Not Suitable for Work Podcast

It seems only fitting to finish the first season of Not Suitable for Work with a “Best Of” episode. I've combed through the nearly forty episodes to find these little gems. Listening to each episode again had me cracking up.

It seems only fitting to finish the first season of Not Suitable for Work with a “Best Of” episode. I've combed through the nearly forty episodes to find these little gems. Listening to each episode again had me cracking up.

In the 1990’s a career in luxury retail was a good gig. These jobs were coveted and once hired, competition for commissions was fierce. In this episode, we find out what happens behind the cosmetics counter of a Beverly Hills luxury retailer.

How many of you out there have the dream of being an entrepreneur and making boat loads of Benjamins? Being an entrepreneur became a national fixation starting with the dot.com craze back in the late 90’s. Everyone wanted to get in on the game. The lure of cashing in on the next big thing was omnipresent. It seemed like millionaires were being minted on a daily basis. When the bubble burst in the early 2000’s the promise of making easy millions off the sweat of your own brow was already seeded as a way to be your own boss and live the American Dream. (Working for “the man” became passe.) There’s a romantic notion of creating something that becomes a commercial success. It’s the ultimate achievement. So much so, 25 million Americans are starting or running new businesses. Recently, Peter binged the podcast, “How I Built This”. These stories of entrepreneurial success are inspirational and make it seem wildly possible, but that is only the case 18% of the time. What about the other 82%? In this episode, we hear about the challenges from a first-time entrepreneur.

In the not so distance past, a pink slip was used to terminate an employee. You’d get your paycheck and if there was a pink slip attached then you knew the gig was up and it’s time to look for a new job. That’s it, super-efficient. The employer doesn’t have to come face to face with an employee’s tears, angry words or idle threats. While this makes it easy for the employer, the practice was deemed cruel and heartless. An employee should deserve better. Unfortunately, not sure if how people are fired, laid off or made redundant has gotten much better. Most companies still don’t get it right, even though they have plenty of practice given how often it happens. In this episode, an executive coach shares how his previous employer was really bad at letting people go.

What lengths would you go to to win over a prospective client? This is a dilemma every business professional will face at some point in their career. It’s not unusual for a company to exaggerate a capability or breadth of experience in order to curry favor with a new client. How far would you stretch the truth? And once you start will you ever be able to draw the line. In this episode, my guest Patrick Collins quickly gets caught up in corporate caper to shade the truth when trying to win over a new client.

If you want a promotion, speak up and ask for it. You have to advocate for yourself. If you don’t, nobody will. That’s how you get ahead in the business world. Never waste a chance to move up the ladder. This is the type of advice you’d get from a mentor, parent, business book or overly assertive friend. Feeling as though he was being overlooked, my guest Dan Richardson, took the bull by the horns and seized an opportunity to ask for a promotion.What the people behind all this advice neglect to tell you is the toll that it takes on you mentally and physically.

Experts will often say, people change careers at least three to five times during their lifetime. There isn’t concrete data on this but it feels about right. In our quest to change careers and do something different it can also impair our judgement when interviewing and evaluating whether or not to join a company. We overlook the signs that would otherwise give us reason to pause. That’s exactly what happened to our guest Jessica Dorfman Jones.

How far would you go to forge a relationship with your client? How much do you mix business with pleasure? Whether you’re in sales or professional services, clients are your lifeline. Part of being a good sales person is being able to establish a rapport with your client. This includes small talk about what you did over the weekend, maybe going out to dinner or a concert. Some of these relationships form easily, and there is an immediate connection through a shared interest. Others, take a little more effort and you have to chip away at bit by bit. There are tons of tips and tricks on how to win over a client. Many of these you learn in sales training. But every once in a blue moon, you will come across an awkward situation that isn’t in any sales handbook or training manual. Our guest Pat Sullivan shares one of those stories.  

There is an old adage, surround yourself with people smarter than you. Sounds good in theory, however not always in practice. After taking a job with a consulting firm with no relevant education or experience to draw upon, our guest finds herself knee deep with a group of colleagues who are using corporate jargon she doesn’t understand, working with excel which she never learned and trying to overcome a severe case of imposter syndrome.

