ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders

The Work Beneath the Work w/ Lindsey Lerner

Lindsey Lerner is one of those people who makes you feel like the conversation you're having is the most important one you've had all week. She's an artist, documentarian, TED speaker, and creator of Field Notes from the Work (and the Wild [https://fieldnotesfromthework.substack.com/]), a project documenting the unseen rituals, invisible processes, and quiet realities that fuel creativity, community, and change. She's spent nearly two decades building startups, managing national music tours, shaping cultural policy, and leading creative strategy, always focused on the people and the persistence that makes things possible. Lindsey and I met in the early days of the pandemic, talked for hours about everything and nothing, and became fast friends and collaborators. Tune in to hear us talk about: * What it means to have a squiggly, nonlinear career (and why Lindsey thinks now is actually the best time to be a multi-hyphenate generalist) * How Lindsey went from art school dropout to anthropology student to music industry advocate to travel tech founder to field documentarian, and what connects all of it * What she's documenting, why it matters, and the five patterns that have shown up across every single story she's collected * Pattern 1: The work that people get paid for is rarely the real work * Pattern 2: Every story contains a permission moment — a day when someone stopped waiting to be chosen and started anyway * Pattern 3: The invisible process — the doubt, the preparation, the years of trying differently — is where the real work happens * Pattern 4: Fear appears right before meaningful work begins. It's not a warning. It's a signal. * Pattern 5: Meaningful work is always relational. You cannot do the real thing alone. * The questions leaders should be asking in interviews to get at the invisible — including "What do people often miss about what you do?" and "How do you know you're making progress when no one can see it?" * What Lindsey realized when she was hitting all the business markers of success and still feeling miserable, and what that taught her about the difference between what you do and who you are Find Lindsay: * Substack [https://fieldnotesfromthework.substack.com/] * LinkedIn: Lindsey Lerner [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsey-lerner/] * TEDxPrinceton: Why Doesn't Success Feel Like Enough? [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-5XWk9yOmM] Looking for support on your career journey, looking for support in answering your biggest questions, or noticing patterns you want to disrupt in your work or leadership? Check out our upcoming public events [https://www.truereloveution.com/public-programs] and on-demand coaching services [https://www.truereloveution.com/on-demand]! ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders is produced for leaders, managers, and changemakers seeking insight, tools, perspective, and real talk on topics such as human-centered leadership, team culture, conflict transformation, burnout prevention, and more. There is no fancy editing or over-polished scripting. Tune in to hear me in all my imperfection, talking for as long as it feels "right" on the topics that light me up or set me on fire. If you like what you hear and want more wisdom and insights for your journey, sign up for our weekly-ish newsletter [https://www.truereloveution.com/newsletter]!! Have a question you'd like us to answer in a future episode? Submit questions (anonymous welcome) HERE [https://forms.gle/Ped9H7ncvjnFh4DF8]. ChatGMB is a production of Reloveution, a consulting and professional development services provider that leverages the magic of humanity to strengthen teams, deepen leadership impact, and catalyze professional well-being. From facilitating team retreats to leading leadership development programs to robust advisory services, we help you build the emotional and cultural conditions for human thriving AND exemplary business outcomes. Learn more at www.truereloveution.com [https://www.truereloveution.com/] You might also be interested in our focused conflict transformation practice RepairWorks. When tension rises, communication breaks down, or trust is broken, RepairWorks provides mediation, facilitated dialogue, advisory services, and training to help individuals, workplaces, teams, and established communities move through and transform conflict with clarity, accountability, and humanity. Learn more at www.conflictrepairworks.com [https://www.conflictrepairworks.com] About the Show GMB stands for “the Great Marissa Badgley” — a nickname my husband lovingly uses to remind me that I am great, good, competent, courageous, and enough. The name is also a playful nod to ChatGPT, which so many of us rely on for answers (maybe more than we should). Think of this as the human alternative: honest real talk, wisdom sharing, and actionable strategies on the specific leadership and culture topics that surface again and again in my consulting, coaching, and facilitation work.

