Management Muse

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore why it’s so challenging for managers to evaluate their team members accurately. From early impressions that stick to hidden biases we don’t even realize are at play, Cindi and Geoff reveal the unseen forces that influence how we judge performance, assign feedback, and make decisions. Cindi and Geoff offer strategies to hel...

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the pitfalls of leading by example, a simple and popular leadership style that is more problematic than it seems. They discuss the potential for misinterpretations and confusion when managers believe that leadership by example is all they need to motivate their people. They also talk about the difficulty in people understa...

In this episode, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the art of giving meaningful and effective praise in the workplace. They discuss the transformative power of specific, personalized recognition and explain how well-timed praise can deepen work relationships and encourage better performance. Cindi and Geoff also tackle the common pitfalls of recognition, from overly general compliments to th...

Have you ever wondered about starting a side hustle? In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin dive into the world of side hustles, exploring their potential to provide financial stability, personal growth, and career transformation. Cindi and Geoff discuss how side hustles can be a launchpad for entrepreneurship, a way to rediscover joy in work, or a vital release...

Are you leaving money on the table when it comes to your salary? In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin discuss the pitfalls of salary negotiation and why so many people are underpaid. Cindi and Geoff share examples of underpaid managers and give practical advice on how to most effectively advocate for yourself and make more money by avoiding the most common comp...

Is burnout silently draining the energy and productivity of your team? In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin tackle the challenges of workplace burnout and its impact on even—and perhaps especially—your most loyal employees. Cindi and Geoff explore burnout’s three-part progression, discuss ways to recognize the early warning signs of exhaustion, and talk about t...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin dive into the complex dynamics of high-status organizations and their potential to create toxic workplace cultures. They explore how a steady influx of eager talent can lead to exploitative practices, why instability at the leadership level often creates fear and distrust, and how unchecked competition undermines collaborati...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin dive into the complexities and unexpected challenges of empathy in the workplace. They explore how empathy, while important to connect people during challenging times, can sometimes backfire. EMpathy’s errors include unintentionally sidelining an employee’s concerns, downplaying the true pain of our experiences, and jumping...

In this episode, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin delve into the challenges of having ethically sensitive individuals at work and the impact they have on teams. Through an engaging story about a friend who almost blew-up an important work relationship over a perceived ethical breach, Cindi and Geoff illustrate the challenges that come with highly ethically sensitive people. They explore why e...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the dark side of similarity and its surprising impact on team dynamics and workplace culture. They reveal how hiring for similarity can sometimes backfire, creating unexpected obstacles to growth, trust, and innovation. Through thought-provoking insights and real-world examples, Cindi and Geoff unpack the importance...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin dive into the challenges of co-leadership, where two bosses manage the same people or department. With insights from their 19 years of consulting, they share real-life stories of co-CEO arrangements gone wrong, revealing how role conflict, ambiguity, and lack of clear responsibilities create inefficiency and division. Learn...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin dive into the challenges of running a family business with management legend Barry Couch. Barry shares his experience of building a company with his son, Brant, and his lessons learned from blending family and work. From setting boundaries to earning respect and managing different leadership styles, Barry offers practical in...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the essentials of people skills with their friend and people guru, Barry Couch. Barry, an experienced business leader and entrepreneur, shares his expertise on navigating interpersonal dynamics, emphasizing trust-building, personal connections, and managing complex people issues. He also discusses the critical role o...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the crucial role of innovation, diversity, and women in entrepreneurship with Marla Shapiro, the visionary founder of HERmesa. Marla shares her inspiring journey from the corporate world to startups, where she launched an angel investment group to support women-owned businesses. Marla highlights how diversity fuels s...

In this episode of Management Muse, hosts Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the value of failure with academic and author Spencer Fraseur. Spencer shares insights from his book Failing Upward and his dissertation research, emphasizing how failure is a crucial part of success and the significance of resilience, passion, and continuous learning. He offers actionable strategies for reframing fa...

What does a meaningful career and a fulfilling life look like? Kent Keith is an author, a university president, and a businessman who has thought deeply about what makes a meaningful life. In this episode of the Management Muse podcast, Kent helps us build a more fulfilling life, one decision at a time. Episode Highlights: • As a college student who wanted to encourage his peers, Kent wrote the Pa...

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Renaissance man Kent Keith, exploring the relationship between meaning, motivation, and performance. Managers can often help their employees find meaning in the work they do and should take time to help others see the bigger picture or reimagine their work, when possible, as meaningful. This matters because people are usually more motivated and be...

Super-lawyer Lynne Liberato talks with Management Muse about the importance of expertise and genuineness in building our confidence. In this discussion, we explore overconfidence, bluffing, and how confirmation bias can impact confidence. Managers build confidence in their employees through feedback and mentorship. By walking them through situations and highlighting how key decisions were made, st...

In this episode, Cindi and Geoff dive into the myth that a little bit of stress helps your performance. The conversation touches on the idea of procrastination and deadlines, where the stress of a time constraint can encourage task completion but may degrade performance. Cindi and Geoff also look at individual stress sensitivity and expertise as intervening variables that allow people to handle ch...

On this episode of Management Muse we talk to the extraordinary family therapist Larry Allman. Since no one can fully separate home from work, it’s important for managers to know strategies for building strong families. Home problems create work issues and vice versa, so it’s prudent to think through pitfalls and obstacles to building resilient, thriving families. Master mentor Larry Allman helps...

In this episode of Management Muse, outer space expert and Earthling extraordinaire Joe Guzman shares his unique perspective on managerial risk and decision making. Uncertainty looms large in risk taking, since decisions with certain outcomes aren’t risky at all. The good news is that managers can often take risks incrementally by experimenting with small decisions and running pilot studies to see...

Where do good ideas come from? In this episode, entrepreneur Dan Schmisseur shares his experience generating and exploring ideas to find gems worth pursuing. Dan shares how the best ideas often come from connecting the dots to what may seem like unrelated information. The ability to create the space to think, explore, and learn broadly all aid in coming up with unique and valuable ideas. Additiona...

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi and Geoff discusses habits and how to change the ones that are not serving you well. They discuss the trigger-action-reward habit loop and then dive into the power of feelings as a way to encourage habit change. Managers care about habit loops because they care about focusing energy where the greatest contributions can be made. And habits can inhibit or en...

How do you slay your to-do list and knock out key priorities? In this episode on work-life balance, Jon Calvin, the CEO of Lone Star Circle of Care, joins Cindi and Geoff and gets real about a balanced life. Importantly, Jon notes that everyone's path to balance is different. What may seem unbalanced to others may enable someone to live the life they love. And sometimes, we need the help and suppo...

What you say and how you say it matters. In this episode of Management Muse, author and researcher Darrin Griffin discusses the importance of nonverbal communication. As managers, we should be master noticers and to pay attention to how nonverbal cues like dominance behaviors, body language, and timing impact those around you. This episode also covers importance of perception checks to reduce misc...