Is your calendar telling the truth about your workload — or are you silently drowning in invisible tasks?

My Ideal Weekly Schedule Guide Now https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-my-ideal-weekly-schedule-guide-now

Most professionals plan their day as if eight hours equals eight productive hours. It doesn't. That mismatch is why capable people keep overcommitting, drowning in meetings, and fearing that saying "no" makes them look weak.

On this episode of Secrets of the Career Game, Kendall Berg sits down with time-management strategist Kelly Nolan, creator of the Bright Method — a calendar-first system that makes invisible work visible, protects your focus time, and gives you the data to push back strategically.

"If it doesn't fit in the hours of the day, you are objectively trying to do too much. And that's just the end of it."

In this episode:

• How to measure your real capacity (hint: your calendar is lying to you)

• Why an eight-hour workday rarely holds eight productive hours

• How to tell your boss you have too much work — without looking incapable

• The meeting audit that frees up hours of focus time every week

• Why saying no, backed by data, is leadership — not weakness

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Website: https://kellynolan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kellynolan_/

An overwhelming workload requires clearer priorities, protected capacity, and a realistic schedule—not simply more hours or faster work.

In this episode of Secrets of the Career Game, Kendall Berg shares five practical workload-management strategies for busy professionals:

1. How to use a daily Top Three

2. Why stopping can be better than constantly adding more tasks

3. How day blocking can work better than traditional time blocking

4. How to plan your week before work takes over

5. How to schedule important work around your energy

6. How to protect your capacity and push back on unrealistic requests

You'll learn how to prioritize tasks at work, reduce mental load, manage competing demands, and recognize when your workload is genuinely impossible.

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

You climbed the ladder. You hit the goals. So why do you still check your phone at 2 AM, terrified it'll all disappear? High-achiever burnout doesn't look like exhaustion — it looks like success with a side of constant anxiety.

FREE Communication Guide Now: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/thatcareercoach_funnel

Anna Wojtowicz joins Kendall Berg on Secrets of the Corporate Game, together they break down why your ambition might be running on survival mode and how to succeed without abandoning yourself.

Anna Wojtowicz, creator of the "ambition rooted in wholeness" framework, explains why high-achieving professionals often experience burnout, anxiety, and a persistent fear of failure despite outward success.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

• How to tell if your ambition is actually "survival mode" in disguise

• Why success feels empty even after hitting every goal

• Nervous system regulation techniques that stop the burnout cycle

• The difference between fear-based ego thoughts and genuine intuition

• How to build a career that doesn't cost you your health or identity

Anna's approach bridges psychology, nervous system science, and practical thought-sorting strategies — designed for high performers who are tired of winning on paper while losing themselves in the process.

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Why do high performers get so defensive, reactive, and emotionally raw at work? It's not a personality flaw — it's what happens when your job becomes your entire identity.

When you're a high achiever, every piece of feedback can feel like an attack, every mistake feels catastrophic, and every friction with a coworker feels deeply personal. This is burnout in its earliest form — and it's an identity problem, not a workload problem.

Career coach Kendall Berg breaks down the three ways emotional fusion with your job shows up (defensiveness, inability to disconnect, and workplace friction), then lays out a practical three-part framework for building emotional distance at work:

→ The three types of hobbies that create genuine separation (physical, mental/creative, and people-focused)

→ How to curate an intentional "Board of Directors" instead of relying on casual friendships for perspective

→ How to write a 3-word personal identity statement that grounds you in who you are — not your job title

This episode is for any high performer who's noticed their career has quietly taken over their sense of self and is ready to build something more sustainable. By the end, you'll have a concrete framework to protect your performance at work without letting it define who you are

Get my FREE Communication Guide Now: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/thatcareercoach_funnel .

I worked 24/7 thinking it would get me promoted. It did the opposite. Here's how slowing down made leadership finally notice me — and how you can do the same.

High performers are often the worst at one thing: rest. We wear busy like a badge of honor, convinced that constant productivity is the path to career growth. But here's what nobody tells you — career progression requires strategic thinking, vision, and influence. When you're buried in tasks, you have zero space for any of it.

In this episode, I share exactly how I went from working around the clock to creating the space that got me noticed as a leader no burnout, no career sacrifice.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Rest is not laziness — it's a strategic career move

• Solo-tasking creates the focus that multitasking destroys

• Leaders notice people who think, not just people who do

• High performers need pursuits that aren't measured by output

💬 What's the one thing you feel guilty about when you stop working? Drop it in the comments — I read every one.

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Kendall Berg and Katy Culver challenge the job title identity trap that keeps high performers tied to outdated roles, titles, and versions of success. If your career identity is built around overworking, control, weak boundaries, or proving your value through corporate achievement, professional growth starts to feel harder than it needs to. Katy explains how future self work and the "I'm the type of person who…" framework can create a real identity shift before your next big move. This episode is for anyone ready to separate who they are from what they do, make stronger career decisions, and grow into the career, business, and life they actually want.

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Hard work alone won't get you promoted; here's what actually drives career progression.

If you've been overlooked, passed over, or stuck wondering why your boss keeps choosing someone else, this video breaks down the real rules of how to get promoted at work. Kendall Berg explains why your career is a game, and pretending the corporate rules don't exist only keeps you playing small.

