As those of you who listen to the podcast regularly know, I seldom have guests on the podcast – and only when they are fantastic and will add value to you listeners. Today’s guest, Amy Green Smith, is a perfect example of this. We’re talking about People Pleasing – something many of you are very familiar with. Amy tells us when it is okay to people-please in the workplace – and how to know if you’re doing it for the right reasons. She gives several scenarios to help us understand people pleasing, when it’s right, and when it isn’t.

Once again, I am pulling from the book Leading with Emotional Intelligence by Reldan Nadler. In his book, Nadler talks about “The Perfection Loop” — the fact that success-driven people often set unrealistic goals that set them up for failure or frustration. Today, we’ll break down why people set unrealistic goals, the six stages of the Perfection Loop, some indicators that you’re in one, and how to counter it.

Today, we’re talking about leading through a Reduction in Force, or RIF. This episode isn’t just for people who have managerial duties, but also people who lead by influence.

A RIF period at a company is trying for everyone but it also provides a great opportunity to demonstrate leadership and empathy.

Transitioning from managing yourself to managing others — is this the route for you?

For those becoming first-time managers, there is a learning curve, with the biggest change being a shift to begin thinking about others. Let’s talk about the differences when moving from an individual contributor to a manager, issues that can arise and what to do to help, and how to set yourself up for success.

One of my all-time favorite leadership books – certainly the one with the most sticky tabs in it – is Reldan Nadler’s Leading with Emotional Intelligence. I’ve used this resource for other episodes of the podcast, and today I want to talk about tools for building your self-confidence — specifically, Being on Your Side rather than Being on Your Case. Or, as I like to call it, having your own back. While we’re specifically talking about your relationship with yourself in this episode, understand the consequences of that relationship to all the other relationships in your life. If you lead people, you will likely treat them as you treat yourself.

Okay…I’m determined not to get mushy here, but I do want to take a moment to congratulate myself on the exciting accomplishment of releasing 250 podcast episodes. Today, we’ll cover the story of how I got started in podcasting, challenging my beliefs of scarcity, and I’ll give you four tips for doing the same for yourself.

I have recently finished Jen Sincero’s book, You Are a Badass. One of the chapters in the book is on “The Almighty Decision,” and I wanted to dive into this topic for this episode. We’ll talk about the process of decision-making, what stands in your way, and Sincero’s tips on this topic.

I came across an article on LiveCareer entitled “14 Skills and Values Employers Seek in Jobseekers,” and I wanted to share it with you. Today we’ll walk through these 14 skills and talk a bit about each.