Management Muse

What can workplace memes teach us about leadership?

More than you might think.

To celebrate 100 episodes of Management Muse, we have a special episode for you. The team pulled together a collection of workplace reels—from unlimited PTO policies to the trials of middle management—and challenged Cindi and Geoff to react to them live.

Some are hilarious. Some are painfully accurate. And almost all of them contain a kernel of insight i...

The biggest risk of AI isn't that it will replace us; it's that it will stunt our growth.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoff Tumlin explore the rapidly growing belief that artificial intelligence will transform, or even replace, large parts of work and leadership. They argue that this narrative misses something fundamental about how organizations actually function. From decision-making and strategy to coachin...

Accountability sounds straightforward…until you try to enforce it.

In Part 2 of this series on Management Muse, Cindi and Geoff move from defining the boundaries of micromanagement to confronting the real challenge: what real accountability requires. They explore how leaders over-control when they’re anxious and under-coach when roles evolve.

They turn to the real engine of accountability: feedback. Why public reminders don’t work....

There are far fewer micromanagers than you might think.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi and Geoff challenge one of the most persistent myths in leadership: that holding people accountable makes you controlling. Drawing on classic leadership and expertise research, they share a simple framework that explains why most managers pull back long before they should.

Using their own pizza-making adventures as a running example, C...

When the future gets blurry, people start making bad decisions.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore uncertainty from every angle: not just how leaders respond to it, but how they create it, how organizations amplify it, and how individuals shrink themselves because of it. From miscalibrated risk assessments to communication breakdowns, they unpack how ambiguity distorts decision making at eve...

If your employees could fire you… would they?

This week Cindi is joined by author and CEO Dr. Keith Levick to discuss research that reveals 60% of employees would fire their boss if they could—and even more disturbingly, many would sacrifice salary, vacation, or promotions to make it happen. Why? Because too many workplaces lack psychological safety, flexibility, and real ownership.

The good news? Keith lays out how leaders can rev...

Habits aren’t just about willpower.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi and Geoff uncover a radical insight from behavioral science: most habits are powered by underlying anxiety. Willpower alone isn’t enough, because habits aren’t just actions, they’re emotional coping strategies.

From sleep routines to workplace distractions, Cindi and Geoff break down the surprising psychology of habits and offer practical ways to make rea...

Endless hold music. Clunky bots. Repeating your story five times.

We’ve all been there. But what if customer service didn’t have to feel like a test of patience?

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi talks with Rick DeLisi, author and lead research analyst at Glia, about the new frontline of support: AI-enhanced service that puts results over sympathies.

Rick shares how smart systems now handle simple requests, route comp...

They never complained. They always delivered. And then one day, they were just… gone. Burnout rarely announces itself, but there are early warning signs.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explain the three stages of burnout and why your most committed, high-performing employees are the most at risk.

Instead of asking, “Are you burned out?” leaders need sharper tools and a better understanding of wh...

What if delegation wasn’t just a way to get work off your plate, but a strategy to grow your people, your impact, and your sanity?

This week, Cindi welcomes Mamie Kanfer Stewart, host of The Modern Manager, for a masterclass in smart delegation. Whether you’re struggling to let go, tired of redoing half-done tasks, or just don’t know what to hand off, Mamie offers a path forward. She shares a practical framework for tailoring deleg...

What happens when the founder’s personality becomes the company’s culture? 

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin explore the phenomenon of founder imprint: the lasting, often invisible fingerprints that founders leave on an organization’s values, behaviors, and decisions.

This episode complements our recent discussion on weak organizational cultures by diving into the special case of start-ups, which ...

You might be doing everything right as a manager on paper and still holding yourself back. In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi sits down with management coach Mel Cidado to unpack three common mistakes that derail manager growth.

Through client stories, they explore how great employees can falter in leadership roles when they try to do it all themselves, when they get stuck in expert mode, or when they assume results sp...

Thinking about starting a side hustle?  In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin unpack why now might be the best time to build something of your own.

Whether you're dreaming of a creative outlet or a full-on escape hatch from your day job, side hustles offer more than just financial upside. Done right, they’re a smart way to test-drive new ideas, stay engaged, and future-proof your career (without blowin...

A single promotion can shift the energy of an entire organization. In this episode, Cindi and Geoff sit down with Leticia Rodriguez, CEO of Ward Memorial Hospital, to talk about why internal promotions build stronger organizations and how to take smart chances on people who are still growing.

Leticia shares how someone once saw potential in her, and how she now pays that forward by developing talent from the inside. From intentiona...

Most companies say they have a culture. Very few actually do.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi Baldi and Geoffrey Tumlin break down what workplace culture really means and why most organizations fall short. 

Cindi and Geoff explain how culture acts like choreography. When people know the steps, they move in sync. When they don’t, departments end up dancing to different music which breeds confusion, inefficiency, and someti...

We often treat work as a necessary evil, but it might be doing more for your happiness than you think. 

In this episode, Cindi and Geoff dig into the power of workplace relationships, and how easily they’re overlooked. They challenge assumptions about loneliness, connection, and meaning, unpacking why the daily rhythms of work life can be so hard to lose. From first jobs to the so-called freedom of retirement, Cindi and Geoff recon...

This Thanksgiving, we’re serving up a second helping of one of our favorite episodes featuring Cindi’s nephew, academic and author Spencer Fraseur.

In a world chasing perfectionism, Spencer makes a provocative case: failure is actually a competitive advantage. Drawing from his research and book Failing Upward, he lays out how resilience, reflection, and smarter pivots fuel success. 

Packed with practical tools for turning missteps ...

As AI and automation reshape the workplace, companies everywhere are trimming management layers in the name of efficiency. But how lean is too lean?

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi and Geoff examine what happens when managers take on too many direct reports, what AI can (and can’t) replace, and the long-term costs of organizational flattening.

Discover the key dynamics that predict performance and retention, and the simpl...

To be a better manager, start telling a better story.

In this episode of Management Muse, Cindi and Geoff dig into the science behind oscillating narratives and how honest, full-spectrum storytelling builds resilience and helps employees develop. Leaders who acknowledge both setbacks and successes don’t just help their teams handle adversity better, they actually appear more credible.

You’ll learn why always-upward or always-downwa...