Managing Made Simple

Hosted by Lia Garvin

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248

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Aug 2026

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About the show

Managing Made Simple is a weekly leadership and management podcast for people managers, business owners, and founders who want to lead high-performing teams without falling back into the work themselves. Each week, host Lia Garvin- 3x bestselling author and former team operations leader at Google, Apple, and Microsoft- breaks down the real, everyday challenges of leading teams, giving feedback, delegating, creating team accountability, high performing culture, retention, and more with performance with practical strategies you can implement immediately. Lia’s work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, and Fortune. With Lia, you get real talk and actionable leadership insights that make it easier to manage your team and get better results from your people. If you’re asking leadership questions like: • How do I get my team to take ownership and accountability for their work? • Why do I have to repeat myself constantly as a manager? • How do I know if I hired the wrong employee? • How do I delegate effectively without things falling apart or micromanaging? • How can managers tell if team members are overusing AI at work? • What actually motivates employees today? • How do I give feedback that actually moves the needle? • How do I communicate vision, expectations, and strategy clearly? • What are best practices for performance reviews, compensation, and growth conversations? How do you lead a team through change, uncertainty, and rapid growth with confidence? You’ll find the tools, frameworks, and leadership strategies you need to lead your team better, starting today. Managing Made Simple: ✔ Corporate managers navigating continual change ✔ Founders & Business Owners scaling teams without burning people out ✔ Entrepreneurs balancing business strategy and people leadership ✔ Experienced leaders ready to modernize how they manage teams New episodes drop every Tuesday, delivering leadership lessons, people management tools, and team-building strategies you can apply immediately. Learn more at liagarvin.com

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August 18, 2026Episode 24714 min

Revenue goals don't motivate your employees. Here's what does.

Revenue goals don’t motivate employees. The fix is one metric per role that each person can control, a number their own daily work moves. In this episode, Lia Garvin explains why the big number on your slide lands as “somebody is taking that home and it isn’t me,” and what to put in front of your team instead. Your team can name the company goal. They can name their task list. Nothing connects the two, so they nod in the meeting and nothing changes on Tuesday. Lia walks through how to name an individual metric for every role, why explaining the cost of running your business backfires, and how to build the raises and bonuses around the numbers people actually control. In this episode you will learn: Why a company revenue goal demotivates the people you need most The one sentence every person on your team should be able to finish out loud What the metric looks like for a front desk role, an injector, a creative team, and a project manager Why walking your team through the P&L makes the disconnect worse What changes about a month in, when people start solving for their own number How to structure bonuses, commissions, and raises around a metric each person controls Resources mentioned: Work with Lia (Ops Playbook for business owners, advisory sessions for corporate managers): liagarvin.com/contact Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

August 11, 2026Episode 24618 min

The reason your team didn't follow your plan - and what to do

You gave your team the full picture: the research, the roadmap, the direction. They said they were on board. Then nothing moved. In this episode, Lia Garvin breaks down the gap between strategy and implementation, why it's the most expensive gap on any team, and what it actually looks like to bridge it. In this episode you will learn: Why giving your team a clear strategy isn't enough to get anyone to follow it The difference between knowing what to do and actually internalizing, owning, and doing it What the behaviors on the surface, the quiet team member, the recurring detail miss, the title question every week, are often actually telling you Why AI has made the strategy side faster and the implementation gap wider What implementation looks like in practice: the conversation, the system, the communication Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

August 4, 2026Episode 24517 min

The person you just hired didn't bring the ROI? Here's what to do.

You took a real risk and made that hire. 90 days later, you're wondering if it was the wrong call. Before you assume it's the wrong person: nine times out of ten, it isn't. In this episode, Lia Garvin breaks down what the hiring hangover actually is, why it happens across businesses of every size, and the specific shift that turns extra pairs of hands into owners who actually drive ROI. In this episode you will learn: What the hiring hangover is and why it shows up at the 90-day mark The difference between hiring an extra pair of hands and hiring an owner Why being in the same meetings as your team member is costing you more than you think What handing off a project end to end actually looks like in practice How to shift your current team into owner mode even if you didn't start there Resources mentioned: The Ops Playbook: liagarvin.com/contact Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

July 28, 2026Episode 24417 min

Why your team can't be your friends (and where the line actually is)

You thought she was a friend. Then the reorg came out and she found out with everyone else. What felt like a betrayal was a clarity problem. In this episode, Lia Garvin breaks down the difference between being friendly with your team and being their friend, what self-management really means before any other management tool can work, and the one thing to say upfront that changes the entire dynamic. In this episode you will learn: Why the betrayal your team feels when hard news hits is almost never about what you did, and what it actually is The kinds of things you will always know as a leader that your team cannot know yet, and why that is the job Where the friendship line quietly blurs: lending money, bending policies, venting, inviting one person and not all What equitable management looks like and why it protects everyone, including you The one sentence to say when you hire someone that sets the dynamic from day one Resources mentioned: Free conversation guide (5 scripts for your stickiest leadership conversations): liagarvin.com/convo Reach out: liagarvin.com/contact Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