When the Therapist Is Also the Boss w/ Laura Goldstein, LCMFT

Laura Goldstein and I met during pre-orientation week at Franklin & Marshall College, both of us drawn to community service before we could possibly know what that meant for our careers or futures. We lost touch for over a decade, reconnected through the magic of millennial social media lurking, and have ended up doing meaningful work together. She's attended our public retreats, brought me in to facilitate a day-long retreat with her team, and has become someone whose perspective I trust. Which is why I invited her to join me on ChatGMB! Laura is a licensed marriage and family therapist, founder of Montgomery County Counseling Center, and creator of TheraCourses. She's been doing this work for 14+ years, and she runs her practice in a refreshing way that is untraditional in the mental health world. This conversation is full of wisdom for any leader who is also a helper, a business owner, or someone trying to figure out how to build a culture that reflects their values and the world they want to live in. In the episode, we explored: * How Laura went from pre-med to therapist to practice owner, and what she would have told her college self * Why she chose to grow slowly and intentionally, and what she thinks leaders get wrong when they hit the gas too fast * What it's actually like to run a mental health practice with a people-over-profit model, including a recent big shift from commission-based pay to salary * The irony of mental health organizations being some of the most toxic workplaces that exist, and how she's trying to do it differently * The line between being a therapist and being a boss, and what happens when therapy language shows up in a management conversation * Why compassion and accountability are not opposites, and how DBT's core dialectic maps directly onto the leadership work I do * What it means that "you can't read the label from inside the jar," and why even the most skilled helpers need support from the outside * Laura's number one piece of advice for modern leaders Connect With & Learn More About Laura * Montgomery County Counseling Center [https://mccounselingcenter.com/] * TheraCourses [https://theracourses.com] * LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-goldstein-98084289/] Interested in Going Deeper w/ Reloveution? * Our Newsletter [https://www.truereloveution.com/newsletter] * One Day Leadership Intensive: The Feedback Lab [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OxL4V4Mef7UX9SG7kYxscKUNSs-pVHpkJ761p7e9Hjc/edit?usp=sharing] * Workshop Series: Emotional Integrity at Work: Building a Culture of Accountability & Psychological Safety [https://docs.google.com/document/d/19Wwk2I1-sTv8kJ-Ytqxd9vQkHCvm6rImMygg9X--M_Q/edit?usp=sharing] ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders is produced for leaders, managers, and changemakers seeking insight, tools, perspective, and real talk on topics such as human-centered leadership, team culture, conflict transformation, burnout prevention, and more. There is no fancy editing or over-polished scripting. Tune in to hear me in all my imperfection, talking for as long as it feels "right" on the topics that light me up or set me on fire. If you like what you hear and want more wisdom and insights for your journey, sign up for our weekly-ish newsletter [https://www.truereloveution.com/newsletter]!! Have a question you'd like us to answer in a future episode? Submit questions (anonymous welcome) HERE [https://forms.gle/Ped9H7ncvjnFh4DF8]. ChatGMB is a production of Reloveution, a consulting and professional development services provider that leverages the magic of humanity to strengthen teams, deepen leadership impact, and catalyze professional well-being. From facilitating team retreats to leading leadership development programs to robust advisory services, we help you build the emotional and cultural conditions for human thriving AND exemplary business outcomes. Learn more at www.truereloveution.com [https://www.truereloveution.com/] You might also be interested in our focused conflict transformation practice RepairWorks. When tension rises, communication breaks down, or trust is broken, RepairWorks provides mediation, facilitated dialogue, advisory services, and training to help individuals, workplaces, teams, and established communities move through and transform conflict with clarity, accountability, and humanity. Learn more at www.conflictrepairworks.com [https://www.conflictrepairworks.com] About the Show GMB stands for “the Great Marissa Badgley” — a nickname my husband lovingly uses to remind me that I am great, good, competent, courageous, and enough. The name is also a playful nod to ChatGPT, which so many of us rely on for answers (maybe more than we should). Think of this as the human alternative: honest real talk, wisdom sharing, and actionable strategies on the specific leadership and culture topics that surface again and again in my consulting, coaching, and facilitation work.

