This week, I speak with Nick Matthews, VP and GM of Europe, Middle East & Africa at Culture Amp.

Nick brings a unique blend of experiences from his early days teaching Liam Neeson’s kids to swim to his career in tech. He started his career at Deloitte Consulting before moving to Yammer, which was later acquired by Microsoft, where he worked for four years before joining Culture Amp in 2016.

Culture Amp is the world’s leading employee experience platform, revolutionizing how 25 million employees across more than 6,500 companies create a better world of work. Culture Amp empowers companies of all sizes and industries to transform employee engagement, drive performance management, and develop high-performing teams.

TALKING POINTS:

• AI and Technical Comfort: The importance of embracing technology and AI to enhance workforce and talent strategy.
• Cultural Transformation: From his start at Deloitte to leadership roles in tech, Nick discusses navigating shifts in workplace culture.
• Employee Experience as a Culture First Approach: How Culture Amp uses employee engagement data to enhance organisational culture and drive financial success.
• Performance Management Evolution: Nick’s take on transforming performance management systems to accommodate modern, hybrid work environments.
• Future of HR Technology: Expectations for integrating AI and analytics into HR practices to enhance strategic decision-making and organisational outcomes.

LINKS:

Nick's LinkedIn

Culture Amp

Interested in me sharing insights on these topics with your team? Book me to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

My book, Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, was recently shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2024. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I interview Isabel Berwick, presenter of the award-winning Financial Times' Working It podcast and co-writer of the Working It newsletter.

Isabel's new book The Future-Proof Career: Strategies for thriving at every stage is published this week. We had a brilliant conversation about careers, management and changes in how we work. The book is a great read, so make sure you order a copy!

"Covering topics as wide-ranging as the four-day working week, bridging the workplace generation gap, making sure your company walks its diversity talk, quiet quitting and the great resignation, achieving workplace equality and even micro-dosing for creativity, The Future-Proof Career spreads the word about understanding modern workplaces so we can all have happier, more productive lives."

TALKING POINTS:

• Understanding Ambition: The importance of aligning personal ambition with career advancement.
• The Managerial Journey: The evolving roles of managers and non-managers in career progression.
• Navigating Toxicity: Identifying signs of a toxic workplace and building a healthy organisational culture.
• Work/Life Balance?: The realities of balancing career aspirations with personal commitments.
• Late Career Blooms: Celebrating the potential for growth and reinvention.

LINKS:

The Future-Proof Career: Strategies for thriving at every stage

Working It

Isabel's LinkedIn

Interested in me sharing insights on these topics with your team? Book me to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Future Work/Life podcast, I speak with John Winsor, formerly an advertising founder and exec and now a pioneer, entrepreneur and thought leader on open talent.

John is the Executive in Residence at Harvard Business School's Laboratory for Innovation Science, founder and Chairman of Open Assembly, and the author of his sixth book Open Talent: Leveraging a Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges, co-authored with Jin Paik.

TALKING POINTS:

1. Journey to Open Talent: John shares his transition from traditional advertising to embracing open talent, driven by necessity and entrepreneurial spirit.
2. The concept of Open Talent: The benefits of Open Talent and the freelance workforce over traditional employment models.
3. Work culture: How open talent influences work culture, requiring a shift in mindset among leaders and managers.
4. Micropreneurs & AI: John discusses how AI reshapes jobs, and why now is the time for micropreneurs to thrive.
5. Adaptation: The challenges traditional industries face in adopting open talent strategies and how forward-thinking companies benefit from this flexibility.

LINKS:

John's LinkedIn

Open Talent: Leveraging a Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges

Interested in me sharing insights on these topics with your team? Book me to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Future Work/Life newsletter #111: How to ask better interview questions? Like, what browser tabs do you currently have open?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Future Work/Life #110: Attracting talent who can make a difference is more important than ever

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Future Work/Life newsletter #109: How to scale your career by doing things that don't scale

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I explore why trusting the process is more than a cliche with Professor Damian Hughes. Plus, how to do it in practice.

Damian is an organisational psychologist and author. He's written several books about leadership and high-performance culture within some of the world's most successful businesses and sports organisations, including Barcelona Football Club, and Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson. 

You'll probably know him as the host of one of the UK's top podcasts, which he presents with Jake Humphrey. The High Performance Podcast has been listened to millions of times and has featured incredible guests like Dame Kelly Holmes, Jo Malone, Sir Chris Hoy, Matthew McConaughey, Chris Voss, and Tim Peake.

Original episode:

Damian Hughes - The Non-Negotiables of High Performance

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from Shaun Tomson and Steven Kotler about the power of flow state.

Shaun Tomson is a former world champion surfer and the author of The Code.

