Screw the Hierarchy

While white men hold the majority of power positions in the U.S. workforce, most white men do not. The result: resentment from the unfairness and pent up emotions from our culture's negative stereotype of men and boys expressing feelings. In this episode, Jack Kammer reveals what it's really like for most men to feel the pressure from gender stereotyping and what women can do in heterosexual relat...

The stories we tell ourselves can hold us back. If we define ourselves according to how others defined us in childhood, for example, there's an opportunity to un-learn those beliefs that hold us back. In this episode, Crown Yourself's Kimberly Spencer reveals how we can transform ourselves so we can live authentically and reach our full potential. Find Kimberly at CrownYourself.com. If you've been...

Our ability to resolve conflict can be influenced by our cultural upbringing, including our modeling of having difficult conversations or asserting our needs. In this episode, leadership coach Jerry Fu shares his personal experiences of fearing conflict as an Asian-American that showed him a need to help others with similar upbringings conquer the same fear. Find Jerry at AdaptingLeaders.com. If y...

What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and how can we ascend it to self-actualize? How did the pandemic bring so many of us back to the bottom of the pyramid? In this episode, leadership coach Carissa Karban shares how we can ascend Maslow's hierarchy so we can achieve the realization of our potential, despite the pandemic pulling us downward. Find Carissa at CarissaKarban.com. If you've been abused...

Thinking in binary terms can keep us in a scarcity mindset. So what's one simple change we can make to move to a mindset of abundance? In this episode, leadership coach Carissa Karban shares what she calls the most destructive word in the English language, what we can replace it with, and how this concept ties into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Find Carissa at CarissaKarban.com. If you've been...

The stories in our heads have impact. Thoughts lead to beliefs, and beliefs lead to action. So how do we choose the stories we tell ourselves so we can change our beliefs? In this episode, leadership coach Carissa Karban walks us through how our thoughts shape our lives — and how to change the narrative so we can live our best lives. Find Carissa at CarissaKarban.com. If you've been abused at work...

Rose Kaz set out to build is a community of women who flip the script on how we do business, sharing the wealth of knowledge and resources to shift old paradigms. The result: the LBI Backstage Pass, a community with people of "any age, any color, any gender, and at any stage of their career to co-create better ways of living for ALL." In this episode, hear Rose share a need she saw and how she's f...

Songwriter Ellen Violette aspired to write music. But what she encountered was an industry full of sexist behaviors. In this episode, Ellen reveals how she coped with that music industry that didn't value her worth. If you've been abused at work and would like to share your story anonymously, email info@dignitytogether.org. If you feel like you need more help, I have a free guide to recovery steps...

Inspired by real events, author Barry Welsh takes readers on a journey through what could happen when greed continues to go unchecked. In his book AMERICA: Land of the Greed and Home of the Grave, the first of a three-part series, Barry imagines a scenario of two powerful former political rival families plot to overthrow the U.S. government to end democracy. In this episode, Barry reveals his poli...

When former math teacher Dr. Katie Nall saw how much anxiety her students had from taking math tests, she took action. She showed her students how to dissolve WAFFLES (worries, anxiety, fear, frustration, lethargy, exhaustion, and stress) using the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). In this episode, Katie shares her story and how it led her to becoming an expert in EFT. She also shares the DISC mo...

After the trauma of abuse at work, we often feel stuck. The exhaustion can feel overwhelming and debilitating. The anxiety is a feeling healer Kristine Ovsepian is familiar with. After her own journey of feeling empty and lost for years, Kristine took her power back. In this episode, Kristine shares her story along with the healing modalities that helped her feel unstuck and on her true path and t...

Safety is a basic need. But so many of us don't feel emotionally safe growing up or learn skills to help others feel emotionally safe. We feel dismissed, ignored, and hurt, and so many feel the same way. But when we help others feel seen and heard emotionally, we can replace that hurt with connection — and de-escalate situations. In this episode, Doug Noll shares a de-escalation technique rooted i...

Daniel faced years of mistreatment and dehumanizing at a liquor store run by a power-hungry boss. In this episode, hear Daniel share his experience at that job, where he is now, and what has helped him with the trauma. If you've been abused at work and would like to share your story anonymously, email info@dignitytogether.org. If you feel like you need more help, I have a free guide to recovery st...

