What's Wrong With People?!
The ridiculous things humans do at work — and what good leaders do about it.
What’s Wrong With People? is a podcast about the ridiculous things humans do at work — and what good leaders do about it.
Because work would be so much easier if it weren’t for all the people.
The passive-aggressive emails. The unnecessary meetings. The boss who asks for honest feedback and then immediately regrets it. The coworker who “hates drama” while personally producing three seasons of it before lunch. The perfectly competent adult who receives one piece of feedback and suddenly prepares a legal defense.
People are ridiculous.
But usually, there’s something happening underneath the ridiculousness.
Fear. Ego. Pressure. Insecurity. Power. Miscommunication. Avoidance. Hurt. The desperate human need to be right, liked, respected, included, or left the hell alone.
I’m Nicky Espinosa, a leadership consultant, coach, speaker, and longtime HR executive. I’ve spent more than 30 years sitting in the middle of the moments when work gets messy and otherwise reasonable adults start behaving in deeply unreasonable ways.
Each episode starts with a funny, painfully familiar workplace story and asks two questions:
What the hell is happening here?
And:
What does a good leader do about it?
We’ll laugh at the absurdity, unpack the human behavior underneath it, and talk about how better leaders handle pressure, conflict, accountability, power, communication, and all the other complicated stuff that happens when you put human beings together and ask them to get something done.
Because strategy is usually the easy part.
People are where it gets interesting.
Episodes
10 episodes
Who Are You Becoming As You Lead
Finding your voice isn’t about getting louder, it’s means getting clearer about what you believe and who you want to be when you’re angry, scared, challenged, or holding power over someone’s livelihood and dignity. I’m Nicky Espinosa, and after...
Congrats On Your Promotion To Email Detective
One weird email can turn me into a full-time detective, and it can wreck my mood long before I ever talk to the person who sent it. I’m learning that the moment is usually smaller than the story I build, and I still get to choose dignity and cl...
Say It In The Room
We laugh at the painfully familiar “aligned” meeting that turns into a hallway critique session minutes later, and we name what that habit really costs. We walk through a simple one-sentence courage move that replaces false agreement with real ...
Arson With A Signature And Other Email Mistakes
We laugh at the “clarification” email that should have stayed in drafts, then get honest about why smart, caring leaders still torch relationships from the outbox. We break down a simple test and three questions that turn reactive messages into...
Bullhorns, Budget Emails, And Hurt Feelings
We dig into the workplace paradox where people beg for clarity, transparency, and a decision, then recoil when the answer disrupts what they wanted. We lay out how to make hard calls with incomplete information, communicate without defensivenes...
The Missing Data Point In Every Decision
We dig into why smart, well-meaning leaders still get stuck and keep having the same conflicts. We show how self-awareness changes everything when we finally include ourselves as data and notice what happens in the seconds before we speak. ...
A Call Back To Leadership
We dig into why grown adults dodge simple conversations and what those habits reveal about fear, ego, and the need to feel safe. We lay out a “stay human” approach to leadership that pairs courage and accountability with dignity and compassion ...
Stop Letting Everyone Else Vote
Freedom isn’t only about fireworks, rights, or big life choices. Sometimes it’s the quiet, uncomfortable freedom to tell the truth, to disappoint people, and to stop living by everyone else’s expectations. On this July 4th reflection, I share w...
The Movie In My Head
Your boss says, “Can you stop by my office?” and suddenly your brain writes a whole screenplay where you’re getting fired. I’ve been there, and I’m willing to bet you have too. That split-second leap from a neutral moment to a worst-case story ...
What’s Wrong With People? (Spoiler: Probably Nothing.)
After 30 years in Human Resources, I've seen incredible leadership, breathtaking dysfunction, office feuds over copier paper, and adults behave in ways that make you question everything.So what is wrong with people?Maybe the ans...
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