At one point we thought technology threatened jobs in fast food or retail but now we know that is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg.  AI will mean changes for all workers and  knowledge workers – the group that was once thought to be the most protected – may be at the top of the list. To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Anders Haugeto, founder of venture builder and product development studio Iterate. They talk about the disruptions ahead and as well about the way that AI will create opportunities and lead to positive changes, particularly for smaller organizations that might have had trouble competing in the past. Guest:  Anders Haugeto, founder of Iterate – a venture builder and product development studio in Oslo, Norway. Background as technologists, works today as early stage investor, startup mentor and advisor to corporations aiming to become more innovative. Last year Iterate teamed up with Magnus Carlsen, the greatest chess player of all time, and built the first version of his Fantasy Chess venture in just six weeks (using primarily humans and a dash of AI). An Optimist and Futurist, who continually tries to bridge the realities...

Behavioural science Guest: Adrian Camilleri Association Professor of Marketing University of Technology Sydney Business School Adrian Camilleri is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Business School. He uses experimental and survey research methods to understand, explain, and predict the cognitive processes underlying judgment and decision-making, and the application of this knowledge to environmental, financial, managerial, and consumption contexts. Links: Home https://hbr.org/2024/03/how-gamification-can-boost-employee-engagement

Flexible work goes in and out of fashion, with always loving it and organizations being somewhat more skeptical. To talk about the state of flexible work, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Cali Williams Yost, CEO and Founder of Flex+Strategy Group. They talk about Cali’s latest research on attitudes about flexible work and why more change is inevitably ahead  in the world of work. 

The gig economy gets a lot of negative press, but is it actually a bad thing? Although some think it is synonymous with income insecurity and bad management practices, in fact for many it is the way they choose to work. For professional workers who have in-demand skills, working on a gig basis rather than accepting one job can be more lucrative and give them more control of their time. For employers, using gig workers allows them the right workers to do the work they need rather than pay workers to be on staff and then assign them tasks. Good or bad though, the gig economy is here to stay and with the pandemic changing everything about the labor market, it is time to discuss what happens to it next. Guest: Marion McGovern CEO, Entrepreneur, Author  Marion McGovern is an expert in the dynamics of the independent talent market. She was the founder and CEO of M Squared Consulting, a gig economy firm before the term was even coined, and Collabrus, an employment compliance firm.  She sold both to an international conglomerate in 2005, and remained a board member through 2014.  She is the author of Thriving in the Gig...

We are getting close to a vaccine for Covid-19 and a return to something approaching normal in the workforce. But will normal look like for companies? And how should companies plan for the post-pandemic future of work? Our guest today is Cathryn Barnard a Partner at ‘Working the Future’ which is UK based consultancy firm helping businesses with organisational future-proofing.’ She has been working with companies to talk about how they should position themselves to be ready for the world post-the pandemic, and what steps they should be taking now in terms of workforce strategies. Her insights about the future of leadership  are from the front lines and provide plenty of food for thought about what companies need to think about when it comes to developing the skills to guide increasingly distributed workforces through change and complexity. Guest: Cathryn Barnard  Partner, Working the Future  Cat is a partner and co-founder at Working the Future, a management consultancy helping business leaders both make sense of the multiple trends changing how we work and build easy-to-implement future-proofing strategies. With a 25-year career in workforce planning, and experience of growing her own successful businesses, Cat recognises the criticality of human connection in accelerating team...

Are you afraid of unemployment or are you sure you are forever employable? As the economic outlook becomes increasingly uncertain, many people would put themselves in the first category but would certainly like to be in the second. Our guest today is Jeff Gothelf, author of ‘Forever Employable: How to Stop Looking for Work and Let Your Next Job Find You’ and he believes you can be, by cultivating your strengths, growing your personal brand and figuring out how to monetize your expertise. For some that might mean striking out on their own, but even if  you stay in a corporate environment you can also build on your strengths and let people know what they are, in the process going at least some of the way to increasing your stature and becoming forever employable. Guest:   Jeff Gothelf Author, Forever Employable  In Jeff Gothelf’s new book, Forever Employable, he applies the principles of continuous learning, improvement, experimentation and agility to professional development and career growth. Jeff shares his experience building his own consulting practice as well as providing tools and techniques to help you think through how to ensure that no matter what changes in your world you’re always confident...

We are re-imagining everything else, so maybe we need to imagine the office as well. The physical office we are familiar with has its roots in designs first imagined a hundred years ago, with a bit of a Dilbert-style reboot thrown in during the 1950s. Now, as we think about physical safety as well productivity, how should we re-design offices? Is there a way to physically work together and not spread any kinds of viruses? is booking desks any better than working in a cubicle? And does any of this make environmental sense? Join Linda and her guest,  workplace strategy expert Maciej Markowski as they talk about the possibilities for the post-pandemic office. Guest:  Maciej Markowski, Co-Founder and CRO of spaceOS, Maciej Markowski is the Co-foun danders CRO of spaceOS, a PropTech startup offering an end-to-end workspace operating system. Maciej is a veteran of the workplace strategy field, having worked for DEGW, CBRE, JLL and C&W – in his last role as a Partner, Head of Workplace Strategy CEE. spaceOS is being used in 11M sq ft of office space across 17 countries. Links:  Maciej’s Ted talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dt0Kn0Wr8E PropTech  website: https://spaceos.io/Maciej’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/mmworkplace spaceOS Twitter: https://twitter.com/spaceOS_tech