Steven Kotler has been twice-nominated for the Pulitzer prize for his non-fiction writing and is the founder of the Flow Research Collective. He's one of the world's leading experts on the neurobiology of peak performance.

Original Episodes:

Shaun Tomson: Purpose and Flow in Surfing, Work and Life

Steven Kotler - Flow State & Peak Performance

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dror Gurevich explains why Velocity Network Foundation is building the Internet of Careers and how it will revolutionise the way we collect and share career credentials.

Original episode:

Dror Gurevich - The Internet of Careers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I explore with We Are Rosie founder Stephanie Nadi Olson why although we're seeing more people choose more independent careers as freelancers, contractors, and solopreneurs, this doesn't mean maintaining a sense of relatedness isn't important.

In fact, with new ways of forming teams of independent experts who share a mission, you can create magic.

Original episode:

Stephanie Nadi Olson - The Flexible Future of Work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from Dr Christian Busch and Dr Grace Lordan about why you make your own luck.

Christian is the bestselling author of Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck. Christian is director of the CGA Global Economy Program at New York University (NYU), and also teaches at the London School of Economics (LSE). 

Grace is an Associate Professor in Behavioural Science and Director of The Inclusion Initiative at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She's also the author of Thing Big: Take Small Steps and Build the Future You Want.

Original Episodes:

Christian Busch - The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck

Grace Lordan - Thinking Big About Your Career

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a special episode today. We recently celebrated the 200th episode of the Future Work/Life podcast, which coincided with the same milestone for my guest’s show, "Conversations with Tyler."

Tyler Cowen is an economist, columnist, blogger and podcast. He’s a professor of economics at George Mason University, founder of the Marginal Revolution blog (which he’s been writing daily for 20 years), and a columnist for Bloomberg.

Tyler and I delve into various topics in this episode, reflecting his diverse interests and expertise, including his recent book GOAT, which explores the greatest economists of all time, and his previous work on talent in collaboration with venture capitalist Daniel Gross. Our conversation also ventures into unexpected areas like football and dating!

TALKING POINTS:

• Writing and podcasting: Tyler reflects on his journey as a podcaster and writer and how these roles have influenced his thinking.
• GOAT: Tyler shares why he published his new book in GPT and what we can learn from asking questions like an economist.
• Music and creativity: I ask Tyler about his passion for music and its influence on his creative endeavours.
• Future of work: Tyler's views on the impact of AI on jobs and productivity, especially in knowledge work.
• Remote work trends: Remote & hybrid work's impact on productivity, culture, and talent development.
• The role of AI in identifying talent: The potential and limitations of AI in talent acquisition.

LINKS:

Tyler's Twitter

Conversations with Tyler podcast

GOAT: Who is the Greatest Economist of all Time and Why Does it Matter?

Marginal Revolution podcast

Interested in me sharing insights on these topics with your team? Book me to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I share a clip from my fantastic conversation with the legendary surfer Shaun Tomson, who now speaks to millions worldwide about how to clarify your purpose. He does this using what he calls 'The Code', which asks you to write 12 statements of commitment, each starting with, "I Will'.

Original episode:

Shaun Tomson: Purpose and Flow in Surfing, Work and Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I explore why embracing constraints can be a good thing, both when prioritising your time and also, as Tim Harford explains, when it comes to creativity.

Original episode:

Tim Harford - Following your Curiosity & Learning from Failure

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've just got one guest for you this week, but he's a good one! Writer, Dror Poleg, explains why the future of work is global and the implications on how we think about deploying our expertise.

Original episode:

Dror Poleg - Future of work, cities, and human communities

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two successful entrepreneurs about how journaling has changed their lives in very different ways.

My first guest is Andy Ayim MBE, founder of Angel Investing School, who explains how he uses his 'tracker' to record the most significant events in his daily life.

Then you'll hear Nik Whitfield's remarkable story. He's the founder and Chairman of Panaseer and journaling was partly responsible for curing his previously debilitating back pain.

Original Episodes:

Andy Ayim - Investing in yourself and others

Nik Whitfield - Wellbeing, Leadership & The Power of Journaling

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear why you need to start pacing yourself like an elite athlete.

My first guest is George Bettany, founder of Sanctus, a mental health coaching business.

Then you'll hear from journalist and author of Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, Alex Hutchinson.

Original Episodes:

George Bettany - Mental Health in the Workplace

Alex Hutchinson - Human Performance: The Role of Mind and Body

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two experts on why rest and recovery are vital to performing at your best. about why creativity is such an important skill for the future of work.

My first guest is mental health campaigner Geoff McDonald, and my second guest is the author of Rest and Shorter, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang.

Original Episodes:

Geoff McDonald - Mental Health & The Power of Purpose

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang: 4-Day Week & Doing More In Less Time

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two world-renowned expert guests about why creativity is such an important skill for the future of work.

