# management
155 moments across 107 episodes. Click any moment to jump straight to that part of the episode.
22:33Why managers don't get it — and how to fix thatRichard Clarke: Yes. Yeah, I think it is. Yeah, it's difficult. It's difficult. I come across this a lot. Like, I will give talks and someone will come up to me afterwards and they go, I really want to make my team happyEP 317 · 9 Jul 2026·interview· 22:33–26:0846:33Workplace Surgery: My best employee doesn't want a promotionLeanne Elliott: I think, I think the answer could be both and neither. The assumption that you're making is that a great individual contributor, a technical employee, who is brilliant at their job is going to be great maEP 316 · 7 Jul 2026·workplace surgery· 46:33–50:2746:42Managing potential over performanceAl Elliott: You've used this word potential a couple of times, and I sense that a lot of people who are managers think they are managing performance, but it seems like you're managing potential. Is that right? Mike HarleEP 313 · 25 Jun 2026·interview· 46:42–52:1138:10Workplace Surgery: My star player has become my biggest headacheAl Elliott: What did I do? What did I do? Right. Oh no. All right, so we're gonna go into our 3 questions. First question is about a star player who's turned into the biggest headache. So this person writes, I run a smalEP 312 · 23 Jun 2026·workplace surgery· 38:10–43:0042:07Workplace Surgery: Asking for feedback and not acting on itAl Elliott: We'll find out together. Okay, so it's time for the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. Um, we have 3 questions. I'm gonna basically put them to Leanne as I just descriEP 298 · 5 May 2026·workplace surgery· 42:07–45:5719:07Jensen Huang's radical rules at NVIDIAAl Elliott: Go and find out more about her, about Momo mid-late career. Okay. So I want to talk about something I've seen, which also includes a huge, huge company. So let me tell you what's happened. So this CEO pays hiEP 296 · 28 Apr 2026·news roundup· 19:07–25:3246:51Workplace Surgery — The toxic high performerAl Elliott: So this person says, I've got a salesperson who brings in a huge chunk of our revenue, but they're widely seen as difficult to work with. They're talking over people, they're taking credit and making others fEP 296 · 28 Apr 2026·workplace surgery· 46:51–51:0225:31The management gap: 'We're gonna get into it'Al Elliott: So did that come a little bit later, having all the management, the traditional management stuff? Leanne Elliott: Oh my goodness, Al, we're gonna get into it. So my entire full-time employment is limited to iEP 295 · 23 Apr 2026·interview· 25:31–28:4045:07Workplace Surgery: generational frictionLeanne Elliott: I doubt it. I think he would have made a funny joke or Compared, I don't know, brought in pirates or something Al Elliott: Maybe, maybe. But I think that's a really good point that a lot of people think IEP 294 · 21 Apr 2026·workplace surgery· 45:07–49:3859:06Workplace Surgery — the accidental manager trapLeanne Elliott: What? I know. I am shook. That happens? Al Elliott: Well, unfortunately it did happen in this case. This person says, I was promoted because I was good at my job, but no one ever trained me to manage peopEP 290 · 7 Apr 2026·workplace surgery· 59:06–67:3737:59Workplace Surgery: cash reserves & team resentmentAl Elliott: Yeah, mixing it up. Okay, so on to our world-famous weekly workplace surgery where I put your questions to Leanne. Okay, I've got 3 questions here. Leanne, question number 1. I've just— it could be summed up EP 288 · 31 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 37:59–42:5338:29Workplace Surgery: Enforcing an RTO mandate you don't believe inAl Elliott: Anyway, we're not talking about Theresa May. We're talking about this person who has to push through an RTO mandate and they don't think it's a good idea. Lea, thoughts? Leanne Elliott: Tricky, tricky, trickyEP 286 · 24 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 38:29–42:5439:37Workplace Surgery — the toxic high-performerAl Elliott: Yeah, sounds good. Sounds good. Okay, so we're on to the world famous weekly webisodes where we wrap up your questions, Leanne. We have 3 questions Leanne Elliott: Did you do it right? Al Elliott: I think I dEP 284 · 17 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 39:37–44:2228:31Truth or Lie: Leaders are born, not madeAl Elliott: It can Leanne Elliott: But come back Al Elliott: Yeah, come back. Definitely come back because Nudge isn't as good as thisEP 280 · 3 Mar 2026·truth or lie· 28:31–40:4745:12Workplace Surgery: The vanishing sparkAl Elliott: Yeah, agreed. Okay. Question number 2, where did their spark go? I manage a team of 12, and until recently, a few of them were absolute superstars. Proactive, full of ideas, always one step ahead. Now they'reEP 280 · 3 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 45:12–49:1849:18Workplace Surgery: The transparency gapLeanne Elliott: Have you had a conversation with your manager about why they're doing this? Al Elliott: Great question Leanne Elliott: Because you're already talking about 2 extremes, really, 2 absolutes. You either stayEP 280 · 3 Mar 2026·workplace surgery· 49:18–52:130:00How good a manager are you, really?Al Elliott: Quick question. How good a manager do you think you are out of 10? Whatever number just popped into your head, the science says your team almost certainly disagrees. Not a little bit and not in a few areas, aEP 279 · 26 Feb 2026·interview· 0:00–1:300:37Meet Andrew Palmer — Boss Class Season 3 goes hands-on with AIAl Elliott: Our guest today, Andrew Palmer, writes about management for The Economist and hosts Boss Class, currently in the top 5 management podcasts in the UK. He spent an entire season inside real companies like JohnsEP 277 · 19 Feb 2026·interview· 0:37–4:546:37What management tasks is AI actually taking over?Andrew Palmer: Yeah, so I think there are probably characteristics to think about. So one is, and it gets to that point about being mundane, it's very hard to kind of, you know, sort of sex up the idea of being boring, bEP 277 · 19 Feb 2026·interview· 