Are there things that animals can tell us about how to cope wth work stress and ultimately how to work better? Our guest today is a psychotherapist with a passion for horses, and she has found a way to marry the two together. As she points out in this episode, human beings are mammals, but they are mammals who do not do a good job of being attuned to their own needs and acting on them. At  a time when many of us feel that our lives are not completely in control, it may be time to take a cue from that and see if there are ways that we can express our needs in the workplace and ultimately get to a place where we are both happier and more productive as a result. Guest: Beth Killough Owner, The Circle Up Experience Beth Killough is the owner of The Circle Up Experience, a consulting firm which provides leadership training and culture development to corporations, universities, teacher groups, first responders, and non-profit organizations. Circle up has trained thousands of leaders all over the country and has designed long-term culture programs to transform workplace relationships. A life-long cowgirl, writer, professor, and a...

  Six months into the pandemic and with  more months to come, most workers are coping but not without difficulty. Whether it is stress about being home and isolated, or stress about going back to work and possibly getting sick, a lot of people are under strain, and there are indications that that strain could last for years after the pandemic is over. Is there a way to avoid the stress, or at least to  manage it? From asking for help when needed (not always an easy thing to do) to  dealing with the anxiety of physically going back into an office with the virus still lurking, workers today are facing challenges that would not have been dreamed of a year ago. Our guest today discusses all of it, along with strategies for companies and workers to cope as best they can both now and after the pandemic is done. Guest: Jo Yarker Dr Jo Yarker Director, Affinity Health at Work Birkbeck, University of London Jo is passionate about understanding what we can do to foster fulfilling, healthy and productive work, particularly under times of challenge. She is an award winning occupational psychologist, specialising work, health and well-being. Jo is...

It may have been a bit of a struggle to make it work, but the pandemic has forced many companies to keep their teams intact even when they are not under the same roof.  As workers have de-camped to far-flung places, perhaps permanently, we are struggling with what the future of cities will be, and what offices will look like in future too. But there is another questions that goes with that, and it is how we should compensate people. If your team members are in different places, with different costs of living, should they be compensated differently?  Facebook says ‘yes’ but does that mean everyone else should too? Guest: Ian White Founder and CEO/CTO of ChartHop Ian is the founder and CEO/CTO of ChartHop, the world’s first organizational management platform built to help companies plan for the future. Previously, he was the founder and CTO of Sailthru, the marketing cloud delivering billions of personalized newsletter emails per month for top publishers and e-commerce brands. Before that, Ian was the first head of engineering at Business Insider and built the publishing platform that powers today’s highest-trafficked business website.Through this, Ian felt the pains of planning and building a team — and wanted...

What does flexible work mean to you? It might mean leaving a few minutes early to catch your kid’s soccer game, or it might mean totally restructuring your job so you can travelfor a few months. In both cases, however, employers have traditionally been hesitant to open up the floodgates and embrace too much of it. Our work-lives have tended to be defined by barriers that set up when and where we work, and although there has been some fraying around the edges, for decades there has been reluctance to change too much. Now,with teh pandemic, all of the rules are being re-thought, and to some extent we are designing a new workplace. As that happens, is it now time for workers to set the boundaries? How do you resist having work and leisure blurred into one, and is that even a desirable outcome? With everything up for grabs, it is a good time for a discussion on what ‘flexible’ should really mean and how we can make it work best from both sides of the table.   Guest:  Cali Williams Yost CEO and Founder Flex+Strategy Group A visionary workplace futurist, strategist, author, and keynote speaker, Yost is the Founder...

The school year is starting and the pandemic is not ending  and Generation Z will have to deal with that. In fact, they will probably have to deal with the impact of the pandemic for years as the effects of it shape the way that they approach their lives and careers. But never mind the future: right now their parents are trying to figure out how to configure their own work with the educational needs of their children. It is a work in progress. Our guest today is Rebecca Holmes, who is the President of the Colorado Educaiton Initiative. Even before the pandemic she led that states’ work on finding areas for innovation aimed at preparing students for learning, work, and life in the 21st century. She has an interesting background – Before had her current job, she was originally a middle school teacher, and She also has been a program officer, committee member and Trustee with several philanthropic foundations as well as being a s private sector Consultant on change management and talent strategies and she is parent. So she has a lot of perspective, and she is going to give us her views on what this reimagined education...

