Unprofessionalism
Most career advice tells you to hide uncertainty, perform confidence, and never let them see you sweat.
This podcast is about what happens when you ignore that advice.
Unprofessionalism is a series of conversations with people who broke professional conventions and discovered something better on the other side: the designer who ignored the 'approved tools' and saved thousands of hours. The founder who built a practice by openly admitting gaps in expertise. The consultant who called out dysfunction everyone else had learnt to work around. The people who recognised that professionalism had become performance theatre: a mask hiding the messy, human work that actually creates value.
Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes—behavioural economist and founder of a global leadership training practice—each conversation dissects a specific moment where someone chose effectiveness over appearance, then reverse-engineers what made it work.
You'll hear the friction before the decision, the immediate aftermath, and what changed months later. The pattern recognition across these moments becomes your playbook.
If you've ever sat in a meeting thinking 'this is broken but I can't say it', this podcast tells you what happened to the people who did.
New episode every week.
Unprofessionalism
001 - Getting it Right by Starting it Right. The Power of Connection - with Patrick Cowden
In this episode, I talk to Patrick Cowden, founder of Beyond Leadership, an agency that helps organizations to unleash their full potential. By introducing a new way of leadership, Patrick empowers organizations to master future challenges.
Patrick is a book author, TEDx speaker and enhancer of collaboration. In this episode, we talk about the importance of human connection in workshops. Patricks shares how facilitators can change the game and deal with egos and politics by kicking off working sessions with a simple check-in exercise.
Don’t miss the hands-on advice, tips and tricks and Patrick’s energy that will spill over and inspire you to deliver workshops that work.
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Subscribe to our newsletter for a free 1-page summary of each upcoming episode directly to your inbox, or explore our eBooks featuring 50-episode compilations for even more facilitation insights. Find out more: https://workshops.work/podcast
Questions and Answers
[1:38] What is wrong with the way we gather professionally at work?
[4:08] What can we do to combine joy and results in meetings and workshops?
[8:06] Can we achieve the same results when we meet remotely?
[14:45] How can we create human connection in workshops?
[17:20] Can you explain how the “connect exercise” works?
[23:19] To what extend do you explain why you are doing specific exercises? Do you achieve the same results when you do the connect exercise in 3 minutes versus 30 seconds?
[28:11] How do you shift from the connection exercise to the “real” business-related topic of the meeting?
[33:45] How can you assure sustainable results of your intervention?
[35:13] Can you adjust the “connect exercise” to other topics without compromising the effect?
[38:19] What is your advice to facilitators to achieve results, foster connection and fight egos?
Related links you may want to check out:
- Patrick’s organisation: http://www.thebeyond.company
- Patrick’s Book “Neustart”
- Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel laureate
- From my desk on the value of check-ins: “You need one key to make meetings successful”
- Our sponsor Session Lab
Connect to Patrick:
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You can now find the podcast on Substack, where your host Dr. Myriam Hadnes is building a club for you to find fellow listeners and peers: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/
