The West of Perfection Podcast

Most leadership development treats people like problems to be solved. West of Perfection believes that growth starts from the inside out — with the person, not the performance. Join Erin Van de Voorde and Mary Katherine Wathen for honest conversations about what it actually takes to lead well: at work, at home, and in the in-between moments where the person is formed.

The West of Perfection Podcast is a business podcast hosted by West of Perfection, with 14 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

West of Perfection hosts The West of Perfection Podcast, a business show with 14 episodes published.

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  The West of Perfection Podcast

  What Toxic Communication Is Costing Your Team | Organizational Culture Series | Ep. 15

  Aug 13, 202626 min

  The passive-aggressive Teams chat among your employees is costing your company real money. In the second installment of their Organizational Culture series, Erin Van de Voorde and Mary Katherine Wathen expose the six sneaky communication habits, from the silent treatment to gossiping "as a bonding activity", that quietly wreck team trust long before anyone admits there's a problem. With eye-opening stats on what toxic communication actually costs companies and a simple three-question test to catch yourself before you avoid the necessary but hard conversation, this episode is a wake-up call for anyone who's ever struggled to communicate well. 0:00 Intro and West Moment 1:11 Introducing today's topic: toxic communication 2:27 Case study: a business owner's team caught in a messaging spiral 8:27 Pattern 1: Triangulation 9:52 Pattern 2: Weaponized silence 12:03 Pattern 3: Surface-level nice 13:02 Pattern 4: Gossip as currency 16:29 Pattern 5: Vague feedback 18:12 Pattern 6: Passive-aggressive communication 18:45 Recap of all six patterns 20:27 The real cost of toxic communication, by the numbers 23:51 A three-question framework for healthier communication 24:39 This week's challenge What We Cover Why avoiding hard conversations leads teams into toxic communication habits, even when no one intends it The six patterns of toxic communication: triangulation, weaponized silence, surface-level nice, gossip as currency, vague feedback, and passive-aggressiveness Why written communication on teams is especially prone to misinterpretation, Real statistics on what poor communication costs organizations in turnover, productivity, and trust A simple three-question framework to help you speak more directly and with more courage -- Leave us a voicemail or send us a text at ‪(615) 864-0359‬ to ask a question or share your West Moment! This week's challenge is to pick one of the three questions from this week's framework, "Am I saying this to the right person?", "Am I being clear or staying in my comfort zone?", or "What is the cost of my silence?", and put it into practice this week. -- Connect With West: Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Orthodontists - Sign up for Beyond the Brackets here! Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Business Leaders - Sign Up for Beyond the Boardroom here! West’s website: ⁠https://www.Westofperfection.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/westofperfection/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-of-perfection/⁠ Work with us: ⁠https://www.westofperfection.com/services⁠

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  The West of Perfection Podcast

  The Entitlement Problem | Organizational Culture Series | Ep. 14

  Aug 6, 202629 min

  Mary Katherine Wathen and Erin Van de Voorde kick off a new series on organizational culture by unpacking the data behind disengagement and the rise of an "entitlement culture" in today's workforce. They dig into why perks or pay don’t drive engagement, why treating symptoms instead of root causes backfires, and how leaders can rebuild clarity, standards, and trust without falling into the trap of over-giving. Chapters 0:00 — Organizational Culture Series Intro & West Moment on imposter syndrome 0:49 — The state of workplace engagement (the stats) 3:01 — Common complaints leaders bring to coaching 4:35 — Why Band-Aid fixes (like chasing "better people") don't work 6:41 — Defining the entitlement problem 11:20 — Is this really a "generational" issue? 19:31 — Client example: the leader who over-gave gifts 24:56 — Solutions: clarity, standards, and hard conversations 27:38 — Challenge of the week & closing What We Cover Why 70% of team engagement variance traces back to the manager (Gallup) Global engagement dropped to 20% in 2025 — the lowest since 2020, costing an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity Manager engagement fell from 27% to 22% in one year, the steepest single-year drop on record Only 47% of employees strongly agree they know what's expected of them at work (down from 56%) The most common culture complaints leaders bring to coaching: repeating themselves, lack of ownership, feedback treated as an "emotional event," title-and-money-without-responsibility, and "I'm the only one who cares" Why hiring your way out of a bad culture is expensive and doesn't work Breaking down "entitlement culture": unrealistic promotion timelines, feedback received as attack, negotiable standards, and confusing boundaries with excuses Why blaming "generational" problems oversimplifies the real issue — and what actually shaped today's workforce (job security, pension loss, corporate loyalty erosion) A real client story: how over-gifting created entitlement instead of loyalty Practical solutions: communicating expectations 5-7 times, not avoiding hard conversations, and tying rewards to real achievement Leave us a voicemail or send us a text at ‪(615) 864-0359‬ to ask a question or share your West Moment! This week's challenge is to identify the one behavior on your team that frustrates you most, ask yourself if you have ever clearly articulated it as a problem, then bring it up directly and have the hard conversation. -- Connect With West: Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Orthodontists - Sign up for Beyond the Brackets here! Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Business Leaders - Sign Up for Beyond the Boardroom here! West’s website: ⁠https://www.Westofperfection.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/westofperfection/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-of-perfection/⁠ Work with us: ⁠https://www.westofperfection.com/services⁠

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  The West of Perfection Podcast