My first guest is twice Pulitzer prize nominated author and founder of the Flow Research Collective, Steven Kotler.

Then you'll hear from one of the world's top business thinkers, Lynda Gratton, who talks about her own creative process and the importance of creativity in relation to increased automation.

Original Episodes:

Steven Kotler - Flow State & Peak Performance

Lynda Gratton - Transforming organisations and making hybrid work for everyone

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two guests about how to harness the power of the internet

First, Liz Ogabi tells us how her move from London to Lagos inspired her entrepreneurial career and the launch of her online community, For Working Ladies.

Then you'll hear Ship 30 for 30 and Category Pirates founder, Nicolas Cole, explain why it's viable for creators and entrepreneurs to leverage the internet's scale to niche down.

Original Episodes:

Elizabeth Ogabi - Kickstarting Your Side Hustle

Nicolas Cole - How to Become a Digital Writer

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from Bruce Daisley about why there's still magic in connecting with people in real life despite some advantages to the rise of remote work.

Original Episode:

Bruce Daisley - Making Work Better (And More Joyful)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two guests about why flexibility can now be considered a mark of success.

First, We Are Rosie founder, Stephanie Nadi Olson, explains why Covid "lifted the veil' on the bullsh*t that companies were spouting about the downsides of flexible work.

Then you'll hear Annie Auerbach, Author of FLEX, discuss why now's the time to move on from the idea that flexibility is something desired by less ambitious people and recognise how it creates value for individuals and businesses.

Original Episodes:

Stephanie Nadi Olson - The Flexible Future of Work

Annie Auerbach - FLEX in Work and Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Matt Abrahams, a Lecturer in Organizational Behavior at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and an expert in communication.

With decades of experience as an educator, author, podcast host, and coach, Matt has helped countless presenters improve their communication skills, including those who have delivered IPO roadshows as well as Nobel Prize, TED, and World Economic Forum presentations.

In our conversation, we delve into various aspects of effective communication, focusing on the challenges and techniques of speaking spontaneously in high-pressure situations.

Talking Points:

• Anxiety management: Strategies for managing anxiety during public speaking and understanding its impact on communication effectiveness.
• The role of structure: The importance of structuring thoughts and messages to enhance clarity and audience engagement.
• Capturing and keeping audience attention: Techniques for engaging audiences, including physical involvement, mental engagement, and linguistic strategies.
• Non-verbal communication: Finding the right balance in physical movements during presentations to augment verbal communication without being distracting.
• Frameworks for spontaneous speaking: 'What, So What, Now What'
• Authenticity: Balancing structured communication with authenticity to effectively express your personality and viewpoints.
• Ongoing improvement: The importance of practice, reflection, and feedback in honing communication skills.

LINKS:

Matt's website

Matt's LinkedIn

Matt's book, Think Faster, Talk Smarter

Think Fast, Talk Smart podcast

Interested in learning more about these themes? Book Ollie to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two guests about why we changes in how we work are enabling us to network more easily, which means you need to start cultivating your community

First, Bearaby founder, Stephanie Nadi Olson, explains why building new relationships was critical to her establishing herself and her business in an industry in which she'd never previously worked.

Then you'll hear networks expert, Erica Young, discuss how to take an intentional approach to cultivating your community.

Original Episodes:

Kathrin Hamm - From World Bank Economist to Start-Up Founder

Erica Young - Cultivating Networks & Communities

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two guests about why we need to rethink how we learn and the connection between education and the future of work.

First, Semper Virens' General Partner, Allison Baum Gates, explains why lessons learned from online education have led to a flipped approach in the classroom and the workplace.

Then you'll hear Olympian and leadership expert, Cath Bishop, break down why autonomy and curiosity are so important to how children and adults learn.

Original Episodes:

Allison Baum Gates: Venture Capital & The Future of Work

Cath Bishop - The Long Win with 3x Olympian, Diplomat & Author

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this show, you'll hear from two guests about how failure really can lead to growth.

First, Reward Gateway founder, Glenn Elliott, explains why not everyone's honest about their experience in business and why the only way to innovate is to keep testing.

Then you'll hear how Justin Welsh treats content creation as a game, which you'll only improve in if you keep making and learning from your mistakes.

Original Episodes:

Glenn Elliott - Entrepreneurship & Employee Engagement

Justin Welsh - Audience-Led Solopreneurship

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Series 8 of the Future Work/Life podcast. Over the next 20 bite-sized episodes, I'll share my Top 20 lessons from my first 100 podcasts.

Lesson 1 focuses on why you should embrace being different as a leader, entrepreneur and creator.

The show features two clips from interviews with Christopher Lochhead, my first ever guest and currently, the only guest to have featured on the show twice.

Check out the two episodes here (and excuse the terrible sound quality from the first episode - I've learned a lot since then!).

