Someone posts on the consulting subreddit: they wake up every morning with a literal pit in their stomach knowing they have to deal with their client. Seven weeks in. Belittled, micromanaged, undermined, expectations that shift by the hour. The title of the post: Is Walking Away From a Toxic Client Admitting Defeat?

In this Reacting to Reddit at Work episode of Why Does It Feel So Wrong to Be Human at Work?, Pinaki Kathiari and Chris Lee bring back Chuck Gose, founder of ICology and co-host of the Frequency podcast, to react to a difficult-client story that turns out to have a very telling update.

Chuck immediately asks the question nobody in the thread is asking: what would the client be writing if they posted on Reddit? Because this is a relationship, and we're only hearing one side. Pinaki names the pit in the stomach for what it actually is. And Bree reveals a detail from a month later that confirms what Chuck suspected from the very first read.

In this episode, they discuss:
• The difference between a challenging client and an unreasonable, adversarial one
• Why this is a relationship, and what the client would be posting on their own Reddit thread
• The person versus the entity, and how pressure from above gets funneled down to you
• Why the pit in your stomach isn't the start of burnout, it is burnout
• Big C communication: the candid, in-person conversation you owe the relationship before you walk away
• Whether walking away from a toxic client is actually defeat (it isn't)
• Raising the flag early and never feeling alone in a consultancy
• The question that cuts to the core: are we even the right fit for each other?
• Why everyone wants to be the one who does the breakup, not the one broken up with

Plus a Reddit update that tells you everything you need to know about how this one ended.

This is a companion to last week's topic episode on difficult clients, also with Chuck Gose. Listen to them together for the full picture. And check out Chuck's podcast Frequency, co-hosted with Jenni Field, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes every Monday.

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Connect with Us

Pinaki Kathiari – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

Chris Lee – LinkedIn | Gallagher Communication

Bree Bartos – LinkedIn | Local Wisdom

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