Molly Graham

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217 appearances 4 recordings 1 series first heard Aug 2026 last heard 16 Aug

Molly Graham’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 4.

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TED Talks Daily · Lessons: What to do when you get “layered” at work | WorkLife with Molly Graham · 16 Aug 2026 podcast

And it is possible to do it well in a way that builds trust, retention, and helps the story people tell themselves about working at your company.

In Don's case, I think how Cheryl handled the whole situation and the care she showed him made a massive difference to his willingness to give it a chance.

Here's how he described what happened.

So how you handle this with the person will make a huge difference, both to how they feel, but also how the people around them feel.

There's a few key principles I've learned the hard way.

The first is you need to get very clear on the actual problem before you layer someone.

Usually when layering is coming up in conversation, it's pretty clear that something isn't working.

Before you decide to layer someone, slow yourself down and review the situation.

Get clear on where the real gaps are.

Ask lots of questions, even the uncomfortable ones.

Coach the current leader directly on those gaps so you and they are on the same page about what needs to change.

At minimum, this coaching and exploration gives you a real chance to get on the same page as the current leader about the gaps you're seeing.

I remember taking over operations at a company and quickly getting sucked into recruiting.

So much of my time was getting dragged into hiring for one team or another.

One of my rules is that your time is a compass.

And when your time is being sucked down into something, it's usually a sign that either a leader is missing or the existing leader is struggling.

In this case, it was both.

So I was clear that we had a problem and a gap.

So then I had to go talk to the existing leader and also help her see the gap.

If you do this well, layering won't be a surprise.

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