Christopher Lochhead - Category Design & Niching Down

Christopher Lochhead - A New Category of Human

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to the Future Work/Life podcast on which we discuss big ideas about the future of work and life.

Today's episode is one of those that make doing this so worthwhile. My guest is one of my favourite authors, someone whose books and columns I've read for over 15 years and whose ideas have changed the way I think about the world.

Tim Harford is a journalist, author of multiple bestselling books, a TV host and the presenter of the chart-topping podcast, Cautionary Tales. You probably know him best as The Undercover Economist (after the title of his first book and longrunning Financial Times column).

We had a wonderful chat about all sorts of subjects, including curiosity, the importance of failing and how to use it to plan future projects and the future of the workplace. 

One last thing - I have launched my cohort-based Maven course, Accelerate your Career by Designing a Work/Life Flywheel. If you're up for interactive sessions with me, expert guests and other students with the same ambitious career goals as you, sign up or contact me for more info.

LINKS:

Tim's website

Tim's Twitter profile

Cautionary Tales podcast

Sinclair C5 car

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Sign up for me new Maven course: Accelerate your Career by Designing a Work/Life Flywheel

My book, Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, will be published on 17th January 2023. You can pre-order your copy, HERE.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm excited to bring you today's episode because it pulls together the various strands covered in the series so far, not least how to build a sustainable system for pivoting careers and harnessing the power of your ideas.

For a decade, today's guest, Justin Welsh, was a sales leader for high-growth tech businesses, helping to build two $50M+ ARR (annual recurring revenue) companies and raise over $300M in venture capital. But in 2019, he burned out. Deciding it was time to step away from his high-paying job, he created a plan to build an online audience, hypothesising that this would be the launchpad he needed to begin his new career as an entrepreneur.

3 years later, he has 230,000 people following him on LinkedIn and 115,000 on Twitter, earning $2.3 million in self-employed income. 

Justin's on a mission to become the "Diversified Entrepreneur", which he's achieving by generating revenue from multiple online courses, investing, advising and coaching online creators. He's also a lovely guy and was very generous with both his time and insights. We discussed a range of topics, including:

• Become a self-guided learner.
• The value of front-loading your week.
• The secret to building a harmonious work/life 
• Why human psychology is more important than tactics on social.
• Why systems are what you need when motivation & creativity falter.

LINKS:

Justin's LinkedIn profile

Justin's Twitter profile

Justin's website

Ollie's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life website

Future Work/Life newsletter

Sign up to register your interest for my new Maven cohort-based-course:  Design a Work/Life Flywheel: Accelerate Your Career Without Burning out

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer, author of multiple best-selling books and one of the world's leading experts on flow.

Steven Kotler founded the Flow Research Collective in 2019 and has written category-defining books like The Rise of Superman, Stealing Fire and The Art of the Impossible. His most recent work is fiction – a thriller set in the near future called, The Devil's Dictionary.

We had a fascinating conversation exploring:

• Steven's 20-year career as a journalist, writing for over 70 of the world's leading publications and becoming a New York Times bestselling author.
• The latest of the books he's written with Singularity University and X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis.
• Why Steven uses fiction to explore the solutions to some of the world's biggest problems.
• What the latest in flow research can teach us about reaching our potential.
• Making creativity a core value.

If you enjoy listening, check out the Future Work/Life newsletter and sign up for my new course on Maven, which uses some of the techniques we discuss to help transform you from burned-out leader to thought leader. You can sign up for updates and exclusive offers for the course by leaving your details on the form that I link to in the show notes.

LINKS:

Steven's website

Flow Research Collective

Ollie's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life website

Future Work/Life newsletter

Sign up to register your interest for my new Maven cohort-based-course -  Design a Work/Life Flywheel: Transform from burned-out leader to thought leader

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is George Bettany, co-founder of Sanctus, a mental health gym that supports thousands of people at businesses across the UK with coaching that blends personal and professional development with proactive mental wellbeing support.

We had a fantastic conversation covering a range of topics, not least why, despite the challenges presented by Covid and multiple lockdowns, one lasting positive has been more openness to discussing mental health in the workplace.

We also talked about:

-   How leaders should approach discussing mental wellbeing

-   The pros and cons of leading a mission-led business

-   Thinking about work like a high-performance athlete

-   Why entrepreneurship is a creative endeavour

-   The link between physical and mental health

-   The importance of community

LINKS:

Sanctus website

George's LinkedIn profile

Ollie's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life website

Future Work/Life newsletter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is one of the biggest writers on the internet. He’s written over 5,000 articles online, ghost-written for 300+ business leaders and was previously the most-read writer on the social platform Quora, which has 200 million users. 

