Be careful what you wish for.

You may aspire to an executive job, maybe even the C-suite. And there’s certainly a lot of good that can come with that kind of role.

But it ain’t all sunshine and roses.

That’s certainly been the experience for Erica Rooney, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® Podcast. Erica is an author, speaker, coach and fractional CPO who spent years climbing the corporate ladder, only to find herself asking, “why exactly did I want this craziness?”

The work was intense and nearly never-ending. The system felt rigged against her (and other women leaders). And her ability to balance all of that with her role as a mom was simply a pipe dream.

It was her then 2-year-old daughter who ultimately inspired Erica to choose a better path. She realized she did not want her child to go through what she was dealing with. So, Erica created something new so she could change the world for the better.

Now, it’s her mission to help more woman get into power and stay there. This is how things will change. And if you spend more than 2 minutes with Erica, you will 1000 percent believe she can make this happen. She’s smart, strong and full of an infectious energy for her work.

She’s written a book, “Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors” that speaks to much of her experience. Some of here key points include:

🐱 Language matters and shapes culture. “People leader” says something very different from manager. “Works with” is not the same as “works for.” So choose your words appropriately.

🐱 Ditch the highlight reel style of communication and be willing to share some of the tough stuff. You’re only setting others up for failure if you tell them the bar is Insta-level perfection.

🐱 Let people work where, when and how they work most effectively. And judge folks based on outcomes. Erica would love to see the 40-hour workweek become obsolete. Me too.

🐱 Lastly, she is a big proponent of full pay transparency. It’s hard to level up a system if the system hides everyone’s level.

Nothing to hide here. Erica has a ton of ideas for how to make work better, whether you’re in the c-suite or just getting started.

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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 Erica on LinkedIn. And check out ericaandersonrooney.com to learn more about her work and her book. You can also explore her community for women leaders at joinhercollective.com.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to find some calm in the chaos of 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 Erica to our audience:Do you disagree with anything I said? Am I wrong? Or what do you think about my perspective?

People say we’re addicted to our phones, but I think it’s deeper than that. We’re addicted to the absence of silence.

The idea of spending one quiet minute alone with our thoughts terrifies us. So we grab our distraction devices and keep the inner voices at bay for a little longer.

It’s hard to know who we really are if we never listen to those voices. And how could we possibly know what we want from life if we don’t know who we are?

So, we end up chasing someone else’s dream. Our family’s, our friend’s, that person on TikTok who just seems like they have it all together, you know?

We’re always hungry, never satisfied.

If we want to get clear on what we actually want, we need to sit in silence and spend some time in the muck, according to Bonnie Wan, former ad agency strategy executive and author of The Life Brief.

The muck is where truth lives. Where our intuition lives. Where clarity emerges.

This is the heart of the Life Brief process. First we get messy. Then we get clear. Then we get active. Just like agency folks have done with clients for years.

The tools we’ve used to serve our clients are the same tools that will allow us to live the life we truly want. And do the work we were meant to do. Work that AI can never do—deep, intuitive work that solves real problems.

Do we really want to spend our time cranking out more mindless “content?” We are meant for so much more.

If you want to explore what that could look like, you should reach out to Bonnie about her January virtual retreat. And you should absolutely read her book—it’s amazing.

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 Bonnie on LinkedIn. And check out thelifebrief.com to learn more about her book and the awesome work she’s doing.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to find some calm in the chaos of 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 Bonnie to our audience:What matters most to you? You cannot do it all, but you can do all that matters. Are you clear about what matters most to you?

To watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

There was a 4 inch gap between the bottom of the couch and the floor in the storage closet turned office 3 of us shared at Wunderman many years ago.

So naturally, that space became the “goal” when we played hockey with a crumpled up piece of paper and a couple of old sticks.

I don’t remember how many games I won back then but I do remember creating a ton of work I’m really proud of to this day. We all did.

Because we (and our bosses) knew that those impromptu games were part of our jobs. Play time equals “let the junk in your head jostle around for a bit so it can turn into an interesting nugget or two” time.

