Manager on a Mission

(This episode features three special guests: my birds Nacho, Goochie, and Smokey who were in the hotel room with me when I recorded this due to Southern California wildfire evacuations.) 

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A 1:1 meeting may sound basic, but it can absolutely transform how you and your team work together.

If your 1:1s are supportive, consistent, and positive, your team has a much better chance of being healthy and happy. On the other hand, if they’re not those things, bad 1:1s can damage your relationship with your employees - more than you may realize.

The good news is that great 1:1s aren't hard to do! In this episode, I share ideas for questions and meeting structure that might surprise you, and certainly will help you and your team do better work together. 

We’ll also talk about common things that go wrong with 1:1s, as well as some simple reframes and techniques to make them instantly better. I promise it’s easier than you might think, and January is the perfect time to reboot how you run your 1:1s!

Did you know that almost 80% of people have experienced imposter syndrome at some point? According to the American Psychological Association, people with imposter syndrome live with the ongoing fear that they’re going to be unmasked as being incompetent and unable to perform according to expectations. When you boil it down, imposter syndrome is a combination of constant inner judgment and the underlying belief that we are just not good enough.

Before doing research, I assumed that imposter syndrome is experienced mostly by women. But that's not exactly correct. In this episode, I cover who is most likely to suffer from it, as well as the 5 sub-types: Perfectionist, Natural Genius, Superperson, Expert, and Soloist.

In this episode, I talk about my own experience with major imposter syndrome and how I analyzed and questioned my way out of it. And finally, I share my ideas for helping reframe being new at something and not voluntarily making ourselves small, so that we can all leave imposter syndrome behind this year.

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I know you listen to this podcast at least in part because you believe everyone should have dignity in their work. But do you also like chocolate? If you’re wondering what those two things have to do with each other you’re going to have to check out this conversation with Dr. Aurora Dawn Benton!

Aurora is Founder and Chief Change Agent of Astrapto LLC, which exists to advance positive impact in the workplace. Her passion is to make sustainability practical and approachable for people whose main job is not sustainability, but who have a passion to improve social and environmental performance in their operations and supply chains. Aurora loves helping people realize their potential while discovering a greater purpose for good in business.

 In this episode, Aurora and I talk about the idea that business and the good you can do in the world don’t have to be separate. And she shares her four Es for helping her clients move toward sustainability: Empathize, Enlighten, Empower, and Encourage. I think you’ll love her positive approach to helping drive change and her hopeful message that sustainability will be BUILT IN to how corporations will do business. 

Aurora has a Doctorate in Business Administration in Social Impact Management and was named a 2021 Top 30 Sustainability Champions by the International Hospitality Institute. In August 2024, she published her first book, Exponential Impact: Harnessing Human Potential to Drive Sustainability in Organizations.

Find out more about Aurora and her work here:

Astrapto Website

Exponential Impact book

Instagram

LinkedIn

We also talk about the UN Sustainable Development Goals

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In this episode, I read a section from my book on leading with vision. Many leaders think “having a vision” is a luxury, or even just a waste of time. But every team needs one - especially when you feel like you don’t have time for one. Yes, even your team.

A vision is more than just goals and objectives. It’s a way for you and your team to identify the “why” behind what you do and map out a path for the future. Is your work too boring and basic for a vision? Nope. I can pretty much guarantee you that you’re wrong about that. Every team has a purpose and can find a shared reason for coming together, and even finding joy, from their vision.

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What's the connection between why HR is getting a bad rap and why some employees don't want to be managers? Listen as Megan Wheeler and I try to unravel this tough question and talk about leading with curiosity and questions instead of making assumptions.

Megan is a former coworker of mine from my design agency days in Brooklyn. She is the founder of Spoken,  a consultancy dedicated to helping leaders and teams achieve meaningful growth. Megan has over 15 years of global experience and a Master’s in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. As you’ll hear in this episode, she combines academic expertise with practical application to address real-world challenges.

Megan is an ICF-certified coach and leadership facilitator, and she has supported leaders from organizations across the globe focusing on building individual capabilities and strengthening team dynamics.

Listen in as we talk about how Megan brings clarity and focus to leadership development, and also as she shares a couple of her journeys - from academia to corporate, from corporate to consulting and back to corporate - and what is drawing her back to the corporate world.

