Manager on a Mission

Whether entrepreneurialism is burning inside you or is something you've never allowed yourself to consider, Steph Sheldon shares her wisdom about the creative process and finding your voice. Yes, even in a corporate job.

Steph is the talent behind my top-to-bottom rebrand - from this podcast name and artwork, to my new site, and all those photos I've been using on the socials. In this episode we talk about how to find your authentic voice, honor what your body is telling you, and build a business foundation.

Steph shares the concept of "unstructing," a counter to the prevalent belief that we always need to learn more things. Instead, she believes we need to strip away everything in order to find our true, authentic selves.

Visit Steph's beautiful site and Insta to learn more!

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Sometimes it feels like nothing you do matters as a manager, unless maybe you're the CEO. You can't hire the people you need to hire, you can't get the software your team needs, and you can't get them the raises they deserve. It feels like no matter what you do, you just can’t make a difference.

What if i told you you don’t need to fix everything and you could still improve the lives of your team? And what if you could do it without getting approval of budget dollars from your manager? What if it was just YOU who could make a big impact and you could do it this week?

In this episode I’m going to show you how. I'm going to share my tips for dramatically changing your team members’ experience at work, enough to improve their mental health and their job satisfaction, regardless of whether you have anyone else's approval or support.

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In the first episode of Season 2, we look at how management is stuck in the 90s and hasn’t kept pace with the challenges that employees are dealing with at work, like how quickly priorities change, how ambiguous projects can be, and how much more complexity employees face as far as office politics, layoffs, and far-flung coworkers in multiple time zones. 

Old-school managers are shortchanging their team members by holding on to past ideas of what management looks like, instead of what is required to lead today - not just procedural things like how we assign work but big things like kindness, trust, and coaching instead of just correcting.

Work is changing RIGHT NOW. We can let change happen, or we can lead the change. This podcast is for the ones who are ready to lead.

Here's the Season 1 episode I mention - Coaching Beats Feedback

Spotify

Apple

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For the final episode of our first season, we’re doing something a little bit different. I asked you to send me questions, and now I'm sharing my best answers regarding:

1. How managers can help you increase your visibility and build your reputation
2. Why doing boring work doesn't mean you're doomed to never get a better job than the one you have now
3. How to become a better presenter, even if you feel like you've already tried everything
4. How to handle an overworked and understaffed team when there's no relief in sight

Thank you so much for listening to this season of the Management Detox podcast. I'll be back soon with Season 2!

If there's anything you want me to cover in the new season, DM me on LinkedIn. I look forward to hearing from you.

In the meantime, follow me:

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Brian Walch is a coach, consultant, and speaker who helps organizations develop their managers and build best-in-class management cultures. He is the owner of Shiftfocus Coaching and Consulting, where he provides services to help empower managers to lead themselves, their teams, and their organizations. 

In this episode, Brian and Tosca talk about management culture and what to do when organizations don't support managers, as well as how easing new managers into their roles is like getting into a kayak.

Brian shares why he's passionate about ensuring that managers get the support they need to succeed, including his iterative approach to helping managers and their teams deliver better work over time. 

Brian also reveals an unexpected source of inspiration for him: death. And he shares the concept of the "modern elder," as coined by Chip Conley and what that means for second acts in life, for managers or otherwise. 

Connect with Brian on LinkedIn

Resources:

Modern Elder Academy - Chip Conley

Brian's consultancy: Shiftfocus.com

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The #1 barrier to productivity isn't remote work, or RTO policies, or even mass layoffs. It's meetings. As more and more employees struggle to complete their actual work, why is the tyranny of meetings not just tolerated but expected in Corporate America? 

The recent Atlassian Workplace Woes survey about meetings validated everything I had been feeling about meetings before I left my corporate job: they're largely ineffective, they waste time and energy, and they make it hard to complete the work that is supposed to matter. They're also a symptom of a larger problem: control and fear of making mistakes.

I know we can't do away with meetings completely, and I don't think we have to. But we can't go on like this. Besides sharing key insights from the Atlassian survey, in this episode I offer my own additional insights into why meetings have gone so wrong, guidelines for improving them, and ideas for alternatives to putting another meeting on everyone's calendar.

Let's continue the conversation. Connect with me on LinkedIn.

