The Leadership Betrayal That’s Sabotaging Your Clients (And Why Traditional Leadership Coaching Isn’t Working)

The Executive Who Couldn’t Lead

Jennifer was supposed to be the perfect leadership coaching success story. She had an MBA, 15 years of management experience, and had just been promoted to VP at a Fortune 500 company. Her leadership coach had worked with her on communication skills, delegation strategies, and executive presence for six months.

Yet her team was struggling. Jennifer micromanaged everything, avoided difficult conversations, and seemed to second-guess every decision. Her direct reports described her as “brilliant but distant” and “always waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Despite having all the leadership tools, she couldn’t seem to use them effectively.

What her leadership coach didn’t know was that Jennifer’s previous company had systematically undermined her for two years before her departure. Her former CEO had publicly supported her while privately sabotaging her projects, stealing her ideas, and spreading rumors about her competence to the board. The betrayal had fundamentally altered how Jennifer viewed leadership, trust, and her own worthiness to lead.

The trauma wasn’t just affecting her confidence — it was rewiring her approach to every…