Abuse at work can be all-consuming. But mindfulness can help us keep our focus on OUR goals. In this episode, mindfulness coach for athletes Christian Straka talks about the five pillars of mindfulness and how we can use mindfulness techniques not only to reduce suffering but also to level up our lives. Find Christian at MindsizeSports.com. If you've been abused at work and would like to share you...

When we feel stuck at work, we may not understand what WE want. What do WE value? And why might we not go for what we value? In this episode, career coach Lindsay Gordon talks about discovering our unique value and why it may be more useful to look at our purpose in life rather than our purpose with our careers to figure out what role we want our jobs to play in our lives. Find Lindsay at ALifeOfO...

Patriarchal conditioning has limitations for all of us, but when it comes to a ranking on the social hierarchy, women have different expectations and limitations than men. As women, how do we break free from our programming? And what will happen when we do? In this episode, coach Marcia Mariner reveals what it means to play into the masculine model, how we can choose a different model, and how her...

Focusing on the past or future — aside from processing trauma — can cause anxiety. But author Bill Mandarino has a solution: having present moment awareness where there are no limits. He says it's the secret sauce to creating a massively abundant lifestyle, free of fear and stress. In this episode, I talk with Billy about his approach and what it does for us. Find Billy at BillyMandarino.com. If y...

High achievers often take on the role of people-pleaser, often leading to stress, overwhelm, and anxiety. In this episode, life coach and best-selling author Kamini Wood reveals the key ingredients to go from what she calls "external expectation and validation hostage to resilient self-leader." How do self-compassion, mindfulness, shame, and guilt play a role? Find Kamini Wood at www.kaminiwood.co...

We see abuse of power throughout history. But we learn lessons from how to go up against abuse of power and challenge institutions. In this episode, former attorney and author Mark M. Bello reveals his experience as one of the first attorneys to sue the Roman Catholic Church for sexual abuse by clergy in the 1980s, his take on how abuse of power and corporate greed infringes on our rights, and how...

When someone in a position of power at work decides we need to go — and convinces the rest of the group we need to go — we may find ourselves the target of mobbing, a form of group aggression. But mobbing follows a predictable pattern, says cultural anthropologist Janice Harper who wrote the book Mobbed! What To Do When They Really Are Out To Get You. In this episode, Janice shares her research on...

How effective has sexual harassment law been at disrupting (never dismantling) the social hierarchies at work? In this episode, I build on last week's episode about the history of sexual harassment law in the US and its progress to talk about what's REALLY happening with sexual harassment law now. What does it do? Who's benefited, and in what way? If you've been abused at work and would like to sh...

We know that sexual harassment law has advanced workers' rights, especially for women. But what has it done — and not done — to move the needle for women? How is it enabling those writing the rules to keep themselves in power to cling onto the status quo? Let's look to Yale Law School's Reva B. Siegel's short history of sexual harassment from her 2003 book Directions in Sexual Harassment Law to ge...

On March 9, 2021, Evan Seyfried, 40, took his own life due to extreme and brutal harassment from two store managers and co-workers at a Kroger location in Milford, OH, where he was employed for 19 years. Kroger failed to protect Evan. Here is his story from organizer of Justice for Evan and family friend Jana Murphy. Read the lawsuit: https://www.scribd.com/document/515480124/Lawsuit-Kroger-manage...

This week, the New York state attorney general released a 165-page report on Governor Andrew Cuomo's misdeeds, including how those misdeeds were allowed to fester: through his "yes" people, the loyalists who protected him. In this week's episode, I talk about how "yes" people enable and even embolden serial abusers and how they're part of the abuser playbook of abusing power above the rules while...

Going to work shouldn't mean witnessing blatant violations of moral code and suffering from demeaning treatment. But that's what going to work means for thousands of workers, including former U.S. Border Patrolwoman Deliris Montanez. In this week's episode, Deliris reveals why she spoke up and what it's like to be a federal whistleblower when most ways to expose it are closed doors. If you've been...