We’re starting a new series here on The Workplace Therapy Podcast called Weaponized Words, where we examine the lexicon we use in the workplace and try to unpack how certain words and phrases might have and unintended impact in our organizations. This week, my co-host Skylar Lewandowski and I take a look at the often-weaponized word, “productivity.” We discuss what productivity is, what it isn’t, where leaders commonly trip up when evaluating productivity and what we can learn to do differently.

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In this week's episode of Workplace Therapy, our hosts discuss an assessment developed by Gallup called Clifton Strenghts (formerly known as Strengths Finder). The Clifton Strengths assessment shines a light on the strengths and talents that make you unique and helps you to understand how to lean into your strengths to accomplish your goals instead of focusing on mitigating your weaknesses. This week, Scott Arrieta, CEO of Unity and Company shares his Clifton Strengths results and reflects on how those insights have changed his perspective on work and life.

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In this week's episode of Workplace Therapy, our hosts discuss an assessment developed by Gallup called Clifton Strenghts (formerly known as Strengths Finder). The Clifton Strengths assessment shines a light on the strengths and talents that make you unique and helps you to understand how to lean into your strengths to accomplish your goals instead of focusing on mitigating your weaknesses. This week, Skylar Lewandowski, the Director of Special Programs at Unity and Company shares her Clifton Strengths results and reflects on how those insights have changed her perspective on work and life.

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This week on the podcast, we're excited to introduce Shannon Kahn as our guest. Shannon founded SMK Consulting to “Create Profit and Prosperity for Staffing Firms.” With over three decades of staffing industry experience, Shannon has a history of leading teams that deliver exceptional results with a focus on driving revenue and profitability, operational excellence, and leadership development. Working for both large public companies and niche firms, she held many executive leadership roles throughout her career. Shannon spent more than sixteen years working in the skilled trades sector where she developed a passion for the blue-collar workforce and is committed to creating awareness and appreciation for the trades and other blue-collar professions.

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Sometimes you don't have to look very far to find the inspiration you need to take your leadership to the next level. Lessons about life and leadership are everywhere in the world around us. On this week's installment of The Workplace Therapy Podcast, our hosts Scott Arrieta and Skylar Lewandowski interview Michael Frino and Katie Desiderio, authors of the best selling book, The Beekeeper: Pollinating Your Organization for Transformative Growth.

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In business and in life, change is the only constant. But sometimes, even with the best of intentions, leading a group of people through change can wind up being a traumatic process. In this week's episode of The Workplace Therapy Podcast, our hosts Scott Arrieta (CEO of Unity & Company) and Skylar Lewandowski (Director of Special Programs at Unity & Company) share their experiences with organizational change management initaitives and highlight some things that organizations can do differently to ensure their change efforts are successful.

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Change is inevitable. It is the only constant. It's said that we're always either growing or dying. Both of these processes are driven by change. But despite how ubiquitous the force of change is in our lives, we still haven't mastered how to lead through change at the organizational level. As a result, many internal change management initiatives fail to deliver the intended results. Instead of being a driver of innovation and growth, change initiatives often end up leaving a trail of trauma in their wake. In this week's Workplace Therapy session, Skylar Lewandowski and Scott Arrieta discuss what organizational leaders often get wrong about change management and offer some helpful alternatives.

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Over the course of his life, Blake Kasemeier has been many things. A loving husband, an attentive father, a devoted athlete, a touring musician and a freelance copywriter and talented marketer. But one thing he has always been is an amazing storyteller. As a marketer and copywriter, storytelling has always been a key part of Blake's professional craft. But in recent years, it's become something more. His affinity for storytelling has helped him to develop and cultivate empathy when most would succumb to blame or anger. It's helped him to process through personal grief and workplace trauma. And it's helped him to find a rapidly growing audience on TikTok and Instagram where he's amassing thousands of followers per day, eager to hear his perspectives on parenting, work, grief and the glory days.

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Here at Workplace Therapy, we talk a lot about toxic workplace experiences and how organizations, leaders and individuals can invest in the work of charting a different path.

In today’s session, we’re fortunate to have an expert who has devoted her life to this work, and brings a unique set of skills, techniques and perspectives to bear in her mission to help organizations develop a talent strategy that enables their business strategy.

Michelle Alexandrowicz is CEO of Engage, a consulting firm that helps organizations make data-driven decisions about how talent impacts business strategy. Michelle is an organizational psychologist by training and uses her deep knowledge of what makes people tick coupled with quantitative rigor and business acumen to help her clients fully utilize their most powerful asset: their people.

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