Squiggly Careers

In our next episode of our Ask The Expert Series, Sarah talks to David Epstein, author of 'Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialised World', about experimentation. In their conversation they talk about experimentation vs expertise, the difference between hedgehogs and foxes (in the workplace!), and David gives his best bit of career advice.For full resources visit amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Working away from the office has become the default mode for many people this year and as a result, we need to adapt how we show up and stand out to stay visible. In this week's episode, Helen and Sarah talk about why visibility is important to think about and their top tips to ensure you and your work show up.For resources mentioned in this week's podcast, head to www.amazingif.com To join Helen and Sarah in one of their virtual workshops, head to www.amazingiflearning.comStay connected with Helen and Sarah on Instagram @amazingif Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first episode of Ask the Expert - Series 2, Sarah is in conversation with retail expert, entrepreneur, author, podcaster, presenter (a leader with many talents!) Mary Portas. Together they explore the topic of kindness. Mary shares her perspective on why kindness matters at work, the difference it makes to people, the planet and profit and what gets in the way. Together they discuss Mary's ideas on actions we can all take to inject more kindness into our work and her perspective on why she's feeling optimistic about the future. And we finish all our interviews by asking our guests to share their best piece of career advice for our listeners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The combination of a September state of mind and all things Covid mean that many of us are thinking about our career choices and the jobs we want to do. This week, Helen and Sarah talk through 6 practical ideas to support you in exploring and applying for new roles. To find out more about Helen and Sarah's work head to www.amazingif.com or join one of their upcoming live learning sessions at www.amazingiflearning.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If it's feeling like your career confidence has taken a hit, you're not alone. The uncertainty and change we're all coping with at the moment creates a lot of career challenges. This, Helen and Sarah talk about 5 ways in which you can build you career confidence including telling strengths stories and building your confidence community.For links mentioned in this epsiode, head to https://www.amazingif.com/listen/To get in touch with Helen and Sarah email [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this weeks episode Sarah interviews Bill Burnett and Dave Evans the authors of Design your Life and Design your Work Life. They discuss how we can all adopt a designer mindset and why reframing is a design superpower we can all learn. Sarah also shares some of her favourite tools and frameworks from the book including the 'maker mix' and the difference between the best theoretical option and best doable option. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode Sarah and Helen discuss the relationship between identity and work. Together they explore what happens when we become the work that we do and ideas for positive actions we can all take to create a positive connection between ourselves and our work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the last episode in our Setting Yourself Up for Success series, Helen talks to wellbeing expert Rachael Welford about stress and the importance of self-care. They talk about how to make meditation manageable, how to stop negative beliefs getting in your way and how to develop health-ful habits. For more on Rachael's work, head to: https://www.welfordwellbeing.com/For everything else Squiggly Careers related, head to www.amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the 4th episode of our Setting Yourself Up for Success series, Helen talks to author, researcher and professor Megan Reitz about speaking up at work. Together they discuss why speaking-up feels hard and how our conversational habits can hold us back. They talk through the TRUTH framework Megan has developed to understand what gets in the way of speaking up and how to overcome challenges and Megan also shares the importance of managers being prepared to 'listen-up' to what is being said.For more on Megan's work, head to: https://www.meganreitz.com/You can buy her book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Speak-Up-what-needs-heard/dp/1292263016For everything else Squiggly Careers related, head to www.amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode 3 in our Setting Yourself Up for Success series and today's topic is rest. Helen interviews author Alex Soojung-Kim Pang on why we need to prioritise rest and how practically to invest in rest when work feels consuming. They talk about the importance of deliberate rest, the passion-paradox, why hobbies matter and our need to nap!To find out more about Alex's work head to: http://www.strategy.rest/Details on his books can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alex-Soojung-Kim-Pang/e/B001KHJ91I?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3&qid=1597749340&sr=1-3To enter the competion to win a signed copy of shorter (open to August 28th), head here: https://www.instagram.com/amazingif/For everything else Squiggly Careers related, head to www.amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is episode number 2 in the Setting Yourself Up for Success series. In this episode, Helen talks to entreprenuer and personal branding expert Biana Miller-Cole about the importance of building your personal brand and practical tips for how to do it. They also talk through 3 listeners personal brands and offer tips for improvement.To find out more about Bianca head to: www.biancamiller.ukBianca is running a mastermind mentoring session on the topic of 'Personal Brand & Company Brand' on the 5th September. The sessions are created for business owners but everyone is welcome. Find out more: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/byron-amp-bianca-entrepreneurs-amp-business-mentors-14825079175You can read about Bianca's book here: https://www.selfmadebook.uk/For everything else Squiggly Careers related, head to www.amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the first episode in the Squiggly Careers - Setting Yourself Up For Success series. This five part series covers topics