Explore every episode of the podcast Transforming Work with Sophie Wade
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 157: Cali Williams Yost - Workplace Flexibility: Addressing Competitive & Talent Realities | 21 Nov 2025 | 00:48:06 | |
Cali Williams Yost, CEO and Founder of Flex+Strategy Group, has pioneered workplace flexibility since 1995. Cali shares her journey from banking to becoming a flexibility strategist. She explains why flexible work is essential for business growth and attracting and retaining top talent. Cali explains the pitfalls of hybrid and flexible model policy-only approaches and the need for full operational system-wide integration. She urges leaders to rethink outdated work constructs and outlines practical steps for embedding flexibility into organizational culture for sustainable success.
TAKEAWAYS
Chapter 1: Origins of a Flexibility Strategist
[01:19] Cali studies English and Economics appealing to her two contrasting interests. [02:08] Cali's first job at a bank gives her training and allows her to go to New York City!
[02:43] Client relationships are key to success, but rigid systems cause Cali's colleagues to quit. [03:35] Cali sees flexible work as logical and proposes it, unsuccessfully to bank leadership. [04:30] A bank client CEO explains he offers flexible working to retain his employees long-term. [05:14] Urged by his business-driven reasoning, Cali leaves to become a flexibility strategist. [05:47] Cali gets an MBA to have credibility with business leaders about workplace innovation. [06:10] Cali joins Families and Work Institute, developing strategies to operationalize flexibility. [07:35] Workplace flexibility becomes an employee benefit part of policy, not operationalised. [08:45] Making policies operational, Cali develops 'work-life fit' and publishes her first book.
Chapter 2: Workplace Flexibility Before & During COVID
[10:13] Top down approaches are not effective so Cali dives deep into change management.
[11:15] Cali starts her own firm to take an operational, integrated approach to flexible working.
[12:26] Pre-2020, most companies had flexible work policies but they weren't operationalised. [13:50] Widespread flexibility was organic and inconsistent with more men working remotely.
[13:55] When COVID hit, companies with operationalised flexibility policies adapted easily. [17:00] The work challenges presented by leaders and younger employees "clash of contexts". [18:55] The upcoming demographic cliff makes flexible work necessary to attract and retain talent.
Chapter 3: Leading in the Modern Work Era
[19:26] Finding those ready to lead the change, challenge their context and hold space.
[19:48] Three change phases—assess, align, activate—are critical for embedding flexibility. [20:10] Leadership alignment is essential; one resistant leader can derail an entire initiative. [22:45] Employers investing in defining new working parameters unlock many benefits.
[23:59] Leaders need to be aware of what is and isn't working with employees.
[25:31] Critical willingness to hold space for change being messy and looking at work differently. [27:11] Mandating in-office days without data and strategic input erodes employee confidence. [27:52] Executives co-creating with employees to achieve aligned operational flexibility.
[29:55] Trust increases when employees participate in experimenting and defining the process.
Chapter 4: Intentional Future of Work Transformation
[32:11] Senior leaders must be intentional about work transformation.
[32:50] The sustainability of 5-day/week RTO policies especially for talent attraction/retention. [34:07] The significant, essential hurdle of stepping back and rethinking the old work model.
[35:12] Younger employees successfully create an intern integration program when empowered. [37:45] Talent shortages by 2032 make flexible models essential to business continuity. [38:33] AI will supplement, not replace, human workers—talent attraction remains vital. [39:42] Rigid workspace metrics must evolve to support dynamic, flexible workforce needs. [42:16] Organizational transformation requires change management and relationships with systems thinking.
IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Leaders need to assess their talent reality from now through 2030 – aligning the expectations of their workforce and the needs of the business.
RESOURCES
Cali Williams Yost on LinkedIn flex+strategy group website
QUOTES
Pre-pandemic "Flexibility was happening organically. It was happening inconsistently, and it was not optimized."
"The consistent recognition is - I need to do this differently. So what does that look like?"
"You have to be willing to hold the space because change is messy."
"This [flexibility] isn't a policy. This is a way of operating."
"We're getting ready to hit a historic labour cliff demographic cliff. There aren't gonna be people. The workers who are left? They are going to dictate how they're gonna work. So you should be working right now on being employer of choice."
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| 156: Andrew Mawson - Increasing Productivity: Key Factors, Brain Capacity, and Mental Load | 07 Nov 2025 | 00:42:24 | |
Andrew Mawson, Founder and Managing Director of Advanced Workplace Associates, explores how organizations can enhance performance, especially by helping employees better manage their brain capacity. Andrew shares six evidence-based factors most impacting knowledge worker productivity. He discusses the neuroscience-researched factors affecting brain function and performance. Andrew offers actionable leadership guidance to reduce mental load, enhance employee well-being and resilience, and achieve sustainable results.
TAKEAWAYS
Chapter 1: Andrew's Early Career
[01:18] Andrew studies applied statistics finding it useful, later describing reality through numbers.
[01:59] Working in tech and defence, Andrew then joins Fujitsu and leads a program on intelligent buildings.
[02:47] Intelligent building initiatives aim to increase computing adoption and data integration.
[04:54] Advanced Workplace Associates is founded to bring a business- and people-focused lens to workplace strategy.
Chapter 2: Six Key Factors of Knowledge Worker Productivity
[07:31] Analysis of past research identifies top factors impacting knowledge worker productivity.
[09:28] Factor 1: Social cohesion emerges as the top factor boosting collaboration and innovation.
[10:43] Factor 2: perceived supervisory support with leaders tailoring their approach for each person.
[11:41] Factor 3: Information sharing enables a culture of openness, countering knowledge-hoarding.
[11:59] Factor 4: vision clarity helps employees connect their work to the team and corporate purpose.
[12:45] Factor 5: external communication makes teams challenge their ideas and be open to others' views.
[13:29] Factor 6: Trust underpins all factors, fostering belief that leaders and colleagues do the right thing.
[15:10] Leaders must create a level of certainty to reduce employee anxiety despite external turmoil.
[16:21] Social cohesion usefully creates a buffer during uncertain times, enhancing resilience.
Chapter 3: Research into Brain Performance
[17:16] Humans are individual brains – research identifies 14 key factors to optimise performance.
[18:42] Sleep (7.5 hours) is key for brain performance, with quality and preparation critical enablers.
[19:50] Hydration, exercise, and a good diet—with breakfast—are also essential for cognitive health.
[21:39] Leaders must recognize that lifestyle habits affect their team's productivity and wellbeing.
[23:00] AWA is running a cohort trial to educate leaders on brain health and track performance.
[23:57] After baselining, coaching how to integrate new habits and track performance.
Chapter 4: Cognitive Capacity & Managing Load
[24:56] Recognising finite brain capacity, environments can be designed to reduce mental loads.
[25:55] Everyone can better manage their well-being and outcomes using workspace that increases capacity.
[28:10] A story of making tea illustrates how cognitive load varies by individual and context.
[29:37] Brains are managing humans' entire systems unconsciously, consuming much energy.
[30:20] Personal stressors, such as family and finances, compound work demands and brain strain.
[31:24] Leaders need to monitor workload and not exceed employees' brains' capacity limits.
[32:34] When excessive load get to a point that it blocks capacity for planning and logic.
[33:26] Managers and employees can manage load together to restore cognitive function quickly.
[34:13] Organizations are communities of connected brains aiming to optimise knowledge flow.
[35:05] All six factors are linked and applied together can improve productivity and wellbeing.
Chapter 5: How Leaders can Improve Performance
[36:26] Leaders need to better understand how the brain works to enable high-performing teams.
[37:07] Most managers lack vital training; the six factors offer a useful playbook for leaders.
[38:17] How many managers believe social cohesion is their responsibility?
[38:58] Competitive pressures between teams create division and undermine collaboration.
[39:54] Leaders must promote and model trust and social cohesion to cultivate environments that enable success.
RESOURCES
Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) website
QUOTES
"The name of the game is to get everybody as socially cohesive as possible to allow fluidity of movement, of knowledge and, and collision of knowledge."
"[External communication is] the idea that you should expose your knowledge and your brain to other things…. going to other places and have other people challenge your understanding so that your understandings remain fresh."
"Humans have got a finite capacity and how that capacity is loaded and eaten into is also another important part of the jigsaw."
"Organizations really are communities of connected brains…I think the first thing the leaders need to do is understand more about the brain."
"Brains are the unit of production going forward in the world of knowledge work."
"We are all actually different…We should be trying to create an environment and giving people knowledge about the status of different spaces and things in the places in the building so they can go and choose."
"The duty of a leader is to try to create a level of certainty, create a vision, and create a direction of travel that is almost independent of the turmoil that's going on." | |||
| 147: Mark Dixon - Making Offices Work for Today's Distributed Workforce | 22 May 2025 | 00:38:05 | |
Mark Dixon, Founder and CEO of IWG, which he started in 1989 as Regus, discusses workplace evolution and flexible work trends. He shares insights from building IWG's 18-brand network serving 8 million users across 120+ countries. A serial entrepreneur, Mark shares how evolving workforce needs and digital tools shape location-agnostic office strategies. He emphasizes structuring real estate portfolios to empower employees and align with their work, and critiques outdated RTO policies. Mark discusses reshaping onboarding and productivity practices across roles and generations. He debunks in-office apprenticeships in today's tech-facilitated world.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:36] Mark Dixon find school too slow and leaves to start getting involved in business. [02:39] After his first—sandwich—venture, Mark travels the world to gain more experience.
[02:59] Mark builds a successful hotdog business, then co-living apartments in Belgium.
[03:45] Exploring entrepreneurial opportunities in Europe lays the foundation for IWG. [05:37] Mark's struggles securing office space in reveals a market need for flexible workspaces. [06:07] On a hunch, the first center opens in 1989, based on simplicity, speed, and outsourcing needs. [07:21] Companies want flexibility, speed, and capital-light solutions—not real estate complications. [09:32] IWG's first clients are mostly large enterprises, while half now are SMEs and entrepreneurs.
[10:31] All clients' reasons are the same: efficiency off the balance sheet with flexibility and speed.
[11:19] IWG's 18 brands offer diverse options from flexible warehouse space to a private members' club. [13:07] A hospitality mindset is key—providing functioning workspaces with good internet and support. [14:05] Technological advances enable management at distance, where employees have support. [15:32] Workers increasingly self-optimize office usage: hourly, daily, or long-term team project space. [16:50] Good management skills, not location, drives productivity and effective team outcomes. [18:49] More projects and fractionalized work are driving demand for short-term collaboration spaces. [20:58] IWG supports distributed workers and teams globally with platform-like flexible access. [21:23] Businesses shift to convenient offices near where people live to reduce commute strain. [23:30] RTO mandates are based on leaders responding to questions with data support.
[24:00] 80% of Fortune 500 companies are becoming more distributed, often providing offices nearer to where people live.
[25:22] Virtual onboarding and apprenticeships are effective supported intentionally with technology.
