How to Stop Pushing and Start Influencing in the C-Suite with Sudha Solayappan
August 20, 2026
Leadership conditioning and executive resilience require more than individual effort. Melissa Dawn Simkins speaks with Sudha Solayappan about aligning organizational design with high performance habits. Together, they look at why the best leaders view challenges as opportunities rather than setbacks. What comes through in the conversation is that by understanding your internal game and separating identity from outcomes, you can master leadership under pressure. Listen to this episode to learn how to build an engine for success while maintaining authentic leadership. Ultimately, your strategy must match your talent for true organizational transformation.
Executive performance often suffers when there is a mismatch between strategy and organizational design. Sudha Solayappan shares how you can address this gap by going from a mindset of playing not to lose, to playing to win through mental conditioning and risk assessment. Melissa Dawn Simkins and Sudha also address the reality of hard conversations and explain how building a relationship allows for speaking the truth without sacrificing likability.
The discussion covers the unseen hand of self-doubt and how to recognize when you are pushing instead of influencing. Leaders will find value in the tactical exercises for post-meeting reflection and the change toward viewing life as happening for you rather than to you. By focusing on human performance and the corporate athlete mindset, executives can sustain leadership stamina in high-stakes environments. This dialogue highlights the need for mental breaks and the power of pause to maintain peak effectiveness during any strategic pivot.
What you will learn
- How to align your organizational engine with your top-line strategy
- The difference between playing to win and playing not to lose in your career
- Why range in thinking creates more value than a linear career path
- Methods for having hard conversations by building trust first
- How to separate your personal identity from professional outcomes
- The psychological reasons behind why leaders push ideas too hard
- Tactical reflection exercises to improve awareness after every meeting
- Why fairness is often a subjective concept based on lived experience
- How to view every challenge as an opportunity for growth
About the guest
Sudha Solayappan is the Vice President - Talent Development and Talent Management at PROCEPT BioRobotics and is a seasoned leader with thorough experience in human resources and organizational design. She has a background in coaching executives through complex transformations and high-pressure environments. Sudha is known for her lattice career approach, having made vertical and horizontal moves across various industries to build a broad range of expertise. Her work focuses on the system around work and how it impacts individual happiness and performance.
Episode highlights
00:00:43 – The NASCAR analogy for organizational failure
Sudha explains why putting a top performer in the wrong system results in stagnation. This highlight looks at the clash between efficiency and innovation.
00:00:43 – The NASCAR analogy for organizational failure
Sudha explains why putting a top performer in the wrong system results in stagnation. This highlight looks at the clash between efficiency and innovation.
00:07:58 – Speaking truth to power without losing a partner
A story about diagnosing a talent retention problem reveals how to address a leader's blind spots. The approach focuses on entering their circle before bringing them into yours.
A story about diagnosing a talent retention problem reveals how to address a leader's blind spots. The approach focuses on entering their circle before bringing them into yours.
00:12:51 – The lattice career and the risk of the linear path
Sudha describes her journey through horizontal jumps and vertical moves to gain range. This perspective challenges the traditional idea of the corporate ladder.
Sudha describes her journey through horizontal jumps and vertical moves to gain range. This perspective challenges the traditional idea of the corporate ladder.
00:19:57 – When the unseen hand of self-doubt takes over
There is a reason why leaders dig their heels in during a disagreement. Understanding the internal dissonance helps turn pushing into true influence.
There is a reason why leaders dig their heels in during a disagreement. Understanding the internal dissonance helps turn pushing into true influence.
00:23:36 – Separating who you are from what you achieve
Fusing identity with outcomes creates a risk for any leader facing criticism. This segment provides a mental model for staying grounded when results fall short.
Fusing identity with outcomes creates a risk for any leader facing criticism. This segment provides a mental model for staying grounded when results fall short.
00:33:49 – The discipline of disappointment and the power of agency
How you view fairness can either stop your progress or fuel your next move. Sudha shares a phrase that changes how you react to every external event
How you view fairness can either stop your progress or fuel your next move. Sudha shares a phrase that changes how you react to every external event
Episode resources
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