The WorthTheWork’s Podcast

Courtni Hughes-Bochenek
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Careers

Worth The Work is a podcast for People leaders, by a People leader. Honest conversations about engagement, culture, leadership, and modern work — without the polish, the performance, or the predictable takes. Hosted by Courtni Hughes-Bochenek, a People & Culture executive with 16+ years of experience building, modernizing, and leading enterprise HR functions, Worth The Work explores what it actually means to lead People work in this moment. Through change. Through AI. Through reductions. Through growth. Through everything that makes our work meaningful and complicated. This is the show for anyone who cares about People work — whether you build it, lead it, or are on the receiving end of it. CHROs, CPOs, People leaders, managers, HR practitioners, and the executives who partner with them. If you have ever wondered what it actually takes to build organizations where people can do their best work, this conversation is for you. We do not have all the answers. We are not here to pretend we do. What we are committed to is the real conversation about what it takes to lead well, build well, and care for the people doing the work alongside us.

Episodes

  1. 4d ago

    Episode 9: Beyond The Job

    Episode 9: Beyond The Job Courtni opens by challenging the pressure to love every part of your job — work doesn't have to be your whole identity to be worthwhile. Her guest, Eric Mavor, a Director of Operations at Medline, shares how his leadership style evolved managing teams that grew from 20 to 300+ people, emphasizing a "human first" approach and figuring out what makes each person tick. Key themes: • Leadership as connection, not control — Eric credits his creative, personable style (team grilling events, celebrations) for building trust and morale, shaped by years of gaining confidence and autonomy. • Identity beyond the job — Both agree work is a means to an end, not the whole self; understanding that makes leaders more empathetic. • Boundaries and balance — Eric reframes work/life balance as intentionality rather than hours, citing habits like cutting off email notifications, protecting off-hours, and drawing inspiration from Cal Newport's writing. • Mindset and outside interests — Running, family time, and outdoor adventures recharge him; interpersonal communication skills (an unlikely community college class) shaped his leadership more than he expected. • Advice for over-identified workers — Lean into demanding seasons when needed, but stay introspective: journal, remove distractions, and identify the other "hats" you wear (parent, athlete, partner, etc.). • Closing note — Not everyone's identity outside work looks the same (parent, hobbyist, etc.), but human-to-human connection — at work or outside it — is what people ultimately need. The conversation ends warmly, with some light technical hiccups and a shared appreciation for authenticity in leadership.

  2. Aug 14

    Episode 8: You Can Be Grateful And Still Want More

    Episode 8: You Can Be Grateful And Still Want More Courtni Hughes-Bochenek explores the tension between contentment and ambition — how you can genuinely love the life you've built and still want more without it undermining your gratitude. Key points: Gratitude shouldn't become an obligation to stay the same; it should ground you, not trap you. Wanting "more" doesn't mean your current life is bad — it can simply mean wanting something different, not necessarily better. Ambition is often celebrated early in a career but viewed with suspicion once someone has "made it" — including in how leaders react when employees want to keep growing. Wanting more doesn't always mean wanting bigger — sometimes it means wanting less (less stress, less climbing, more freedom or alignment). The core question she lands on: not "what should you want," but "who are you becoming, and what does that person want?" Closing thesis: you can love where you've been and where you are, and still be curious about what's next — both can be true.

  3. Aug 7

    Episode 7: The Job Is Not The Point

    Episode 7: The Job Is Not the Point What if loving your job was never supposed to be the goal? For years, we’ve been told to find our passion, follow our purpose, and build careers that fulfill us. But somewhere along the way, meaningful work became an expectation that we should love our jobs—and that if we don’t, we’re doing something wrong. In this episode of Worth the Work, Courtni Hughes-Bochenek challenges that idea. Because work can matter without becoming your identity. You can be ambitious, engaged, and excellent at what you do—and still believe the most important parts of your life happen outside of work. In this episode, we explore: Why the “do what you love” narrative may be doing more harm than good The difference between meaningful work and needing work to fulfill you Why your identity shouldn’t rise and fall with your career What People & Culture leaders may have gotten wrong about employee engagement Why respect, trust, fair pay, clarity, and a life outside of work matter more than convincing employees to “love” their jobs How holding work a little more loosely can help us make better decisions about our careers—and our lives And maybe the question we should be asking isn’t: “Do you love your job?” Maybe it’s: “Are you building a life you love beyond it?” Work matters. But it is still only one piece of a life. Work can wait. Your life is happening now. 🎙️ Worth the Work Honest conversations about engagement, culture and modern work. Hosted by Courtni Hughes-Bochenek If this episode resonates, subscribe, share it with someone who might need the reminder, and join the conversation in the comments: What exists in the bigger piece of your life?

