Unprofessionalism

Dr Myriam Hadnes
  • 5.0 (9)
  • SELF-IMPROVEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Professional performance is exhausting. Maintaining the mask. Editing ourselves. Pretending we know when we don't. This podcast is about people who dropped the performance. And what happened next. Each episode features someone who broke professional conventions and found something better on the other side: the executive who disclosed grief in a corporate setting and found it opened new ways of relating; the coach who realised her authority came from integrity, not compliance; the designer who ignored the 'approved tools' and saved thousands of hours. Conversations circle around three questions: What does it cost us to perform professionalism instead of showing up as ourselves?How do we create spaces where people can bring their full attention and humanity to work?When is the “unprofessional” move actually the most responsible one? If you feel the tension between who you are and who you're expected to be at work, this podcast shows you what happens when people stop managing that tension and just stop performing. Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes—behavioural economist and founder of workshops.work. New episode every week.

  1. 004 - The Business Case for Belonging with Jon Berghoff

    1D AGO

    004 - The Business Case for Belonging with Jon Berghoff

    Send us a text If professionalism is restrictive by design, asking us to shrink, perform, and drain our precious energy on keeping up appearances – unprofessionalism is the undoing of the rules. It's the freedom to be our full, unequivocal selves. And who better to teach us about the business of belonging than Jon Berghoff? He's the founder of Xchange and one of the most sought-after facilitators in the world.  He also does his best work barefoot. Jon's early years were marked by doubt and displacement. Instead of performing his way into acceptance, he learned how to regulate his own nervous system so he could hold space for others to feel safe. Now guided by that learning, Jon helps people speak their truth and connect to something greater than themselves. In this conversation, he shares the risks he's taken, the stories he's collected, and what happens when you stop performing and start belonging. Find out about: Jon’s experience of being unprofessional – and his learnings from leaning into risksWhy feeling safe to be yourself starts with creating the right conditions to regulate your nervous systemHow facilitators can expand their capacity for self-regulation, in order to expand the room's collective capacityHow to spot when professional performance is draining your energy – and more importantly, how to challenge itLinks: LinkedIn Website Support the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    54 min
  2. 003 - Unmasking Professionalism: Code-Switching as Survival with Dr. Tieren Scott

    JAN 27

    003 - Unmasking Professionalism: Code-Switching as Survival with Dr. Tieren Scott

    Send us a text To be unprofessional isn’t always a choice, let alone a liberating one. Because when the system was never built with you in mind, speaking up and challenging the status quo comes with great risk and privilege – and it’s something Black women had to learn very early on. The brilliant Dr. Tieren Scott joins me this week for a raw and honest conversation about what it means to be Black in the world of work. She generously shares her experience of professional masking, the exhaustion of code-switching to appease others, and what it feels like to mold yourself within a misaligned system, while carry the weight of your community on your shoulders. This conversation is a vital reminder that some professional masks weigh heavier than others, and why choosing authenticity over palatability is a radical act of unprofessionalism. Find out about: Tieren’s professional experience as a Black woman in AmericaThe daily self-censorship and masking that Black women face in professional settingsThe biases and microaggressions that show up in places of work for Black peopleThe importance of uplifting minority groups, by putting them in the room – and promoting them when they’re not thereWhy white colleagues need to get curious and ask more questions, to be better allies at workLinks: Website LinkedIn Support the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    47 min
  3. 002 - From Taylorism to Trust: Rethinking Work’s Old Rules with Mike Parker

