My Favorite Mistake — 119: CFO Melanie Pump Didn’t Want to Share Her Rocky Childhood With Colleagues

Show Notes: https://www.markgraban.com/mistake119

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???

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