Inside Job

Sometimes we feel like we don't deserve to be in the room, on the team, or in the job. That experience can be referred to as "imposter syndrome" but we don't like that phrase. Feeling like an imposter is more of a phenomenon – and one we believe you have the strength and ability to overcome. We feel like an imposter when we don't have the ability to see our wholeness and our potential, even when t...

Is subtlety an art, or a potential waste of time? Have you walked out of a conversation that mattered with a boss or colleague with a wildly different understanding of what just happened than they did? In our work as coaches, we see too often how rhetorical questions, hints, clues and signals contribute to confusion, misalignment and poor results. This episode is a cry for clarity. As managers, as...

This episode of the Inside Job Podcast might be the most action packed yet. In under half an hour, we cover: the Foo Fighters live in concert, a subplot of The Shawshank Redemption, how Julia Roberts likes her eggs, what made Nayla ask for help, how sausage is made, disco music . . . Oh, and the mind-trap of being institutionalized. It all works, trust us. Institutionalization happens to all of us...

What's the best that can happen? Why does that question paralyze people? In fact, why is it so hard to dream big as an adult? Think about it – if you were asked about the worst possible thing that could happen as the result of a choice, how long would it take you to end up living in a van down by the river? Now what if your choices were wildly successful? What if your dreams came true? Can you pic...

How much of your identity should you share with your co-workers? Does bringing your personal life to work help build trust, or does trust need to exist before you share your personal life at work? What do you do if you don't want to discuss your personal life at work? As Nayla has said many times, we spend over 90,000 hours of lives at work – so inherently we build a social community within our wo...

One of the most important relationships in our lives is the one we have with our boss(es). Like any important relationship the quality of the communication between parties greatly affects the emotional well-being of the participants. That's why it's so frustrating when we struggle to communicate effectively with our boss. Whether it's an acute instance or an ongoing issue when we don't feel heard,...

"This is not what I signed up for." Who hasn't uttered that phrase at least, oh, a dozen times in their career? Whether in regard to a new job, a new boss, a culture shift, a market event, or just life itself we've all been in situations that differed – sometimes dramatically – from our expectations. In fact, due to the nature of work and the constant of change it's normal that our work environmen...

There is an old adage: "We are our own worst critic." While it is often profoundly true, there are also too many instances where we go from being our own critic to being our own bully. So many of us are guilty of kicking our own ass, and it's a cycle that we need to stop. It's normal to experience disappointment, even in ourselves. It's okay to notice when we are not meeting our expectations. But...

As the scientific community debates the future of COVID-19, businesses and schools are sending the message that life will start returning to "normal" as summer turns to fall. Many of our clients, friends, and family members (and even ourselves) are therefore grappling with the question, "what does it look like to return to normal?" As we've had deep discussions around this topic, we've noticed tha...

The quest for more confidence is one of phenomena that brings so many people to coaching. Most of us want more of it and think other people must be doing something differently than we are to have the belief in themselves that allows them to go for what they want... So where do we find confidence for ourselves? Eric and Nayla dive in to talk through what confidence is and isn't, how it helps us, an...

If we're doing the work, we are growing as humans as we grow as leaders.  Looking back at the times we regret, those moments that make us feel some shame and awkwardness about the things we did and said, can sometimes help us track our growth.  Nayla gets that gift this week, as she digs into the bad advice she once gave a valued colleague who came asking for support for a promotion:  Don't Worry...

Over the course of a long career, we will all have beginnings and endings as we move in and out of roles and organizations. This week, we talk about what's lost when something comes to and, and start by hearing about Eric's current experience as he ends a long tenure in one organization and creates his next step. Even when we seek change – and make it happen – we have to acknowledge that something...

"You can do it later…" "A little more sleep is more important than that workout…" "You're great at the last-minute projects, you can start it next week…" We're all quite skilled at the art of negotiating with ourselves, talking ourselves in and out of habits and actions that would move us towards our goals.  Whether you're talking yourself out of applying for a job you're interested in, or talking...

Fear. As much as we might hate to admit it, it's a core part of our suite of emotions. It's an integral part of the human experience. Yet from a young age we're taught to either ignore it or fight it. "Kick fear in the teeth," right? Well, we would prefer not to go to war with ourselves, especially over something that's a biological imperative. We would rather work with it instead. Throughout this...

We believe wholeheartedly that if you kick ass at work you deserve something for it. You deserve to be seen, you deserve to be recognized, and you deserve credit. Actually, it's better than "deserved" – you need to get what you have "earned". Not receiving credit for damn fine work is one of the more common tensions we hear from our clients. Whether it be promotions, special assignments, money, or...

At the Inside Job Podcast we are huge believers in the importance of taking action. And we do so knowing that when we put ourselves out into the world we are going to face rejection. In this episode we talk about what to do when we experience rejection.   Rejection shows up in many ways: not getting a job offer, failing to sell our work on Etsy, not being invited to the book club, getting denied t...

One of the core principles of the Inside Job Podcast is that we believe that all of us should be designing a life and a career on purpose. We think that one of the saddest things in the world is to not be paying attention to ourselves. As such we believe it's so important to practice periodic reflection and to conduct check-in meetings with yourself. After all, you're in the business of you – if y...

This week on the Inside Job Podcast we talk about money! By any name — cold hard cash, Benjamins, cabbage, moolah, clams, etc. — it's one of our favorite topics as humans, and yet it often seems so taboo to admit it. Why is that? Maybe the better question is: given how important money is, how do we talk about it in ways that are meaningful and aligned with our values? During our discussion we ackn...

This week we're talking about the sensation of being trapped or stuck, and settling for a situation that doesn't work for us. It's often the reason clients seek coaching, and we know from personal experience that it can feel intractable. And yet, this is also an opportunity in our lives to see things clearly, to understand the tensions between what we want and where we are, and to create a shift t...

To kind of quote Jane Austen, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a person who works with other people will one day have to be the bearer of bad news." It is a reality of organizational (and adult) life that we will have to say the hard things.  And yes, if we want to lead, we must say the hard things. Whether it's delivering tough feedback, acknowledging mistakes and missteps, or resign...

Networking.  It's one of those things we know can help us, advance us, grow us…and yet, for many of us, it's something we deprioritize or avoid.  This week, we jump into why some of our clients resist this essential part of career and leadership development. Too many people carry the impression that networking is gross, sleazy, needy and a host of other things that leave a bad taste in our mouths....

By now our listeners have heard us talk about 'running experiments' in our process for making change happen in our work and in other domains of our lives… but what does that mean, really? It's not an understatement to say that we think experiments are key to growth and development. (And we think the Inside Hive in the company of coaches and a supportive community is a great place to do this work!)...

This week on the Inside Job Podcast we challenge the notion that work must be defined and limited to the tasks that we can perform using the tools "above our neck". We discuss how important and meaningful it is that we are able to be creative and expressive in our lives, and why we should both value and develop the ability to leverage our hands and our bodies to add value to our work. We question...

This week we continue the conversation about how to make the relationship with your manager work. Specifically we dive into two listener-submitted questions: What do I do about my career if I perceive that my boss is falling out of favor with our organization? How do I talk to my boss about pursuing a new role given how important "loyalty" is to her? We love these because both questions serve as a...

One of the most significant relationships in our lives is the one we have with our boss. It's a relationship which can make or break our day, and which has significant impact on our emotional well-being. Like all meaningful and important relationships the one with your manager takes effort, communication, and conscious contributions from both parties. Yet it can be a difficult one to navigate beca...