# 318. Toxic Founders, HR Rebels and Stalling Women’s Progress. PLUS! Is it good to have fun at work? With Rebecca Taylor

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Podcast: [Truth, Lies and Work](https://stenobird.com/podcast/truth-lies-and-work-5599780)
Published: 2026-07-14T12:43:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/HS5203559545.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/HS5203559545.mp3
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Duration seconds: 4145

## Resource

Welcome back to Truth, Lies & Work, the award-winning workplace podcast where behavioural science meets workplace culture. Brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the ultimate audio destination for business professionals. In this episode of This Week in Work, hosts Al and Leanne Elliott are joined by a very special guest: Rebecca Taylor, host of the HR Voices podcast! Together, they unpack the hilarious reality of unhinged leadership conversations, dive deep into the newly stalling progress of women at work, put "forced fun" to the test under the psychological microscope, and answer some incredibly sticky workplace relationship questions. 🔥 Stories Covered 1. The HR Rebel Calling Out Unhinged Leaders You might not be surprised to hear that some of the conversations HR professionals have to have with leaders are… somewhat unhinged. But what happens when an HR professional calls them out on LinkedIn in the best, most direct way ever? We dive into the viral waves being made by the brilliant Emma Djemil (Founder of Be Unstoppable and The HR Club). Follow Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/be-unstoppable/ Check out the post: https://lnkd.in/p/dHKzfSRe 2. Is the "Lean In" Generation Now Leaning Out? Women have made extraordinary gains in the past few decades across the world of work, but are things stalling? Sheryl Sandberg’s infamous 2013 book advised women to "lean in," but new data suggests women's progress at work appears to be stalling. Leanne and Rebecca dissect the learned behaviours—from over-apologising and avoiding conflict to taking on invisible "empathy tax" work—that are holding talented people back, and ask: Have workplaces actually changed enough? Read the original article in The Economist: https://archive.is/20260706073156/https://www.econom…

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