You Might Try This

Welcome back!

In this episode, Cade and Stacey explore the hidden burnout signals that leaders and high performers often miss until it’s too late. Drawing on the original research of psychologist Herbert Freudenberger and burnout expert Christina Maslach, they unpack why burnout is rarely about laziness or lack of commitment. In fact, the people most at risk are often the ones who care the most, work the hardest, and continue producing results long after they’ve started emotionally checking out.

Key Takeaways:

• Burnout was originally identified in highly committed, high-performing people, not disengaged employees
• Cynicism and loss of meaning usually appear long before exhaustion does
• High performers often hide burnout by increasing output and “pushing through”
• Small losses outside work (think exercise, friendships, reflection time, hobbies) can be early warning signs
• Leaders can spot burnout earlier by asking better questions about energy, momentum, and meaning

Chapters

00:00 The hidden cost of high-performer burnout

02:15 How burnout was first identified

04:21 The three stages of burnout leaders miss

07:34 Why high performers hide burnout so well

16:20 The early signals leaders should actually watch for

26:10 Practical experiments to catch burnout early

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

#Leadership

#BurnoutPrevention

#WorkplaceCulture

#HighPerformance

Psychological safety shapes team performance more than talent alone. In this episode of You Might Try This, Stacey and Cade unpack the real meaning of psychological safety and why most organizations misunderstand it.

They discuss the hidden cost of silence in organizations, how leaders accidentally shut down dissent, and why “nice” teams often make worse decisions. Stacey and Cade also share practical leadership experiments for creating environments where people feel safe enough to challenge ideas, admit mistakes, and raise concerns before problems escalate.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why the highest-performing teams report more mistakes, not fewer

• The connection between psychological safety and decision quality

• How leaders unintentionally discourage honest feedback

• Why polite agreement can be more dangerous than open conflict

• The role dissent plays in stronger team performance

• Three practical ways to encourage more candid conversations at work

Chapters

00:00: Amy Edmondson and the origins of psychological safety

05:08: Why teams fail when people stop speaking up

09:07: The hidden cost of silence and fake agreement

13:48: Why dissent makes teams smarter

19:32: Leadership behaviors that destroy psychological safety

26:36: Three practical experiments to build safer, more honest teams

#WorkplaceCulture #leadership #Communication #workplacesafety

You Might Try This is a leadership podcast about learning how to lead without losing yourself along the way. Through research, coaching insights, and practical experiments, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan help leaders navigate the real challenges of modern work.

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

When the pressure is on and the clock is ticking, most leaders don’t rise to the level of their best thinking, they fall back on instinct. In this episode of You Might Try This, Cade Cowan and Stacey Philpot break down what actually happens in high-stakes decision-making moments, and why even experienced leaders can make poor calls under pressure.

What You’ll Learn:

• why pressure causes even smart leaders to make worse decisions

• how your brain’s “system one” thinking takes over under stress

• the difference between one-way and two-way decisions and why it matters

• how to interrupt reactive thinking with simple, practical questions

• how to build a stronger “pattern library” for better decision-making over time

Chapters

00:00 How pressure impacts decision-making

04:49 System 1 vs. System 2 thinking

08:49 Stress, physiology, and leadership

13:21 One-way doors and two-way doors

18:13 Emotional pattern matching under pressure

22:23 Three tools for better decisions

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

Managing up can feel uncomfortable, but avoiding it can quietly stall your career. In this episode of You Might Try This, hosts Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan unpack why your relationship with your boss is the most important one at work. They explore the hidden risks of being “invisibly excellent” or overly agreeable, and why both approaches can limit your impact. Stacey and Cade reframe managing up as a mutual responsibility and share practical ways to build trust, increase visibility, and stay aligned.

