Surfing Corporate

To our amazing Surfing Corporate Listeners: we want to know who you are ( not in a creepy way). Fill out this quick survey here and you might win our sweet Surfing Corporate swag bag! ----When Covid hit, having to adapt from in-person dynamics to being fully remote from one day to the next put corporate citizens to the test in countless ways. But as hard as this process was, it was also an opportunity for leaders to throw default practices outside the window and question what could be done in a new and better way.The new normal seems to be hybrid for most companies (at least for now), and this means that it’s no longer enough to keep up with new processes and efficiencies, but now, leaders must also figure out how to create strong bonds between their employees who will not share a physical space together full-time. Is it possible to build true camaraderie under those circumstances? Beyond just team building, how can leaders inspire and bring out the best in their teams (and themselves) in a post-Covid remote/hybrid environment?For this episode, we speak with Rebecca Stone, SVP Cisco Customer Solutions Marketing & CMO Cisco, Meraki. Rebecca was appointed to her senior leadership role and tasked with rebuilding a team just three months before Covid hit. When she accepted the challenge, she had no idea what she’d be up against. Rebecca is one of those rare senior leaders who truly keeps it real: she avoids corporate jargon, she’s fine sharing stories about things that she’s tried and did not get right, and she’s honest about her non-impressive averageness when it comes to being a runner.EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS 6:53 summary of Rebeca’s corporate journey 9:40 How to lead a new team in the face of a major, unexpected change.  13:22 How Rebecca rebuilt a team during a global pandemic 15:55 Best practices when it comes to creating a strong culture in Covid and post-Covid times.  25:50 The human factor: how to build strong interpersonal relationships in a remote setting 29:26 Rebecca’s advice to employees navigating a remote or hybrud setting 32:25 Rebecca’s “Own your weirdness” and what that means. 39:28 Corporate Confessions SOURCES It’s Tough to Build a Corporate Culture in a Remote-Work World - WIRED Designing The Hybrid Office - HBR Culture in the Hybrid Workplace – McKinsey Our original theme music is by Chaliwa Music. Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Christine Coppola, a true rock star in the world of performance reviews, shares candid advice on how to tackle the dreaded performance review process. Topics include the flaws of traditional performance reviews, handling a review lacking substance, dos and don'ts for managers and employees, and why companies aren't following research on performance reviews.

Being a great boss is not easy; it’s a delicate and complicated act of balancing abilities like,• Being incredibly inspiring, but at the same time highly down to Earth and approachable• Having a special demeanor that says, “I’m understanding and humane, yet I’ll hold your ass accountable if you take advantage of that.”• Being a good listener who at the same time won’t be easily manipulated• Caring deeply about the people on your team, but also caring about hitting KPI’s and delivering results for the organization• Having the ability to pull your team through a crisis (many times at the cost of you sobbing in the bathroom and questioning your life choices)Again, NOT EASY. And given that October 16th was National Boss Day, we’ve prepared this special episode where we share research about the 9 key behaviors that make bosses awesome. Listen and find out how many of these apply to you or to your boss. EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:- 3:27 Surfing Corporate’s list of What Makes Bosses Awesome - 4:02 #1 An Awesome boss has the ability to inspire- 6:05 #2. Has a high EQ- 8:20 #3. Effectively navigates politics- 10:28 #4. Cares about employees- 14:32 #5. Creates an Inclusive team environment- 16:22 #6. Improves decision-making- 18:22 #7. Good communicator: coaches, provides feedback. - 23:32 #8. Has a clear vision & strategy for the team- 26:15 #9. Has the capacity to slow things down during a crisisRESOURCES: How To Be A Good Boss - Forbes What Makes a Great Boss – Monster.com Google Spent a Decade Researching What Makes a Great Boss. It Came Up With These 10 Things – Inc. Com Ask an Expert: What Skills Do I Need to Become a Great Manager?   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you know that 40% of Americans have been laid off or terminated from a job at least once in their careers, and 28% of Americans have been laid off in the past two years alone?For this second part of our layoff special, we discuss what the experts suggest you do to better cope with being let go and how to successfully move on to your next professional chapter. While things may seem quite gloomy at the time (and you might find yourself binging heart-wrenching Adele and Radiohead playlists), there is light at the end of the tunnel. We also tackle what happens to the employees that don’t get cut –– those employees considered “the lucky ones,” who are left picking up the pieces of downsizing. We all know that with a layoff, we lose people we admire and respect: colleagues, work BFFs, mentors, (and sometimes even bosses), yet many times we’re expected to turn the page immediately, take on additional work, and be grateful we still have a job.Meanwhile, managers don’t have it easy either: they’re in charge of corporate cheerleading, doing their best to motivate and reassure a team that is emotionally distressed, sad, and anxious about the future.The emotional aftermath of a layoff affects everyone, so the more all the involved parties know about how to best cope with this difficult situation, the better prepared we are for a positive outcome.  