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If it were easy to spot the differences between unsafe and safe people for potential relationships—whether friendships, workplace connections, or romantic interests—most of us wouldn't find ourselves entangled with toxic individuals. This conclusion seems logical, but it overlooks critical insights into why toxic people exist and why many of us feel drained by unsafe relationships. We often find ourselves in personal or professional environments with individuals whose values

Have you ever been bullied or mistreated by your team in the workplace? If not, you may have some trouble relating to today's article topic, as many people who have never been mistreated do. Which is no fault of your own- and consider yourself blessed and lucky you've always had good people around you! I would encourage you though to take a read to see if there are ways you can be a good bystander should you witness someone being mistreated. For the rest of us tens of thousan

October is ADHD awareness month, so it seems like a great time to reflect on the experiences of neurodivergent persons in the workplace. Before I share my thoughts, I think it's important to be clear about where I stand as a neurodivergent person, since we all have different experiences based on diagnoses, experiences, support systems, etc. My Neurodivergence Discovery Journey As a kid, my kindergarten teacher suspected I had a learning disability because I was quiet and kept

( Disclaimer: There are many variations within the neurodivergent community and many neurodivergent people may face other physical or psychological disabilities that further inhibit their ability to thrive- so I don't want to take anything away from or minimize those experiences in any way. My initial thoughts in this article came from the general perception that society punishes those different from what has been normalized, and that is what this article is referring to. I w

While we all may face certain struggles in workplace settings, some groups of us may have unique experiences tied to how different we are from what's considered the norm. It's common for people, especially leaders and managers, to assume that everyone in an organization is having the same experiences they are, or of those that we closely associated with. Unfortunately, this assumption can lead people to disregard or misunderstand the unique experiences people who are differen

You may be on your emotional and mental health journey, changing old habits, breaking old patterns and working toward showing up as your best self daily. This increased self-awareness inevitably will make you more aware of the behaviors and lack of self-awareness in others- and the fact that those folks may be perfectly "fine" being emotionally unhealthy and toxic. While it would totally be easier to improve your emotional health if others did the same, this is not our realit

LinkedIn has an abundance of content and much needed discussion posts around neurodiversity and the experiences of neurodiverse individuals in the workplace. The term neurodiverse refers to those with a wide range of developmental differences from what is considered normal, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and giftedness (among others).  This short newsletter is not enough to go into the full details of the gifted experience, but I'll provide a quick summary of what giftedne

Many of us live our lives, day in and day out, with little to no consideration as to how our social norms were created, why, and how these affect our lives, and the lives of others. We make the assumption that everyone will like what we like, know what we know, make the same decisions as us, or do as we do- and when we stumble across someone who doesn’t, it can throw us for a loop and produce all sorts of negative feelings and behaviors. By why? Traditionally, when we think o