Nicolas Cole, or Cole to his friends, has amassed hundreds of millions of views of his writing, written over a dozen books, and is co-author of the Category Pirates newsletter with former podcast guest Christopher Lochhead and Eddie Yoon.

As you’ll hear us discuss with his partner Dickie Bush, Cole’s also the co-founder of Ship 30 for 30, a cohort-based course designed to help anyone develop a digital writing habit.

We had a great conversation about a variety of topics, including:

-   Working out what to write

-   Getting over the fear of writing online

-   How to generate a steady flow of ideas

-   How to choose which platform to write on

-   Niching down and scaling using the internet

-   The difference between analogue & digital writing

-   The importance of structure & systems to good writing

-   Why work/life balance is a myth & what’s the alternative

If you’re interested in learning more about Ship 30 For 30, I’ve put a link below, which will give you a discount on the next cohort. You can also find the link in today’s Future Work/Life newsletter.

Finally, if you enjoy listening, make sure to subscribe to hear more conversations about writing and sharing ideas with people like Justin Welsh and Steven Kotler over the next few weeks.

LINKS:

Cole's Twitter profile

Cole's LinkedIn profile

Ship 30 for 30

Category Pirates newsletter

The Endless Idea Generator

Ollie's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest is an incredible example of why it's never too late to pivot careers. 

For 30 years, Jeff Kofman was a journalist, winning an Emmy award for his coverage of the Arab Spring.

During his journalism career, he:

• Travelled to over 50 countries
• Lived in South America for 10 years
• Was first on the scene during the Chilean miners' crisis
• Created a nature documentary on the Galapagos Islands
• Worked in multiple war zones, including during the Iraq war 

Then in 2014, he decided to leave TV journalism. While wondering what to do next, serendipity took hold and he spotted an opportunity to solve a problem he'd experienced throughout his life as a reporter. The insight led to him found Trint, the technology business of which he's now the CEO.

We had a fascinating chat during which, we discussed:

- Pivoting from a lifelong journalism career to start-up founder

- Spotting opportunities to solve a problem you experience yourself

- How working in war zones gives you perspective

- Why live TV teaches you not to bluff in business

- The importance of not second-guessing yourself as an entrepreneur

- Why telling stories is a valuable life skill

- The value of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone

- Finding ways to release stress and stay healthy

LINKS:

Trint's website

Jeff's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to a new series of the Future Work/Life podcast.

Today’s guest is Nick Bloom, a Stanford Economist who has been studying remote work for over two decades. He is the co-founder of www.wfhresearch.com, a platform that provides insights and best practices on working from home.

We had a fascinating chat covering everything from Gangsta Granny to the perilous future of trains in the UK and the US.

Talking points:

• Performance Management: Managing employee performance in remote settings, the role of HR, and the evolving landscape of performance reviews.
• Productivity: The latest data on productivity in remote and hybrid work environments and what it means for businesses and individuals.
• The Future of Remote Work: Insights into long-term trends, technological advancements, and cultural shifts shaping the future of work.
• Impact on Transit and Public Services: The implications of reduced office commuting on public transport systems and services.
• Public Sector Work: The impact of remote work on public sector employees, including challenges in performance evaluation.
• Workplace Culture and Burnout: Addressing the risks of burnout in the workplace and maintaining healthy work cultures.

LINKS:

Nick's LinkedIn

WFHResearch

Interested in learning more about these themes? Book Ollie to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Stephanie Nadi-Olson, founder of We Are Rosie.

After a decade in advertising sales, working for companies like Microsoft and Yahoo, Stephanie recognised an industry ripe for disruption.

When she returned to work following the birth of her first child, she experienced for herself the lack of options for people wanting or needing to work flexibly and independently. 

Her mission with We Are Rosie is to gather all of these people up, market them, and give them the career and life they want. 

Founded in 2017, the company preceded the changes wrought by Covid, and it’s fair to say that Stephanie and her team were perfectly positioned to provide the tools and the opportunities for thousands of people who decided it was the perfect time to switch to freelancing or going it alone. She’s won multiple awards for her work and is leading one of the fastest-growing organisations in marketing.

 We had a great conversation covering a range of topics, including:

-   The challenges of scaling a business with a young family

-   The importance of self-care for founders and leaders

-   Why community is key to the growth of We Are Rosie

-   Why flexibility is vital to the future of work

-   The growth of freelance and fractional roles

-   The skills required to manage and work remotely

-   Moving from corporate to start-up life

-   Why a 6-month runway makes sense when founding a company

-   How a shared mission galvanises a distributed team of freelancers

-   Why leaders sharing their ideas makes a difference to business growth

-   How to take the first steps into going it alone as a solo or entrepreneur

LINKS:

We Are Rosie website

Stephanie's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s show, we consider a question that I’ve always been intrigued by: are some people luckier than others?