  4. Jul 27

    Episode 6: Beyond Burnout

    In this episode, host Courtni sits down with Mel Goodman — tech industry veteran turned founder of WorkMom — to unpack the slow drift that leads high-achievers to burnout before they ever see it coming. Mel shares her own story: 15 years in corporate, multiple burnout cycles, postpartum anxiety, and the moment she found herself hoping to be on a layoff list. That wake-up call led her to leave Salesforce, take a severance, and build a business helping senior leader moms redesign their lives before they fall apart. Together, they dig into why burnout doesn't look like collapse — it looks like someone still performing, still delivering, but completely disconnected from themselves. And why the popular fixes (rest, self-care, boundaries) aren't enough when the real problem is life architecture. Key themes: The four invisible loads of modern motherhood Why the most competent women are often the most burned out "You can't self-care your way out of a structural problem" What it actually takes to step back into alignment Connect with Mel Goodman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melgoodman/ https://www.workmom.io

  5. Jul 21

    Episode 5: Beyond the Leadership Gap

    Worth the Work | Episode 5 "Closing the Leadership Gap with Emily Dills" What happens when your best performer becomes a manager — and no one prepares them for it? In this episode, Courtni sits down with Emily Dills, corporate and executive strategy expert, to tackle one of the most overlooked challenges in the workplace: the leadership gap. Emily breaks down why being great at your job doesn't automatically make you a great leader — and what organizations and individuals can do about it. At the heart of the conversation are the 4 leadership mindsets every manager falls into: The Mentor — High expectations + high support. The goal. The Protector — All support, low expectations. Feels caring, but stunts growth. The Enforcer — High expectations, zero support. Breeds burnout and fear. The Avoider — Sidesteps hard conversations and hopes things resolve themselves. Emily and Courtni also cover what the first 30 days in a leadership role should really look like, why emotional intelligence and time management are the two most critical foundations for new managers, and how organizations can build a true leadership culture — not just check a training box. Plus: why Emily focuses her work on middle managers, the ROI of investing in your people, and her simple advice for anyone trying to drive change in their organization: start with the new and the willing.  Emily loves to begin her work by focusing on one leader and a small team because from there the ripple effects often push out through the whole organization. Get In Touch With Emily Dills: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilydills/ https://www.emilydills.com/

  6. Jul 14

    Episode 4: When People Stop Telling You The Truth

    One of the most dangerous moments in leadership is the one almost no leader recognizes: the moment people quietly stop telling them the truth. In this episode, Courtni explores why silence isn't alignment, what avoidance is really costing, and the reframe every leader should sit with — the quality of a leader isn't measured by how often people agree with them. It's measured by how safe people feel disagreeing with them.

  7. Jul 6

    Episode 3: When Work Takes More Than It Gives Back

    What if the real problem isn't burnout — it's drift? In this episode, Courtni reframes exhaustion as the slow accumulation of small decisions that quietly reshape our lives, and asks the question we don't ask often enough: what is work taking from us that we're ready to take back?

  8. Jun 28

    Episode 2: The Leadership Gap

    Getting promoted into leadership doesn't automatically make someone a great manager. In this episode of Worth The Work, Courtni Hughes-Bochenek explores the leadership gap nobody talks about — the widening space between being given a title and actually being prepared for what comes with it. She names what most organizations get wrong, why so many managers are quietly struggling, and how much of our engagement problem might really be a leadership development problem in disguise. This isn't a tactical breakdown of what great managers do. It's an honest look at why we don't talk about this enough — and why we probably should. Because leadership isn't what we announce. It's what we protect when protecting it costs us something. And people don't leave organizations. They leave the leaders inside them.

  9. Jun 22

    Episode 1: The Manifesto

    Episode 1 is the manifesto. Host Courtni Hughes-Bochenek introduces Worth The Work — why she's building it, what to expect every week, and the question that will anchor every episode: what is actually worth the work? Includes a brief, honest reflection on the unexpected loss of her father six months ago and how that loss sharpened what she wants to say with the time she has.

  • 9 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Worth The Work is a podcast for People leaders, by a People leader. Honest conversations about engagement, culture, leadership, and modern work — without the polish, the performance, or the predictable takes. Hosted by Courtni Hughes-Bochenek, a People & Culture executive with 16+ years of experience building, modernizing, and leading enterprise HR functions, Worth The Work explores what it actually means to lead People work in this moment. Through change. Through AI. Through reductions. Through growth. Through everything that makes our work meaningful and complicated. This is the show for anyone who cares about People work — whether you build it, lead it, or are on the receiving end of it. CHROs, CPOs, People leaders, managers, HR practitioners, and the executives who partner with them. If you have ever wondered what it actually takes to build organizations where people can do their best work, this conversation is for you. We do not have all the answers. We are not here to pretend we do. What we are committed to is the real conversation about what it takes to lead well, build well, and care for the people doing the work alongside us.

Information

  • Creator
    Courtni Hughes-Bochenek
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The WorthTheWork’s Podcast