HIGHLIGHTS 1:50 Facing the difficult moment of being laid off 3:17 What experts say are the best things you can do to move forward after being laid off 23:55 Dealing with the after math of a layoff when you’re the employee left behind picking up the pieces.  38:25 Tips for management to handle employee morale after a layoff.  SOURCES How to Bounce Back After Being Laid Off - HBR Coping with Layoff Survivor Sickness - Monster How to Cope When Your Close Coworker is Laid Off (And Your Still Employed) - Fast Company How to Support Your Remaining Employees After a Layoff - HBR How to Help Your Employees Overcome Survivor Guilt After a Layoff - Forbes Remember to fill out our survey here and get the chance to win a Surfing Corporate swag bag.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been laid off? Or had an awesome coworker get laid off? Or perhaps YOU were the one that had to lay employees off. If you haven't experienced any of these scenarios, then you’re lucky, because unless you live under a rock, you’re probably aware that layoffs are happening across multiple industries right now. UGH. It’s an extremely difficult experience for companies, for leaders, and, especially, for the employees actually being laid off.For this episode, we tackle the layoff topic head-on: share real stories from our listeners, we talk about how you can read signs that personnel cuts are coming, and we discuss how can you be prepared both emotionally and financially to face a layoff. Episode Highlights 09: 08 how to see the subtle hints that layoffs are coming  14:11 Not-so-subtle Hints that layoffs are on the horizon  18:29 What can you do to be better prepared Good Reads 50% of employers expect job cuts, survey finds. Here’s how to prepare for a potential layoff - CNBC How to Tell If Layoffs Are Coming to Your Company – Monster.  Half of employers are planning layoffs—here’s how to negotiate your exit if it happens to you - CNBC - Surfing Corporate’s original music theme is by Chaliwa Music. The rest of our music is by Blue Dot Sessions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast explores strategies for handling difficult personalities at work, including tips on dealing with narcissistic individuals. Featuring insights from Richard Borjas, a media executive with 25+ years of experience, the episode discusses managing egos, setting boundaries, and fostering positive relationships in the workplace.

LinkedIn is the world's most popular professional social network where its community shares important ideas about work. It’s also a platform where some professionals feel the constant need to let others know they’ve been promoted, that they’re connected to very powerful and influential people, and that they’re “thrilled for this amazing opportunity to ___________ (insert corporate phrase).” But today’s guest does NONE OF THIS. Dave Smith is a Software Development manager at Amazon who decided to not interact on LinkedIn in a non-traditional way. He purposefully disrupts that status quo with bizarre posts, comments or memes, that spark joy for his followers. Click HERE to fill out our brief survey and opt to win an epic Surfing Corporate swag bag.  EPISODE NOTES- 17:20 various examples of the hilarious posts Dave has done on LinkedIn- We tried to include David's job post here, but we found out the hard way that we can't add images here. Follow BigDave Smith on LinkedIn and you can see it- You can Find the Power of the Eagle Leadership Video here. - 36:11 About Dave’s intention to climb the corporate ladder - 38:11 Why Dave equates approaches LinkedIn like dating- 44:24 Corporate Confessions- 51:12 Dave shares his epic corporate wipeout with his “Boss’ Boss’ Boss’” dog.- 55:35 Dave’s amazing op surfing strategy for corporate surfers GOOD READS: Mind-Blowing LinkedIn Statistics and Facts (2022) Your (much needed) LinkedIn Overhaul - 5 tips to avoid the pretentious stuff on LinkedIn, while becoming a better user. People Are Flooding LinkedIn With Strange Stories. We’re Calling Them Broetry.