And we knew we wouldn’t be judged for taking that time. In today’s language, this would be called psychological safety. Back then, it was just a basic understanding of how creative brains work.

This is the kind of behavior Jaime Raul Zepeda recognizes in his role as EVP at Best Companies Group. The best places to work are the ones who provide psychological safety, where leaders are vulnerable and understand what their teams need. Because they ask.

We need work to be more like this again. We’ve turned it into a hyper-optimized s**t-show of efficiency but we don’t even know why we do half of what we do.

We need to be less busy and more thoughtful.

Maybe I should stop coaching folks and just show up at companies with a few hockey sticks and some crumpled up paper.

Hmm…

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 Jaime on LinkedIn. And check out his company’s site at bestcompaniesgroup.com to learn more about their best places to work programs.

If you enjoyed the conversation and would like to find some calm in the chaos of 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 Jaime to our audience:When’s the last time you asked your team what it was like to work at your organization, and took some actionable steps on that data to make it better?

If you want remote work to work you have to work at it.

You can’t just show up and expect it to be the same as in office. It’s not the same. You’ve only got 2 of your 5 senses working together. You can’t just strike up a casual conversation with the person next to you. You can’t walk the halls as a leader and feel what’s going on.

That doesn’t mean it can’t work. It absolutely can. Plenty of companies are doing it right, right now.

But they’ve put in the work. And Tim Currie has put in the work to figure out what work needs to be put in. Tim is currently Chief Strategy Officer at In Balance IT in the Chicago area.

His book, Swift Trust, is all about how to build connections that go beyond the surface level BS that keeps us stuck in tactical mode.

Want to do real, meaningful work? Here’s what leaders can do that actually helps:

🐱 Create “in-between” moments online to build rapport. Use non-work channels on Slack, Teams, etc to connect over sports, movies, music, cats. Hit someone up to talk about how they’re doing, not what they’re doing.

🐱 Shift your one-on-ones from task-focused check-ins (that’s what email is for) to relational coaching sessions.

🐱 Become an internal influencer, using short videos and social media to keep teams in the loop and remind them you’re a real human who actually exists.

🐱 Give your big events (like all-hands) some production value. Invest some time and money in making those meetings engaging and worthwhile.

Remote work works. But not the way most of us are doing it. The good news is, none of the stuff Tim mentions is all that hard.

What do you think? What’s helped make remote work more workable for you?

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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 Tim on LinkedIn. And check out swifttrustbook.com to learn more about how to make remote work, work.

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 Tim to our audience:What are the authentic moments, the memories, the anecdotes that live in your consciousness about past work experience with colleagues that you don’t think you could have today?

Chaos is a candy store.

The disorienting swirl, a chance to be useful.

We’re swimming in that swirl right now. AI, layoffs, mergers, tariffs, the headlines bonking us on the head every time we try to surface.

We need a lifeline. No, scratch that. We need to become a lifeline.

That’s how this works. “They” are not going to save us. We are. And in the midst of the madness, opportunity is everywhere.

CB Bowman Ottomanelli has been gobbling up the chaos candy for much of her life. Finding ways to serve others when we need it most. How does she see the candy when most of us are getting clobbered?Strategic courage. She’s written books about it and has more on the way. It starts with framing change as an experiment, where learning is the primary goal. Life is a university. As we learn, we’re able to make small calculated leaps, which she calls Microcourage™.

Don’t leap without a net though. Make sure you have a personal board of directors to keep you honest and keep you from falling back into the swirl.

Who would be on your board?

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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 CB on LinkedIn. And check out her site at courage-consulting.com. You should also visit acec-association.org to learn more about the executive coaching organization she created.

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 CB to our audience:When is the last time you gave yourself permission to have strategic coverage?

All organizations are dysfunctional.

Those are the words of Michael Wade, consultant, advisor, author and former Equal Employment Opportunity Administrator for the City of Phoenix. And I tend to agree with him.

