If you're ending the year exhausted, mentally overloaded, or stuck in a spiral of self-doubt… this episode is your reset.

In today's conversation, we're breaking down the inner critic, the mental load of leadership, and why high-performing women struggle most with overthinking, decision paralysis, and confidence dips at this time of year.

You'll learn self-coaching techniques for leaders, practical executive mindset tools, and the exact thought-reframing strategies I use with my clients to help them create clarity before burnout makes the decisions for them.

Because you don't need more confidence going into 2026 — you need more clarity.

And this episode will help you build it.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

⏹ Why your inner critic gets louder during year-end cycles

⏹ How burnout affects clarity, decision making, and self-trust

⏹ The neuroscience behind overthinking (and how to interrupt it)

⏹ Self-coaching techniques for leaders you can use right away

⏹ Thought reframing for executives: how to shift fear-based thoughts

⏹ The Neutral Question Reset

⏹ The Thought Ladder Reframe

⏹ The Executive Decision Filter

⏹ How to create decision-making clarity at leadership levels

⏹ The mindset shifts required to lead with confidence in 2026

⏹ Why clarity → confidence (not the other way around)

⏹ How to prepare your leadership thinking before planning next year

​​Free Leadership Resources

Say It Like a Leader Scripts → tonicollis.com/sayitlikealeader

Promotion Readiness Scorecard → tonicollis.com/scorecard

Self-Coaching Toolkit (coming soon!)

Connect With Toni

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/tonicollis

Website: tonicollis.com

Career stagnation isn't caused by a lack of talent — it's caused by the wrong strategy.

If you're a high-performing woman in tech who's STILL feeling stuck (despite delivering more than everyone around you), this episode is going to hit home.

In today's conversation, Master Executive Coach Dr. Toni Collis breaks down why you're overperforming but overlooked, why hard work stops working at senior levels, and how brilliant women end up trapped in career stagnation even when they're doing everything "right."

You'll learn:

✨ Why you're not getting promoted (even with exceptional performance)
✨ The 4 hidden barriers behind feeling stuck at work
✨ How overperformance creates the Invisible Leader trap
✨ Why leadership visibility matters more than output
✨ The difference between proving your value vs positioning yourself as a leader
✨ The 5 strategic levers that actually get women promoted
✨ How to know if you've outgrown your leadership strategy
✨ What to do next if you're ready to break your career plateau

If you've been Googling things like "why am I not getting promoted?", "career plateau," or "how to get noticed at work," this episode will give you the clarity and direction you've been missing.

If This Episode Spoke to You…

You're not stuck because you're not good enough.

You're stuck because you've outgrown your old strategy.

And that means you're closer to your next level than you think.

Make sure you're here next week for our special pre-2026 Episode — Silencing the Inner Critic: Rewiring Your Mindset for 2026 Confidence.

We'll dive into how to shift your self-talk, build unshakeable confidence, and finally stop overthinking your way out of the opportunities you deserve.

Struggling to feel heard at work?

You share ideas, offer solutions, repeat yourself — and still nothing lands. Then someone else says the same thing, and suddenly it's brilliant.

You're not imagining it. Being unheard isn't a personal flaw — it's a neuroscience and systems problem. In this episode, Dr Toni Collis unpacks why even great leaders struggle to be heard, and how to change that dynamic without shouting louder or working harder.

You'll learn:

✨ The neuroscience of leadership communication — why some voices carry more weight than others

✨ How bias, bandwidth, and cognitive overload make great ideas disappear

✨ The Outcome – Process – Ask framework to get your message to land

✨ How regulating your nervous system changes how people hear you

✨ Ways to model listening that build trust and influence across your team

If you've been told to "be more strategic" or "speak up more," this episode gives you the science-backed tools to be heard, seen, and respected — without changing who you are.

Key Takeaways

◾ Being heard is about clarity, calm, and connection, not volume.

◾ Bias and overload affect who gets airtime — but you can shift perception through structure and tone.

◾ Listening is contagious: when you model presence, others follow.

Free resource

Need help writing your resume? Download my free guide to make resume writing quick, fast, simple & impactful here: tonicollis.com/resume.

AI is changing how people get hired — and it's happening fast.

In this episode of Leading Women in Tech, Dr. Toni Collis sits down with Nicole Bugenske, a recruiter from Robert Half, to unpack what's really going on in the 2025 tech job market.

From fake résumés and AI-generated cover letters to the rise of quiet hiring and risk-averse employers — we're breaking down what job seekers and hiring managers need to know right now.

Learn how to stand out as the human signal in a sea of AI, what recruiters are really looking for, and how to future-proof your career in tech leadership.

If you're applying for jobs, leading a team, or planning your next career move — this episode will help you navigate the new hiring landscape with clarity, authenticity, and strategy.

What You'll Learn

• How AI-written résumés are flooding the job market (and how recruiters are spotting them)
• Why 1 in 4 candidate profiles may now be fake — and how hiring managers are adapting
• What to do when applying through job boards vs. networking directly
• The truth about quiet hiring and the hidden job market
• How to show strategic visibility instead of applying to hundreds of roles
• What makes a candidate a "safe bet" in today's risk-averse hiring climate
• Real recruiter insights on résumés, references, and interview trends
• What hiring looks like for women in tech leadership in 2025
• Want to make your résumé stand out — without sounding like a bot?

