In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin tackles AI anxiety and how to address it on your own and with your team at work. If you've ever wondered whether AI is coming for your job, felt overwhelmed by new technology, or weren't sure where to begin, this episode offers a practical, human-centered approach to navigating AI with confidence. Erin shares a simple framework to help leaders and teams embrace AI without losing the creativity, connection, and humanity that make work meaningful.

Inside This Episode:

Why AI Feels So Scary Right Now: Erin breaks down the most common fears surrounding AI, from job displacement to information overload, and explains why uncertainty (rather than technology itself) is often what makes change feel uncomfortable.
Leadership's Role in the AI Era: Every major workplace shift requires leaders who can guide people through ambiguity. Learn why curiosity, transparency, and empathy are essential leadership skills in the age of AI.
The Four-Step "AI Scene" Framework: Inspired by improv, this practical approach helps leaders and teams navigate AI adoption with less fear and more confidence:Accept the Scene: Acknowledge that AI is here and part of the workplace conversation.
Improvise Your Entry Point: Start small by choosing one task where AI can support your work.
Build the Scene with Your Team: Create shared learning experiences and normalize experimentation.
Take Your Encore: Integrate AI intentionally in ways that enhance human creativity and impact.

How to Create an AI Playground at Work: Discover how low-stakes experimentation can reduce fear and build confidence. Erin shares ideas for creating safe spaces where teams can learn, test, and explore together.
Small Experiments Create Big Confidence: Forget mastering AI overnight. Learn how simple 15-minute AI labs can help you build skills, uncover opportunities, and reduce overwhelm one step at a time.
What to Do Now:
Start With One Task: Identify a single repetitive task you do each week and explore how AI could support or streamline it.
Create a 15-Minute AI Lab: Set aside fifteen minutes this week to experiment with an AI tool. Just for curiosity and play!
Build an AI Playground: Invite your team to share wins, lessons learned, and questions about AI in a judgment-free environment focused on learning rather than perfection.
Your Freebie

How do you lead through failure and uncertainty?

Today’s workplace demands adaptability, creative problem-solving, and leaders who can navigate uncertainty without freezing in perfectionism.

This quick quiz will reveal your unique approach to failure and uncertainty, plus give you simple ways to strengthen your adaptability muscles and help your team thrive when things don’t go according to plan.

Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community
Erin’s website
Erin’s Instagram
Erin’s TikTok
Erin’s LinkedIn
improve it!’s website
improve it!’s Instagram

For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.

In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with Kelly Burlage, Chief Human Resources Officer at Lineage, to explore how our relationship with failure changes as we grow in our careers. From early-career mistakes that feel world-ending to high-stakes leadership decisions that impact entire organizations, Kelly shares why failure is something to learn from.

If you've ever found yourself replaying a professional setback or questioning whether you're ready for the next level, this conversation offers a refreshing perspective on resilience and leading through uncertainty.

Inside This Episode:

Why Failure Evolves as Your Career Grows: Kelly shares how her definition of failure has shifted throughout her career and why the challenges that once felt devastating often become the foundation for future success.
The Leadership Lessons Hidden Inside Setbacks: Not every failure feels productive in the moment. Kelly reflects on how some of her most difficult professional experiences ultimately accelerated her growth and strengthened her leadership.
How to Lead Through High-Stakes Misses: As leaders advance, mistakes become more visible and carry greater consequences. Kelly discusses how to navigate setbacks without losing trust, momentum, or confidence.
Balancing Innovation with Smart Risk-Taking: Growth requires experimentation, and experimentation comes with the possibility of failure. Kelly explains how data, curiosity, and calculated risks help organizations move forward without becoming paralyzed by fear.
Creating a Culture Where People Can Learn from Failure: In industries where precision matters, psychological safety still matters. Kelly shares how leaders can create environments where people feel empowered to take ownership, learn, and improve.
What to Do Now:
Revisit an Old Failure: Think about a professional setback from earlier in your career that still makes you cringe. What lessons did it teach you that success couldn't have?
Audit Your Current Response to Failure: Ask yourself whether you're approaching today's challenges with outdated fears or limiting beliefs that no longer serve you.
Look for the Lesson, Not the Label: The next time something doesn't go as planned, resist the urge to immediately call it a failure. Instead, ask: "What is this experience teaching me?"
About the Guest

Kelly Burlage is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Lineage, the world's largest and most innovative temperature-controlled logistics provider. She leads enterprise-wide people strategies that align business growth with operational excellence while fostering a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and high performance. With more than two decades of global HR and talent leadership experience, Kelly has built and scaled high-performing teams across complex, high-growth organizations. She is known for delivering innovative, data-driven people strategies that drive meaningful business results. Kelly is a Korn Ferry Certified Coach, a Leading Women Executives alumna, and has been recognized among TAtech's Top 100 Most Influential Talent Acquisition Thought Leaders.

Your Freebie

How do you lead through failure and uncertainty?

Today’s workplace demands adaptability, creative problem-solving, and leaders who can navigate uncertainty without freezing in perfectionism.

