5 Communication Blunders That Can Stall Your Career and How to Avoid Them with Dr. Laura Sicola

What’s Possible w. Ilene Schaffer

What’s Possible w. Ilene Schaffer
5 Communication Blunders That Can Stall Your Career and How to Avoid Them with Dr. Laura Sicola
Jun 18, 2026 Season 1 Episode 142
Silicon Valley Change

What are the communication mistakes that quietly hold leaders back? In this episode of What’s Possible, Ilene Schaffer sits down with executive communication coach, TEDx speaker, and author Dr. Laura Sicola to unpack five common communication blunders that can quietly stall a career, and what leaders can do instead.

Drawing on more than two decades of experience coaching Fortune 500 executives, nonprofit leaders, and government agencies, Laura explains how even highly capable professionals can lose influence when they get stuck in the expert’s curse, stay silent in meetings, let their nervous system take over, confuse authenticity with rigidity, or listen only to respond instead of listening to lead.

Ilene and Laura explore what it really takes to build authentic authority, executive presence, and stronger communication in high-stakes conversations. This episode is especially relevant for leaders, managers, and ambitious professionals who want to communicate with more clarity, confidence, and impact in a world moving faster than ever.

Learn more about how to elevate your leadership here: sicola.info

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This show is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod Co.