It is something you hear about a lot  – the need to be innovative. We hear that innovation is the key to economic growth, or the companies need to encourage innovation – but what does that really mean?  Our guest on today’s episode is Anders Haugeto who is the founder of a company called Iterate which is a tech company  whose main purpose it to become more innovative. He believes there are actionable things you can do to be more innovative, and that by doing them you can improve your own company’s productivity as well as the economy as a whole. Guest: Anders Haugeto. Founder of Iterate Anders Haugeto is the Founder of Iterate,  a tech company that builds tech companies. His background is as a software engineer and he is still an active coder and technologist. As well as being passionate about helping technologists become entrepreneurs, Anders is a decent home chef who hand brews coffee and plays the violin. Links: Here is the link to Iterate, Anders’ company’s website https://www.iterate.no/ if you would like to follow him on Twitter, here is the link https://twitter.com/hauge2 And here is the link to his articles from Medium https://medium.com/@hauge2

The pandemic has changed many things, among them the state of mental health in the workplace. Things were not perfect before the pandemic, there were definitely stresses and people under pressure, but lockdowns and having to manage a different way definitely took their toll. We are now at a different point but we are still struggling to figure out the best ways to work and that is creating its kinds of stress – and people are still struggling. To talk about how mental health has changed over the past years, Linda Nazareth s joined on this episode by  Bernie Wong, Principal and Senior Manager at Mind Share Partners which is a non-profit that is focussed on workplace mental health. Mindshare has done surveys on how workplace mental health has changed over the past few years and their findings are food for thought. Guest  Bernie Wong Principal and Senior Manager at Mind Share Partners Bernie Wong, MHS, is a founding team member and Senior Manager of Insights and Principal at Mind Share Partners, a national nonprofit changing the culture of workplace mental health so both employees and organizations can thrive. Through movement building, custom training, and strategic advising, it normalizes mental...

  The Fourth Industrial Revolution is in full swing and according to the World Economic Forum,  the transformation it imposes on us will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. For business to weather this revolution and come out on the right side of it will take the right leadership, particularly as this revolution intersects with the pandemic. To talk about how that can happen, we are joined on this episode by Jeffrey Russell , who is the President of Accenture Canada. We talk about what leaders should be thinking about when it comes to the robot revolution, which industries are making the best progress in transitioning into it, how to find the right talent to power it and much more.   Guest: Jeffrey Russell is President of Accenture Canada and is responsible for all aspects of Accenture’s business in Canada. Previously, Jeffrey was the Chief Executive for Accenture’s Products business in North America. He was responsible for all facets of this multi-billion business, working closely with clients and leaders, supporting them to grow their impact and value to underpin the aspirations and growth strategies across Accenture’s Products industries in Hospitality and Travel, Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods, Life Sciences and...

Climate change it was an issue before the pandemic, and it will be an issue when the pandemic is over.More than that, the issue of climate change will be a long term issue that impacts the future of work.  Between the ways that we operate our factories and organizations to the kind of careers that the next generation follows, so many of our economic decisions that we make will be linked to issues around climate change, and in turn they will impact our work-lives for decades to come. To delve into the subject of climate change and the future of work, we are joined on this episode by Keith Stewart, Senior Energy Strategist with Greenpeace Canada. He talks about how the pandemic may impact climate change, the issues he sees for industries including energy, and what the implications are for those caught in the midst of transition. Guest: Keith Stewart is a senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada and part-time instructor at the University of Toronto. He has a Ph.D. in political science from York University and has worked as a climate policy researcher and advocate for 19 years. He is the co-author of the book Hydro: The Decline and Fall...

When we think about the words that go with ‘leadership’, ‘heart’ is rarely among them but perhaps it should be. The pandemic has shown us that business as usual is no longer going to get the job done, and as well we are all acutely aware that we are indeed fighting a global pandemic together, This may well be the time to think more about compassion and heart, not just because of any moral principles but because leading from the heart may well be the most effective way to get the job done. Our guest today is Mark C. Crowley, who says that his mission is to change how we lead people in the workplace. Known for his book Lead from the Heart and his podcast of the same name, Mark talks to us about the life circumstances that led him to manage the way he did during his long career and why he believes the norms in management need to be changed up as we head for the future of work.   Guest:  Mark C. Crowley is the author of “Lead From The Heart: Transformational Leadership For The 21st Century,” and his mission is to fundamentally change how we...

Why choose one career when you can do more than one at the same time? In these days of gig jobs and the need to pivot as the economy change, maybe we should thinking hard about ‘portfolio careers’ or doing several things at the same time. That could happen in the context of one organization where one worker can wear many different hats, or it could be that more of us will do one multiple things at once. It is what used to be called moonlighting kicked up a notch, with an assist from technology and the realization that it is probably a good thing to diversify your career as much as well as your stock portfolio. Our first guest today, Scott Snyder of Heidrick Consultng, looks at the way that the labor market is changing overall and shares his insights of how portfolio careers can be part of the new mix. Then, our second guest, Jackie Wong, talks about how he juggles two very different careers, one as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co  and the other as the man the Wall Street Journal calls ‘the most trusted voice in figure skating’. Guests:  Scott Snyder  Scott Snyder is...

What does a Navy fighter pilot have in common with leading during the pandemic? A lot, at least according to our guest today.  Communicating wel, reinforcing core values, remembering to listen- these are all things that leaders in the navy are trained to do, and they are things that can serve leaders well as they navigate un-chartered territory now.  Join us as Jeff McLean, former fighter pilot turned consultant at ghSMART talks about why the lessons from his first career are serving him well in his second and why your organization can learn from them as well. Guest: Jeff McLean is a Principal at ghSMART. He advises public and private company boards, CEOs, and investors on their most crucial leadership challenges including executive team selection and development, CEO succession, M&A diligence, and organizational change initiatives. Drawing on his combined experiences as a leader and advisor to national leaders, Jeff brings thoughtful and pragmatic insight to drive business performance. Prior to joining ghSMART, Jeff was Director of Strategic Initiatives and Asset Management for a large privately-held family office with operating businesses in multiple industries. Previously, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor and White House Fellow in the White House Office...