We’re just not that good at coming together to do stuff. We get in our way. We play politics. We blame. And we forget why we’re even doing the damn thing in the first place.

His solution? Three words: “wait a minute.”

Remember waiting? Pressing pause for a second to look inward, to see if we’re on the right track, to think. Remember thinking?

🐱 Imagine waiting a minute before deciding to redo the entire deck when all it needs is a few word changes.

🐱 Imagine waiting a minute before laying people off and realizing you can cut costs in a different way.

🐱 Imaging waiting a minute before scheduling a meeting that could easily be an email.

A few “wait a minutes” a day could save us hours of chasing down bad decisions. And help us do everything better than we’re doing it right now.

Here’s a good decision. Listen to Michael. He really knows his stuff.

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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. Today’s episode is a part of the ProHuman Series, in partnership with the ProHuman Foundation, where Michael is an advisor.

(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 Michael on LinkedIn. And check out his site at execupunditconsulting.com. And be sure to read his Substack newsletter as well. It’s awesome.

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 Michael to our audience:How can you better connect with other people? What can you do to help the community? What can you do to help other people? Because there are people out there who are hurting.

It’s 3am. You wake up to discover you’re on the couch, cuddling with your laptop. You cringe, ugh, another night wasted, working through dinner, ignoring your family. You should get to bed and grab a few good hours before the day starts up again.

But then. Hey, it wouldn’t hurt to just crack that laptop open for a minute, make sure no critical emails have come through. I’ll just skim through a few to make sure…

“Good morning, honey!”What? Who? Where? You glance at your phone—it’s 7am. You’re still on the couch. Spooning the laptop again. Your spouse doesn’t bat an eyelash. Just another Tuesday.

F%ck.

This is work addiction. It’s insanely common. And it’s where MaryBeth Hyland was not so long ago. Now, she helps folks fuel their ambition in a healthier way. By connecting to what matters most—our core values. Finding the stuff that truly energizes us and doing more of it.

When we do that, we don’t feel the need to chase some invisible, unattainable marker of success into the wee hours each night. We feel full at the end of the day. We feel excited to share ourselves with family, friends, our pets, our other interests (wait, we can have those?!)

MaryBeth has traveled this road and come out the other side thriving. Just check out the view behind her on the video version of this episode to see how well things are going.

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 Mary Beth on LinkedIn. And check out her site at sparkvisionnow.com to learn more about the awesome work she’s doing and get a free values assessment.

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 Mary Beth to our audience:What is the core value that’s serving you most in this season of your life?

To watch this episode on YouTube, please click here.

What if the problem with our politics is also the problem with our workplaces?

Our inability to truly see the people around us, keeping us from doing anything meaningful.

They’re far right, far left, too hardline, too accommodating, stupid, evil, “the problem.”

They’re account, creative, production, legal, stupid, clueless, “the problem.”

What if “us vs. them” became “what can I learn from someone I disagree with?”

Wilk Wilkinson is trying to make this “what if” real, with his podcast “Derate the Hate,” as an advisor to the ProHuman Foundation and in his role as Director of Media Operations at Braver Angels.

The key is focusing on shared purpose. Something I find a lot of common ground on when I talk with folks I disagree with politically.

And something that workplaces need to do a much better job of creating. What was the purpose at most of ad agencies I’ve worked at? No idea. And that’s a problem.

I invite each listener to start by getting clear on your own purpose. In life and at work. Why do you show up each day? What would the best day look like? What would the worst?

Once you answer those questions, start talking to the folks around you. And more importantly, start listening.

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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. Today’s episode is a part of the ProHuman Series, in partnership with the ProHuman Foundation, where Wilk is an advisor.

(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 Wilk on LinkedIn. And check out deratethehate.com to learn more about his work and check out his podcast.

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 Wilk to our audience:When you think about the 2,080 hours a year you’re putting into your current job, is that the place where you’re going to fulfill the purpose that you have in life? And if not, is there a way for you in your mind to make that the most meaningful place that you can be to spend your working life?

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