Download my free AI-Powered Résumé Writing Guide to learn how to use AI ethically and effectively to land more interviews:

👉 tonicollis.com/resume-guide

Ready to connect with today's guest? Find Nicole online at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-bugenske-46165958/

Learn more about Robert Half Recruitment at: https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en

http://tonicollis.com/how-to-prioritize-work-to-get-promoted/If your calendar is overflowing but your career feels stuck, this episode is for you.

You're not alone in the busyness trap. For so many high-achieving women in tech, doing more has always felt like the way to get ahead — but it's not what gets you promoted.

In this episode of the Leading Women in Tech Podcast, we're unpacking the truth behind prioritizing impactful work, the hidden gap between performance and promotion, and how to build the kind of executive presence that actually gets noticed.

If you're ready to stop being the go-to person for everything and start focusing on what truly shifts your career — this episode will show you how to lead smarter, not harder.

🔗 Take the free Promotion Readiness Scorecard. Wondering if your work is getting you noticed for the next level? → tonicollis.com/scorecard

💬 Want tailored support? → Book a strategy call with Toni: tonicollis.com/lets-chat

🛠️ Tools & Concepts from the Episode:
◾The CEO Filter — Would the CEO care if I did this?
◾The 90-Day Question — Will this matter in 3 months?
◾The 15-Minute Weekly Priority Reset — Realign your leadership each week
◾The Impact Multiplier — From busy to visible

How do you lead with impact—before you ever get the title?

In this episode, I sit down with Michele Doyle, VP of Data & Analytics at Senos, to explore what it means to lead from the crossroads of engineering, operations, and strategy. Michele shares her unconventional journey from psychology to tech leadership, how to lead with influence before you're formally given the title, and what it takes to build trust, safety, and innovation in complex teams—especially in non-obvious tech spaces like fermentation.

You'll hear about:

◾How to step into strategic leadership without the title

◾The underestimated power of cross-functional influence

◾Creating psychological safety and generous leadership

◾Real-world AI adoption (in the brewing industry!)

◾Why emotional regulation is the unsung skill of great leaders

Whether you're an emerging tech leader or a seasoned exec looking to build empowered teams, this episode will help you lead with confidence, clarity, and real influence.

**Useful links**

Connect with today's guest and sponsor, Michele Doyle from Sennos:

◾https://sennos.com/ and Michele's

◾LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doylemichele/

Michele's current read: The Murder Bot Series by Martha Wells and Your AI Survival Guide by Sol Rashidi

This episode was sponsored by our guest, Michele Doyle, and Sennos. Thank you Michele and Sennos for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community!

When was the last time you rewrote an email six times before hitting send?

Or spiraled through a decision long after it needed to be made?

If you've ever been told "you're overthinking it," you're not alone — and you're not failing.

Overthinking at work is often the result of high pressure, perfectionism, and internalized leadership expectations — especially for high-achieving women in male-dominated spaces.

But here's the truth: overthinking isn't helping you get promoted. It's quietly chipping away at your executive presence and leadership impact.

In this episode, I'll walk you through:

✅ How to spot overthinking in real time (vs. strategic thinking)

✅ Why smart women overthink — and how to shift that pattern

✅ The 1-1-1 decision tool to stop spiraling and act with clarity

✅ Executive mindset techniques to build trust in your own decisions

✅ Real stories from my clients who shifted from "perfection mode" to promotion

This is your leadership reset — a tactical, mindset-rich episode to help you step into Q4 with calm, confident clarity.

If you're ready to build a reputation for decisive, strategic leadership — let's dive in.

If this episode helped you shift your thinking, I'd love to hear from you. Drop a comment, leave a review, or connect on LinkedIn @ToniCollis.

🔗 Mentioned in this episode:

Free Strategy Call: https://www.tonicollis.com/lets-chat

📌 Primary Takeaways:

– Overthinking is not a leadership trait — clarity is.

– Learn how to reclaim your time and lead with confidence, even in high-stakes moments.

– These tools will help you build sustainable leadership strategies and finally get out of your own way.

Can your team thrive without you in the room?
And what does it really take to lead with confidence in a male-dominated industry?

In this episode, I sit down with Sandy Motley, Senior VP at Nokia and former President of Fixed Networks, to talk about what it means to lead a high-performing team without overfunctioning—and how to build trust, autonomy, and strategic impact into your leadership style.

We explore:

⏹ How to build a team that doesn't need you to function

⏹ What executive leadership looks like beyond control and perfectionism

⏹ Why inclusive leadership drives innovation in engineering and telecom

⏹ How to coach your team through conflict instead of fixing everything yourself

⏹ What it means to lead with confidence in male-dominated spaces

⏹ The mindset shift that takes you from tactical manager to strategic exec

Whether you're a VP, a senior IC, or growing into a more strategic leadership role—this episode will challenge how you think about value, visibility, and voice.

📌 Want to step into your executive leadership without burning out?
💡 Explore coaching and resources at: https://www.tonicollis.com

**Useful links**

Connect with today's guest and sponsor, Sandy Motley from Nokia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandra-motley-b116659/

This episode was sponsored by our guest, Sandy Motley from Nokia. Thank you Sandy & Nokia for helping to bring Leading Women in Tech to this community!