We are all used to interacting with one another in person, at the office, at meetings, just casually.  Particularly when it is a business context, we tend to think about how we should present ourselves and we know all about the firm handshake (now a thing of the past) and looking attentive at meetings. Now though we are increasingly interacting by video conference and the rules for that are very different. Being on video – whether we are talking about Zoom, or Microsoft Teams or anything else – is really like being on TV and to be on TV you need to think about specific things like how present, but also about lighting like how you look even. If that sounds superficial well maybe it is  but the reality is that is you are using technology to communicate you have to think differently. To talk about all of that, today we are  joined by Nick Dalley who is an expert in communicating and how to coach people to do it well. He talks to us about communicating in general, giving presentations and being effective, but as well he talks to us about the world of video conferencing and how we...

Freelance work something of a controversial workforce trend. To some, it is the dreaded gig economy, those who are forced to work on contracts or driving ride shares because they cannot find that holy grail, the full-time job. To others though, it represents freedom, the ability to have some control over their professional lives and maybe even to earn more money while they are doing it. To be sure there is some of the first out there, but we should not lose sight of the fact that it is the second part that is growing and becoming an economic force. Certainly that was true before the pandemic started.  According to a survey from the platform Upwork.com, as of 2019 there were as many freelancers in the U.S. who saw being freelance as a long term choice as there were those who saw it as temporary.  By their count 35% of working adults in the U.S. freelanced in some way, possibly as a way to augment income, possibly full time. Of course, that was last year, when the unemployment rate in the U.S. and in Canada and in many other countries was at a generational low. People were choosing to freelance, but...

The pandemic has forced a giant-scale experiment in online education, and by many accounts it is going very poorly. From first graders to college students, everyone seems to be frustrated at having to take the classroom experience to a crowded space in the kitchen, and many are clamouring to get back to the in-school experience. But will it ever happen? After all, the experiment was a poorly planned one, and perhaps should not be seen as the benchmark of what online education, something that was being rolled-out in force pre-pandemic, is likely to look like over the long term. Our guest on this episode is economist Robert Frank, who is a professor at Cornell University. He argues that when it comes to higher education,  economic forces are too powerful for virtual instruction to go away after the pandemic. After all, would it not be better to see a video of a superstar instructor give a lecture than sit in a classroom and hear a mediocre one present the same material? In-class seminars could then be presented by teaching assistants who could answer questions and facilitate discussion. That has implications for students of course, but it has implications for professors as well....

  Remote work is having a minute, or rather a series of them.  Some companies have used it for years, some have been adamantly against it, but both kinds are being forced into it at the moment. As the pandemic forces millions to figure out some kind of home office set up (the kitchen table works in a pinch), we are in the midst of a great work-at-home experiment. Maybe it will be a giant success, or maybe it will make everyone want to get back to their cubicle as soon as possible. More likely, the experiment will hasten a messy reality, one in which companies play with hybrid models of who works in a company workspace and who works in a space of their choosing. In this episode, we are joined by two experts on different parts of remote working. Adam Hickman is Content Manager for Gallup, as well as a remote worker himself. He talks to us about what Gallup is seeing in terms of employer trends to working this way, as well as his views of where remote working will go in future. Our second guest, Justin Thouin, is the Co-founder and CEO of a company called...

Many sectors have been impacted by the pandemic, but none more completely than the travel sector. One week is was functioning at full capacity, and then the next the lights had completely gone out, or so it seems. When they go back on, they will shine on a completely different sector, one is which work roles have changed quite dramatically. To get some perspective on where travel and its workers are headed, in this episode we talk to two guests with slightly different vantage points. Will Seccombe is President of Connect Travel, a company that handles Event Market for B2B Businesses in the travel sector. He actually plans to do his next event in August 2020, albeit it will be one that involves N95 masks and lots of sunshine to kill germs. When he thinks of the workers in the sector, he foresees different roles for them, perhaps with staggered hours. He is bullish though, and thinks that travel will always be an important sector. Shashank Nigam is President of Simpiflying, a marketing company for the airline industry. He does not think airlines are done, but he does think they are done doing business as usual. In his view, the...