6:37–9:5514:09Steve's basic rule for 22 years of managing peopleSteve Kemish: I mean, my basic, for 22 years of managing people, I have a very basic rule, which if you and I, this is ridiculous, Al, because we're on a podcast, but if you and I were in a one-to-one, I have 2 rules, whEP 275 · 12 Feb 2026·interview· 14:09–19:2110:52Prediction 2 — More of the same… but with more pressure (Danny Wareham)Al Elliott: Our next prediction comes from Danny Wareham, who's the creator of Constellation Leadership and author of the book with the same name Leanne Elliott: Danny has got a bit of a contrarian take on 2026. He startEP 263 · 1 Jan 2026·other· 10:52–17:1223:55Prediction 4 — AI will break management before it fixes it (Vince Sanderson)Leanne Elliott: Welcome back, brew in hand, I hope. Our next prediction comes from the amazing Vince Sanderson, who's a bit of a TikTok legend in the management world Al Elliott: Yeah, he's got 260,000 followers and overEP 263 · 1 Jan 2026·other· 23:55–30:0736:04Prediction 6 — A reality check for leaders (Jeanette Ramsden)Leanne Elliott: Yes, me too. I also like a bit of Jeanette Ramsden from The Curve Group Al Elliott: Okay, taken out of context, a little bit weird, but let's go with it Leanne Elliott: She is one of the most well-known HEP 263 · 1 Jan 2026·other· 36:04–40:0316:10Al's pick: James Hawkins on autonomous teamsLeanne Elliott: Yeah Al Elliott: You'll get feedback from the team afterwards being like, hey, why did you build this? It seems weird or dumb. Most of the time it won't though. And they're like, cool, let's just— we can EP 261 · 25 Dec 2025·other· 16:10–17:156:48Story of the Year: Rule-Bending LeadersLeanne Elliott: Yeah Al Elliott: Anyway. Okay. So our next highlight comes from the news roundup, Leanne's favorite time of the week, and caused quite the stir. Um, I had entrepreneurs calling me in existential crisis. UEP 260 · 23 Dec 2025·other· 6:48–11:5124:32Workplace Surgery Question of the Year: My Ex is My New BossAl Elliott: Yes, absolutely. The best of the best. So the likes of Coinbase came out of there. Stripe didn't come out, I don't think, but something else did. There's lots of like major companies you've heard of which areEP 260 · 23 Dec 2025·workplace surgery· 24:32–27:4117:04Micromanagement as a signal, not a personality flawAoife O'Brien: I think it's really about asking those questions. So, let's take micromanagement as an example, because I think this is, it's, dare I say, and you know, you can let me know whether you agree with this or nEP 255 · 4 Dec 2025·interview· 17:04–21:5338:23Workplace Surgery: Trained team to stop thinkingAl Elliott: Love it. Love it. If you've got a question for the Truth or Lies segment, then Drop us an email, check on the show notes, you can find all our details in there. Okay, on to my favourite time of the week, whicEP 248 · 11 Nov 2025·workplace surgery· 38:23–46:3950:06Workplace Surgery: Managing first remote hire without micromanagingAl Elliott: Okay, on to question number 3. How do I manage my first remote hire without becoming a micromanager? This is great. This is— I like when people ask questions like, this is about to happen, I want to avoid thiEP 248 · 11 Nov 2025·workplace surgery· 50:06–57:4547:34Workplace Surgery: New hire 40 minutes late on day oneAl Elliott: Fair enough. Great answer. Great answer. So question number 3, should I get rid of a new hire after a bad first day? So this person writes, I recently gave a young guy a chance. He was eager to get his foot iEP 246 · 5 Nov 2025·workplace surgery· 47:34–52:4031:26Workplace Surgery: Toxic superstarsAl Elliott: Well, talking of glorious messiness of human nature, which is a beautiful turn of phrase, by the way, it's time for our world-famous weekly work— work— surgery. Oh no, it's time for our world-famous weekly woEP 240 · 14 Oct 2025·workplace surgery· 31:26–36:4434:52Workplace Surgery: Building a reliable team when you're used to doing it all yourselfLeanne Elliott: Yeah Al Elliott: That is a TV show I'd watch. 2 TV detectives, Judge and Cable. Get in my office, Cable! Anyway, right, so let's move on to the world-famous weekly workplace surgery. Where I put your quesEP 238 · 7 Oct 2025·workplace surgery· 34:52–41:0018:27How managers appeal to younger workersIsabel Berwick: I think that people, I think you're right. People will go the extra mile once they've bought into the culture of the company. So, if you're in a professional, you know, knowledge worker type of job, the kEP 235 · 25 Sept 2025·interview· 18:27–19:4119:41The accidental manager crisisIsabel Berwick: Okay. So it's not my phrase. It's what it's, um, I think the Chartered Management Institute came up with it and it's great. So an accidental manager is someone who hasn't had any training to be a manager.EP 235 · 25 Sept 2025·interview· 19:41–23:0729:27Why listening is so hard (even for the experts)Al Elliott: There's the part that you say about people, about setting aside time to actually listen to people, but then there's also the part which I think a lot of people find difficult, which is setting aside within thEP 235 · 25 Sept 2025·interview· 29:27–32:0533:54Being prepared for unexpected management momentsAl Elliott: You have a bit in your book which I've not seen before, and it says, if you're a manager, how do you make your manager listen to you? There's a hot— if you listen to this, you should definitely go and read thEP 235 · 25 Sept 2025·interview· 33:54–36:1236:12The managers Isabel admires — and whyAl Elliott: I think I read in your book that there was a particular manager or number of managers who you admire and you learned a lot from. So, I mean, can you maybe, I don't know whether you can tell me who they are, bEP 235 · 25 Sept 2025·interview· 36:12–37:5243:00How to manage people you really dislikeAl Elliott: How do you manage people you really, really dislike? Isabel Berwick: I really wanted to write about this because I think this is one of the great undertalked about things at work. I think in the rest of our lEP 235 · 25 Sept 2025·interview· 43:00–44:4539:42Workplace Surgery — the brilliant employee