What do you do when leadership steals credit and calls it strategy?

This story explores character, neuroscience, and the courage to document truth in a broken system—plus a habit to help you lead with integrity.

🔧 Full habit tool + PDF at patreon.com/madengine

The Ladder Climber

A MAD Extra story from The MAD Engine

What do you do when a leader steals your work—and gets promoted for it?

This MAD Extra tells the story of a high-performing team stuck under a toxic, credit-stealing manager—and the quiet, courageous choice one woman made to change the culture from the inside.

Set in the world of corporate strategy and emotional minefields, The Ladder Climber explores:

• How our brains assess trustworthiness vs skill
• The cost of silence in broken systems
• Why evidence matters more than emotion when confronting power

🎧 You’ll hear themes of:

• Evidence-based leadership
• Integrity in decision-making
• Discernment and workplace patterns
• Formation through challenge, not escape
  

🧠 Inspired by neuroscience and spiritual wisdom, this story also introduces a practical way to build your discernment muscles. You’ll hear a podcast-within-a-podcast moment from Difference Makers that offers an anchor of truth inside the chaos—reminding us that:

“Competence shows what someone can do.

Character reveals who they are.”

This episode is part of the MAD Extras series—story-led formation tools from The MAD Engine.

Each one pairs a narrative with a habit tool built on the MAKERS learning model:

• Motivation
• Acquire Knowledge
• Knowledge Application
• Empowerment
• Review
• Share

🔧 Want the full MAD Habit Tool for this story?

You’ll get:

• A step-by-step habit guide
• A printable PDF with reflection prompts
• “What’s Better Today?” review questions
• Journal space + empowerment steps
• Encouragement to apply and share

👉 Available now at patreon.com/madengine

💬 Connect with us at DifferenceMakers.Substack.com

Or find more tools and stories at Patreon.com/MADengine

#Leadership #Integrity #Neuroscience #Discernment #TeamCulture #Formation #Coaching #WorkplaceWisdom #MakeADifference