Bossed Up

The Problem With Self-Help


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What’s the last self-help book you read? These days, whatever life change you’re hoping for, there’s a self-help guru and their associated memoir eager to explain how they did it and you can too. The problem is that most of these books are written by the people for whom our capitalist society was built.

In this episode, I speak with Sharon Podobnik, a seasoned executive leadership coach and former self-help fiend whose questioning of the industry led her to write her new book, It’s Not (All) Your Fault: Self-Help and the Individualization of Oppression. Sharon is a font of knowledge on all things self-help and the perfect person to delve deep into this problematic field and begin envisioning a healthier, more equitable alternative.

Get insight into all the misleading and ineffective ways we try to help ourselves, including:

  • The disconnect between who writes self-help and who reads it;
  • The difference between oppressive and liberatory self-help;
  • And how we start building a version of self-help that actually works.

Related Links:

  • Find Sharon online - https://www.sharonpodobnikpeterson.com/ 
  • Order Sharon’s new book - https://itsnotallyourfault.com/
  • The Center for Conscious Leadership - https://www.thecenterforconsciousleadership.com/
  • Bossed Up Episode 422 on gender equality at work - https://www.bossedup.org/podcast/episode422
  • Bossed Up Courage Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/927776673968737/
  • Bossed Up LinkedIn Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/7071888/ 
...more
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Bossed UpBy Emilie Aries

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