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Dina Berman is a 30 year agency veteran, San Francisco native, and recovering ‘good girl’ who leveraged her mastery as a middle child and her love of commercials into a career in advertising with a focus in Account Management. She is Head of Account and Project Management at wello, Wells Fargo’s creative agency where she’s also a member of the Leadership Team. For the past 6 years Dina has been working on her own transformation as a leader, with a focus on mindful leadership. 

In this episode, Dina and Tosca talk about the differences between toxic positivity and influential positivity, the power of mindset, and Dina’s Energized Leadership Program. They have a little debate about “feedback,” and share their beliefs about how leaders need to earn the right to ask employees to turn on their cameras on Zoom. 

Dina explains the two parts of her career: the first part, which was dedicated to output, and this second part as a leader, which is about impact in helping others develop and grow in their own career journeys. Dina’s word of the year is “connection,” and she welcomes listeners connecting with her. You can find her on LinkedIn.

Other resources Dina and Tosca discuss:

• Kelly McGonigal’s TED talk: How to Make Stress Your Friend
• Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek
• Researcher and storyteller Brene Brown
• Organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant 
• The Energy Bus book

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Promotions and progress are the lanugage of success in Corporate America. But promotions can be notoriously difficult to get, or at least difficult to understand. Some companies keep the process shrouded in mystery and very tightly controlled. But when prospective employers want to see progress, advancement, and forward movement - and current employers are reluctant to provide it - what’s an employee to do?

We answer that question in this podcast. As someone who spent most of their adult life moving up the corporate ladder and then helping my team members to do the same, I can help demystify the process. In this episode, we walk through how promotions work at different types of companies, how to play the politics game (or not), and the annoying truth that you need to be doing the job you want before you're formally recognized for it. We also cover why promotion scarcity is built-in at American companies, and what you can do about it. 

Even if we can't fix everything about how corporations promote, knowledge is power - and that's what I'm sharing here with you, including tips for how managers can help their team members show progress when the company you work for doesn't make it easy to do so, and even how to know when it's time for you or your team members to get what you deserve - by taking a job somewhere else.

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Jess Walker has spent over 20 years as a manager and organizational leader at some of the top creative agencies in New York City, working with Fortune 10 trailblazers, long-standing companies, and fast-growing brands. She now applies her dedication to creating value and growth to what she cares about most: people. She recently founded Wondering Forward, a coaching practice for individuals and teams, focused on helping people and organizations prevent and recover from burnout. 

In this episode, Tosca and Jess discuss how managers can care for people, be of service to their teams, respect and honor individual personalities and work styles, and still produce business results. They share ways they've fostered human connection, their 16 Personalities styles, and the "mountains" they've moved through. 

Jess believes in the power of slowing down and that good energy in creates good energy out, and she shares her coaching philosophy that leans heavily on the healing power of movement, wonder, and possibility - yes, even for the corporate world. 

How to connect with Jess:

• Her website wonderingforward.com
• Her LinkedIn profile

More resources Jess and Tosca shared: 

• Arthur Brook's curve/mountain
• Freudenberger's 12 Stages of Burnout
• 16 Personalities
• SYP Superpowers cards and app
• User Manual Reference 
• Vitaly Friedman's post with "How to Work With Me" templates
• Marcia Reynolds
• Cleo Wade
• Mr. Rogers on Instagram and YouTube 
• One of many articles about Georgia O'Keeffe
• Maya Angelou's Phenomenal Woman

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Our first interview episode features Jod Kaftan, Head of Product Design & Research at Oracle. Jod has over 20 years of experience in product, UX, and strategy, and as a trailblazer and leader in the industry, he is an advocate for a people-centered approach to management. 

Having recently branched out into coaching, Jod has been reflecting on his evolution as a manager who now believes his job as a leader is to "obsolete himself," and build the next generation of managers.

Tosca and Jod discuss the perils (and temptations) of "falling on every grenade for your team," possible futures for UX you've probably never heard of before, and advice for people who want fulfilling careers (that's you, right?)

We also discuss Jod's journey from Luke Skywalker to Yoda. If that sounds intriguing to you you're going to have to give this one a listen. 

Find out more about Jod's coaching practice, Design-Led Futures here.

You can also follow Jod on LinkedIn here. 

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