Pop! On Leadership

Kara's friend, Chris Cook, joins the podcast to tell us about his experience as an Assistant Director working with stars like Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, and Jason Sudeikis. He takes us behind the scenes of Ted Lasso and other productions. 

We reach the final episode of the Ted Lasso. Unpacking all the good, bad, and beautiful examples of leadership in this television series has brought us so much joy. This final episode delivered, and had us in our feelings.

In Season 1 Ted said he loves meeting people's moms, because "it is like reading an instruction manual as to why they're nuts". Now, in the second to last episode of the series we finally get to meet Ted's mom, and yep... it explains a lot! But Ted is doing his best to break generational cycles of trauma and harm. We draw parallels to how the younger generations are actively breaking the cycles of...

Many of us have an uncomfortable relationship with the idea of "quitting" anything -- a relationship, a project, a hobby, a job, etc. We are quick to assume that we weren't good enough. In this episode we talk about how to reframe and navigate the moments when you are thinking of moving on from a situation.

Rebecca gives him some extra-tough-love feedback when he skips a press conference, reminding him that there is only so much wiggle room a person can get for their personality if they fail to meet the requirements of their role. We discuss when are the moments that call for toughness, when all other forms of communication fail.

The Ted Lasso episode we unpack touches on the tension between wanting information from others while also wanting privacy from others. We also discuss the conundrum most companies are facing: How to get people to come back to the office, for even 1-2 days a week.

We depart from our typical format in this episode for a couple of good reasons. We added a guest interview with Jen Casimiro -- a Systems Designer with a focus on Equity -- at the end of the episode to take a deeper dive into one of our topics. Additionally, since we recorded this episode right after a two month summer break, we spend some time up front catching up on all the TV episodes we have w...

For this very special episode of Ted Lasso (S3, E6 Sunflowers), we invited a very special guest. Our friend Alexis Gonzales-Black is a Partner at August Public and is an expert in empowered decision making. She helps us break down what's happening in the scene when Isaac, the captain, is trying to get the team to make a collective decision about their evening plans. Of course we also talk about Re...

Shandy has proven to be a liability to her employer, and Keeley needs to now fire her. We unpack both sides of that conversation and share our thoughts on the "compliment sandwich" approach to feedback.

Coach Beard and Roy tried to rally the team around a "common enemy" as a way to motivate them on winning. But, the players went deep into their feelings of anger, lost focus, and the plan backfired. We discuss the pros and cons of using anger as a motivator. 

Zava shows up and assumes a leadership position on the team. Some folks are happy and eager to follow. But Jamie doesn't buy the whole hero / savior narrative, and worries the team is forgetting their own strengths. We discuss what it looks like to add a "super star" to an already healthy and trusting team. We go on a tiny tangent about childhood crushes (Jared Leto). And we compare Rebecca's expe...

This episode has a lot of interesting introductions and re-introductions. In this episode we discuss what it looks like to dim your own light, or dim the light of others. And alternatively, what it looks like when you are able to *shine a light* on others (for better or worse). Keeley identifies potential in an old friend and makes her first hire, the team is adapting to the addition of Zava the S...

We're back and ready to talk about Season 3 of Ted Lasso. It's obvious Ted is feeling out of sorts, and we contemplate whether he's contemplating how much longer he wants to stay at this job. We gush about Rebecca's personal and professional growth to date (swoon). And we provide "audible eye-rolls" at how the show decided to launch Keeley's entrepreneurial journey by making her seem naive and hel...

We love when our listeners reach out and recommend shows for us to talk about. And for the most part, we enjoy the shows themselves. But that doesn't mean they lend themselves to great conversations about leadership development and/or organizational design. So this three part series is dedicated to the shows you want us to talk about, but we can't really talk about.  Episode 3 of 3 covers Emily in...

We love when our listeners reach out and recommend shows for us to talk about. And for the most part, we enjoy the shows themselves. But that doesn't mean they lend themselves to great conversations about leadership development and/or organizational design. So this three part series is dedicated to the shows you want us to talk about, but we can't really talk about.  Episode 1 of 3 covers Severanc...

We love when our listeners reach out and recommend shows for us to talk about. And for the most part, we enjoy the shows themselves. But that doesn't mean they lend themselves to great conversations about leadership development and/or organizational design. So this three part series is dedicated to the shows you want us to talk about, but we can't really talk about.  Episode 2 of 3 covers Successi...

We're not sure everyone realizes that we met over Instagram during the pandemic, and had never met in real life. That is... not until Virginia flew out to North Carolina to surprise Kara for the Ted Lasso Season 3 premier party she was hosting. Of course, Virginia traveled with her microphone. And also of course, Kara booked them an appointment with a local psychic to hear what the future has in s...

Thanks to social media, there is no shortage of hashtags relating to being a boss. And... also thanks to social media, there is no shortage to backlash to those hashtags and the various flavors of boss-culture they represent. In this episode we explore themes of becoming a boss and/or stepping into one's boss-like qualities. Which we would describe as: embracing the responsibilities of leadership...

Well... we finally wrap up our Nate-related rants just in time for the Season 3 premier. We close out Season 2 of Pop! On Leadership imagining what the character journeys may look like in the upcoming final season of Ted Lasso. For Season 3 of Ted Lasso, we will be posting brief weekly-ish reflections via social media. Make sure to follow us on Instagram . We're planning some fun bonus episode con...

When Rebecca's father passes away, we get a glimpse into how others deal with the topic of death. Everyone seems to be thinking about loved ones they've lost, how they want to spend their short time on earth, and what it means to say good bye. In this podcast episode we discuss how the sad, scary, and disappointing experiences of our childhood inform who we become as adults -- especially with thos...

"Beard After Hours" has Ted Lasso fans divided because it's a big shift in both format and tone. We love it, because we love Coach Beard. Surprisingly, we were able to find a couple of Org and Leadership Development topics to talk about, but for the most part we got weird. You could say this was a shift for us, too! Hopefully our fans are less divided.

S2E8 Takes us to Wembley Stadium for a big game, and we get into some big feelings. _______________________ This episode is dedicated to Virginia's friend, Sarah Debbink Langenkamp, who died in a biking accident in August 2022. Sarah's nickname was "Super Sarah". Her energy, optimism, and work ethic knew no bounds. Everything she did was indeed super, from her friendships to career to motherhood....

We named this podcast episode after the TV episode, because it is aptly named "headspace". When we feel unsafe or threatened, our brain shifts us into survival mode. Also known as fight or flight. We all need headspace, the ability to think rationally and creatively, and this requires a sense of safety. 

Rebecca's mom shows up unannounced, and we discuss how our parents can influence the ways in which we seek out validation from others. Nate continues to test out his new power move, but we wonder if these short lived positive results are only going to reinforce negative behaviors.

When we compare ourselves to teammates, we tend to lose sight of our purpose and the things we actually enjoy in our work. Constantly comparing ourselves to others can strip us of passion, and we see this play out with Nate and Isaac in this episode. We also talk about the fact that it is really difficult (perhaps impossible) to talk your way through change. Actions will always speak louder than w...