What happens to your identity when your job title disappears?Whether you're choosing to leave a long-held career or being forced out by a layoff, most of us skip straight to figuring out what's next — without taking the time to understand who we're becoming in the process. And that's where things can go sideways.

In this episode, I sit down with Johanna Danaher, a life and leadership coach who helps professionals navigate not just the logistics of change, but the deeply personal question of who you become after you leave. Johanna brings a rare mix of corporate experience and coaching expertise, and she is refreshingly honest about her own journey.

We start with her three anchor points — the framework she uses to help clients move through change with intention rather than reaction. The first is getting honest about what you're actually leaving behind. Not just the job title or the paycheck, but the status, the structure, the sense of being needed. Johanna encourages us to grieve that, not skip it. The second anchor point is identifying what you want to carry forward into your next chapter — the values, the skills, the rhythms that are you, not just your job. And the third is creating intentional space for the things you've been putting off until "someday."

We also dig into her Energy Leadership framework, which reframes energy not as something we either have or don't — but as something we can actively cultivate. Johanna explains the seven levels of energy, from catabolic states where everything feels like it's happening to you, all the way up to a place of total consciousness where every challenge becomes an opportunity.

And we get real about burnout — not just the dramatic crash version, but the slow-bleed kind that sneaks up on high achievers. Johanna breaks down why the very traits that make us excellent at our jobs — the drive, the high standards, the need to be in every room — are the same traits that can quietly run us into the ground. From glorifying busyness to the 3:00 am self-criticism spiral, she names the signs we tend to miss and offers practical strategies to course correct before we hit the wall.

For leaders still in the thick of corporate life, this episode is full of practical, doable tools: using color-coded calendar blocking to protect renewal time, learning to ask whether you actually need to be in that meeting, and understanding that one intentional breath between back-to-back meetings can genuinely reset your nervous system.

And for anyone sitting with the question of whether a major transition is right for you — Johanna's message is clear: you don't have to blow everything up at once. Start with the 10% move. One conversation, one connection, one small step in the direction you're curious about. The messy middle is where the real magic happens.

Resources:

1. Johanna Danaher on LinkedIn: Johanna Danaher
2. Book a complimentary intro call: via her LinkedIn bio
3. Johanna’s website: https://www.anchortoaspire.com/
4. Energy Leadership Index from iPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching)

When Maximos Lih's grandfather was abandoned as a baby at a Buddhist monastery, the villagers treated him with suspicion, assuming he came from "bad genes." The same person with the same hidden potential could have remained invisible forever—until he entered a different system. At 16, he lied about his age to join the military during wartime, where trust, meritocracy, and mission created the conditions for him to rise to become a four-star general in the Chinese army.

But this isn’t a “bootstraps” story. It’s actually one about systems, and it shapes everything Maximos believes about leadership: we're not managing people, we're expressing systems that either unlock or suppress what people are capable of becoming. In this conversation, Maximos introduces a powerful framework that challenges conventional leadership thinking—the difference between being a "hero" manager and being a "host" manager.

Hero managers, like characters in Western movies, swoop in to solve problems and then leave. They're constantly firefighting, looking for crises to resolve so they can move on to the next emergency. But host managers make space—they create conditions where hidden potential can emerge. As Maximos explains, his grandfather didn't pull himself up by his bootstraps; someone made the decision to teach him to read, and a manager had to approve giving that person time during their duties to invest in his development.

The conversation reveals how first-line managers hold extraordinary power to unlock potential through seemingly small decisions. Maximos shares a compelling example from Google, where a "net neutral" mandate for data centers (originally about dollars in, dollars out) led to carbon-neutral innovations, wind and solar contracts, and data centers built near natural cooling sources—all because host-oriented leaders created space for people to imagine beyond the original parameters.

We explore why management has become exponentially more complex, requiring leaders to be therapists, culture builders, hiring strategists, and AI implementers while managing P&L and navigating unexpected layoffs. Maximos, who has worked across 600 companies, offers both philosophical frameworks and practical strategies for managers trying to build something lasting while caring for their people in increasingly challenging systems.

Connect with Maximos on LinkedIn

Book your free 60-minute strategy session and mention Manager on a Mission

Michael C. Clark used to arrive late to pitch meetings because he was physically ill from nerves. Now he helps founders and nonprofits raise millions. His Personality Pitching methodology transformed him from an introvert who hated pitching into an expert who gets clients ready to pitch successfully in 30 days or less.

In this conversation, Michael shares his journey from film and television pitching to building a business that transforms founders, nonprofit owners, and creatives into pitch masters. His transformation began when he realized that not building relationships was costing him deals. Working with Hollywood mentors, he learned that pitching isn't about performing—it's about owning the room and presenting yourself as a valuable opportunity.

Michael introduces the "two Cs" that separate successful pitches from failed ones: Confidence and Clarity. Founders often get lost in technical details when investors care about vision and execution, and shifting from a performance mindset to an ownership mindset changes everything. Michael teaches introverts to "turn on the switch" when needed, then return to their natural state afterward.

This episode includes powerful success stories, from a founder who went from a 0-11 pitching record to raising $20 million with the same idea—just a different presence. Michael also shares why the same principles apply whether you're seeking investment or donations for your nonprofit.

We explore Michael’s comprehensive 90-day program that covers everything from initial pitch development to role-playing tough questions, creating FAQs in advance, and developing multiple pitch formats (elevator pitch, formal presentation, one-pagers). Michael's insight that successful companies like Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb started with humble pitch decks serves as encouragement for founders who see themselves as "little old startups" when they should be owning the room like the million-dollar companies they envision becoming.

1. Michael’s site: PersonalityPitching.com
2. Book a complimentary Strategy Session with Michael here (mention Manager on a Mission and receive bonus services!)
3. Michael on LinkedIn