
Lead Between the Lines: The Unwritten Rules of Leadership & Power
Welcome to Lead Between the Lines, the podcast where we expose the unspoken truths and hidden strategies that fuel real power and lasting leadership. I’m Lois St. Germaine, your guide into the sophisticated, no-BS arena of authentic influence. This space is designed for the accomplished woman who’s ready to play a bolder, deeper game—who wants more than surface-level success and is ready to embrace the true essence of what it means to lead.
Each episode dives beneath the conventional, dissecting the subtle dynamics that define power in both corporate and entrepreneurial worlds. From breaking down the myths of authority to exploring the transformative journey of self-mastery, this podcast brings you raw insights, candid conversations, and the unfiltered strategies that will challenge you to step into your full power.
Here, we go beyond the expected. You’ll explore the hidden principles of influence and authority that don’t make it into the guidebooks but drive real, lasting impact. This isn’t just a podcast—it’s an invitation to forge your own path, navigate uncharted territory, and define success on your terms. If you’re ready to rethink leadership, challenge the status quo, and unlock the power to lead between the lines, then let’s dive in.
Get ready to see leadership differently. Here, we navigate the unspoken rules of power and unleash the leader within.
Lead Between the Lines: The Unwritten Rules of Leadership & Power
Breaking the Rules and Redefining ‘Having It All'
Rewriting the Rules: Redefining Success on Your Terms
In this episode of the Lead Between the Lines podcast, we dive into the unwritten rules that high-functioning women often follow—rules that tell us success requires sacrifice, endless grind, and constant justification for our ambitions. But what if those rules are wrong?
This episode is a call to action for women ready to break free from societal norms and redefine success on their terms. Together, we explore the power of creating your own standards, reclaiming your vision, and living a life that aligns with your deepest values—without sacrificing your health, relationships, or peace of mind.
You’ll discover how to stop waiting for permission, let go of outdated expectations, and rewrite the rules to build a life of ease, purpose, and alignment. This isn’t about doing more—it’s about becoming more of who you truly are.
Episode Highlights:
- 00:00 Introduction: Uncovering the unwritten rules that keep women stuck.
- 00:14 Breaking Barriers and Challenging Beliefs: Why women don’t believe they can play by their own rules—and why it’s time to change that.
- 03:34 The Toxicity of Sacrifice: How the myth of “success through sacrifice” drains creativity, joy, and initiative.
- 05:07 The Cost of Waiting: Why waiting for the “right time” holds you back from your fullest potential.
- 07:34 Rewriting Your Own Rulebook: The freedom that comes from creating your own standards for success.
- 09:20 Rediscovering Your Vision: Reclaiming your desires and building a life that aligns with your true values.
- 10:27 Conclusion: Redefining success and stepping into your power.
This episode is for you if you’re ready to stop grinding, start living with intention, and redefine success in a way that truly honors who you are.
Ready to elevate your personal power and step into your most authentic self? Download the Reinvention Roadmap now and start your journey toward unmatched clarity, self-mastery, and bold transformation. This powerful guide will help you redefine your path and create a vision for your future that aligns with your deepest values and aspirations. Get instant access and begin crafting the life you’re meant to lead.
Ready to find out what has really been calling the shots in your career and possibly life? Take the ShadowOS Archetype Quiz today.
Follow me on social.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loisconnollystgermaine/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lois.connolly.stgermaine
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loisstgermaine/
Welcome back to another episode of lead between the lines podcast. Where we uncover the unwritten rules of power leadership and living life on your terms. So here's the deal. Women today are breaking barriers everywhere. We've got women running for president leading fortune 500 companies and reshaping industries. And yet. How many of us still believe we're not allowed to want something just because we want it. Think about that. Like we justify every ambition. We apologize for every desire and we play by the rules. We didn't write. Rules that keep us grinding, sacrificing, and constantly chasing this idea of enough. So, let me be real with you. Most women don't even know they're allowed to want something different, let alone play by a different set of rules and having it all. That's been sold to us as a pipe dream because we've been told you can't have success without sacrificing something important. But today we're calling bullshit on all of that. This episode is about breaking free from those rules, reclaiming your power and redefining success on your terms. No more sacrifice. No more grind. Just aligned, abundant living. Ready. Let's go. Let's start with the rules that you've been following to get you where you are, you know, the ones. Work harder than everyone else. If you want to succeed. Say yes to every opportunity because you don't want to blow your shot. Never let them see you sweat because showing emotion makes you weak. And the ultimate rule. If you want success, prepare to pay the price. Let's stop right there. These rules might sound like. They're hoping you stay ahead, but they're not. They're not designed to empower you. They're designed to keep you in a box, a box where you're over-giving overworking, improving yourself again and again. Just to feel like you're keeping up. But here's the truth. These rules were never made for you. They don't reflect your power, your potential, or what you're really capable of, but you don't have to play this game. You don't need to prove your worth by following someone else's rule book. The second that you decide to rewrite those rules. Everything changes. You stop pouring energy into someone else's burgeon of success and you start creating your own. So, let me ask you this. What rules are you following right now? And what would happen if you let them