In this honest and energizing conversation, Erik and Alli dive into one of the most essential (and overlooked) truths of leadership: You don’t have to be the fixer to be effective. Through vulnerable stories and sharp insights, they explore what it takes to step away from performative leadership and into deeper influence—especially when your calendar, culture, and conditioning are telling you to do the opposite.

Whether you’re leading a team, managing up, or trying to rewire the habits that got you here, this episode offers a grounded, practical lens on what modern leadership really requires.

🧭 Conversation Highlights

• The identity trap of being the “fixer” leader
• How Alli used a one-hour morning experiment to rewire her leadership defaults
• Erik’s broken “bullshit meter” and what it taught him about trust and manipulation
• The tension between presence vs. preparation in leadership culture
• Why leaders must move from inherited habits to intentional frameworks
• A powerful parable about ham, history, and unnecessary habits

💡 Key Takeaways

• Responsiveness is not the same as leadership
• Being needed can feel good—but it can also create dependency
• Coaching your team isn’t about fixing—it’s about letting them figure it out
• Showing up everywhere isn’t leadership; preparing others to shine is
• Many leadership habits are inherited, not chosen—and that’s fixable

❓ Questions That Mattered

• What belief about leadership are you still unconsciously carrying?
• Where is your calendar performative vs. purposeful?
• What would happen if you stepped back for one hour a day?
• Are you reacting from reward-conditioning… or leading with intention?
• Whose leadership playbook are you still running?

🗣️ Notable Quotes

“I thought being a fixer made me valuable. Turns out, it made me unavailable to do the deeper work.” — Alli

“Preparation over presence changed everything for me.” — Erik

“They weren’t just managing the customer—they were managing me. And I didn’t know it.” — Erik

“The truths that got you here don’t have to go with you. They served you… until they didn’t.” — Alli

“You’re not broken. You’re probably just cutting the ends off the ham.” — Erik

🔗 Links & Resources

• Listen to other episodes co-hosted with Alli