Gen Z is a unique generation, perhaps more likely to be dealing with stress and anxiety – or perhaps just more likely to talk about it. On this episode, Dr. Sarah Adler CEO/Founder of Wave Life, Inc. joins Linda Nazareth to talk about how organizations can  support the mental health of their Gen Z workers and why that will ultimately benefit all sides. Guest Dr. Sarah Adler is CEO/Founder of Wave Life, Inc, a mental health platform that pairs affordable and quality coaching with engaging and immersive skill-building for Gen Z. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and former hedge fund analyst obsessed with improving access to high-quality mental healthcare. Dr. Adler is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University. She sits on the advisory board of Redesign Health, and the Board of Directors of mpathic, using AI to improve empathic communication at scale. Previously, Sarah was CCO at a national behavioral health start-up, and Founding partner of Peninsula Behavioral Health, a group practice providing evidence-based-care to the San Francisco Bay Area. Links: Sarah’s LinkedIn Wave’s LinkedIn Wave’s Website

As the labor market goes through an evolution that started long before the pandemic, our communities are being transformed as well. In many cases that means good things, as when successful companies hire and prosperity increases. Other times there are less-positive spin-offs, with some people being left out of the economic party.  In the best cases, business works together with educational institutions and community partners to shape the communities they operate in, and in the process hopefully develop the workers they will want in the future. An excellent example of a private- public innovation partnership comes from Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, an area best known as one of Canada’s tech hotspots. As in other communities, such as Silicon Valley, companies there have the usual concerns about how to raise money and the find talent to grow. However, more so than in many other places, there has been a focus on the long view, and on creating a community that will work for all stakeholders. Simon Chan is Vice-President, Talent, Academy and the Future of Work at Communitech, which is a private-public innovation hub in Kitchener Waterloo, while Kathryn Kitchen is the Head of HR for Manulife Canada. They join us on this...

  All of a sudden, front line workers are being treated as the heroes of this pandemic and that is only fair. Bus drivers, grocery workers, cleaners, meat plant employees – all of these people jobs that need doing and they put themselves at risk in the process. In acknowledgement of that, many employers are boosting their pay and bonuses in a bid to reward them for what they are doing and indeed to make sure they stay on the job. Longer term, however, the result of the pandemic may be that these same workers do not get paid at all, but rather get pink slips. After all, even before the pandemic there was a push to use automation more effectively and perhaps to replace some job functions in the process. That surely could have some huge positives, in that it could safeguard human beings from tasks that are likely to put them in danger. The downside of this, however, could be a spike in unemployment and a long-term fall in wages for the replaced workers. To talk about where we are in the automation process, on this episode of Work and the Future we are joined by two guests...

As a society, we tend to both love and hate our arts sector. Love them, because we do value the contributions that music and visual arts and theater and film make to our lives particularly now. In the midst of this pandemic, how many lives have been brightened, even if for a minute, by watching Andrea Bocelli perform at the Duomo in Milan on Easter Sunday, or by seeing an impromptu concert by a fiddler on Twitter? But there is clearly some there as well, because so much of the sector operates on a shoestring, perilously close to bankruptcy, even when the economy is robust.  Not that it is not an economic contributor. According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the National Endowment for the Arts, the arts contribute $763 to the U.S. economy, more than agriculture, transportation or warehousing. In Canada, Statistics Canada estimates that the direct economic impact of culture products was $53.1 billion in Canada in 2017, which is about 2.7 per cent of overall GDP. About 18.8 million jobs in the country, of 3.5 per cent of the total, are in arts. Now, of course the overall economy is anything but robust and the...

Ready or not, the world of work is changing. And, whoever you are, you need to figure out your place in the future of work. We need to re-imagine everything. Who are the workers that will be in demand in the future? Will robots take our jobs or become our trusted co-workers? Should companies let workers work from home or will that guarantee an all-day frenzy of watching Netflix? Oh, and will jobs even exist in future? My name is Linda Nazareth and by profession I am an economist…through my career have works banks and government and media, but now I write and speak about the future of work…I talk to organizations about how to get ready for it. There is so much to talk about….and with the Work and the Future podcast, I want to bring more people into the conversation. Work is how we earn a living. It is sometimes how we forge an identify. It is how we interact with each other. How we work in the future will define our future. Join me for the Work and the Future podcast and let’s talk about what comes next.    

What can an anthropologist tell us about the future of work? A lot as it happens, since they  know a lot about  societies and cultures, which means that their observations about the workplace can help us understand how things are evolving and what might come next. Listen as Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Lizbet Simmons, Senior Anthropologist and Futurist with Cisco as they talk about what things look like from an anthropological perspective and how to get ready for the future. Guest: Lizbet Simmons Senior Anthropologist and Futurist Cisco https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizbet-simmons-phd-b5a89b84/ Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizbet-simmons-phd-b5a89b84/ https://newsroom.cisco.com/c/r/newsroom/en/us/a/y2022/m04/an-anthropologist-eye-on-the-future-of-work.html

The word ‘networking’ may seem a bit outdated, but perhaps it is time to update its meaning. To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Andres Lares, Managing Partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute. They cover what networking means today and why and how it is something that everyone needs to be doing it in a work context. Guest:  Andres is the Managing Partner at SNI, where he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the global training and consulting firm. He previously served the role of Chief Innovation Officer until 2017.  His multi-disciplinary and lingual skills broaden SNI’s ability to effectively teach and consult in a wide range of industries, languages, and cultures. Andres’ expertise is in deal coaching live negotiations, and has focused on sports clients such as the San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns, Milwaukee Brewers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Brooklyn Nets. He also works in several capacities with clients across a wide range of industries – from developing online content to facilitating programs in Real Estate (Lennar), Advisory (PWC, Grant Thornton), Media (ESPN, Roku, Hearst), Banking (M&T Bank), Aerospace (Boeing, Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney), Insurance (Great American Insurance), and Pharmaceutical (Novo Nordisk, Roche), to name...

