DesuckifyWork®

Hiring sucks.

It sucks for the company. It sucks for the candidates. It sucks for ai notetakers who are forced to generate useful bullet points from the inane interviews that take place in almost every corner of corporate America. “Sally and Jethro discussed the importance of the company’s Third-Thursday pizza parties and agreed that pineapple is actually an acceptable topping.”

Who you bring into your organization affects everything. From culture to competitiveness to the quality of the jokes on your slack channels. But we often treat hiring like a chore. Or an afterthought. What if we made it a strategic priority and stripped all the suck out of the experience?

That’s Everett Reiss’ mission. He co-founded Jane HR to create a more human approach to hiring. Sounds pretty cool to me.

🐱 They create detailed "ideal candidate profiles" so you actually know who you’re looking for instead of just relying on vibes.

🐱 They design job descriptions that are actually relevant to the person reading it, not just the legal compliance team.

🐱 They use technology to improve human connection, not replace it.

🐱 They align incentives with actual hiring needs so companies aren’t wasting everyone’s time creating BS “ghost jobs” that fill up around half of most job listing sites.

We also talked about ways candidates can make their own experience less tortuous. Like prioritizing applications where you have 1st or 2nd degree connections. And focusing on relationship-building (coffees, lunches, zoom chats) vs. stabbing every apply button you see on LinkedIn or Indeed.

There was no stabbing during this conversation. Just a fun chat with a guy who’s putting great work into the world.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

——

You can follow Everett on LinkedIn. And check out Jane’s site at Jane.hr.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

——

Bonus question from Everett to our audience:What is the world that you want to live in and want to be creating? And how are you actually contributing to the creation of that world?

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

Remember when advertising was fun?

It wasn’t that long ago, really. You’d spend your days goofing off, grinding on the work and playfully exploring new possibilities for your clients. It was pretty damn cool.

What happened?

🐱 Creativity and fun have been squeezed out by business pressures and risk-aversion

🐱 Collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas between departments has decreased

🐱 Speed is overemphasized at the expense of thoughtful creative development

🐱 There is a lack of trust/psychological safety to take creative risks

🐱 Many workplaces have become joyless and overly constrained, with fear of lawsuits and HR issues around potentially offensive content

Some of the funniest jokes or stories I’ve heard are the ones that made me uncomfortable. Should I be laughing at this? Yes. Because you don’t have a choice. Laughter is the most pure human reaction. It can’t be restrained. Or if you try you’re likely to piss your pants or let out one of those awkward farts that shuts a room down, fast.

Brands that get this are the ones who make lifelong connections with people. They realize the best way to sell stuff to people is to help them see that you are people too. Real, awkward, fumbling. Insightful, hopeful, grateful.

The 3 co-founders of Hackett Brooks get this. And they’re building an agency to help brands use comedy as a platform for creating work that makes people laugh, cry or fart their way into brand love and loyalty.

Robb Hittner, Jordan Atlas and Steve Mallory are quite funny guys. But their work isn’t just about crafting funny spots. It’s about infusing the whole work experience with comedy thinking. It’s about making work itself fun.

How do they do it?

By taking everything an agency does and inverting it. It starts with the team itself. It’s not the typical collection of writers and art directors. It’s folks from sketch comedy, scripted TV and improv working alongside traditional brand talent. And it’s all about finding the inherent humor in a brand or product, not stapling jokes on top of an unfunny message.

Their mission?

🐱 To elevate comedy/humor as a respected business strategy and creative approach

🐱 To create workplaces where all employees can contribute creatively, not just "creatives"

🐱 To develop brand communications people actively seek out and share

🐱 And, here’s my favorite: To bring more joy and laughter into work and advertising

We need more funny in the world.

Life is hard, heavy, confusing, frustrating and unfair. The only way we survive is if we can laugh at all of it.

We had more than a few laughs during our conversation. Rob, Jordan and Steve feel like friends you’ve had for ages, as soon as you meet them.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Hackett Brooks on LinkedIn. And check out their site at hackettbrooks.com to learn more about their approach. You can also send an email to [email protected] if you’d like to connect with the team.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from the guys to our audience:There is a lot of hope around our ability to make work better in the DesuckifyWork® podcast episodes. For people who listen, does that hope feel real? Where does it sit on a scale of 1 to 10?