My guest is Prof. Dr. Christian Busch, bestselling author of Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck. Christian is director of the CGA Global Economy Program at New York University (NYU), and also teaches at the London School of Economics (LSE). 

He’s also the co-founder of Sandbox Network, a global community of young innovators and Leaders on Purpose, an organisation convening leading CEOs. A busy man with loads of fascinating insights to share with us today.

We discuss:

-   The difference between blind luck and smart luck

-   Whether it’s possible to cultivate serendipity in your life

-   How techniques like the hook strategy make you luckier

-   The benefits of a serendipity mindset to your career and life

-   How to chuck serendipity bombs out into the world

-   The value of changing your routine and habits

-   How anticipating the unexpected makes people & businesses stronger

-   Approaching life as a rational optimist

If you enjoy listening to the show, make sure you subscribe to the Future Work/Life newsletter and look me up on LinkedIn, as I’ll explore the themes we discuss in more detail over the coming weeks.

LINKS:

Christian's LinkedIn profile

Connect the Dots: The Art & Science of Creating Good Luck

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's show, I speak to Tim Oldman, Founder and CEO of Leesman, the world leader in measuring and analysing employees' experiences in their places of work.

Leesman helps organisations understand and measure how employees are supported in their workplaces, which has led them to build the world's largest independent benchmark of employee workplace experience - be that in their offices, their homes, or the spaces in between.

Tim's also recently written a book, Why Workplace, which explores the trends Leesman sees emerging and how it relates to business growth. 

[It's also a really nicely designed product, by the way, which won't be a surprise to anyone who knows the company who really pay attention to aesthetics and experience.]

I loved this conversation with Tim, in which we covered a whole host of topics, including:

-   Why the starting point of workplace design is thinking about people, not the building

-   Why employees' homes are a great place to work – for certain tasks

-   How activity-based-working can help define how we create workspaces

-   How roles may change in the future depending on proximity to an office

-   How role complexity affects the time people spend in the office or remote

-   What other benefits come from working in person with others beyond collaboration

-   The importance of ‘why’ in the workplaces of the future

LINKS:

Leesman website

Tim's LinkedIn profile

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s show, I welcome Lynda Gratton, London Business School professor and author of several books, including her most recent, Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organisation and Make Hybrid Work for Everyone.

Lynda is one of the world’s most well-respected thought leaders on the future of work and has been named by Business Thinkers 50 as one of its’ top 15 business thinkers. She has a column for MIT Sloan and writes regularly for Harvard Business Review. Her ten books, including The 100-Year Life, have sold over a million copies globally. She serves as a Fellow of the World Economic Forum and is on the advisory board of several top global companies.

In short, she knows what she’s talking about, and we had a fascinating conversation covering a range of topics related to the future of work, including:

- How Covid shifted the dynamic from employers to employee driving change in the workplace

- The importance of networks to our identity and careers

- Why we need to take an ‘And/And’ rather ‘And/Or’ approach to work design

- Synchronous and asynchronous communications

- The skills required to thrive in the emerging world of work

- Why it’s so important to nurture creativity in our work and in orgs

- Why we’re now living multi-stage lives and what that means to our careers

- The changing role of communities in our work/lives

LINKS:

Redesigning Work: How to Transform Your Organisation and Make Hybrid Work for Everyone

Lynda's website

Lynda's LinkedIn profile

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest this week has had an exciting and unusual career journey.

After studying finance at university, Kathrin Hamm went to work for an NGO in Afghanistan, which led her to pursue a PhD in international development.

However, following four years of travelling the globe in her role as an Economist at the World Bank, she began developing sleep issues. 

Kathrin searched far and wide for a solution to her insomnia and eventually came across weighted medical blankets. Yes, they were ugly and hot, but they also helped her sleep consistently for the time in years. So, she did what any successful economist would do in her situation and quit her job to found a company creating and selling beautiful heavy blankets.

3.5 years later, Kathrin's business, Bearaby, has won awards and is now stocked in retailers across the United States.

I loved this chat with Kathrin. We talked about:

- Her early career and how following her curiosity has created a series of exciting opportunities. 

- The ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

- Why pivoting your career affects your sense of identity. 

- How to learn from failure.

- Why purpose for Kathrin means constantly learning

- The importance of taking time to rest and recover

- How to channel creativity in your work

- Why community is critical in your journey as an entrepreneur.

Thanks as ever for listening. If you enjoy this episode, make sure you subscribe and please leave a review - it really helps other people discover the show.

LINKS:

Bearaby website

Kathrin's LinkedIn profile

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

My book, Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, will be published on 17th January 2023.

Pre-order your copy, HERE.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's guest is Andy Ayim. He's an angel investor and founder of the Angel Investing School, which teaches professionals from all backgrounds how to begin investing in startups. Its mission is to get women and people of colour onto the cap tables of the world's best performing startups.