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Picture this: you're the young and trendy person at the office, enjoying the start of your career and taking on all sorts of challenges, but you decide to put your career on pause to raise a family. Flash-forward ten years, and you decide to re-enter the workforce only to discover that everything has radically changed--from corporate jargon, tech and productivity app to the fact that you now feel like you're the dinosaur in the room. Pretty brutal.That's what happened to this episode's guest, Rachael Lubarsky, a funny and talented copywriter whose work has been featured in some of today's top digital media parenting brands, "Scary Mommy" and "The Dad." It’s hard enough to feel like you have to prove your worth at a corporate job, but how do you navigate being the oldest (and, by default, being perceived as the most experienced person in the room), while at the same time, feeling a complete lack of confidence because of it? What does it feel like to report to people that are so much younger than you are? And people really have unicorn-themed parties at an office?Link to our listener survey ---> https://form.jotform.com/221787196861166 Fill it out and you might win a Surfing Corporate swag bag valued at $1,000.00!! (Ok, maybe less than that. Like a lot less. But it’s still cool stuff.)    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been brutally honest with a coworker or an employee? Or do you tend to sugarcoat difficult conversations like a Starbucks Triple Caramel Frappuccino with whipped cream and sprinkles? For today’s episode we tackle the concepts of brutal honesty, radical transparency, and radical candor. We do a deep dive into what they really mean, where they came from, which leaders implement them “correctly”, and what type of outcome they lead to. RESOURCES Coinbase reportedly wants staff to rate each other using an app, adopting a controversial management principle called ‘radical transparency’ – Fortune. The world's most successful hedge fund just made a big change — here's a look inside its unique culture Bridgewater's Ray Dalio Spreads His Gospel of 'Radical Transparency' - The New York Times RAY DALIO: It's 'Fantastic' When We Play Conversations We've Recorded Back To Our Employees https://www.businessinsider.com.au/bridgewater-ranked-employees-by-performance-2018-3 Ray Dalio, head of the world's largest hedge fund, explains his succession plan for Bridgewater and how its 'radically transparent' culture is misunderstood Youtube with Andrew Ross Sorkin Radical Candor: Why brutal honesty is tech's hottest management trend People Have Started Being Brutally Honest To Each Other At Work https://www.radicalcandor.com/ HIGHLIGHTS 1:45 Introduction of Ray Dalio and Kim Scott 2:00 Brutal honesty and radical tramsparency 3:38 Four key BridgeWater & Associates principles 4:18 Principle #1 5:29 Principle #2 6:23 Principle #3 9:38 “Shit sandwich” definition 10:25 Principle #4 12:45 Meetings are taped 18:02 Kim Scott’s Radical Candor 18:57 The Sheryl Sandberg story 22:10 What happens if you avoid radical candor. 22:17 Obnoxious aggression 22:46 Manipulative insincerity 23:20 Ruinous empathy 26:32 Pushback on these theories Link to our listener survey and you may win a Surfing Corporate swag bag! ---> https://www.jotform.com/form/221787196861166    Our original theme song is by Chaliwa Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the first time in history, four generations -Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials, and Gen Zers -are co-working together and making things more complicated, they are navigating an unprecedented post-pandemic work and workplace experience. Spoiler alert: it’s not easy. Each one of these generations is very different, with very particular needs, motivations, triggers, and sensitivities.For this episode, we decided to have a panel so we can hear directly from representatives of these generations where they stand, what are the greatest misconceptions about them, and why Gen Xers are the absolute best (no biases here at all).We had the privilege of speaking with two impressive professionals, each representing his respective generation. For the Gen Zers, we interviewed a truly inspiring up-and-coming media industry professional, Jesse L Kearse IV, Sports Manager of Creative Partnerships @NBCUniversal. Representing the millennials, we spoke with an accomplished real estate executive, Gio Lago, who at 33 years, is the SVP of Operations at Precedent Management.We hope you find this discussion as enlightening and entertaining as we did.Resources: - NYT article: “The 37-Year-Olds Are Afraid of the 23-Year-Olds Who Work for Them” - Business.com: "Managing Millennials and Gen Z employees" - UpWorthy: "Gen X is the 'most stressed' generation alive but they're also the best at handling it" - Deloitte: "Understanding Generation Z in the workplace New employee engagement tactics for changing demographics" - Forbes: "8 Ways Generation Z Will Differ From Millennials In The Workplace HighLights: 1:30 "Friendly Reminder" about the ages of each generation 2:29 Panel presentation 4:17 Historical context highlights for each generation 6:32 Generational differences / fun facts  7:30 Why everyone is afraid of milliennials 9:00 Gen Zer Jesse Kearse gives his POV on Gen Zers confidence and overall work philosophy 12:22 Millennial Gio Lago gives his POV on how he differs from his Gen Z new hires 15:15 Discussion about the so-called hypersensitivity of Gen Z. 22:15 Glenda talks about bridging the gaps between Gen X and Gen Z. 25: 35 Gen A as future leaders (empathy + resilience). 28:19 the effects of social media on the Gen Z attitude towards work. 29:22 Adjusting to the new hybrid scenario 38:18 Mentorship and reverse mentorship 38:46 Dissecting the new trend of "a job is just a job."        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices