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Problem Performers

Problem Performers

Written by: HRuprise
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 Problem Performers is a podcast about professionals who challenge the status quo at work. In each episode, HRuprise founder & CEO Rebecca Weaver tackles a topical workplace issue, from sexism to mental health to layoffs and more, from the perspective of a “problem performer” – someone who speaks out for change or gets fired trying. Featuring special industry guests and provocative viewpoints aplenty, Problem Performers is a refreshingly honest takedown of traditional HR – and a celebration of the professionals who see a better way forward for all employees.Copyright 2021 All rights reserved. Careers Economics Personal Success Social Sciences
Episodes
  • We need to destigmatize mental illness at work.

    We need to destigmatize mental illness at work.
    Mar 22 2022
    CW // Suicide “What I didn’t realize (about bipolar disorder) was that my mental illness was fueling my success,” says Natasha Bowman, Founder & President of Performance ReNEW and Author. Natasha continuously poured herself into her career as an accomplished HR Executive and Consultant and believed that her work defined her. When she attempted suicide one unbearable night, she realized that her professional burnout was untreated depression. After finally evaluating her mental health, Natasha shares her story to destigmatize mental illness in the workplace and promote a kinder, more aware world. There is minimal emphasis on mental health in the workplace. Though some environments may provide physical wellness resources, health insurance typically fails to provide enough coverage for adequate therapy. Nor are there actual therapists on-site to support workers. Natasha argues that company cultures need to change to ensure that work no longer creates or exacerbates mental health issues for employees. Tune into this week’s episode of Problem Performers for a crucial conversation on mental health and professional life. Learn more about Natasha’s mental health journey, the long-term psychological impact of the pandemic, and what employers can do to address mental health in a life-saving way. Quotes • “I’m always asking, ‘You have privilege. What do you do with your privilege?’ It’s not about being ashamed of having privilege. It’s about what you do with that privilege. Lend your privilege to others.” (4:59-5:08) • “What I didn’t realize (about bipolar disorder) was that my mental illness was fueling my success… I was always, I know now, in a manic episode. I lived in mania. I could go nights without sleep. You feel like you’re on top of the world. You can accomplish everything. People would ask me as a Black woman, “How can you walk in the room so confident?” I just thought, “Oh, that’s just me. That’s my personality.” But it was the mania that fueled my career in a positive direction. It wasn’t until Covid happened… that I realized I had wrapped who I was into my career and profession. And when that was taken away from me, I didn’t know who I was anymore.”(6:04 - 7:50) • “You are enough. Set expectations for yourself, and make sure those expectations are reasonable. Sometimes my best is to sleep all day, and that's all I can do. And everybody has to be okay with that.” (19:07 - 19:31) • “Black women are the most educated population in America, but the most left behind. You hit that ceiling and have gotten the degrees and the certifications but can't get ahead. Sometimes, that seat at that table that we want is uncomfortable, and we don't want to be in it. We don't want to sit at every table. Set your own table.” (20:07 - 20:40) • “I have to remind myself, you are enough, just as you are. And you don't need validation and confirmation from any organization, because if they are not giving that to you, they don't deserve you.” (21:45 - 21:56) • “Most workplaces focus on physical wellness. They're providing gym memberships, weight loss programs, nutrition programs, steps, challenges, all these things, for your physical health. And we need that, but there's no real resource for mental health. So, it's looking at what resources you are providing and including mental health in your health insurance because it isn't enough.” (22:21 - 22:57) • “Many organizations have an occupational health office or workforce health and safety office. If we have faculty injured at work, I can go there, and they'll patch me up. Why don't we have a therapist on-site? Why don't we have someone, where if I'm being bullied, experiencing a toxic work environment, or I'm just feeling sad and depressed, or struggling with my mental health for other reasons, I can go there or at least pick up the phone and talk to someone?” (23:23 - 24:04) • “I don't care what resources and benefits you provide. If I'm walking into a toxic work environment that's not promoting mental wellness, then that's an issue. There are no resources that are going to accommodate for that.” (24:11 - 24:28) • “We're just not addressing the long-term impact of this pandemic…We are not even discussing how we go back, reflect, and heal from what we just went through for almost three years.” (37:39 - 38:05) • “It took me a while to accept that I was someone living with a mental illness… Even in my own head, there’s a stigma around it. And I have to talk myself off the ledge, ‘That's okay. One in five people in the US suffers from it. It's more common than a heart attack or stroke…’ Once you accept it, then you're able to figure out how to live with it.” (40:29 - 41:11) • “There was a reason that I woke up on January 26. I don't know how I woke up. I just knew what I needed to do. I'm turning that pain into purpose so that others can wake up...
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    51 mins
  • The Bill Clinton scandal was about your workplace.

    The Bill Clinton scandal was about your workplace.
    Mar 8 2022
    “White women in white-collar and creative industries, please situate yourselves in the power structures that you are in,” implores Jeannie Yandel. In today’s episode of Problem Performers, Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel, intersectional feminist podcasters extraordinaire, discuss the Bill Clinton scandal and how it relates to workplace power dynamics. Monica Lewinsky’s entire life was turned upside down by her affair with Bill Clinton, while he faced minimal consequences and continued his career in office. Yet no one at the time seemed to recognize, much less question, the vastly unbalanced power dynamic that defined their relationship. Eula and Jeannie discuss how this relates to today’s workplace structures, and how often people labeled ‘problem performers’ are in fact targets or scapegoats of a structural power imbalance. Case in point: Eula, a Black woman, has been labeled a problem performer many times throughout her career, whereas Jeannie, a white woman, has never – at least not to her face. Tune into this week’s episode of Problem Performers for a conversation with Eula Scott Bynoe, Jeannie Yandel, and host Rebecca Weaver about the ways gender and race define power dynamics at work, and why the Bill Clinton Scandal has EVERYTHING to do with your modern workplace. Quotes • “The consensuality (between Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton) is beside the point of what’s at stake. For her, it’s everything. For him, it’s nothing. Even if she signed up to be intimate with him, she didn’t sign up to lose her entire life as a result of it.” (15:41-15:58 | Eula) • “As a Black woman, I have to make every single decision super consciously, right? And if I don’t do it right, I could just fall off the Planet Earth and be one of them that’s literally just taken and disappears, or other things that happen to Black women in America.” (16:09-16:25 | Eula) • “I don’t know if we as white women have gotten any better (since the Bill Clinton scandal). Because I think that we still use our whiteness to gain proximity to power in patriarchy. I think that we still weaponize the notion of supporting other women to our own advantage. And I think we still will paint ourselves as the victim when it’s advantageous.” (23:20-23:49 | Jeannie) • “White women, in terms of workplace structures in large part, we refuse to recognize the power dynamics at play, whether it’s because we’re legitimately ignorant of it, or there’s something else happening there. But we’re ignoring or refusing to recognize a power structure at play, and our role in it.” (25:56-26:21 | Jeannie) • “One of the other things that struck me with this Bill Clinton scandal was how many of these people would argue that essentially they are mission-driven. They’re doing this because of their patriotism. Every single person here is making an argument about, “I have a vision for what my country should be and I’m fighting for that.” And where the stakes are much, much, much lower, I do think that there is something in common there with the people that you meet in some workplaces who talk about caring very deeply about the mission of the place where they work, caring very deeply for what that workplace exists to do. That happens a lot in public media. People will sing the praises of the mission of public media all the live-long day, as though that excuses a lot of the things that we’ve gotten wrong.” (30:08-31:35 | Jeannie) • “Companies don’t realize how often they are the bad guys in situations because of how much they’re looking to create their mission of “freedom of speech.” And in doing so, letting somebody use the N-word all day long, tell people that vaccines are killing people and all the other misogynistic things that happen. It’s a wild thing. It’s just Rush Limbaugh of 2022.” (33:27-33:58 | Eula) • “The Rush Limbaugh to Joe Rogan line, it’s largely white, cisgender, straight dudes, or at least straight-appearing dudes, who are like, “I’m just here to ask the question. It’s just important that somebody ask the question.” Which is another example of not taking responsibility for power dynamics that are at play and your role in them, and pretending that you as an individual are the most important thing here.” (35:43-36:19 | Jeannie) • “I think most workplaces have lots of kinks in them. And I’m one of those people that goes in and when I see the kinks, I really want to fix them. Some people don’t. Some people get a job and they’re like, ‘This place is really messed up and I can just disappear…’ I am the complete opposite. I came here to work. I want to see exactly what the flaws are. I want to figure out where the injustices are. I want to figure out if we’re doing the right thing. Ideally, the job is for the community. I really didn’t know that there were jobs outside of community service jobs until I was, I ...
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    1 hr and 2 mins
  • Blow up the patriarchy, one financial plan at a time.

