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

Welcome to "You Know How I Said I Was Fine, Yeah? I Was Lying" — a candid exploration into the complexities of friendship, self-deception, and the masks we wear. Join us as we dive into the stories of three unforgettable characters: Ned Needy, Nick Cagey, and Percy Peacock. Each represents a facet of our own struggles and insecurities, from the relentless need for validation to the façade of success.

In this episode, we unravel the threads of our own experiences, recognising when we've been the needy soul, the guarded success, or the flamboyant charmer. Discover how these personas manifest in our lives and the importance of setting boundaries that serve our true selves.

With humour, honesty, and introspection, we reflect on the relationships that challenge us and the lessons they bring. Tune in for a journey through vulnerability and self-awareness, and learn how to build genuine connections beyond the superficial. Because maybe what we need isn't better friends, but better boundaries — and perhaps a raincoat for life's storms.

Subscribe now and join the conversation as we uncover truths that resonate in us all.

One careless comment. One label that stuck. At thirteen, I was called the black sheep—and I believed it. This is the raw, honest story of how that name shaped me, and how I finally broke free. If you’ve ever worn a label someone else gave you, this one’s for you. It’s time to name the lie, face the truth, and follow the Shepherd who calls us something better.

The Unmentionables Act 1: How to go MAD - Episode 1 Welcome to the Workshop

Brilliant. Respected. Exhausted. Charlie has everything success promised—but it’s not enough.

When a rumour of a forgotten place in Critter Vale leads her off the grid, she stumbles into a hidden workshop, a talking horse, gnome-like creatures, and the strange beginnings of something called the MAD Engine.

In this first episode of How to Go MAD—Making A Difference without losing your soul—we follow Charlie’s first steps away from burnout and into mystery, purpose, and a new way of becoming.

This is the welcome story—the one that opens the door for the series to come.

It’s where science meets story, need meets grace, and formation begins.

Includes:

• ​The ache beneath success
• ​A strange encounter with Sher Gar, the talking horse
• ​A glimpse of the MAD Workshop
• ​Gnomes. Dogs. Marmite.
• ​And the first hints of the Engine that changes everything

Join us for more patren.com/madengine