This quick quiz will reveal your unique approach to failure and uncertainty, plus give you simple ways to strengthen your adaptability muscles and help your team thrive when things don’t go according to plan.

Connect with Kelly Burlage
Kelly’s LinkedIn
Lineage’s website
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community
Erin’s website
Erin’s Instagram
Erin’s TikTok
Erin’s LinkedIn
improve it!’s website
improve it!’s Instagram

For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.

In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with wellness expert, bestselling author, and intuitive healer Inna Segal to explore the powerful connection between emotional wellbeing and physical health. If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, burned out, or disconnected from yourself, this conversation offers practical tools to help you unlock your body's innate ability to heal.

Inside This Episode:

Your Body Is Talking: Inna explains how physical symptoms often carry emotional messages and why learning your body's language can lead to greater self-awareness, resilience, and healing.
The Hidden Link Between Emotions and Health: Discover how stress, grief, trauma, and unresolved emotions can manifest physically, and what you can do to release what's been weighing you down.
Healing Starts with Connection: From visualization and color work to movement and breath, Inna shares simple practices to help you reconnect with yourself and access your body's wisdom.
Why Slowing Down Is a Superpower: For leaders, parents, and high achievers, Inna reveals why creating moments of stillness can unlock clarity, energy, and emotional balance.
The Stages of Healing Explained: Learn how healing evolves over time, why discomfort is sometimes part of the process, and how to navigate change with more trust and self-compassion.
What to Do Now:

Pause Before You Push Through: The next time you feel stressed, exhausted, or overwhelmed, ask yourself: "What is my body trying to tell me?"
Create Five Minutes of Stillness: Take a few intentional breaths, slow down, and notice what thoughts, emotions, or sensations are asking for your attention.
Experiment with Color and Visualization: Try using color, movement, or imagery to shift your emotional state and release tension.

Your Freebie

How do you lead through failure and uncertainty?

Today’s workplace demands adaptability, creative problem-solving, and leaders who can navigate uncertainty without freezing in perfectionism.

This quick quiz will reveal your unique approach to failure and uncertainty, plus give you simple ways to strengthen your adaptability muscles and help your team thrive when things don’t go according to plan.

Connect with Inna Segal
Inna’s website
Inna’s books
Inna’s LinkedIn

Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community
Erin’s website
Erin’s Instagram
Erin’s TikTok
Erin’s LinkedIn
improve it!’s website
improve it!’s Instagram

For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.

In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin sits down with Rosie Moan to talk about one of the most challenging combinations many women face: becoming a new mom while navigating uncertainty in work, identity, and life. If you've ever felt like you're simultaneously capable and completely overwhelmed, this conversation offers a refreshing reminder that confidence is about trusting yourself through the unknown.

Inside This Episode: 
Why Confidence and Uncertainty Often Arrive Together: Rosie shares how some of life's biggest growth moments happen when we feel both competent and terrified at the same time, and why that tension is often a sign we're expanding into something new.
The Identity Shift of New Motherhood: Becoming a parent can reshape how we see ourselves. Erin and Rosie discuss the emotional and professional adjustments that come with this transition and how to navigate them with more self-compassion.
Improvisation as a Tool for Real Life: Drawing from her background in improv, Rosie explains how embracing a "yes, and" mindset can help us respond to unexpected challenges, uncertainty, and change with greater flexibility.
Learning to Trust Yourself Again: The conversation explores why confidence isn't about having every answer. It's about building trust in your ability to figure things out as you go.
The Power of Letting Go of Perfection: Rosie shares insights on releasing unrealistic expectations and creating space for growth, learning, and grace during demanding seasons of life.
What to Do Now:
Ask Yourself a Better Question: Instead of asking, "What if I fail?" try asking, "What if I can handle whatever comes next?"
Practice "Yes, And" This Week: When something unexpected happens, look for one way to accept reality and build forward rather than resist it.
Celebrate Evidence of Your Resilience: Take a few minutes to write down three challenges you've already navigated successfully. Use them as reminders that you've handled uncertainty before and can do it again.
About the Guest

Rosie Moan is a Chicago-based actor, improv performer, coach, and acting coach who has spent more than 15 years helping people build confidence, take creative risks, and trust themselves on and off camera. A graduate of Emerson College, she performs, teaches, and coaches within Chicago's renowned improv community and facilitates workshops designed to strengthen communication, collaboration, and personal growth. Her work centers on helping people move past self-doubt and step more fully into their potential. She is also a lead facilitator for improve it! 

Your Freebie

How do you lead through failure and uncertainty? 
Today’s workplace demands adaptability, creative problem-solving, and leaders who can navigate uncertainty without freezing in perfectionism.

This quick quiz will reveal your unique approach to failure and uncertainty, plus give you simple ways to strengthen your adaptability muscles and help your team thrive when things don’t go according to plan.

Connect with Rosie Moan 
Rosie’s website
Rosie’s Instagram
Rosie’s LinkedIn

Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
Leadership Playground online membership community
Erin’s website
Erin’s Instagram
Erin’s TikTok
Erin’s LinkedIn
improve it!’s website
improve it!’s Instagram

For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.