    Blow up the patriarchy, one financial plan at a time.
    Feb 22 2022

    “If you can’t find who you want to help you, become that person,” says Peggy Haslach, Financial Advisor with The Finity Group. In today’s episode of Problem Performers, Peggy discusses difficulties faced by women and LGBT employees in the financial service field.

    The financial service industry is heavily male-dominated with outdated stigmas that can cause women and LGBT employees to feel uncomfortable speaking up. The majority of LGBT employees still choose to hide their identity at work due to fear of marginalization. Financial planning heavily revolves around the nuclear family which bypasses the needs of anyone with a less traditional family structure. To dismantle the patriarchy, the definition of family must be broadened to truly work for each individual’s needs.

    Tune into this week’s episode of Problem Performers for a conversation with Peggy Haslach and host Rebecca Weaver about the impacts of the patriarchy on financial planning. Learn what changes are needed to make the financial services sector more inclusive of LGBT and female employees.

    Quotes

    • “If you can’t find who you want to help you, become that person.” (3:08-3:13)

    • “A majority of LGBT cover their identity at work. And actually, now it’s gotten worse, especially in financial services and in those male-dominated fields where you feel if you talk about your own situation, you will become marginalized or you’ll become otherized in the workplace.” (4:48-5:16)

    • “There’s a lot of people who think that LGBT women don’t know how to handle money. Where does that come from? I think a part of it is because they’re afraid to be honest about what their financial situation is, for fear of being judged.” (6:20-6:46)

    • “I think one of the most unique challenges (LGBT people face in financial services) is the family dynamics that happen a lot of time in the LGBT (community)... When your family doesn’t understand your situation, or in many cases you’re estranged from your family, you feel that (you’re) being discounted.” (7:35-8:03)

    • “Financial services were built on transactional relationships. So in other words, you sold somebody something. But what I’m finding with women and LGBT and small business owners is they want more collaboration. They want more conversation. The real planning is listening to their needs and saying, ‘OK, how can we do that?’ So how we blow up the family is saying, ‘There is no fixed answer. Let’s really try to help these individuals get to their goals.’” (13:36-14:25)

    • “There’s a concept in our field, ‘fake it till you make it,’ which drives me nuts. Here I am sitting on the DEI committee and I remember turning to some of the leaders of the firm and saying to them, ‘do you still have that policy fake it til you make it?’ And they said ‘Yeah, we do. That’s how we train everybody.’ I said, ‘Can I ask you a question? How does a 56 year old LGBT female fake it? Who does she emulize?’ I never got an answer to the question. I handed in my resignation letter the next day.” (38:10-39:00)

    Links

    Connect with Peggy on social media:

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/peggyhaslach/

    https://www.facebook.com/tfgpeggyhaslach

    https://www.instagram.com/peggy_haslach_she_her_hers/

    And through her involvement with patriarchy-exploding financial orgs like:

    https://pursestrings.co/

    https://www.thewsource.com/

    https://femalesandfinance.com/

    https://thefinitygroup.com

    Connect with a coach at https://www.hruprise.com/

    Follow us on social media:

    • Twitter: https://twitter.com/hruprise

    • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hruprise/

    • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HRuprise/

    •• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hruprise/
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    46 mins
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