Episode 330: How to Not Suck at Being a Boss
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | PANDORA | ANDROID
In this Workday Playdate, Erin explores a leadership truth that’s impossible to ignore right now: teams disengage when leaders operate on autopilot—especially in a world that feels emotionally heavy, digitally loud, and constantly changing. Erin breaks down why reactive management drains trust, creativity, and morale and what human-first leadership looks like instead.
Erin unpacks how energy, empathy, and presence directly impact team performance. This episode reframes leadership as something you practice daily—not something you perfect—offering a simple five-step framework.
Stop Leading on Autopilot
Reactionary leadership creates confusion, burnout, and disengagement. Erin unpacks how operating on default mode quietly erodes trust—and how choosing intentional leadership restores clarity, safety, and momentum.
Your Energy Sets the Tone
Before you check your team, check yourself. Learn how your emotional state directly impacts morale and performance—and why “upset you” energy spreads fast. Erin shares how mindfulness and presence help leaders create calmer, more grounded cultures.
Listen to Understand (Not to Fix)
Most leaders listen to solve. Great leaders listen to connect. Erin explains the difference between listening and counsel—and how simple phrases like “tell me more” deepen trust and psychological safety.
Set Expectations Out Loud and in Writing
Clarity is kindness. Discover how naming expectations, boundaries, and priorities prevents misunderstandings—and why ambiguity is one of the biggest drivers of workplace frustration.
Celebrate Effort to Build Psychological Safety
Recognition isn’t just about results. Erin shows how celebrating effort, learning, and growth creates emotionally safe environments where people take risks, speak up, and actually thrive.
Your Playdate Practice
The “Yes, And” Check-in: This week, when a team member comes to you with an issue, listen to understand, not to respond. Once they finish sharing, say, “Tell me more.” When they tell you more, say, “Yes I hear you, and here's how I can support you through this.”
Your Freebie
You want to support your people the same way you want to be supported—but in fast, emotionally charged moments, the right words can be hard to find.
Enter, your free resource - Human Leadership in the Age of AI: An Empathy Playbook. It gives you a simple, 3-part list of human-first phrases you can use in meetings, emails, and one-on-ones.
Empathy isn’t extra anymore. It’s essential. Download your Empathy Playbook here.