Andy grew up in Tottenham, which is just around the corner from me and after starting his career as a management consultant, he then moved to Silicon Valley in 2015 where he worked as a product manager in tech. When he returned to London he'd made the decision to follow his true purpose in life, which is reducing the barriers for founders from unexpected places and backgrounds to access funding and support.

His contribution was recognised in 2020 with an MBE awarded to him by the Queen for services to diversity in the technology industry.

Andy and I had never met before this recording, but he's a lovely and fascinating guy, and after about 10 minutes, I felt like we'd known each other for years!

We discussed how having kids changes your perspective on work and life and the importance of networks and community in providing support and opportunities to founders.

We also talked about how Andy helps the founders he works with access capital and build relationships with the people who can help on their journey. Plus, why he feels like this is his calling.

We have a fascinating conversation about how Andy journals, collecting insights in what he calls his tracker every day to help him record significant events and emotions. This provides him with his 'external memory' and provides an amazing resource for new ideas as he spots connections between patterns of behaviour and thinking.

I loved this chat with Andy, and I'm sure you will too.

I'll put links to Andy's LinkedIn profile and the Angel Investment School in the show notes, along with links to the Future Work/Life newsletter and website.

Just a reminder, my new book, Work/Life Flywheel is now available to pre-order so get your copy sorted early doors. It features my thoughts on the opportunities presented by changes at work and how we can take advantage of them - and Andy will, of course, be featuring.

LINKS:

Andy's LinkedIn profile

Angel Investing School

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're often told we should have clear goals for ourselves. In fact, as we've heard from guests like Marc Effron and Grace Lordan in the past, there is a connection between effective goal-setting and high performance. The thing is, many of us still really struggle with this idea, so I wanted to explore it some more.

And I figured if you want to dive deep into a subject, we may as well invite one of the world's leading experts onto the show. 

Today's guest is Emily Balcetis. She's an Associate Professor of Psychology at New York University, where she runs the Social Perception Action and Motivation research lab. Or SPAM for short. Emily and her team have pioneered the scientific investigation of behavioural science and motivation. Their work has uncovered previously unknown strategies that increase, sustain, and direct people's efforts to meet their goals.

She also explores these ideas in her excellent book, Clearer, Closer, Better, and with us today on the Future Work/Life podcast.

Our conversation starts by examining why materialising goals is crucial to achieving them before digging into the relative benefits of a narrow focus of attention and applying a wide bracket.

Along the way, we discuss how to motivate ourselves to pursue big, long-term goals and why, although vision boards can help us discover purpose, used in isolation, they can actually be detrimental to our success.

I love the way Emily reframes goal-setting – literally, as her work is all focused on the power of our vision. She gives some fantastic practical examples of visual tactics that can help us meet and exceed our goals, all of which help build a tool kit for success.

LINKS:

Emily's book

The Social Perception Action and Motivation research lab

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, my guest is Tom Haak. 

Tom runs the HR Trend Institute, which he founded in 2014, and he spends much of his time analysing trends in organisational design, people and workplace culture.

We had a really interesting discussion. You'll hear us talk about the increasing trend towards personalisation of work, why it's currently trailing behind the consumer industry and what we can do to change that in the future.

We also discuss the pros and cons of coaching in the workplace and who the best people are to do it. Finally, we explore the increasing role of technology within businesses and HR in particular. 

LINKS:

Tom's LinkedIn profile

HR Trend Institute

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode, you'll hear the incredible and inspiring story of the journalist and author, Laura Price.

After making the switch from financial journalism to writing about food, she's now a freelance writer and her new novel, Single Bald Female is out in the UK on the 14th of April.

Laura and I discussed how her cancer diagnosis in 2012 changed her perspective on life and work, inspiring her to go back to university to study a masters degree in magazine journalism. After initially working for The World's 50 Best Restaurants full-time, she made the decision to go it alone as a freelancer a few years ago. She explains how she's adapted to freelancing, including its various ups and downs and why she decided to dedicate so much time to writing her novel and now her new podcast, Life in Food.

Thanks as ever for listening to the show. If you enjoy it please make sure you're subscribed and also check out my newsletter on Substack (link below). 

LINKS:

Single Bald Female

Life in Food

Laura's Instagram

Laura's LinkedIn page

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest is Andrew, Associate Editor and Management Editor of the Financial Times. As well as writing the FT’s weekly column on management, Andrew is a previous winner of Business Commentator of the year and the Decade of Excellence award for sustained achievement in business and financial journalism. Most relevantly to you perhaps, he’s one of the writers I’ve referenced most in my weekly news digest in the Future Work/Life newsletter.

