Wired to Work | Neuroscience, Psychology & Leadership

You’ve had the conversation.
You were clear. Direct. Professional.

…so why didn’t anything change?

Because feedback isn’t about what you say.
It’s about how the other person experiences it.

And most people get that wrong.

In Part 2 of this series, Jess Chapman breaks down the structure behind feedback that actually works, introducing the NISA framework.

A simple, practical way to:

• start conversations without triggering defensiveness
• show you understand the other person (so they actually listen)
• explain impact in a way that matters to them
• and move from conversation → behaviour change

This isn’t about being nicer.
It’s about being effective with real humans.

If your feedback isn’t landing, it’s not random.
There’s a reason. And a fix.

Wired to Work with Jess Chapman. Watch or listen: https://www.wiredtowork.castos.com/
Join our Patreon community: https://www.patreon.com/wiredtowork

• (00:00:00) - How to Get a Bad Person to Change Their Behavior
• (00:00:50) - How to Make Feedback More Annoying
• (00:06:29) - "I hear your intention" in the following conversation
• (00:07:27) - How to Manage Time in a Meeting
• (00:10:28) - Lesson 6 on Validating Intent and Talking to People
• (00:16:07) - E3CA: Working In The World of Work

More than two thirds of people say they want more feedback. Fewer than a third feel they're actually getting it. What's getting in the way? Your brain (and your team's brain!) is wired to read feedback as a social threat. It can shake your sense of status, belonging, fairness, and certainty all at once.  And if you walk in carrying the wrong energy, your body language transmits it before you open your mouth. Jess calls it "going in crispy" - and once you're crispy, you've already lost the room. In Part 1 of this Wired to Work series on feedback, Jess breaks down the neuroscience of why feedback is so hard to give and receive.. and how to set up the conditions that make it actually land.

What's covered: Why more than two thirds of people want more feedback but fewer than a third feel they're getting it The SCARF model: why the brain treats feedback as a social threat Why "I don't have time for feedback" is really a value-versus-complexity problem How to normalize feedback before you ever sit down for a hard conversation Why going in "crispy" puts your team on defense before you've said a word Warm and direct: why vague kindness makes feedback land worse, not better If you lead people and you've ever avoided a feedback conversation you knew you should have had - this one's for you.

Wired to Work with Jess Chapman. Watch or listen wherever you get your podcasts! ⁠https://www.wiredtowork.castos.com/

• (00:00:00) - How to Have a Feedback Conversation
• (00:00:38) - Wired to Work: Feedback Episode 3
• (00:01:34) - The Need for More Feedback
• (00:03:57) - Why We Find Feedback So Difficult
• (00:07:16) - The New Normalization of Feedback
• (00:09:49) - As we normalize feedback conversations,
• (00:14:29) - How to Have a Good Feedback Conversation with Someone

• (00:00:00) - How to manage burnout effectively
• (00:00:41) - Wired to Work: How to Manage Stress and Burnout
• (00:02:01) - The signs of burnout
• (00:08:13) - What is burnout and how can we manage it?
• (00:10:20) - Understanding the need for resilience
• (00:14:33) - Have We Lost Our Values? Burnout
• (00:15:50) - What about work-life balance?
• (00:19:17) - Bradley on burnout and the culture of the business
• (00:27:43) - On Perimenopause and Leadership
• (00:34:18) - Understanding the Emotions of Coaches
• (00:39:13) - Self-Care and the Healthy Mind
• (00:46:37) - The Neuroscience of Burnout
• (00:49:04) - A Day in the Life With Sheri

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with strategic HR professional Meghan Morrison to unpack why workplace learning so often fails to create real change, and what it would take to make learning actually stick.

They explore why sending someone to a workshop is not the same as helping them grow, why application matters more than attendance, and why learning has to be built into the way work happens rather than added on after the fact.

You’ll hear:

• why classroom training alone rarely changes behaviour

• why application, reflection, and feedback matter more than binders and certificates

• how leaders can make learning part of everyday work without spending a fortune

• why mentorship, shadowing, and debriefing are often more powerful than formal courses

• what the 70-20-10 model looks like in real life

• how to help people take ownership of their growth instead of waiting to be “sent” to learn

• why teams need space to ask questions, make mistakes, and reflect in real time

This conversation is for leaders, HR teams, and anyone trying to build a workplace where people keep learning instead of just attending training.