who's a terrible managerAl Elliott: Absolutely. Okay, so on to question number 3. I promoted a brilliant employee, but she's a terrible manager. Can I keep her? 9 months ago, I promoted one of our strongest performers into a management role. ShEP 234 · 23 Sept 2025·workplace surgery· 39:42–46:5020:49Trust, outcomes, and the messy middleAl Elliott: Let's talk about these outcomes. Does that mean then that in theory, and of course I would never talk practicalities, but in theory, some of your team could be working half as long as they're contracted to, aEP 233 · 18 Sept 2025·interview· 20:49–26:327:21Why coaching skills matter more than tellingLeanne Elliott: And this is where a great manager with the coaching skills is going to do this intuitively or intentionally anyway. You know, they're going to go to a newer employee or a more junior employee and say, doeEP 230 · 9 Sept 2025·other· 7:21–12:0313:54Control vs. passion: what managers get wrongAl Elliott: Let's stick with this idea of control. I think that a lot of managers will be worried that if they allow people to have fun at work, they're A, losing control, B, people are being distracted from what they'reEP 225 · 21 Aug 2025·interview· 13:54–17:2322:01Why more than half of managers aren't equipped to leadAl Elliott: Wow Leanne Elliott: So, more than half of our managers aren't equipped with the skills they need to lead our people. And they're the people, the managers, that have the single biggest impact on employee perfoEP 224 · 19 Aug 2025·other· 22:01–27:5815:36The mistake every first manager makesAl Elliott: So, let's just say that someone's listening to this and they go, oh God, yeah, that, I feel like that's happened to me, or I'm at the situation where things aren't great at work, maybe not been demoted, but tEP 218 · 29 Jul 2025·other· 15:36–18:580:00Intro: The Derby car factory and what makes a better bossAl Elliott: There's a car factory in Derby, England, where workers deliberately stop production multiple times every single day, and the managers love it. There's a very senior exec at Stripe who has produced a manual ouEP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·intro· 0:00–0:512:56What makes a better boss? Reid Hoffman's poetry and proseAndrew Palmer: I'm Andrew Palmer. I'm the Bartleby columnist for The Economist, which means absolutely nothing to anyone who doesn't subscribe. So what that means is I write on management and the workplace, and I also hoEP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·interview· 2:56–3:473:48Does company size change how you manage?Al Elliott: I feel like with the amount you've written and recorded on management, we have to ask you the question early on. What do you think a great manager is? Andrew Palmer: So I'm going to borrow a line which Reid HEP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·interview· 3:48–4:4919:39What Andrew has learned about teamsAl Elliott: So on this Palmer jerkiness continuum that we've just invented, at what point do we go, we are not accepting this behavior? Where does someone go from, They're maybe in the wrong role, or perhaps they're justEP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·interview· 19:39–28:2333:40Does national culture shape leadership?Leanne Elliott: Andrew's podcast is packed with examples just like this Andrew Palmer: So, there's a medical tech firm called Stryker, which is based in Kalamazoo, and that's in Michigan. And it's a weird place because yEP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·interview· 33:40–38:3338:33AI and the future of managementLeanne Elliott: AI. We cannot have any conversation about the future of management without talking about AI. Here's Andrew's take on it Al Elliott: You mentioned earlier that Daniel was both simultaneously terrified and EP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·interview· 38:33–42:4345:12Top 3 takeawaysAl Elliott: That was Andrew Palmer from The Economist, the Bartleby column, and host of Boss Class podcast. 3 key takeaways, I think. Number one, great management is both poetry and prose. You need to inspire and organisEP 217 · 24 Jul 2025·interview· 45:12–46:2021:10Stories We Don't Have Time For: the Coldplay gig bossAl Elliott: But, um, look forward to your letters. Um, I've got a new segment. I've just thought of a new segment. I'm gonna call it Stories We Didn't Have Time For Leanne Elliott: Right Al Elliott: And, uh, so in today'EP 216 · 22 Jul 2025·news roundup· 21:10–22:4539:12Keeping geniuses aligned without stifling innovationAl Elliott: So imagine you've found and hired these brilliant people. You've screened for ego. You've identified they can work collaboratively. Now, how do you give them enough creative freedom to innovate without lettinEP 213 · 10 Jul 2025·interview· 39:12–43:272:19Story 1: Great bosses exist (and here's the proof)Al Elliott: Anyway, Le, your favourite time of the week, I believe Leanne Elliott: It is time for the news roundabout. Cue that lovely jingle Al Elliott: Okay, my love, what have you seen this week?EP 210 · 1 Jul 2025·news roundup· 2:19–10:4047:30Workplace Surgery: What Does Purpose-Driven Leadership Really Look Like?Al Elliott: Love it. In your own skin. I love it. Okay. Question number 3, Leanne. What does purpose-driven leadership really look like in practice? This is a great question. I want to know the answer to this question. IEP 208 · 24 Jun 2025·workplace surgery· 47:30–52:3731:38How structure and fairness save kindness from itselfAl Elliott: Well, let's stick with that idea because if I wanted to be kind as a manager, Then I might say, oh, I'll take on this, this person's struggling a bit this week. So I'll do a bit of their work for them and surEP 207 · 19 Jun 2025·interview· 31:38–34:1023:38Hot Take: Should Management Be a Regulated Profession?Leanne Elliott: Join venture capitalist and strategist Sarah Chen Spellings as she asks the hard questions and learns through the triumphs, failures, and hard lessons of the crème de la crème so you too can make billion-EP 206 · 17 Jun 2025·hot take· 23:38–32:4732:54Q5 — Managing the invisible mental loadAl