In this episode, I’m joined by Jill Macauley for a powerful and honest conversation about blindspots, leadership superpowers, and the point where strengths can quietly turn into limitations.

We explore what happens when you fully lean into your natural strengths — not just to perform, but to grow. As leaders, we’re often encouraged to play to our strengths. Yet while strengths are rightly celebrated, they can also become places we stop questioning… and that’s where blindspots live.

The very traits that helped you grow, lead, and succeed can become sources of friction, burnout, or disconnection when they’re overused or running on autopilot.

This conversation invites leaders to move beyond labels like strengths and weaknesses, and instead develop greater awareness, choice, and range.

Together, Jill and I unpack:

• The difference between leading from capability versus leading from awareness
• When a strength becomes too much — too controlling, too driven, too accommodating, too responsible
• Why growth isn’t about fixing yourself, but refining how you use what already works

If you’ve ever wondered:

• “Is this strength still serving me?”
• “Why do I keep hitting the same edge with people or decisions?”
• “What might I not be seeing about myself as a leader?”

…this episode will meet you right there.

This is a conversation for leaders who are successful — yet curious. Those who sense their next level isn’t about doing more, but about noticing more.

🎧 Tune in and reflect on where your superpower might be asking to evolve.

Interested in completing the Blindspotting assessment for free?
Access it here: https://www.blindspotting.com/assessment

Use the promo code: SPOTREINS

Connect with Merinda:


Instagram: @IamMerindaSmith

Website: www.merindasmith.com.au

Shae Noble shares her leap from traditional employment into her own trauma-informed HR consultancy. Her story highlights the growing need for HR approaches that understand the human beneath the role description.

The Evolution of HR → People & Culture
In conversation, Shae and Merinda explore the changing landscape of HR.

Understanding Workplace Dynamics
The episode digs into what’s really happening beneath the surface in teams and organisations—patterns, tensions, unspoken expectations—and how a trauma-informed lens can transform how we lead and support others.

Leadership Lessons from the Saddle
Merinda wraps the conversation with insights drawn from working with horses, including the universal moment of overcoming fear on horseback.

Books mentioned int his episode:

• Game free life by Stephen Karpman
• Becoming Fearless by Dr Benjamin Ritter

Connect with Merinda:


Instagram: @IamMerindaSmith

Website: www.merindasmith.com.au

Every leader has them: those hidden perspectives and ingrained habits we call blindspots. In this insightful episode of The Reins of Leadership, Merinda shares a personal story to illuminate how our own aversions and outdated beliefs can inadvertently steer our leadership off course.

Discover why blindspots aren't weaknesses, but rather uninspected areas ripe for growth.

Here are some questions to help you:

• What are you truly resisting?
• Is your preference masquerading as a principle?
• Are you looking for evidence, or letting emotion lead?
• Who can offer a trusted, outside perspective?
• Are you choosing short-term discomfort for long-term ease?

It's time to ask: "Is this actually a limitation, or is it just the place where I need to get out of my own way?"

Connect with Merinda:


Instagram: @IamMerindaSmith

Website: www.merindasmith.com.au