If you’ve ever felt overlooked or misunderstood, this episode offers a more intentional path forward.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why managing up is essential for career growth

• What your boss actually needs from you (and why it matters)

• The risks of being “invisibly excellent” or overly agreeable

• How visibility and honesty build trust with your boss

• Simple ways to stay aligned and strengthen your working relationship

Chapters

00:00 Why managing up feels uncomfortable

03:19 The hidden cost of ignoring your boss relationship

05:03 Mutual dependence: what your boss needs from you

07:21 Transparency, trust, and the “no surprises” rule

10:10 Bringing judgment—not just information

12:11 The trap of over-compliance and becoming invisible

17:37 The risk of being “invisibly excellent”

21:11 Visibility vs. bragging: reframing self-advocacy

21:54 Practical experiments: boss audit, assumption check, alignment check

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

#leadership #careergrowth #management #workplacecommunication #professionaldevelopment #leadershipdevelopment #podcast

Why do we still avoid difficult conversations, even when we know the cost? In this episode, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan explore the hidden reflexes driving conflict avoidance and escalation at work. Drawing on neuroscience and behavioral research, they explain how our brains interpret social conflict as physical pain, triggering automatic responses like silence or aggression. The discussion goes beyond awareness to offer practical ways to get “upstream” of these reactions by identifying what you’re protecting, whether it’s your relationships, self-image, or sense of control.

Takeaways

• Avoidance is often a reflex, not a choice
• Conflict activates a biological threat response
• Your default conflict style gets reinforced over time
• Your reflexes are protecting something within you
• How to get ahead of your reaction

Chapters

00:00 Understanding Your Conflict Reflex

01:16 Why Knowing Isn’t Enough to Change Behavior

03:01 The Science Behind Conflict Avoidance and Reaction

06:37 Silence vs. Escalation: Two Common Conflict Patterns

11:12 Identifying Your Triggers and Contextual Responses

16:48 What Your Reflex Is Protecting

22:04 A Practical Method to Interrupt Your Reflex

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

Why do difficult conversations feel so much harder the longer we avoid them? In this episode, Stacey and Cade unpack the hidden “taxes” leaders pay when they delay hard conversations at work; from damaged relationships and declining performance to mental overload and unnecessary anxiety. They explore why silence often costs more than honesty. The conversation offers practical tools for leaders, including how to start difficult conversations, avoid climbing the ladder of inference, and use curiosity instead of judgment.

Takeaways

• Avoidance has real costs
• Silence is often misinterpreted
• The story in your head is usually worse than reality
• Start with observable facts, not assumptions
• Choose the right opening

Chapters

00:00 The Cost of Avoiding Difficult Conversations

01:11 The Conversation You’ve Been Putting Off

03:05 The Hidden “Taxes” of Avoidance

06:50 Why Leaders Avoid Giving Feedback

08:22 The Cognitive Load of Unspoken Issues

10:26 Why Difficult Conversations Feel Worse Than They Are

17:52 How to Start a Difficult Conversation

If you’re a leader struggling to bring up hard topics, this is the episode for you.

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

In this episode of You Might Try This, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan welcome Executive Coach and She Leads and Succeeds host LaToya Jordan for a powerful conversation about the “good soldier” trap: the career pattern where being dependable, helpful, and highly capable can quietly limit long-term growth.

Together, they unpack how high-performing professionals, especially women, can become boxed in by their own excellence as executors, fixers, and problem-solvers. From “office housework” to low-visibility, high-effort tasks, the episode explores why saying yes too often can keep leaders stuck in support roles rather than strategic ones.

Takeaways

• Working harder can become the ceiling that limits career growth
• High-effort, low-visibility work often stalls advancement
• Saying yes to everything can reinforce the wrong professional brand
• Strategic visibility matters more than constant execution
• Ask questions before saying yes to new work

Chapters

00:00:00 – The hidden cost of saying yes

00:01:15 – When hard work stops working

00:02:24 – The good soldier trap

00:06:24 – Office housework & invisible labor

00:09:00 – Every yes is a tradeoff

00:11:53 – How to say no (without damage)

00:17:48 – From note-taker to thought partner

00:21:09 – Auditing your work & shifting perception

00:23:56 – What leaders really look for

00:28:13 – Experiments to change your trajectory

If you’ve ever wondered why hard work alone isn’t translating into advancement, this episode offers the language, frameworks, and courage to rethink what you say yes to.

