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Lead to Soar

Michelle Redfern & Mel Butcher

Lead to Soar is the podcast where ambitious women get strategic, evidence-based guidance to reach their full potential and reshape the systems that hold them back. Each episode delivers practical leadership insights grounded in Business, Emotional and Social Intelligence so women can lead with impact and advance their careers on their own terms.

leadtosoarpodcast.substack.com
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  • 24 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 33 min
  • English

Episodes 24

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  • #217
    May 3 · 26 min

    Sponsors Over Mentors: What Ambitious Women Leaders Must Know

    Women leaders are over-mentored and under-promoted. The mechanism that actually closes that gap is sponsorship, and there is a significant difference between the two. In Episode 217, Mel and Michelle break down what sponsorship is, how it works in practice, what ambitious women need to do to earn it, and what leaders with the power to sponsor need to hear. Essential listening if career progression is serious for you. If you found this useful, please do share it with a woman who needs to hear it. Free subscriber? The conversation continues on the Lead to Soar Podcast, with new episodes every week. Consider upgrading to a paid Substack subscription to get full access to every editorial, every episode, every week. Already a paid subscriber? The Lead to Soar Network is where the work goes deeper. Coaching, community, and the people who take this stuff seriously. Come find us. Get full access to Lead to Soar Podcast at leadtosoarpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

  • #215
    April 26 · 22 min

    WTF Do I Actually Do? How Women Can Navigate a Broken System of Work

    Last week Mel and Michelle called out the problem. This week they talk about what women can actually do about it. Six strategies for navigating a workplace that was never designed for women. From getting clear on where you actually stand, to building the business acumen that makes you harder to dismiss, to knowing when it is time to cut your losses and make a strategic move. This is not a fix yourself episode. It is a survive, advance, and eventually change the system episode. Michelle shares personal stories from her own career, including taking a demotion that turned out to be one of the smartest decisions she ever made. Practical, direct, and grounded in what actually works. Want more? Every episode and editorial goes to all subscribers. To get direct access to Mel, Michelle, and the Lead to Soar Network community, join as a monthly or annual subscriber. Find out more at the link below. https://bit.ly/4rmjqiW And if you missed last week’s episode, where Mel and Michelle called out the five signs you are inside a broken system, go back and listen first. 5 Ways Women Are Not the Problem. The System Is. Get full access to Lead to Soar Podcast at leadtosoarpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

  • #215
    April 19 · 40 min

    5 More Ways Women Are Absolutely Not the Problem.

    Mel and Michelle have been saying "fix the system, not the women" for years. In this episode, they make it concrete. Five signs your workplace is the problem: from merit myths and meaningless confidence feedback, to the global DEI rollback and cultures built on silence. No Pollyanna. No platitudes. Just a sharp, direct conversation for women navigating a world that was never designed with them in mind. If you found this useful, please do share it with a woman who needs to hear it. Free subscriber? The conversation continues on the Lead to Soar Podcast, with new episodes every week. Consider upgrading to a paid Substack subscription to get full access to every editorial, every episode, every week. Already a paid subscriber? The Lead to Soar Network is where the work goes deeper. Coaching, community, and the people who take this stuff seriously. Come find us. Get full access to Lead to Soar Podcast at leadtosoarpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

  • #214
    April 12 · 34 min

    Stop Throwing Women in a Room and Calling It Networking

    Most networking events for women are lazy. Not malicious. Lazy. Someone books a venue, lines up a speaker, fills the room with wine and canapés, and expects the magic to happen. It doesn't. And the women in the room get blamed for not working the crowd hard enough. In this episode, Mel Butcher and Michelle Redfern take a sharp look at what actually makes a gathering work, using Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering as their framework. They name the real problem: organiser accountability. Bad event design is not a personality mismatch or an introvert problem. It's a failure of purpose, structure, and intentionality. What they cover: Why the same tired formats keep getting recycled, and who benefits from that What a well-designed networking event actually looks like in practice, including formats that have worked for both Mel and Michelle Priya Parker's principle that a gathering without a clear purpose and a closed door isn't really a gathering at all Why "prime people before they arrive" is one of the most underused tools in any organiser's kit How to give attendees a framework for conversation rather than setting them loose to fend for themselves Why you are allowed to stop going to badly designed events, and when to give feedback instead This episode is primarily for the leaders, HR professionals, ERG chairs, and event organisers who create gatherings for women. If you run events, this one is for you. If you attend them, it will give you language for why something felt off, and the standing to say so. Get full access to Lead to Soar Podcast at leadtosoarpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

Showing 21–24 of 24 episodes