“Nobody Believes You,” Jenni Field says to org leaders today. And she’s right! But how do you, as a mid-level leader, respond to workplace mistrust above and below you?
Do you immediately take all the blame?
This week’s episode of the Mode/Switch Pod offers a big-picture view of trust problems in work culture today. Usually, our podcast works inside-out, asking how organizational leaders can help their teams flourish. This week, we flip the perspective, examining the pressures outside-in.
Those pressures suggest the need for what this week’s guest calls “smells and tells.”
When you smell mistrust at work, your reflex may be to question yourself: am I the problem here? But for me, Suzanne Rabicoff suggests perspective-shifting questions: What if mistrust doesn’t trace to you exactly? What if starts outside your org?
Suzanne’s analysis will ease the pressure you put on yourself. Pressure to be reliable. Pressure to be credible. Pressure to be, um, odor-free.
This episode will help you spot the pressures external to your organization, especially technological pressures, that make trust hard inside your organization as well.
Suzanne will make you laugh. She’s a witty observer of human foibles. But she’s also enormously hopeful for human community. Maybe the best thing is, her advice stops you from taking responsibility for the wrong things. So pull up a chair to the Mode/Switch Table. Join Ken, Emily, Lashone, Madeline, and me, and let’s strengthen our grasp on what’s making it so hard to believe in leadership today.
Want to Dive Deeper?
If Suzanne Rabicoff’s outside-in perspective on organizational life and work impressed you, you might enjoy learning how her company, The Pie Grower has drawn wisdom from Alex Edmans’s book Grow the Pie.
You can learn more about Suzanne’s innovative product, Chief of Field, here. A lot of companies know they need a chief of staff, she says, but too few have recognized their need for a chief of field. Someone needs to take responsibility for IRL!
And if you’re wondering if she’s right that in-person events are going to become ever more essential for companies, read here.
If you want to learn how external factors affect internal culture, read this HBR piece, “Can You Know Too Much About Your Organization?”
We had a blast with Suzanne Rabicoff’s hilariously shrewd observations and analysis. Reach out to her to improve your organization’s relationships with external constituents here.
Why follow the M/S Pod in a world FULL of podcasts?
Because your boss wants you to integrate AI into organizational workflows. Check out Karen Sergeant’s advice.
Because you want to connect better with your immigrant employees. Check out Lola Adeyemo’s episode.
Because there’s always someone who triggers you on your team. You might want to listen to Jay Johnson about getting along with the Difficult People.
Because (admit it or not) work hurts. Learn to find inner healing that’ll heal your team as well by listening to our conversation with Meryl Herr.
This is a podcast that offers you two tools: intergenerational perspective and internal communication. We help mid-level leaders do more than cope when work’s a lot.
You might not be able to listen to this pod right now. But do us a solid: hit this link and give us a follow on Spotify or here on Apple Podcasts. You’ll make a snug place for us in your feed—and you’ll help others find these vital convos as well.