What if your boss refuses to accept your resignation? Seriously, what would you do if your boss won’t let you quit. This happened to my guest Paul Farahvar, comedian, podcast host and lawyer. Always a prankster, Paul tries everything to get fired from his retail job.

Being invited to an exclusive corporate soiree after years of toiling away in the daily grind should be the pinnacle of one’s career. Or is it? Marketing consultant Amy Kleckner accepted one of those invites where she was finally given the chance to rub elbows with the C-Suite in their natural habitat.  

Steve Grosklaus and Peter have worked closely together for fifteen years. Both are decent human beings. About ten years ago, they were thrown into a client project that was politically charged and littered with minefields. As co-conspirators, we had to navigate two camps within the client. One eager for change and the other determined to maintain the status quo. There was a lot at stake and in one particular meeting with the opposition. They were so consumed with “making the sale” and unaware that something was amiss.

In this episode, we’re going to tackle the topic of authenticity and how it got a few leaders into hot water. Ana Dutra, current President and CEO of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and author of Leadershits joins Peter.  She’s seen it all while working at a Fortune 100 corporation, top consulting firms and in her current position as president and CEO. Her front row seat in closed door meetings allowed her to observe first hand leadership behaviors that are disruptive not only to the company and colleagues but also to the leader.

Part and parcel of client relationships includes client entertaining. This can be a good time especially when you like your clients. In this episode, after an evening drinking wine while hanging out at a client’s home, our guest, finds herself in no shape to drive and that’s when this tale takes a strange turn.

Shawn Farrell is a creative director at a large advertising agency.Not only is he feeling the heat to deliver on a high visibility client project, he’s very mindful of being the only man working on this team. Even this high level of awareness didn’t prevent him from misfiring and finding himself in hot water. His story is one of role reversal, unbounded exuberance and a bit of gamesmanship.

Often times, you have to make a split-second business decision knowing the consequences could be dire. Jana O’Brien is a marketing and media consultant who shares her story of being caught off guard by a client’s blunt question. The answer to which she knows could cost her her job.

Most people in corporate America work with other people who are in corporate America. With that comes a certain code of conduct, some explicit, some implicit that help keep people in line. When you’re an architect representing a client in front of a volunteer community group, you quickly realize social norms fly out the window faster than a speeding ticket. And while this tribunal of sorts is at their most reprehensible, as the architect you have to remain calm and collected. Take a listen to Jean’s worst community group encounter.

Dave Mowers' career takes a 180 degree turn when a devil may care decision takes him cross country to pursue a career he has no experience in. This small detail doesn’t dissuade him as he throws caution to the wind and jumps in feet first. He does have one ace up his sleeve.

We take a peek behind the scenes of being a real estate broker with  Vince Williams. He shares his story of learning more than he would like to know about his client, the hoops he had to jump through in trying to sell a house and how he finally had to say enough is enough.

You would be hard pressed to read a business article or book that doesn’t stress the importance of building relationships with co-workers. When you have a good rapport, it’s easier to collaborate, share ideas and provide feedback. The vibe in the office is better, it’s more relaxed, people start to kid around. To cultivate these relationship, we often connect through a shared interest. Depending on your co-worker, finding theses shared interests is often easier said than done. Shawn Farrell thought he struck gold when he found a common interest with his co-workers until he took it one step too far.

Today there is hyper awareness around creating work environments of kindness and collaboration. All for one and one for all. Rising tides lift all boats. You catch my drift. To what lengths would you go to help a colleague in need? Are there limits if it could impact your career. Our guest, gives the clothes off of her back, even if it may be at the detriment of her career. 

In an earlier episode, we discussed how company’s scour a candidate’s social media activity as part of the interviewing process. What about once you’re an employee? Should employers be tracking their employee’s social media activity? And do they have the latitude to ask that a post be altered or removed? Let’s take a listen to Kirk’s story.

What are the chances that a guy’s guy from West Lafayette Indiana, with no background in woman’s fashion, would find himself scouring the Los Angeles garment district in search of the perfect little black dress? Well my friends, not so far-fetched.  Careers take unexpected turns. And that’s exactly what happened to Tony Dowell a patent attorney from West Lafayette Indiana.

Colleagues make frequent traveling companions. In a past episode, “It’s Show Time”, we got a glimpse of what it’s like traveling by car and train with colleagues, for hours on end. In this episode, we take to the air with the CEO and Executive Vice President of a global advertising agency, as they criss-cross the country to meet with two very important clients. Listen to what happens as their best laid plans come undone.