    JAN 20

    002 - From Taylorism to Trust: Rethinking Work’s Old Rules with Mike Parker

    Send us a text What comes to mind when you think about being “professional”? Fast, certain, composed, always ready with an answer. But those reflexes weren’t born in today’s world. They were forged in factories and on battlefields, where control, compliance, and speed kept systems running. In this episode, liminal coach, AI-enthusiast, and possibilitarian Mike Parker invites us to trace that origin story and ask whether those habits still help. We hold the past up to the present: modern work that depends on curiosity, synthesis, care, and the courage to say “I don’t know.” Together we explore what shifts when we stop chasing certainty and start practising wisdom—protecting real thinking, letting not-knowing lead to better decisions, and using AI to widen possibilities without outsourcing judgment. More than a history lesson, this is an invitation to trade fear-polish for trust, presence, and purpose so people can create better, together. Find out about: How industrial-age rules still shape “professional” behavior—and what to keep, update, or retireWhy depth beats speed: the role of calm, daydreaming, and the default-mode network in insightCreating rooms where questions lead, learning is visible, and inclusion isn’t performativeUsing AI as an expander for divergent options while keeping humans at the centerConnect with Mike: Website LinkedIn Substack Support the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    44 min
  4. 001 - Permission Granted: Breaking Rules to Build Integrity with Jillian Reilly

    JAN 13

    001 - Permission Granted: Breaking Rules to Build Integrity with Jillian Reilly

    Send us a text We grow up waiting for permission. But at what point do we stop waiting and start taking it for ourselves? Mentor, facilitator and permission advocate Jillian Reilly took hers early on in her career, during a US-sponsored AIDS programme that she was leading in Zimbabwe. Shaking in her shoes, she chose to speak her truth and honour her integrity, even if it meant going against the grain of expectation. For our first unscripted exploration of Unprofessionalism, Jillian - bestselling author of The 10 Permissions - joins me to deliver an important reminder: no one is coming to give us permission. We must resist the micro-moments of suppression, we must break the invisible rules of what we think is allowed, and we must take up the space we deserve. Find out about: How to give ourselves permission to show up with truth and integrityThe cultural components and privilege at play when giving ourselves permissionGetting clear on our boundaries in professional settings for greater self-alignmentWhy leaders must make the invisible rulebook explicit, turning it into a conversationWhy suppressing your needs will dull your agency, waste time, and make it harder to instigate changeLinks: LinkedIn The 10 Permissions Website Support the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    52 min
  5. 000 - Welcome to Unprofessionalism with Myriam Hadnes

    JAN 6

    000 - Welcome to Unprofessionalism with Myriam Hadnes

    Send us a text Welcome to Unprofessionalism! My shiny new podcast, a provocation in the making, and the place to challenge everything we’ve been taught about being professional. Together, we’ll be peeling back the limitations of professionalism, on a mission to restore our humanness and bring joy, defiantly, back to work. You’ll hear stories from scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, and true masters of their craft as we question the very construct of professionalism, its silent expectations, how we can break free, and seek to be unprofessionals in all that we do! But first, join me from the very beginning. In episode 000, we’ll journey from the birth of professionalism to its existence in the age of AI, and why the only sustainable thing left for us to be is our real, brilliant, unfiltered selves. Find out about: The history of professionalism, its construct, and why it has become such a paradoxThe wonderful guests I’ll be interviewing in the coming weeks, and the topics we’ll be exploringThe Unprofessionalism book I am writing alongside the podcast, and the research that has led me hereSupport the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    16 min
  6. 355 - The Final Episode of Workshops Work with Myriam Hadnes

    12/30/2025

    355 - The Final Episode of Workshops Work with Myriam Hadnes

    Send us a text And that’s a wrap, folks! After 355 brilliant, beautiful, mind-opening conversations about facilitation, life, and everything in between, I can now confidently say that I have found the magic ingredients that make workshops work. Join me, myself, and I for a final farewell episode of Workshops Work, before I retire this guise of the podcast from the airwaves. I reflect on the beautiful journey of almost 7 years, where my curiosity has led me, and why it’s now time for the start of something new. Next week, Workshop Works shapeshifts into a new chapter, a new direction, a new podcast! Unprofessionalism is set to air on the 7th January, as I begin to explore the real stories, shadows, and inspirations that can help us to celebrate our most human, unguarded selves. But for now, a wholehearted thank you for being a part of this journey with me. Find out about: The evolution of the Workshops Works podcastWhy my curiosity has shifted from that of the facilitator, to that of the participantThe new Unprofessionalism podcast – what it’s about, and what you can expectThe podcast club that I am hosting, to deepen our facilitation learnings togetherConnect with me: LinkedIn Join the Podcast Club on Substack by subscribing to the workshops work Substack: https://substack.com/@myriamhadnes/postsSupport the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    21 min
  7. 353 - How to Facilitate Constructive Discomfort through Brave Spaces with Dr. Dauv Evans

