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What happens when flexibility stops being a perk and becomes the backbone of inclusion, well-being, and high performance? In this episode, we sit down with Michelle McDaid, founder of The Leading Place and long-time engineering leader across FinTech and HR Tech, to unpack how trust, autonomy, and psychological safety reshape the modern workplace.

Michelle brings over two decades of experience leading and scaling global distributed product development teams — most recently as Senior Director of Engineering at Workhuman, and previously at Fidelity Investments and AIB. Now, through The Leading Place, she helps organisations design flexible, people-centred cultures that actually work. A qualified coach and MSc candidate in Work & Organisational Behaviour at Dublin City University, Michelle is widely recognised for her leadership in DEIB, gender equity, and Women in STEM. She has championed ERGs, mentored underrepresented groups, completed the 30% Club Ireland Board Ready programme with Deloitte, and has been honoured as a finalist in the Everywoman in Technology Awards and the Diversity in Tech Awards. She was also named in DiverseIn’s 133 Women Who Change The World.

🔗 Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleamcdaid/

Together with Danny, Marion, and Cacha, Michelle digs into the truth about flexibility:
Why it matters, who gets left behind when it’s taken away, and how brave leadership — not buzzwords — creates cultures where free-range humans thrive while battery-hen systems crumble.

We explore:
• Why flexibility is infrastructure, not a perk
• The weaponisation of resilience
• ADHD in women and the unseen cost of masking
• Gender equity and the real state of DEIB
• Trust as the starting point for performance
• Psychological safety inside rigid systems
• Courage vs. consistency in leadership
• The future of flexible work — and why it’s about design, not location

🔥 Full Show Notes

If you care about flexible work, inclusion, or building teams where people actually flourish, this episode will hit you right in the truth gland.

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

What if “success” wasn’t someone else’s checklist—but a life that actually fits?
In this uplifting, reflective conversation, Dan Smolen—Executive Producer & Host of What’s Your Work Fit? and fellow member of the Future of Work Alliance—joins Danny, Marion, and Cacha to explore how purpose, passion, and fit overlap (and don’t), why agency over your day matters, and how “soft eyes and soft ears” help us hear what truly lights us up.

📄 Full Show Notes

We cover:

• What WorkFit really means—and how to find it in your life
• The difference between purpose, passion, and fit
• Reclaiming curiosity and joy after chasing others’ definitions of success
• Channeling pain into purpose (caregiving, identity, and advocacy)
• Why side hustles and “crazy-quilt” careers can restore autonomy and hope

Top takeaways:

• WorkFit isn’t a job; it’s a way of living
• Stop optimizing for other people’s expectations
• Agency and joy are the real metrics of success
• Lead with “soft eyes and soft ears”—stay open to signals and seasonality
• The future of work is hopeful when we design for fit

Connect with Dan Smolen:
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansmolen/

• Substack: https://dansmolen.substack.com

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@whatsyourworkfit9441

• Email: [email protected]

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

When crisis hits, clarity collapses — and HR is often left holding the mic.

In this episode, Marion, Danny, and Cacha sit down with Alison Arnot, award-winning consultant, trainer, and author of Internal Communication in Times of Crisis: How to Secure Employee Trust, Support, and Advocacy in Crisis Situations. From her early-career baptism during the 2007 Glasgow Airport terror attack to decades guiding organizations through chaos, Alison shares what really happens when comms go quiet and people are left to fill in the blanks.

She introduces her Seven S’s Framework — Surviving, Supporting, Sense-making, Stabilizing, Stimulating, Sustaining, and Strengthening — and explains how it helps teams move from panic to trust. Together, we explore how HR often becomes the crisis communications department by default, what psychological safety looks like when everything is on fire, and why connection—not control—is the cornerstone of any credible response.

🎧 Expect stories, strategies, and a few uncomfortable truths about leadership, silence, layoffs, and the human side of crisis.

🔗 Connect with Alison on LinkedIn

📘 Get Alison’s book from Kogan Page
with code ALISONARNOT2025 for 25 % off.

Link to Show Notes 

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

Want Inclusive Workplaces? Listen Up — and #HirePaul

This special episode of The Elephant in the Org isn’t just a conversation — it’s a call to action.

Meet Paul Meyer, a Deaf HR professional and inclusion advocate with extensive experience in talent acquisition, onboarding, and culture building. Paul has spent his career helping organizations make work truly inclusive, from hiring practices to day-to-day communication and leadership behavior.

We recorded this as our first fully accessible episode, featuring live ASL interpretation (Rebecca Davis) and CART captions (Annie Hargett, AH Real Time Captions). The audio version includes a full written transcript, and you can access the ASL + CC video via the YouTube link below.

