


EPISODE
What's IN and what's OUT in leadership this year?
Join Cy and Alex on this episode as they're diving into the latest trends for 2024, inspired by the fun ideas they've seen on TikTok and social media. Listen along as they explore leadership and work trends that are in and out for the year. With minimal preparation, they're taking a fresh look at what's shaping the future of work.
First, they're talking about the importance of clarity in leadership. Forget the fancy tools and strategies—what's in is getting back to basics. They're discussing re-clarifying goals, roles, and procedures with your team. It may not sound glamorous, but it's essential for ensuring everyone is aligned and working towards the right objectives.
On the flip side, what's out is leaders over-managing people and imposing their opinions. Instead, it's all about shared accountability. Leaders and teams alike need to take ownership of their actions and decisions, especially as we navigate new ways of working, whether in the office or remotely.
Join them as they discuss these trends and more, sharing insights and practical tips for thriving in the ever-evolving workplace in 2024.
To get the top 5 practical tools to lead your teams in the 2024 workplace grab Cy's Reality-Based Cheat Sheet PDF at the link below: https://info.realitybasedleadership.com/cheatsheet
Latest episodes
117: Why Learned Helplessness Holds Teams Back and Is the Opposite of Accountability
What happens when your team stops trying - not because they can't, but because they've decided it won't matter anyway? Alex Dorr, CEO and host of the Reality-Based Leadership Podcast, unpacks the psychological phenomenon behind stalled accountability: learned helplessness. It's the belief that your actions no longer shape your outcomes. It's contagious. And it's often hiding in plain sight, disguised as "that's just how things are here."
Alex walks through two classic experiments to show how deeply this pattern gets wired in, then turns the mirror on himself with a personal story about a phantom leg cramp that limited him for six years. From there, he offers three practical techniques leaders can use immediately: naming excuses and asking "what else could we try," swapping victim-questions for ownership-questions, and reframing impossible goals into small, doable next steps.
Learned helplessness isn't a character flaw. It's a habit. And habits can be broken. Listen in, then go work on it with your team this week.
Episode Highlights
00:02:27 What learned helplessness actually is
00:04:02 The flea experiment
00:06:38 The five monkeys experiment
00:08:27 Phrases that signal learned helplessness
00:10:03 Alex's personal story: the lunges that haunted him
00:14:04 Technique 1: name the excuse, ask what else
00:15:08 Technique 2: swap why and who for what and how
00:17:41 Technique 3: thinking inside-the-box
117: Why Learned Helplessness Holds Teams Back and Is the Opposite of Accountability
What happens when your team stops trying - not because they can't, but because they've decided it won't matter anyway? Alex Dorr, CEO and host of the Reality-Based Leadership Podcast, unpacks the psychological phenomenon behind stalled accountability: learned helplessness. It's the belief that your actions no longer shape your outcomes. It's contagious. And it's often hiding in plain sight, disguised as "that's just how things are here."
Alex walks through two classic experiments to show how deeply this pattern gets wired in, then turns the mirror on himself with a personal story about a phantom leg cramp that limited him for six years. From there, he offers three practical techniques leaders can use immediately: naming excuses and asking "what else could we try," swapping victim-questions for ownership-questions, and reframing impossible goals into small, doable next steps.
Learned helplessness isn't a character flaw. It's a habit. And habits can be broken. Listen in, then go work on it with your team this week.
Episode Highlights
00:02:27 What learned helplessness actually is
00:04:02 The flea experiment
00:06:38 The five monkeys experiment
00:08:27 Phrases that signal learned helplessness
00:10:03 Alex's personal story: the lunges that haunted him
00:14:04 Technique 1: name the excuse, ask what else
00:15:08 Technique 2: swap why and who for what and how
00:17:41 Technique 3: thinking inside-the-box



