Crina and Kirsten Get to Work

In the fast-paced world of work, the simple act of observation is often overlooked—yet it offers a real and measurable edge. Research shows that the ability to “read the room,” such as recognizing emotions in others’ faces and voices, provides valuable insight into unspoken dynamics like mood shifts, alliances, or resistance. 

Observation creates the feeling of being seen and heard—for both the observer and those around them. Obser...

The transition to a leadership role is a significant and often challenging shift. Research shows that over 60% of new managers fail to make this transition effectively. This is largely because leadership is not simply a scaled-up version of individual contribution; it requires a fundamental change in mindset, behavior, and priorities.

Leaders must redefine success from personal achievement to enabling team performance. This include...

For most of us, workplace engagement isn’t a solo sport—it’s a team one. The ADP (yes, the payroll people) Research Institute’s study across 19 countries found that most of us, regardless of company size, are immersed in team life. In companies of 150 or more employees, 82% of employees work on teams, and nearly 3/4ths juggle more than one team. Even if your employer has fewer than 20 people, 2/3rds of us are teaming up on one, two...

The review process is in general not great.  Research says only 21% of your review reflects your actual performance. The other 79%? Reviewer preferences, interpretation differences, and who happened to see you shine—or not. One person’s “excellent communicator” is another’s “talks too much at meetings.”   Welcome to the land of subjectivity.

And let’s not forget the recency bias. Most of us can’t remember what we had for lunch last...

While openness can build trust, there's a fine line between “vulnerable” and “uh-oh.” Brené Brown, the goddess, says oversharing isn’t true vulnerability—it can actually result in disconnection, distrust, and disengagement.

So why do we overshare at work?

Sometimes it is because we want to feel seen. Without our usual support systems—family, friends, faith, community—we sometimes turn our coworkers into unwilling therapists. Stres...

Joy! Joy! Joy!

Let’s start with a clarification: happiness and joy are not identical twins. Happiness is that bubbly high you get from winning a raffle or finding a parking spot downtown—it’s external,  fleeting, like confetti in the wind. Joy, on the other hand, is more of a soul-deep warmth—steady, internal, and linked to meaning and purpose. Happiness is like a 4th of July sparkler and joy is a campfire that keeps you...

It’s time to focus on the often-misunderstood art of assertiveness—what it is, what it isn’t, and how learning to speak up for yourself with clarity and respect, which can change your life! Whether it’s Crina telling it like it is or just learning to speak up with friends, this episode illustrates just how transformative assertiveness can be, especially for those of us who’ve spent years saying “yes” when we really meant “no.”

Draw...

“Mattering,” is  one of the most underrated superpowers in the workplace!. Not "I got a cupcake on my work anniversary" mattering—but the real, gut-level kind where you feel seen, valued, and essential. Turns out, this isn't fluff. According to Crina, It's fuel.

Now, let’s clear something up: mattering isn’t the same as belonging. Belonging says, “You’re one of us.” Mattering says, “You’re essential to us.” It’s not just about bein...

There’s a persistent and punishing myth out there: that a college degree is the only ticket to a good life. Spoiler alert—it’s not. And the people hit hardest by this myth? Women without degrees, especially women of color, who are holding up families, caregiving, and entire communities while being boxed out of opportunity by arbitrary job requirements and social stigma.

Four out of five non-graduates say they’ve experienced some fo...

Trust in leadership is eroding, with only about one in five employees reporting confidence in their leaders (Gallup, 2023). What’s going wrong—and more importantly, what does it take to lead in a way that earns trust?  The answer to this question is simply bringing our authentic selves to our leadership.  

Research on authentic leadership shows that effective leaders don’t follow a specific checklist of traits or styles. Instead, l...

If you're powering through your day like a caffeine-fueled robot with no off switch—stop. Your brain and body are not machines. We are more like rechargeable batteries, but we need to recharge.  On this episode of Crina and Kirsten Get to Work, our hosts discuss giving IT (all of IT) a rest.  

SHOW NOTES

A break is not a luxury—it's a necessity. A German study found that we respond to physical overload with back, neck and shoulder ...

Buckle up buttercups, we're diving into the panacea or peril of the four-day workweek. As always, we get to use our critical minds and decide for ourselves.  

SHOW NOTES

The five-day workweek is one of the the results of worker safer reforms in the 1930s.  As a society, we concluded and adopted laws that provided greater compensation for workers when they worked in excess of 40 hours in a week.   This was consistent with what has b...

We all know that our jobs can impact our health: from sleepless nights to skipped meals, your job can take it’s toll. But research shows us that the cumulative impacts of these offenses might be harming you more than you think. 

SHOW NOTES

Emily, a mom on the internet, said the quiet part out loud: admitting they daydream about being hospitalized—not because they want to be sick, but because it’s the only way they’d be "allowed" to...

Today on Crina and Kirsten Get to Work, our hosts have “the talk”—no, not that one. We’re talking money—earning it, saving it, investing it, and, most importantly, not stressing ourselves into a financial spiral.  While our dynamic duo are certainly not investment experts, they are two regular chicks talking about what regular chicks think about and do with their hard earned dollars.

First things first: stop punishing yourself for ...

Status and power are major players in our work life and understanding how each works and how each can create more ease, meaning and joy in our work lives is a game changer.  

SHOW NOTES

Status is everywhere, whether we acknowledge it or not. It’s reflected in whether we are acknowledged in a meeting, how fast our emails get answered, or whether we are invited - really anywhere. Unlike power, which controls resources (think money, h...

Happy 10th anniversary to the McKinsey & Leanin “Women in the Workplace” report! This is the largest study on the state of women in corporate America, and a bit of a tough pill to swallow as the authors analyze data from the past decade to understand progress, decline, and stagnation in women’s representation and experiences.

The report's findings show that while companies have taken action that led to some progress—more wome...

Today on Crina and Kirsten Get to Work our badass duo gets up close and personal with an exercise created by social scientist, author and speaker Alison Fragale.  Fragale has written a great book, How to be a Likeable Badass.  Fragale suggests one of the keys to being a likeable badass is asking for what you want—boldly, frequently, and strategically -- and she has developed an exercise on asking - the No Challenge.

Hope is often dismissed as fluffy sentiment, but is actually a powerhouse for transformation—especially in the workplace. Unlike optimism, which passively assumes everything will turn out fine, hope is active, intentional, and rooted in the belief that our actions can shape the future. It’s the antidote to despair, the spark that turns possibility into reality.

As Brene Brown reminds us, hope isn’t a fleeting emotion; it’s a cognit...

In this episode of Crina and Kirsten Get to Work our hosts consider the silent exclusively female workplace challenge - menopause.  Menopause affects over 1 million women in the U.S. annually. Nearly 20% of all women are grappling with its symptoms right now, often in silence. Hot flashes, brain fog, and fatigue aren’t just physical nuisances—they’re cultural battlegrounds. Society often wraps a woman's worth in fertility, leaving ...