Trauma's Impact on Leadership Behavior

Roberta describes how trauma produces control, micromanagement, people-pleasing, and avoidance.

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Episode 207 with Roberta Dombrowski

“Work is one of the only socially acceptable forms of addiction. We get rewarded for not having boundaries and for always taking on more and more things.”

Roberta is an executive coach and founder of Learn Mindfully, where she helps leaders and teams thrive from the inside out.

After rising quickly through leadership roles to become a VP in the tech world at age 29, Roberta realized her success was coming at a cost — she found herself burned out, anxious, and physically affected by the pressure to prove herself constantly. On the outside, she was the high‑performing executive. On the inside, she was white‑knuckling her way through burnout, complex trauma, and the isolation of often being the only woman or person of color in the room.

In this conversation, Roberta and I discuss:

How her late ADHD diagnosis helped her finally make sense of her childhood and school experience
The overlap between ADHD, trauma, and burnout, especially for high‑achieving women, mothers, and entrepreneurs
What trauma‑informed leadership actually looks like day‑to‑day (hint: it’s not just more bubble baths)
Why work is “one of the only socially acceptable forms of addiction” — and how to step out of that cycle
How to start loosening your grip on control, micromanagement, and over‑functioning without letting everything fall apart

If you’ve ever felt like your “success” is built on overfunctioning, perfectionism, and people-pleasing — and you’re desperate to break up with burnout but not sure how — this episode is definitely for you.

Website: learnmindfully.co

Instagram: @learn_mindfully

Links & Resources:

In Her Words (Roberta’s podcast)

Free resource: Leadership Energy Audit

Free resource: Reclamation Journal

Strong Ground: The Lessons of Daring Leadership, the Tenacity of Paradox, and the Wisdom of the Human Spirit by Brené Brown

Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky with Connie Burk

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Episode edited by E Podcast Productions

Find the transcript of this episode at www.womenandadhd.com/transcripts

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