Elliott: Now, I know you, and I'm guessing you'll have done some reading around this, so go on, hit us. What's, what's the, uh, what does, what's the research say? Leanne Elliott: It's, again, it's quite intuitive. YoEP 203 · 5 Jun 2025·other· 32:54–36:1051:45Workplace Surgery: Question 3 - Letting a star employee goAl Elliott: Fabulous answer as always, my love. Okay, so question number 3, how do you let a star employee go when they've crossed the line? Oh no. I'm looking for some advice on what's turned into a really tricky situatEP 202 · 3 Jun 2025·workplace surgery· 51:45–58:2542:03Workplace Surgery: First-time manager assertivenessLeanne Elliott: Nope. Al Elliott: Cool. So question number 2, how can I learn to be more assertive as a first-time manager? I love questions like this. I recently got promoted to my first management role at a big tech coEP 200 · 27 May 2025·workplace surgery· 42:03–49:0114:48Bullying at work: Bad management, not bad peopleLeanne Elliott: Well, sorry to dampen the mood after the holiday chat. Bullying Al Elliott: Oh Leanne Elliott: I know. It was a really interesting study that basically asked, could well-meaning managers be bullying theirEP 196 · 13 May 2025·news roundup· 14:48–19:5144:28Workplace Surgery: Scared to manage peopleAl Elliott: Okay. Question number 3. I'm scared to manage people. Would a course help me get over that? So this listener writes, I've been offered a chance to step up and lead a small team, and I want to say yes, but if EP 196 · 13 May 2025·workplace surgery· 44:28–50:575:49Firing quickly and recognizing A-playersAl Elliott: So in your book, you start off back at college and how you started Storage Squad. Um, tell me, give me the timeline because I have in my head this idea of a subreddit called Sweaty Startup. Was that you? And EP 193 · 1 May 2025·interview· 5:49–17:2843:15Managing A-players and scaling cultureAl Elliott: You said something there that A-players come to you and say, look, there's a better way to do my job. I think my worry would be if I say, oh, cool. Okay. Give it a go. And it completely goes wrong. Do you havEP 193 · 1 May 2025·interview· 43:15–51:3049:26Workplace Surgery: Can managers still have mates?Al Elliott: Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. So, this last question comes from a listener who writes, can managers have mates? Just in case, mate is a UK thing or an Australian thing as well. It doesn't mean like mate as inEP 190 · 22 Apr 2025·workplace surgery· 49:26–55:4933:00The communication hierarchy and pull requestsAl Elliott: You just explained that the managers, they get out of the way. They're there to make things easier. But we've still got the problem of meetings and the problem of all these Slack messages or emails or whateveEP 189 · 17 Apr 2025·interview· 33:00–37:3735:10Workplace Surgery: Inherited a Toxic DepartmentLeanne Elliott: I don't, I don't envy the person in this role, but also I'm kind of excited for you because this is a really cool opportunity. If they've already burnt through 3 managers and you could be the person to tuEP 184 · 1 Apr 2025·workplace surgery· 35:10–40:3014:17Balancing fun and profit (without the gimmicks)Al Elliott: thinking back to maybe somebody who, a manager in your insurance company, for example, the way you've just described the way that you work, where it is predominantly fun, variety, no predictability of anythinEP 181 · 20 Mar 2025·interview· 14:17–16:2731:18Workplace Surgery #1: My ex is now my bossAl Elliott: Fabulous. Okay, on to my favourite time of the week, which is the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. You know this, Leanne's a Chartered Occupational Psychologist whoEP 180 · 18 Mar 2025·workplace surgery· 31:18–36:5827:22Lessons from Enterprise Rent-A-CarEric Stone: Such an important question. Yes. So, I learned so many lessons to this day of one thing I tried to do, to your point, was whether it was a new hire lunch where I would get to learn about specific hobbies or aEP 179 · 13 Mar 2025·interview· 27:22–29:390:33The primary job of a managerAl Elliott: Nice Vince Sanderson: The primary job of a manager is to create an environment for other people to excel. So how are you going to do that? I mean, that's the biggest issue that people find. They get promoted,EP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 0:33–1:493:54Misconceptions about management and the fixer mistakeAl Elliott: I think the first question I've got is, it's around new managers, because there seems to be like, I think someone who becomes a new manager, they think, great, I've made it, I've finally become a manager, butEP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 3:54–6:439:21Managing former peersAl Elliott: We're going to come back to the manager's manager in a second Vince Sanderson: Yeah Al Elliott: But before we do that, a lot of people who've been newly promoted to manager will end up managing people who useEP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 9:21–11:5913:22Managing upwardsAl Elliott: What about managing upwards? So what about you? So you've now got a boss Vince Sanderson: Yes Al Elliott: You've had a boss before, you're now a manager, but you've got a manager above you. What sort of tips EP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 13:22–15:5717:48Imposter syndrome and why people become managersAl Elliott: You mentioned you had imposter syndrome. Does that ever go away as a manager? Vince Sanderson: Yes, I think it does, but it's maybe not as quick as people hope it will be. And maybe imposter syndrome is not nEP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 17:48–22:2238:06Day 90: right people, right roles and the Bad Apple experimentAl Elliott: Let's talk about the last part of it, this sort of 60 to 90 days. What do you feel that people should have achieved by the end of the 90 days? Then we'll work backwards Vince Sanderson: This is going to be a EP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 38:06–44:5945:26Long-term strategy and the question Vince asks every leaderAl Elliott: So at this point, is it too early to start thinking