[28:45] Workspace purchasing shifts from real estate to procurement, finance, and HR departments. [29:30] Many companies want offices which are convenient for the people they want to hire.
[30:00] Organizations are focused on their balance sheet and being capital light and flexible.
[31:54] IWG spends significant resources studying work design for customers and IWG employees. [32:48] Design investments encompass tech needs and usage and evolving user expectations. [33:52] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To optimize work and location for outcomes, structure your portfolio, not your policy, and give people the best support for the jobs they are doing.
RESOURCES
Some IWG brands' websites: Regus, Spaces, HQ workspaces The Hybrid Working Calculator white paper The Future of Work – A trends forecast for 2024 white paper
QUOTES
"Business people in general understood the value of capital light - focus capital on core business, not on peripheral activities. The value of service. The value of immediacy. I can just take it--the value of flexibility."
"Companies are understanding that they're in the job of supporting people to be more productive. That's the job. They're very focused on their balance sheet. They're very focused on capital light. They're very focused on flexibility."
"In a modern tech-facilitated world, you structure your portfolio, not your policy. It's not a question of RTO or not—it's about enabling the best support for the people for the job they're doing."
"80% of Fortune 500 use us, and the majority of them are moving to a more distributed workplace."
"We used to deal with just property directors. Now we are talking to procurement, human resources. and to finance people."
"Companies are understanding that they're in the job of supporting people to be more productive." | |||
| 57: Dr. Grin Lord — Empathy and AI: Algorithms that Help Us Listen and Learn | 11 Nov 2022 | 00:42:20 | |
Dr. Grin Lord is the founder and CEO of mpathic.ai, an AI-powered service bringing empathy to enterprises. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Grin describes critical discoveries while a research scientist and gaining expertise in conversational design. She shares insights about how AI and machine learning can augment human connection, improve therapy bots, and train leaders, managers, and employees to be more empathic.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:12] Dr. Grin Lord's scientific background and early focus on empathy.
[04:15] The extraordinary benefits of listening and withholding judgments.
[07:28] The national rollout and financial impact of empathetic listening.
[08:12] Grin finds the 3-day training workshops are not successful for forming habits.
[09:43] Grin transitions to coaching modality to change behaviors.
[11:21] Specific intense training rules for providers optimize empathy, engagement, and trust.
[12:53] Unnatural learned techniques have undeniable power!
[13:41] Self-awareness is needed to adhere to the rules and be most effective.
[14:30] With phone-based coaching, Grin starts using machines to support the process of learning empathy.
[15:17] Research and ratings evaluate provider effectiveness and how computers were trained to do it.
[16:40] Grin explains synchronizing—people naturally adjusting their language style to others'.
[17:39] How synchronizing is a form of empathy.
[18:44] Grin is curious about other ways we can measure empathy.
[19:49] Dr. Lord's realization: we need to get outside of the clinical space.
[21:48] When the pandemic starts, Grin is working on a therapy chatbot that uses artificial intelligence.
[22:56] People start preferring to talk to the chat bot as it "gets" them.
[23:56] During the crisis, Grin starts her own company while looking after her kids and both parents at home.
[25:36] Starting with a game Empathy Rocks, Grin teaches coaches and therapists how to listen with empathy.
[27:03] The next step was applying empathy in different business and work situations.
[27:24] The powerful effect of empathy—or lack of empathy—when handling insurance claims.
[30:00] How empathic suggestions help managers give feedback.
[31:56] The next feature will direct users responses over time to relevant skills training.
[33:54] The goal is to give objective, timely feedback at scale, not to replace human interaction.
[35:48] Grin explains how mpathic is currently being integrated in HR platforms to improve communications.
[38:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you want to be more empathetic, start with seeing if you can repeat back what you heard when you're listening, before you ask a question or provide advice.
[39:02] Grin recommends starting to apply a couple of simple skills in your daily life.
RESOURCES
Dr. Grin Lord on LinkedIn Dr. Grin Lord's blog Dr. Grin Lord on Twitter @drgrinlord mpathic.ai on LinkedIn
QUOTES
"We found that the folks that got the empathy intervention had major drops in their drinking and those effects held for three years and led to a 46% reduction in readmissions."
"Some of the key ingredients of listening interventions have to with approaching people with non-judgment, curiosity, and accurate listening."
"Even if the person knows that you're using those techniques — it's undeniably powerful — they still work!"
"We even had users report that they would rather talk to the bot than a human because of how consistently non-judgmental it was."
"A large percentage of customers will leave after a bad interaction."
"The core starting place for improving your empathy over time is seeing if you can get accurate understanding before you jump in providing advice or assuming." | |||
| 56. Colin Field - Transforming Financial Services with a Human-Centric Approach | 28 Oct 2022 | 00:49:50 | |
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:50] Colin started his career in accounting and then retail banking.
[03:50] Colin discovers he enjoys seeing people win and developing their careers.
[04:35] When banks were fighting for survival, the focus was internal not on customers.
[05:54] Colin wanted to understand the business end to end and the role he and others played.
[06:54] Transitioning from a large to a small organization was a shock for Colin—a risk for both sides.
[07:34] The culture at Saffron was warm from Day One.
[08:41] Colin rose rapidly to CEO, despite having no plan to achieve the role at this time.
[09:52] Colin leads transformation of the organization's culture and ethos from having top down centralized control.
[11:02] The "how" of work changes, especially opening up communications.
[12:13] To affect a culture change, being candid is key, bringing people into the process and encouraging them to ask questions.
[13:34] Cultural transformation starts with trust and being relentlessly honest and open.
[15:30] Emphasizing career development meant showing people growing and winning.
[17:18] Culture needs to be aligned internally and externally, including customers too.
[18:02] To develop the business, people's roles needed to change.
[19:05] Achieving the improvements employees had committed to build trust and gained commitment for the next, growth phase.
[20:32] When the pandemic struck, Saffron was able to adjust rapidly as employees were used to change and communicating effectively.
[21:54] The pre-crisis transformation laid a strong foundation for two of the company's strongest trading years—during and since the pandemic.
[23:33] Saffron was able to respond flexibly to customers' different situations.
[24:37] The human-centered approach recognizes and responds to changing customer needs.
[26:42] Coming out the pandemic, Colin senses a seismic shift in how the employee value proposition [EVP] needs to considered.
[27:22] Colin is certainly not asking employees to return to the office five days a week
[28:23] Saffron takes a 'principles approach'—the most important principle is that a society comes first, the service of customers comes first.
[29:00] Colin observes that people know how to work best, they don't need the rules and expectations that other companies are talking about.
[30:11] During times of heightened ambiguity, ongoing conversations and iterations are important.
[31:08] A 'management manager' people training program facilitating new ways of working.
[32:12] Colin believes you need to understand where the people you work with are coming from.
[32:43] Saffron's top executive team, who are spread out across the UK, are intentional when interacting online and in person.
[34:29] How to encourage transparent dialogue and assimilate new habits.
[37:46] People are adjusting how they're living their lives no longer bound by geography—it's a work in progress.
[38:57] Customers' and employees' expectations are needing to adapt.
[40:56] Colin has an open and less conventional approach for attracting good talent.
[42:35] Colin helps employees grow in their roles and even out of the organization.
[44:17] Colin shares the story of a bus driver looking for a career change at Saffron.
[45:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To make whatever transformation your organization needs, start with the culture…then leadership, people, and processes….and stay the course — it will take at least twice as long as you think it will.
RESOURCES
Colin Field on LinkedIn Colin on Twitter @ColinHField Saffron Building Society on LinkedIn Saffron on Twitter @SaffronBS Saffron on Facebook @SaffronBS
For weekly video updates from Sophie and her Work In Progress newsletter and follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter @ASophieWade.
Sign up for the Work In Progress Report and Sophie's blog on Sophiewade.com and flexcelnetwork.com
QUOTES
"I found the thing that made my heart sing! And the thing that made me smile was seeing people win, seeing people around you win, colleagues developing their careers and actually seeing and getting proud about something you were doing as a business."
"Trust is the hardest thing to build in terms of culture."
"Overnight we went from a business that was head office in two central buildings and eight branches, to all of a sudden we're in no buildings, and we're in studies, spare bedrooms, dining room tables."
"Why would we want to start saying to people "you need to come back into the office again." It's crazy! We've just proved over two years that we don't need to do that. That makes no sense."
"I fell the secret is to swim with the tide here as a business, you go with it as much as you possibly can do and that's the way to unlock the benefits."
"Our customers set, a lot of them are 50+, and a number of them are 80 plus. And people would say to me "Colin, digital channels: you're wasting your time in that group. People will not want to use digital channels." And now that's been completely debunked."
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| 55: Lou Diamond — How to Connect and Communicate - Be Curious, Be Fearless, Be Super! | 21 Oct 2022 | 00:50:01 | |
Lou Diamond, growth consultant and CEO of Thrive, is the host of popular podcast Thrive Loud, a keynote speaker and author. Lou's new book "Speak Easy" is a playbook to help people connect and communicate, especially addressing the most difficult and awkward conversations. Lou shares insights gathered working in retail, consulting, banking, and as an entrepreneur, learning how "soft" skills are the "super" skills of communicating effectively and improving outcomes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:44] Lou comes in feeling more than spectacular, sharing how beekeeping and jewelry selling were a part of his academic path to studying economics at Cornell!
[03:35] Economics was originally taught in the Agricultural School at Cornell, so Lou also learned bee-keeping.
[04:17] Lou learned much from his entrepreneurial father working in the family's stores from age 13.
[05:13] How does communicating in a very small space differ from communicating in larger spaces?
[06:15] How to transcend the transaction in a competitive environment.
[07:28] Lou minors in communications in business—a key aspect of who he is.
[08:15] Consulting is the first stop to explore different industries and roles.
[10:32] Lou gets the opportunity to transition to communications and marketing in financial services.
[13:44] In the 2008 market crash, the spotlight was on Lou covering government sponsored agencies.
[16:00] Despite being very busy, Lou wanted to share his experiences and insights more broadly.
[17:40] After a side hustle for a tech consultancy in Vegas, the entrepreneur's urging resulted in Lou writing "Master the Art of Connecting".
[20:15] It's not about what you need to say, how you need to be. There are five ways starting with "Be curious".
[22:50] Lou became a certified coach knowing coaching skills would help him become a better communicator and leader.
[24:27] The importance of sharpening question-asking muscles.
[26:22] Be fearless. Move through courage, owning and committing to what you say.
[28:27] We all have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
[30:50] How can we understand each other when our contexts are so different?
[32:00] To make a connection with someone, you have to let go a little bit which is the hardest thing for people to do.
[32:43] The three steps of moving through fear into courage.
[33:52] Being more fearless, we are more likeable, more connectable.
[35:06] Lou does a V.O.I.C.E. check-in to prepare before communicating: Visualize; Opportunity; Identity; Charisma and Energy level.
[37:20] "Soft" skills are actually "super" skills to Lou.