including personal branding, rest and speaking-up. Today, Helen talks to strengths expert Marcus Buckingham about what the real definition of a strength is, how we can understand what we're best at and how we can use that insight to manage our careers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Job crafting is a proven activity to increase our engagement, performance and wellbeing at work and in this week's Squiggly Careers podcast, Sarah and Helen talk about how to put the theory into action. They discuss the benefits of job crafting, the areas to focus on and 5 specific actions you can take to start to redesign your role. For all links and resources referenced in the podcast, head to www.amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Helen talks to 3 different guests about how everyone can engage more openly, actively and positively in conversations about race at work. She talks to Zahra Mohamoud, campaign manager for Business in the Community's Race at Work Charter, Vanessa Belleau, founder of High Fifteen and Tolu Farinto, Head of Ethnicity and Social Mobility at Utopia. They discuss how to overcome fear of 'getting it wrong', examples of organisations creating long-term cultural change and how to approach conversations with empathy.For more information about this week's guest, see links below:Business in the Community - Race at Work Charter: https://www.bitc.org.uk/race/Zahra Mohamoud: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahramohamoud/Vanessa Belleau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessabelleau/High Fifteen: https://www.highfifteen.com/Tolu Farinto: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toluwani-farinto-24119467Utopia - Culture Change Agency: https://www.weareutopia.co/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Helen and Sarah are talking about 'flow'. They discuss what it means to be flow at work and why it matters. They talk through Miahly Csikzentmihalyi's 8 characteristics of flow and share 4 actions to find your flow and spend more time in flow.For resources and links for this episode, head to www.amazingif.com. If you'd like to be part of a live discussion about this podcast, you can join Sarah for PodPlus on July 30th at 9am.For full details of this free session, head to www.amazingiflearning.com/courses/podplus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Helen and Sarah talk about the importance of levity, humour and laughter at work with Naomi Bagdonas and Jennifer Aaker, the authors of 'Humor, Seriously'. Plus, Sarah talks to Lynne Parker, founder and chief executive of Funny Women and Deb Leary OBE, CEO of Forensic Pathways about how they use humour in their day to day working lives. For full resources visit amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this weeks episode Helen and Sarah discuss why optimistics do better at work (and in life) and the difference between expectant and explainer optimists. And together they ask the question if optimism is a skill we can all learn what does this look like in practise? We finish the episode sharing 5 practical actions listeners can take to add some optimism into your day to day work and over the course of your career.Don't forget, you can join our weekly PodPlus sessions where we share frameworks and models you can put into action. These 30 minute, interactive Zoom sessions are free to join and you can register for them here: https://www.amazingiflearning.com/courses/podplus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Sarah talks to Leyya Sattar and Roshni Goyate, the co-founders of The Other Box, about what it means to be an ally, what gets in the way and the practical actions we can all take to be effective allies at work. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this weeks episode Helen and Sarah discuss why we procrastinate and 5 ideas and actions to help prevent procrastination, including monk mode, the pomodoro technique and swallowing the frog. And as an added bonus Helen finishes the episode by sharing her top productivity hints & tips. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Helen talks to Lord Mark Price about the 6 steps to happier workplaces. Mark is the former Managing Director of Waitrose and Deputy Chairman of The John Lewis Partnership, a member of the House of Lords and the founder of Engaging Works. This episode is full of insights and practical actions you can take to create happier workplaces.For more information on the epsiode, head to https://www.amazingif.com/listen and follow Mark's work at https://engaging.works/Don't forget, you can join our weekly PodPlus sessions where we share models you can put into action. These 30 minute, interactive Zoom sessions are free to join and you can register for them here: https://www.amazingiflearning.com/courses/podplus Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode of our six-part Ask the Expert series, Helen talks to CEO and founder of Social Chain, Steven Bartlett, about the importance of adaptability as a skill and how to cultivate it.In their discussion, Steven shares his thought on the importance of 'adaptability outliers', making sure people have an incentive to be adaptable and permission to fail. He also talks about the importance of reflection and writing in helping him to personally stay adaptable in his career. Follow Steven @steven on instagram. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Sarah and Helen discuss how to find more meaning and fulfilment from the work that you do. Together they reflect on what makes work meaningful and what gets in the way. And though there is no blueprint for discovering meaningful work there are questions you can ask and actions you can take which will help you to feel more connected to your job today, and in the future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the fifth of our six-part Ask the Expert series, Sarah interviews Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organisation. Together Sarah and Amy discuss Psychological Safety, the concept she has pioneered and championed through her research.They chat about what gets in the way of psychological safety and how we can all learn the skills and take positive action to create respected and trusted teams where people feel comfortable to be themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Helen and Sarah talk about how to navigate the change and uncertainty that we're all facing in our careers right now. Together they discuss how to overcome the thoughts and feelings that can get in our way when faced with change and the positive actions that will help you take control of your career in the short and long term. