Unlock your edge at work and at home. Each episode delivers smart, practical ways to use emotional intelligence to strengthen relationships, boost performance, and communicate with confidence. Whether you’re a business leader, a teammate, or simply someone who wants better interactions every day, this podcast is your weekly EQ advantage.
You can teach someone the technical skills—but can you teach them how to handle feedback, manage emotions, navigate difficult situations, and work well with others?
In Episode 40, Jen and Steve take a closer look at interviewing for emotional intelligence and why traditional interview questions may not reveal what you really need to know about a candidate.
They share a fascinating example of a candidate who demonstrated integrity by uncovering misconduct at work, explain why behavior-based questions are more revealing than hypothetical “What would you do?” questions, and reveal a powerful interviewing technique called “contrary evidence” that can help you get beyond a candidate’s polished answers.
You’ll also hear real interview questions you can use to uncover qualities like independence, adaptability, integrity, problem-solving, openness to feedback, and emotional maturity.
If you hire people—or want to become a better interviewer—this episode will make you rethink the questions you’re asking.
Because the best interview may not be the one that confirms what you already think about a candidate. It may be the one that reveals what you haven’t seen yet.
17 Sept 2026
S3E39 Motivation or Manipulation?
Where do you draw the line between driving performance and pulling strings? In this episode of the Verses series, host Jen Shirkani and co-host Steve Friedlein dive into the fine—and often blurred—line between motivation and manipulation in the workplace and beyond. Together, they explore who really benefits from behavioral changes, why manipulation gets a bad rap (and when it slips into control dramas or "crying as leverage"), and how leaders can build sustainable intrinsic motivation within their teams. Plus, Jen opens up about her personal pandemic-era burnout, sharing how taking a left-turn side hustle reignited her drive when traditional incentives fell short.
Key Takeaways:
The Benefit Test: How to determine if a strategy is mutually beneficial or one-sided coercion.
Control Dramas in Action: Recognizing hidden manipulative tactics like martyr syndrome, extreme criticism, and emotional displays.
Rebooting Lost Drive: Practical ways to build self-awareness, leverage flexibility, and find extrinsic or intrinsic energy when work hits a rut.
#Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #WorkplaceCulture #Motivation #Podcast #EQ #Management #TeamEngagement #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceDynamics #manipulation
3 Sept 2026
S3E38: The Competency Dilemma
The Competency Dilemma: When Being Good at Everything Becomes the Problem
Are you the person everyone goes to because you always get things done? Be careful—that strength can quickly become a trap.
In this episode of Ego vs EQ & You, Jen and Steve tackle the Competency Dilemma: what happens when being capable, dependable, and willing to help leads to an ever-growing list of responsibilities. What starts as “Sure, I can help” can turn into task creep, burnout, blurred boundaries, and the uncomfortable realization that your effectiveness is being compromised by doing too much.
The conversation explores why high performers struggle to say no, how ego and the need to be helpful can keep us holding onto responsibilities, and why “nobody can do it better than me” may be an EQ warning sign. They also discuss delegation, trust, self-discipline, work-from-home boundaries, and the importance of advocating for your own bandwidth.
Most importantly, you'll learn how to recognize the Competency Dilemma before it leads to burnout or damages your credibility—and how to start setting boundaries, delegating, and letting go.
Because sometimes the most emotionally intelligent thing you can say isn't “I can do it.”
It's “I can't take that on right now.”
And yes… that might be harder than it sounds.
#emotionalintelligence #EQ #overworked #competent #boundaries #burnedout #stress #workplace #selfadvocacy #selfimprovement
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
80
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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Questions about Ego vs. EQ & You
Who hosts Ego vs. EQ & You?
Jen Shirkani and Angela and Jen and Steve and Steve Friedlein host the show. Published by Jen Shirkani.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Ego vs. EQ & You take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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