[39:08] The pandemic highlighted the importance of connections and conversations.
[39:59] The benefit of conversations at work to uncover and deal with problems—such as "why are people leaving?".
[41:07] Lou shares a creative/risky exercise an executive tested to bring more empathy into work.
[43:02] "Speak Easy" us a guidebook and gift which explains how to prepare for different conversations using communication "cocktails"!
[46:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Lift the energy and be super--unleash your superpower. If you don't know yet what your superpower is, ask yourself and others to help you figure it out and then incorporate that when describing who you are when you meet people.
RESOURCES
Lou's new book Speak Easy: Connect With Every Conversation Master the Art of Connecting, by Lou Diamond
QUOTES
"It's not what you need to say, it's how you need to be."
"If you're not telling and talking and you're focused on asking and listening, by definition you're curious."
"By embracing curiosity, we are putting ourselves in a position to be open to the idea that we can grow, connect, and establish that relationship."
"You have to move through your fears into courage in every conversation."
"We're afraid to engage and connect, we're not embracing being fearless and being vulnerable in the way that we can actually be as a human being. We need to do that."
"Be brief, be bright, be gone!" | |||
| 54: Haddy Davies - Thinking Outside the (Office) Box Innovating for the New Era of Work | 14 Oct 2022 | 00:37:26 | |
Haddy Davies is the Global Procurement Leader and Black Employee Network Chair at Johnson Matthey, a British specialties chemicals and sustainable technologies company. Haddy shares how lockdown in March 2020 forced her to do her job very differently. She recognizes the business's heavy reliance on machines as well as the critical importance of understanding and engaging employees. Post-pandemic, her company is rethinking and testing new options—approaches, processes, and work arrangements—while Haddy uses First Principles to evaluate responsible sourcing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:00] Haddy shares why she choose a career in engineering.
[05:11] Transitioning to the UK from The Gambia was not so easy.
[06:54] Haddy does a gap year at Bible college to understand more about religion for many family-related reasons.
[09:40] The link between science and theology for Haddy is the appetite for knowledge.
[11:48] Haddy and her husband have multi-faceted connections.
[12:04] Choosing between studying engineering or continuing to study theology.
[13:03] An industrial placement year, starts Haddy's career at DuPont in sustainable packaging which led to fuel cells using clean fuel.
{14:14] Haddy enjoys working on her company's efforts to decarbonize the world and get to net zero.
[16:02] The power of problem solving during emergencies.
[17:46] Typical mitigating response from engineers did not anticipate pandemic.
[18:26] Crisis conditions shift investment to achieve more flexibility as resources are freed up to find viable solutions.
[19:36] Cybersecurity issues with remote working require some extra caution with linking up the plant.
[21:07] Innovation to augment machines to reduce onsite human accidents and errors.
[22:18] Haddy's company is rethinking the design for the workplace to be "fit for purpose".
[22:54] Flexibility allows tailoring to employee preferences and project needs.
[24:20] Streamlining operations is a continuing challenge, and we need to let go and let the machines do their work!
[25:31] Empathetic management is needed so workers don't feel disenfranchised or unfairly treated.
[26:54] Haddy is upskilling to explore new roles and is currently working on responsible sourcing.
[28:10] Using a First Principles approach is helpful to reimagine and assess new possibilities.
[30:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: You need a courageous people plan—one that is for the people with inputs from the people—which incorporates a flexible in the approach.
[31:28] The importance of understanding and engaging workers—transparency ensuring no disparities and career rich opportunities to support retention.
[33:42] Haddy's family is doing well!
[34:27] How the pandemic enabled Haddy and her husband to reimagine their family life.
RESOURCES
QUOTES
"Most of the great theologians were great thinkers; they were exploring the disjointedness of life, they always grappled with living in the now while understanding what had come before, and science is the same."
"Things may seem impossible: 'You can't possibly work from home if you're an on-site person!' We have not been forced to define the problems and bring solutions to the fore as a collective."
"We are rethinking the design of the workplace to make sure that it is fit for purpose."
"We need to train the machines to be on their own!"
"If anybody says to me 'this is how we've been doing it!' I will walk!"
"You have a workforce that is showing up for you. This means that they have considered all of the other options they could have gone to and they are staying. Never take that for granted."
"Let the people plan the people plan!" | |||
| 53: Trond Undheim — Flexibility for Fixed-Site Jobs Pt II: A Top Down & Bottom Up Approach | 30 Sep 2022 | 00:52:37 | |
Trond Undheim, futurist, speaker, entrepreneur, venture partner, and the author of a new book, Augmented Lean in this second episode gets to the practical details of how flexibility can be achieved in manufacturing plants after a 50 year innovation hiatus. Trond draws on his industrial tech background, understanding of manufacturers' realities, and recognition of frontline workers' expertise to develop flexible, augmented environments. He recommends balancing inputs from both employees on the shop floor and management to "hack and govern" new solutions. Trond acknowledges these are long term paradigm shifts.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:57] Trond explains the deskless reality for factory workers results from forgetting to innovate for 50 years.
[05:00] Adding multiple screens gives employees the data they need and freedom to walk around.
[05:36] How no code technology now allows data to be widely available and accessible.
[06:26] Up to date information augments workers' intelligence and real-time operational decisions.
[07:03] The first killer application is digital work instructions.
[07:52] Tech advances enable empathetic learning as feedback is immediate and uncontentious.
[09:44] Augmented lean approaches technology integration in a smarter way—top down and bottom up.
[10:54] Governance is an essential aspect of modern organizations.
[11:42] The problems arising with top down only technology integration.
[12:57] The benefit of bottom up analysis of bottlenecks and operating needs.
[13:51] The advantage of workers' general understanding of operations and cross-training.
[14:38] In manufacturing, employees have to be learning on the job, on site.
[15:27] How can we expect an innovative workplace if the tools do not augment workers?
[16:32] Greenfields permit shortcuts so workers can add digital apps to legacy systems.
[17:44] What to do with legacy machines.
[18:39] Taking a First Principles approach to production based on value creation.
[19:10] Augmented lean is about context and flexibility.
[20:32] "Hack and Govern" – hacking is bottom up and governing is top down.
[23:58] Apps-based productivity in this digital revolution needs a certain amount of flexibility.
[24:56] Empowering and inspiring frontline workers to show their experience and improve ROI.
[26:15] How to get new workers interested in manufacturing jobs in the US.
[28:08] What is factory work like now? What do factories look and sound like?
[32:43] What does Trond think about Musk's edict "return or resign"?
[34:25] Backlash or not, managers have a losing proposition trying to get everyone back to the office.
[35:44] This decade, Trond does not see factory work being done 100% on site.
[37:12] With significant advanced technologies, the shop floor has more pull than office environments.
[38:52] New fluid interfaces that interact with workers—the factory floor wasn't ready at first.
[42:01] With cyber-physical systems, 'prototype to product' is not easy and can take time.
[43:42] The vision of "lean" in Trond's new book.
[44:54] Did we take a wrong fork in the road away from cyber-physical systems in the 1970s?
[46:22] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Rinse and repeat! Use quick iterations to experiment your way through to positive change. Hack and Govern: the juxtaposition of bottom-up and top down approaches for a more balanced outcome.
RESOURCES
Trond Undheim on LinkedIn Futurized & Augmented podcasts Augmented Lean: A Human-Centric Framework for Managing Front-Line Operations, by Trond Arne Undheim
QUOTES
"If the tools that we are providing to the workforce don't augment them, don't make them feel meaningful, don't give them dignity, and don't give them knowledge, how can we expect to have an innovative workplace?"
"You have to govern technology … but on the other hand, the internet revolution is all about hacking, it is about bottom-up initiative, about enabling your smartest nerds — who nowadays can be someone who didn't study computer science."
"There are so many exciting factories right now … they have robots, they have digital interfaces, factories don't look like you might imagine they do!"
"Tesla is today's Ford — it is not a virtual organization of software programmers — Tesla produces something physical, they have factory floors, in fact, they have some of the world's biggest factories that they just opened in Texas."
"Software is easy, cyber-physical systems are hard."
"Think in sprints, allow hacks, don't forget to govern."
"There is no management of workers that doesn't include letting them experiment and try out new things, and there is no responsible management approach that lets everyone do their own thing." | |||
| 52: Trond Undheim — Flexibility for Fixed-Location Workers Employing Human-Centric Innovation | 23 Sep 2022 | 00:44:55 | |
Trond Undheim, futurist, speaker, entrepreneur, venture partner, and author of a new book "Augmented Lean". Trond draws on his technology-focused background across public, academic, and private sectors to discuss the need and solutions for workplace flexibility for frontline manufacturing workers. Acknowledging the paradigm shift to employ a human-centric approach, integrating employees' inputs, Trond highlights sophisticated new software which improve frontline experiences and overall results. These solutions optimize processes and augment workers rather than emphasize machine automation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:19] Trond's path starts in a random manner when he notices a poster!
[04:55] How Trond canceled Christmas to write his Ph.D. proposal in two weeks.
[06:02] Norway's phone company is exploring the nomadic workplace in 1998.
[07:44] Trond does fieldwork in Silicon Valley that is selling "placelessness".
[09:18] Trond becomes sought after for technology policy decision-making, government thinktanks, energy policy, and eventually economics at the E.U..
[12:19] Standardization: Trond explains how fascinating and essential it is—eg the Apple charger.
[14:54] How interoperability and openness have been important new developments.
[16:19] Trond equates learning standards and standardization like foreign languages.
[19:22] Trond's work at MIT on no-code language and the impact it can have on the workplace.
[20:42] Advanced efforts to transform the factory floor with productivity tools for frontline workers.
[22:08] The tech user interface is finally simple enough to get out of the way.
[22:49] Was the emphasis on automation was the wrong path to take—being technology deterministic?
[23:00] When it comes to manufacturing, why has the focus historically been on automation and efficiency?
[24:49] The question is NOT "Are the robots going to take over?" That has been a distraction.
[26:10] How can we think about the "how" of work differently to get on the right track? Trond offers a fundamental to ask question first.
[27:20] The role of business schools in producing leaders who think they know best!
[28:20] Changing the paradigm from a quest for lifelong specialization in one domain to multiple specializations over time with general systems knowledge.
[31:40] How a human-centric manufacturing approach gathers and benefits from front-line workers' and middle managers' years of expertise.
[34:17] Why "cobots" are an important reframing of machines as "robots" are defined as "dangerous".
[36:52] Bridging the digital/physical divide through augmentation to transform frontline workers toward knowledge work—Trond explains why this is a good thing.
[40:45] How greater advances now can be made augmenting how frontline workers work rather than automating machines.
[42:30] The potential for renewed glory in manufacturing by augmenting the entire workforce. Tune in for Part 2 – the practical "how" to make it happen.
