Donna Lichaw and Melissa Perri discuss leadership coaching, imposter syndrome, and the power of storytelling in becoming the heroes of your own story. They highlight the challenges leaders face, the importance of self-awareness, and how to harness behaviors as superpowers for positive outcomes.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Hero Question That Changed Her Path
Donna Lichaw recounts an executive asking, “How do I get to be the hero?” which launched her shift from product consulting to leadership coaching.
The question revealed leaders seek inner-story clarity, not more product storytelling.
insights INSIGHT
Blame Reveals Bad Stories
Blaming others is a leadership red flag tied to lack of self-awareness and distorted stories leaders tell themselves.
Unpack interactions like a technical problem to find the true story and stop letting narratives drive decisions.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Get A Coach Early
Seek a coach or trusted advisor when business problems feel like personal blocks such as burnout or declining metrics.
Use external feedback or self-awareness to admit you need help before blaming others.
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Melissa Perri welcomes Donna Lichaw to this episode of the Product Thinking Podcast. Donna is a product leader turned leadership coach and the author of The User's Journey. She joins Melissa to talk about how she helps leaders and executives answer questions like, “how do I get my team excited to show up to work every day?” by becoming the heroes of their own stories. They discuss the importance of being clear on what untrue stories you might tell yourself and the importance of self-awareness, common challenges Donna faces when working with leaders, the helpful side of imposter syndrome, and how to identify your own superpower and use it for good.
Here are some key points you’ll hear Melissa and Donna explore:
Donna talks about what led her down the path of leadership coaching.
A big sign that someone isn't ready to be a leader is when they resort to the blame game. It also indicates a lack of self-awareness.
"What I found is that the stories you tell other people are only as powerful as the stories you do or don't tell yourself.”
The main challenges that Donna has seen leaders encounter are a lack of trust for their teams and executives, a lack of mentorship, and letting go of control.
Imposter syndrome can actually be helpful in a certain way. Donna talks about ways leaders can use it or combat it to perform better at their jobs.
The behaviors that aren't serving you are actually your superpowers. "They're your superpowers because you're really good at defaulting to that behavior. And that behavior is really strong. It's so strong that it guides you all the time, even when you don't want it to."
Telling stories as a leader is not enough. "The trick is really to involve other people and bring them along on your journey; and with everyone you work with, you always want to think, ‘How are they going to be a hero, and how do I make them feel really excited to work with me?’”
To tactically make someone the hero and help bring them on your side, you must first connect with them one-on-one. Understand what makes them tick, their goals, and their challenges. [37:11]
Resources
Donna Lichaw | LinkedIn | Twitter
The User's Journey
Product Thinking 