go? That's a tough question, right? A lot of women can't even imagine. They think the world is going to stop that. Everything is going to fall apart that there. Families are going to starve to death. Right? Our kids won't get where they need to go. We. Have put so much or taught to put so much. Um, emphasis on the self-importance of the roles that we play. That were handed to us instead of creating the ones that we want to play. So now let's tackle one of the most toxic lies that we've been sold. That success requires sacrifice. You know the story. You can have a thriving career, but it will cost you your health. You can have a strong family life, but you'll have to put your dreams on hold. Sacrifice has been glorified. Burnout. That's worn like a badge of honor. Overworking. That's just what it takes to succeed. Right. Wrong. Here's the real cost of sacrifice. It doesn't just drain your energy. It kills your creativity. It keeps you in survival mode where all you can focus on get, uh, is getting through the day. And worst of all, it convinces you to wait. How many times have you told yourself I'll focus on my health after this project or I'll spend more time with my family once I hit this next milestone. Sacrifice and waiting go hand in hand. They keep you stuck, always pushing off the life you actually want. But let me tell you something. Sacrifice. Isn't the price of success. It's the distraction, keeping you from it. The moment you stop buying into this lie, you free up the energy focus and clarity. You need to create the life that actually works for you. And we just touched on it, but I think that it's important to really talk about this dangerous by-product of this mindset, the weighting. Waiting for the right time, waiting for permission, waiting for the stars to align. This waiting. It's the silent killer of creativity, ambition and joy. And it keeps you stuck in a holding pattern, never fully stepping into the life you deserve. If you're not just sacrificing. You're sacrificing initiative innovation and your own ability to lead your life. So here's the shift. Stop waiting. Stop sacrificing. When you let go of the myth that success requires sacrifice. You create space. Space for clarity, creativity, and real alignment in your life, you stop running on empty and you start living with purpose and intention. And before I go any further in this episode, I want to be very clear. Success requires work. Lots of work. It's a different kind of work than you've been used to because most of the work that you've been doing so far has been in maintaining a lower standard than your capable of. And that is exhausting. That is what causes burnout. Is when you constantly or consistently play below your potential operate below your potential, have standards below your potential. That's the exhaustion. When you are setting a high bottom bar, when you are chasing dreams that are fully aligned with what you want. In this life. There's a different kind of energy that is created in all of that. And I just want to be clear that even though I'm saying there's no sacrifice, I mean, you don't have to. Sacrifice your soul basically for, um, success that you don't even know if that's really aligned with what you want, when it is aligned, it's a totally different ball game that still requires an enormous amount of work. But it's a different kind of work. Right. So now I want to talk about like, where things get really interesting. When you decide to throw out the old rule book and rewrite your own or write your own maybe for the first time. The game changes completely. Kind of what I was just saying. You stop wasting energy on things that don't align. You stop saying yes to everything out of guilt or obligation and you stop living for everyone. Else's expectations. And here's what happens. Your career stops. Feeling like a grind and it starts energizing you because it aligns with who you are. Your relationships deepen because you're fully present, not distracted, overwhelmed, or resentful. Your health becomes a priority, not something you squeeze into the cracks of your schedule. And your decisions, they are clear and confident because you're coming from a place of alignment and not self doubt. Or, um, self limitation of living and operating below your potential. This isn't about doing more or juggling it all perfectly. It's about living in a way that feels expansive, where your boundaries, standards, and values work together to create the life that you truly want. So, let me ask you something. What do you really want? Not what you think you should want. Not what you've convinced yourself is realistic or logical. We don't deal in logic or realism. What do you actually want? For so many of us, that question feels impossible to answer because we've spent years chasing someone else's definition of success, but here's the thing. Your vision is still there. It's still waiting for you to rediscover it. And reclaiming your vision. Isn't an act of power. It's deciding that you're no longer willing to sacrifice your peace, your health, your relationships, to fit into a version of success that doesn't even align with who you are. Now this doesn't mean that your vision has to be monumental or flashy. It just has to be yours. Maybe it's a career that feels purposeful. Maybe it's being present with your family without guilt. Maybe it's prioritizing your health and feeling good in your body, whatever it is, it's a valid. And here's the truth. You don't need permission to want it, and you sure as hell, don't need to apologize for it. Here's what I want you to take away. You don't have to justify your desires. You don't have to sacrifice what matters to create a life you love. And you don't have to follow rules that were never designed for you. The power to redefine success is already yours. You get to write your own rule book. You get to decide what standards you'll hold and what boundaries you'll set. And you get to create a life that feels abundant, aligned, and deeply fulfilling. And this is exactly what we dive into inside of the free re-invention roadmap that I created. It's not about doing more. It's about becoming more of who you're meant to be. And if you're ready to stop playing by someone else's rules and start leading on your own terms, this is your next step. Text roadmap or check the link in the show notes to get started and let's rewrite the rules together. See you next week.