RESOURCES
Trond Undheim on LinkedIn Futurized & Augmented podcasts Augmented Lean book by Trond Arne Undheim
QUOTES
"It sounds extremely dry, but standardization is super interesting. It's the driver of the economy: it builds markets."
"Markets are built: they are very purposely constructed architectures of rules, regulations, and standards."
"Multiple specialities consecutively throughout your career has to be the target."
"In a true human centric vision of manufacturing, the humans are always at the center---the whole idea is manufacturing has always been about innovation."
"The overall perspective that 'management knows best' is detrimental to a true understanding of human work."
"To make progress, the smart thing is to augment your workforce more than you automate your machines." | |||
| 51. Jen Fox — Our Learning Journeys: To Attract, Hire, Empower, Develop, and Retain Talent | 09 Sep 2022 | 00:48:50 | |
Jen Fox, Director of People Experience and Culture at Justworks, discovered her passion for training and developing people early on. She shares learnings from her experiences at Nordstrom and Starbucks as well as working independently as a coach. Jen continues her journey at Justworks supporting new individualized career pathways, navigating new work arrangements, and empowering employees to help figure it out. KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:04] Jen starts out as an entrepreneur.
[04:12] The business reaches an inflection point and they have to make a decision.
[04:40] Jen joins Nordstrom and gets moved in Learning & Development.
[07:35] At Starbucks for five years, Jen benefits from many different experiences.
[08:57] Leadership's commitment to the employee makes a difference—including transparency and openness.
[10:20] Jen hones her HR skills at Getty Images.
[11:30] Early understanding and observations about company culture.
[13:01] An impactful learning moment when having to lay people off after an acquisition.
[14:22] Jen's lasting takeaway is the human-centric core.
[10:35] Despite not wanting to go, Jen moved to New York City to pursue her career.
[15:20] After having three kids, Jen transitions organically to freelancing, consulting, and coaching.
[17:42] Jen deliberately doubles down on her strengths.
[18:20] Why Jen wanted to go in-house at Justworks.
[20:20] The important focus on supporting small business.
[22:05] Jen delights about employees craving development resources.
[23:36] Driving the Wellness Program, Jen plans out through 2025.
[25:10] Being proactive, not just reactionary.
[25:58] Becoming more data driven and integrating DEIB.
[27:38] How Justworks pivoted in March 2020 as they were providing important support for their client companies.
[28:49] The core value is camaraderie.
[29:15] The tension about how best to build interpersonal relationships with new work arrangements.
[31:36] Being intentional about learning how to optimize remote working.
[32:31] Empowering teams to figure it out, working their way along their own journeys.
[34:59] How Jen tactically acts and reacts to support employees' well-being.
[36:32] The four pillars of Justworks' Well-being Program.
[37:03] Creating meeting boundaries.
[37:24] Financial well-being is a key focus.
[38:18] Now Jen purposefully shows her commute on her calendar.
[39:13] The importance of managers in creating a positive and productive team environment.
[40:17] Partnerships for resources help develop managers.
[41:18] New interest in role playing and learn new skills.
[42:51] New efforts to understand individual talent and create personalized career paths.
[43:48] Jen needs a pause button and intentionally to block time for herself.
[45:54] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Remember your why. In the hardest times, it's a pause to remember why you are doing this work. It's different for everybody. Get in touch with your why. RESOURCES
Jen Fox on LinkedIn QUOTES
"It's a privilege being at a company where our employees are at the center of it all."
"If you take care of the people and yes, there's a lot of process and logistics and paperwork. But if at the end of the day, these are just people. How can we help and support them?"
"What I realized more so for myself was that doubling down on my strengths gave me more fuel, more energy. The more I did it, the more confident I became. And then the more people wanted to hire me."
"We were able to pivot and get our stuff together essentially so quickly because we had to. Because we, our customers, all those little companies were now looking to us to help them keep the lights on." | |||
| 50: Paul McKinlay – Going "Remote First" Part II: Focusing on Flexibility and Work/Life Harmony | 26 Aug 2022 | 00:40:21 | |
Paul McKinlay, VP of Communications and Remote Working at Cimpress and Vista (prev. VistaPrint) had a series of transformative experiences working in management, L&D, and Communications, working for ASDA and Walmart in the UK and US which set him up to take the lead role in implementing the strategic "Remote First" initiative at Cimpress and Vista. Paul shares his insights about the importance of transparency and alignment with employees, as well as a mindset of ongoing feedback and co-creation.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03;15] At the start of his career, Paul ran large supermarkets in the UK.
[03:34] Managing teams of up to 1000 people, Paul learned fast and transitioned to L&D.
[04:27] The experience of a major transformation at ASDA.
[06:19] Paul has to adapt to a very different culture when Walmart acquired ASDA.
[07:11] Paul's unusual experience the first time he visited Walmart's headquarters.
[08:50] Walmart takes a different approach to Learning and Development.
[10:10] Paul is persuaded—unwillingly—to change role and discipline.
[10:40] Paul's epiphany about his new position in communications.
[13:42] There was very little remote working prior to 2020.
[15:36] When the pandemic hit, the business was hit hard, but they noticed employees were executing well.
[18:14] Many people wanted to work remotely long-term.
[19:05] Paul asks to lead the remote work strategic initiative.
RESOURCES
Vista on Instagram
QUOTES
"Comms [Communications] at a strategic level is about aligning people against the mission, helping them to execute against that, understanding the context of the decisions they make day today."
| |||
| 49. Robert Keane - Going "Remote First": Automate, Communicate & Document | 19 Aug 2022 | 00:39:26 | |
Robert Keane, Founder and CEO of Cimpress and Vista (formerly VistaPrint) built a multibillion-dollar business from scratch starting more than 20 years ago. He transformed the original analog operations through digitalization in order to scale rapidly. Robert explains how this strategic move also set them up to go "remote first" in August 2020—listening to employees' preferences—with the intent of building and maintaining competitive advantage for the business.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:22] Robert identified the need and developed the business plan for Cimpress at INSEAD business school.
[03:38] Cutting edge (at the time) technology was essential to provide the services.
[04:45] The core customer proposition and need have not changed over 27 years.
[06:30] Pushing the early envelope for browser-based software.
[07:49] After raising venture capital money in '99, the company turned profitable by 2003 and reached US$1 billion in revenues by 2011.
[10:30] End-to-end integrated digitalization allowed them to achieve significant growth.
[11:55] Robert's purposeful approach for capturing competitive advantage through automation.
[13:53] To build the business, new recruits were selected who were intent to transform industries.
[14:45] Post the 2000 crash, the emphasis is "digital first".
[15:20] Robert recognizes the digitization emphasis needs to be rebalanced with more customer focus.
[16:31] How Cimpress operated as a global distributed business pre-pandemic.
[18:57] Robert's direct reports in China and Italy rang alarm leading to early contingency planning.
[20:00] The decision to go "remote first".
[20:56] Management could compete for talent, and give certainty and guidance to employees.
[23:24] Employees were asked regularly about their interest in remote work which started shifting.
[23:53] Management respectfully addresses the minority of people who didn't want to go fully remote
[25:36] People accept the fact that remote is not perfect.
[26:22] How has Robert's changed his leadership style going fully remote?
[27:26] The importance of systemizing communication to inform, align, and connect people.
[29:35] Investment in asynchronous documentation is essential for "remote first" companies.
[31:09] Hiring people to lead Cimpress businesses who have entrepreneurial/founder mindsets.
[32:26] Robert is open to making mistakes and not believing there's only one way forward.
[35:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To integrate remote working effectively, run a thought experiment. If you started a company today, how would you architect it and incorporate remote working? Whatever percentage of time employees would be onsite and remote at this company, they would need clarity and certainty. Putting theory into practice for your current organization cannot happen overnight, but listen to team members to make choices about the direction you need to go.
RESOURCES
QUOTES
"Our engagement scores, which we've tracked for years, are at all time high because people can combine their life and their work in ways that fits their personal needs."
"People embrace the fact that remote is not perfect."
"It's important to constantly reiterate the importance of that nimbleness, that ability to take action and the willingness to fail, to fall down and get bruised and pick yourself up and pivot and move."
"We started believing that the way we were doing things was the only way to do things. They just happened to be the right way to do things at a certain moment in time."
| |||
| 48: Ali Azeem - Creating A "Human First" Business: Insights, Inclusion, and Impact | 12 Aug 2022 | 01:00:15 | |
Ali Azeem, the Global Head of Growth at Ipsos Strategy3, has always believed in making an impact through involvement across the three professional realms--corporate, government, and charity. He shares his career journey as he has developed greater insights into human behavior—from customers and constituents to business colleagues—leading to his increasing focus on and interest in creating organizations that are "human first".
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:40] Ali is raised by entrepreneurial parents.
[03:09] Ali's early interest in business models through video games.
[04:37] Going through a turnaround after the credit crunch.
[06:45] Learning the importance of communication with colleagues, especially during times of stress.
[08:47] Ali believes in making a positive impact across three parallel streams – business, politics, and charity.
[10:18] How Ali found being involved in politics exciting.
[11:39] The human realities of government—good and bad.
[15:30] Working at an innovation agency, Ali began empathizing with customers to tap into their experiences.
[18:54] Recognizing cultural differences when exploring new ideas.
[22:09] Ali joins Ipsos which emphasizes human insights using a design-thinking approach.
[24:22] Discussion involving people and empathy converging into a new type of organization.
[26:50] Initiatives that must accompany diversity efforts to demonstrate inclusive leadership.
[30:20] The challenges measuring inclusion.
[31:38] How business leaders can shift their mindsets to be more inclusive.
[35:20] The importance of recognizing that employees bring very different backgrounds and cultural contexts and how to enable them to be successful.
[39:42] Ali's insights after analyzing data on gender pay gaps.
[43:07] Insight 1 – The pay gap in the UK relates to mothers rather than women in general.
[44:21] Insight 2 – Women aren't achieving as many of the higher paid senior positions.
[45:21] Career choices many women make in corporate roles don't often have enough flexibility.
[47:24] What many men thing of as "the proper life' and the consequences.
[49:05] How motherhood impacts women's earning capacity.
[50:08] New positive UK legislation regarding parental leave.
[51:05] The mindset shift supported by the legislation.
[53:40] Ali recommends we create more prosperity by making better machines and focusing on a people-maximizing approach.
[55:58] Thinking about meaningful corporate purpose.
[58:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Start with the right mindset. The biggest unlock will come if you take ownership of making your life better, your customers' lives better, and the lives of people impacted indirectly by your company.
RESOURCES
Nudge by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R Sunstein
QUOTES
"Often companies are talking about diversity, focusing more on the diversity side, because it's easier, it's measurable."
"Hiring these [diverse] people is quite an easy job relative to the much harder thing which is to make them feel included."
"Let's start building better machines."