If you’d like to watch the episode on YouTube, please click here.

🐱 Hollywood has created nearly 500,000 movies.

🐱 It has developed over 10,000 TV shows.

🐱 It has entertained literally billions of people over the years.

🐱 And generated at least $5 trillion in revenue since its inception.

And it did all of this using a remote and hybrid workforce. Even before we had machines on every desk and in every pocket, folks were dreaming, writing and strategizing wherever the heck they wanted. And then coming together to collaborate and create TV and movie magic in person.

Imagine that.

Now imagine someone steeped in Hollywood’s culture creating an app that helps you be more productive and find more fulfillment in your work every day. Meet Steven Puri, an entrepreneur with a background in tech that led him to a career in digital effects that took a left turn into work as a studio exec with DreamWorks and Fox.

You know, the typical path.

His platform, called Sukha (Sanskrit for “the good place”), is like a breath of fresh air for folks trying to make the remote/hybrid thing work in a distraction filled universe. It helps you focus, find your vibe with the right music and uses AI to offer personalized work recommendations based on your habits and patterns. It does a whole bunch of other cools stuff too.

Steven and I also dug into the importance of great leadership as teams navigate this nutty world that literally no one has a firm grasp on, despite all the pontificating we see on LinkedIn and elsewhere.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Steven on LinkedIn. And check out Sukha’s site at thesukha.co. Your blood pressure will drop 10 points just by visiting.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Steven to our audience:What is the thing that you on your deathbed will be very proud that you've done? And if you haven't done it, why not?

If you’d like to watch the episode on YouTube, please click here.

What role does faith play at work?

If you’d asked me 15 years ago I’d probably have scolded you for even asking such a crazy question. Keep your faith out of my peanut butter, dammit.

Now? I’m not so sure.

Mai Moore is certain that keeping faith out of the workplace is keeping the suck firmly in place. Mai is the founder of two social impact companies and previously spent 20 years in the tech space.

How can we possibly bring our whole selves to work if we’re ditching this giant piece of ourselves at the door each day? This is personal for Mai, as her faith has helped her through some incredibly tough times, including being homeless.

So how do we bring this topic into the workplace without alienating everyone?

🐱 We need to create space for honest, respectful conversations around faith and spirituality.

🐱 We need to make room for all belief systems, including the lack of belief.

🐱 We need to understand our customers better, many of whom place faith or spirituality at the center of their lives.

We dig into all the nooks and crannies of this and more during our conversation. We touch on the idea of vulnerability at work, lifting up ideas from everyone (not just leaders) and the importance of doing work that makes an impact on something we actually care about.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

—————

You can follow Mai on LinkedIn. And check out her site at maimoore.com, where you can learn more about all the good stuff she’s putting into the world.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

—————

Bonus question from Mai to our audience:“As my daughter says, who are you?”

If you’d like to watch the episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #executivecoaching #faithatwork #diversity #authenticityatwork

What’s a person worth?

If we based the answer on our own self assessments, not much.

And then we bring that “not much” feeling everywhere we go, including work. Where we’re expected to influence people, lead people inspire people. And we wonder why we struggle.

“Not much” has a scent. So strong it can actually travel through Zoom screens.. It’s also contagious. Infecting everyone who gets a whiff with a bit more “not much” than they already bring to the table.

It’s tough to do useful, meaningful things when you’re swimming in the “not much” soup. If only we could add some ingredients to create a delightfully hearty “more than enough” stew.

Endre Hoffman (aka The Doctor of Self Worth) is the man with those ingredients. All you have to do is a little time travel to get what you need.

That’s what NLP (neurolinguistic programming) is all about, Endre’s primary tool for helping folks see how good they really are. A reframing of our life story that allows us to release the dickhead voice that’s been holding us back and create a new voice that says things like, “you’re alright, man” and “you’re actually kinda smart, lady.”

Endre had his own, long, exhaustive journey through dozens of countries and over a hundred thousand dollars before he finally found the ingredients to turn his life around, after years of childhood trauma and a struggling marriage kept him stuck in the “not much” story.

