IM33: How to Disrupt Harmful Leadership Norms with Animah Kosai

Episode Highlight: On this episode of the Embracing "Only" podcast, we are featuring one of the most impactful moments from episode 71 with guest Animah Kosai. This episode is a must-listen if you’ve ever felt pressured to conform, questioned your leadership style, or struggled to stay authentic in high-stakes environments.

 Animah is a passionate advocate for ethical leadership, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace. She founded Speak Up At Work to diagnose the speak up culture in companies and assess their response to reports on wrongdoing, harassment, unsafe, and unethical practices.

This episode is just a short snippet that highlights the best and most powerful learning moment from a past episode. You can listen to the full episode (filled with more wisdom) here: Episode 71: Speaking Up in the Workplace with Animah Kosai.

Key Discussion Points:

00:59 Bullying vs. Strong Leadership: There is a difference between strong assertive leadership and bullying. Transformation is possible if the bully is open to learning and acknowledging what they did wrong.

03:49 Understanding the DARVO Pattern: Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim and Offender is a common corporate response to being called out.

05:18 Toxic Leadership Conditioning: Past experiences shape behaviors. Leadership mirrors toxic systems until we consciously choose another path.

08:09 The Challenge of Disrupting Systems: We are living in a world designed by and for  cis straight white men from certain educational backgrounds.

10:32 Authenticity as Resistance: The roots of “professionalism” are deeply racialized and gendered, and it serves to erase identity.

In Summary: Animah Kosai encourages self-awareness in leadership, especially in addressing and transforming bullying behavior. She discusses the need for authenticity and systemic change in corporate cultures to promote inclusivity and challenge existing biases.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Animah on LinkedIn or visit her website.

If you happen to be a woman of color and you are looking for a community of like minded women, join Olivia here: https://www.mysistersshoulders.com/

Ready to make a change?

→ If you are struggling to navigate your corporate career but are ambitious and have goals you want to accomplish quickly, Olivia is the coach for you. She can help you reach your goals.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit oliviacream.com.

→ If you are ready to transition out of Corporate and want to start building a profitable portfolio career as a business owner, board member or more, but you’re unsure of the next steps, Archita can guide you through a successful transition to entrepreneurship.

Reach out to her on LinkedIn or visit architafritz.com.

Connect with your hosts:

Follow Embracing Only on Linkedin, Instagram, and Facebook, or check out the website.

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Produced by Ideablossoms