"We need to evolve from what we've been doing before and that means moving away from this profit-maximizing approach to a people-maximizing approach." | |||
| 146: Steven Puri - Redesigning Work Learning from Hollywood's Proven Production Model | 07 May 2025 | 00:49:31 | |
Steven Puri, Founder and CEO of The Sukha Company and former Academy Award-winning CGI producer and Hollywood executive, shares his insights from movie production and experiences as a tech entrepreneur. Emphasizing applied learning, Steven offers strategic and tactical insights for designing remote and hybrid work, cultivating focus, and supporting fulfilled cohesive teams to reduce churn. Drawing parallels with the Hollywood model, he discusses project-based collaboration, individualized productivity rhythms, and creating environments that support deep, self-directed learning and growth.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:33] Steven shares how each beneficial life opportunity has come from unexpected "left turns."
[01:57] Early on, Steven balances interests in journalism and coding, influenced by his engineer parents.
[03:42] At USC, Steven's tech fluency gives him entrée to film during the shift from analog to digital.
[04:30] Working on trailers and music videos, Steven connects with aspiring filmmakers and directors.
[05:26] Independence Day needs digital effects launching Steven's Hollywood experience producing visual effects for major directors and films.
[06:49] Co-founding a company after Academy Award success, the team delivers for investors.
[10:43] Returning to technology to have agency, Steven starts and raises money for two tech companies.
[12:01] Reviewing failed ventures, Steven's top learning is to listen more to others.
[13:30] Recognizing the Hollywood production cycle has always operated in remote, hybrid and in-person phases.
[14:50] How remote/hybrid/in-person phases of filmmaking offer insights for modern work design.
[15:37] The principle about personal productivity is to find a dedicated place where your mind settles.
[18:17] In film projects, separation of visionary and operational leadership roles is critical.
[19:18] 'Flow' principles—such as feedback loops and daily metrics—enables continuous improvement.
[20:42] End of day progress reviews in film production supports high-intensity teamwork.
[23:32] Creative breakthroughs are enabled when the brain is distracted, not singularly focused.
[27:07] Steven buys a friend's startup's code base to build upon the to-do list using Hollywood learning. [28:07] The Sukha platform is rooted in work design insights to enable deep focus.
[29:55] The app improves focus by limiting overwhelm and breaking major tasks into sub-steps.
[31:07] Sukha's assistant adapts to personal styles—momentum-building or starting with difficult tasks.
[33:38] Understanding your own work rhythms to optimize for deep productivity.
[35:17] Sukha uses curated music and real environmental sounds scientifically tuned for flow states.
[37:30] Timers and breaks prevent burnout and encourage brain recovery post-focus.
[38:49] Feedbacks help users learn from distractions and track progress with real-time productivity scores.
[40:08] Optional co-working "coffee shop" to share energy and foster community accountability.
[41:06] Social facilitation theory supports the idea that seeing others work can increase your output.
[44:41] A user describes how Sukha helps him be being present with his kids or lose the whole day.
[45:46] The goal is not just productivity, but meaningful, self-fulfilling work that leads to happiness.
[46:18] Steven renames the company "Sukha" - a Sanskrit word meaning happiness and self-fulfillment – which is his ultimate goal for people to achieve.
[46:51] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Cultivating self-fulfilled, cohesive teams reduces churn. If people are enabled to do great work, they want to stay.
RESOURCES
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
QUOTES
"That pulse has existed for a hundred years in film. It is very well respected. Here's what you do as a leader of these teams that are remote, hybrid, in person, hybrid, remote." "Set your environment up properly—that's one principle of getting into flow." "The principle about productivity, even if you work from your home, have a dedicated place where your mind settles into, 'oh this is where I focus'." "You can only be as good as you want to be. We are just tools to help you be great. To do something that you're capable of. You have inside you something great if we can help you get it out. That's why I'm here." "We want to evoke that coffee shop—that clubhouse of people all trying to write the next great script." About creativity: "It's always about the other thing." | |||
| 47: Jenn DeWall — Rising Millennial Leaders: Insider Tips, Insights & Issues | 10 Jul 2022 | 00:49:12 | |
Jenn DeWall is a leadership development strategist, workshop facilitator, and coach working mostly with and on behalf of her Millennial peers. She also hosts The Leadership Habit podcast. Focused on supporting rising Millennial leaders' progress, Jenn shares her own experiences—successes and struggles—that have shaped her perspectives and approach to leadership development in the new era of work. She explains the goals, mindsets, and concerns of many Millennials and suggests productive, sustainable ways for us all to advance and grow.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:49] After college, Jenn's initial enthusiasm about leadership soon wanes.
[03:30] Despite good results, Jenn gets an unexpected, negative review.
[04:34] Jenn is devastated. "Why didn't somebody tell me?"
[06:21] Jenn loses confidence and gets conflicting direction about how to act at work.
[08:33] After some struggles, Jenn is asked to start training and mentoring her peers.
[10:20] Organizations need diversity across many dimensions, allowing people to show up as themselves.
[12:04] How Millennials were not prepared at college for the rules of work or to know their value.
[13:40] Jenn interviewed senior leaders to find out where Millennials are getting it wrong at work.
[14:55] Issue 1: Millennials want to have fun at work.
[15:42] Issue 2: Millennials yearn to develop and understand the big picture.
[16:49] Issue 3: Millennials desire for flexibility and work/life integration.
[18:46] Initial confidence about their potential and future is dulled for those not falling into line.
[20:12] As Millennials become leaders, how are they fulfilling their needs for external validation?
[22:01] Lacking conditioning for internal validation to know "I am enough" "I have the skills I need to succeed."
[23:20] Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Our fundamental need to be connected.
[23:58] Millennials ask themselves "What is my life really worth?"
[25:02] The working environment has affected Millennials – such as 9/11 and the Great Recession.
[25:49] How technology has expanded Millennials' worldview, footprint, and decisions.
[26:53] Jenn discusses how her peers think through "What do I want work to feel like?"
[28:42] Resignations often happen when employees assume/fear their employer will not be open to making accommodations.
[29:25] How the need for external validation affects workplace confidence and behaviors.
[31:59] Jenn shares Millennials' confusion: Why can't I have fun at work? And why can't I also work hard?
[33:31] As such a large generation, Millennials are not afraid to stay and be the voice of change.
[34:52] How rising leaders benefit from being intentional about soft skills and behaviors they promote.
[38:25] Jenn advises leading with curiosity and empathy and assuming positive intent.
[41:20] You can't hang your hat on stereotypes as everyone's lived experience is different.
[42:46] Non-linear career paths are now the norm, requiring different consideration and allowing different possibilities.
[44:55] Reacting to "What is my life worth?" leads to disruption with new work configurations.
[47:12] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Find the common ground. We all carry an invisible suitcase that is the collective experience of our hopes, dreams, fears, and pains, and there is commonality within. Be intentional and find that commonality so we can work better together.
RESOURCES
Jenn DeWall on LinkedIn Jenn DeWall on Twitter
QUOTES
"Through hardship comes great outcomes."
"If we want a homogenous workforce where we are more alike, what does that do for innovation?"
"I never wanted millennials to feel less than, I just want them to feel empowered. You deserve to be recognized and seen for who you are."
"This is where the helicopter parenting didn't set us up well because you need to have confidence at a foundational level to influence, to make a decision. And Millennials were very much conditioned for external validation." | |||
| 46: Dom Price — Tackling Underlying Issues: Straight Forward, but Not Simple Solutions | 24 Jun 2022 | 01:01:24 | |
Dominic Price, Work Futurist at Atlassian, first explains unlearning. He discusses the excitement and challenges of his work ensuring his company keeps adapting to stay ahead of competitors as it grows rapidly year on year. Focused on anticipating, exploring, and improving ways of working, Dom offers suggestions to specific questions that we are all currently trying to answer such as about hybrid work models, burnout, transformation challenges, and more, sharing his lived experiences, experiments and refined solutions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Starting as a chartered accountant, Dom found a "job for life" wasn't his vocation.
[03:54] Not wanting to fit into a box, Dom had to accept uncertainty and unlearn structure.
[05:34] How to be happy with career progress when "learning" is the key measurement.
[07:47] When Dom joined Atlassian it was one of the "best places to work", but he hated it.
[08:31] Applying his skills very differently, Dom was confronted reframing his "firefighting" role.
[11:58] Dom's boss challenges him to adapt and grow 40% each year to stay in his current role.
[14:10] We go back to old thinking because it was certain, not because it was valuable.
[15:22] Dom's fascination with technology ends up with him focused on people.
[17:48] Question 1 – How to tackle the complexity of hybrid models?
[19:24] Underlying question – How do we become place agnostic?
[20:24] When we are place agnostic, how can we find effective ways of working?
[22:18] Question 2 – How does work "work" now?
[23;15] Underlying question – What more can we understand about what it is to be human?
[21:45] You can offer flexibility to your on-site workers. Dom explains how.
[24:23] The importance of psychological safety.
[26:14] Dom experiments and gives an asynchronous workshop.
[28:12] We have to experiment and explore our way forward in the Future of Work.
[29:11] Question 3 – How do you learn a growth mindset?
[30:14] Dom's Five Ls exercise that he practices regularly.
[32:55] The importance of role modeling behavior as leaders now.
[36:03] Question 4 – How to embrace change and stop people resisting change?
[37:50] Breaking down transformation into "what's one thing we can do today?"
[39:40] Celebrating "the good old days" in a positive way to be able to move forward.
[42:41] Question 5 – How to get rid of so many meetings?
[46:19] Questions 6 - How do we reduce burnout?
[47:15] Question 7 – Should I leave my employer?
[48:55] Be the change you seek. Feedback is a gift, but only if you give it!
[51:28] Question 8 & 9 – How can you help employees think through how to live their lives differently? How can their boss support this process?
[52:00] Why Dom thinks we are obsessed with perfection and we should focus on progress.
[52:45] Systems thinking—we can block progress if we only see the boundaries of the system.
[53:51] Learning organizations don't exist, but learning loops do.
[55:42] Dom believes the organization chart is damaging—hindering progress in organizations.
[57:33] Leadership is based on competence, not level.
[59:37] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you've been taking mental or written notes listening to this episode, don't sign up for more knowledge obesity, find ONE thing you are willing to try, and put a date on it.
RESOURCES
Dom Price on LinkedIn Dom Price on Twitter
QUOTES
"I need to unlearn all these things I got taught early on in my career, about "you must have a career plan"."
"If you wanna be great, you're gonna have to evolve how you work, how your teams work, how you influence. You're gonna have to adapt to everything constantly."
"How do we get those teams in a distributed fashion to work effectively together? Once we solve that everything else is done, right? Everything else is gravy."
"How can we work human to human? How do we amplify that with technology? Technology isn't the answer, it's the amplifier."
"How do I build a balanced life and where does work fit into that?"
"If you've got an hour, spend five minutes reminiscing on the good old days, spend the other 55 building better days tomorrow."
"Leadership is based on competence, not level."