Now, he helps people do the same. From high-powered execs to first-time entrepreneurs. His work helps people get out of the victim mindset and see clearly (often for the first time) just how much agency they have.

Endre is a cool dude with an inspiring mission to impact over one million lives. I like the moxie.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Endre on LinkedIn. And check out his site at doctorofselfworth.com where you’ll find a bunch of cool free resources. And a cat pic too!

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams find their superpower (aka their pudding) so they can bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session.

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Endre to our audience:How long will you postpone having that conversation where you can finally get to the root of your challenges and the problem that you have created? Will you do it this year, In five years' time?

If you’d like to watch the episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #executivecoaching #selfworth #nlp #changeyourstory

If you’re waiting for someone to come and save you from a sucky work life, it may be a while.

This is the cold, hard and much needed truth from Elizabeth Lotardo, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® Podcast.

Elizabeth is the author of "Leading Yourself: Find More Joy, Meaning, and Opportunities in the Job You Already Have (Despite Imperfect Bosses, Weird Economies, Lethargic Coworkers, Annoying Systems, and Too Many Deliverables)“, she’s also an employee engagement consultant and a LinkedIn Learning instructor.

Her superpower (her pudding, in my lingo) is an optimal blend of straight talk and empathy. So messages get through and you feel inspired to do something about it.

Her message to those looking to desuckify work?

🐱 Focus on what you can control vs. blaming external factors.

🐱 Change your “load-bearing beliefs” about work that are keeping you stuck. Like thinking “work sucks” for instance.

🐱 Don’t tolerate abuse, but make the most of typical work challenges, reframing them as opportunities for learning and growth.

🐱 Ditch the traditional employee engagement surveys (like Gallup) and try one rooted in a self-leadership perspective.

The big takeaway? Take ownership of your career. No one else will. And no one will ever care about it as much as you.

Tough love? Maybe. But love nonetheless.

I loved this conversation with Elizabeth. And I think you will too.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn. And check out her site at elizabethlotardo.com. Also, be sure to grab a copy of her book, it’s awesome.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams find their superpower (aka their pudding) so they can bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session.

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Elizabeth to our audience:What is really wrong? What really sucks? Because we can sit in this narrative of it sucks and it's unfair and I don't like it. But until you can zoom in on the specific thing and take a self-leadership approach to changing it, it's not going to change. So I think my question would be, zoom in on your gnarly attitude and figure out what's causing it.

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #executivecoaching #agency #careerownership #selfleadership

If you’re an introvert, you’re going to love Rhonda George-Denniston. You’ll also love her if you’re an extrovert, because she’s awesome. But man, she really sees introverts in a way that the world needs.

Rhonda is the Chief Learning & Development Officer at TBWA\Worldwide. She also founded Curiosity Connections, an “un-networking” space that brings people together in a way where everyone feels welcome and seen. With none of the awkward BS of typical networking events.

Her own experience as an introvert has created a blueprint for others to follow. She started at TBWA as an executive assistant and created her path at every step since.

How’d she do it?

🐱 She showed up. Building a reputation for reliability and getting things done.

🐱 She identified gaps. “Why aren’t we doing this?” And said, “wait, I can do this.”

🐱 She perfected her pitch. In deck-crazy industries like advertising, the way forward is through PowerPoint (or Keynote, or Google, or Canva, or whatever the kids are using these days).

The programs she and her teams have created invite others to follow her lead. To create opportunities, find their own path and to show up in ways that allow them to shine.

Rhonda shines brightly in this conversation. And she introduced me to a term that I absolutely love—“thought life.” Even though mine can be kinda scary at times.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Rhonda on LinkedIn. And check out the Curiosity Connections site at curiosityconnections.com.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to dive deep into some of your own challenges at work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session, where we can explore new, desuckified possibilities for your future.

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Rhonda to our audience:What is the loudest voice in your thought life right now? And is it serving you or is it hurting you? (Drop your answers in the comments!)

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #findyourpudding #executivecoaching #learninganddevelopment #introverts #ownyourcareer #thoughtlife

She wrote about leadership and sales. But it’s really a book about living.