Workers want more than money when they accept a job and typical looking for things like a manageable commute and a good team to work with as well. Increasingly, they are also interested in working for mission-oriented companies, wanting to work for organizations that are making a difference. But are they trading things, like money, for that? And if so, should they be? To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Insiya Hussain,  Assistant Professor of Management at McCombs Business School, University of Texas, Austin. They discuss her research around mission-oriented companies and what workers should be considering as they weigh the monetary and non-monetary benefits of work. Guest: Insiya Hussain is an Assistant Professor of Management. Her research focuses on understanding how employees can overcome the challenges of speaking up at work to share their ideas and opinions, advocate social issues, and negotiate for personal rewards. Insiya’s research has been published in leading academic journals including Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and Journal of Applied Psychology. Her work has also been featured in practitioner outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Bloomberg, and Harvard Business Review. She is a member of the Editorial Review...

At a time when the world of work is more stressful than ever, how can leaders avoid burning out? To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Lisa Earle McLeod and Elizabeth Lotardo, authors of the book Selling with Noble Purpose. The discuss the ways that  leaders can and should be purpose-driven, but do it in a way that will ultimately be a good thing for all parties involved. GUESTS: Lisa Earle McLeod is a sales strategist and professional speaker whose clients include Salesforce, Kraft Heinz, and Roche. She is the author of Selling with Noble Purpose and an expert in sales transformation. Learn more about Lisa’s work here. Elizabeth Lotardo is a researcher and consultant who helps organizations drive revenue and engagement. She is the co-author of Selling with Noble Purpose and holds a master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Connect with Elizabeth here. LINKS: https://www.wiley.com/en-sg/Selling+With+Noble+Purpose%3A+How+to+Drive+Revenue+and+Do+Work+That+Makes+You+Proud%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781119700890#:~:text=Using%20real%2Dworld%20data%2C%20compelling,on%20internal%20targets%20and%20quotas.  

Artfiicial intelligence is changing the world, and it will inevitably change the world of work – but what will those changes look like? To tackle this huge topic, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Jason Brommet, Head of Modern Work and Surface at Microsoft.  They discuss just how disruptive AI might be, and why it is time for both individuals and organizations to be ahead of the changes. Guest Links Work Trend Index | Will AI Fix Work? (microsoft.com)

Organizations talk about the need to have diverse organizations and they may be sincere about that, but actually making that happen can be difficult to do. Designing the right programs is not easy and getting people on board can be even harder. To talk about how organizations can successfully walk the talk on diversity, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Eddy Ng.  Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business, Smith School of Business at Queens University. Guest: Eddy Ng https://smith.queensu.ca/faculty_and_research/faculty_list/ng-eddy.php Eddy Ng is the Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University. His research focuses on managing diversity for organizational competitiveness, the future of work, and managing across generations. His work has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants. He has edited and published 7 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. According to a 2020 Stanford study, he is identified in the top 2% of highly cited scientists in Economics & Business. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Co-Editor of Personnel Review. He is currently the Chair-Elect for the Gender and Diversity in Organizations division of the Academy of Management....

How does an organization get ready for the future and build a workforce that is ready for it when technology is changing so quickly? To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by David Morgenstern, President of Accenture Canada. They talk about the challenges of planning and training and why the latter might have to start with the C-Suite. Guest: David Morgenstern is President of Accenture Canada where he supports leaders in business and government to embrace change, transform their organizations, and become more resilient for the future, through the combination of technology and human ingenuity. David leads Accenture’s Canadian workforce committed to improving how Canadians work and live. With services in advisory, technology and outsourcing, Accenture brings technology-enabled transformation to clients in the private and public sectors, with AI, cloud, data, and security at the core of much of the business. For more than 25 years, David has held progressive leadership roles in the technology services sector, serving in both Asia and in Canada, and joined Accenture in 2010. His time at Accenture has included senior roles in Accenture Operations, focusing on supply chain and procurement services, before leading Accenture’s Products & Communications client groups in Canada....

How can leaders develop the mental strength needed in today’s work environment? To talk about that Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by  Scott Mautz,  author of the book  The Mentally Strong Leader. Guest SCOTT MAUTZ, author of THE MENTALLY STRONG LEADER, is the founder and CEO of Profound Performance™, a keynote, training, and coaching company. Mautz is a former Procter & Gamble executive who successfully ran four of the company’s largest multi-billion dollar businesses, he is also the multi award-winning author of Leading from the Middle, Find the Fire, and Make It Matter. Mautz has been named a “CEO Thought-leader” by The Chief Executives Guild and a “Top 50 Leadership Innovator” by Inc.com, He is faculty on reserve at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business for Executive Education and is a top instructor at LinkedIn Learning. He lives in San Diego. Links Website: scottmautz.com  Go to scottmautz.com/mentallystronggift to download a free 60-page PDF that contains the Mental Strength Self-Assessment and prompts to help you get the most out of the book, “The Mentally Strong Leader: Build the Habits to Productively Regulate Your Emotions, Thoughts, and Behaviors”  