If you’ve ever wondered why development plans go nowhere, why training gets forgotten, or how to make learning part of culture, this one is for you.

Wired to Work with Jess Chapman. Watch or listen whereever you get your podcasts! https://lnkd.in/ezzK9CVZ

Most workplace “relationship problems” aren’t personality problems. They’re pressure problems.

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with leadership coach Kate Franklin to unpack why stress turns reasonable people into version-2.0 disasters.. and why “just be more resilient” is NOT the answer.

You’ll hear:

•Why chronic pressure makes behaviour worse (and normalizes it)

•The real reason your boss relationship shapes your work more than your job description does

•How to get useful feedback (up and down the hierarchy) without setting off a threat response

•Two simple tools that cut through drama fast: “turn the complaint into a request” and the 15-minute rule (let it go or talk about it)

•A practical check-in habit that lowers friction in five minutes

If you’ve ever thought, “Is it them… or is it me?” — this one’s for you.

✉️ Get in touch at: [email protected]

Follow us:

Instagram - @ethreeconsulting

LinkedIn - ethree-consulting | Neuroworks

Website: https://www.ethree.ca | https://neuroworks.ca/

HR Toolkit!: https://www.ethree.ca/hr-toolkit/

Fight. Flight. Freeze. Flock.

These are the four ways your brain responds to stress — and they show up at work more often than you think.

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman breaks down what’s actually happening when you react instead of respond — and why stress makes it harder to think clearly in the moment.

This isn’t about personality or willpower. It’s about how the brain processes threat.

Jess explains:

• what’s happening in the brain when stress levels rise

• why the amygdala triggers fast, emotional reactions

• how the prefrontal cortex (“brain CEO”) gets disrupted

• the four stress responses: fight, flight, freeze, and flock

• why social threat at work feels as real as physical danger

• how chronic stress increases reactivity and reduces reasoning

She also shares four practical ways to handle these moments:

• how to identify what’s triggering the reaction

• how trust lowers emotional intensity

• what to do when someone is reacting in real time

• how to reduce uncertainty and create psychological safety

If you’ve ever thought “Why did that escalate so quickly?” — or found yourself reacting in ways you didn’t intend — this episode will give you a clearer way to understand and manage those moments at work.

Welcome to Wired to Work.

✉️ Get in touch at: [email protected]

Follow us:

Instagram - @ethreeconsulting

LinkedIn - ethree-consulting | Neuroworks

Website: https://www.ethree.ca | https://neuroworks.ca/

HR Toolkit!: https://www.ethree.ca/hr-toolkit/

Wired to Work is a Double Barrel Production

Most people still treat meditation like it’s too “woo woo” for work. That may be exactly why we’re missing its value.

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with meditation teachers Tina Pomroy of Going Om and Roz Mugford, producer of the show and founder of Double Barrel, to talk about what meditation actually is, what it isn’t, and why it may be far more relevant to work than most people think.

They unpack:

• the biggest misconceptions that stop people from trying meditation

• why a busy mind doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong

• how meditation supports focus, emotional regulation, and stress management

• what the research says about meditation and the brain

• how meditation can help with reactivity, decision-making, and workplace conflict

• simple ways to build mindfulness into the workday without making it weird

This conversation is especially useful for leaders, teams, and skeptical high-achievers who assume meditation has nothing to do with performance.

If you’ve ever thought, I don’t have time, I can’t meditate, or this isn’t really for work.. start here.

Welcome to Wired to Work.

✉️ Get in touch at: [email protected]

Follow us:

Instagram - @ethreeconsulting

LinkedIn - ethree-consulting | Neuroworks

Website: https://www.ethree.ca | https://neuroworks.ca/

HR Toolkit!: https://www.ethree.ca/hr-toolkit/

Wired to Work is a Double Barrel Production

Most leaders assume that if people know what to do, they’ll do it.

But behaviour doesn’t change that way. Why? Because habits aren’t just a willpower problem. They’re a brain wiring problem.

In this breakdown episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman unpacks neuroplasticity - the brain’s ability to strengthen, weaken, and reorganize connections based on what you do repeatedly. In practical terms, this episode explains why habits form so easily, why change feels harder than it should, and why knowing what to do still doesn’t always lead to better behaviour.