about a longer-term strategy? Your sort of what I'm going to be doing over the next year? Should they be giving it 6 months? What do you think? Vince SanderEP 177 · 6 Mar 2025·interview· 45:26–56:2823:12Hot Take: Dr. Elaine Smith on why leaders are human tooLeanne Elliott: Welcome back. Al, what is today's hot take? Al Elliott: Right, we've got a brilliant guest for you today. Today we're joined by Dr. Elaine Smith, who's a clinical psychologist and a business wellbeing conEP 176 · 4 Mar 2025·hot take· 23:12–34:5735:53Workplace Surgery: From friend to bossAl Elliott: Yes, almost a year old. We're on question 1 for this week, or 142 if we're being specific. Are you ready for it, Leanne? Elaine Smith: Yes Al Elliott: Okay. From friend to boss, how to lead without losing youEP 176 · 4 Mar 2025·workplace surgery· 35:53–41:5849:08Female managers refusing to meet male menteesAl Elliott: This last one I've got here is, and it's an interesting one, a female manager won't meet male mentees. And I'm, and just to understand, I think mentees is a mentorship situation where it's The person, so thisEP 175 · 27 Feb 2025·interview· 49:08–52:3232:19Workplace Surgery Q1: My boss keeps adding context (but they're wrong)Veerle Numan: Yes Al Elliott: Okay, so the question number 1. My boss keeps adding context, but he's actually wrong. So this person writes, my new manager constantly interrupts me during presentations and team meetings tEP 174 · 25 Feb 2025·workplace surgery· 32:19–37:2337:23Workplace Surgery Q2: My top performer is toxicLeanne Elliott: What you have here, friend, is what is called a toxic superstar. I will leave a link in the show notes to a couple of episodes we've done talking about this, where I'm Which, with, uh, Dr. Ryan Sherman frEP 174 · 25 Feb 2025·workplace surgery· 37:23–42:476:41What managers need to know about supporting ADHD employeesLeanne Elliott: And if leaders are listening and perhaps feel that, I would imagine what you described then might trigger you know, somebody in the organization that they're thinking about. How do we maybe reeducate oursEP 173 · 20 Feb 2025·interview· 6:41–8:3742:27Top recommendations for managers and the question everyone with ADHD wants answeredLeanne Elliott: What's the question I should have asked you about ADHD that I haven't? Skye Waterson: For the people who have ADHD who are listening, I think the number one question that people want to know is like, okayEP 173 · 20 Feb 2025·interview· 42:27–43:5833:26Workplace Surgery: toxic gossip cultureAl Elliott: Did I say psychology? Leanne Elliott: Yeah, but it doesn't matter Al Elliott: Sorry, you're carried away, you see. And it's her job to help give You, our lovely listeners, advice on work-related problems. HerEP 172 · 18 Feb 2025·workplace surgery· 33:26–37:512:30Floodlighting: The Toxic Boss TacticAl Elliott: Jingle has been cued. What have you seen this week, Leah? Leanne Elliott: I've got a new word John Lee Dumas: Go onEP 170 · 11 Feb 2025·news roundup· 2:30–5:3928:11Workplace Surgery: New Manager Avoids Negative FeedbackAl Elliott: Absolutely. Okay. So the second question I've got here is, new manager hates giving negative feedback to their team. I became a manager for the first time a few months ago, and it was always my dream to be thEP 170 · 11 Feb 2025·workplace surgery· 28:11–34:218:45What organizations get wrong about remote workAl Elliott: Let's talk about remote work. What do org— what do you see organizations getting wrong? about remote work? Tony Jamous: So it's a question of adoption and implementation. So there are ways that you can develoEP 167 · 30 Jan 2025·interview· 8:45–11:3411:47News Roundup: The Managerless EconomyLeanne Elliott: Okay, we are back with a very satisfied dog. Al, what have you seen this week? Al Elliott: Well, the Wall Street Journal, you know, that, um, that publication I like to use, you know, to look important. TEP 166 · 28 Jan 2025·news roundup· 11:47–18:2532:09Workplace Surgery: standardising management across locationsLeanne Elliott: I leveled up in 2024, Al Al Elliott: She did, she did. Oh dear, this is not a good start. Um, and, um, and she is an expert in workplace culture, and she's here to answer your questions. Okay, question nuEP 164 · 21 Jan 2025·workplace surgery· 32:09–38:077:43Leadership vs. management — the real distinctionAl Elliott: I think it's a bit of a— it's probably an unfair and a bit of an artificial Distinction. But I suppose what I mean is you can technically manage resources. Even saying that makes me feel a bit icky in the mouEP 158 · 31 Dec 2024·other· 7:43–8:567:45Should bosses have favourites?Al Elliott: Well, I have a question for you, Leanne. Should bosses have favourites? Leanne Elliott: Should they have favourites? No. Do they have favourites? Probably Al Elliott: Well, I'll tell you who does. The founderEP 154 · 17 Dec 2024·news roundup· 7:45–11:4423:10What managers can do to support grieving employeesAl Elliott: We actually have a lot in common. We both use behavioral science to help people do better at work Al Elliott: It can Leanne Elliott: Keep that inEP 151 · 5 Dec 2024·interview· 23:10–31:1019:03Hot Take: Rob Kalwarowsky on Asshole BossesLeanne Elliott: Welcome back. As regular listeners will know, every week we ask a workplace expert expert for their hot take on the world of work. Today we hear from the awesome Rob Kalwarowsky, the world expert on asshoEP 148 · 26 Nov 2024·hot take· 19:03–30:338:26The Quad-Core Management FrameworkGarrett Delph: One of them is a framework called the Quad-Core Management Framework. And that was birthed out of me as a CEO and as a leader, not understanding that the power of load balancing your human resources in busEP 147 · 21 Nov 2024·interview· 8:26–10:5234:03Workplace Surgery: Toxic employee, massive revenueAl Elliott: One of my sales executives, who I'll call Alex, brings in nearly half of our company's revenue, but they're becoming increasingly toxic to our workplace culture. Alex essentially operates like a lone wolf, coEP 146 · 19 Nov 2024·workplace surgery· 34:03–40:2837:44Workplace Surgery: The Jekyll-and-Hyde BossAl Elliott: