Fixable

Today, we’re bringing you a special episode from Rapid Response featuring Frances in conversation with Bob Safian the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company. Frances and Bob dive into one of the biggest workplace debates today: the real impact of return-to-office mandates. Together, they challenge conventional wisdom about in-person work, reveal the unspoken motivations behind pro-RTO leadership d...

What do the most powerful people in the world do after they've achieved success? Jared Cohen is a history buff and a presidential historian. His latest book, “ Life After Power ,” is a fascinating exploration about what seven American presidents did after leaving the most influential job in the world. In this episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, Adam...

What should you do when Cupid's arrow strikes at work? Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Anne and Frances are digging into the complicated dynamics of office relationships with the help of Tia Silas, HR expert and the new Chief People Officer at MrBeast, after having served in people leadership roles at some of the most influential companies in the world. Together, they discuss best practices for...

When negative feedback shakes your confidence, it can be difficult to get back to feeling like yourself at work. In this episode, Anne and Frances help a struggling listener who has spent years toning herself down in the workplace after being told that she was too assertive — now, she feels that her modest approach is holding her back. Together, they use Anne and Frances’s “trust triangle” framewo...

Sometimes the only way to win is by finding the courage to lose. This week, Anne and Frances want you to “dare to be bad” in order to free up capacity to excel at more important things. They share insight on the power of strategic “no”s, the value of ruthless prioritization, and how Steve Jobs and Apple delivered breakthrough innovation by strategically underperforming. Frances explains why you ca...

Have you ever felt like something about your identity was getting in the way of your success? This week, a listener needs help pushing through the resistance she’s facing as a woman navigating a male-dominated workplace. Anne and Frances discuss what you can do when someone else’s bias is standing in your way. Together, the three uncover how you can find your agency in unexpected places – and why...

Kelli is a nurse at a leading teaching hospital where communication issues are not only leading to resentment – they could also be affecting patient care. After hearing from Kelli about the larger problems at play in the healthcare space, Anne and Frances discuss the link between communication and transparency and guide Kelli into taking matters into her own hands. This episode originally aired on...

This is an episode of a podcast we think you'll love, The Anxious Achiever. Sanyin Siang is an advisor, coach, and adjunct professor at Duke University where she leads the Fuqua/Coach K Leadership and Ethics Center or COLE. She’s also someone who believes in being your own best friend, and that starts with the self-talk we have going on in our heads all day long. In this episode, she walks The Anx...

David and his brother have co-founded a non-profit helping Black youth in Miami… but David still has a full-time job. Wanting to turn his passion project into paid, full-time work, David asks Anne and Frances how he can grow his organization without losing his energy. After, Anne and Frances share strategies for fundraising and approaching non-profit work like an entrepreneur. This episode was ori...

What to do when your boss is your father-in-law, your colleague is your cousin, and your business partner is also your life partner? In the last episode of the season, Anne and Frances help a frustrated listener discover new ways to help her family business bounce back. She struggles to innovate when disagreements with her colleagues — who also happen to be her in-laws — repeatedly undermine progr...

DEI efforts are focused on giving everyone in the workplace a fair shot at success – and better positioning organizations to excel at what they do. So why is DEI work under attack? And what are some practical ways to avoid setbacks and continue making progress on these goals? Anne and Frances are joined by Dr. Stephanie Creary, a professor at the Wharton School and expert in building more inclusiv...

In this Quick Fixes episode, Anne and Frances work to solve three different callers’ tricky work problems in under 20 minutes. One listener contemplates the downsides of a promotion, the next wants to learn how to REALLY identify a company’s culture, and a final caller needs help interpreting unskilled feedback from their boss.  What problems are you dealing with at work right now? Text 234-FIXABL...

From vetting resumes to screening candidates, many employers are using AI tools to identify top talent. But what happens when companies start relying on AI to help them decide who to hire or promote… and who to fire? In this episode of The TED AI Show, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, host Bilawal Sidhu speaks with journalist Hilke Schellmann, whose research on the rapidly growing use...