We discussed hybrid work and the future of workplace culture, and as the role of managers changes, we explore what skills will be necessary for the future. We also dig into whether we should be aspiring for happiness in our work, and somehow I end up comparing one stage of the flow state cycle to the importance of resting meat—apologies to any vegetarians out there. Lastly, I pick Andrew’s brains about what makes a good business book.

This is the final episode of this sixth series of the Future Work/Life podcast and what a great one it’s been. Thanks as ever for listening and a big thanks to Andrew for his time. I really enjoyed our chat and I’m sure you will too.

I'll be back with Season 7 in April, so make sure you subscribe to receive all future episodes in your podcast player of choice.

Thanks,

Ollie

LINKS:

Andrew's FT column

Andrew's Twitter

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BEST OF 2023 EPISODES:

Today's guest is Jennifer Moss, a workplace speaker and strategist.

Jen's also an award-winning author, journalist, national radio columnist, and the author of The Burnout Epidemic and Unlocking Happiness at Work.

She first appeared on the show in March 2021 and returns to discuss:

• Why burnout is far from cured
• Why businesses need to embrace change
• How to build a sustainable performance culture
• The changing role of community in work and life
• Using data to inform leadership and create great businesses

LINKS:

Jen's LinkedIn page

Jen's website

The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It

You can get in touch or find out more about me using one of the links below:

Book me to speak with your team.

Ollie's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life Newsletter

Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the work revolution and reimagine your career without fear, is out now. You can order your copy HERE (UK) or HERE (US). 

Here’s what Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Regret, Drive and When, has said about it:

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest today is Hung Lee. He’s the writer and curator of Recruiting Brainfood, a newsletter read by nearly 30,000 people interested in recruitment, talent, and HR, among other things. He also writes This Week In Recruitment and hosts a popular job board.

Hung has worked in recruitment for over twenty years and knows the market inside out. As well as dedicating time to saving his readers time – by finding the most relevant and interesting news for them each week – he’s a great example of how when you love a subject and spend time really thinking about it, you can create huge value for people while having fun along the way.

We talked about the future of offices, including whether businesses would ultimately all adopt some form of hybrid work or if there’s a possibility some will throw their hat in for fully office-based on remote future.

We also discussed why flexibility is a critical requirement for most candidates in the market and the essential skills we should ensure we’re proficient in if we want to compete in the job market over the next five to ten years.

Finally, we discuss the importance of becoming an expert in your niche and why successfully launching a digital content strategy for yourself, including growing a newsletter, you need to combine intrinsic motivation and passion with hard work and a thick skin.

LINKS:

Recruiting Brainfood

Hung's LinkedIn

Hung's Twitter

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like many others, I've been down the rabbit hole of crypto and web3 over the past year or two. I've met some fascinating people doing what I can only describe as some next level shit as they explore new ways of building communities, creating new business models and generally exploring what's possible with blockchain and tokenomics.

Today, I'm speaking to Pedro Oliveira (CEO) and Filipe Macedo (CMO), co-founders of Talent Protocol. They're old friends who, after pursuing separate careers since they left university, have come together over the last couple of years to create a start-up whose vision is to enable high potential talent to create an on-chain resume, launch their own token, and start building the support network they need to succeed.

We discuss what led the two of them to web3 and the genesis of the idea behind Talent Protocol, the role communities have played in supporting their careers, and why their vision is to create an interoperable and user-owned social network that values the quality of connections more than the number of followers. 

LINKS:

Talent Protocol website

Filipe's LinkedIn

Pedro's LinkedIn

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The theme of my new book, Work/Life Flywheel, which will be published in January 2023, is reimagining your career without fear. As well as the fantastic podcast interviews you've heard over the past few months, I've been deep into the research phase since the start of the year. I've spoken to all sorts of people from different industries and backgrounds. Everybody has a unique story to tell about the decisions they've made in their careers, and I've loved the process. 

In the book, I'll break down why building a Work/Life Flywheel is the most effective tool to set yourself up for sustainable success in the new world of work. It's on that latter point where we begin today's podcast, which is a bitesize conversation with Cleo Sham, Partner at Stride the UK-based early-stage venture capital firm. 

Before joining Stride in 2021, Cleo's illustrious career took her from McKinsey to Merrill Lynch before becoming General Manager of Uber in China. She scaled the business from 3000 to 4 million weekly trips and $700 million in revenue. She subsequently ran Uber's ridesharing business in EMEA before moving to Spotahome, a Series-B stage prop-tech marketplace. After two years there, she took a much-deserved sabbatical before jumping from operator to investor at Stride.

We had a great conversation in which we talked about managing stress and burnout in start-ups, the most exciting themes she sees in workforce tech, transferrable skills for people pivoting careers, and the importance of creativity for founders and investors.

LINKS:

Cleo's LinkedIn profile

Stride VC

Future Work/Life newsletter

Future Work/Life website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.