WorldatWork's NSFW Podcast with Charles Epstein

As a work-at-home veteran, I’m often asked by home office newbies how I avoid all the real-life distractions and intrusions without needing the isolation of a sound-proof bunker and alienating my delightful but not always accommodating family (you’d think after over two decades of home office life they’d learn to observe where the lines are, but nooo). Actually, I’ve learned to welcome the distractions and use them to my advantage. Listen and see how you can too.  

For months, a good friend would call me on an almost daily basis, anxious to share the latest unreasonable demand from Brad, his hot-shot new supervisor, who was a model of sinister competence and suffocating micromanagement. Finally, he’d had it and was determined to take bold steps – he wasn’t sure what, but I was all eager to “help.” Fortunately for him, he had other ideas – and we both learned a valuable lesson. 

First, the bad news: as a general rule, what can be automated, will eventually be automated. Now, for the really bad news – with each passing day armies of chatbots take another hill, and no matter how well fortified you may think you are, it’s just a matter of time.  You can fight it, but you may want to start preparing for the career equivalent of the classic stages of grief: from bargaining to grudging acceptance…in other words, perfect fodder for the kind of black comedy this pod specializes in.  

Culture is a good and important thing, particularly these days with the workforce spread out and stretched thin. It’s inauthentic culture that’s problematic -  something that’s cooked up by company leadership that doesn’t survive contact with reality, or by an outside consultant who parachutes in and after a month’s time distills it into its purest powdered form. I describe my encounter with just such a consultant, or luftmensch: an unserious person seriously attempting to sell air. It would take me years to see and value the difference between a company culture created in perfect laboratory conditions vs. one that emerged organically and adapted to changing reality.     

Not everyone blessed with abundant gifts, and charm has that hard to define “IT” factor – a magnetic force that draws every eye in the room. In the business world, truly charismatic leadership is rare and while it can be exciting to be around, it’s not always as it appears or what it’s cracked up to be, and unlike in the performing arts or politics, it’s seldom a sustainable formula for business success.  (Click here for the #evolve column on which this is based.) 

When someone tells you they feel like an imposter, what they think is a shocking confession is the very definition of a humble brag as almost 100% of the time they should feel like an imposter. You could be a verifiably great dad or great boss, the Shakespeare of press releases, the Mozart of advertising jingles, or the Michael Jordan of actuaries. But you’re not Shakespeare, Mozart, or the Jordan who dropped 63 points on the Celtics in game two of the 1986 playoffs. You have to be several orders of magnitude more impressive to have a credible case of imposter syndrome.  (Click here for the NSFW column.) Thanks for listening!.   

If you’re not comfortable with small talk, don’t feel you’re particularly adept at it, or flatter yourself by thinking you’re above it, news flash: get comfortable with it, get better at it, and don’t flatter yourself. In today’s virtual world, where so many interactions happen online, it’s essential in making a human connection and letting your colleagues and co-workers know that you care enough to ask them about non-essential things. 

This is the maiden NSFW podcast, in which I first discuss the reasons for launching it: to get you to read my NSFW column in WorldatWork’s Workspan and #evolve, in addition to the other great content there….and to offer a handy alternative for those who prefer listening to reading. I then go on to discuss recognition: why some people don’t need it, don’t want it, and would prefer that you keep your public displays of affirmation to yourself. Thanks for listening! For the full column, visit https://zurl.co/Rbdu