Okay, question number 3: I am really struggling to understand my boss's Jekyll and Hyde personality. Getting juicy already. At work, she's incredibly harsh, berating team members publicly, sending very abruptEP 144 · 12 Nov 2024·workplace surgery· 37:44–44:035:56Why Linda the Bad Manager resonates with millionsAl Elliott: With over 100 million views, Linda the Bad Manager clearly resonates with the working population, both young and old. So I asked Kate why she thinks Linda is so popular and how she gets her ideas. I do love tEP 143 · 7 Nov 2024·other· 5:56–9:539:53Why do managers behave badly?Al Elliott: If you were just a decent human being, you'd feel a bit icky about doing these. So why are people doing these things? Leanne Elliott: I think it's just lack of care and lack of thought. And it really shocks mEP 143 · 7 Nov 2024·other· 9:53–16:5324:27Workplace Surgery: Navigating deception in the workplaceAl Elliott: Okay, question number 1. I'm in a difficult position at work and I really need advice. My manager reports directly to our CEO and has been consistently saying a major project is back on track and meeting all EP 142 · 5 Nov 2024·workplace surgery· 24:27–29:447:12Story 2: Do childless bosses lack empathy?Al Elliott: Childless people Leanne Elliott: Um, I believe it's childfree. Is that the more politically correct term? Al Elliott: I believe it is, but this article, which I will link to, it's in Forbes I think, was actuaEP 134 · 8 Oct 2024·news roundup· 7:12–11:482:40Story 1: The UK's 'Accidental Managers' CrisisLeanne Elliott: You know that I'm a little bit of a broken record, Al. If you do one thing as a business owner, what do you do? Al Elliott: Train your line managers Leanne Elliott: Yes. Well, maybe I'm being heard or somEP 132 · 1 Oct 2024·news roundup· 2:40–6:476:49Story 2: Can AI Replace Human Managers?Al Elliott: Well, talking of managers, perhaps. And what's interesting is that we both choose— we choose our articles and we don't necessarily see what each other's chosen. Here's the one who, for anyone who hates their EP 132 · 1 Oct 2024·news roundup· 6:49–11:186:30The Gen Z WhisperersAl Elliott: Well, Le, you've heard of Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. You've heard of horse whisperers. We've now got Gen Z whisperers. I saw it in the Guardian newspaper. I say I saw it in the Guardian newspaper, I didEP 128 · 17 Sept 2024·news roundup· 6:30–13:107:18Founder Mode vs. Manager ModeAl Elliott: There is a whole thing going on at the moment on social media that we need to talk about. It's based on this question: What makes a founder different from a manager? So some people say it's the title. Some peEP 126 · 10 Sept 2024·news roundup· 7:18–13:5541:50Workplace Surgery: getting honest feedback from employeesLeanne Elliott: Right. I feel, have you been listening at all? Honestly. Right, friend. Okay, employee engagement. First of all, externally led. You need somebody else to come in and assure them on that confidentiality aEP 126 · 10 Sept 2024·workplace surgery· 41:50–45:5920:23Managing millennials and Gen Z expectationsLeanne Elliott: Yeah, it sounds really great. And are you getting good feedback from employees about the Sweet Factory? Ed Williams: Yeah, I mean, it's been incredible. We actually went through a round of feedback with tEP 125 · 5 Sept 2024·interview· 20:23–23:4926:39Workplace Surgery: Leading a more experienced teamAl Elliott: So this person writes, here's the deal. I just got promoted to manage a team that's a little bit older and a little bit more experienced than I am. Don't get me wrong, they're great at what they do, but I'm fEP 123 · 27 Aug 2024·workplace surgery· 26:39–29:3726:59Workplace Surgery: blindsided by a resignationAl Elliott: So it's now time for our world-famous weekly workplace surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne. Leanne, are you ready for question number 1? Leanne Elliott: I'm ready Al Elliott: Okay, so this comes froEP 122 · 19 Aug 2024·workplace surgery· 26:59–34:0418:51Workplace Time Capsule: The Peter Principle (1974)Al Elliott: Okay, so after this very, very quick break, we have got the brand new Workplace Time Capsule segment that Leanne just invented and sprung on me a few minutes ago. And we've also got the world-famous Weekly WoEP 121 · 13 Aug 2024·news roundup· 18:51–26:0737:11Workplace Surgery: transitioning to managementLeanne Elliott: Oh, I enjoy a tone Al Elliott: Yeah. I'm interested to hear whether you pick it up straight. Well, I'm sure you will pick it up, but interested whether you address it straight away. I've been at the same EP 120 · 6 Aug 2024·workplace surgery· 37:11–42:3735:11Why coaching isn't softer than managingAlexis Zahner: A leader is often a great coach, and a great coach I think what people mistake is coaching being softer than management, and it's not the case. The difference is with a coach, with any good coach— and agaiEP 113 · 9 Jul 2024·interview· 35:11–40:2431:14Workplace Surgery: Managing your circleLeanne Elliott: I've hijacked the final question, Al, and I have one for you Al Elliott: I wondered why, why I hadn't got a note down here for the third one Leanne Elliott: I thought it was one that is one that popped upEP 105 · 11 Jun 2024·workplace surgery· 31:14–39:4410:04Managers as human shields (a theory from the 1960s)Leanne Elliott: The idea of managers as human shields goes back to the 1960s. The theory goes that the best bosses protect their teams from organizational noise and let them focus on their work. That noise could be demanEP 104 · 6 Jun 2024·interview· 10:04–12:409:31Unbossing explainedLeanne Elliott: Yeah Al Elliott: As Leanne's talked about before, when she was managing and she had an amazing boss, both of them— her boss supported her and then she supported the people underneath her. In fact, I thinkEP 103 · 4 Jun 2024·news roundup· 9:31–13:043:19Tip 1: Train Your Managers (Prof. Sir Cary Cooper)Al Elliott: The problem we have is to do with line managers. What we tend to do in developed countries is we recruit and promote people to managerial roles based on their technical skills, not their people