Tag Archive for: Leadership

The Horrors of LinkedIn

The Horrors of LinkedIn: Humblebrags, Work-iversaries, and Fake Leadership Lessons

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In this episode, Chuck Allen and Andrew Sheridan take a sharp, funny look at the “Horrors of LinkedIn” and why the platform often feels like a professional version of Instagram: a place where people perform success, manufacture envy, and turn everyday moments into forced leadership wisdom.

 

They dig into the most common LinkedIn tropes, including humblebrag announcements, algorithm-driven engagement (“Great job!” buttons), and the infamous work anniversary prompts that can land like a cruel joke for anyone stuck in a job they dislike. They also explore how hustle culture posts and pseudo-inspirational “influencer wisdom” can reinforce unhealthy workplace narratives, shifting responsibility onto individuals rather than fixing broken systems.

 

LinkedIn works best when you write in your own voice, stop performing for engagement, celebrate wins without fake humility, avoid autopilot interactions, and connect with people intentionally.


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Bad Bosses

How Bad Bosses Misuse Power—and What Great Leaders Do Instead

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If you’ve ever had a boss who wants to be cc’d on every email, bans overtime “effective immediately,” or mysteriously fires the smartest person in the room… congratulations. You’ve survived a power trip.

 

In this week’s episode of Humanize The Workplace, Chuck and Andrew take a joyful stroll through the wild, weird world of bad leadership—Reddit horror stories included. From micromanagers drowning in their own inboxes to managers threatened by employees who can operate a toilet with actual expertise, they dissect why fear-based leadership “works”… right up until everyone starts secretly applying for new jobs on their lunch break.

 

Then they flip the script: curiosity over control, listening over lecturing, and actually asking your employees what they need (radical, we know). Also: homework. Yes, homework. Chuck and Andrew want you to go find out what gifts your team is hiding while you’ve been busy pretending you’re the smartest person in the room.

 

If you’re leading people, this one’s for you. If you’ve worked for one of these bosses… yeah, enjoy the flashbacks.

 

Stay safe, stay kind and stay human.


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Is your job a cult?

How to Tell If Your Job Is a Cult

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Is your workplace a community or a congregation? Chuck & Andrew skewer the culty side of “culture”: forced fun, founder worship, surveillance-y “care,” and those rituals that eat your calendar and your soul. Then they map the healthy alternative—psychological safety, clear boundaries, dissent that isn’t punished, and values that don’t require chanting. If your team ends meetings with a slogan… this one’s for you.

 

In this episode:

  • The “too much” test: when culture tips into control
  • Rituals vs. productivity (and why your introverts are quietly dying inside)
  • Founder worship, ghost-of-the-founder energy, and anti-dissent norms
  • Surveillance theater (Zoom all day? Heartbeat monitoring? hard pass.)
  • Practical manager moves: celebrate results, model boundaries, invite questions


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Listen, laugh, and send this to the coworker who refuses to chant.

 

Stay safe, stay kind and stay human!

Coaching

Stop Giving Advice: The Real Value of Coaching at Work

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Most people think coaching is just advice with a fancier invoice. In this episode of Humanize the Workplace, Chuck Allen and Andrew Sheridan dismantle the biggest myths about coaching and mentoring, roast the corporate addiction to “advice culture,” and explore why listening is a lost art leaders think they’ve mastered—but haven’t.

From the awkward truth that your boss’s “mentoring” might just be storytelling in disguise, to the reason advice rarely works (hint: humans are allergic to other people’s ideas), this episode dives deep into:

  • Why coaching is not consulting in yoga pants.
  • How listening can make or break leadership.
  • The dirty little secret about ROI (and why it’s nearly impossible to measure coaching in dollars).
  • The stigma of coaching in organizations—and how to flip it from “you’re in trouble” to “we believe in you.”
  • Real-world wins from companies like Google and IBM that bet big on coaching culture.


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If you’ve ever wondered why your brilliant advice gets ignored—or if you secretly suspect you’re not as good a listener as you think—this one’s for you.

Stay safe, stay kind and stay human!

Difficult conversations at work

How to Survive Difficult Conversations Without Ruining Your Career (or Your Kid’s Bedtime)

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Difficult conversations.
You’ve had them. You’ve avoided them. You’ve probably butchered a few.
Welcome to the club.

In this episode of Humanize the Workplace, Chuck and Andrew sit down with Lorrie Fair—a World Cup-winning soccer player turned executive leader at the Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project—to explore why difficult conversations at work (and at home) are so often a disaster… and how to actually do them better.


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Why Are Difficult Conversations So… Difficult?

Blame your brain.
No, really. It’s science. When tension rises, your amygdala takes over, shutting down your problem-solving brain and activating your fight/flight/freeze instincts. You’re not “bad at conflict”—you’re just wired for survival, not nuance.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

  • Why your childhood “shortcuts” might be sabotaging your work relationships

  • The difference between compassion and empathy (one of them will burn you out)

  • Why blaming and shaming shuts down the brain’s learning system

  • How to use the Mindful Pause (yes, it’s a thing, and no, it’s not just yoga speak)

  • How curiosity and kindness can reduce defensiveness—even in corporate email threads

Meet Lorrie Fair

She’s not just an executive. She’s a mom, a former professional soccer player, a crossword puzzle snob (only NYT, in pen, thank you very much), and someone who understands what it means to lead with humanity.

She brings her whole self to the table—and this conversation is a masterclass in doing just that.

Why This Episode Matters

Whether you’re a people manager, a teammate, or just someone trying to make work suck a little less, this episode delivers real tools with none of the fluff. Think of it as leadership development, minus the buzzwords and TED Talk clichés.

