E107 - You Cannot Change What You Cannot See - Podcast with Jill Macauley

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change.  where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. 

Today’s conversation sits at the heart of something we do not talk about enough when it comes to change.

We talk about strategy.
We talk about tools.
We talk about capability and execution.

But very rarely do we stop and ask a simpler question.

What if the real challenge is not the change itself…
but what we cannot see about ourselves as we go through it?

In this episode, I sit down with Jill McCauley.

Jill is the COO at Behavioral Essentials, and her work focuses on one thing that sits beneath performance, culture, and leadership.

Self awareness.

She has spent years working alongside leaders and teams, helping them see themselves more clearly, especially in environments that look successful on the outside, but feel very different on the inside.

In this conversation, we explore the idea of blind spots in the workplace.

Not as abstract concepts…
but as real forces that shape how leaders show up, how teams operate, and ultimately how change either moves forward… or quietly stalls.

We talk about the hidden cost of leadership without self awareness.
Why capable leaders unintentionally create friction.
And how the strengths that got us here… can sometimes be the very things that get in the way.

There is a simple but powerful idea that runs through this conversation.

You cannot change what you cannot see.

And the moment you start seeing yourself more clearly…
everything else begins to shift.

I am grateful to have Jill chatting with me today. 

About Jill

I’ve spent my career working alongside leaders — in boardrooms, executive meetings, and organizations that look successful on paper but feel different on the inside.

I’ve learned that this feeling is rarely a strategy problem or a skills gap. 

It’s a self-awareness problem.

Capable leaders unintentionally create friction. Teams spend time managing dynamics instead of doing the work. Meetings become more painful than they need to be. Energy and efforts get wasted. And no one can quite name why things feel harder than they should.

This is the hidden cost of leadership without self-awareness.

Over time, I stopped seeing these challenges as individual failures and started seeing them as systemic issues. As organizations grow, roles evolve, pressure increases, and identities lag behind reality. Leaders keep relying on the same strengths that got them here, without realizing those strengths may now be creating blindspots, tension, or misalignment downstream.

Self-awareness isn’t soft. And it isn’t intuitive for everyone.

It’s a discipline, practice, and a leadership responsibility. That can’t be ignored.

At Behavioral Essentials, we work with leaders, teams, and organizations to build awareness where it actually matters — in how people show up, make decisions, communicate under pressure, and impact the systems around them. This work sits at the intersection of psychology, behavior, and real-world leadership demands. It’s not about labeling people or fixing personalities. It’s about creating clarity, reducing unnecessary suffering, and helping organizations function with more ease, accountability, and effectiveness.

I’ve seen what happens when leaders are willing to look honestly at themselves, and when organizations create space for that work. Conflict becomes more productive. Roles align more cleanly. Teams stop compensating for leadersh

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Ali Juma 
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

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