    12/24/2025

    353 - How to Facilitate Constructive Discomfort through Brave Spaces with Dr. Dauv Evans

    Send us a text Brave work is messy work. It’s an invitation into the dōjō – to be humbled, to get vulnerable, and leave behind what you thought you knew. Life-long learner, executive coach, culture consultant and facilitator, Dr. Dauv Evans joins me this week to journey beyond safety into the brave space arena. Together, we explore what it takes to build these spaces: the intentionality, the rules of engagement, and the assumptions we must leave at the door to have courageous conversations. From power imbalances, to conversations on race, Dauv shares his work in helping people to grow together and exist outside of their comfort zone, with generosity and passion. A rich, practical conversation about how leaders can show up with humility when it’s needed most. Find out about: What braves spaces are – and why people must be invited into themHow constructive discomfort can facilitate deeper connection, meaningful learning, and cultural change within organisationsWhy leaders must navigate people’s varying levels of risk tolerance with careHow to use power positively to facilitate a brave conversation for the betterDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player. Links: Watch the video recording of this episode on YouTube. Connect to Dauv Evans: Brave Space Leadership Cohort Interest Form Website LinkedIn Support the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    1h 20m
  8. 352 - Less Thinking, More Sensing: Embodiment in Facilitation with Mirjam Leunissen

    12/16/2025

    352 - Less Thinking, More Sensing: Embodiment in Facilitation with Mirjam Leunissen

    Send us a text Take a moment to tune into your body. Do your muscles feel tense, is your heartbeat slow and steady, is your jaw clamped tight? Embodiment coach and one-week-old facilitator, my fiancée Mirjam Leunissen joins me this week for a podcast first! As a scientist in a past life, Mirjam spent her days distilling data points – and she continues to do so under a new guise, now recognising patterns in the body, in emotions, and how people show up. We explore how embodiment can be a gateway to changing perspective and mastering our own comfort, as Mirjam shares practical tips for making sense of our bodies. A beautiful invitation to think a little less, sense a lot more, and come back to being a whole human being! Find out about: How embodiment can shape how we think and feel, helping us to regulate our nervous system, and respond with greater clarityWhy emotional awareness begins in the body first, when we tune into our physical sensationsWhy facilitating with lightness, play, and curiosity can foster psychological safetyThe importance of using tangible, factual terms about our physiology to bridge understandingWhy shifting our posture can positively transform the way that we thinkDon’t miss the next episode: subscribe to the show with your favourite podcast player. Links: Connect to Mirjam Leunissen: LinkedIn Support the show ✨✨✨ If you miss the "workshops work" podcast, join us on Substack, where Myriam builds a Podcast Club with monthly gatherings around old episodes: https://myriamhadnes.substack.com/

    1h 5m
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Trailer

5
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About

Professional performance is exhausting. Maintaining the mask. Editing ourselves. Pretending we know when we don't. This podcast is about people who dropped the performance. And what happened next. Each episode features someone who broke professional conventions and found something better on the other side: the executive who disclosed grief in a corporate setting and found it opened new ways of relating; the coach who realised her authority came from integrity, not compliance; the designer who ignored the 'approved tools' and saved thousands of hours. Conversations circle around three questions: What does it cost us to perform professionalism instead of showing up as ourselves?How do we create spaces where people can bring their full attention and humanity to work?When is the “unprofessional” move actually the most responsible one? If you feel the tension between who you are and who you're expected to be at work, this podcast shows you what happens when people stop managing that tension and just stop performing. Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes—behavioural economist and founder of workshops.work. New episode every week.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr Myriam Hadnes
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    364
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 workshops.work B.V.
  • Show Website
    Unprofessionalism

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