Season 3 - Episode 024 The first time you manage people is a little like being handed a live grenade with the pin already pulled. You’re promoted because you’re brilliant at your day job—only to discover that managing humans requires a completely different skill set, one nobody bothers to teach you. Welcome to the brutal, hilarious, and occasionally soul-crushing reality of middle management. In this episode of A Job Done Well, Jimmy and James dissect the moment they realised they were woefully unprepared for leadership. From James’s early days of bollocking subordinates (and then apologising) to Jimmy’s face-off with a delusional cashier who insisted she was never late, they expose the … [Read more...]
How to Make Difficult Conversations Easy
Season 3 – Episode 7: With Amanda Gilbert In this episode of "A Job Done Well," James Lawther and Jimmy Barber are joined by learning and development expert Amanda Gilbert to tackle a topic we all face but often dread: difficult conversations at work (and beyond).After a quick catch-up (including university choices and Jimmy’s book recommendation for every man who has a mother), the team discuss why tough conversations feel so challenging—and how we can handle them better. Amanda introduces the "Ladder of Inference" model, helping us see how our assumptions and stories can unnecessarily escalate situations (including James’ run-in with a taxi driver!). Amanda shows how quickly we can jump … [Read more...]