  How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome | Ep. 13

  Jul 30, 202626 min

  Confidence: you’re either born with it or you’re not. This week’s episode proves why this belief is totally wrong. Erin and Mary Katherine explore just how deeply imposter syndrome permeates today’s workforce and how leaders at every stage, from emerging careers to the C-suite, can build the confidence needed to overcome it. Instead of settling for confidence that depends on the praise or complements of others, today’s episode will enable you to begin the journey of building internal confidence that’s far stronger than what you might be used to. 0:00 – Welcome & West Moment 1:01 – Topic intro 2:46 – Confidence as a byproduct 4:05 – Imposter syndrome as the leader 6:31 – Important stats around imposter syndrome 9:35 – Internal vs external confidence 15:13 – West’s framework for overcoming imposter syndrome: Courage → Competence → Confidence 23:15 – Client story: trading in job hopping for authentic confidence 25:27 – Challenge of the week What we cover: Imposter Syndrome: where it comes from, how it shows up, and how to overcome it Important stats around imposter syndrome: 70-92% of people experience imposter syndrome; 71% of US CEOs report imposter syndrome; 65% of senior level leaders report experiencing imposter syndrome while only 33% of early career professionals report experiencing it; 44% of women and 49% of men report experiencing it The difference between internal and external confidence How competence and confidence are closely related, but not the same thing A 3 Part Framework to build your confidence in the office and beyond -- Leave us a voicemail or send us a text at ‪(615) 864-0359‬ to ask a question or share your West Moment! This week's challenge is to pick an area of your life that you want to grow in confidence and make one act of courage towards that goal this week. -- Connect With West: Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Orthodontists - Sign up for Beyond the Brackets here! Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Business Leaders - Sign Up for Beyond the Boardroom here! West’s website: ⁠https://www.Westofperfection.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/westofperfection/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-of-perfection/⁠ Work with us: ⁠https://www.westofperfection.com/services⁠

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  The West of Perfection Podcast

  Patterns of Bad Leadership | Ep. 12

  Jul 23, 202624 min

  We’ve all worked for bad leaders, but it’s an issue that runs deeper than you might think. It’s an integrity problem with real, costly consequences. This week, Mary Katherine and Erin dig into five recognizable patterns of bad leadership that erode trust, damage culture, and drive good people out the door. From favoritism and broken promises to loyalty used as a control tactic, this episode is dedicated to everyone currently navigating a tough boss or toxic workplace culture — and to leaders willing to take an honest look in the mirror. 0:17 — Welcome & episode dedication 1:49 — Bad leadership as an integrity problem 3:19 — Culture erosion and rebuilding trust 4:26 — Pattern #1: Different rules for different people 8:38 — Pattern #2: Leaders exempting themselves from the rules 11:37 — Pattern #3: Broken promises (promotions, raises, comp time) 14:35 — Pattern #4: Controlling people through loyalty 19:25 — Pattern #5: The good old boys club gone bad 22:41 — Challenge of the week & closing thoughts What We Cover Why bad leadership is fundamentally an integrity issue, not just an inconvenience How quickly culture erodes without intentional leadership — and how long it takes to rebuild Pattern #1: Different rules for different people (favoritism) Pattern #2: Leaders and executives exempting themselves from the rules Pattern #3: Making promises you don't keep (promotions, raises, comp time) Pattern #4: Controlling people through loyalty Pattern #5: The good old boys club gone bad -- Leave us a voicemail or send us a text at ‪(615) 864-0359‬ to ask a question or share your West Moment! This week's challenge is to be honest with yourself: are you displaying any patterns of bad leadership? -- Connect With West: Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Orthodontists - Sign up for Beyond the Brackets here! Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Business Leaders - Sign Up for Beyond the Boardroom here! West’s website: ⁠https://www.Westofperfection.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/westofperfection/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-of-perfection/⁠ Work with us: ⁠https://www.westofperfection.com/services⁠

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  Episode #11

  The Leadership Decision Bottleneck | Ep. 11

  Jul 16, 202622 minS1

  In today’s episode, Erin and MK describe how bottlenecks create decision fatigue, reduce collective brainpower, and build a dependent culture. The opposite extreme—over-delegation or abdication—can also hide critical issues. Stories include an unreported outage that threatened payroll, an interrupted client meeting to fix a broken soap dispenser, and an employee unable to commit to buying a chair for nine months. The hosts then explain 4 skills you need to master so that you can move past the leadership decision bottleneck. 0:00 – Welcome & West Moment 1:01 – The Decision Bottleneck 5:13 – Real Stories: Two Extremes 9:46 – Skill 1: Delegation 12:52 – Skill 2: Training Your Team 15:12 – Skill 3: Clarifying Expectations 19:10 – Skill 4: Building Communication Rhythms 21:56 – Challenge of the Week What we cover: The Decision Bottleneck — Why the skills that get you promoted can quietly stall your organization Real Stories: Two Extremes — A payroll crisis from being too hands-off, and a soap-dispenser meltdown from being too hands-on Skill 1: Delegation — Why delegation isn't a personality trait, and how to build trust incrementally Skill 2: Training Your Team — Reframing training as an investment, not a cost, of your time Skill 3: Clarifying Expectations — Why you have to repeat yourself (a lot) for expectations to stick Skill 4: Building Communication Rhythms — Creating predictable channels so your team isn't interrupting you constantly - Leave us a voicemail or send us a text at ‪(615) 864-0359‬ to ask a question or share your West Moment! This week's challenge is to identify one task currently on your plate and delegate it to a team member this week. -- Connect With West: Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Orthodontists - Sign up for Beyond the Brackets here! Free, Weekly Leadership Insights for Business Leaders - Sign Up for Beyond the Boardroom here! West’s website: ⁠https://www.Westofperfection.com⁠ Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/westofperfection/⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/west-of-perfection/⁠ Work with us: ⁠https://www.westofperfection.com/services⁠

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