How you feel about human nature tells you everything you need to know about leadership.

If you think human nature has stayed constant over the years, you’ll find great value in the words of Socrates, Confucius, Jesus, Shakespeare and Sarah Breedlove (the first self-made black woman millionaire in the US).

If you think human nature has evolved over time, you’ll see little point in the wisdom of the past and constantly seek out new thinking to guide your approach.

Richard Battle falls firmly into the first camp. And he’s written several books—including his latest, AmeriCANS Who Made America!, spotlighting past wisdom for our present and future benefit. And we talked about a bunch of it on this week’s podcast.

🐱 How his great-great grandmother’s 100+ year old table showed him that our actions today can influence folks in the next century.

🐱 How a four-minute radio interview in the back office of a car dealership helped a man grieving the loss of his daughter.

🐱 How an early “dead end job” can teach our future self more about leadership than most modern day “gurus.”

In fact, I can’t help but wonder if most gurus take advantage of those who believe in an ever-changing human nature, shellacking ancient wisdom with buzzwords and bullet points for easy consumption.

No buzzwords here. Just a fresh look at some old-school truths that can help us lead better right now.

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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(If you enjoy this one, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

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You can follow Richard on LinkedIn. And check out his site at RichardBattle.com where you can learn more about each of his 12 books.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

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Bonus question from Richard to our audience:Where do you want to be at the end of your work life? And are you taking steps to get there?

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

Should we get rid of HR?

That’s the bold suggestion put forth by Jamie Gutfreund, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast.

Why get rid of it? Because it’s become a fear-based function that stifles creativity, prevents honest conversations and enforces a “referee” culture that treats team members like children vs. adults who are capable of sorting through hard stuff on their own.

What would be build in its place? Great question. Jamie and I explore that and more during our conversation. We touch on:

🐱 Generational differences at work

🐱 What real psychological safety looks like

🐱 How to balance different levels of ambition within a team, including how those folks are compensated

🐱 The influence of the creator economy on how we work and get our messages out to the world

🐱 The role of executive leadership in driving culture and how no HR initiative can overcome the tone set by the C-suite

The main takeaway? Let’s be adults and let’s get out of own way already.

Sounds pretty freakin’ awesome to me. Who’s in?

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Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(If you enjoy this one, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

——

You can follow Jamie on LinkedIn. And check out her column in Forbes about the creator economy.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

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Bonus question from Jamie to our audience:Why do we judge people in the workplace solely on their state of ambition? Are we saying that everyone has to be equally ambitious? What if I just want to go to work till five o’clock and I’m okay being compensated and rewarded based on those expectations?

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

Here’s what you’re admitting when you don’t develop your talent.

🐱 You’re admitting you don’t expect people to hang around very long.

🐱 You’re admitting you’re willing to let people just figure crap out on the job no matter how long it takes or how many mistakes get made.

🐱 You’re admitting that there’s nothing special about the work you do—any schmo off the street can jump in and deliver on day one.

🐱 You’re admitting you’re unaware of the cost of people figuring crap out on the job. Or the cost of high turnover. Or the cost of having an undifferentiated, commoditized work product.

🐱 You’re admitting that any messaging you have on your site or internally around building a strong culture is performative BS.

Karen Crane knows a thing or fifty about talent development. She is a coach and talent consultant who spent years helping ad agencies build award-winning teams.

And she and I share a frustration that so many agencies fall short in this area. F*ck around a find out seems to be the most popular training methodology.

And it’s a damn shame because the industry is filled with smart, clever problem solvers who are capable of designing a thousand ways to help people grow in their careers.

But… we’re too busy, it’s too expensive, clients are so demanding…. blah, blah, blah.

Sure. Yes. Understood.

Those are the exact reasons you need to do it. So you’re less busy on nonsense work and focused more on work that matters. So you get paid more, because you work on higher value projects. So your clients are happier, because your teams are delivering work at a level they never even thought was possible.

That’s what happens when you develop your talent.

Admit it: sounds totally worth it, right?

Welcome to the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The show where we cut through the BS and find ways to make work more fun, more human and less ridiculous. All of which makes your business more profitable, by the way.

(If you enjoy this one, please like, share, rate, review or subscribe to the podcast.)

Let the desuckifying begin.

You can follow Karen on LinkedIn. And check out her site at coachkarencrane.com and her Substack newsletter at karencrane.substack.com. They’re both filled with awesome stuff.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to help your teams bring their absolute best to work, I invite you to schedule a free half-hour discovery session. Type “meow” in the calendar invite and I’ll also send you a free DesuckifyWork® t-shirt!

Bye, everyone!

Bonus question from Karen to our audience:What does a desuckified workplace look like? What do you need to be unsuckified at work?

If you’d like to watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.