skills. This iEP 102 · 30 May 2024·other· 3:19–10:3630:47Workplace Surgery: Inconsistent workplace initiativesAl Elliott: So this person writes, my manager keeps implementing new initiatives to improve workplace culture, but none of them ever stick. She seems to jump from one shiny new idea to the next without giving any of themEP 101 · 28 May 2024·workplace surgery· 30:47–36:2113:22Jurgen Klopp and the psychology of leadershipLeanne Elliott: So yeah, I mean, football fans— or sorry, soccer fans for our American audiences— will know it has been a pretty big weekend for the Premier League. Uh, the season came to an end, Man City won again, and EP 99 · 21 May 2024·news roundup· 13:22–19:0120:17Workplace Surgery: 'Am I being unfair?'Leanne Elliott: Yes Al Elliott: Okay, now this one is definitely anonymous, um, and you will see why. Because even— Leanne Elliott: What did you do?EP 92 · 23 Apr 2024·workplace surgery· 20:17–23:460:33The unconventional path to managementAl Elliott: Nice. Check out hopspot.com, the agentic customer platform for growing businesses Dave Kline: We pick our absolute best salesperson, software engineer, A-player. So this person has been wildly successful. ThaEP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 0:33–2:352:35Meet Dave Kline: from bad engineer to management guruLeanne Elliott: Yes, we talk a lot about leadership on the podcast, but what about management? Well, today's guest is a thought leader and influencer in the world of management. You can find him on Twitter, or X, dispensEP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 2:35–6:596:59The ultimate goal for managers: efficiency and impactDave Kline: But we interviewed a few of them. And they were like, no, you have to let me in. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. I've been faking it for half a decade. I've never had a good manager to show me the right waEP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 6:59–8:2813:55The Peter Principle — and why it's unfair to blame the promotedAl Elliott: There's an old saying, probably more from the '80s than it is actually from now, that you get promoted to the level of your incompetence. In other words, if you're good at sales, then your next stop is probabEP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 13:55–16:2516:25Red flags of a bad managerAl Elliott: So what are the red flags of a bad manager? Dave Kline: Oh man, we, it's funny, very early in our program, we ask all the leaders in there, you know, just give me the characteristics of the worst managers youEP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 16:25–19:3119:31Why one-on-ones are the 'minimum viable management' essentialLeanne Elliott: My management career led me to a national role, and I had accountability for a team of about 40 across the UK. And it was here that I learned from my manager and mentor and was able to apply the power of EP 87 · 4 Apr 2024·interview· 19:31–25:5623:36Workplace Surgery: dealing with a drunken employeeAl Elliott: Luckily, I can edit this. It is strange living with an introvert. I don't know whether any of your listeners have got— are slightly more extroverted than your partner, because even after 17 years, I still wilEP 86 · 2 Apr 2024·workplace surgery· 23:36–28:120:33Introduction: A Strange Managerial ExperienceAl Elliott: Nice. Check out hopspot.com, the agentic customer platform for growing businesses Isabel Berwick: You know, I had one manager who trusted me so little that when, when they were off sick, I had to travel to thEP 85 · 28 Mar 2024·intro· 0:33–5:0714:18Workplace Polarization and InclusionAl Elliott: So the lessons here seem to be that in the old days, Gen X, me, would complain about work or our manager or laugh at someone, something stupid someone did at work in the pub at the end of the day or on a FridEP 85 · 28 Mar 2024·interview· 14:18–21:3823:39The Importance of Listening in ManagementAl Elliott: Seamless, seamless. Tell us about your latest episode, Phil Al Elliott: And we talk about the behavioural science behind fandom and how that encourages people to enjoy the music and all of that good stuff, anEP 85 · 28 Mar 2024·interview· 23:39–33:1233:12Navigating Workplace Trends: Angry People, Greedy Jobs, and Quiet QuittingAl Elliott: So, this anger we need to manage, and if you are a manager, you need to be aware of it, because when it manifests itself, it could feel quite personal if someone's angry towards you. But in actual fact, just EP 85 · 28 Mar 2024·interview· 33:12–43:598:11Management vs. leadership: transactional vs. transformationalJohn Amaechi OBE: You can be one of those people who has a transactional relationship with work. And sees people as points in a Gantt chart, and you can effectively project manage. But that to me is a form of pure manageEP 82 · 14 Mar 2024·interview· 8:11–9:0734:00The receptionist who changed a workplaceBruce Daisley: I've always been relatively fortunate that most of the jobs I had, I enjoyed. And so, you know, I would always say to myself, it had been a good day if I'd laughed 10 times that day. And, you know, it'd beEP 78 · 20 Feb 2024·interview· 34:00–40:2040:24Why great management is the real answerAl Elliott: So we've covered so much more than resilience here. We've talked about how resilience can often be a way to move blame from bad management, how groups of people are more resilient than individuals, how the chEP 78 · 20 Feb 2024·interview· 40:24–43:245:08Prediction 4: Managers and Leaders Need to Step UpAl Elliott: So let's get stuck in. Moving on to prediction number 4. If you're a regular listener, you will know Leanne's favourite word is managers. It's her favourite subject. Managers and leaders, our 4th prediction. EP 72 · 4 Jan 2024·interview· 5:08–7:5726:33If you don't trust your employees, why did you hire them?Leanne Elliott: I think that can really be summed up by, if you don't trust your employees, why did you hire them in the first place? This is key and why hybrid has the potential to be an ideal solution, so long as we'reEP 68 · 8 Dec 2023·interview· 26:33–28:1319:29Building culture from day one