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the fourth of our six-part 'Ask the Expert' series, Helen interviews Holly Tucker, co-founder of Not On The High Street and founder of Holly&Co about the importance of creativity in navigating through times of change. They talk about how spark your creativity and apply it to your day to day work to create new opportunities for you and your career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Helen and Sarah talk about emotional intelligence (EQ) at work. They take the 12 characteristics of EQ and share ideas for putting each one into action. Whether you're thinking about your own development or different exercises to do with the people you work with, this week's episode is full of practical and useful tips to help make work better for everyone.For an episode summary and supporting resources, head to amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the third of our six-part Squiggly Careers – Ask the Expert series, Helen interviews Simon Sinek, best-selling author and speaker, about the role of purpose in managing our careers. They talk about how to find your own why, the importance of working with people who share your beliefs and how to bring your purpose to life with the stories you tell." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this weeks episode Helen and Sarah share why working remotely can make disagreeing difficult and top tips on how to challenge constructively. In the second part of the episode Helen interviews Amy Gallo, author of the Harvard Business Review Guide to Dealing With Conflict and contributing HBR contributing editor. Amy shares practical and useful advice on how to have productive conversations including understanding whether you seek or avoid conflict, identifying frequent reasons for disagreement and knowing what approaches work for what scenarios.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second of our six-part Squiggly Careers – Ask the Expert series Sarah interviews Rich Pierson, co-founder of Headspace about Mindfulness. Rich and Sarah discuss the difference between mindfulness and meditation and the benefits that being more mindful can offer to all of us.They discuss practical and realistic ways to make meditation part of your everyday and why so many companies are offering headspace to their employees during Coronavirus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this inspiring episode Helen and Sarah interview people working on the front-line during lock-down to get a window in the world of their experiences.Sarah has a conversation with Ben Levinson, a 600-pupil primary school Headteacher working in East London about how he coped with the most difficult two weeks of his career and why taking care of your mental health matters more than ever right now. Helen speaks to Dr. Jamie Strachan, a Consultant in Critical Care and Anaesthesia about staying calm under pressure and taking each day as it comes. Sarah chats with Jo McMahon a Care Home Manager who started her role just weeks before lockdown and leads a team of over 100 staff and looks after residents whose age range from their 20’s to their 90’s. And Helens talk to venture capitalist, and now home-schooler to her three children, June Angelides about the realities of working and parenting all at the same time.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In our first episode supporting mental health awareness week Sarah and Helen chat to Dr. Paula Franklin - Chief Medical Officer Bupa, Emma Mamo – Head of Workplace Wellbeing at Mind and Alex Cole – Chair Bupa Foundation about how we can all look after our mental health at work.  Together they discuss some of the barriers that get in the way of people receiving the support they need for their mental health at work, and the positive progress that some organisations have made that we can learn from. They share practical ideas and actions we can all try to take care of our mental health and where you can go to find further support. The theme for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is kindness and Sarah and Helen and their guests finish the episode by sharing their favourite examples of kindness since coronavirus changed the way we all work and live.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first of our new six part Squiggly Careers - Ask the Expert series Sarah interviews Martha Lane- Fox (CBE) co-founder of lastminute.com and founder of doteveryone. Martha shares her personal and professional experience of building her resilience 'muscle' through out her career. Together they discuss the importance of very small steps, a strong support network and recognising your successes. And Martha finishes by explaining why we should never be afraid to fish upstream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Helen and Sarah reflect on how our current working environment is affecting people's need for belonging and how to respond to it. They talk through 5 ideas and actions to build more belonging in a virtual working environment, including reflecting on the number of 1-2-1 vs. 1-2-many conversations you're having and making time to give people recognition. Head to www.amazingif.com for links to resources. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode Helen and Sarah are joined by David Speed and Adam Brazier, co-hosts of the Creative Rebels Podcast and co-founders of Graffiti Life and Parlour Tattoo. In the episode they discuss how to be creative at work including the importance of mixing things up, helping to level up your business and why talk - action = zero. For more visit amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adaptability and Squiggly Careers go hand in hand! We're all working with more change and ambiguity and our ability to find a way through it is crucial to our success (and arguably our sanity!).This week, Helen and Sarah share practical actions you can take to develop you adaptability, inspired by Natalie Fratto's TED Talk. Head to www.amazingif.com for links to resources. