Manager on a Mission

For the finale of Season 3 of Manager on a Mission, I'm sharing a story I've never told before — mine. Even though it’s extremely personal, it's a story many of you will recognize. Because some version of it has happened to almost every manager who ever tried to tell the truth inside a corporation. This is the season finale, the closing argument, and the most personal thing I've ever shared on thi...

What happens to your identity when your job title disappears? Whether you're choosing to leave a long-held career or being forced out by a layoff, most of us skip straight to figuring out what's next — without taking the time to understand who we're becoming in the process. And that's where things can go sideways. In this episode, I sit down with Johanna Danaher, a life and leadership coach who he...

When Maximos Lih's grandfather was abandoned as a baby at a Buddhist monastery, the villagers treated him with suspicion, assuming he came from "bad genes." The same person with the same hidden potential could have remained invisible forever—until he entered a different system. At 16, he lied about his age to join the military during wartime, where trust, meritocracy, and mission created the condi...

Michael C. Clark used to arrive late to pitch meetings because he was physically ill from nerves. Now he helps founders and nonprofits raise millions. His Personality Pitching methodology transformed him from an introvert who hated pitching into an expert who gets clients ready to pitch successfully in 30 days or less. In this conversation, Michael shares his journey from film and television pitch...

After 15-20 years in the corporate fashion world, artist and teacher Chris Vabre felt a huge hole in her life. Despite working in creative industries, she realized she'd completely abandoned her own creative practice—the painting, sculpting, fashion design, and artistic exploration that had defined her childhood. Sound familiar? In this conversation, Chris shares her journey from corporate creativ...

When Kevin Hubschmann joined event management platform Splash as one of its first 10 employees, he simultaneously launched a comedy career that would eventually replace his tech job entirely. But he didn't quit corporate life to become a standup comedian—he discovered something more powerful: comedy skills are the ultimate professional development tool, and most organizations desperately need them...

After spending most of her life denying she had feelings, Christy Pretzinger built a business based largely on helping others develop them. Now CEO of WG Content and founder of The Better Leader Project, she's on a mission to help Gen Z develop the human skills that will make them irreplaceable in an AI-driven world—while creating workplaces where Sunday scaries become extinct. In this conversatio...

After failing to become a professional basketball player in Australia, Chris March took a leap that would define the next 16 years of his life—and his entire leadership philosophy. What started as a rite of passage trip to London became a career spanning three continents, multiple industries, and a deep understanding of what middle managers really need to thrive in "the squeeze." In this conversat...

Something fundamental is broken in how we approach leadership when only 19% of employees trust their company's leadership and engagement hovers around 20-30%. Sébastien Page, Chief Investment Officer at T. Rowe Price and author of The Psychology of Leadership , brings 25 years of money management experience and deep psychological research to explain why our narrow focus on goal achievement might a...

What if everything we've been taught about goal-setting is fundamentally wrong for the work we actually do today? In today’s episode, Radhika Dutt, author of Radical Product Thinking , makes the case that traditional goal-setting methodologies are solving a 1940s problem and aren’t helping organizations deliver their best work anymore - and haven’t been for decades. What worked for repetitive asse...

What makes the difference between organizations that consistently execute their strategies and those that constantly struggle? According to Philipp Schett, it often comes down to how they set and manage their goals. When Philipp Schett moved from Germany to Silicon Valley as an innovation scout for T-Mobile, he expected to find radically different ideas. Instead, he discovered something more power...

On October 28, 2025, 14,000 Amazon employees discovered they'd lost their jobs via text message. CEO Andy Jassy claimed it wasn't about money or AI—it was about "culture." His 2024 compensation? Over $40 million. In this episode we’re looking at the truth behind Amazon's massive layoffs, revealing how they’re using culture and innovation as an excuse. How can you claim to care about culture when y...

