Erica Keswin was just named for the Wallstreet Journal Bestseller list… again. She’s a former management consultant turned workplace strategist who helps companies improve their overall company performance through people. Erica’s third book, The Retention Revolution, was just released and she calls it the final piece of the human workplace trilogy. The throughline of her books is that creating a more human workplace is not only good for people but it’s also good for business, and her passion...

In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, we’re doing something a little different on the podcast this week. We’re borrowing from the Atomic Habits author, James Clear, and changing the format of the show to a 3-2-1 style. In this episode, we share some pieces of media that have resonated with or inspired us recently, a few things we're grateful for, and an idea that we’ll be focusing on for the rest of this year and into 2024. Listen in and join the discussion on...

When is enough when it comes to quitting, ending, or leaving something? This week’s episode comes from recent conversations Nayla’s had with two different friends who are experiencing a difficult year in their business and are wondering if it’s time to close up shop. In fact, those conversations mirrored other ones she’s had recently with her coaching clients who are unsure if it’s time to move on from their current corporate role or not. The question of when enough is enough becomes even...

A recent conversation with a client about their struggle to meet the goals they set for this year helped us come to some realizations about the goals we all set for ourselves. Since we know this is the time of year when people start to reflect on whether or not they met their 2023 goals, we figured this would be the perfect time to share what we see when people are frustrated by the goals they set for themselves and offer some guidance to help you get back on track if you’re not achieving...

Al Dea is the Host of The Edge of Work podcast, a former management consultant, and currently a talent development consultant. Al’s belief in the power of people led to the work he does today where he helps companies attract and develop talent and creates leadership programs to help those leaders rise to their potential. In our conversation with Al, we discuss the importance of relationships at work. More specifically, we dive into how to build relationships that feel honest, true, and...

If you’re a listener of this show, you’ve likely asked yourself how you can become better in some way. This topic was inspired by a few different sources; questions we’ve received from listeners over the years and tough conversations we’ve had to have with our clients. So, if you want to know how you can become better or be more coachable, take a listen to the practical tips we have for you in this week’s episode. Listen in and join the discussion on LinkedIn (Eric | Nayla). Inside Job is...

Do you work hard and play hard? Has that way of doing things led to feelings of exhaustion or problems in the workplace? In episode 181, we referenced a report on The U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being, and we haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. As a result, we’re pulling from that report again today as we focus on a couple of things that have come up in our recent coaching sessions with our clients. Listen in and join the...

What do you do when life starts getting a little too lifey? How do you use lifey those moments to help make things easier or better after things calm down? In the year since Eric shared the expression, “Sometimes life gets a little lifey,” Nayla’s said it about 6,000 times. This week was no exception, and it’s the inspiration for this episode. This week, we want to talk about some exercises we can do to help us cope when life gets to lifey, how to evaluate your relationship with work...

What if I, as an employee, feel like I don’t matter? As a leader who wants their team to feel like they matter, how do I create an environment that fosters that feeling? This episode was inspired by not only our clients who ask us these types of questions on a regular basis, but also by a GQ interview with a member of the band Blink 182 and recommendations from the U.S. Surgeon General about workplace wellbeing. Take a listen to this week’s episode to discover why that GQ interview stood...

This week, we’re continuing our conversation with the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The Design Gym, Andy Hagerman. In this conclusion to our conversation, we discuss what it really takes to become inspired and get creative when solving a problem in our work or lives, and how all the tools from design thinking can help us take care of our mental health and overall wellbeing. Listen in and join the discussion on LinkedIn (Eric | Nayla). Inside Job is brought to you by Nayla Bahri and...

Our guest this week and next is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of The Design Gym, Andy Hagerman. The Design Gym is a boutique, independent innovation and strategy consultancy that has been helping organizations unleash the potential of their staff for more than a decade. Nayla and Andy met years ago through a mutual friend, and he’s worked with some of Nayla’s students and organizations over the years. In part one of our conversation with Andy, we discuss how design thinking, and that...

This episode was inspired by a recent conversation Eric had with his tattoo artist while he was getting his latest tattoo. The artist struggles with back problems and has found that he isn’t allowing himself the time to heal because he feels like he needs to keep grinding at work. What was especially interesting about this conversation was the same points were brought up by our clients who regularly work on the weekends, refuse to take all their vacation days, or power through the exhaustion...

We think it’s fair to say that since the start of social media, we’ve all dealt with somewhat of an epidemic of cynicism. But, what happens when it seeps into the workplace? While we’ve been kicking this idea around as a podcast topic for a while now, we’ve both had clients recently share how cynicism has been part of the narrative in their careers, so we figured it was time to address this issue head-on. Listen in and join the discussion about waiting on LinkedIn (Eric | Nayla). Inside...