Looking for a new job can be daunting for everyone. When you’re neurodivergent, the stakes can be even higher in your search for the right role, team, and culture. How can you make the experience less frustrating and more liberating? In part two of Anne and Frances’s conversation with psychologist and author Ludmila Praslova they are joined by a caller who is curious about what his recent autism d...

The Democratic Party lost big in the 2024 election cycle. What are the lessons party leaders should take from what happened? In this special Unsolicited Advice episode, Anne and Frances share their thoughts on how the Democratic Party failed to understand what voters needed most. They explore how the party can identify its underlying problems, rebuild trust, and craft a rigorous and optimistic way...

Neurodiversity is not always visible, understood, or valued in the workplace. But systems and cultures that support neurodivergent team members can lead to increased productivity and healthier workplaces – for everyone. Psychologist Dr. Ludmila Praslova joins Anne and Frances to discuss her groundbreaking book, The Canary Code, which guides readers through the work of “neuro-inclusion.” Together,...

The only thing we can guarantee will happen…is change. So how do you make transitions less painful and more empowering? This week, Anne and Frances get a call from a listener — a doctor and Senior Director of a healthcare non-profit — whose organization’s success means new ways of working for her team. Anne and Frances help her find ways to avoid burnout, recenter her team, and collectively accele...

Is kindness (and a little math) all it takes to save a company? James Rhee, professor of entrepreneurship, author, and impact investor, believes the answer is yes. This week he joins Anne and Frances to share lessons from his remarkable turnaround of Ashley Stewart — a retail company primarily serving Black, moderate income, plus size women — as a Korean American private equity investor who had ne...

You’ve done the hard work to turn your ambitious vision into a viable organization. Now how do you thrive and expand? Listener Nate Johnson is the founder of FreeWriters, a fast-growing organization that provides mindful writing opportunities to inmates in Minnesota county jails. This week, he asks Anne and Frances to help him position FreeWriters for an even bigger impact. The three get real abou...

Orlando Ashford is the superstar Chief People Officer for Fanatics, the fast-growing digital sports platform that does everything from sell licensed merchandise to host iGaming and special events. Orlando comes to Anne and Frances to ask how to unify his complex organization’s culture. The three break down how to craft a convincing message to freedom lovers, why putting on different hats is a miss...

The evidence is clear that hybrid work is good for both people and organizations. So why are companies as big as Amazon now asking employees to come into the office all five days of the work week? Could “magical hallway conversations” actually make teams better — or is this a leadership play based on nostalgia and wishful thinking? In this provocative Unsolicited Advice segment, Anne and Frances d...

Can you make yourself happier at work? Dr. Laurie Santos is a cognitive scientist and psychology professor at Yale University, where she teaches a wildly popular course about the science of happiness, and host of the breakout podcast The Happiness Lab. She joins Anne and Frances to discuss the concept of time famine, why you need a best friend at work, and where your employer is responsible for yo...

Looking for a job can be frustrating and exhausting. Unsolicited Advice is back and this time Anne and Frances are helping YOU find work you actually want to do. They share useful tips and tricks for anyone facing today's daunting job market — from navigating rejection burnout to standing out in interviews. They also give employers advice you didn’t ask for on how to find great candidates who will...

This week, Anne and Frances are back in the hot seat to help a listener tackle a common workplace problem: having less influence than we think we deserve. But how can you get more people to listen to your ideas? And figure out what’s getting in the way? Their advice offers valuable insights for anyone feeling stuck in their career – and gives you tools and inspiration to ask for what you need in y...

Do you brush your teeth before or after you take a shower? It’s a question author and Harvard Business School professor Mike Norton has asked countless people in his research to find out how intentional, repetitive actions – also known as rituals – create outsized meaning and purpose in our lives. Mike, Anne, and Frances discuss how rituals deeply inform our relationships, work lives, and views of...