Unmanaged Workplace Strategy

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This is the first episode of Unmanaged The Podcast. (00:00:01): Hi, I’m Elizabeth. (00:00:02): Welcome to Unmanaged Workplace Strategy. (00:00:05): This is going to be a little bit of a longer episode. (00:00:07): I’m testing out kind of moving to longer form podcasts, (00:00:11): so please let me know what you think after this episode. (00:00:15): I’d love to hear from you. (00:00:18): Today I wa...

Yesterday I sent an email. It was unhinged. It was rude. It was passionate. It was emotional. It was defensive. It was imperfect. And it was kind of messy. It was not the type of thing I ever advise anyone to send. I broke my own rule of waiting 24 hours to send a high-stakes email. It was to the Board of Trustees of my former employer. The board is comprised almost entirely of wealthy, white infl...

When you are in a place that you want to leave, but you can’t - you have to figure out a way to stay in your true identity, your authenticity - because that frustration can deeply impact how you feel, what you say, how you interact with others - and yes, even the future of your own career. The phrases below can be repeated daily to make job hugging easier on your nervous system. This isn’t all-inc...

“Should I stay in my job until things get better?” I mean in this economy? The answer is probably yes. But that doesn’t have to be a dead-end. Here are five things to consider as you enter into this informal agreement of staying in your job for now. * It is non-binding. You can always change your mind. It’s not a trap. It’s an option that you are currently exercising. * This can be an opportunity...

Video companion #1 to Fridays Off the Record - May 8th, 2026. Read the whole post: Fridays Off the Record: Absorbing Emotions, Developing Leadership Skills and Prioritizing When Everything is Urgent Elizabeth Arnott · 11:59 AM Welcome to Fridays Off the Record! Every Friday I’ll be answering a few questions from readers. Have a question to submit? Send an email to elizabeth@unmanagedpeople.com. Re...

Video companion #1 to Fridays Off the Record - May 8th, 2026. Read the whole post: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit elizabetharnott1.substack.com

Job hugging is a newly identified trend where people hold onto their dysfunctional jobs as long as they can because of the instability of the job market. It makes sense. Our world is changing rapidly and it seems like there’s not a day that goes by without a life altering piece of news. So how do we do this and not lose our minds? We are still dealing with the same people in the same dysfunctional...

We’ll be working through the Unmanaged methodology all week, discussing where the systems fail, the importance of regulating yourself and how you can protect yourself, whether you are a manager or an individual contributor. Today, we are talking about emotional intelligence. Today we covered a lot of ground — what emotional intelligence is, where it breaks down, and how to use it deliberately befo...

We’ll be working through the Unmanaged methodology all week, discussing where the systems fail, the importance of regulating yourself and how you can protect yourself, whether you are a manager or an individual contributor. Today, we are talking about emotional intelligence. This morning we looked at emotional intelligence at the individual level — what happens in a single conversation when you wa...

We’ll be working through the Unmanaged methodology all week, discussing where the systems fail, the importance of regulating yourself and how you can protect yourself, whether you are a manager or an individual contributor. Today, we are talking about critical thinking. Today we talked about critical thinking — what it is, how to use it when you’re navigating a difficult situation, and how to help...

We’ll be working through the Unmanaged methodology all week, discussing where the systems fail, the importance of regulating yourself and how you can protect yourself, whether you are a manager or an individual contributor. Tonight, we are practicing what we’ve learned about nervous system regulation. Tonight we’re going to practice identifying when nervous system regulation is needed — and then u...

We’ll be working through the Unmanaged methodology all week, discussing where the systems fail, the importance of regulating yourself and how you can protect yourself, whether you are a manager or an individual contributor. Today, we are talking about visualization, a tool used in nervous system regulation. Visualization is one of the most powerful tools I’ve come back to in my own experience — an...