This week’s topic came to us in the form of multiple questions from our listeners and clients about time. One form these questions often come in usually start with, “How long do I have to …” You can finish that question with things like how long do I have to stay in a role, how long do I have to wait to get news about this promotion, or how long do I have to keep someone on my team who’s giving a mixed performance? Another form these questions about time can start with is, “Is there a right...

What do you do when you see someone in your workplace exhibiting behaviors that make you uncomfortable? We’ve all had a boss who thought yelling was an effective form of communication, a coworker who used aggressive tactics in order to get what they wanted, or a team member who decided to expense some personal items. Bad behaviors are often tolerated in the workplace, but doing so can lead to far greater problems down the line. That’s why, in this episode, we’re exploring how to handle the...

It’s not you, it’s me. That line doesn’t just apply to romantic relationships. If you’re noticing you’ve had a problem with just about every supervisor or manager you’ve had, then it might be time to look inside to see if there’s some work to be done on yourself. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about how to manage people better, but not a lot of time talking about how to become more manageable. We figured it was time to finally address this on the podcast because, not only is this topic...

How often do you stop yourself from going after something you want? How often is your reason for stopping yourself related to who you are or what you’re capable of? So often in life, we find ourselves wanting to do something like writing a book, applying for a new opportunity at work, or starting our own business, but we question who we are to even think of going after those things. After all, aren’t there already enough books? Isn’t someone else more qualified for that position at work?...

Do you find yourself in the middle of drama without knowing how you got there? Is workplace drama impacting your productivity or your team’s ability to perform their duties? While we haven’t spent much time talking about drama on the podcast, it’s definitely something that shows up a lot in the workforce and in our coaching sessions with our clients. So, we figured it was time to break down what drama really is, what our role is in creating or perpetuating it, and how to resolve it. ...

Is there one person at work you dread having to interact with or team up with on a project? Have you deemed them your nemesis? It’s so easy to label ourselves the hero and a co-worker we can’t stand working with as our nemesis, but that’s not always the case. While calling someone you work with your nemesis can be a playful way to express your frustrations with them, it can lead to some unchecked emotions that might spiral into much bigger problems if the situation isn’t handled properly. ...

Does it seem like lately everything is going wrong even if you’re doing everything right? Whenever someone offers a possible solution to an issue you’re experiencing, do you immediately focus on why it won’t work? Listen, sometimes stuff does go wrong through no fault of our own. Sometimes suggestions of possible solutions aren’t actually viable. However, sometimes we get in our own way by unintentionally adopting a victim mentality. We’ve been seeing this more and more lately with our own...

Is it your responsibility to help your employees and coworkers solve their problems? If you try to focus on your work instead of the emotions of those around you, does that make you a bad person? With the amount of layoffs and other negative things happening on a broader scale right now, emotions are high. While that’s understandable, it can also lead to confusion about how leaders in an organization are supposed to handle these emotionally charged moments. For some, the preferred route...

Do you buy into the idea that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life? Are you trying to find a passion so you can turn it into a profit? The word “passion” gets thrown around a lot these days and we’re not sure people really understand what it means or how it should intersect with their work. So, we thought it was time to cover this topic on the podcast. Listen in and join the discussion about waiting on LinkedIn (Eric | Nayla). Inside Job is brought to you by Nayla...

Have you recently been laid off? If not, can you see the writing on the wall and suspect you might be laid off in the near future? When our very own Nayla got her doctorate, she did her dissertation on layoffs; specifically, how people experience them and how that experience shapes the likelihood of thriving as they move forward. While we know we can’t cover it all in one episode, we do want to start diving into this discussion today to help you with those first few steps post-layoff so...

Have you ever thought you couldn’t leave a job for one reason or another? Have you ever felt stuck in your current workplace situation because you’re waiting on someone else to make a major decision? It’s a fairly safe assumption that we’ve all felt stuck or trapped in our jobs in one way or another over the years. In fact, this is one of the top five stories we hear from our clients. So, we thought it was time to discuss the subject here on the podcast so you don’t have to continue...

Do you avoid doing hard or difficult things at all costs? Or, do you believe the harder you work for something, the greater the payoff will be? As we enter the summer season, we’re realizing what once felt exhilarating as a child now feels like one of the hardest parts of the year as we put pressure on ourselves to enjoy the warmer weather and handle the extra demands for our time and attention from our families. Since this theme is something that shows up in both our professional and...