Suzanne Lucas is the "Evil HR Lady." After a decade in corporate HR, she embarked on a new mission to enhance the world of work for all. She coaches and trains HR departments, speaks around the world, and is the mastermind behind the Evil HR Lady group on Facebook, which has become a community of more than 31,000 HR professionals. In this episode, we talked about the state of HR, the dangers of the idea and practice of “bringing your whole self to work,” and the value of improv comedy for developing leadership skills. Stay tuned to hear Chris and I try a bit of improv in this thought-provoking ..read more

What does it really take to be an effective senior leader? Beyond just getting promoted, what is it about people at higher levels that helps them genuinely succeed in those roles? In this episode, we explore: What skills people need to lead at different levels Paths toward gaining those skills, for both high-potential professionals and people currently in leadership roles Implications for people who want to lead at high levels, for those leaders themselves, and for organizations Links and Other Information All episodes plus MUCH more: Elevating What Works on Substack Like us on&nb ..read more

Sam Paustian-Underdahl is the Mary Tilley Bessemer Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Department of Management at Florida State University's College of Business, and we were honored to have her join us for a fantastic conversation about women, work, and why this topic matters. Sam’s research, which we discuss along with other related topics, focuses on gender and diversity in organizations, the work-family interface, and leadership, in the context of work and organizations. We explored the idea of the playing field of the workplace, how gender fits into it, and implications ..read more

Who are YOU, really? In this episode, Ben and Chris explore how "real" you should be at work and in other social circles, including:  The benefits and potential pitfall of authenticity How authenticity plays out in groups and organizations Implications for all of us, for leaders, and for organizations Links and Other Information Lehman, D. W., O’Connor, K., Kovács, B., & Newman, G. E. (2019). Authenticity. Academy of Management Annals, 13(1), 1-42. https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/annals.2017.0047  Why Brutal Honesty is Often a Brutal Mistake: https://www.ele ..read more

It's common to hear people describe their work organizations as a "family." And that description is often made as a proud statement, as if to imply that an organization should operate or feel like a family. But that's problematic, as we discuss in this episode. Specifically, we explore: Why our use of metaphors for organization matters How the way in which we talk about things can create or reinforce cultural norms Why “family” is a problematic way to think about your work organization Implications for people, leaders, and organizations Links and other information Örtenblad, A., Putnam, L. L ..read more

Shonna Waters and Brodie Riordan recently wrote a book all about coaching called The Coaching Shift, and in it, they explain and describe coaching from an evidence-based perspective. Both Shonna and Brodie are industrial and organizational psychologists, and they teach coaching together at Georgetown University. Shonna is also an executive at BetterUp, where she works to scale human transformation, and Brodie manages her own coaching and consulting practice, Ocular, while executive coaching with The Boda Group. They joined us for a wonderful conversation about The Coaching Shift, in which we t ..read more

Whether it’s coping with unqualified people being promoted, working hard only to be rewarded with more hard work, supervisors getting away with being rude, or something else–we’ve all been there. Unfairness is common in life and at work, and our perceptions of fairness really matter. In this episode, we discuss:  Different types of “justice” or fairness in organizations Outcomes of fair and unfair treatment Implications for people, leaders, and organizations.  Links and Other Information Sherf, E. N., Venkataramani, V., & Gajendran, R. S. (2019). Too busy to be fair? The effect ..read more

The marvel cinematic universe, or MCU, comprises 29 films that together have pulled in $27.432 billion in total revenue. And industrial and organizational psychologists Gordon Schmidt and Sy Islam argue that there’s plenty that we might learn from these films. In fact, they go deep into this topic in their book, Leaders Assemble: Leadership in the MCU. Tune into this great conversation about how we might learn about leadership from popular culture, and more specifically, from superheroes.  Links and Other Information Leaders Assemble! Leadership in the MCU (Amazon) More about Sy: Twitter ..read more

Few ideas in business are as commonly discussed as leadership. Just think about all of the business books and articles and videos and bits of advice–all dealing with this topic. And sometimes with common ideas we forget what exactly we’re talking about. We’re going back to the basics and talking about what is leadership, actually? In this episode, we discuss: What are we talking about when we talk about leadership What do we know about leadership and how it works How we each make progress in our leader development journeys Links and Other Information All episodes of The Indigo Podcast Like u ..read more

The Vincent William Baran Day of Service is named after Ben's son, who died in a tragic accident in November 2020. The mission of the Day of Service is to bring joy, passion, empathy, and love to the world through an annual day of in-person service. In this episode, Ben and Chris discuss how everyone can get involved in the 2nd Annual Vincent William Baran Day of Service, which is set for Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, with additional opportunities on Sept. 23 and 25.    The Vincent William Baran Day of Service will be an enduring, annual event, with the vision of it becoming one of the l ..read more