Margie Rubio and Nafeesah Bashir on incivility, emotional intelligence, and the power of self-awareness

Live from the isolved booth at SHRM 2025 in San Diego, William Tincup and Ryan Leary sit down with two powerhouse voices in workplace transformation—Coach Margie Rubio and Coach Nafeesah Bashir. The vibe? Zero script, all impact. The moment they sat down, the conversation took off. Margie and Nafeesah dig into the real roots of workplace incivility—from self-awareness gaps to emotional climate blind spots. They share the concept behind the Civility Index, their code of conduct for emotional intelligence, and how they help leaders shift culture with practical, non-performative tools. Margie speaks on her work with active and former gang members. Nafeesah shares how trauma-informed yoga became a corporate unlock. The energy is real, the takeaways hit hard—and they’re just getting started. Timestamps 00:00 — Margie and Nafeesah join the show without being asked 00:45 — The group jumps into incivility and emotional climate at work 01:40 — What it means to be a "people hero" in practice 02:28 — Margie shares her HR superpower and how empathy meets boundaries 03:25 — Nafeesah explains how she leads with love and teaches by example 04:32 — The fear behind vulnerability and what keeps people guarded 05:15 — Why life experience determines how you show up at work 06:20 — How to assess team dynamics using a “weather forecast” model 07:13 — The Civility Index and what it reveals about workplace culture 08:26 — How practical tools and emotional intelligence can shift behavior 09:40 — Leaders don’t need to fix people—they need to own their self-awareness 11:00 — The EI Code of Conduct and why self-awareness comes first 12:45 — “Look in the mirror, not out the window”—why perspective matters 14:06 — Margie reflects on teaching mindset to former gang members 15:20 — Nafeesah shares how her Helicon yoga program changed the room 17:35 — They announce their own podcast focused on EI and incivility 18:45 — A shoutout to isolved’s HR team and the vibe of the booth itself This episode was recorded live with isolved at the SHRM Annual Conference in San Diego. The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved. isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more. Learn more about isolved: ⁠https://www.isolvedhcm.com/⁠ Connect with Us: William Tincup LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/⁠ Ryan Leary LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/⁠ Connect with us on social: Site: ⁠http://www.wrkdefined.com⁠ TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@wrkdefined⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/wrkdefined⁠ Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/WRKdefined/⁠ Twitter (X): ⁠https://twitter.com/WRKdefined⁠ Substack: ⁠https://wrkdefined.substack.com/