Power Playbook

How To Help

How to Help looks at why truly helpful advice is rarer and harder than it seems, even for experienced coaches, therapists, and leaders. Through Julie’s own missteps and the story of Pericles and his quiet mentor Anaxagoras, the episode shows how real support depends less on smart answers and more on timing, deep listening, and ego-free counsel. Listeners are invited to rethink how they give help—trading quick fixes and one-size-fits-all solutions for patience, curiosity, and guidance that actually meets people where they are.

Beware the Underdog

Beware the Underdog explores how people who have long felt powerless can become harmful leaders if they step into new authority without developing inner strength and self-worth. Using Nate the Great from Ted Lasso as a central example, the episode shows how unresolved insecurity can twist a feel-good rise-from-the-bottom story into a cycle of bullying, revenge, and ego-driven power moves. Listeners learn why cultivating inner power—self-respect, emotional awareness, and grounded confidence—is essential to prevent the underdog from turning into the very kind of leader they once feared.

Sidestepping Power

Sidestepping Power examines the often-overlooked ways leaders misuse power by not using it at all. Through the story of General George McClellan in the American Civil War and modern workplace examples, the episode shows how hesitation, avoidance, and a desire to be seen as “nice” can cause confusion, dysfunction, and even serious harm. Listeners learn why holding a position of authority is an ethical responsibility to act—by setting boundaries, addressing poor performance, and intervening in flawed decisions—even when it feels risky, uncomfortable, or uncertain.

Staying True To Your Voice

Staying True To Your Voice explores how to balance the human desire for approval with the deeper responsibility to stay loyal to your own truth, standards, and craft. Through personal experience and examples like James Baldwin, the episode shows how real power comes from grounding your self-evaluation in the quality and integrity of your work rather than in applause, ratings, or external validation. Listeners learn to recognize the subtle ways they may dilute their voice to please others and are offered concrete examples—at work, in leadership, in creative careers, and in everyday conversations—of what it looks like to stand firm in their principles, even when it is uncomfortable, unpopular, or unrewarded.

The Power of Reading the Room

In this episode of Power Play of the Week, Julie Diamond explores one of the most essential yet elusive leadership skills: the power of reading the room. Through the infamous case of United Airlines’ disastrous handling of a passenger incident, Julie reveals how missing emotional and social cues can amplify crisis and erode trust. Leadership isn’t just about decisive action—it’s about attunement. Julie unpacks how subtle awareness, empathy, and timing can transform reactive moments into opportunities for real connection and credibility.

The Seduction of Success

In this episode of Power Play of the Week, Julie Diamond unpacks the hidden peril behind achievement in “The Seduction of Success.” A story of a simple visa mistake becomes a powerful metaphor for how confidence can turn into complacency. Through vivid examples, from her own misstep to General MacArthur’s catastrophic overreach, Julie explores how success can lull us into a false sense of security. True mastery, she reminds us, isn’t just about daring greatly; it’s about staying humble and vigilant when everything seems to be going our way.

Blooming in Your Own Time

This week on Power Play, host Julie Diamond explores the idea of living life on your own terms, challenging the societal expectations that dictate how we should age, succeed, and develop. She reflects on the pressures she’s faced at different stages of life, from settling down in her twenties to achieving career milestones in her forties, and draws parallels to the often-unspoken pressure to retire or slow down as we age. Diamond shares inspiring stories of late bloomers, including her own father, who found fulfillment in his work late in life, and other notable figures like Mary Wesley, Grandma Moses, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Frank McCourt, who achieved remarkable success well beyond conventional timelines. The episode celebrates the power of individual timing, reminding listeners that personal growth and achievement aren’t bound by chronological age, but by kairotic time, the fullness of one’s own unique journey.

The Roots Beneath You

“The Roots Beneath You” is an episode of Power Play with Julie Diamond that examines the resilience and strength that come from understanding and embracing one’s family history and cultural heritage. Diamond discusses the concept of the intergenerational self—the idea that knowing the stories, struggles, and triumphs of past generations fosters psychological well-being, especially in children and young adults.

Through the historical example of Nanny of the Maroons, who led formerly enslaved Africans to freedom in 18th-century Jamaica by grounding them in their ancestral traditions, Diamond illustrates how heritage provides not just identity, but purpose and resilience. She contrasts this deep-rooted sense of self with modern identity construction through trends, social media, and surface-level affiliations, warning that without a foundation in heritage, we risk feeling unmoored when challenges arise.

The episode’s core message is that our roots—whether filled with pride or hardship—act as a form of emotional armor. Knowing where we come from connects us to something enduring, giving our lives meaning and fortifying us to face adversity without losing our sense of self.