The Leadership Landing of Mike Sousa

💚 “I joined to get better techniques for my 1:1s.

I didn’t expect to discover who I truly am.”

🔥 Meet Mike Sousa, Director of Agile Ways of Working in Porto, Portugal.

When he joined Leadership Landing, he was already an experienced leader of agile coaches, stepping into a director role. On paper, successful. Inside, still wrestling with:

🖤 Letting go of being “too operational”

🖤 Fear of speaking up with senior peers

🖤 Dragons of self-doubt that got loud when stakes were high

Mike came in expecting frameworks and tools he could apply to his team.

He left with something deeper: a different relationship with himself.

In this short conversation, Mike shares:

💪🏿 How he stopped shutting down in tough conversations with his CTPO and started calmly disagreeing with clarity and respect

💪🏿 Why “ignoring your dragons” was secretly draining his courage, and how listening to them changed everything

💪🏿 How homework and reflection turned one program into an ongoing inner transformation

💪🏿 Why he believes programs like this should be mandatory in schools and universities

❤️‍🔥 My favorite part?

When he talks about the ripple effect.

How changing himself is changing his daughter, his team, and the way he shows up in every relationship.

Because that’s what real leadership is.

Not just tools for your team, but the courage to meet your dragons, understand your values, and step into the arena as the leader you were always meant to be.

🐲 Some managers keep their dragons chained in a dark cave and wonder why they feel so heavy.

Leaders like Mike learn to walk beside their dragons, listen to them, and let that wisdom guide their next brave step.

💚 If you’re a head of, director, or senior engineer stepping into leadership and you feel that tension between who you are and who you want to be… this story is for you.

🪽 Watch Mike’s case study interview below.

If something in his journey resonates, send me a message with the word “DRAGON” and I’ll share more about the next round of Leadership Landing.