Cover of Sit. Stay. Hire

Sit. Stay. Hire

Sit. Stay. Hire

By: WRKdefined Podcast Network
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Summary
 Sit. Stay. Hire. is a podcast about what dogs teach us about hiring, leadership, and trust at work, hosted by Jackye Clayton. Jackye has spent more than 15 years in talent acquisition and HR technology. She's also a GoodPup Certified Trainer who boards and trains dogs in Waco, Texas. She set out to write a business book about hiring. What she ended up with is closer to a requiem for corporate leadership, told alongside the story of Shiloh, a foster dog who came to her after being hit by a car and never left. Each episode pairs a dog story with a real hiring or leadership problem. Why do good candidates walk away? What does trust on a team actually look like? Why do companies reward the loudest behavior and miss the signal that matters? What happens to people in systems not built with them in mind? Season 1 guests include Steven Rothberg, John Sumser, Katrina Collier, Dr. Akilah Bradford, Katee Van Horn, Carrie Corcoran, Julia Levy, Brian Fink, Noelle London and Trish Ferrett. For recruiters, hiring managers, HR and people leaders, founders, and anyone who has trained a dog and thought, "This is exactly what's wrong with our interview process." Season 1 premieres Tuesday, November 3, 2026, with three episodes. New episodes every Tuesday after that.All rights reserved by WRKdefined Career Success Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Did You Teach Them to Swim? with Dr. Akilah Bradford

    Did You Teach Them to Swim? with Dr. Akilah Bradford
    10 Nov 2026
    They said they could swim in the interview. Nobody asked if they could swim in this pool. Jackye Clayton talks with Dr. Akilah Bradford, HR executive consultant and founder of The HR DOC Consulting, about Temper, the family Rottweiler raised by a whole household, and Scruffy, the poodle mix who would do anything for chicken. They get into why the same command does not work on every dog or every employee, why what motivates someone changes over time, the "difficult" new hire who never got onboarding, and the manager who wants a rule enforced on everyone except their favorite. The pack shapes the behavior. Before you label someone the problem, look at the system that made them. People who seem checked out are often people nobody trained. What motivates someone changes over time, so the reward has to change too. A new hire learns the job from the team around them, good habits and bad. You cannot hold someone accountable for an expectation nobody set. Rules that apply to everyone except the favorite break trust across the team. Before calling someone difficult, look at their onboarding, their manager and their team. 00:00 - Cold open: did you teach them to swim? 00:48 - Temper and Scruffy 04:27 - What motivates changes over time 06:13 - Thrown in the pool 10:29 - The pack shapes behavior 14:59 - Your favorite employee 17:39 - Difficult employees 19:59 - The heel 24:28 - Before you label someone 27:01 - Close and next time Find Dr. Akilah at hr-doc.com, on LinkedIn, and on Instagram @HR_DOC. Dog training in Waco: keepwacowagging.com. Hiring help: jackyeclayton.com/talentlab
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    28 min
  • Why Respect Works Better Than Control

    Why Respect Works Better Than Control
    3 Nov 2026
    Most management advice is about control. Jackye Clayton talks with John Sumser, principal analyst at HR Examiner, about Carlos, his labradoodle, and why the only thing a leader can actually change is themselves. They talk about respect before obedience, why correction and public humiliation push people away, what it means to remove the obstacles in someone's way instead of managing them like property, and why people, like dogs, come back to the leaders they want to come back to. Respect has to come before obedience, with dogs and with people. The only behavior a manager can fully control is their own. Correction without respect teaches people to avoid you, not to improve. Public humiliation damages trust across the whole team, not just with one person. Good managers remove obstacles instead of adding rules. Treating people like property leads to compliance, not commitment. People come back to leaders who make them want to come back. Leaving people alone to do their work is often the most useful thing a manager can do. 00:00 - Cold open: the only thing I can change 00:35 - Meet Carlos 04:38 - Respect before obedience 07:25 - The pronoun story 12:36 - Why public humiliation backfires 16:15 - When to leave people alone 19:57 - Who is in your pack today 21:23 - Why people and dogs come back 22:32 - The dog in my lap management style, respect at work, control vs trust, leadership lessons from dogs, employee engagement, public criticism at work, manager behavior, HR leadership, retention, positive reinforcement
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    25 min
  • Why Difficult People Are Often Protecting Something

    Why Difficult People Are Often Protecting Something
    3 Nov 2026
    When a dog reacts, people ask whether it is a rescue. When a person reacts at work, they usually get written up. Jackye Clayton talks with Katrina Collier, author of The Damage of Words, about Lance, the dog who taught her she was worthy of love, and what that taught her about defensive, prickly behavior at work. They talk about learning to receive kindness, how old wounds show up in meetings, why documenting beats defending when someone turns a team against you, and why trust takes much longer than a two-week onboarding. People who seem difficult at work are often protecting themselves from something that happened before. Giving people the same patience we give a rescue dog changes how they respond. Learning to accept kindness is a skill, and some people have to learn it as adults. When someone turns a team against you, write down facts instead of defending yourself in the moment. Rewards and recognition only work when they match what the person values. Yelling and pressure stop learning, for dogs and for people. Trust is built over months, not during a two-week onboarding. Hiding at work is often a sign that someone does not feel safe yet. 00:00 - Cold open: is that a rescue? 00:27 - The soul dog 04:22 - Learning to receive love 10:12 - Bringing wounds and scars to work 13:04 - Document, do not defend 16:12 - Finding the reward that works 17:34 - What a shaking dog taught about yelling 18:33 - Hiding in plain sight trauma informed leadership, difficult employees, psychological safety, workplace conflict, rescue dog lessons, employee trust, toxic coworkers, documentation at work, recognition and rewards, leadership and empathy
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    22 min
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