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| 45: How Empathy Enables the Transformation of/at Work | 10 Jun 2022 | 00:36:18 | |
Podcast host, Sophie Wade, checks in to discuss the current challenges, frustrations, and fatigue we are all dealing with as we emerge from the pandemic. From resisting or rolling out new work arrangements, to managing supply chain disruptions and rising costs, facilitating business and workforce transformation at the same time is not easy. Sophie explains how empathy works to enable the necessary shift to a human-centric orientation in technology-driven Future-of-Work environments leading to successful, sustainable progress and growth. She also reads short excerpts from her new book, Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work.
KEY TAKE AWAYS
[01:16] Acknowledging the challenges moments and issues we are all experiencing.
[03:08] The current discord between conventional power and progress.
[04:43] Why it's necessary and practical to embrace the reimagining and redesigning of work.
[06:18] How the First Principles approach is useful, incorporating learnings from the last two years.
[07:10] The human-centric counterbalance to a technology-driven business world.
[08:02] The human-centric framework that elevates the Customer Journey and the Employee Journey.
[08:50] Sophie's new book Empathy Works is "An insightful and practical must-read for leaders focused on the future" -- Kirkus Reviews.
[09:32] Examples of how we experience empathy at work.
[10:32] Does everyone have empathy?
[11:31] What is soft about empathy as a skill?
[12:37] The neuroscience of empathy and its role at the core of human relationships.
[14:31] The connections between trust, oxytocin, social comfort, and the ability to read someone's emotions.
[17:00] How to think through designing a suitable work model for your organization.
[19:30] Should your company have an office? If yes, what for?
[21:26] Workplace flexibility is a mindset first and a policy second.
[22:45] Why the effective mindset is open, inclusive, and empathetic.
[23:53] Leaders are transitioning from commanding to coaching and giving more autonomy to their team members.
[25:25] Why decentralizing decision-making is necessary now.
[27:46] PURPOSE: The importance of leaders articulating purpose.
[28:44] CULTURE: The role of leaders in modeling corporate values and how culture determines employees' actions.
[30:29] TRUST: Trust is essential for workers to feel a sense of belonging and to increase their engagement.
[31:55] CONTROL: Empowering employees to support decentralized decision-making.
[33:30] WORKFLOW: The importance of understanding how work is accomplished and flows through your organization.
[35:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Buy Sophie's book to understand more about how to infuse your company's culture and mindset with empathy and get practical help to establish daily empathy habits.
RESOURCES
Sophie's new book "Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work" Sophie Wade's company Flexcel Network
QUOTES
"We all have to make our way through the messiness of transformation."
"We have the opportunity to get to a much better place."
"This IS the moment to be making the necessary and powerful transformation to ensure your business can progress and succeed."
"Empathy is closely associated with trust, respect, and inclusion which together can create a solid foundation for your company and culture." "Empathy is at the core of all human relationships." | |||
| 44: Pascal Dulex - The Evolving Roles of Leaders and Revisiting Holacracy | 27 May 2022 | 00:53:29 | |
Pascal Dulex, Culture Coach and Creative Director at Freitag in Switzerland, has been one of the people instrumental in implementing holacracy—a "self-management practice for organizations"—within the company. Pascal discusses the essence of leadership, provides insights about the role of managers, and explains how work processes were affected as the company prepared for and adopted holacracy. He also describes their ongoing internal discussions as he facilitates and supports continuing integration.
KEY TAKEAWAYS [03:19] Pascal's core connections to the field of creativity.
[04:50] Pascal is less enamored with the traditional communications career.
[06:55] Stumbling upon a job description at Freitag that was different.
[08:28] Pascal finds one of the founder brothers very authentic when interviewed.
[10:54] The company is navigating a turbulent period when he joins.
[12:39] Pascal changes from communications to become Head of Innovation.
[13:37] A fundamental shift in the leadership role to becoming an enabler.
[14:48] The close link between product development and communications at Freitag.
[16:43] Working with "circle materials".
[18:27] Over extension was a key trigger leading to holacracy's implementation.
[19:15] The second trigger was reassessing leadership and decision-making.
[19:56] How hierarchy and conflict between departments was undermining outputs.
[21:29] The first step in the process was to "kill the management"!
[22:03] Organizing like a city at first—as senior leadership needed to make space for others.
[22:49] They develop a vision of their ideal organization.
[24:00] Discovering holacracy and getting expert help to explain it and support execution.
[25:55] How is leadership linked to hierarchy?
[27:07] Initial efforts were focused on understanding exactly what managers "do".
[29:30] "Organizing away" managers' roles.
[31:20] Clarifying roles and updating processes.
[33:13] Self-organizing companies need to communicate more.
[33:50] Decision-making driven by responsibility not consensus.
[35:27] Holacracy allows for continuous improvement.
[37:52] How do they explain the organization and management system when recruiting?
[40:29] Are there really no job titles?
[43:04] What holacracy does not address that Freitag has to work on.
[44:46] What does leadership mean? How do I want to be led? How do I want to lead myself?
[47:35] The struggles of self-organization.
[50:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Trust is fundamental in every organization in the way you approach others. Starting with trust, people feel better because they realize you believe in them—and their positive intentions—and that's a good starting point wherever you work.
RESOURCES
QUOTES
"The first step we made was making space for others to unfold their potential that was by getting rid of management."
"You should feel like investing your time for a purpose that you believe in."
"It [holacracy] has a radically different way of approaching power or authority hierarchy."
"Managing is a very unclear term, right? If I say I'm a manager, what does that mean?"
"One of the fundamental things in every organization is trust—the way you approach others."
"I firmly believe that every person who shows up for work is actually here to do something good, to achieve something."
| |||
| 43: Dr. Amanda Crowell — Self Expertise, Avoiding Burnout, and Focusing on "How" to Work | 13 May 2022 | 00:46:57 | |
Dr. Amanda Crowell, a university professor, cognitive psychologist, and coach, developed a time management system that helps people be productive without burning out after she experienced severe burnout herself. Amanda explains how to transform outcomes and avoid burnout by recognizing our own expertise, shifting focus, and discovering what key elements to do differently. When we reconfigure "how" we work, we can produce the results we want and feel more fulfilled without changing our lives. Amanda is the author of "Great Work" and podcast host of "Unleashing Your Great Work".
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:50] After a stormy start in life, Amanda had an intense academic career.
[04:32] Amanda realized that she wanted to make a difference and it would mean a different pathway.
[05:02] The surprise of finding how different (chaotic) work process is outside academia.
[05:55] Amanda starts to burn out working around the clock.
[07:39] The three key indicators of burnout.
[08:46] Amanda reaches a mental and physical breaking point.
[10:50] How Amanda decides she wants a very different life for herself.
[12:34] "How did I let it get this bad?" resulted from holding onto beliefs that were not true.
[13:45] Unpacking and understanding unhealthy and undermining beliefs.
[15:13] How "self expertise" awareness is essential for effective collaboration.
[17:31] Considering how to configure your life differently utilizing newly-acceptable options.
[19:06] Resetting expectations and the illusion of what is "non-negotiable".
[20:11] Amanda explores what she could do with less intensity that nobody will notice.
[21:34] Changing the relationship dynamic when you respond differently.
[23:10] Amanda's focus is improvement science or quality improvement to help people work more effectively.
[23:58] How workflow analysis can increase productivity and reduce burnout.
[24:30] Focusing on key small details can make a significant difference.
[26:40] Making all the pieces of your life fit your self expertise.
[27:09] Despite (deliberately) delayed responses from Amanda, her boss gives her a great evaluation.
[27:41] Optimizing focus and workflow results in more satisfied clients.
[29:40] How to set employees up for success so they can perform well.
[30:49] You cannot be in solid relationship with someone else if you don't know what matters to you.
[33:10] We must develop skills as enterprises and employees to recognize better what work matters.
[34:54] Without leaving your job or getting a new manager, you can improve your work experience.
[38:24] The hierarchy of ideas can be reframed to help people feel satisfied today while also feeling connected to their big goals that they want to keep making progress towards.
[41:47] When we feel like we have agency and advancing something that matters the experience is very different.
[43:22] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Think back to when you felt angriest as you listened to my interview with Amanda. What triggered the biggest emotional reaction? Focus on that aspect of your work to start to address your burnout. Second, don't forget self care, and, third, for a particular task you don't want to do consider "what would it require for me to get rid of this task?"
RESOURCES
Dr. Amanda Crowell on LinkedIn Amanda Crowell on Instagram Amanda's new book "Great Work" Amanda's podcast "Unleashing Your Great Work"
QUOTES
"Nobody loved the fact that I was being pulled away from the family like that. And nobody loved the Amanda who was left by behind living on those fumes."
"I'm not going to miss my kids growing up. I'm not going to miss a good relationship with my husband. Like for what? For email?"
"You can't be in a real relationship with another person if you don't know what matters to you, and you must honor what matters to that person too."
"If you hate your job so much, I would address your burnout."
"I would just say 'Open the door, just a crack' that what I'm saying might actually be true." | |||
| 42: Deepa Purushothaman — Transforming Career Trajectories for Women of Color at Work | 01 May 2022 | 00:39:31 | |
Deepa Purushothaman shares the experiences of many Women of Color, including herself, in the corporate world and their challenges to rise as leaders—including loneliness and not seeing themselves represented. Deepa talks about the importance of co-conspirators speaking up as well understanding they will make mistakes. Deepa is the author or "The First, The Few, The Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America" and co-founder of nFormation, a company that provides safe spaces for professional Women of Color.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:11] An overview of Deepa's career at Deloitte.
[04:23] Deepa started by studying policy and politics.
[05:54] Ageism from clients was the discrimination Deepa felt most after being made partner early on.
[06:27] As the first Indian female partner, Deepa didn't see herself represented in leadership positions and had questions about belonging.
[07:55] Deepa had support and sponsors and pulled from different leaders to see what worked for her.
[08:23] As a Woman of Color, Deepa had some challenges giving feedback to people older than her.
[09:32] Deepa had a particular data-driven approach that worked with clients.
[10:06] Without a role model, you are to need creative ways to find your voice.
[11:35] How the issue of confirming and performing—two to three times harder than others—came up repeatedly with the 500+ Women of Color Deepa interviewed.
[12:10] White male CEOs have been picking up Deepa's book—not Women of Color—wanting to get smarter by asking questions.
[13:06] The extra burden Women of Color have educating others.
[13:43] There weren't (many) conversations about race at work in the US until 2020.
[14:55] Deepa finds there aren't safe spaces for Women of Color to tell their truth.
[16:31] Many Women of Color have ignored or been taught to ignore racism.
[16:55] How so many Women of Color have physical manifestations of the challenges—including trauma—they have been internalizing.
[18:30] Women of Color need people—allies/co-conspirators—to be involved, not bystanders.
[18:56] Co-conspirators need to realize and accept they will make mistakes.
[19:46] Most Women of Color Deepa interviewed did not talk about race at home.
[20:35] Women of Color and co-conspirators should be prepared and practice what to say when someone says something inappropriate.
