Welcome to People Are the Worst: Smart strategies for surviving people problems at work!

You know that moment when you close your laptop after back-to-back meetings and think, “People are the worst”? Yeah, us too. And that’s exactly why this podcast exists.

We are Lindsey Nehls and Lucy Georgiades, cofounders of Elevate Leadership, and together we’ve coached thousands of people leaders through the chaos of managing humans at work. Now, we’re taking all those hard-earned lessons, ridiculous stories, and practical tools and bringing them straight to you.

In this trailer, we’re introducing what People Are the Worst is all about and what you can expect from each episode. Whether you’re leading a team, managing up, or stuck between a rock and a people problem, we’ve got you. We’ll tackle questions like:

• How do you influence without authority?
• How do you lead through constant change?
• How do you give feedback that lands and preserves the relationship?
• How do you think strategically when you’re drowning in daily fires?

Let’s figure out our people problems—together.

• Learn more about our solutions here.
• Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn.
• Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn.
• Email us with your questions, and we may answer them on an upcoming episode: dearlandl@elevateleadership.com.

Welcome to the first episode of People Are the Worst, the podcast where leadership meets reality. We’re Lucy Georgiades and Lindsey Nehls, co-founders of Elevate Leadership, and in this premiere episode, we’re diving into three very real challenges people leaders face every day:

1. What do you do when a direct report keeps “forgetting” feedback and backslides on performance again and again?
2. Should you say something when your team turns cameras off in meetings but not in 1:1s?
3. How do you support career growth when there are zero promotion opportunities in your org chart?

We share real-world coaching stories and tactics we’ve seen work across teams, including confronting competing commitments, using levity in awkward moments (tuna fish lunch, anyone?), and facilitating growth in flat organizations by designing experiences instead of chasing titles.

This episode is full of actionable advice to help you lead your team with clarity, compassion, and confidence.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.

Not all feedback conversations are high stakes; sometimes, they just smell that way. In this quick mini‑episode of People Are the Worst, Lucy and Lindsey share a hilarious (and painfully relatable) story about one of the trickiest office offenses of all time: the tuna fish lunch.

What starts as a small complaint about a strong scent turns into a reminder that even the awkward, low‑impact moments at work deserve a little courage and a sense of humor. Because giving feedback doesn’t always have to feel like confrontation. Sometimes, it’s just about saying what everyone’s already thinking (kindly).

Listen for a laugh, a dose of reality, and proof that feedback can be both direct and human.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.

If you want your team to think like owners, take initiative, debate ideas, and share real opinions in meetings, but you keep getting silence, hesitation, or “Just tell me what to do” vibes, this episode is for you.

In this episode, we’re answering a question from a manager who wants his team to lean in more, take risks, and bring forward their own recommendations rather than wait for direction every time. We dig into what really gets in the way of ownership and proactivity, and (spoiler alert) sometimes the problem starts with us as managers.

We’ll show you how to:

• Get out of your team’s way, for real
• Set expectations that actually create ownership
• De‑risk decision‑making with guardrails instead of approvals
• Reinforce risk‑taking with meaningful praise
• Avoid accidental micromanaging (even when you think you’re helping)

Then, we shift into a question from another manager: “Why does my team go silent in meetings but share all their opinions privately?”

We’ll walk you through tactical ways to build psychological safety, model vulnerability, encourage debate, and set up meeting formats that help both “speak‑to‑thinkers” and “think‑to‑speakers” contribute confidently.

Finally, Natalie asks: “When’s the right time to ask for feedback and how do I actually get useful input?”

We break down how to ask for specific feedback, how often to request it, and how to receive it without defensiveness, even when it stings a little.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.

Additional Resources:

Psychological Safety Survey (Amy Edmondson)

Rate your team of peers: 2 points = True | 1 = Sometimes True | 0 = False

1. If you make a mistake on this team, it is rarely held against you
2. Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues
3. People on this team don’t reject others for being different
4. It is safe to take a risk on this team
5. It is easy to ask other members of this team for help
6. No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts
7. Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized

Rating Scale:

• 0-5 - Psychological safety on your team needs some work. What can you do immediately to make some progress here?
• 6-10 - Psychological safety is not bad, but some improvement would go a long way
• 11-14 - Great job! Psychological safety on your team is high!

