Why Leaders' Confidence Is Dropping

Welcome back to This Week in Work

This week: workplace confidence flips, QuitTok resurfaces, and LinkedIn shares its most chaotic interview stories. In Truth or Lie, we tackle the myth of the “four-hour sleeper.” And in the Workplace Surgery, we unpack micromanagement, occupational health, and senior-level flatness.

🔥 Stories Covered

1. QuitTok makes a comeback

Employees are once again filming their resignations and posting them online. It might look like drama, but it’s become a visible dataset for HR — real-time feedback on broken processes, toxic behaviours and unmet expectations. Instead of treating it as a PR problem, leaders can treat it as insight: what makes someone quit loudly is usually what made them feel unheard quietly.
Link: https://www.hrkatha.com/features/hr-pops-features/quittok-wake-up-call-for-hr-leaders/

2. Confidence rises at the bottom, falls at the top

Fast Company reports a surprising shift: entry-level workers are feeling more hopeful, while senior leaders’ confidence continues to slide. Younger employees have grown up adapting to chaos; leaders are carrying the load of uncertainty, hybrid tensions and AI-driven decision fatigue. Confidence is no longer about hierarchy — it’s about adaptability.
Link: https://www.fastcompany.com/91440615/why-entry-level-workers-confidence-is-rising-while-leaders-is-falling-workplace-leadership-confidence-entry-level-workers

3. LinkedIn’s most unforgettable interview moments

Maria Healey’s viral post collected hundreds of wild interview stories — from karaoke auditions to panel interrogations. The thread shows how interviews reveal culture instantly: the respect, the pressure, the humour, the red flags.
Link: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/maria-healey_whats-your-most-memorable-job-interview-share-7394400322569424896-J3j6

🔥 Truth or Lie — Do high achievers sleep less?

This week we examine the long-standing myth popularised by Thatcher, Musk and the productivity world: can you really perform at your best on four hours of sleep? We break down what decades of sleep science actually shows — and why biological “short sleepers” are the rare exception, not the blueprint.

💬 Workplace Surgery — This Week’s Questions

• “Am I wrong for calling out a micromanaging colleague?”

• “Do I need to offer Occupational Health as a small UK employer?”

• “I’ve reached the top but feel completely flat — what now?”

  
  

  
  

🎧 Coming Up Thursday

We're talking to Christian Laing, Co-founder & Director of Stand Out Socks and BBC's Dragons' Den Investment Winner 2024. Stand Out Socks is a social enterprise created after Christian saw his brother Ross, who has Down syndrome, repeatedly overlooked by employers.
We explore purpose, resilience, family upheaval, loss, inclusion and what it means to build work that gives people space to shine.

🧠 Support with Mental Health & Well-being

Mind UK: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/
Samaritans: Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne

LinkedIn (Show): https://www.linkedin.com/company/truthlieswork
Al Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thisisalelliott
Leanne Elliott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meetleanne
Email: hello@truthliesandwork.com
Book a call: https://savvycal.com/meetleanne/chat