Working Conversations

Hosted by Dr. Janel Anderson

Episodes

Language

EN-US

About the show

Join Dr. Janel Anderson for actionable insights on leadership, workplace dynamics, and the future of work. Rooted in UX Thinking, these episodes help you lead by design—not default—with practical strategies to boost your clarity, effectiveness, and influence in today’s fast-changing, tech-driven workplace. Tune in for practical strategies, cutting-edge trends, and fresh perspectives that help you lead better, work smarter, and stay ahead in a rapidly changing world.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

22 min

#281: How to Stop Getting Pulled Into the Weeds

If you have ever gotten to Friday and realized your strategic priorities sat untouched while you answered quick questions and jumped on calls all week, this one is for you. Dr. Janel Anderson reframes this as a supply and demand problem, not a time management problem. Urgent work always asks for your attention; strategic work never does. She identifies two types of pull that keep leaders in the weeds and walks through five concrete steps to engineer a system where strategy demands your time the way urgency does. If you are ready to stop waiting for strategy to ask, this episode gives you the structure. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/281

23 min

#280: Why Great Leaders Notice What Others Miss

If you have ever said 'I should have seen that coming,' the problem probably isn't that you weren't paying attention. You were looking in the wrong places. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down three shifts that separate leaders with strategic foresight from those who are always catching up. She walks through real examples of signals that were hiding in plain sight for decades and gives you a practical 20-minute assignment to start building the habit. Whether you lead a team or a company, this episode sharpens how you see. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/280

25 min

#279: How to Manage Your Former Peers

Getting promoted and managing your former peers is one of the toughest identity shifts a new manager faces. Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down why managing former peers after promotion is less of a tactics problem and more of an identity problem, and what to do about it. She walks through the four-step Peer-to-Boss Reset, covering how to mourn the old relationship, have the explicit conversation about what changes now, build authority through behavior, and redefine loyalty to protect the whole team. If you were recently promoted and are navigating this exact situation, this episode gives you a real framework for making the shift. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/279

26 min

#278: What to Do When an Employee Won't Change

You have coached, redirected, tried every approach you know. Your employee says they will change. Then they don't. At some point, the question is no longer which technique you haven't tried: it is whether you can stop. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson shares the Paper Doll Tool, a framework she uses with her clients to help them discover when they have reached the limit of trying to change or help others. She walks through four steps: naming the ceiling on what you can influence, running an audit of what you've tried, drawing the line, and radical acceptance. If you are exhausted from coaching someone who won't change, this episode gives you the structure and the permission to lead differently. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/278

17 min

#277: The Ripple Effect: Why Every Conversation Changes More Than You Think

Every conversation leaves a ripple, and most of us have no idea how far it travels. You might have forgotten the offhanded comment you made last week. The person who heard it hasn't. In this episode, Dr. Janel Anderson shares two conversations from her own college years that shaped her career for decades: one that held her back as a writer, and one question that propelled her forward. She introduces the Ripple Effect Framework, three questions to ask before any important conversation that shift your posture from reactive to intentional. If you've ever avoided a hard conversation or said something without thinking about its weight, this episode is for you. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/277

31 min

#276: When a Coworker's Kids Are Affecting Your Work: How to Address It

When a coworker working from home with young kids is affecting the team, most managers and peers sit on it. They feel too guilty to name it. Dr. Janel Anderson tackles the discomfort directly: this is not a conversation about someone's parenting. It is a conversation about the work. She walks through a four-step framework for addressing this head-on, with distinct paths for managers and peers, covering how to lead with observable work impact, how to define what workable looks like, and why compassion and accountability are not mutually exclusive. If your team is dealing with this right now, this episode gives you the language to address it. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/276

26 min

#275: When Your Top Performer Goes Quiet: How to Have the Conversation

When your best employee starts going quiet, most managers wait. They're busy. They tell themselves it will pass. But silence sends a message, and it is not the one you want to send. Dr. Janel Anderson shares a personal story about a top performer who checked out for weeks, and what happened when she finally sat down with her. She walks through a four-step framework for entering this conversation with care and confidence: how to name what you've observed, how to ask one question and let silence work, how to hold the person and the standard at the same time, and how to follow up on purpose. If someone on your team has been off and you haven't said anything yet, this episode is your next step. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/275

18 min

#274: This Email Should Have Been a Meeting

That long, complicated email you are about to send could be making things worse, not better. When topics involve complexity, disagreement, or ambiguity, email amplifies the confusion instead of resolving it. Dr. Janel Anderson walks you through the five signals that your email draft should become a meeting agenda: the ambiguity signal, Janel's Rule of Three, decision-making red flags, the avoidance signal, and the social cue test. If your team is spending more time managing email threads than moving work forward, this episode gives you a practical framework for knowing when to close the draft and open the calendar instead. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/274

26 min

#273: This Meeting Should Have Been an Email

You have sat in that meeting, watching the clock, thinking this should have just been an email. And you were right. Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down the real reason unnecessary meetings keep getting scheduled: not poor planning, but a leadership confidence problem she calls the CYA meeting. She introduces the Meaning Making Test, a three-question framework to help you decide in 30 seconds whether something needs a meeting or an email. If you lead a team and find yourself defaulting to meetings out of habit or worry, this episode gives you the tools to break the cycle and give your team their time back. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/273

30 min

#272: How to Run Skip-Level Meetings That Create Value

You have probably heard you should be doing skip-level meetings. But if you are not sure what the point is or what you are actually supposed to talk about, you are in good company. Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down why skip-level meetings are relationship infrastructure, not a surveillance tool, and lays out three compelling reasons every senior leader should have them on the calendar. She walks through how to set them up with your managers first, why a formal agenda works against you, what to actually talk about, and what to redirect when the conversation drifts. Whether you are the senior leader initiating these meetings or the junior employee trying to get them started, this episode covers both sides. If you manage people at any level, this episode is built for you. Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/272