Ever sat across from a team member who's clearly going through something devastating and had no idea what to say? What if the most powerful thing you can do as a leader isn't solving the problem, but simply staying in the room?

Grief doesn't clock out when someone walks into the office. Whether it's losing a parent, a relationship breakdown, or fertility challenges, your team members are carrying things you can't always see. And most leaders have never been taught how to handle it. Not in leadership training, not in any management course, not in any boardroom.

The truth is, most people avoid these difficult conversations at work because they're afraid of making it worse. But avoiding them is what actually makes it worse. The leaders who build the deepest trust are the ones willing to sit in the discomfort, not fix it.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why bereavement in the workplace is something every leader will face and why so few are prepared
• The "leaky tap theory" and why grief never fully switches off
• What to say (and what not to say) when a team member is grieving
• How to support your team through hard times with practical, meaningful action
• Why showing emotion at work doesn't make you less professional
• How empathetic leadership and emotional intelligence in the workplace create stronger, more connected teams
• The one thing that turns a difficult moment into a relationship-building trust point

Lucy's leadership program for managers → https://www.thegracefulcollective.com/managementcollective

Lucy Allen and Kel Stambanis share their deeply personal experiences of navigating grief as leaders, both as the one supporting and the one being supported. This is the conversation about leadership communication that most people never have, but every leader needs to hear.

Connect with us:

Lucy Allen

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Kel Stambanis

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Mentioned in this episode:

Management Colelctive

Non-boring and very fun cross-industry professional development, training and networking for new and emerging managers and people leaders.

Ever feel like you're constantly busy but never making progress on the things that actually matter? What if having things left on your to-do list was a sign you're doing it right?

As a leader, the pressure to be "on" never stops. You're jumping between strategy, team needs, stakeholder demands, and the mental load of everything outside work. Whether it's family, ageing parents, or just trying to be a functioning human, it can feel like you're always behind and never doing anything well enough.

But what if the problem isn't you? What if it's the way you've been thinking about balance altogether? Most leaders are approaching the juggle the wrong way, and it's costing them the things that matter most.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why "work-life balance" might be the wrong goal and what balancing leadership and life actually looks like
• The rocks, pebbles, and sand analogy and how it changes your approach to prioritisation
• How to prioritise when everything feels urgent, using Stephen Covey's "schedule your priorities" principle
• Time management for leaders who are juggling work and family life
• The leadership mindset shift that turns an unfinished task list into a win
• Why productivity guilt and working parent guilt are signs you care, not signs you're failing
• How everything is seasonal and why letting go of the to-do list is a form of leadership growth

Lucy's leadership program for managers → https://www.thegracefulcollective.com/managementcollective

Whether you're a working parent looking for tips that actually make sense or a leader who wants to improve as a leader without burning out, this one's for you.

Lucy Allen and Kel Stambanis are back with another honest conversation about what it really looks like to lead, parent, and try to be a functioning human at the same time. No hacks, no hustle talk, just two leaders who've been in it and are still figuring it out.

Connect with us: Lucy Allen

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Kel Stambanis

• Instagram
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Mentioned in this episode:

Management Collective

Non-boring and very fun cross-industry professional development, training and networking for new and emerging managers and people leaders.

When was the last time you actually let yourself stop? Not because you ran out of hours in the day, but because you chose to?

In this episode of The Lonely Leaders Club, Lucy and Kel get real about something most leaders won't admit out loud: feeling guilty for not working. That constant tension of knowing you need a break but not being able to take one without someone else giving you the green light first.

The more senior you get, the harder it becomes to say no at work, take a sick day, or even cancel a plan without spiralling into guilt. Lucy shares her own experience of pushing through illness to avoid letting people down, and the pair unpack why so many leaders stay busy instead of leading. This episode is your permission slip to stop overworking and start actually resting.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why "work harder" is a great entry level strategy that stops serving you the more senior you become
• The guilt trap: why leaders struggle to take a break even when they know they need one
• How people pleasing at work keeps you stuck in a cycle of saying yes to everything
• Outsourcing permission: why we wait for someone else to tell us it's okay to rest
• Lucy's 5 Rs framework: Reveal, Reframe, Reprioritise, Reset, and Realise the impact
• How to stop feeling guilty for taking time off by challenging the stories you tell yourself
• Why feelings aren't facts, and how to rewrite the narrative that's keeping you exhausted
• Leadership mindset shifts: rest isn't weakness, it's strategy
• How to lead without burning out by modelling healthy behaviour for your team
• Why work-life balance starts with giving yourself permission before anyone else does

Lucy's leadership program for managers → https://www.thegracefulcollective.com/managementcollective

Hosted by two women in leadership who've both wished for a minor car accident just to get a day off (yes, really), The Lonely Leaders Club is a leadership podcast that blends honest conversation with practical coaching tips. Real talk about leadership burnout and how to stop overworking as a leader without feeling like you're letting everyone down.