You'll learn:

→ Why workplace visibility matters more than delivering more work

→ How to communicate your impact so leadership remembers you

→ The difference between having colleagues and having advocates

→ How difficult conversations change your career trajectory

→ What actually earns trust as a leader (beyond technical skill)

This is the career strategy shift you need before your next promotion cycle.

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Sometimes the job is not the problem. The problem is that we let one role become our identity, our confidence, and our entire sense of security.

Henry Nelson-Case, who shares workplace and legal humor online as That Corporate Lawyer, joins me to talk about career confidence, workplace mental health, and why leaving a bad job can feel so terrifying. If you feel stuck, over-attached to your title, or afraid to advocate for yourself at work, this one is for you.

Inside this episode

• Why your job should not become your identity • How to know when you have stayed too long • Why being hired once means you can get hired again • How to advocate for yourself before burnout hits • Why a side hustle can create emotional freedom • How leaders can better support junior employees

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

Most professionals think selling yourself at work means bragging. A career sales executive says that's exactly wrong. Kendall Berg sits down with her husband, David Berg, a sales executive with 13+ years at AT&T, to break down how to play the corporate game, build executive presence, and communicate your value without feeling fake.

In this episode:

• Why "selling yourself" is actually about listening, not talking

• The 9-box framework leaders use to evaluate you (and where you land)

• How to reverse-engineer a career conversation so it lands where you need it to

• Why storytelling builds more credibility than any credential

• The scariest career move David ever made — and why it paid off

This episode is for ambitious corporate professionals who want to get promoted, build leadership presence, and stop being the best-kept secret at work.

Play the Career Game On Your Terms: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/3-months-of-group-coaching

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

There is a very loud version of entrepreneurship online right now: quit the job, burn the safety net, go all in, and figure it out later. I get the appeal. I also think that advice can get expensive very quickly, especially when the business has not been validated yet.

Mike Shannon joins me to talk about the much messier, smarter side of starting a business. Mike has built multiple companies, appeared on Shark Tank, worked in AI, and wrote Sweaty Equity, a book about the unglamorous middle of entrepreneurship. His story is not the polished founder myth. It is Shark Tank one day, Chicago Bulls laundry room the next, then years of pivots, investor pressure, customer discovery, and learning how to actually build something that works.

If you are a corporate professional, side hustler, first-time founder, or future entrepreneur wondering whether you should quit your job to start a business, this conversation is your reality check. We talk about why keeping your day job can create runway, why "build the thing, sell the thing" matters more than startup hype, and how to use messy action without blowing up your career stability.

Inside this episode

• Why quitting your job too early can create unnecessary founder pressure

• How Mike Shannon went from Shark Tank with Mark Cuban to the Chicago Bulls laundry room

• Why business validation matters more than investor validation

• The simple startup framework: build the thing, sell the thing

• How customer discovery helps you avoid forcing the wrong idea into the market

• What Sweaty Equity reveals about the messy middle of entrepreneurship

What's one "corporate game" rule you've learned the hard way?

🎯 Take the full Level Up Leadership Course: https://stan.store/thatcareercoach/p/get-started-with-my-play-the-corporate-game-course

Kendall Berg is a career coach and creator, helping ambitious professionals master the unspoken rules of corporate life. Through Secrets of the Career Game, she shares honest conversations and practical tools to help you communicate clearly, lead confidently, and navigate work with strategy — not stress.

☕️ Want personalized career advice? Book a free 15-minute Coffee Chat with me — let's talk strategy, leadership, or your next move. Book your Coffee Chat → https://calendly.com/thatcareercoach/15-min-follow-up

Want to know more about Kendal Berg, that career coach?

Follow her on Instagram: @thatcareercoach_

Check out her courses on the website: https://thatcareercoach.net/ Watch on YouTube:@thatcareercoach_

About Mike Shannon

Prior to Impruve, Mike co-founded and served as CEO of Packback, which pioneered "instructional AI" for the compliance-heavy Higher Education market with a product suite that scales the teaching impact of PhD college professor clientele. Packback's software earned the trust of the 600 largest institutions and was named one of TIME's Most Innovative Companies in Education. Throughout 12 years, Mike led it from a scrappy startup to $20M in ARR, 100+ employees, and a $50M+ all-cash acquisition by a leading private equity group — earning recognition from Inc. 500, Fast Company, Forbes 30 Under 30, and the Chicago Innovation Awards along the way. But his path wasn't linear. After shaking Mark Cuban's hand on ABC's Shark Tank at a young age, Mike clocked in for his next shift folding towels as a "ball boy" in the Chicago Bulls locker room; a fun tale that culminated in Mike's comedic entrepreneurship memoir, Sweaty Equity: A Ball Boy, A Billionaire, and the Bonkers Startup Tale You've Never Heard, which Mark Cuban described as "a wildly entertaining story!"

Nowadays, Mike enjoys coaching Little League and spending time with his two young kids and wife. He co-hosts Momentum Mode, a podcast featuring private equity-backed CEOs, founders, & investors. He also serves on the board of national entrepreneurship education non-profit Future Founders, where he dedicates yearlong mentorship hours.- www.impruve.com/about