But I'm a Professional! – Détails, épisodes et analyse

What does it mean to have a career calling? Where does such a thing come from? How is it shaped by our work environments? Is it always positive, or is there also a dark side?

This episode, I talk with Sophie Gerdel about the concept of a career calling. We discuss what it means, how it can be of use, and its potential in the Future of Work.

Follow Sophie and her work on her LinkedIn. Also, consider taking her short assessment on Calling to reflect on your current role!

For more of my work, visit my blog.

Further Reading

LSE Business Review article: The Many Ways to Make a Meaningful Career Out of a Calling

Gerdel, S., Bergner, S., & Vianello, M. (2025). Fostering calling in the leader–member exchange: individual and team-level effects. Career Development International, 30(3), 309–325. https://doi.org/10.1108/cdi-12-2023-0446

Zhou, S., Aitken, J. A., & Kuykendall, L. (2023). Callings can take different shapes: Scope, proximity and duration as new complexifications of calling. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 97(1), 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12459

Will humans be replaced by robots in the near future?

Is AI something that ought to be thought of as a colleague?

These are some of the questions for my guest today as we discuss the Future of Work!

I talk to Professor Tiziana C. Callari from the University of Turin who pursues these themes in her research.

In an effort to separate hype from reality, we discuss what the Future of Work actually looks like based on her years of research and insights. Our conversation covers themes like: Industry 5.0, human-robot integration, meaningful work, re-skilling, craftsmanship, and so much more!

Share this episode and follow this podcast for future conversations with scholars who study various aspects of work.

Find my work > Professional Development Designs

How is it that so much resource is spent on training, and yet behaviour remains unchanged?

We can look to the extensive research done on the topic of training transfer and find several reasons why. And, even better, find recommendations for potential ways to make that transfer have more of an impact.

If you would like to read some of the academic articles referenced in this episode, here they are:

- Making soft skills stick: a systematic scoping review and integrated training transfer framework grounded in behavioural science

- 100 Years of Training and Development Research: What We Know and Where We Should Go

- Work factors influencing the transfer stages of soft skill training: A literature review

- The differences between hard and soft skills and their relative impact on training transfer

- Transfer of Training: A Review and Directions for Future Research

Also, here's a way to improve the interactive nature of your online check-ins with your team -> Mentimeter

Good luck, Professionals!

The relationship between attitudes and behaviours is complex. Perhaps you can immediately bring to mind some examples of how attempts to implement change at work were a major flop.

So.

How do we engage in the process so that change does in fact come?

How do we avoid putting good resources in bad places and then have a collective panic when the same old problems persist?

This episode features references to the following:

- The Role of Attitudes in Work Behavior

- Intervention Preparedness Tool- VIA Character Strengths Survey

- Reflected Best Self exercises

- Feedforward Interviews (follow Table 1 for instructions)

Getting people to change their behaviour(s) is difficult - but communicating well, creating a space for concerns, identifying shared goals, promoting autonomy, and having a Before, During, and After plan for the change will greatly improve its viability.

Good luck, Professionals!

It's time to circle back. We've put a pin in it and we're circling back!

Actually, to be completely honest, your organisation failed to put a pin in it to begin with and that's half the problem. You became a manager one day and everyone moved on with their lives. No training, no development, no new skill set. Eek!

We shall right that wrong on today's episode as we go back to The Basics and talk about four good working habits that will stand you (and your team) in good stead for future challenges.

What are The Basics, you ask? Being composed, kind, clear, and conscientious. Let's get those right, Professionals.

My dearest Managers, would you like to hear the good news or the bad news first?

The bad news is: you're missing a powerful component from your tool kit.

The good news: you've got a tool kit! And you've got me.

Yes, we've been doing Learning a real disservice, I'm afraid. We've limited it to inadequate spaces, left it for someone else to deal with, and not sharpened our skills to make better use of it on our teams. Dear, oh, dear. Let's fix that, shall we?

In this episode, I'll outline common pitfalls we encounter when engaging with the concept of Learning and set you on the path to righteousness. How am I going to do that? With our best friend, evidence-based practice from that light in the professional storm - Organisational Psychology.

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How, exactly, does one make a team work?

It turns out - common assumptions that have been allowed to fester in the ol' organisational spaces aren't exactly super duper. You may be well aware of that if you look at your particular crack squad of slightly less than savvy, motivated personnel and think, "Oh, dear." Never fear, though - help is on the way!

In this episode, I'll outline some common errors we make as managers and why they are less helpful. After that, I'll share some evidence-based solutions to these problems in the shape of real, practical changes you can start making today.

Here are some promised links:

(Lacerenza et al., 2018) Teamwork Development Interventions: Evidence-based approaches for improving teamwork

(Woolley et al., 2010) Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups

The Recruitment Show - Attract and Retain People with Psychology with Dr Susie Phillips-Baker

Flight of the Conchords - Business Time

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This mini mini series is for the managers out there who are confounded, bemused, and perplexed at the state of affairs within their motley crew.

The basics of solid, non-trend-chasing manager skills is still something we get wrong - despite having a large amount of evidence to help us get it right.

So let's do that in this series - let's get some of the major wrongs right and let science lead the way.

This episode is about resilience and how our language, perceptions, and work design is standing in the way of making it happen. I'll offer you some ways to make small but effective changes to your team so that they can develop and deploy resilience, rather than succumbing to burnout and exhaustion.

Sorry for the background noises. Can someone send me a soundproof recording booth, please? Thanks.

The artist formerly know as Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Substack: nancyelizabeth

Either passively or intentionally, we mere overworked and underpaid mortals consume a fairly consistent feed of extraordinary claims from one day to the next.

"Social media is a great place to connect with others!" - Is it?

"We're reducing our carbon footprint and making real changes around here!" - Oh, are you?

"We need to raise your heating/electric/food bill!" - Do you now? Sorry, you'll have to speak up - I can't hear you over the CEO banking his bonus.

At the risk of upsetting the ghost of Carl Sagan, sometimes extraordinary claims are made without extraordinary evidence to back them up. Other times, extraordinary evidence inexplicably does not seem to beget extraordinary claims - even when well deserved. What are some claims you hear at work and see no evidence to support it?

In this episode, I'll give you some examples of claims that do not match their evidence with a desperate imbalance on one side or the other. I'll also give you some considerations for work that are bizarrely not extraordinary claims.

The citation for the article I quote is: Julian Decius, Michael Knappstein & Katharina Klug (2023): Which way of learning benefits your career? The role of different forms of work-related learning for different types of perceived employability, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, DOI: 10.1080/1359432X.2023.2191846

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What would you say your character strengths are?

Do you have any idea or does that question lead to a lot of blinking, frowning, and random adjectives spewing forth from your unsure self?

Fear not, dear Professional. In today's episode, I'm going to talk you through the very useful work done by some psychologists who were interested in developing a list of good character traits (24 of them, in fact!) that we all possess to varying degrees. I'll tell you how you can learn about your traits, why it's useful to apply in the workspace, and some practical ways you may be able to do so.

We're talking self-reflection, introspection, goal setting, job crafting and much much more. Come along, Professionals - we've got some wellbeing to foster!

Twitter: @butimaprofesh

Substack: /nancyelizabeth

Email: butimaprofessional@gmail.com