🎥 Watch the accessible video version on YouTube → https://youtu.be/2fGpnCNUi1o

👉 Paul is actively job-seeking. Listen, learn, and help us #HirePaul.

In this episode:

• Why “culture is communication”
• How to build accessible onboarding that works
• Why AI captions aren’t yet a reasonable accommodation
• Practical team habits that build belonging
• What HR can learn from lived experience

Connect & Support:
🔗 Connect with Paul on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmeyerpm/
💼 Share open roles or referrals
📣 Spread the word: #HirePaul #ElephantInclusive

Credits
Hosted by Marion Anderson & Danny Gluch
Guest: Paul Meyer
ASL: Rebecca Davis
CART: Annie Hargett, AH Real Time Captions
Collaboration: Greer Procich, Rethinkability

Link to Show Notes

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

Episode Description:
⚠️ Trigger Warning: Suicide, grief, and trauma.

In this deeply human episode of The Elephant in the Org, we confront one of the hardest workplace conversations: suicide, loss, and mental health at work.

Our guest, Don Ryan — author of The Secret Struggle: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One and veteran social worker — brings both professional expertise and personal experience, having lost three close family members to suicide.

Together with Marion, Danny, and Cacha, Don explores:

• Why grief can’t be treated as a “policy issue” with one-size-fits-all leave.
• Equity vs. equality in crisis support — and why flexibility matters more than fairness.
• How peers often notice warning signs first, and what leaders can do about it.
• The role of postvention: planning before tragedy strikes.
• The long-term impact of grief on trust, performance, and psychological safety.

Top Takeaways:

• Grief doesn’t end after a week of leave — it changes people for the long term.
• Psychological safety depends on trust built before a crisis hits.
• Empathy and equity are essential leadership skills, not “nice to haves.”
• Workplaces need a toolbox of supports, not blanket policies.

Guest Bio:
Don Ryan manages violence-reduction programs for Hennepin County, MN, and co-coordinates a veteran-specific suicide-prevention initiative. He is the author of The Secret Struggle: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One (2024), written to help others feel seen, heard, and less alone.
🔗 Connect with Don: LinkedIn | thesecretstruggle.com

Link to Shownotes

Resources:
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out:

• U.S.: Dial 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
• U.K./ROI: Samaritans 116 123
• Canada: Talk Suicide Canada 1-833-456-4566
• Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14
• 🌍 Global directory: findahelpline.com

Because grief doesn’t clock out — and silence in the workplace is never the answer.

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

When AI does the homework but skips the hard work, businesses will be the ones picking up the tab.

In this final episode of our AI trilogy, we’re joined by Mark Evans — serial entrepreneur, Fractional Chief AI Officer, and strategic advisor who’s spent 30 years building, scaling, and exiting tech ventures. Now, he helps leaders navigate AI adoption without outsourcing the very thing that makes us human: our ability to think.

From classrooms to boardrooms, Mark warns of a creeping danger — the illusion of mastery. Students, job-seekers, and even seasoned professionals are presenting AI-polished competence without the critical thinking, resilience, or authenticity to back it up. When that illusion flows into hiring and leadership pipelines, the long-term costs to businesses could be catastrophic.

We talk about:

• Why “competence signaling” through AI is a hiring manager’s nightmare.
• How academia and business are both scrambling to set guardrails.
• The mental health fallout of outsourcing, struggle, and resilience to machines.
• Why “human in the loop” isn’t optional — it’s essential for trust and capability.
• What leaders can do now to avoid building a workforce of imposters.

Top Takeaways:

• AI isn’t evil, but without guardrails, it creates dangerous illusions of mastery.
• Critical thinking is the new currency — leaders who protect it will win.
• Psychological safety erodes when people feel like imposters in their own roles.
• Guardrails in education, hiring, and leadership are non-negotiable.

Guest Bio:
Mark Evans is the founder of 360 Strategy, a Fractional Chief AI Officer, and serial entrepreneur. With three decades of experience scaling and exiting tech ventures, he now works with leaders to ensure AI augments rather than replaces human capability. Based in Glasgow, Mark is passionate about preparing the next generation of talent to enter the workforce ready to think, not just prompt.

🔗 Connect with Mark: LinkedIn
📄 Read Mark’s paper featured in this episode: AI and the Corrosion of Academic Rigour

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

“AI will make your job easier.”
Translation: Here’s a shiny new tool — now do 10x more with half the resources.

In Part 2 of our AI Trilogy, we’re joined by Felix Mitchell (Co-CEO of Instant Impact, host of We Need to Talk About HR) to unpack how leaders are spinning AI as a miracle cure — while quietly restructuring work, cutting jobs, and pushing employees harder than ever.

