Are You Working With "Idiots"... Or Are YOU The Problem? with Zena Everett

We all have that one co-worker. The one who microwaves smoked mackerel in the breakroom, doesn’t pull their weight on group projects, or simply drives you up the wall. It’s easy to look around the office (or the Zoom screen) and think, "I am surrounded by idiots."

But before you vent to your work bestie... what if they aren't the problem? What if the real issue is the environment? Or worse... what if the problem is you?

This week on The Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata welcomes back international leadership coach, in-demand speaker, and returning guest Zena Everett. Zena is the author of Mind Flip, the award-winning The Crazy Busy Cure, and her brand-new, hilariously relatable survival guide, Badly Behaved People: How to Work with Idiots.

Originally a recruitment entrepreneur, she has an MSc in Career Management and Coaching, alongside postgraduate qualifications in psychological coaching and leadership from MIT. She has coached on the Executive MBA Programme at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and is a member of the Associate Faculty at Henley Business School. Today, she runs a global coaching practice dedicated to replacing bad behavior and crazy busyness with productive, thriving, and profitable team relationships.

Bringing her signature blend of evidence-based insights and highly entertaining truths to the table, Zena helps Andy unpack his own workplace behavior from his early career. Together, they dismantle everything we think we know about "bad behavior" at work. From the rise of the "accidental manager" to the silent damage of crazy-busy work cultures, this episode is a masterclass in turning workplace frustration into friction-free collaboration.

Whether you manage a global remote team, you’re navigating the tricky waters of Gen Z vs. older generations, or you just want to know how to politely tell someone to stop playing their TikToks out loud on the train—this episode is for you.

What we discussed in this episode:

1. Are you trying so hard not to be a toxic boss that you’ve accidentally become a "Mama Bear" manager? Discover why overly nurturing leadership is actually setting your team up for failure—and the one boundary you need to set tomorrow morning.
2. There is a specific, old-school workplace dynamic that dictates whether a Gen Z employee quits after 2 years or stays for 5. 
3. Remote work killed the watercooler, but did it also kill your team’s best ideas? Find out how hybrid work is quietly breeding transactional relationships, and the brilliant, non-digital strategy one executive uses to get the magic back.
4. Learn why we've lost our social awareness, and the exact script to use to confront micro-aggressions without making things awkward.
5. Learn the brutal—but necessary—questions you must ask yourself to find out if your lack of communication is secretly breeding the exact bad behavior you hate.

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with Andy Lopata: Website | Instagram | LinkedIn | X/Twitter | YouTube

Connect with Zena Everett: Website |LinkedIn |

The Financial Times Guide to Mentoring

Badly Behaved People: How to deal with idiots at work