Love what you hear? Subscribe now and let’s make work suck less together! 🚀🎧

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 

How Labels Sabotage Diversity, Equity and Inclusion — and What Real Equity Takes

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Why do mandatory DEI sessions make everyone groan—both the people they’re meant to protect and the ones who fear saying the wrong thing? In this raw conversation, Chuck Allen and Andrew Sheridan invite Leah Williams—Black woman, mother of three “game‑changers,” and veteran racial‑equity practitioner—to name the elephant in every training room: labels and unspoken expectations run the show.


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Leah shares:
🏷️ How race, gender, and parent status get questioned after you’re hired
⚖️ Equality vs. equity in plain‑English (and why $75 might not be fair)
📢 The difference between “calling out” and “calling in”—and when each harms
🌍 Three arenas for real change: intrapersonal, interpersonal, communal

 

You’ll hear hard truths, practical frameworks (shout‑out to The Equity Lab’s “Ready Agreements”), and a challenge to replace silent judgment with messy, grace‑filled dialogue. No tidy closure—just the next step in the people work we can’t keep dodging.

 

Love what you hear? Subscribe now and let’s make work suck less together! 🚀🎧

Manipulation

How Smart Leaders Spot—and Stop—Manipulation: From Mall Hustles to Team Meetings

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Ever had a stranger praise your forehead and grab your arm before asking for cash? Andrew has—right after a fresh haircut. Chuck? He let a mall kiosk smear raccoon cream under one eye and still forked over twenty bucks for soap.

 

Between laughs (and minor existential crises) they pull apart the Cialdini playbook—liking, reciprocity, commitment, sunk‑cost traps—and show how the same tricks keep smart people stuck in bad meetings, fake positivity, and endless “stretch roles.” By the end they’ve got a two‑word prescription for shady gurus and manipulative managers alike: stop it.

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Key takeaways:

🤝 Politeness ≠ Permission

😎 Liking Hooks You

📌 One “Yes” Snowballs

🎁 Freebies Expect Payback

💸 High Anchor, Easy Sell

🥵 Willpower Drains Fast

🔗 Tenure ≠ Handcuffs

🛑 Mission, Not Manipulation

✔️ Transparent or Trick?

✂️ Unsure? Just Stop.

 

Love what you hear? Subscribe now and let’s make work suck less together! 🚀🎧

Is the Boss the Real Problem? (Probably.)

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Think your boss is bad? Wait till you hear about the guy who wanted his computer’s trash icon literally deleted because “it looked unsightly.” Chuck and Andrew dig into the bizarre reality of why the boss is the #1 employee complaint—and why so many folks still work their tails off to become one. From managers who claim “open communication” while their teams cower in silence, to higher-ups who think “delegation” means “do it, but read my mind,” we’re covering all the greatest hits of questionable leadership.

Whether you’re stuck reporting to a coffee-mug-throwing tyrant or realizing you might be the “kind-hearted” boss everyone secretly hates, this conversation will make you rethink your approach. Tune in for real stories, sarcastic commentary, and (hopefully) a spark of insight on how to stop being the reason your people pray for retirement. Because if you are “that boss,” there’s still time to swap the fear and frustration for a more human way of leading.

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Key takeaways:
🤯 Boss = #1 Complaint
🙈 Ignorance Hurts Everyone
🚫 Authority Isn’t a Shield
🌱 Develop or Lose Talent
🧳 Your Issues, Their Burden

Love what you hear? Subscribe now and let’s make work suck less together! 🚀🎧

Corporate BS

Bonus Breakdown: Corporate BS Exposed!

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Chuck and Andrew tear into the absurdity of corporate incentives—from bogus bonus math to wellness facades that only add to the workload. They expose the toxic BS behind performance reviews and anonymous surveys, and they offer a no-nonsense call for real change in management practices.

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Key takeaways:

😒 Corporate wellness is a façade.
💼 Incentives are rigged for burnout.
🔍 “Anonymous” surveys aren’t anonymous.
🚫 Boundaries are non-negotiable.
💸 Bonus schemes breed unhealthy competition.
🗣️ Honest feedback gets suppressed.
🤯 Overload and unrealistic targets crush morale.
👂 Active listening is rare but vital.
🤝 Leaders must build genuine trust.
💡 Systemic change beats quick fixes.

 

Love what you hear? Subscribe now and let’s make work suck less together! 🚀🎧

Burnout Boundaries

Burnout Boundaries: Corporate Self-Care Reality Check

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Chuck, Andrew, and Vincenza cut through the corporate self-care charade in this eye-opening episode. They reveal how so-called “wellness” offerings often mask deeper systemic issues that leaders can and should address – not just by offering yoga classes, but by setting genuine boundaries and starting honest conversations. With snarky banter and sharp insights, they share no-nonsense strategies for leaders to foster real self-care, boost morale, and prevent burnout at every level.

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Key takeaways:

🚫 Boundaries are essential to combat burnout.

💼 Corporate wellness programs often mask deeper systemic issues.

🤔 True self-care requires addressing root causes, not just surface fixes.

🧠 Leaders must practice transparency, empathy, and respect.

⚖️ Work-life balance is vital for sustainable productivity.

🗣️ Honest communication about workload sets healthy expectations.

👥 Building mutual trust and genuine relationships is key.

🚀 Organizational culture should value human connections over mere output.

📚 Educating employees on setting boundaries and self-care is crucial.

🤝 Empowering staff to assert their needs improves overall workplace health.

 

Love what you hear? Subscribe now and let’s make work suck less together! 🚀🎧