Connect with us: Lucy Allen

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Kel Stambanis

• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

Management Collective

Non-boring and very fun cross-industry professional development, training and networking for new and emerging managers and people leaders.

Have you ever felt like your team can't solve problems without you? Like every question, every decision, every "got a minute?" lands squarely on your desk?

In this episode of The Lonely Leaders Club, Lucy and Kel get into one of the most common traps in leadership: being everyone's problem solver at work. That moment you realise the thing that made you feel like a great leader (having all the answers) might actually be holding your team back.

Because the more senior you get, the more people come to you. And if you're always the one solving, you're not leading, you're just doing everyone else's thinking for them. This episode is about how to coach your team instead of giving answers, and how to build a self-sufficient team that doesn't fall apart without you.

In this episode, we cover:

• How to stop being your team's problem solver and why it happens in the first place
• Coaching vs managing: the difference between telling people what to do and helping them think for themselves
• The GROW model coaching framework: a simple structure you can use in your very next conversation
• A live role play using the GROW model to coach through a difficult feedback conversation
• How to ask better questions as a leader, and why "what do you think?" is more powerful than you realise
• Coaching questions for managers at every level, including how to coach junior team members
• The "three before me" rule: a practical tool for building team accountability
• How to get employees to think for themselves without leaving them stranded
• Leadership mindset shifts: why solving less actually makes you a stronger leader
• Why the best people management skills aren't about having answers, they're about asking the right questions

Lucy's leadership program for managers → https://www.thegracefulcollective.com/managementcollective

Hosted by two women in leadership who've been on both sides of the desk, The Lonely Leaders Club is a leadership podcast that blends honest conversation with practical coaching tips. Real leadership skills for anyone figuring out how to stop micromanaging and start coaching, without losing connection with their team.

Connect with us: Lucy Allen

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Kel Stambanis

• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Mentioned in this episode:

The Management Collective

Non-boring and very fun 😜 cross-industry professional development, training and networking for new and emerging managers and people leaders.

How do you actually know if you're doing a good job? And why does that question seem to get harder to answer the more senior you become?

In this first episode of The Lonely Leaders Club, Lucy and Kel dive straight in, talking about imposter syndrome in leadership. The quiet self-doubt that so many capable leaders carry, even the ones who look like they have it all figured out.

It feels like the more senior you get, the less feedback and praise you receive so you're left constantly wondering if you’re doing a good job or not. This episode is about how to measure your own success and find ways to combat self-doubt.

In this episode, we cover:

• How to know if you're a good leader and why self-doubt at work tends to grow the more senior you become
• Imposter syndrome in leadership
• Defining success at work: how to get clear on what "a good job" actually means across work and life
• Why feelings aren't facts, and how that reframe helps when you feel like you're failing
• How to ask for feedback at work with better questions
• Giving and receiving feedback as a leader, including dealing with negative feedback
• Leadership mindset shifts
• Tools for building self-confidence at work when negativity sticks harder than praise
• Using a weekly review for productivity and self-reflection to build healthier thinking habits
• Why measuring your own success matters for work-life balance and career self-worth

Lucy's leadership program for managers → https://www.thegracefulcollective.com/managementcollective

Hosted by two women in leadership who've experienced self-doubt firsthand, The Lonely Leaders Club blends honest conversation with practical coaching tips. Real leadership skills for anyone learning how to be a leader at work without losing themselves in the process.

CONNECT WITH US:

Lucy Allen

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Kel Stambanis

• Instagram
• LinkedIn

The Lonely Leaders Club is a podcast hosted by mindset and leadership speaker Lucy Allen and her former boss, marketing and PR leader Kelly Stambanis. Honest conversations about what leadership actually looks like behind the scenes.

About the juggle. The exhaustion behind the success. The pressure to say yes when every part of you wants to say no. And the quiet truth that the higher you climb, the harder it gets to admit any of it out loud.

Drawing on their real experiences working together — the great, the curly, and everything in between — Lucy and Kelly unpack the challenges keeping leaders up at night, and share the mindset shifts, communication tools, and leadership lessons Lucy now teaches in workplaces every day.

If it's felt a little lonely at the top lately, we're here to keep you company.

New episodes fortnightly. Follow now so episode one lands straight in your feed.

Connect with us:

Lucy Allen

• Website
• Instagram
• LinkedIn

Kel Stambanis

• Instagram
• LinkedIn