The Leadership Gambit
The Leadership Gambit
The Toolkit for Business and Life You Were Never Taught
Let’s be real: you don’t need more cliche advice and a lot of content doesn’t go deep enough. You need practical guidance you can actually use to help you overcome your challenges or achieve your goals.
Recent studies show most people today feel unsupported, underprepared, and overwhelmed by a system and management that teaches very little about navigating, leading, or thriving in the chaos of modern life.
This podcast is for anyone who’s ready to take ownership of their personal journey and needs a guide to support them along their path.
We take over 20 years of real-world experience, hundreds of field experiments, and the best of leadership, psychology, and personal development knowledge and turn it into clear, honest, and useful guidance you can start using right away.
No fluff, real talk, and real tools, to thrive at work and in life.
Hosted by Chris Miller and Dane Smith. Edited by Joseph Pitz.
The Leadership Gambit
S05E07: Rewriting the Manager-Employee Social Contract
The manager–employee social contract is broken. For decades, trust has eroded as workplaces shifted from caretaking managers and stable career paths to layoffs, cost-cutting, and “at-will” employment. Employees expect fair pay, growth, support, and respect, while managers and companies demand results, reliability, and alignment. When those expectations aren’t clear or met, both sides feel betrayed.
In this episode, we dig into:
- The history of the old manager–employee social contract and why it no longer works
- How trust has been eroded by decades of layoffs, outsourcing, and shareholder-first practices
- Why transparency, flexibility, and psychological safety must be part of the new deal
- What a rewritten social contract could look like for today’s workforce
- The shift from command-and-control management to leaders who inspire people and manage work
👉 What’s in it for you: If you’re a manager, leader, or emerging leader, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you show up for your people, and why rewriting the social contract isn’t optional if you want to build trust, engagement, and long-term success.
Ready to take your personal development to the next level? Visit www.theleadershipmovement.net to request access to our FREE quick start guides, self-assessments, and other resources that you can use to turn your new knowledge into practice.