You have sat in that meeting, watching the clock, thinking this should have just been an email. And you were right. Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down the real reason unnecessary meetings keep getting scheduled: not poor planning, but a leadership confidence problem she calls the CYA meeting. She introduces the Meaning Making Test, a three-question framework to help you decide in 30 seconds whether something needs a meeting or an email. If you lead a team and find yourself defaulting to meetings out of habit or worry, this episode gives you the tools to break the cycle and give your team their time back.

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/273

You have probably heard you should be doing skip-level meetings. But if you are not sure what the point is or what you are actually supposed to talk about, you are in good company. Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down why skip-level meetings are relationship infrastructure, not a surveillance tool, and lays out three compelling reasons every senior leader should have them on the calendar. She walks through how to set them up with your managers first, why a formal agenda works against you, what to actually talk about, and what to redirect when the conversation drifts. Whether you are the senior leader initiating these meetings or the junior employee trying to get them started, this episode covers both sides. If you manage people at any level, this episode is built for you.

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/272

Executives are convinced their teams are embracing AI. Frontline employees are doing the opposite. And you, the middle manager, are absorbing the pressure from both directions with no clear playbook.

Dr. Janel Anderson breaks down exactly why this gap exists, backed by Harvard Business Review research showing a 45-point perception gap between what executives believe and what employees are actually doing. She then walks through three specific moves: reframing the problem upward as change management rather than tech deployment, closing the perception gap by surfacing your team's real fears in a direct conversation, and shrinking the ask to something specific and completable.

If you are managing a team through AI adoption right now, this episode gives you a framework you can use in your next one-on-one.

Find show notes at https://janelanderson.com/271