Mean girl behavior didn’t disappear when we grew up.
It just got quieter, more polished — and far more destructive.

In this episode of Shatter This, Heather Simpson stops soft-pedaling a truth many leaders experience but rarely name: social manipulation, exclusion, and passive aggression are not leadership styles — they’re outdated coping mechanisms.

This is not a conversation about being nice.
It’s a call-out of bad behavior hiding behind better branding.

Because when power is exercised through silence, favoritism, gossip, or control, trust collapses — and high performers disengage.

If you’ve ever:

• felt an undercurrent in a room that didn’t match the words being used
• watched competence get overshadowed by social politics
• outgrown “community” spaces that relied on unspoken rules
• wondered why certain environments felt heavy instead of expansive

This episode will put language to what you already know.

In this episode, Heather calls out:

• How mean girl dynamics show up in adult leadership spaces
• Why exclusion disguised as “curation” is still exclusion
• The real reason people use social leverage instead of clear authority
• How gossip, silence, and alliances quietly destroy culture
• Why high performers stop contributing in politically charged rooms
• The difference between compliance and true community
• What real leadership looks like when standards replace social games

Key takeaway

If you still need social leverage to feel safe, you are not leading — you’re coping.

Leadership doesn’t rely on manipulation, favoritism, or silence.
It relies on clarity, courage, and standards that apply to everyone.

Share this episode if:

• You’re done playing social games in rooms meant for real work
• You believe leadership requires emotional maturity
• You’ve outgrown environments that reward politics over performance

🎧 Listen now — and send this to the leader who’s ready to raise the standard.