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#185 | The Loneliness of the Leader Who Do You Actually Talk To Now
Published 1 month ago
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▶︎ #185 | The Loneliness of the Leader: Who Do You Actually Talk To Now?
In this solo episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast, Aleksandra Lemańska addresses a subject she's lived through herself and hears constantly in mentoring conversations: the loneliness of the leader.
Alex opens with a story from a mentoring session: a leader who realized she hadn't had an honest, unfiltered work conversation in months, not because of a rough patch, but because everyone below her filters what they say, and everyone at her level feels like competition. Alex names this as a structural loneliness that comes with the role itself, separate from the burnout and isolation she's covered before.
She walks through why the gap forms quietly (the peer network that used to calibrate you disappears the moment you become “the boss”) and why leaning entirely on direct reports or your own manager rarely works.
The episode includes a concrete audit: naming who you can be technically honest with, emotionally honest with, and who shows up for you without being asked, plus practical, low-lift ways to close the gap, from small peer groups to reframing your one-on-ones with your own manager.
Mentioned in the episode:
"From Code to People: The CQ Leadership Method That Transforms Technical Experts into Leaders Teams Actually Want to Work For":
https://fromcodetopeople.lemanskills.com/
✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/
In this solo episode of the Leman Tech Leadership Podcast, Aleksandra Lemańska addresses a subject she's lived through herself and hears constantly in mentoring conversations: the loneliness of the leader.
Alex opens with a story from a mentoring session: a leader who realized she hadn't had an honest, unfiltered work conversation in months, not because of a rough patch, but because everyone below her filters what they say, and everyone at her level feels like competition. Alex names this as a structural loneliness that comes with the role itself, separate from the burnout and isolation she's covered before.
She walks through why the gap forms quietly (the peer network that used to calibrate you disappears the moment you become “the boss”) and why leaning entirely on direct reports or your own manager rarely works.
The episode includes a concrete audit: naming who you can be technically honest with, emotionally honest with, and who shows up for you without being asked, plus practical, low-lift ways to close the gap, from small peer groups to reframing your one-on-ones with your own manager.
Mentioned in the episode:
"From Code to People: The CQ Leadership Method That Transforms Technical Experts into Leaders Teams Actually Want to Work For":
https://fromcodetopeople.lemanskills.com/
✉︎ FOLLOW ME ON: ⤵︎
LinkedIn: @aleksandralemanska
TikTok: @aleksandra_lemanska
X: @lemanskills
Startup Community Poznan: @startup-community-poznan-scp
www.lemanskills.com
Join Leadership Pulse! https://lemanskills.com/pulse/