[20:58] The shock and shame Women of Color have after something racist is said in the workplace.
[22:20] Deepa's three recommended things to say to recognize that something inappropriate was said.
[23:32] Responses depend on the context and how well you know the people present.
[24:50] Deepa picks her battles and waits 10 minutes to see how she feels before saying anything.
[25:55] How Deepa got ill and took a sabbatical to heal.
[27:30] Now success is tied to health for Deepa.
[28:33] The genesis of Deepa's book and company was a series of dinners with many Women of Color.
[29:42] The issue of loneliness for many Women of Color in senior positions.
[31:15] The shared experiences of Women of Color were shocking and freeing.
[32:05] The reaction of white male CEOs has been "we can't deny this is happening [at my company]."
[33:58] nFormation focuses on Women of Color and holding spaces for conversation.
[35:09] Women of Color have been finding their voice and their power by just seeing each at nFormation.
[36:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: For co-conspirators - practice empathy--don't assume, instead listen differently to understand others' different experiences. Use your power in the moment to support others—amplifying, pausing for space, giving room, speaking up or about someone. For Women of Color – how do you want to show up? What do you want to say and how do you want to use your full voice?
RESOURCES
Deepa's book "The First, the Few, the Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America"
QUOTES
"I was the first Indian female partner we made so there weren't a lot of examples or role models before me and, and it's a pretty large firm. To not see yourself represented, I had my own questions around belonging."
"When you don't see yourself in leadership positions, there's a lot of narrative rewriting that you have to do in your head."
"You don't have to see it to be it."
"When you don't see yourself or don't see an exact role model, that looks like you, what I really coach women on is to kind of try different things out."
"It's hard to find your voice when you don't see yourself on television when you don't see yourself in the media when you don't have a teacher that looks like you, and then you go into an organization and there's hardly anybody that looks like you. Like, what is your voice?" | |||
| 41: Minter Dial — How to Lead in the New Era of Work | 08 Apr 2022 | 00:43:03 | |
Minter Dial, a management consultant on leadership and transformation and author of several books, speaks about his latest book, You Lead: How Being Yourself Makes You a Better Leader. Minter discusses what he learned when he ran a division at L'Oréal and what he needed to understand about himself—with the help of the Grateful Dead—along the way. He also shares why having a business purpose is a game-changer to help a company or brand differentiate itself from the competition.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:56] Minter's career begins in banking then a start-up travel agency for musicians.
[5:05] He moves back Philadelphia and tries all kinds of jobs.
[06:28] The Grateful Dead is core to Minter's existence.
[06:51] After business school, Minter applies to two companies: LVMH and L'Oreal.
[08:10] Minter climbs the corporate ladder as a cross-cultural leader.
[09:48] How power and proximity affect corporate culture
[11:16] Minter is focused on creating a differentiated culture for the Redken brand.
[12:24] How they decided what type of culture they wanted.
[13:32] They figured out how to develop purpose to drive the culture.
[14:54] The challenge of translating the external purpose message for the division internally.
[16:39] The financial results of a purpose-driven business.
[18:06] The folk tale that gave the Grateful Dead their name.
[19:40] The two important morals of the story that tying into self-awareness.
[21:12] How leadership is about letting go of your ego.
[22:55] We are never going to know fully who we are and we continue to evolve.
[23:52] The importance of understanding your emotions, including your triggers and how to be present.
[26:30] "You Lead" was supposed to be Minter's first book and how he recognizes his need to be more self-aware.
[29:20] Minter wanted to help people who weren't empathetic to delegate their empathy.
[31:22] The importance of self-awareness in leadership.
[34:02] Minter's book "Futureproof" is focused on mindset.
[34:30] Trust is the critical component of leadership and requires authenticity.
[35:50] The notion of gaining trust as a leader needs to be intentional.
[38:00] The purpose of Minter's next book is helping people heal and harder conversations need to be tackled in order to do that.
[40:11] How do we start to change our leadership style?
[41:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: When listening to other people, reformulate what they have said rather than bouncing off it.
RESOURCES
Minter Dial on LinkedIn Minter Dial on Twitter Minter's book You Lead Minter's podcast Minter Dialogue Minter's DIALOGOS on Substack
QUOTES
"I really felt it was important that if you run a brand, it must be different from the inside out from the other brands."
"It has everything to do with having a de facto realistic purpose that is not all about 100% everything perfect. It's just making things manifest, making them real, and everybody talking some kind of real language."
"In today's world, especially now we're working in the distributed world, if you don't have trust, you have nothing."
"You can't limit your purpose to something that your team internally doesn't experience, because if all you're doing is making your customers happy…what about me?"
"The thing about the Grateful Dead is there's a philosophy which is essentially once you understand that you are mortal, that you will die, then you become more grateful in the present."
"When you think of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, he was the leader, but he was not one of those fear and control leaders. He was a participant. You were contributing with him in his leadership." | |||
| 40: Reid Hiatt — Making Hybrid Work – Focusing on the Employee Experience | 25 Mar 2022 | 00:46:10 | |
Reid Hiatt, the Co-Founder and CEO at Tactic, launched this new venture during the pandemic to enable companies to bring employees back into the office safely and to provide long-term solutions for those moving to hybrid models. Reid shares insights about the dynamics of hybrid work arrangements and how he sees companies—including his own—using effective communication and new tools to implement them successfully. He discusses specific solutions to reduce meeting overload as well as the importance of proactive planning and participation to enable every employee to do their best work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Reid never imagined being where his position is now.
[03:40] Reid finds meaning in his early career.
[04:15] How COVID shaped Reid's life and family.
[07:00] Reid's friend Chris calls with an interesting idea for them to explore together.
[09:38] Reid and Chris try to evaluate and scope the future of hybrid working during 2020.
[10:44] What was middle management's reaction to hybrid work models?
[12:50] Reid learns the challenges for new recruits in distributed teams in his consulting job.
[14:58] At the end of 2020, Reid and Chris bring in a tech co-founder, and notice patterns.
[15:40] Believing the priority pain point for distributed teams is collaboration, the team is ready to start.
[17:45] How to address each person's working preferences while enabling relationships to develop.
[19:50] The key to making hybrid work is communication.
[20:38] The importance of eliminating proximity bias.
[20:58] The approach tools for creating a good communication culture.
[23:39] We have too many meetings. How to make them effective—includind recording and documenting them.
[24:39] Reid shares an example of how to have an effective meeting using transparency and documentation.
[25:21] Being purposeful about transparency and inclusion.
[26:58] Reid was surprised by the number of hybrid models.
[29:25] The initial product launched based on their research.
[30:00] The focus on the employee experience especially collaboration.
[31:12] Hybrid preferably provides a solution to suit each individual worker.
[33:30] You need to be intentional about onboarding and employee development.
[35:12] How to choose the right model for your company.
[35:38] Effective implementation first requires a plan.
[36:49] The human-centric focus is key to success for any hybrid work arrangement.
[37:15] Internal messaging about a hybrid model is key so employees understand their wellbeing is at the core.
[38:48] What are the next steps after launching a hybrid model?
[39:29] What to do if your hybrid work model is working as well as you had hoped.
[41:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First define what effective looks like and how you will measure the success of your hybrid model. Second, gather feedback from your employees to find out what their experience of hybrid has been so far.
RESOURCES
Reid Hiatt on LinkedIn Reid Hiatt on Twitter Tactic on LinkedIn
QUOTES
"Honestly, across the board, what we found was that the vast majority of people, both younger and older, really resonated with this hybrid model. The younger people actually more so than the older but there wasn't a ton of resistance."
"I believe that one reason why work can be so great is because you develop relationships with people that you wouldn't have otherwise."
"Remote and in-person, like just one or the other, is the easiest to implement. I believe hybrid, when done correctly, is the most effective."
"If I don't have anything to share, if there's nothing for me to share, and there's nothing that I need to specifically know or do in this meeting, then I have to ask myself, is this the most effective use of my time?" | |||
| 39: Claire Harbour — Careers in Transition - Why Are You Leaving? | 11 Mar 2022 | 00:40:51 | |
Claire Harbour spent years in general management, strategy consulting, and executive search before deciding to focus on people, talent and bringing out the best in individuals and organizations. She is now a leadership coach and co-author of Disrupt Your Career: How to Navigate Uncharted Career Transitions and Thrive and online courses on career agility. Claire shares insights about the Great Resignation—how employees can be reflecting and developing career agility and how employers can foster constructive career conversations.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:10] Claire started out on a very different career path.
[04:00] How Claire changed to internationally-focused business and management.
[04:43] Interest in talent opportunities first manifested for Claire.
[06:26] Claire starts to focus on talent while balancing evolving professional and personal circumstances.
[07:25] The role Claire plays as a coach at decisive moments in her clients' professional lives.
[09:33] The 'push' reasons for resigning from your job have not changed much.
[10:43] However, we have had more mind space to take action during the pandemic.
[11:35] New perspectives about possibilities especially with many employees moving jobs.
[13:35] For employees thinking through their options, there is much information available to review.
[15:06] The Japanese concept of ikigai is one useful tool to start the reflection process.
[17:08] What career agility means and the six "Cs".
[19:00] How working on career agility helps you consider options and make changes.
[20:41] The importance of talking with, not about, talent.
[21:45] How managers must be involved in empathic career conversations, not just HR.
[24:16] Ways to create safe space to talk openly about career development.
[23:45] What do managers need to be thinking about when it comes to upskilling talent?
[25:53] The value of academy companies nurturing employees' capabilities.
[25:50] Organizations are updating their offerings for employees—internal mobility and more.
[29:00] The benefit of personal openness and awareness to foster creative conversations.
[31:06] How to use exit interviews to generate constructive dialog and ongoing relationships.
[32:17] – The questions you can ask to help someone reconsider leaving.
[34:18] Why shopping lists in recruitment are no longer helpful or relevant.
[35:04] The importance of creative thinking in recruitment.
[37:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Focus on what you want to move towards rather than away from. Make yourself a Dream Board of the things that you might want in your career. Practice visioning, imagining the job and environment where you want to be.
RESOURCES
Claire Harbour on LinkedIn Claire's website Disrupt Your Career by Claire Harbour
QUOTES
"There are an awful lot of jobs flowing around in, in a buoyant job market. I think one thing that maybe we forget too easily is that when one person resigns, typically that person has to be replaced. To an extent, we're in a merry-go-round."
"We've got this simple model, which refers to the six Cs which are: commitment, control, curiosity, change agility, connections, and confidence."
"Whatever stage you're in in your career, you can be asking yourself questions."
"Why wouldn't we create a system eventually whereby everybody is given a chance to have a safe creative space in which to talk and plan and develop."
"We are all packages of resources and capacities and capabilities."
