Rebuilding team autonomy after over-helping

Welcome back to This Week in Work, your Tuesday news round-up where workplace culture meets behavioural science. This week: political shockwaves for DEI, an unexpected quiet-quitting success story, retail workers pushed to the brink by Christmas music, a myth-busting Truth or Lie, and three big Workplace Surgery questions.

🔥 Stories Covered

1. Trump appoints DEI critic to lead the EEOC

The AP reports that Andrea Lucas is now chair of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Critics say she has already reduced protections for transgender workers and limited investigations into discriminatory practices. Supporters frame her appointment as a shift toward “merit-based, race-neutral equality.”
Link: https://apnews.com/article/andrea-lucas-eeoc-civil-rights-dei-discrimination-transgender-591b48113bf6fab1a17d84e58cf9ac8f

2. The quiet-quitter who rose to senior leadership

A mid-level manager shared how a decade of reduced overwork, firm boundaries and radical delegation lowered stress and unexpectedly accelerated both career progression and wealth. It raises practical questions about sustainability, workload design and the hidden rewards of saying no.
Link: https://cheezburger.com/43120389/50-year-old-tries-quiet-quitting-after-achieving-mid-level-management-goals-ends-up-quadrupling-net

3. The impact of music misfit at work

New research shows that when background music doesn’t match what employees need, mood declines and mental fatigue increases. In retail and hospitality settings, “misfit” days also reduce cooperation and customer-facing helpfulness.
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/keep-britain-working-review-final-report/keep-britain-working-final-report

🧠 Truth or Lie: Can you really spot a liar by their body language?

Inspired by Celebrity Traitors UK, where confident guesses were almost always wrong, we look at what the evidence shows. Across decades of studies, accuracy rarely rises above chance. Common cues like eye contact, posture shifts or nervous gestures have no reliable link to dishonesty. Real insight comes from analysing story structure, consistency and detail, not fidgeting or facial expressions.

💬 Workplace Surgery

This week’s dilemmas:
• I think I accidentally trained my team to stop thinking for themselves — how do I fix it?
• What’s the real role of Occupational Health from an employer’s perspective?
• How do I manage my first remote hire without becoming a micromanager?

🎧 Coming Up Thursday

A conversation with Nick Power, one of LinkedIn’s most distinctive voices and a leading figure in Weird LinkedIn, on authenticity, burnout and the changing face of professionalism.

🧠 Wellbeing Support

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

📬 Connect with Al & Leanne

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