Connect with Megan on LinkedIn or visit her website to learn more about her work.

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Resources Megan discusses in this episode:

So, Human Resources Is Making You Miserable? - NYT

Why HR is Getting Tougher - and How to Break Through - McKinsey

Human Centered Organizations - Articulate

Inclusion on Purpose - Ruchika Tulshyan

Scaling People - Claire Hughes Johnson

For a change of pace, I'm excited to read to you from my book, NSFW (Not Safe for Work) - A good manager's guide to better-feeling work in a toxic culture. In this episode I'm going to share little bit of Chapter 5: Lead and Inspire or Get Out of the Way - the section called “Sticks and Stones.”

Spoiler: It’s about words. Well, it’s about phrases - some of my least favorite phrases, because I think they point fingers at and shame employees in an unfair and outsized way. And I think managers can do better. So sit back and listen for a little corporate storytime.

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Forbes reports that the tech industry has laid off more than 124,000 workers in 2024 alone. Layoffs are a massive problem and source of strife and low morale - not just for those laid off, but for those who remain. But this episode isn’t about layoffs. Well, it’s not JUST about layoffs. 

Layoffs are a symptom. Lower salaries and less frequent raises are a symptom. Having less power and leverage in job offer negotiation - also a symptom. Of what? Mergers. In this episode we’ll be talking about how mergers cause layoffs - and how to protect yourself and your team.

For additional info on the Google cases I mention in the episode, you might also like these articles from Ed Zitron:

Monopoly Money

Matt Stoler Explains Monopolies

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A lot of us have dreamed of - or even dabbled in - entrepreneurship at some point. But you probably have so many questions, like: How do you make the transition? What if your initial business strategy needs to change?  How do you handle all the technology and platforms?  

Well you found the right episode of Manager on a Mission, because our guest has the answers. Diane Lam comes from the corporate world, more specifically operations, and finance operations at that! In her business as an operations strategist she has been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, Business Insider and more. 

In this episode, we talk about the six years she’s spent building her business and how she helps other entrepreneurs untangle their systems and scale their businesses faster. We also talk about self-discovery and working in harmony with your natural working style. 

Diane is on Instagram and welcomes hearing from you!

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I’m not an economist, a historian, or a philosopher. But when I started putting out podcasts and writing my book, I had to go outside of my comfort zone in order to develop a sense of context, as well as a more informed opinion, on what is happening for employees and why in so many cases it feels so wrong. 

In this episode, I interview some real experts - Paul Knowlton and Aaron Hedges, authors of the book, "Better Capitalism - Jesus, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, and MLK Jr. on moving from plantation to partnership economics." That subtitle both triggered and intrigued me, and I needed to find out more. So I read the book, and had Paul and Aaron on the podcast!

Paul and Aaron are experts on economics, but also on theology. I had my hackles up when I started reading their book, but it's actually about a lot of the things I talk about, like the power dynamics in Corporate America, why work is so bad for so many employees, and of course, some things we can do to fix it.

Paul is an attorney, pastoral counselor, and author. He is a first-generation Cuban American who spent some years in the foster system. Paul combines his unusually broad and diverse background in engineering, law, business, and seminary training for a truly interdisciplinary approach to every question.

Aaron is the CEO of Inheritance of Hope,a nonprofit that helps families who have lost parents due to terminal illness. He is also an entrepreneur and business coach, and of course an author.

Find out more about them and their mission by reading their book or visiting their site, bettercapitalism.org

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I recorded my first podcast as a guest on Friday. I was so excited, but afterward I didn't celebrate or rest. No, instead I worried. I worried about everything I said that might have been offensive. I was terrified and ashamed that when the episode came out, I would come across as too angry, too negative, too opinionated.

Why?

That's exactly what we'll explore in this short little episode: how in order to survive and even have a chance at thriving in Corporate America, most of us have to deny our bad days and show up with a smile and be a problem-solver through every situation. We’re not allowed to say we’re not ok. We're not allowed to have bad days. We shoot the messenger and we criticize the way the message is delivered.

And that's not ok. Sometimes we're not ok. We've learned so well how to deny ourselves and our feelings. And that's why we need to talk about it.

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