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Mark Graban

Author, Speaker, Consultant, Podcaster, Entepreneur - "The Mistakes That Make Us"

CFO Melanie Pump Didn’t Want to Share Her Rocky Childhood With Colleagues

posted on Filed Under: My Favorite Mistake Tagged With: , , ,

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My guest for Episode #119 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Melanie Pump, an accomplished Chief Financial Officer and business leader from Toronto. She is “a survivor, a business leader and a deep believer in the power of positive, supportive work environments.” She's also the author of the book DETOX: Managing Insecurity in the Workplace.

In today's episode, Melanie shares her “favorite mistake” story about not wanting to share the story of her “rocky childhood” with her colleagues. How did Melanie go from being a high school dropout to a corporate executive?

We talk about that story and other topics including:

  • What sort of reaction do you get when you tell the story?
  • Vulnerability is helpful? Showing it as a leader… admitting mistakes as a leader…
  • What inspired you to write the book?
  • Worked in some toxic workplaces?
  • Getting past insecurity? Is insecurity the root of many other problems?
  • Wasn’t asking “why” that person seems insecure?
  • How can we help others?
  • Toxic behaviors?
    • Passive aggressiveness
    • Avoidance / procrastination
    • Defensiveness
  • Does insecurity lead to the appearance of arrogance that leads to toxic environments?
  • Addressing imposter syndrome?
  • Gender differences??
  • What do you do as CFO (and the rest of the C-suite) to guard against toxic work environments?
  • Why does this matter for business results???

Find Melanie on Social Media:

Scroll down to find:

  • Video of the episode
  • Quotes
  • How to subscribe
  • Full transcript

Video:

Quotes

"I was actually a high school dropout and I thought that I needed to hide that, and that was something that I needed to feel shame over." Melanie Pump
"Don't be a bully. But even good people can create toxicity [in a workplace]." Melanie Pump
"If we're in an environment that is damaging or risk to our mental health, we'll start using defensive behaviors. So that is why I talk about it as insecurity, because I think that need for safety, drives a lot of behaviors." Melanie Pump

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Automated Transcript (Likely Contains Mistakes)