The Elephant in the Org

Send us Fan Mail

They say the system is broken. But for many of us, it was never built with us in mind in the first place.

In this raw and powerful episode, we explore the realities of invisible disability in the workplace — the ones you can’t see, the ones people don’t believe, and the ones we’ve been forced to explain, downplay, or hide to get by. From masking and microaggressions to inaccessible processes and performative allyship, our guests share what it's like to navigate work in a world not designed for them — and how we can do better.

Featuring:
Dr. Angela Young – A deaf, queer, non-binary, multiply disabled accessibility strategist and educator. With a doctorate in education and certifications in accessibility and leadership, Angela helps organizations design for equity and inclusion through bold, human-centered strategies.
Deb Haas – After 24 years in corporate HR, Deb was laid off — and set free. Now the founder of The Unexamined Mind, she helps people and companies reimagine work for the AI era, blending behavioral science, rebellion, and radical transparency.
Jessica Donahue – A trauma-informed leadership strategist and mental health advocate who helps organizations move beyond performative culture toward psychologically safe, purpose-driven workplaces.

Hosted by Marion Anderson and Danny Gluch of The Fearless PX, this conversation offers a no-BS look at what happens when systems are built without input from the people they’re meant to serve — and why the future of work must be intentionally inclusive, not just compliant.

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. 

Show Notes

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

What happens after the diagnosis?

In this raw and revelatory episode, co-hosts Marion Anderson and Danny Gluch sit down with guests Lia Seth and Don Ryan to explore the emotional whiplash of becoming — or realizing you’ve always been — disabled. From the relief of finally having an answer to the quiet rage of having to justify your needs again and again, this conversation unpacks the emotional toll behind the label.

We talk about:

• The surprise of late diagnosis and misdiagnosis
• Shame, fear, grief — and how they isolate
• The fight for accommodations and the sting of microaggressions
• What good allyship actually looks like
• Why managers need emotional fluency (and why it’s okay to mess it up)

This episode is for anyone navigating disability, supporting someone who is, or working in a system that still expects people to prove their pain before being believed.

Lia Seth is Director of People at Cylinder and a longtime HR pro. She’s an accessibility advocate, Girl Scout for life, and Seattle-based mountain enthusiast.

Don Ryan is a social worker and author of The Secret Struggle (2024), leading trauma and suicide prevention work in Minnesota with over 30 years of experience.

Link to Show Notes
ReThink Ability on Linkedin

Rethink Ability is a seven-part series on disability at work — and what true inclusion really takes.

Brought to you by The Fearless PX and The Elephant in the Org, in collaboration with ReThink Ability, Invisible Condition and The Performance Innovation Collective, it centers disabled voices and bold ideas to rethink culture, systems, and support.

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

In this candid kickoff to Rethink Ability, co-hosts Marion Anderson, Danny Gluch, Cacha Dora, and Lia Seth unpack the personal journey that sparked this series — born from lived experience, late diagnoses, awkward conversations, and the realization that HR wasn’t trained for this.

What began as DMs and shared frustrations turned into a collaborative effort to rethink how we talk about disability at work — and to create the resource we all wish we had.

We talk about:

• Becoming the one who needs accommodations
• The gaps in HR training — and why they matter
• Lia’s jaw-dropping wheelchair moment
• Why ignorance still causes harm
• What real inclusion actually takes

This one’s for every HR pro winging it, every unsure manager, and every disabled employee tired of being the explainer-in-chief.

Honest. Unfiltered. Necessary.

Marion Anderson
PhD researcher, founder of The Fearless PX, and a disabled HR leader working to make work suck less — especially for those the system forgets.

Danny Gluch
DEI strategist, philosopher, educator, and squinter-in-chief.

Cacha Dora
Cultural strategist, equity whisperer, and the person you want in hard conversations. Makes inclusion make sense.

Lia Seth
Director of People at Cylinder, disability advocate, Accessibility Queen. Lives in Seattle. Loves mountains.