Jeanne Sparrow, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast is the author of “Fearless Authenticity: Lead Better, Sell More and Speak Sensationally.” She is a delightful human, a masterful storyteller and has (inadvertently?) mapped out the path to a more joyful life.

The key?

🐱 Knowing yourself deeply and connecting with others on that level.

🐱 Understanding your gifts and using them to serve others.

🐱 Aligning your actions with your true self, even when things get hard. Especially then.

That’s authenticity. Or as Jeanne likes to say, “remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.”

The world feels particularly handsy these days. Thank God Jeanne is here to help us find our way.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Jeanne on LinkedIn. And check out her site at jeannesparrow.com, where you can learn more about her book, her speaking and consulting work and just spend some time getting to know a wonderful person.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to dive deep into some of your own challenges at work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session, where we can explore new, desuckified possibilities for your future.

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Jeanne to our audience:I have a theory, if work sucks for you, that it's also sucks the life out of you. So, in what ways do you feel that work sucking has compromised you in your own path?

If you’d like to watch the episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #executivecoaching #authenticity #joy #rememberwhoyouare

If you’ve ever been to the theater, you’ve witnessed a masterclass in communication. Each character demonstrating their ability to get what they need (or not) from each other. Creating harmony or sparking conflict. Influencing, irritating, arousing, amusing. All done for the benefit of us, the audience. Complete strangers making us care about the outcome of a make believe situation we knew nothing about just minutes before.

It’s magical, really.

And it’s the perspective today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast brings to her communication coaching practice every day. Shana Gold has been helping folks find their voice at work for over 20 years, after spending several years in the world of theater as an actor and director.

The lessons she learned play out quite nicely on the corporate stage, whether you’re presenting to a thousand person room, negotiating your next pay package or having a weekly one-on-one:

🐱 Shifting from judgment to empathy and discernment

🐱 Regulating the nervous system with breath work and sensory awareness

🐱 Bringing our outer and inner worlds into alignment

🐱 Becoming more in tune with who we’re speaking with, creating genuine connection

So, next time you go see a show, enjoy the performance. And consider taking a few mental notes as well.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Shana on LinkedIn. And check out her site at shanagoldcoaching.com.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to dive deep into some of your own challenges at work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session, where we can explore new, desuckified possibilities for your future.

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Shana to our audience:What would you say if you weren't afraid of rejection? Who would you be without that fear?

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #findyourcape #executivecoaching #communication #connection #speaking

I worked 26 years at ad agencies and never knew there was a thing called Learning & Development (L&D).

Like an actual team dedicated to the growth of the people who work there.

Huh.

It had been my understanding that learning was a thing that happened by having your work pissed on repeatedly, forcing you to come back with so many new ideas that one might actually squeak through unscathed and you’d be invited back for the next gauntlet.

You “developed” a thick skin but not much else. Leadership skills, communication, discernment and emotional intelligence?

Ha!

Thankfully, Jared Andres came on the DesuckifyWork® podcast to share a better way. Jared is an L&D manager at Jane App and previously led L&D at Critical Mass in Calgary. Both places put a lot of effort into helping folks learn and grow.

His thoughts?

🐱 Less pissing all over the work and more useful feedback.

🐱 Less just figure it out and more here are some things to consider

🐱 Less assuming you’ll be a good leader because you’re good at something completely unrelated to leading and more actual training

🐱 Less stay in your lane and more inviting you to create new lanes that solve the biggest challenges in the organization

He’s also got thoughts on AI that aren’t the ones you’ve already heard. And he shares a sound effect that reminds us that real, tangible things still have value in our robot world.

(If you enjoy this episode, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin. Here’s Jared.

You can follow Jared on LinkedIn. He’s always happy to chat about this stuff.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to dive deep into some of your own challenges at work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session, where we can explore new, desuckified possibilities for your future.

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Jared to our audience:What would you say is the one barrier in your organization that's stopping your leaders from showing up at their best? And why is it there? What's keeping it there?

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

#desuckifyworkpodcast #desuckifywork #findyourwhy #findyourcape #executivecoaching #advertising #adagency #learninganddevelopment