Navigating Narcissism in the Work Place at WeWork with Ugo Mbawuike

Navigating Narcissism with Dr. Ramani

iHeartPodcasts

True Crime, Education, Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Relationships

4.8 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2022

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ousted WeWork CEO Adam Neumann built a company culture that drew employees in a relationship with their workplace that they loved - but that many on the inside and outside clearly saw as - narcissistic. As one of the top community managers at WeWork, Ugo Mbawuike had a front row seat to the rise and demise of the co-working tech unicorn that was supposed to transform the corporate office as we know it. From the love bombing of perks and community, to the future faking of Adam’s grand vision, and the gaslighting of the company’s subsequent financial problems, we look at Ugo’s experience through a narcissistic framework to recognize red flags of a employer.

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This podcast should not be used as a substitute for medical or mental health advice. Individuals are advised to seek independent medical advice, counseling, and/or therapy from a health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issue, or health inquiry, including matters discussed on this podcast.

Navigating Narcissism is produced by Red Table Talk Podcasts. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Jada Pinkett-Smith, Fallon Jethroe, Ellen Rakieten, and Dr. Ramani Durvasula. PRODUCER: Matthew Jones, ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Mara De La Rosa. EDITORS AND AUDIO MIXERS: Devin Donaghy and Calvin Bailiff.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast should not be used as a substitute for medical or mental health advice.
0:05.7	Individuals are advised to seek independent medical advice, counseling, and or therapy
0:11.8	from a health care professional with respect to any medical condition, mental health issue,
0:17.5	or health inquiry, including matters discussed on this podcast.
0:22.0	The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the podcast author or individuals
0:28.0	participating in the podcast and do not represent the opinions of red table talk productions,
0:33.7	iHeart Media, or their employees. Each building had that energy. Obviously the energy
0:41.9	is created by the people in the building, but then the building lent itself to also creating this
0:48.3	magical energy where you never wanted to leave. In this episode, we are going to hear the story
0:53.7	of Ugo Umbawike. Ugo had the full wee work experience. He started his journey at the global
1:01.2	co-working space as a member in 2014 and loved working there so much that he got a job as a community
1:09.0	manager working his way up to managing multiple buildings, including the West Coast headquarters.
1:15.3	A big job due to his close work with the company's top executives. He was at wee work in the early
1:22.7	days of hyper growth through its height at a $47 billion valuation all the way through to when
1:30.8	things started to decline. He experienced firsthand what it was like to manage the impact and fall
1:37.4	out of a narcissistic leader on the members and employees of wee work. Ugo was caught in the balancing
1:44.1	act of seeing the genius of the concept, the vision of the leader and the chaos and harm that ensue
1:51.7	when the grandiosity and entitlement got out of control. In this interview, Ugo shares his personal
1:58.5	story and experience of working at wee work. His opinions reflect his personal interactions with
2:06.1	people at the company during the period of time he spent as a member and an employee. He is no
2:13.9	longer employed with wee work nor do his opinions represent the company. So welcome, Ugo.
2:21.5	Thank you. So happy to have you here. This entire story obviously has focused on the founder
	...

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