🔗 Show Notes
🔗 Follow Rethink Ability on LinkedIn

Rethink Ability is a limited seven-part series exploring the unseen dimensions of disability at work — and what it really takes to build environments where everyone can thrive.

Brought to you by The Fearless PX and The Elephant in the Org, in collaboration with ReThink Ability, Invisible Condition, and The Performance Innovation Collective, the series centers disabled voices, advocates, and changemakers across seven honest, human, action-driven episodes.

This isn’t another checkbox DEI moment.
It’s a call to rethink assumptions, redesign systems, and reshape culture.

Perfect for HR pros and leaders ready to go beyond performative inclusion, with stories, insights, and tools to help make work truly inclusive.

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

Stack ranking is back, y'all — and we’re not clapping. In our Season 2 finale, we’re calling out the lazy leadership, performative culture, and warped sense of “objectivity” fueling the comeback of rank-and-yank reviews.

HR strategist Greer Procich joins Marion, Danny, and Cacha to unpack why stack ranking never really went away — it just got rebranded. From AI-driven “calibration” to the gaslighting of good employees, we’re naming the elephant in the org (again).

We dig into:
• Why stack ranking is a shortcut, not a strategy
• The toll on collaboration, inclusion, and psychological safety
• How managers are set up to fail — and who benefits
• The weaponization of performance tools under the guise of “efficiency”
• What HR pros can actually do when stuck between values and a VP with a spreadsheet

💥 Plus: neurodivergence bias, TikTok therapy critiques, and a few too-real stories from inside the HR trenches.

It’s bold. It’s unfiltered. It’s the end of Season 2.
We’re taking a break for summer, but don’t worry — we’ll be back this fall with Season 3, louder and spicier than ever.

🔗 Connect with Greer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greerprocich

Link to Show Notes

Let’s make work suck less. 🐘

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

What happens when the one holding it all together starts to fall apart?

In this powerful episode, we’re joined by Nicole DuBois—HR exec, mom, author, and walking proof that vulnerability is leadership. Nicole takes us behind the scenes of her journey: managing a chronic illness, surviving divorce, raising a child, and leading a people function—all while hiding behind a mask.

We talk about why HR is often the least psychologically safe team in the org, how culture and identity shape what we’re allowed to show at work, and what happens when a leader finally says: “This is me.”

Whether you’re burnt out, breaking down, or just tired of pretending, this episode will hit deep.

🎭 The cost of masking in senior leadership
📚 Nicole’s journey from pseudonym to public truth
🧠 Chronic illness, identity, and workplace culture
🫶 Co-creation, compassion, and redefining strength

Connect with Nicole:
📖 Unparalyzed: Beating an Invisible Pre-Midlife Crisis – available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Archway Publishing
🔗 Nicole on LinkedIn

🎧 Subscribe, share, and leave a review if this one moved you.
Let’s make work suck less. 🐘

Link to show notes 

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

Deb Haas spent 24 years in corporate HR before getting laid off — and finally getting free. Now, she’s helping others reimagine work for the AI era with transparency, humor, and zero tolerance for business as usual.

In this episode:
– The psychological toll of layoffs
– Late-stage capitalism & the myth of the “dream job”
– Why Gen Z won’t play along
– What leaders keep getting wrong about flexibility & safety
– Fractional work, portfolio careers & the future of employment

Deb is the founder of The Unexamined Mind,  where she helps people unlearn toxic career scripts and build work that works for humans.

🔗 Connect with Deb on LinkedIn

📄 Full Show Notes: Read Here

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

Let’s talk about the difference between looking inclusive — and actually being inclusive.

In this powerful episode, Marion and Danny are joined by Dr. Angela Young, a bold advocate for digital accessibility, to break down the emotional labor, internalized ableism, and corporate gaslighting that so many disabled, neurodivergent, and non-binary professionals still face at work.

From rainbow logos to “awareness weeks,” companies love to brand themselves as inclusive — right up until someone asks for real change. Angela unpacks what performative DEI looks like from the inside, what happens when inclusion becomes inconvenient, and what true allyship really requires.