Featuring an Episode of Embrace Your Value - with Jen Anderson and Kristin Burris. Embrace Your Value combines the wisdom of therapy with the empowerment of coaching to help you unlock your worth and take control of your life. In this episode of Embrace Your Value, Jen and Kristen sit down with Tosca Fasso, a former Fortune 100 executive turned author, podcaster, and entrepreneur. Tosca shares her...

In this episode C-Suite Advisor, Jonathan Bennett, shares his approach to working with executive leaders, starting with the question "what feels heavy?" to get past surface-level issues. We explore the story of a leader who thought she had a leadership problem when she actually had a business model problem, and discuss why asking "what have you already tried?" prevents you from solving the wrong p...

Why do we dismiss the skills that come naturally to us? That's just one of the questions we explore with Brianca Johnson, Strategic Brand and Business Consultant, in this episode. Brianca shares her path from working on political campaigns to building a consulting business that helps women leverage their corporate expertise into consulting roles. We discuss why women minimize their natural talents...

After climbing Mount Kilimanjaro at age 50, John Donnelly - a seasoned mortgage professional - found himself somewhat unexpectedly on a thought leadership trajectory. In today’s episode, John and I discuss leadership in unexpected places, the power of listening, creating your personal board of directors, and how taking action - even when you don't know where it leads - can reveal a deeper purpose....

What if you don’t want to just “survive” in your career? What if there’s something else? That’s exactly what we’ll be covering more of in this new era of Manager on a Mission. Of course we’re still talking about how to be a great manager in difficult environments. But we're also exploring what happens when talented people decide there's another path: building something new. This season we’ll be sh...

Today’s episode is exactly what we need for hard times when it seems like good people can’t finish first. My guest is an author, thought leader and visionary who proves every day that principled leadership isn’t just possible but actually drives results.  I’m so excited to introduce Irma Neal, who has navigated everything from being the actual Deputy Mayor of Indianapolis to corporate executi...

Many of us secretly (or not so secretly) believe that being successful means being boring, safe, and having basically no fun at work. But if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll probably remember a few shining moments where you were having a great time AND doing some of the best work of your life. My guest, Todd Schuchart, is all about creating these moments for himself and his teams.  Sur...

Conventional wisdom often says that leadership is about having all the answers. But I’d argue that today’s business world requires the opposite: the skill and comfort to ask the right questions and help teams navigate change and ambiguity. If you’re a leader, I implore you to ask yourself: when was the last time you helped someone see a "failure" as an iteration? Or created space for your team to...

Remember Six Sigma? Before you say “no” and feel super smug that you never had to deal with it, how about Lean UX or Agile? And do you remember how much more awesome work became after your company rolled those out? No? Me either.  I know it’s more complicated than that. And maybe some things did improve in some ways. But I have to ask: why do companies insist on chasing trendy, expensive, com...

Featuring an episode of SheThrives - Influencing women to rise above fear, build self esteem and THRIVE in all areas of their lives. With Lori Murphy. Join Tosca and Lori as they talk about Tosca’s mission of creating a safe and healthy work environment. Tosca is a former Fortune 100 executive on a mission to rework the workplace by putting people first. After snagging her first management role at...

Is emotional abuse just part of the deal when you work in corporate America? In this episode, we’re talking about the unspoken contract that many of us have accepted at work: that we have to tolerate being treated badly in exchange for a paycheck.  And yes, the title of this episode references Don Draper's infamous line from Mad Men. As a former ad agency copywriter when the legendary show wa...

Are you an overachiever who struggles to find joy in your work? Or maybe you feel like quitting your job but you really can’t afford to make that move. Either way, you need to hear this conversation with Tracy LaLonde. Tracy brings over 30 years of experience in training and development across high-tech consulting and legal industries. And in this conversation, she shares her journey from burnout...

Are CEOs actually using data when making return-to-office decisions? Come on, you know the answer. (No, they aren't.) In today’s episode I'm taking on the worst corner-office offenders in the corporate world who are mandating returns to office with flawed logic, hypocrisy, and tone-deaf policies. This episode was inspired by Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, who declared at a town hall early in 2025...