Workers want a certain amount of autonomy at work, but leaders have always been wary about providing it.  Finding the right balance is now more important than ever, and also more difficult than ever given that many workers are now working remotely. To talk about how much autonomy is appropriate at work and why leaders should provide it, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Dr. Julian Barling, Professor of Organiztional Behavior and Bordon Chair of Leadership at the Smith School of Business at Queens University and the author of the book Brave New Workplace. Guest: Dr. Julian Barling, Professor of Organiztional Behavior and Bordon Chair of Leadership at the Smith School of Business at Queens University. Dr. Julian Barling is the Borden Chair of Leadership and Stephen Gyimah Distinguished University Professor at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University. He is an authority on transformational leadership and was named one of the 10 most influential leadership researchers in the world in one analysis. Julian has received numerous awards for teaching and research. In 2002, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and received the National Post’s “Leaders in Business Education” award. Julian is an elected fellow of several...

Part of succeeding at work is building a strong brand and the kind of ‘social capital’ that has people thinking about you when projects and opportunities come up. That is hard enough if you are at the office every day, but a lot more difficult if you work remotely and are in a sense invisible. To talk about how to get around that and build social capital even if you work remotely, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Aliza Licht, founder of Leave Your Mark and  the author of the book On Brand: Shape Your Narrative, Share Your Vision, Shift Their Perception. Guest: ALIZA LICHT is an award-winning marketer, bestselling author, podcaster, personal branding expert, and the founder of LEAVE YOUR MARK, a multimedia brand and consultancy. She advises businesses and mentors individuals on brand building and career development. Licht leverages over two decades of expertise in marketing, communications, and digital strategy in the fashion industry. She was formerly known as the anonymous social media phenomenon DKNY PR GIRL, an award-winning personality and pioneer fashion influencer with over 1.5M fans worldwide. Her reveal generated over 230M media impressions. Licht’s first book, Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It...

Anxiety is everywhere, including in the workplace – but can it be used in a positive way? Better yet, are there ways that leaders and organizations can create an environment where anxiety is reduced if not eliminated? To talk about that Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Morra Aarons-Melly,  author of the book The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower.

On this 100th episode of the podcast, Linda Nazareth is joined by Carolyn Byer, Human Resources Lead at Microsoft Canada who was one of the guests early in the pandemic lockdowns. More than two years later, Linda and Carolyn reflect on how organizations had to deal with some new realities, what has been learned over this period of disruption and what has changed particularly for women and for younger generations. Guest As Human Resources Lead for Canada, Carolyn works closely with President Chris Barry and the Leadership Team to develop and execute the people strategy for Microsoft Canada. A strong business leader with proven experience in the c-suite and across all levels of management, Carolyn is a champion of Microsoft’s “learn it all” and growth mindset” tenets and is committed to continuing to grow Microsoft’s diverse and inclusive workforce. Prior to joining Microsoft, Carolyn served in a variety of HR disciplines globally at IBM for more than 17 years. She has a Bachelor of Psychology from University of Guelph and a Masters in Human Resources from Rutgers University. Outside of work, Carolyn focuses on her family. She enjoys conversing with others and expanding her perspectives and can typically be found...

In the future will we all wear headsets and communicate through avatars with our work colleagues? The metaverse is changing much of how we communicate and that has huge implications for the world of work. To talk about the implications Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Mark Purdy, an independent economics and technology advisor based in London who works with companies to get ready for the future of work, including work in the metaverse. Guest: Mark Purdy is an internationally recognized thought leader and advisor on issues at the intersection of economics, technology and business. He has over 27 years’ experience as an economist in business and government, including twenty years as chief economist at one of the world’s largest technology consultancy companies. He is Managing Director of Purdy & Associates, an independent consultancy focusing on economic and technology policy issues. He is also a senior advisor to several economics and technology analyst companies. His recent work has focused on topics such as the future of work in the metaverse, ESG, contactless commerce, AI-powered discovery, digital twins, digital trade, the rise of techno-nationalism, the economics of supercomputing, and the issues of bias and quality in AI systems. He has...

If you have a job and you have kids, you know that one impacts the other.  Logistics is part of it, but there is more as well. Our work impacts our life outside work, and our families, perhaps  more than we think. To discuss the relationship between work and families,  Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by  Maureeen Perry-Jenkins, Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the author of the book Work Matters. They talk about the ways that work impacts families and about what organizations  can do to make sure the impacts are not negative on either side. Guest: Links:  

Getting worker communication right is difficult, but it is at the crux of running an effective organization and the technology that is supposed to help sometimes seems to make things worse. To talk about effective ways to use technology to improve communication, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Nicole Alvino, Founder and CEO  at workforce communications platform Firstup. Guest: Nicole Alvino is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Firstup, the world’s first intelligent communication platform – the SaaS platform used by 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies to connect with their people, design and deliver personalized communications, and gain engagement insights throughout the employee journey. She is proud that companies like Amazon, Tesco, Ford, and Hilton use Firstup every day to connect and meaningfully engage with their people and help leaders better understand their workforce. Prior to co-founding SocialChorus (now Firstup), she was the Founder and CEO of Dermalounge and a pioneer in using new technologies to engage employees. Links: Home  