#executivecoaching #careeradvancement #growth

In this episode of You Might Try This, Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan explore why leaders avoid giving feedback. They break down the psychology behind feedback fear, including how negative feedback triggers a real pain response in the brain and threatens identity.

Challenging outdated methods like the feedback sandwich (also known as a sh*t sandwich), they introduce practical tools like the SBI (situation-behavior-impact) framework, an “adjective ban,” and feedforward strategies. The result: clearer, more constructive conversations that build trust, improve performance, and turn feedback into a powerful tool for leadership growth.

Takeaways

• Clear, direct feedback builds trust and supports growth
• Focusing on observable behavior instead of character judgments betters the feedback session
• Avoid the feedback sandwich and lead with clarity
• Use the SBI framework: situation, behavior, impact
• Shift the conversation toward future improvement

Chapters

1:01 – Why leaders avoid feedback

7:23 – Selfishness and moral contagion

10:57 – Neuroscience of negative feedback

17:44 – Fundamental attribution error

20:06 – Adjective ban and SBI model

25:03 – Three experiments to try

If you’re an emerging leader, newly promoted manager, or ambitious professional aiming for your next level, this episode will help you rethink how you create value and what to let go of to grow.

#leadership #management #feedback

In this episode of You Might Try This, hosts Stacey Philpot and Cade Cowan explore a critical leadership shift many high performers never see coming: when the skills that earned you a promotion start holding you back.

They unpack the “expert trap”: how relying too heavily on your own expertise can turn you into a bottleneck, undermine your team’s confidence, and quietly derail your leadership trajectory. Through real-world examples and research-backed insights, Stacey and Cade explain why rewriting your team’s work, stepping in too fast, or role-modeling instead of coaching can erode trust, limit growth, and prevent future promotions.

This conversation dives into the identity shift required when moving from individual contributor to leader, the hidden costs of control, and why organizations promote leaders who build successors, not bottlenecks. You’ll also hear practical strategies for delegating without disengaging, coaching without rescuing, and creating real ownership across your team.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. Why being an expert can quietly damage your leadership effectiveness
2. How rewriting work and “saving” your team reduces capability and trust
3. The difference between role modeling and coaching and why it matters
4. How fear, control, and identity protectiveness show up in new leaders
5. Practical ways to delegate, build successors, and scale your impact

Chapters

00:00 When your strengths start holding you back

01:15 The promotion shift no one explains

02:53 How experts become bottlenecks

09:16 The gap leaders don’t see (and why it matters)

12:05 Why you won’t get promoted without a successor

17:22 How to stop overworking and start leading

If you’re an emerging leader, newly promoted manager, or ambitious professional aiming for your next level, this episode will help you rethink how you create value and what to let go of to grow.

#leadership #management #careergrowth

When leaders encounter resistance, the instinct is often to push harder, explain more, or shut down the conversation entirely. But what if resistance is actually a sign of engagement and silent agreement is the real danger? In this episode, Stacey and Cade unpack why a nodding team can be more harmful than a resistant one, and how leaders can turn pushback into energy, insight, and momentum.

What You’ll Learn:

• Why resistance is a sign of engagement, not failure

• How stress responses like control and avoidance shape leadership behavior

• The hidden dangers of “artificial harmony” and passive agreement

• How to work effectively with skeptics, protectors, experts, and silent resisters

• Practical questions leaders can use to turn resistance into insight and buy-in

Chapters

00:00 Why every leader faces resistance

03:08 Your stress response is making it worse

05:09 Resistance vs. apathy (this changes everything)

09:58 The 4 types of people who push back

16:17 How to turn resistance into buy-in

To learn more about us and the podcast, visit youmighttrythis.com and check us out on social media @youmighttrythis

#leadership #management #workplaceculture