In this quick mini-episode, Lucy and Lindsey break down what psychological safety actually looks like in practice. If you want a team that debates ideas, takes risks, and speaks up without fear, it starts with modeling vulnerability yourself.

They share simple, real-world ways to create a safer environment for honest conversation, from admitting what you don’t know to calling forward quieter voices and using devil’s advocate prompts to normalize disagreement. Plus, a surprising reminder: overly polished meetings can shut people down. Sometimes, less structure leads to more honesty.

A short, practical guide for any manager trying to get their team talking again.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.

You gave the feedback. You agreed on the next steps. You even wrote it down.

So why is your direct report acting like it never happened?

In this episode of People Are the Worst, Lucy and Lindsey dive into one of the most frustrating patterns managers face: when someone receives clear, thoughtful feedback but somehow, nothing changes.

Whether it’s passive resistance, people-pleasing, or a lack of psychological safety, the reasons someone “forgets” feedback are rarely surface-level. We talk about:

• Why “nice” employees often resist feedback more than difficult ones
• The neuroscience behind competing commitments and why good intentions still lead to bad follow-through
• How to use language that creates clarity and accountability (without micromanaging)
• The difference between feedback and norms, and how to align your team on both
• Why “I must help if someone asks” is wrecking your team’s productivity
• The subtle ways feedback avoidance shows up in remote team dynamics

Plus: real scripts, tactical tools, and stories that show how to move from “we talked about it” to “we did something about it.”

If you’ve ever felt stuck in the “we’ve already talked about this” loop, this episode will give you the clarity, confidence, and language to break the cycle.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.

Giving feedback is hard. Giving feedback to someone you know is going to react emotionally or defensively? That’s a whole different level of dread.

In this mini episode of People Are the Worst, Lucy and Lindsey respond to a question from Mandy, a manager facing one of the most uncomfortable leadership moments: delivering tough, repeated feedback to a direct report who hasn’t taken it well in the past.

We break down how to manage the moment without escalating emotions or shutting the conversation down. You’ll learn how to prepare yourself emotionally before the conversation, why stating your intention upfront matters more than you think, and how empathy can quickly de‑escalate defensiveness.

Lucy walks through a simple but powerful empathy framework you can use in real time, agreeing with something true, summarizing what you’re hearing, naming the emotion, and asking a gentle question that re‑engages the other person’s thinking brain. Lindsey adds why this approach works so well and how empathy, when done correctly, is the fastest path to calmer, more productive conversations.

We also talk about the role of vulnerability, how summarizing throughout the conversation helps people feel heard, and how to keep the discussion focused on alignment rather than blame.

If you’ve been putting off a feedback conversation because you’re worried about tears, defensiveness, or emotional fallout, this mini episode will give you language, structure, and confidence to handle it with clarity and care.

Good luck, Mandy! We’re rooting for you.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.

Whether you’re navigating performance reviews or holding the line on salary bands, talking about money in the workplace can get awkward fast.

In this episode, we dive into the most nuanced, and avoid-at-all-costs conversations managers are often thrown into without a script. We walk through some real-world questions from leaders dealing with everything from disappointed team members to deserving-but-not-ready promotion seekers.

You will gain our advice on:

1. How to tell someone they’re not getting a raise with empathy
2. The order (and emotional load) of separating performance reviews from compensation
3. What to do when a mid-level outperformer starts comparing themselves to a higher-paid peer who’s not performing as well
4. How to address the “I want more money but I haven’t taken any more initiative” dilemma
5. Why making promises you can’t keep is one of the fastest ways to ruin trust
6. How to keep top performers motivated when they’ve hit the top of their compensation band

We also tackle the subtle dynamics that can erode team morale such as rewarding the squeaky wheel, accidentally underpaying the “nicest” team members, and how to calibrate compensation across a team with fairness and transparency.

By the end of this episode, you’ll have language to use, failure modes to avoid, and a stronger compass for leading with clarity and care during compensation season.

Want to Ask Us a Question? We’re taking real questions from real managers and people leaders. Email us at dearlandl@elevateleadership.com, and we just might feature yours in a future episode.

Learn more about our solutions at https://www.elevateleadership.com/

Connect with Lindsey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseynehls/

Connect with Lucy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-georgiades-84933622/

Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you never miss an episode. And leave us a review to let us know what you think.