Jess breaks down:

• what “neurons that fire together, wire together” actually means

• how repetition builds habits into neural pathways

• why attention, timing, and emotion matter for learning

• why stress makes behaviour change harder

• why training without practice rarely sticks

• how leaders and organizations can support change that actually lasts If you’ve ever wondered why people keep repeating the same patterns at work (including yourself!) this episode will change how you think about habits, learning, feedback, and behaviour change.

Welcome to Wired to Work.

✉️ Get in touch at: [email protected] Follow us: Instagram - @ethreeconsulting LinkedIn - ethree-consulting | Neuroworks Website: https://www.ethree.ca | https://neuroworks.ca/ HR Toolkit!: https://www.ethree.ca/hr-toolkit/

• (00:00:00) - Wired to Work: The Brain Framework
• (00:00:55) - Neuroplasticity and the brain
• (00:08:03) - How to Build a Connective Brain
• (00:12:07) - Practice Is the Only Way to Get Better
• (00:13:19) - How to Build a HABOR
• (00:16:07) - E3CA: Working in the Workplace

Most workplace “relationship problems” aren’t personality problems. They’re pressure problems.

In this episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman sits down with leadership coach Kate Franklin to unpack why stress turns reasonable people into version-2.0 disasters.. and why “just be more resilient” is NOT the answer.

You’ll hear:

•Why chronic pressure makes behaviour worse (and normalizes it)

•The real reason your boss relationship shapes your work more than your job description does

•How to get useful feedback (up and down the hierarchy) without setting off a threat response

•Two simple tools that cut through drama fast: “turn the complaint into a request” and the 15-minute rule (let it go or talk about it)

•A practical check-in habit that lowers friction in five minutes

If you’ve ever thought, “Is it them… or is it me?” — this one’s for you.

✉️ Get in touch at: [email protected]

Follow us:

Instagram - @ethreeconsulting

LinkedIn - ethree-consulting | Neuroworks

Website: https://www.ethree.ca | https://neuroworks.ca/

HR Toolkit!: https://www.ethree.ca/hr-toolkit/

• (00:00:00) - The culture of low-level behavior
• (00:00:51) - Wired to Work: How to Build Relationships
• (00:02:01) - Kate on The Business Coach Podcast
• (00:04:44) - On Community and The Role of Work
• (00:06:24) - Relationships in the Workplace
• (00:11:45) - How to Prioritize Relational Skills
• (00:18:16) - The Need to Engage at Work
• (00:19:37) - The Importance of a Remote Team Meeting
• (00:24:56) - What Do Leaders Need to Know to Be a Leader?
• (00:25:26) - How to Deal with Bad Bosses
• (00:30:25) - How to Give Feedback to Your Boss
• (00:33:35) - How to Build Trust in the Team
• (00:41:06) - How to Turn Your Complaint Into a Request
• (00:43:52) - The Role of the Leader
• (00:50:36) - Kate Franklin on Working Well With Your Team

Menopause is having a moment. There’s more content. More conversation. More noise. And yet, we’re still getting it wrong.. especially at work.

In this week's episode of Wired to Work, Jess Chapman speaks with counselor and researcher Tina Pomroy N.D., MEd, MBA, CMEC, RYT about what menopause actually looks like - biologically, psychologically, and professionally.

They unpack:

• What’s happening with estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, and dopamine — and why it affects cognition and emotional regulation

• Why menopause often gets misdiagnosed or treated symptom by symptom

• The mental health risks we don’t talk about at work

• Why leaders are uncomfortable addressing it

• What practical workplace support can actually look like

• And why menopause is an expansion, not a decline

If you lead people, work with midlife professionals, or are navigating this shift yourself, this conversation will change how you think about performance, flexibility, and support at work.

• (00:00:00) - What to Talk About When You're Going Through Perimenopause
• (00:01:21) - Tina Pomeroy on Perimenopause and Mental Health
• (00:06:04) - What Women Need to Know About Menopause
• (00:11:04) - What Is Perimenopause and Menopause?
• (00:15:15) - How to Survive Perimenopause
• (00:19:51) - How to manage menopause symptoms in the US
• (00:22:46) - How to Talk About Menopause in the Workplace
• (00:28:38) - What Kind of Led Me To Think About Menopause?
• (00:33:47) - How Menopause Affects Your Brain
• (00:39:23) - Hormone regulation in menopause and ADHD
• (00:42:33) - How to Deal with Depression in the Year 2
• (00:47:11) - How to Ask People How Are You Really?
• (00:50:38) - E3CA: Working in the World of Work