You’re Already Playing Office Politics

What a Fractional CMO actually is — and who needs one

What a Fractional CMO actually is — and who needs one Fractional is not a polite word for freelance. It's not junior support. It's not "a little bit of marketing help." In this episode I explain what fractional leadership actually means, who needs it, and why more experienced executives are choosing portfolio careers over the traditional model. Two minutes. No slides. Just a point of view.

You’re Already Playing Office Politics

Office politics has a bad reputation, mostly because people confuse it with manipulation. So a lot of people pretend they don’t participate in it at all. But the truth is, everyone navigates power, influence, relationships, and perception at work to some extent. The real question is whether we do it unconsciously, or honestly and with integrity. This video is about the latter.

The spiral after being wrong in public

Being wrong in public is one thing. The hours and days after are another. Most leadership advice tells you to own it quickly and move on, which skips the part where your nervous system still thinks you're in danger. In this episode, Laurence talks about why recovering from a public stumble is slower than anyone admits, and why nobody tells you that the uncomfortable part is actually normal.

That nervous feeling before executive meetings? Here's why!

Even at VP level, the meetings that make your heart race don't go away. The ones where you're there to challenge something, defend your team, or push back on a decision in a room full of senior people. In this episode, Laurence talks about the invisible internal work that happens before those meetings — and why it doesn't disappear with seniority, especially when you've never quite fit the standard leadership mold.

The gap between who you are and who work wants you to be

We keep saying “bring your whole self to work.” But that’s not really what’s expected, is it? In this episode, I talk about the gap between what companies say and what they actually reward. Why energy and performance are welcome, but grief, anxiety, and exhaustion are not. And what that does to our mental health over time. This isn’t just about burnout or work life balance. It’s about the constant pressure to edit yourself to fit a version of “professional” that leaves very little room for being human. If you’ve ever felt like you have to leave parts of yourself at the door to be taken seriously at work, this one’s for you.