Whether you're an HR leader, line manager, or employee trying to survive in a system that wasn’t built for you — this conversation will challenge you to do better.

In This Episode:

• The difference between diversity as presence and inclusion as practice
• Why “palatable” often means “invisible”
• How masking and code-switching drain disabled and neurodivergent employees
• What performative inclusion looks like in real time — and why it’s not enough
• Two free things every company can do today to make onboarding more accessible
• The connection between psychological safety and real inclusion

About Our Guest:
Dr. Angela Young (they/them) is a deaf, queer, non-binary, multiply disabled accessibility strategist and educator. With a doctorate in education and certifications in accessibility and leadership, Angela empowers thousands through public speaking, training, and strategy focused on inclusive, human-centered design.

📍 Connect with Angela on LinkedIn

Link to this episodes show notes

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

Leaders love to claim they're "data-driven" — right up until the numbers challenge their egos. In this episode, Marion, Cacha, and Danny sit down with Future of Work strategist Angelique Slob to dig into why industrial-era mindsets still dominate modern workplaces, why ignoring internal data is costing organizations dearly, and how real workplace experience data can future-proof culture, engagement, and leadership. Buckle up — the future’s here, and it doesn’t care about your feelings.

Link to Angelique on Linkedin

Link to Full Shownotes

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

We’re going dark… but in a totally self-aware, psychologically fascinating kind of way.

This week on The Elephant in the Org, we’re diving into the Dark Triad — narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism — and how these personality traits show up in leadership. Our guest, the brilliant Danny Wareham (organisational psychologist, coach, and self-proclaimed bee-lover), joins us to unpack why some of these traits might actually be… useful? In the right context, of course.

We ask the real questions:

• Is your CEO just confident… or kinda terrifying?
• Are we accidentally rewarding toxic leadership?
• Can a bit of narcissism actually drive performance?
• What does culture have to do with personality?
• And why does it always come back to self-awareness?

Expect a little sass, a lot of insight, and the usual banter from your favourite trio. Because sometimes, the elephant in the org is charming, powerful… and just a touch self-obsessed.

And if you’re a middle manager trying to survive all of this? This one’s definitely for you.

You can contact Danny: 

🔗 dannywareham.co.uk
🔗 firgun.co.uk
🔗 Danny on LinkedIn

Shownotes here

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...

Send us Fan Mail

🎧 Special Edition – Oh Shit, What’s Happened Now?

This is one of those moments when we pause our scheduled programming because something in the news is just too wild to ignore.

In this special edition of The Elephant in the Org, we dive headfirst into the explosive lawsuit between HR tech giants Rippling and Deel — featuring Slack honeypots, alleged corporate spying, stolen sales data, and actual RICO charges (yes, the kind usually reserved for organized crime).

Rippling says Deel recruited a mole who conducted thousands of unauthorized internal searches to steal client data — all caught via a fake Slack channel set up as a digital trap. Deel says the whole thing is overblown. Meanwhile, the HR tech community is left wondering… who do we trust now?

We unpack:

• What this means for psychological safety in high-growth tech
• Whether surveillance culture is becoming the new norm
• How this could shake employee trust, not just in vendors — but in work itself

And of course, we reflect on what this kind of chaos means for managers, employees, and all of us caught somewhere between hustle culture and HR values. Is this just startup life? Or have we officially entered the HR Tech Hunger Games?

LINK TO SHOW NOTES 

📩 Got a hot take or a workplace horror story? Email us at [email protected]

🚀 Your Hosts on LinkedIn

• 🐘 Marion Anderson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionandersonpx
  
  
• 🐘 Danny Gluch — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgluch
  
  
• 🐘 Cacha Dora — https://www.linkedin.com/in/cachadora
  
  

💬 Like what you hear?
Follow/subscribe so you don’t miss an episode — and if this one hit home, leave a ★★★★★ review to help more people find the show.

🎙️ About the Show
The Elephant in the Org drops new episodes every two weeks starting April 2024 — 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.

Topics: employee surveys, listening culture, trust, people analytics, psychological safety, employee voice, ...