We’ll be working through the Unmanaged methodology all week, discussing where the systems fail, the importance of regulating yourself and how you can protect yourself, whether you are a manager or an individual contributor. By the time I hired an attorney, I was waking up agitated every morning. My stress was spiking before I even opened the office door. I was on the verge of tears for seemingly n...

Three things are launching at Unmanaged — and at least one of them is for you. 🔵 Two Free Webinars — Next Week 📅 Wednesday, April 29 · 11am–12pm PST The Leader Who Endures Everything Is Teaching Their Team to Do the Same For business owners, founders, managers, and anyone who leads people. 👉 Register: unmanagedpeople.com/webinars 📅 Thursday, April 30 · 11am–12pm PST You’re Not Bad at Your Job...

Hi. I’m Elizabeth. Welcome to Unmanaged. There have been a few times in my life when I felt absolutely determined to hold onto what I knew about myself. And as someone with ADHD and a noisy brain, that’s sometimes harder than I’d like it to be. The things that helped me weren’t strategies I chose deliberately. They were things I reached for out of necessity. But they worked — and I still use them...

Before we close the day, let’s connect the dots. This morning, we talked about how toxicity shows up quietly. Mid-day, we explored why speaking up starts to feel risky. Tonight is about sorting out what belongs to the job—and what doesn’t belong to you at all. Because not all discomfort at work is manipulation. Work can be stressful. Deadlines create pressure. Change creates uncertainty. Learning...

This week, we’re continuing our journey with Unlearning Doubt. Morning posts are written for individual contributors. Midday posts are for managers and supervisors. Evening posts are for everyone—wherever you sit. When we encounter behavior that feels troubling or hurtful, our first instinct is often to ask, What did I do to cause this? But human behavior is shaped by immense complexity. Each pers...

“My team is so difficult!” Hi. I’m Elizabeth and I’m the founder of Unmanaged Workplace Strategy. I remember the manager who said that to me. The frustration coming through before she even finished the sentence — the exasperation, the hands thrown up. She wasn’t wrong. Her team was full of smart, talented people. But there was no cohesion. Just individuals working in proximity to each other, siloe...

This week: Unlearning Doubt. Morning posts are written for individual contributors. Midday posts are written for managers and supervisors. Evening posts are for everyone — wherever you sit. Hi. I’m Elizabeth. Welcome to Unmanaged. Tonight I want to talk about what happens when we don’t have all the information we need. This morning we talked about the information gap — the gap that individual cont...

This week: Unlearning Doubt. Morning posts are written for individual contributors. Midday posts are written for managers and supervisors. Evening posts are for everyone — wherever you sit. Have you ever walked into work in a good mood — and then heard a raised voice, a slammed door, or watched someone approach you with a smile that didn’t reach their eyes — and suddenly the whole day felt differe...

Hi. I’m Elizabeth, and this is Unmanaged. We covered a lot of ground this week. Tonight, let’s bring it together. Feet on the floor. Deep breath in, deep breath out. This week we talked about what happens when a whole team is living inside a difficult environment — how one person’s struggle rarely stays contained, how the impact moves through relationships and trust and eventually the work itself....

Hi. I’m Elizabeth, and this is Unmanaged. Today we talked about two things that are really rooted in the same feeling: fear. Fear of retaliation creates trauma bonds among colleagues. Fear of consequences creates distance between staff and their managers. Tonight I want to talk about what you can do with fear — specifically, how preparation can take some of its power away. My husband is autistic,...

Difficult work environments are exhausting in a specific way. The pressure is constant, and it has a way of narrowing everything down until the job feels like the whole world. Tonight, let’s widen the lens. Feet on the floor. Feel the chair beneath you, the floor underneath your feet. Let those points of contact remind you of something: your skills, your experience, your knowledge, your character...

Tonight’s reflection is for everyone — leaders and individual contributors alike. Feet on the floor. Feel the support beneath you. Think of that as your own psychological safety net. Even when the environment around you isn’t safe, you can still offer that safety to yourself. You can still show up as the person you need and want to be. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Allow yourself to make mistak...