July 21, 2026Episode 24318 min

Where AI fits on your team today

The headlines said AI would be cheaper than your team. The receipts say otherwise. If you jumped in fast and are feeling the cost, or you've been holding back wondering if you're already behind, this one is your reset. Lia breaks down how to figure out where AI actually fits on your team — without an arms race, a Chief AI Officer, or a plan to replace the people who make your business run. In this episode you'll learn: - Why AI isn't the wholesale cost savings you were promised — and why that's actually good news - How to tell whether your business really needs a "Chief AI Officer" (most don't) - The tool mindset that separates teams who benefit from AI from teams who just spin their wheels - Where AI genuinely claws back hours — and where a team conversation solves it faster - Why the hard part was never the tech, and the people conversations to have first - How to start with foundations so AI augments your team instead of replacing it Resources mentioned: - Grab Lia's free guide with 5 scripts to make any hard conversation easier: liagarvin.com/convo - Send Lia the AI challenge you're wrestling with (she'll cover them on the show): hello@liagarvin.com - Snippets — stay in the know of what your team is working on without having to micromanage: liagarvin.com/snippets Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

July 14, 2026Episode 24215 min

How to make managing former peers easier

You got promoted. Your closest work friend is now your direct report. And what felt like it would be easy is now the most uncomfortable relationship in your professional life. This episode is for you. Lia shares her own worst management experience -- managing someone who was her best friend at work -- and the 30-minute conversation she wishes she'd had from day one. In this episode you will learn: Why managing someone you already know tends to go wrong faster than managing a stranger The assumption that skips the most important conversation -- and how to have it even when you're already in the mess The Sit Down: a 30-minute, three-step framework for turning around even the most difficult working relationship What to say first (most leaders get this backwards) How the same conversation keeps your best people before they send you a resignation email Chapters 00:00 Navigating Friendships in Management 05:45 Taking Responsibility in Leadership 11:51 Proactive Conversations for Team Retention Resources mentioned: Free guide -- 5 Conversations We're Avoiding (with word-for-word scripts): liagarvin.com/convo DM "convo" on Instagram to receive the guide Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

July 7, 2026Episode 24117 min

How to fix it when delegating fails - 5 min feedback script

Host Lia Garvin breaks down exactly what to do in the first five minutes after delegated work comes back wrong. Learn why taking work back stalls team growth, a practical 5‑minute feedback script to correct the task without micromanaging, and clear steps to restore accountability and prevent repeat mistakes — phrasing you can use immediately. In this episode you will learn: Why taking work back without feedback keeps your team stuck -- and you stuck in the weeds The question to ask yourself before you give corrective feedback What it sounds like to name the gap specifically without making it personal How to turn a bad first delivery into a real learning moment Why the goal isn't "done my way" -- and how that reframe changes everything Resources mentioned: Free guide - exact scripts for how to have 5 tricky conversations with your team: liagarvin.com/convo DM "convo" on Instagram to receive the guide Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

June 30, 2026Episode 24018 min

3 Non-negotiables to hand-off work without lowering your standards

Part 2 of a 3-part delegation series. You handed something off, it came back wrong, and you took it back — the problem wasn’t your team. Lia breaks down the three non‑negotiables every leader must set before delegating: clear outcomes, decision boundaries, and verification rhythms. Practical handoff language, a quick checklist, and scripts to delegate effectively without lowering standards. In this episode you will learn: Why delegation fails before the handoff even starts -- and the specific step most leaders skip The three non-negotiable categories: presentation, timing, and what success looks like Why establishing standards upfront is the opposite of micromanaging How to structure check-ins that keep you in the loop without hovering What "done" really means -- and how to align your definition with your team member's How to stop the cycle of people bringing things back halfway through instead of finishing Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

June 23, 2026Episode 23916 min

A 10-min exercise to figure out what to delegate

Use a simple 10-minute monthly exercise to discover exactly what to delegate. Lia Garvin shows how to audit your calendar and task list to identify repetitive, low-impact, or handoff-ready work — without handing off your whole job or dumping busywork on your team. Learn a step-by-step method to spot delegation candidates, prioritize what to offload, and create clear handoffs managers trust. Ideal for founders, people managers, and business owners wanting faster delegation outcomes. In this episode you'll learn: Why delegating is not all or nothing, and the myth that keeps you stuck The calendar pass that surfaces meetings you can hand off, and the ones you shouldn't How to choose 3 to 5 monthly tasks a team member can take on How to hand off a piece of a task instead of the whole thin Why doing it yourself costs you more time than it saves Resources mentioned: The New Manager Playbook by Lia Garvin Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple

June 16, 2026Episode 23815 min

4 actions to break the micromanagement cycle

Follow-up to last week’s 'The Accidental Micromanager' — Lia Garvin explains four concrete actions to stop micromanaging and get your team owning the work again. Learn practical steps to exit micromanagement without chaos, plus how to rebuild clarity, set boundaries, and restore accountability. Episode length: 15m44s. Ideal for founders, people managers, and leaders who need clear delegation strategies. In this episode you will learn: Why re-setting expectations is not a failure — it's a signal — and how to use it What to actually say to your team before you step back from the meetings and decisions you've been holding The Apple DRI concept and how to define who makes what decisions on your team How to create a check-in structure that gives you real visibility without constant hovering The feedback loop that closes the cycle — and why most leaders skip it Download my FREE guide to making hard conversations with your team easier at liagarvin.com/convo Looking for support for yourself of your team? I've got you covered. Explore manager training, leaders keynotes & offsites, and 1:1 advisory, or my 90-Day-COO program for business owners who want simple systems that actually work. I transform teams from cost centers to profit centers with practical tools and research-backed strategies that make managing EASIER. Get all the details at: www.liagarvin.com Contact: liagarvin.com/contact Email: hello@liagarvin.com Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia.garvin Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lia.Garvin -- © 2026 Lia Garvin / Managing Made Simple