From time to time people make significant life changes in their careers. They move to new cities. They take on impossible assignments. And when you’re in a professional services business, you’ll work your ass off day and night to make the client happy. In this episode, Peter chats with Mike, who shares his story of being so fixated on retaining a client’s business that he forgets the most basic of necessities.

Most people have had the job before the job. That being the summer job in high school. The job that teaches invaluable lessons that shape and mold us before we begin our “real” corporate jobs and careers. In this episode, we discuss summer jobs beginning at the tender age of 15 and lessons learned (about work) that last a life time.  

In the second of our series on interviewing, Peter talks with Ryan, an attorney using some unconventional techniques to uncover a candidate's true character.

In the first of our two part series on interviewing, Peter chats with Brian, an HR professional who starts to get wind of inappropriate interviewing questions being asked by his colleague.  In this episode we go into the North American headquarters of an East Asian Tech company.  And cultural differences run deep.

The typical understanding of an office is on designed for companies who employ tens, hundreds or thousands of people who congregate without fail M-F, 9-5 to have meetings. More and more companies and people are working non-traditional office environments.  Our guest on this episode shines a new light on working and collaborating in a non-traditional office.

Loose lips, sink ships and when there is alcohol involved, they can also sink careers. Our guest learns when a drunk mouth speaks a sober mind to the CEO at a company-wide event it could lead to his undoing.

Our guest on Not Suitable for Work this week, has handled a myriad of challenging personalities and absurd requests in an industry that has few if any boundaries. Right out of college my guest experienced the oddities of working for a bumbling boss who never quite knew the right thing to say.

In this week's episode of Not Suitable, our guest’s interest is piqued when presented with a seemingly outsized challenge. Undeterred by his underdog status, he gleefully embraces the opportunity to demonstrate his creativity; defying the odds by over delivering on expectations and using every bit of showmanship and ingenuity he can muster even in the face of adversity.

In this episode, a new boss quickly finds himself on the hot seat.  After just two weeks, his job and reputation are on the line when a sequence of events involving his new direct reports don’t quite add up. Wanting to be seen as the “cool” new boss overrides a nagging suspicion that things aren’t quite what they seem. That’s when things unravel fast.

As a junior advertising account executive, nothing can be more unnerving than presenting to a room of senior executives. Or driving in a car with your boss and colleagues for six hours every single week? Not to mention the first time you have to give someone on your team “constructive feedback.” Words of wisdom come easy upon reflection. But when you’re living it, it seems like everything is do or die. One bad presentation or driving faux pas can be a career limiting move. Our next guest shares tales and tips from his twenty-year career in advertising and what he’s learning today from his conversations with millennials.

Have you been in a situation where you’re busting your ass working round the clock only to be surrounded by ungrateful leaders who are only thinking of themselves? So much so, you’re on the verge of quitting? It involves Kelly, a junior person busting her ass working round the clock, literally, while be confronted by senior leaders who are only thinking of themselves and could give a rat’s ass about the little people. Kelly Jones was just out of college and had started at a prestigious Advertising Agency in Chicago.  With that comes pressure, deadlines and a whole bunch of egos on an average day.

Career success can be precarious. When asked to take on the impossible is it better to enthusiastically say yes or bow out gracefully. When you’re a young gun eager to make your mark, and prove your mettle there is only one answer. And no looking back. It’s all hands-on deck to retain a client’s business that’s going down the toilet, literally. At the helm is a newly promoted account director hand selected by the CEO to do the impossible. Pressure mounts as he and his team are running out of time to come up with a big game changing idea.

One of the joys of being a boss is approving expense reports. Psyche. No, it’s not. Someone is always trying to expense something that they shouldn’t. Why not, it’s the company’s money. In this next story, a boss has to deal with two employees who are taking liberties with their expense reports.

Have you ever been jealous that your co-workers are working on a project or client that seems way cooler than yours? Everything they do turns to gold. They’re having fun and getting all the accolades. And you want a sliver of that success.   This week's guest was in that exact situation. Feeling like he was missing out, he lobbied to work on his company’s most prestigious client. His wish was finally granted. But what he got was far more than he bargained for.