Employees don't speak up. They claim no one wants to hear what they have to say, they'll get in trouble, or nothing will change.

Managers say their employees won't share their best ideas or provide honest and helpful feedback from the frontlines.

When it comes to having hard conversations, it looks like everybody wants them but no one is having them.

What gives?

In this episode of An Open Conversation, we sat down with Karin Hurt, CEO of Let's Grow Leaders, to discuss how to have awkward conversations with your boss.

We talked about:

Resources

You can find all episodes of An Open Conversation by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.

I believe in optimism. You can have a bad week, a bad month, even a bad year — hello, 2020! But you can still fight to find the greater good among all the craziness.

Fierce optimism is critical to mental health and wellness, especially during a year as tough as the one we've just been through.

In this episode of An Open Conversation, we sat down with Alisha Hawrylyszyn Frank, CEO of Fiercely Optimistic, Inc, to discuss how and why you should take care of yourself.

We talked about:

You can find all episodes of An Open Conversation by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

People used to trust their communities and friends. Then, they trusted big institutions. When that failed, they started trusting strangers on the internet.

It's called distributed trust.

If you've ever used Uber, you know what distributed trust is. You trust that the driver's aggregated trust score given by other riders will keep you safe and sound.

What can organizational leaders do to embrace distributed trust?

In this episode of An Open Conversation, we sat down with Dr. Richard Claydon, organizational misbehaviorist and chief cognitive officer at EQLab, to discuss the trust crisis plaguing contemporary organizations.

We talked about:

You can find all episodes of An Open Conversation by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts , on Spotify , or here .

What will the world look like after COVID? Not since 1918 has a pandemic shut down the whole globe. Back then, it took 3 years before people would even shake hands.

We may see things bounce back more readily thanks to advances in science and the promise of a vaccine. But very little will be the same.

In this episode of An Open Conversation, we sat down with Barry Moltz, author of Getting Small Business Unstuck, to discuss the world after COVID.

We talked about:

Nearly 27% of working parents are conducting business essentially at the same table where their children are learning. This situation has some parents wondering if they'll be forced to quit their jobs to manage their families.  

What can employees and business leaders do to help parents navigate the triple challenge of parenting, teaching, and working from home? 

On this episode of An Open Conversation, we sat down with Lucy Chung, CEO & Co-Founder at NOBL. 

We talked about:  

Why employers should care about the needs of working parents at home You can find all episodes of An Open Conversation by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.

It’s no secret that most people are working from home these days. A lot of folks have been working from home for their entire careers, but the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced a whole new group of people to the remote workforce.

And with remote work comes some substantial challenges, not least among them engagement. Are employers keeping their remote employees engaged? Or, have they swung the pendulum too far and burned their workforce out?

On the inaugural episode of An Open Conversation, we sat down with Rebecca Liebman, the CEO & Co-Founder of LearnLux.

We talked about:

You can find all episodes of An Open Conversation by subscribing to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.

Putting the Humanity Back in Business