and finding great managersPatti Simpson: I think you have to start with where you are. It's really important that you, you know, when things— you set your standard of what you want to do. And if culture is important, that starts when you have oneEP 66 · 23 Nov 2023·interview· 19:29–23:1515:13People are not widgets — great leaders know thisLeanne Elliott: Generational differences are undeniable, but we should try to understand generational differences. We definitely should not stereotype our teams based on their age alone Al Elliott: I think that great leaEP 64 · 16 Nov 2023·other· 15:13–18:2318:23Understanding people: the most rewarding manager skillLeanne Elliott: Hey, hey, I think understanding people is one of the most difficult but most rewarding skills a manager can learn. I think, you know, if you really want to get into the psychology of people, it takes contEP 64 · 16 Nov 2023·other· 18:23–19:4928:17The lazy manager trapLeanne Elliott: Let's not sugarcoat this. Being a great manager is really, really hard. Being a lazy manager is pretty easy. And you can probably tell, being honest, which one you are by just reflecting on that. How hardEP 64 · 16 Nov 2023·other· 28:17–33:3136:50Priority 4 — Have great managersLeanne Elliott: The fourth and final priority is have great managers. It is one of my favourite topics. You know, management is so important. Leadership is so important. If you want to make the quickest and biggest impacEP 63 · 2 Nov 2023·other· 36:50–44:0641:33Pillar 3 — Empathy-based managementAl Elliott: So before we go on to number 3, can you just sum up for us flexible work experiences, Leigh? Leanne Elliott: Yeah, I think flexible work experience is about creating that flexibility responsibility for our peEP 54 · 31 Aug 2023·panel interview· 41:33–61:2843:57When an employee says 'I'm struggling' — empathy over fixingLeanne Elliott: I'm gonna throw that back to you as an experienced manager and coach. If you have an employee who is ex— who is either, you know, either you're observing unhappy feelings or more negative behaviors or hasEP 51 · 10 Aug 2023·other· 43:57–50:2017:46Myth 3 — Hire the right people and culture takes care of itselfAl Elliott: I love it. I love it. So number 3. Now this one's a bit of a contentious one because I genuinely don't know whether it is a lie or whether there's some truth within it. So Let's ask you, Leigh Leanne Elliott:EP 50 · 3 Aug 2023·other· 17:46–26:0355:25Spotting the signs of poor mental health in hybrid teamsLeanne Elliott: I started this episode with the lines of defence in risk management to really make the point that there is synergy, but we've also done it before. If we look at the number of deaths caused by accidents inEP 40 · 24 May 2023·panel interview· 55:25–63:0338:00Theme 6: Line managers are EVERYTHINGAl Elliott: So the 6th theme was it's down to the line manager. I've learned this from Leanne. If there's one thing you have to get right, it's having leaders and line managers who know how to both lead and also support.EP 37 · 3 May 2023·other· 38:00–48:0370:15"Some people will take advantage" — and why that's okayLeanne Elliott: I find that objection in general quite frustrating from leaders. that some people will take advantage. There'll be a 4-day work week, whether it be working from home, being fully remote, whether it be peoEP 36 · 25 Apr 2023·other· 70:15–72:5292:37No. 10: Get clear on how you want to engageLeanne Elliott: The list is long when it comes to the benefits of having— do you know what, not even great managers, just average managers, people who have some form of management competence in, in management. Um, yeah, EP 34 · 12 Apr 2023·other· 92:37–97:2138:18Are superstars tough to manage?Al Elliott: It is, it's a fancy word Leanne Elliott: I don't know, it might be the first time I've ever used that in a sentence. So, I guess what we're surmising from this is that yes, we can have superstars, but they'reEP 31 · 22 Mar 2023·other· 38:18–40:5133:07Why being a leader is genuinely hardAl Elliott: Exactly. That's why being a leader is hard. It's really hard. It's not a question of just being promoted until you're good at the actual technical side of it. You've got to be good at the actual empathy. You'EP 30 · 15 Mar 2023·panel interview· 33:07–35:2139:15Recommendation 3 — Think of yourself as a managerLeanne Elliott: So our 3rd recommendation is to think of yourself as a leader, as a manager, or if you're a business leader, to help your managers in, in this type of development, managers as coaches. This is all about oEP 21 · 13 Jan 2023·other· 39:15–50:1213:34The difference between a manager and a leaderLeanne Elliott: Yeah, that is, that is a very widely debated and discussed question. I think what's really interesting about the way the research is going is that actually there is becoming less of a distinction between EP 17 · 20 Dec 2022·other· 13:34–16:0616:07Leanne's best day as a managerLeanne Elliott: My best moment knowing that what we were doing was really something cool and I'd orchestrated this situation was when— so I worked for a welfare-to-work company called Pinnacle People, and we— I ran a conEP 17 · 20 Dec 2022·other· 16:07–20:1720:19Leanne's worst day as a managerLeanne Elliott: Well, that's easy. My worst day as a manager. So, same job, um, but at the beginning of this contract, it was from startup. I was a new manager. As I said before, I didn't really have any much experience,EP 17 · 20 Dec 2022·other· 20:19–22:5929:37The 7 mistakes most managers makeLeanne Elliott: I guess having— feeling that they need to have all the answers, feeling that they need to come up with every solution, not running those solutions past their people. And that's a mistake that I made, and EP 17 · 20 Dec 2022·other· 29:37–33:1439:18Closing thoughts — it can be managedLeanne Elliott: My final thoughts is that it is something that can be managed, it can be dealt with, um, but something that if it isn't— like anything in the workplace, if we pretend it doesn't, it isn't there, it's goinEP 10 · 3 Nov 2022·other· 39:18–39:54
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