extremist:

Either you're encouraged to swallow your concerns and smile meekly as you promise to do better next time…

…Or people will tell you must draft a point-by-point rebuttal, so that "their side" doesn't stain your permanent record.

Neither approach works, when your goal is to protect your career and reputation.

In this episode of The Mental Offload Podcast, I walk you through a more strategic response to a bad annual review. One that lets you advocate for yourself, without getting labelled combative or insubordinate. One that helps you call out bias, without looking like "the enemy". One that helps you rebuild your footing quickly, even if the review wasn't fair.

In this episode, you'll learn how to move through the initial panic of a bad review, and how to respond in a way that positions you as an even stronger leader.

What You'll Learn:

• The first thing you must do after hearing a negative review, especially if it caught you off guard

• Why you need to pay attention to facts and perceptions

• Impactful scripts for correcting the record, without sounding argumentative

• What to do when the critique feels biased, vague, or rooted in the motherhood penalty

If you've ever been knocked off balance by a performance review, this episode will help you get back up stronger.

For more information, visit The Mental Offload.

Tell me if you've seen this play out before: You get handed a seemingly impossible goal, and you want to prove you're up to the task. But as soon as you start making the tough calls…you realize you're on your own.

No support.
No boss backing you up.
No signal from anyone above that your decisions are good.

It's a situation that can leave you feeling exposed. And alone.

Soon, you're choosing your words more carefully. You're managing reactions instead of driving outcomes.

And you're questioning whether you misread the room, misread the politics, or overstepped your own authority.

Sometimes, the problem isn't confidence, competence, or clarity.

It's air cover.

Air cover is the support you get from the people above you in your chain of command.

The public and private reinforcement that allows you to lead, take risks, and make decisions. Without bracing for fallout you'll have to handle alone.

When you have air cover, you move differently.
When you don't, you know it (often, too late in the game).

In this week's episode of the podcast, I break down what air cover actually is, how to recognize whether you have it, and why it's so critical to your ability to lead.

If you've ever wondered, "Is it too risky for me to make this decision?", this episode will give you the language and the lens to answer that.

What You'll Learn:

• What air cover looks like in the real world (and what its absence looks like, too)

• How to diagnose whether you've got air cover or not

• The strategic moves to make when you don't have the air cover you need

• Practical steps to provide air cover for your team

I hope this episode gives you clarity about how to get the air cover you need. And how to stop carrying more risk than you should.

For more information, visit The Mental Offload.