We all know what ‘ imposter syndrome’ is as it relates to the workplace – the idea that you do not really belong, but are faking it as you are surrounded by people more competent than you. Then again, maybe that’s a generational thing and maybe Gen Z will be the first generation that does not feel that way. That is the view of Corey Seemiller, a Gen Z expert and Professor at Wright State University. She joins Linda Nazareth on this episode to talk about why Gen Z’s upbringing and experiences are giving them a different, more confident view of work and what that means for the future. Guest: Dr. Corey Seemiller Dr. Corey Seemiller is a professor in the Department of Leadership Studies in Education and Organizations at Wright State University. She is the author of The Student Leadership Competencies Guidebook, a prominent resource for developing youth and college student leadership programs. Dr. Seemiller is also the co-author of several articles as well as four books on Generation Z, including Generation Z: A Century in the Making, Generation Z Goes to College, Generation Z Leads, and Generation Z Learns. She also co-authored the Gen Z Voices on Voting...

We all want to be productive, get more done, accomplish more – but it is kind of ironic that the more we think about those things the more anxious we get and the less productive we get. If we want to be productive, we probably should focus on being calm but that is easier said than done. To talk about how we can manage that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Chris Bailey,  author of the book How to Calm Your Mind: Finding Presence and Productivity in Anxious Times. Linda and Chris discuss the issues around finding calm in what are indeed anxious times in the workplace and the practical ways to do that. Guest: Chris Bailey is an author and lecturer who explores the science behind living a deeper, more intentional life. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject and has garnered coverage in media as diverse as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, HuffPost, New York magazine, Harvard Business Review, TED, Fast Company, and Lifehacker. The bestselling author of How to Calm Your Mind, The Productivity Project, and Hyperfocus, Bailey’s books have been published in thirty-five languages. He lives in Ottawa, Canada....

Workers are dealing with all kinds of traumas at present, both in their personal and in their professional lives. To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by by Katharine Manning, author of The Empathetic Workplace: Five Steps to a Compassionate, Calm and Competent Response to Trauma on the Job.  They talk about  what can be done to help workers, and more importantly, why it needs to be done, the reality being that if you do not help people deal with trauma you pay the price in terms of productivity and absenteeism and unhappy workers. Guest:  Katharine Manning is the President of Blackbird DC, which provides training and consultation on empathy at work. She is the author of The Empathetic Workplace: Five Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job, and teaches at American University and in the Master’s in Trauma-Informed Leadership Program at Dominican University. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Thrive Global, and CEOWorld. She has worked on issues of trauma and victimization for more than 25 years, including 15 years at the Justice Department, where she was a Senior Attorney Advisor consulting on victim issues in cases like the...

Is Work Life balance a myth? On this episode, Linda Nazareth is joined by Dan Pontefract, author of the book Work Life Bloom. Dan believes that we need to move to  ‘work life bloom’ rather than ‘work life balance’ and he has some ideas about  what organizations should be doing to make that a reality. Guest: Dan Pontefract is a renowned leadership strategist, award-winning author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience helping organizations and leaders improve performance, productivity, and overall engagement. He has presented at four TED events and earned multiple industry awards including Thinkers50 Radar, HR Weekly’s 100 Most Influential People in HR, PeopleHum’s Top 200 Thought Leaders to Follow, and Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers. Dan has written five best-selling books and he also writes for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. Links: Home

A different episode this week as Work and the Future Host Linda Nazareth is interviewed about her just-released book Working it Out: Getting Ready for the Redesigned World of Work.  Special guest Bridgett Anderson, President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, talks to Linda about the forces that are changing the economy and the ways that they are shifting the future of work. Guest: Bridgitte Anderson Bridgitte Anderson is the President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade – Western Canada’s most active and influential business association, known for influencing decision-makers, and educating, connecting with, and engaging our communities. Bridgitte is the first woman to lead the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade in its 136-year history. She is committed to building a more competitive and sustainable economy while evolving the Board’s programs to foster a more diverse and inclusive region. Her career has focused on public policy, business, and journalism. Prior to Bridgitte’s current role, she was the Vancouver General Manager for Edelman, a global public relations firm advising clients on crisis communication, media strategy, and government and stakeholder relations.  Following a 20-year career in journalism, Bridgitte also served as Press Secretary to BC Premier...

Working and making decisions go hand in hand.  Every day we make dozens of decisions some thoughtful and good but others perhaps clouded by emotions or by haste. They are not all wise decisions – but maybe they could be, or maybe more of them could be. To talk about how to make better decisions, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Dr. Jim Loehr and Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker,  authors of the book Wise Decisions: A Science Based Approach to Making Better Choices. Guests: DR. JIM LOEHR, co-author of WISE DECISIONS, is a world-renowned performance psychologist, Co-Founder of the Human Performance Institute, and author of eighteen books including The Only Way to Win. He also co-authored the national bestseller The Power of Full Engagement. Dr. Loehr is well known for his individual work with top-flight athletes and Olympians. He holds a masters and doctorate in psychology, serves on several scientific boards, and is a full member of the American Psychological Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, and has been inducted into three Halls of Fame. You can learn more at: www.jim-loehr.com/ DR. SHEILA OHLSSON WALKER, co-author of WISE DECISIONS, is...