Management ≠ Micromanagement: Why Knowing the Difference Changes Everything

So many leaders I work with and talk to fear micromanaging or surveilling their teammates. And that's good because nobody should be micromanaged or surveilled. Today's episode is all about how "I don't want to micromanage" is often an excuse for under-managing or not managing at all. Most of the time, when people say this, what they're actually describing is just... management. So where's the line? How do we empower ownership without taking over? What do we need to let go of in order to manage more effectively? That's what we're digging into in this episode! Key Takeaways * The traps of "I don't want to micromanage" and why people need to be managed * The four distinctions between management and micromanagement * Setting clear expectations vs. controlling the how and when, and the difference between editing someone's work and coaching/empowering them * How to check in without hovering * What to do when someone is genuinely underperforming, because micromanagement is not a performance management strategy * Why compassionate accountability, meaningful consequences, and a culture of regular feedback are the real answer to underperformance * The equity dimension of micromanagement that isn't talked about enough * What it means to extend trust, autonomy, and development opportunities equitably across your whole team Follow-Up Resources * On-demand coaching with Reloveution [https://www.truereloveution.com/on-demand] * The Millennial Manager Collective [https://www.millennialmanagercollective.com] * The Feedback Lab [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OxL4V4Mef7UX9SG7kYxscKUNSs-pVHpkJ761p7e9Hjc/edit?usp=sharing] ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders is produced for leaders, managers, and changemakers seeking insight, tools, perspective, and real talk on topics such as human-centered leadership, team culture, conflict transformation, burnout prevention, and more. There is no fancy editing or over-polished scripting. Tune in to hear me in all my imperfection, talking for as long as it feels "right" on the topics that light me up or set me on fire. If you like what you hear and want more wisdom and insights for your journey, sign up for our weekly-ish newsletter [https://www.truereloveution.com/newsletter]!! Have a question you'd like us to answer in a future episode? Submit questions (anonymous welcome) HERE [https://forms.gle/Ped9H7ncvjnFh4DF8]. ChatGMB is a production of Reloveution, a consulting and professional development services provider that leverages the magic of humanity to strengthen teams, deepen leadership impact, and catalyze professional well-being. From facilitating team retreats to leading leadership development programs to robust advisory services, we help you build the emotional and cultural conditions for human thriving AND exemplary business outcomes. Learn more at www.truereloveution.com [https://www.truereloveution.com/] You might also be interested in our focused conflict transformation practice RepairWorks. When tension rises, communication breaks down, or trust is broken, RepairWorks provides mediation, facilitated dialogue, advisory services, and training to help individuals, workplaces, teams, and established communities move through and transform conflict with clarity, accountability, and humanity. Learn more at www.conflictrepairworks.com [https://www.conflictrepairworks.com] About the Show GMB stands for “the Great Marissa Badgley” — a nickname my husband lovingly uses to remind me that I am great, good, competent, courageous, and enough. The name is also a playful nod to ChatGPT, which so many of us rely on for answers (maybe more than we should). Think of this as the human alternative: honest real talk, wisdom sharing, and actionable strategies on the specific leadership and culture topics that surface again and again in my consulting, coaching, and facilitation work.

Why I'm Ditching My Oxygen Mask [Soapbox Episode]

You've heard it a thousand times: put your own oxygen mask on before assisting others. It sounds wise. It sounds right. But what if this well-meaning metaphor is actually making burnout (and burnout culture) worse?! In this episode, I get on my soapbox about the oxygen mask metaphor, including what it gets right, what it gets dangerously wrong, and why I think we need something better. You'll hear about my own experiences of martyrdom-driven burnout, the four specific problems I see with the metaphor, and an alternative framework for sustainable, equity-centered care. Specifically, you'll learn: * The four problems with the oxygen mask as a burnout prevention framework * It centers the individual, not the system. Oxygen masks don't fix mechanical failures. * It implies crisis and scarcity, and you cannot think expansively from inside survival mode. * It's transactional and ties self-care to usefulness and worth to productivity. * It doesn't account for equity, identity, or the unequal distribution of access to rest, care, and resources. * A better metaphor: Feed the Fire, Don't Become the Fuel * What sustainable, communal, healing-centered leadership can actually look like (no oxygen masks required) Resources for Your Journey * One-Day Leadership Renewal Retreats & Annual Reloveution Retreat [https://www.truereloveution.com/public-programs] * Burnout Blueprinting Call [https://calendly.com/jointhereloveution/burnout-blueprint-prepaid] * Bring a Workshop or Learning Series to Your Team --> Start with an email [https://info@truereloveution.com] or connection call [https://bit.ly/reloveutionconnectioncall]! ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders is produced for leaders, managers, and changemakers seeking insight, tools, perspective, and real talk on topics such as human-centered leadership, team culture, conflict transformation, burnout prevention, and more. There is no fancy editing or over-polished scripting. Tune in to hear me in all my imperfection, talking for as long as it feels "right" on the topics that light me up or set me on fire. If you like what you hear and want more wisdom and insights for your journey, sign up for our weekly-ish newsletter [https://www.truereloveution.com/newsletter]!! Have a question you'd like us to answer in a future episode? Submit questions (anonymous welcome) HERE [https://forms.gle/Ped9H7ncvjnFh4DF8]. ChatGMB is a production of Reloveution, a consulting and professional development services provider that leverages the magic of humanity to strengthen teams, deepen leadership impact, and catalyze professional well-being. From facilitating team retreats to leading leadership development programs to robust advisory services, we help you build the emotional and cultural conditions for human thriving AND exemplary business outcomes. Learn more at www.truereloveution.com [https://www.truereloveution.com/] You might also be interested in our focused conflict transformation practice RepairWorks. When tension rises, communication breaks down, or trust is broken, RepairWorks provides mediation, facilitated dialogue, advisory services, and training to help individuals, workplaces, teams, and established communities move through and transform conflict with clarity, accountability, and humanity. Learn more at www.conflictrepairworks.com [https://www.conflictrepairworks.com] About the Show GMB stands for “the Great Marissa Badgley” — a nickname my husband lovingly uses to remind me that I am great, good, competent, courageous, and enough. The name is also a playful nod to ChatGPT, which so many of us rely on for answers (maybe more than we should). Think of this as the human alternative: honest real talk, wisdom sharing, and actionable strategies on the specific leadership and culture topics that surface again and again in my consulting, coaching, and facilitation work.

