Why High Performers Keep Becoming Bad Leaders | Lyndsay Dowd

What does modern leadership actually require—and why do toxic leaders continue to rise, even in companies that claim to value culture?

In this episode of the Spartan Leadership Podcast, Josh Kosnick sits down with Lyndsay Dowd—former IBM executive, Harvard guest lecturer, bestselling author, and founder of Heartbeat for Hire—for a raw, honest conversation about leadership, power, burnout, and reinvention at any age.

Lyndsay shares her personal leadership journey, the moment she was fired after 23 years in corporate leadership, and why that experience became the catalyst for building heart-led, high-performance cultures. Together, Josh and Lyndsay explore why top performers don’t always make great leaders, how burnout is often a signal—not a weakness—and why leading with heart isn’t soft, it’s strategic.

This episode is for leaders who are tired of performative culture talk and want leadership that actually works.

Topics covered:
 • Why toxic leadership keeps getting rewarded
 • Power vs. responsibility in leadership
 • Reinventing yourself at any stage of life
 • Separating identity from title and performance
 • Burnout, trust, and psychological safety
 • What heart-led leadership really looks like in practice

🎧 Listen to the full episode and share it with a leader who needs to hear it.

00:00 – Why heart is missing in modern business
01:30 – Lyndsay’s leadership backstory and IBM upbringing
06:20 – Being fired after 23 years and losing identity
08:50 – Why toxic leaders keep getting promoted
15:15 – Does power change people—or reveal them?
22:55 – Leadership lessons from parenting twins
29:05 – Reinvention at any age and starting over at 50
38:40 – Separating identity from title and performance
46:25 – What burnout is really trying to tell leaders
51:40 – An unpopular belief about leadership (the hill she’ll die on)