New Boss, Same Team — Melanie Shires | The Lagging Team Ep. 11

A new boss walks in and nothing changes on paper. Same title, same duties, same team. But the agreements the team was operating under quietly evaporate, and nobody says a word. Melanie Shires has sat in both chairs. She kept her title as a marketing director while losing her place in the conversations that shaped her work, accountable for work she was no longer invited to help shape. And she has been the new executive walking into a culture built long before she arrived. Her argument: a change in external authority shows how much of your footing was borrowed from it, and you can assess what is happening around you without putting everything you know about yourself on trial. Along the way: what the team experiences while its leader works through it, why high achievers' boundaries dissolve instead of stretching, the glass balls and rubber balls every leader is juggling, the first agreement a new leader should make with a team, and where protecting people turns into keeping them in the dark. For any leader sandwiched between the people they lead and the people they report to. ABOUT THE SHOW Most teams don't fall behind because people stopped caring. They fall behind because the job changed and the team's operating agreement didn't. The Lagging Team is for leaders whose teams got left behind — by a reorg, a new boss, a technology that rewrote the playbook overnight, or a change nobody explained. Tuesdays — conversations with practitioners who were in the room when it happened. Thursdays — short research episodes. One finding, stated plainly, in under twenty minutes. No blame, no jargon, no pretending the team should have known. Just what changed and what to do about it. CHAPTERS 0:00 You belong in the room, period. The line the episode keeps returning to. 1:33 Nothing changes on paper. Same title, same duties, same team. 3:38 Don't put yourself on trial. Her takeaway from that change. 5:05 Shield the team by how you treat them. She couldn't control the new leadership. 6:43 Speak your truth, whatever comes back. She raised it, and it fell on deaf ears. 8:16 What inner authority means. Trusting your own inner knowing. 11:10 High achievers' boundaries dissolve. They don't stretch; they disappear. 13:41 Burnout starts as quiet friction. Your body tells you first. 17:06 Glass balls and rubber balls. Everyone is juggling. 18:55 Alignment, not balance. There is never going to be balance. 20:32 Why people stay in toxic places. They want validation and fear for the job. 21:49 From both chairs. She has been the new executive and the one adapting. 24:43 What I misread as a new leader. She forgot to read the room. 26:15 Nobody wants their room rearranged. Think of a parent walking into a teenager's bedroom. 28:12 Bring people along, don't drag them. Learn why things are the way they are first. 30:03 The first 30 days: three things. Be open, be curious, and listen. 31:32 Hired to clean it up? Ask first. Ask the people in the department before you change it. 33:58 The sandwiched leader's first agreement. Most leaders report to someone and lead someone. 36:56 They'll speak your name after they're gone. People go above and beyond when they are inspired, not afraid. 38:38 Good people leave. The flip side is friction, even sabotage. 40:39 When the team needs answers you don't have. Her designer was waiting on a promise she couldn't approve. 44:22 Protecting the team or keeping them in the dark. Not everything from the boardroom needs to reach the team. 46:28 I hate that word. Melanie's answer to imposter syndrome. 48:41 Your inner critic has a bullhorn. The guide whispers; the critic shouts. 50:02 I deal with this all the time. Melanie doesn't claim to be past it. 52:10 There's no such thing as perfection. A recovering perfectionist on letting go. 54:52 The Inner Authority Assessment. Four domains, one snapshot. 57:35 The host's results. Devon reads his own results on the record. 59:13 We're like batteries. Some people drain you even when you enjoy them. 1:01:49 Inner authority isn't knowing everything. It doesn't mean never seeking counsel. 1:03:49 Use AI like counsel. AI should not replace you. 1:06:22 What would you tell a leader whose team is behind? The closing question. 1:09:19 Where to find Melanie. LinkedIn is where she lives. ABOUT MELANIE Melanie Shires (she/her) is the founder of Positively Melanie and M Studio and the creator of the Inner Authority™ Framework. Her free Inner Authority Alignment Assessment is on her website. Positively Melanie: https://www.positivelymelanie.com/ Melanie on LinkedIn:   / melanieshires   Talk about your team: https://thelaggingteam.com/start?epis... Listen: https://thelaggingteam.com/podcast/00...