Are you truly the leader you want to be—or just reacting under pressure? In this powerful episode, Sabina Nawaz shares hard-earned insights from decades of coaching CEOs and writing her new book, You Are the Boss. Discover how to navigate leadership challenges and lead with intention, clarity, and care.
About the Guest
Sabina Nawaz is an elite executive coach who advises C-level executives and teams at Fortune 500 corporations, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions worldwide. Sabina gives dozens of keynotes, seminars, and conferences each year and teaches faculty at Northeastern and Drexel Universities. During her fourteen-year tenure at Microsoft, she transitioned from managing software development teams to leading the company’s executive development and succession planning efforts for over 11,000 managers and nearly 1,000 executives. She is the author of YOU'RE THE BOSS: Becoming the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need).
Relevant Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabinanawaz/
https://www.instagram.com/sabinacoaching/
The Top 3 Key Learnings
- Leadership can quietly derail with success — Promotions increase pressure, which can distort behaviors and distance leaders from honest feedback.
- Listening is a superpower — Developing your “shut up muscle” by speaking less and asking more questions helps you hear diverse perspectives and build stronger teams.
- Micro-habits create sustainable self-care — Managing stress through tiny, consistent habits like one mindful breath daily helps maintain performance and wellbeing.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Introduction
00:55 Career Highlights and Values
03:01 Discussing the Book: 'You Are the Boss'
03:20 Recognizing and Managing Power and Pressure
07:36 Effective Leadership Communication
13:01 Managing Stress and Wellbeing
15:38 Leadership Blind Spots and Continuous Improvement
18:57 Final Thoughts and Golden Nugget
Keywords: leadership development, Sabina Nawaz, CX podcast, you are the boss book, pressure in leadership, power gap in management, leadership blind spots, self-care for leaders, executive coaching, shut up muscle, micro habits for stress
Follow & Subscribe to the CX Goalkeeper Podcast: Podcast Page Apple Podcast Spotify
We’d love to hear your thoughts — leave a comment or share your feedback!
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!