Tag Archive for: Management

Robert Bloom

Think Wrong: Turning Stupid Workplace Policies on Their Head with Robert Bloom

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Ready to admit your company’s rulebook is a snooze-fest?

In this episode of Humanize the Workplace, Andrew and Chuck unleash design-thinking maverick Robert Bloom, Founder & Managing Partner @ Design Thinkers South Africa, to expose the absurdity lurking in your HR handbook. We’ll tackle why mindless policies feel sinister, how co-creation can rescue morale, and why Elon Musk’s flat-world vision might actually need more hugs. You’ll discover the “think wrong” hack to gamify cost-cuts without inducing misery, balance your artist-engineer squad, and craft policies that liberate rather than leash. Strap in for acid humor, sharp irony, and a radical blueprint to humanize every rule you ever wrote.


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Inside this episode:

🪓 Slash & Rebuild: Transform “because we said so” policies into creativity launchpads
🎲 Gamify the Grind: Turn cost-cutting from misery to high-score hunting
⚖️ Artists + Engineers: Hire both without harvesting brain cells
🌪️ VUCA Unchained: Embrace volatility—ditch the spaghetti-coded controls

 

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.

SUBSCRIBE NOW!


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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! 🚀🎧