Cubicle Confidential
Weekly Advice for the Working Stiff: Having problems with people at work? Does your boss suck? Do your co-workers drive you crazy? Tim McClure and Chris DeSantis are here to help. Each week Tim and Chris take on your most outrageous workplace questions and concerns. Their advice is sometimes spot-on, sometimes salty, and sometimes funny. (Funny, as in “haha” not as in “I’m funny how? I mean funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you? I make you laugh?”) They’re good guys, not Goodfellas.
Episodes
156 episodes
Re-Issue Lessons in Strategery Part Two
Tune in to hear Chris and Tim discuss “Lessons in Strategery Part One and Two.” You’ll understand the title when you hear the podcast. We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email...
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Season 4
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Episode 154
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33:01
Re-Issue Lessons in Strategery Part One
Tune in to hear Chris and Tim discuss “Lessons in Strategery Part One and Two.” You’ll understand the title when you hear the podcast. We’re here to help you succeed! Send us your workplace dilemmas or career questions. Email...
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Season 4
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Episode 154
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33:39
Major F%$@Up
“Oops you made a mistake, that’s all … and making mistakes is never fun” was a jingle from a decades-old cartoon series. Truer words were never sung. Blunder … error … gaffe … mis-step … oversight … blooper … many terms sha...
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Season 4
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Episode 153
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32:50
Culture Woes
Leading a high-profile initiative can be daunting … even more so when you’re coordinating team members scattered around the globe. We help listeners tasked with getting the job done while navigating different languages, cultures and work styles...
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Season 4
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Episode 152
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33:01
Feeling Down
As the saying goes, “Life unfolds at the office.” Feeling sad or down is a normal reaction to disappointing or difficult times. But when a low mood stretches from days to weeks it can be difficult to sleep, think or work. If you feel d...
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Season 4
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Episode 151
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32:00
Promotion Blues
A new title, more responsibility, better pay and perhaps a little prestige … what could be bad about getting promoted? This week we help listeners grappling with the complexities and consequences of “moving on up” the corporate ladder.&nb...
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Season 4
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Episode 150
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33:17
Mistaken Identity
Honesty is the best policy, but … the early bird gets the worm. Which idiom can save a listener from being an idiot? Next, an honest mistake does real harm … how to handle damage control when you unwittingly spill the tea about a job change. Is...
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Season 4
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Episode 149
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39:14
It’s Just Lunch
This week we help listeners master the mid-day meal: one wants in on the action, while another wrestles with the cost of lavish lunching. Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. Reflections on different types of lies...
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Season 4
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Episode 148
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35:36
Strange Bedfellows
What to do when work travel gets awkward? How to deflect when another couple wants to join your vacation. How to navigate a work trip when teammates become roommates. Chris reflects on his time as an instructor at a school for new consultants a...
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Season 4
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Episode 147
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34:22
Political Animals
Religion … money … politics … in the modern workplace almost no subject is off limits. This week we help a listener in Texas do the two-step when his new teammates talk politics. The Gaylord hotel, the Curse of Knowledge and the toppling trees ...
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Season 4
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Episode 146
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33:33
Angling for a Better Opportunity
This week we help listeners shake up the status quo. What to do when your comp doesn’t match your contribution to the business? Next, how to start a job change when you think you’ve found some greener grass. In honor of Mother’s Day: ...
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Season 4
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Episode 145
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30:12
To Poach, or not to poach; that is the question
Given the transient and mobile nature of the modern workforce, is poaching an ethical dilemma or a smart sourcing strategy? We help a restaurant owner contemplate countermeasures when an upscale rival raids his roster. Next, Chris and Tim help ...
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Season 4
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Episode 144
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35:39
Crushes
Tim’s much-maligned reference shelf includes the American Heritage dictionary which defines a crush as: “a usually temporary infatuation.” This week we help listeners work through the twists and turns of office obsessions. Chris waxes poe...
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Season 4
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Episode 143
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33:05
Lasting Impressions
Sometimes it’s hard to stand out from the crowd, sometimes it’s hard to hide. We help listeners chart a course into -- and out of – the spotlight. Plus: an apology to Sean Evans, the “pretend agent” that launched a career, and the all-too...
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Season 4
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Episode 142
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32:36
It’s 420 (discussing weed at the workplace)
Recreational marijuana is all the buzz but what happens when Mary Jane dances a little too close to the office? We explore the complicated tapestry of state law, company policy and individual liberty. Is pot the new alcohol or is it a little mo...
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Season 4
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Episode 141
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42:26
Mission: Implausible
When does a stretch goal become a fool’s errand? This week listeners share their challenges with unrealistic expectations both foreign (from a client) and domestic (from the boss). Chris shares one of his favorite tools for assessing personalit...
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Season 4
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Episode 140
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34:23
Artificial (vs. All-Natural) Intelligence
Intelligensia Artificialis is not a real phrase but it should be. We tackle two takes on the omnipresent A.I. system, Chat GPT. How can a freelance writer stay relevant? If you find time in your day, should you ask for more work (or just play)?...
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Season 4
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Episode 139
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37:51
Pet Peeves
What to do when a co-worker’s pride and joy becomes your noisy nemesis? A cry for help as the office devolves into a petting zoo. In a first for the podcast, we help two listeners from the same company! Plus, an homage to a dark chocolate...
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Season 4
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Episode 138
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33:33
Body Talk
Sharing the gym – and the locker room – with coworkers can lead to some uncomfortable encounters! Tune in to hear Chris and Tim help listeners avoid pulling a hamstring when access to amenities gets awkward.Segments in this episode
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30:40
Fear Not
Did you know the number one fear in America is glossophopia? Chris and Tim help a listener manage their high anxiety. Next, they discuss how to tap the brakes on an unreserved rookie without crushing his spirit.Segments in this episode
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35:25
Foreign to Me
In this episode, Chris and Tim offer advice on collaborating with co-workers from around the globe. The hosts discuss a resource for assessing and developing “cultural competence.” Are you a Gemini? You are if you like great food served i...
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Season 4
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Episode 135
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34:24
Food and Drink
Tune in to hear Chris and Tim help listeners navigate the sense and sensibility of eating at the office and weigh the risks and rewards of drinking with clients. Is there a new sponsor on the horizon? Only time will tell …Segments in thi...
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Season 4
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Episode 134
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32:09
Everybody’s Got One …
How do you deal with a little old lady who happens to be a liar and a slacker and a favorite of the owner? Can you advance as the nice guy at a firm full of cut-throat alphas? In this episode Chris and Tim share advice for dealing w...
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Season 4
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Episode 133
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32:03