Episode 4. Layoffs RX Part 1: You’ve been “marked safe”
“For senior leaders, the trap looks like quietly absorbing impossible workloads, shielding your team from every hard conversation, and postponing your own ambitions because this isn't the right time.”
Everyone in the company has been told that layoffs are coming, and you will get an email within 15 minutes letting you know the status of your role. When the email finally arrives, you breathe a sigh of relief. Your role is continuing.
But the chaos has only just begun.
Forbes estimates that over 120,000 tech employees have been laid off in 2026. While the media focuses on the impacted, roughly 80% to 90% of workers remain "safe" from layoffs. In Part 1 of this two part series, host Sarah Williams explores the messy reality of being the senior leader left behind in the blast radius.
We dig into why senior women often become the unofficial therapists, translators, and shock absorbers between executives and the team. This invisible work feels like "just being a good manager," but without recognition or scope adjustments, it quietly becomes a second job that stalls your strategic impact. Learn how to put your own oxygen mask on first, manage the predictable trust deficit, and stop letting fear dictate your leadership decisions.
Your Next Steps:
Assess Your Values: Take 15 minutes this week to reevaluate your values. Are you looking for impact or growth? Pick one value and write down one way you can align your current work to that value this week.
The Senior Leader Assignment: Identify one woman on your team who has quietly taken on more glue work since the layoff. Either take something off her plate, formally recognize and reward it, or redistribute that load.
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Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
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