We dig into:

• The 3 phases of AI adoption (and why most companies are stuck in Phase 1).
• Why CEOs love to announce bold AI visions but skip the messy middle.
• How “just upskill” became the new corporate gaslight when no one can define the skills.
• The growing tension between efficiency, engagement, and psychological safety.
• Why mid-size companies might actually come out on top in this industrial revolution on fast-forward.

This isn’t another glossy keynote about innovation. It’s a raw look at the human cost of AI hype — and why psychological safety may be the most important currency of the future of work.

Link to Show Notes Here

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

What happens when ChatGPT decides you’re not a Black woman… but a 40-year-old white man named Ralph?

That’s exactly what happened to attorney and entrepreneur Aubria Ralph, who turned an AI glitch into a full-blown LinkedIn social experiment. She flipped her name, posted as “Ralph Aubria,” and watched the offers, DMs, and algorithm love roll in. The results? Both hilarious and deeply troubling.

In this episode, Marion and Danny unpack:

• Why AI assumed “thoughtful leader” = white male.
• How LinkedIn rewarded Ralph with more visibility than Aubria.
• What happens when bias gets coded, amplified, and normalized online.
• Why authenticity keeps getting buried under clickbait and copy-paste content.

This is Part 2 of our AI Trilogy — three back-to-back episodes exploring how AI is reshaping trust, work, and psychological safety.

🎧 Listen now to hear how a fake Ralph exposed real bias — and what it says about the future of voice and authenticity online.

Get the Show Notes here

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

We’re back, baby! 🎉 Season 3 of The Elephant in the Org kicks off with a bang — and a little chaos.

Marion, Danny, and Cacha dive into:

• The HR scandal everyone’s pearl-clutching over (while ignoring the real workplace issues).
• Why HR burnout is at crisis levels — and nobody’s talking about it.
• What’s coming in our AI Trilogy: three straight episodes on how AI is reshaping trust, culture, and psychological safety at work.

Messy, spicy, unfiltered — exactly how you like us.

👉 Full show notes here

🎧 Listen now and let’s make work suck less. 🐘

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.

Send us a text

It’s the final episode of Rethink Ability, and we’re wrapping the series with reflection, laughter, and a whole lot of heart.

Hosts Marion Anderson, Danny Gluch, and Cacha Dora are joined by Greer Procich and Lia Seth to revisit the mic-drop moments, hard truths, and big feelings from the series. From allyship to HR’s blind spots, from policy pitfalls to psychological safety — we’re talking about what hit hardest, what changed us, and what comes next.

This episode is more than a recap. It’s a call to keep learning, keep listening, and keep showing up.

💬 Topics include:

• The emotional toll of disclosure — and why belief matters
• Why saying “I don’t know” is powerful leadership
• What HR keeps getting wrong about disability support
• Creating proactive, not performative, inclusion
• Why this work is just getting started

🎧 Part of the limited series Rethink Ability, brought to you by The Fearless PX, The Elephant in the Org, Invisible Condition, and The Performance Innovation Collective.

🌐 Learn more and sign up for the October virtual summit: rethink-ability.com

Link to episode show notes

Rethink Ability is a limited seven-part podcast series that explores the often unseen dimensions of disability in the workplace — and what it takes to build environments where everyone can thrive.

Brought to you by The Fearless PX and the team behind The Elephant in the Org, in collaboration with ReThink Ability,  Invisible Condition, and The Performance Innovation Collective, the series centers the lived experiences of disabled employees, HR leaders, and workplace change-makers. Across seven honest, human, and action-driven episodes, we unpack the gap between intention and impact and explore how to bridge it.

This is a call to rethink assumptions, redesign systems, and reshape culture.

If you’re tired of one-size-fits-all policies and hungry for real change, you’re in the right place. 

🐘 Connect with Us:

🚀 Follow The Fearless PX on LinkedIn: The Fearless PX
📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email Marion, Cacha, and Danny at [email protected]

🎧 Catch every episode of The Elephant in the Org: All Episodes Here

🚀Your Hosts on Linkedin:

🐘Marion Anderson

🐘Danny Gluch

🐘Cacha Dora

💬 Like what you hear?
Subscribe, leave a ★★★★★ review, and help us bring more elephants into the light.

🎙️ About the Show

The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024.
Get ready for even more fearless conversations about leadership, psychological safety, and the future of work.

🎵 Music & Production Credits

🎶 Opening and closing theme music by The Toros
🎙️ Produced by The Fearless PX
✂️ Edited by Marion Anderson

⚠️ Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests, and do not necessarily reflect any affiliated organizations' official policy or position.