Topics Covered:

• The myth of “leadership equals title”
• How to lead across teams without formal authority
• A real-time conflict de-escalation story
• Ego vs. trust: how identity can hijack influence
• Regulating your own nervous system first
• The science of perception and credibility in teams

00:00 – Intro: Leadership without hierarchy
03:50 – Lance’s story of de-escalating conflict mid-meeting
07:20 – How to lead across without stepping on toes
11:00 – Labels, identity, and internalized pressure
14:15 – Claire on neuroscience of ego and threat response
18:45 – Co-regulation and leading nervous system-first
23:10 – Building influence through micro-behaviors
27:00 – Lance’s closing insight: “Trust is the real title.”

What you’ll learn:

• What neuroscience says about authority, perception, and influence
• How to regulate your own system before leading others
• How Lance stopped a tense meeting from spiraling—without taking sides
• Daily actions that build trust without the badge of a title

• Claire on the Default Mode Network (DMN) and how identity loops hijack calm
• Lance on resolving tension in distributed teams

Follow Claire on LinkedIn:

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

Follow Lance on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lance-robbins/

🎓 Want to train your brain for resilience and high performance?

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📩 For free resources, upcoming masterclasses, or to join our next live webinar—click here:👉 ⁠https://linktr.ee/clairehayek⁠

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The NeuroLeadership Edge Podcast is produced by Claire Hayek. All opinions are those of the host and guests. For more leadership resources, visit www.mspteambuilding.com.