What kind of world would we be living in if those in power weren’t leading from unhealed wounds?

Raj Sisodia, co-author of Healing Leaders Now, joins me on the Live Brave Podcast to explore the profound connection between personal healing and leadership impact. Whether we realize it or not, what we have not healed within ourselves shapes the way we lead, influence, decide, and connect.

Unresolved trauma does not stay private. It gets amplified.

Raj shares his deeply personal journey of what he calls his “year of conscious awakening,” a period that included silent retreats, spiritual journeys, coaching, and confronting buried wounds he didn’t even know were there. That inner work reshaped not only his life but his philosophy of leadership.

We explore why minimizing our wounds keeps us stuck, how unconscious patterns derail even the most senior leaders, and why healing is not self-indulgent; it is a leadership responsibility.

Resources:

Read my latest book, The Courage Gap: ⁠https://margiewarrell.com/thecouragegap/⁠

Transform discomfort into bold, confident action: The LinkedIn Course ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/learning/activating-courage-transform-discomfort-into-bold-confident-action

About Raj Sisodia

Described as an “Intellectual Shaman” in a book with that title, Raj Sisodia has been on a mission to bring caring, humanity, and healing to business and capitalism since the 2007 publication of his groundbreaking book Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose. A founding member and Chairman Emeritus of the Conscious Capitalism movement

Raj is co-author of the New York Times bestseller Conscious Capitalism (2013) and Wall Street Journal bestseller Everybody Matters (2015)

Book: Healing Leaders 7 Steps to Recovery of Self

Website: https://rajsisodia.com/

Disappointment hurts. It arrives when what we hoped for collides with what actually happened—when people fall short, plans unravel, or a future we were counting on quietly disappears. And yet, disappointment isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s evidence of care.

In this episode, I explore the anatomy of disappointment—why it cuts so deeply, especially when it involves people we trusted or outcomes we were attached to. She unpacks how our expectations, often unexamined, intensify our pain—and how learning to hold hope without gripping too tightly can help us move forward with a wiser heart, not a closed one.

You’ll learned why disappointment with people so often hurts more than disappointment with events, how unrealistic expectations quietly set us up for heartbreak, and how to look inward with honesty without self-blame. Margie draws a crucial distinction between optimism and attachment, trust and naivety —offering language and insight for moments when trust has been shaken or broken.

This is not about lowering your standards or giving up on people or life. It’s about growing wiser without losing compassion. Guarding your heart without hardening it, transforming disappointment into refining discernment rather than diminishing hope.

Because while disappointment will visit us all, it doesn’t get the final word.

In this episode, I will help you trust that the dots connect backward, and that sometimes the disappointments we think are ruining our path are actually revealing it.

Resources:

Read my latest book, The Courage Gap: https://margiewarrell.com/thecouragegap/

Transform discomfort into bold, confident action: The LinkedIn Course https://www.linkedin.com/learning/activating-courage-transform-discomfort-into-bold-confident-action

Our identity - as people and leaders - isn’t forged in one defining moment. It’s built over time, through small choices that test our values long before the stakes feel high. In this conversation with JoAnne S. Bass, the first Asian American and first female to serve as Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force where she was responsible for nearly 800,000 serviceman, we discuss how practicing courage in small ways early in our careers expands our capacity to exercise courage in big ways when the stakes are greater as our careers progress and influence grows.

JoAnne shares her journey from trying to blend in early in her career to embracing her identity as a leadership strength, even when it risked disapproval. We talk about the decisions that strengthened her integrity and why values matter more than certainty. If you’ve ever hesitated to speak up or wondered what leadership is asking you to grow into, this episode invites a more honest look at the moments shaping you now.

Get my book The Courage Gap: https://margiewarrell.com/thecouragegap/

Transform discomfort into bold, confident action: The LinkedIn Course https://www.linkedin.com/learning/activating-courage-transform-discomfort-into-bold-confident-action

About Chief Master Sgt. JoAnne S. Bass

Joanne Bass made history in 2020 when she became the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force—the first woman to serve as the highest-ranking enlisted leader in any branch of the U.S. military responsible for over 780,000 servicemen and women. Her appointment marked a transformative moment for the armed forces and for leadership at large. Over her 31-year career, she has been a relentless trailblazer. Today, she advises organizations, serves on nonprofit boards, and speaks globally on leadership, culture, and service.

JoAnne S. Bass on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-bass/