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helen talks to Matthew Syed about the power of diverse thinking in this week's Squiggly Careers podcast.They tackle topics including growth mindset, collective intelligence and cognitive diversity, focusing in on how to put all of the theory into action for individuals, teams and organisations.For more on this episode, head to www.amazingif.com and read more about Matthew's work at www.matthewsyed.co.uk. Rebels Ideas is out in paperback now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Helen and Sarah give you the skills to develop strong resilience. They cover how to assess your steady state of resilience, how to think about your emotional agility, fear setting and learning to invest in your support solar system. For full resources visit amazingif.com  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For a special episode Sarah talks to Dr. Margaret Heffernan - author of 'Uncharted: How to Map the Future Together'. They talk about the difference between a complicated and complex world, why we need to build relationships based on generosity and the importance of friends at work (particularly in a crisis). For more visit amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Sarah and Helen discuss the difference between your comfort and courage learning zones and why they both matter. Together they discuss ideas and actions you can take to spend more time in either zone including building your BMDs (brief moments of discomfort), connecting with challengers and knowing that not right now is not the same as not ever.For more information on this episode head to www.amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As our working lives go through a significant period of change, it's never been more important to show kindness to others. Everyone is going through their own challenges and we can all play a role in supporting each other. In this week's episode, Helen and Sarah talk through small and practical ways we can all show up with kindness at work.For more information on this episode, head to www.amazingif.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listening plays a big part in our working lives, but often it's something we struggle to do well. Distractions, our own agendas, thoughts and feelings can all affect the quality of our listening efforts. In this week's Squiggly Careers podcast, hosts Helen and Sarah talk about their 4 top tips for being a brilliant listener, including how to assess yourself against '6 listening levels', how to create 'time to think' and how to make sure your listening efforts creates insight that lasts.Head to amazingif.com for links to resources. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the final episode Sarah interviews two women leading the charge to make our world a better place. Kajal Odedre, director of change.org and author of 'Do Something': together they discuss how everyone can be an activist. She then chats to Lauren Bravo, author of 'How to break up with fast fashion', to figure out what we can all do to make better choices about the clothes that we buy and wear, benefitting ourselves and our planet.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode for International Women's Day, Helen talks to 3 guests about the topic of female entrepreneurship. With Sarah King and Claire Dunn (founders of We Are Radikl) she discusses the systemic barriers that can hold women back from starting and scaling businesses and how they are supporting women to break them down. She then talks to Natalie Campbell, a serial entrepreneur about the confidence that has enabled her to succeed, what she has learned through her journey and what her advice is to other female founders.To find out more about Sarah and Claire's work head to www.weareradikl.co.ukTo follow Natalie, head to @nataliedcampbell (Instagram). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special episode for International Women's Day, Helen and Sarah talk to two men who champion women in the workplace. First, Helen talks to Josh Graff (UK Country Manager for LinkedIn) about the actions he takes as a leader to support women at work. Sarah then talks to Daniele Fiandaca about Token Man, an initiative he founded to include men in the discussion of diversity and focus on solutions that benefit everyone. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part 2 of this special episode for International Women's Day, Helen talks to Ann Francke, CEO of the Chartered Management Institute about the commercial benefit of gender diverse workplaces and where issues arise in our organisations.Ann's book is: Ann Francke OBE - Creating Gender Diverse Workplaces Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part 1 of 2 of this special episode for International Women's Day, Helen and Sarah talk to different guests to get their perspective on how women can break through glass walls and glass pyramids at work. In part 1 they talk to Kathryn Jacob OBE and Sue Unerman, about the strategies for success that women can use to combat bias and barriers at work.Their book is called:Kathryn Jacob OBE and Sue Unerman - The Glass Wall: Success Strategies for Women at Work - and Businesses that Mean Business Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Sarah talks to three CEOs who happen to be women. Sarah interviews Cilla Snowball, Eithne O'Leary and Kate Stephens about the reality of life as a CEO, the role of a support network and how to build the confidence to put yourself forward for, and succeed, in the top job. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of our special series, Sarah interviews Ella Dolphin, CEO of The Stylist Group. Together they discuss how gender is portrayed in the media and how with great power, comes great responsibility. The media has always set the narrative around women – but its permeating untruths, false expectations and dangerous stereotypes. Research by Dove shows that 70% of women do not feel represented by media and advertising. Ella reveals how to challenge outdated views and change the representation of women in the media. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this special epsiode to support International Women's Day, Helen interviews broadcaster, journalist and author Emma Barnett. Together, they discuss Emma's book 'It's about bloody time. Period.". They get into the issues that arise at work when people feel unable to talk about their periods, the reasons why it's become taboo and how we can fight back. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's easier than ever to think the grass is always greener, we see perfect lives and curated workplaces on social media and can feel left out. In this episode Sarah and Helen give tips on how to avoid comparing yourself to others, including knowing your triggers, the 'Shine Theory' and shifting from comparison to control.For more, visit amazingif.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.