329: The Power of Being Yourself at Work with Claude Silver
329: The Power of Being Yourself at Work with Claude Silver  
Podcast: Workday Playdate
Published On: Wed Feb 11 2026
Description: In this Workday Playdate, Erin welcomes leadership trailblazer Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerX, for a conversation about authenticity, empathy, and emotional fluency at work. This episode is a heart-forward guide to showing up as your full self so you can build trust, spark creativity, and lead with courage in today’s complex workplace.Erin and Claude explore how emotional safety, vulnerability, and presence directly impact performance, innovation, and connection. At the heart of the episode is a call to expand at work. Through improv principles like “yes, and,” culture addition (not culture fit), Erin and Claude offer leaders real ways to create psychologically safe, high-trust environments where people actually thrive.Inside This Episode:Authentic Leadership: Why being yourself at work is strategicEmotional Safety at Work: How trust and psychological safety unlock creativity, loyalty, and performanceClaude’s Journey: From surf instructor to Chief Heart OfficerWater as Wisdom: Flow, movement, and calm as leadership metaphorsImprov at Work: Using “yes, and” to build collaboration, presence, and connectionCulture Addition: Moving beyond exclusionary culture fit to build stronger, more inclusive teamsEmotional Fluency: Learning to “speak human” and release outdated professionalism normsTrusting the Long Game: Patience, vulnerability, and leadership lessons from Gary VaynerchukPurpose & Joyful Service: Choosing love over fear to create real impactPractical Takeaways:Discover your authentic self through values, triggers, and feedbackPractice grounded presence and emotional regulationExpand instead of shrink in moments of discomfortLead with love, clarity, and courageWho This Episode Is For:Leaders ready to show up more authenticallyPeople managers building emotionally safe, high-performing culturesAnyone navigating burnout, disengagement, or uncertaintyRemote and hybrid leaders creating connection without proximityHumans who want to lead with more empathy, purpose, and playYour FreebieYou want to support your people the same way you want to be supported—but in fast, emotionally charged moments, the right words can be hard to find.Enter, your free resource - Human Leadership in the Age of AI: An Empathy Playbook. It gives you a simple, 3-part list of human-first phrases you can use in meetings, emails, and one-on-ones.Empathy isn’t extra anymore. It’s essential. Download your Empathy Playbook here.Connect with Claude SilverClaude’s LinkedInClaude’s InstagramClaude’s websiteClaude’s bookConnect with Erin Diehl x improve it!Erin’s websiteErin’s InstagramErin’s TikTokErin’s LinkedInimprove it!’s websiteimprove it!’s InstagramFor more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com. Connect with Erin Diehl🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.Loved this episode?If this conversation made you think differently about work, leadership, or building joyful teams, please follow Workday Playdate on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who could use more play in their workday.