The Seven Bridges of Leadership Communication

If you've ever been in a conversation at work where you could feel a gap and had no idea how to close it, this episode is for you. Bridge communication isn't about giving in or making everything comfortable. It's about having the language and tools to build bridges (sometimes one plank at a time) between feelings, perspectives, and intentions. In this episode, we cover seven communication bridges and how to build them, including sample language you can use if you find yourself on one shore while others seem to be on another! Bridge 1: Emotion → Constructive Response — From feeling it to doing something useful with it Example: "There's a lot of energy in this conversation right now, and I think it might help if we name how we’re both feeling before we try to problem-solve." Bridge 2: My Perspective → Their Perspective — From being right to being curious Example: "I feel like we're looking at the same situation pretty differently. I don't want to just talk past each other. Can you help me understand what you're seeing that I might be missing?" Bridge 3: Hard Truth → Trusted Relationship — From unfiltered honesty to honesty they can hear Example: "I'm telling you this because I respect you and I genuinely want you to succeed here. What I need you to hear is ___." Bridge 4: Ambiguity → Enough Clarity to Move — From "we don't know yet" to "here's what we do know" Example: "I know this feels uncertain, and I want to be honest with you about where we are. What I know is [X]. What I don't know yet is [Y]. While we wait for more clarity, here's what I need us to focus on: [Z]." Bridge 5: Individual Need → Team Good — From "what this person needs" to "what we all need" Example: "I want to honor what you need here, and I also have to think about what's fair and sustainable for the whole team. Here's how I'm trying to hold both: ___." Bridge 6: Intent → Impact — From "that's not what I meant" to "I understand what it did" Example: "I'm realizing my intention and the impact were really different here, and the impact is what matters right now. I'm sorry that it landed that way. Can we talk about it?" Bridge 7: Silence → Speech — From what's true to what gets said out loud Example: "I've been noticing some tension on the team and I'd rather surface it than pretend it isn't there. Can we talk about what's going on?" Learning how to build these bridges helps enhance communication in teams, transitioning from emotions to constructive actions, understanding differing perspectives, and fostering collaborative environments. By actively working to close these gaps, leaders can build stronger connections and navigate challenges more effectively!! Follow-Up Resources * Our Weekly-ish Newsletter [https://bit.ly/jointhereloveutionnow] * On-Demand Coaching [https://www.truereloveution.com/on-demand] (15-minutes to 2-hours) * Conflict Competence Skills Inventory [https://successful-pioneer-514.kit.com/31c50bbef3] * Feedback Preparation Template [https://successful-pioneer-514.kit.com/03e264cb4d] And if you need help with any of this, I'm here! Reach out to info@truereloveution.com [info@truereloveution.com] or book a connection call [https://bit.ly/reloveutionconnectioncall]! ChatGMB: Wisdom & Insights for Modern Leaders is produced for leaders, managers, and changemakers seeking insight, tools, perspective, and real talk on topics such as human-centered leadership, team culture, conflict transformation, burnout prevention, and more. There is no fancy editing or over-polished scripting. Tune in to hear me in all my imperfection, talking for as long as it feels "right" on the topics that light me up or set me on fire. If you like what you hear and want more wisdom and insights for your journey, sign up for our weekly-ish newsletter [https://www.truereloveution.com/newsletter]!! Have a question you'd like us to answer in a future episode? Submit questions (anonymous welcome) HERE [https://forms.gle/Ped9H7ncvjnFh4DF8]. ChatGMB is a production of Reloveution, a consulting and professional development services provider that leverages the magic of humanity to strengthen teams, deepen leadership impact, and catalyze professional well-being. From facilitating team retreats to leading leadership development programs to robust advisory services, we help you build the emotional and cultural conditions for human thriving AND exemplary business outcomes. Learn more at www.truereloveution.com [https://www.truereloveution.com/] You might also be interested in our focused conflict transformation practice RepairWorks. When tension rises, communication breaks down, or trust is broken, RepairWorks provides mediation, facilitated dialogue, advisory services, and training to help individuals, workplaces, teams, and established communities move through and transform conflict with clarity, accountability, and humanity. Learn more at www.conflictrepairworks.com [https://www.conflictrepairworks.com] About the Show GMB stands for “the Great Marissa Badgley” — a nickname my husband lovingly uses to remind me that I am great, good, competent, courageous, and enough. The name is also a playful nod to ChatGPT, which so many of us rely on for answers (maybe more than we should). Think of this as the human alternative: honest real talk, wisdom sharing, and actionable strategies on the specific leadership and culture topics that surface again and again in my consulting, coaching, and facilitation work.