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When the old leadership model stops working, most leaders assume the problem is external. The market. The team. The generation. The culture.

In this episode of Business Origin Stories, Amy Schutte sits down with Traci Philips, founder of the Innate Coach and an executive leadership and performance coach working with high performers in major transition, especially in the mergers and acquisitions space. Traci supports leaders navigating uncertainty, ambiguity, and rapid change, where decisions impact entire teams and cultures.

Traci explains a pattern she sees repeatedly in high-performing leaders: they often build success on uncomfortable pressure. Not healthy pressure, but fear-driven intensity. The fear of losing control. The fear of falling behind. The fear of not surviving. Over time, that fear becomes the engine behind their edge.

But what happens when that same model starts to break?

Amy and Traci talk about what it means to move from a survival paradigm to a thrive paradigm. Survival leadership focuses on scarcity and control. Thrive leadership builds from alignment, groundedness, and transparency. Traci shares a recent experience speaking at a leadership summit in Salt Lake City for a private equity-backed organization, where a new CEO modeled transparent leadership by welcoming hard questions, acknowledging mistakes, and leading forward anyway.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• Why fear-based leadership can quietly drive both performance and burnout
• What grounded leadership looks like in times of uncertainty
• Why “don’t let them see you sweat” no longer builds trust
• How Traci uses Human Design as a framework for understanding innate traits and alignment
• Why collaboration is becoming essential to the future of leadership

Traci also shares her book, Looking In: Discover to Find and Align the True Value of Your Life, Leadership, and Legacy, and invites leaders to stop pretending they have to know it all.

Connect

• Connect with Traci Philips on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traci-philips/
• Explore her book and work: https://theinnatecoach.com/

Instagram:

@amyschutte_

Work with us: www.hudsonandco.co