What's Wrong With People?!
The ridiculous things humans do at work — and what good leaders do about it.
What’s Wrong With People? is a podcast about the ridiculous things humans do at work — and what good leaders do about it.
Because work would be so much easier if it weren’t for all the people.
The passive-aggressive emails. The unnecessary meetings. The boss who asks for honest feedback and then immediately regrets it. The coworker who “hates drama” while personally producing three seasons of it before lunch. The perfectly competent adult who receives one piece of feedback and suddenly prepares a legal defense.
People are ridiculous.
But usually, there’s something happening underneath the ridiculousness.
Fear. Ego. Pressure. Insecurity. Power. Miscommunication. Avoidance. Hurt. The desperate human need to be right, liked, respected, included, or left the hell alone.
I’m Nicky Espinosa, a leadership consultant, coach, speaker, and longtime HR executive. I’ve spent more than 30 years sitting in the middle of the moments when work gets messy and otherwise reasonable adults start behaving in deeply unreasonable ways.
Each episode starts with a funny, painfully familiar workplace story and asks two questions:
What the hell is happening here?
And:
What does a good leader do about it?
We’ll laugh at the absurdity, unpack the human behavior underneath it, and talk about how better leaders handle pressure, conflict, accountability, power, communication, and all the other complicated stuff that happens when you put human beings together and ask them to get something done.
Because strategy is usually the easy part.
People are where it gets interesting.
What's Wrong With People?!
Latest Episodes
Minnesota Nice Is A Terrible Staffing Model
Being “nice” feels like a strength until it quietly becomes your leadership strategy. We’ve seen it happen: a warm, thoughtful manager wants everyone to feel good, so they keep giving passes, keep softening feedback, and keep delaying the conve...
Stop The Workplace Complaint Tour
You know the moment: a coworker’s tone lands wrong, a deadline slips, someone hijacks the meeting again, or the dreaded reply-all thread multiplies. And instead of talking to the person who can actually fix it, we do what humans do best at work...
If You Want Candor, You Have To Earn It
We break down why leaders who ask for honest feedback often react in ways that shut honesty down. We show how tiny defensive moves create team silence and what we do instead to build real psychological safety.• The “I love feedback” myth ve...
Who Are You Becoming As You Lead
Finding your voice isn’t about getting louder, it’s means getting clearer about what you believe and who you want to be when you’re angry, scared, challenged, or holding power over someone’s livelihood and dignity. I’m Nicky Espinosa, and after...
Congrats On Your Promotion To Email Detective
One weird email can turn me into a full-time detective, and it can wreck my mood long before I ever talk to the person who sent it. I’m learning that the moment is usually smaller than the story I build, and I still get to choose dignity and cl...
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