"She said to me a few weeks ago, "What I wish we could do is to stop talking about talent and start talking with talent." | |||
| 38: Kapil Kane — Adapting Product Design & Innovation for the Future of Work | 25 Feb 2022 | 00:48:42 | |
Kapil Kane, Director of Innovation at Intel China and co-founder of award-winning corporate innovation accelerator GrowthX, has wide-ranging experience in product design and shares insights about his customer- and employee-centric approach to design and innovation. He explains how the accelerator stimulates innovation at Intel and how they have adapted to be responsive and innovate faster during these times of uncertainty.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:45] Where Kapil grew up and what he dreamed of doing.
[03:40] Why his first experience in the US was very different for Kapil.
[04:20] Kapil interns for Apple and finds consumer electronics product design more satisfying.
[05:24] Working on a revolutionary project at Apple, Kapil drops out of school.
[06:14] Why testing is such an integral part of the design process for a great product.
[06:38] The challenge of testing a revolutionary product!
[07:59] Why Kapil moved to China in 2007.
[09:14] The rapid prototyping and positive attitude allowed Kapil to make quick progress.
[10:36] The do/try/break/iterate approach in China which differs from his experiences of design in India and the US.
[11:15] Enterprising attitudes allow quick access to resources nationwide.
[13:00] China's consumer electronics design work is very customer centric.
[14:20] Intel recently empowered a local group to create products for the local market based on core technology.
[15:19] Employees working close to customers are identifying needs in the local market.
[17:41] How hackathons are used to generate initial ideas.
[18:25] Various seed programs develop proof of concept.
[19:30] How the accelerator Kapil co-founded explores feasibility and business viability.
[20:48] Multiple sprints prepare viable ideas for investment and launch.
[21:38] How market conditions changed the process and opportunities for technology.
[23;36] The pros and cons of innovating with hybrid work arrangements.
[24:31] The benefit of experimentation away from company headquarters.
[25:11] Kapil has found that consumers are more forgiving in China about new products.
[25:55] How customer feedback and (hackathon) research affect product development.
[27:43] The shift to empathetic mindsets in validation interviews involves understanding customers' pain points.
[28:48] Innovation is best achieved in environments where people are allowed to challenge the status quo.
[31:43] How Kapil's creative approach successfully stimulates innovation at Intel.
[34:59] Transferring business understanding upstream enables innovation in an ever-changing environment.
[37:03] Stimulating innovation and testing business cases early on encourages employees to be intrapreneurial.
[39:08] Kapil spends most of his time supporting the idea selection process—especially bootcamps and business pitches.
[40:15] Team coachability during bootcamps is an indicator of performance in the accelerator.
[41:15] Why has Intel's accelerator been successful and others' have not?
[42:21] The two factors Kapil attributes to the innovation program's overall success.
[44:12] Why a flexible attitude also matters.
[45:44] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: In addition to empathizing with clients, have empathy for your employees. Listen to their ideas. Give them a platform and an environment to play with their ideas. Enable them. Empower them and you can explore all types of innovation—moonshots and incremental and adjacent innovation.
RESOURCES
Kapil Kane on LinkedIn
Kapil Kane's podcast Between Two Friends
GrowthX's website
QUOTES
"Many times, the success rate is quite, quite small. I would say 10 to 15%, so not all projects you start in an accelerator will have an ending."
"In general, this pandemic I think has brought more opportunities for technology, especially in data centers, PC, and internet streaming."
"The cool thing is that not being in your headquartered country or the headquartered market, you have more chances to experiment."
"I think the definition of innovation is not limited to technology. When people hear innovation, they think new ideas are being built in a lab."
"You need to create real value from the innovation by landing those innovations into the market." | |||
| 145: Prithwiraj Choudhury - Designing Work Around People Not Places | 25 Apr 2025 | 00:42:06 | |
Prithwiraj 'Raj' Choudhury, Lumry Family Associate Professor at Harvard Business School, shares insights from years of research included in his newly released book "The World is Your Office: How Working from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity and Innovation". As a scholar of geography, talent, and innovation, Raj describes real world examples to illustrate how decoupling location from labor creates options and opportunities for employers and employees. He explains the economic benefits of 'working from anywhere' models for local communities. Raj emphasizes practical hybrid frameworks and team-based decision-making to unlock innovation, as well as AI and digital twins to offer more flexibility for all workers.
[01:40] Raj studies computer science and engineering but would have loved to study literature. [01:57] As a singer-songwriter, Raj discusses writing songs in Bangla and playing in a band. [02:47] Raj starting out at IBM and then starts consulting and travels the world. [03:19] Switching to academia give Raj flexibility and creativity to focus on research and poetry. [04:32] Raj becomes a migration scholar researching the match of distant talent with work.
[10:54] Raj stresses in-person connections so "working from anywhere" is often not working from home.
[12:50] Lower cost of living and greater community engagement make smaller cities attractive for remote talent. [13:51] Work from anywhere helps reverse brain drain as talent returns to or remains in smaller towns. [15:57] Raj frames three hybrid models for teams based on meeting frequency and venue flexibility explaining when "working from anywhere" is feasible. [19:33] Performance should be measured by work quality, not time, presence, or attendance.
[20:16] Managers remain essential for setting direction and motivating teams—not monitoring activity. [22:33] Managerial span of control can increase with remote tools, leading to leaner organizations. [24:46] Generative AI can codify individuals' knowledge into scalable personal bots. [25:27] AI-driven bots can extend a person's 'human capital' across time zones and workloads. [26:30] Questions arise about bot/IP ownership—e.g. who controls the bot if an employee changes jobs. [28:29] Bots can assist with non-personal tasks, but human connection remains essential for leaders.
[30:41] Raj emphasizes in-person gathering benefits rather than debating where events are organized. [31:20] Research shows people cluster by identity at in-person events unless serendipity is engineered. [32:09] Shared transportation like taxis can build bonds across silos and increase connection diversity. [33:23] "Virtual water cooler" meetings with senior leaders improved intern ratings—but bias remained. [35:40] Raj's book outlines Working from Anywhere: the business case, solutions for the challenges, and future possibilities. [36:27] Digital twins make work from anywhere possible for blue-collar roles such as in factories and hospitals. [37:30] Remote operation of facilities from centralized hubs is becoming feasible and more widespread. [38:40] Work from anywhere extends flexibility to all worker types, closing the white-blue collar divide.
[39:55] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Working from anywhere is the way to attract and retain talent nationally or globally. It's a talent strategy, not a work arrangement.
RESOURCES
Prithwiray Choudhury on LinkedIn
Choudhury's new book "The World is Your Office: How Working from Anywhere Boosts Talent, Productivity, and Innovation"
Research by Prithwiraj Choudhury
Phone-er Tare Pakhi song by Prithwiray Choudhury
Ekader Sohor song by Prithwiraj Choudhury
QUOTES
"Instead of moving the person, move the work. Let the person live where he, she or they want to live and just move the work to where the person is. So that's what I call 'Work from Anywhere'".
"Performance should only be measured based on the quality of work and nothing else. So how many days people work, how many hours they work, how many meetings they attend, how many times does the manager see their face? All of that is irrelevant."
"The manager should really matter in setting the high level policy, setting the goals of the quarter of the month. And then really inspiring people to bring the best out and mentoring and coaching them, and acting as a problem solver."
"Hybrid is a mix of work from anywhere days and in-person days. Work from anywhere and in-person being equally important…There are two decisions to make. The first decision is how frequently should they meet? Should they meet every week or once a month or once a quarter? And the other decision they need to make is the venue of meeting."
"I honestly feel that instead of telling the whole company that they need to do the same form of hybrid, every team should be left to its own devices to choose what works best for them."
"Working from anywhere is the way to attract and retain talent nationally or globally. It's a talent strategy, not a work arrangement."
"With AI and automation and digital twins, now it's possible to work from anywhere in a blue collar setting for factory workers, for folks working in a hospital or a warehouse and in a power plant or an energy rig. And so now this white collar/blue collar divide about work flexibility is going to get mitigated." | |||
| 37: Susan Inouye — The Great Resignation, Burnout, and How to Fix It | 11 Feb 2022 | 00:49:13 | |
Susan Inouye, CEO of the Inouye LoRe Group, is an executive coach, recognized expert with Millennials, and bestselling author of Leadership's Perfect Storm: What Millennials Are Teaching Us about Possibilities, Passion and Purpose. Susan brings her proven track record in transformational change to share insights about what matters most in all our working lives and how leaders can stop the burnout, stem the tide, and engage younger employees who are walking out.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:45] Susan's unusual transition towards coaching from the entertainment industry.
[03:18] How Susan was selected as a top coach to study with Tony Robbins.
[05:27] Transitioning to sales, Susan becomes the number one salesperson in 10 months.
[06:23] A friend insists Susan coach her and extraordinary financial success results.
[08:15] Susan is told coaching is her calling!
[09:30] Susan hits another ceiling and is advised to go out on her own
[10:49] How did Millennials became a focus of Susan's work.
[11:28] What understanding Millennials really entails.
[12:55] The impact of connected relationships for at-risk Millennial youth.
[14:58] What compelled Susan to write her book?
[16:45] Why is the Great Resignation happening?
[18:51] How people experience burnout.
[21:44] Why we didn't notice we were burning out until now.
[22:20] Why cultural values and issues are highlighted causing employees to reassess their employer.
[25:32] An employee exodus shock an employer.
[27:32] The three things Millennials want—that every human wants.
[29:39] Susan suggests simple solutions for improving connections.
[31:11] Leaders need to focus their people be role models.
[32:23] Understanding and orienting towards people's gifts generates energy and engagement.
[36:05] The benefit of understanding our blind spots.
[38:19] The benefit of working with gifts and blind spots and how to find your own.
[43:19] How to nurture and coach Millennials as our new and upcoming leaders.
[44:01] How Boomers are behind Millennials perspectives and actions.
[44:46] What legacy do Boomers and Gen Xers what to leave?
[45:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Connect and receive what others have to offer. Observe people, using the connection that you have to see their gifts, who they are in the world, and accept them for who they are.
[46:21] Many soft skills are rising to the top of the list for leaders.
RESOURCES
Susan Inouye on LinkedIn Susan Inouye on Twitter Susan's website Susan's book "Leadership's Perfect Storm: What Millennials are Teaching Us about Possibilities, Passion, and Purpose"
QUOTES
"When your calling hits you in the face, you kind of push it away. It took me three months [to accept it]."
"The number one reason employees are leaving is because of burn out."
"Gifts are what we were born naturally to bring into this world. It's what we do without thinking about it."
"We focused on his gifts, and his blind spots, and he started to become a better leader, better person. And he said, "Oh my gosh, my whole team changed because I changed."" | |||
| 36: Neil Miller — How A/Synchronous and Distributed Digitalized Work is Optimized | 28 Jan 2022 | 00:45:14 | |
Neil Miller, host of The Digital Workplace podcast, has been working remotely almost all his working life. Early years working overseas fostered his understanding of different work approaches and habits. Neil has significant expertise leading distributed teams, utilizing digital tools, and incorporating effective asynchronous work methods and practices, especially to reduce the number and length of meetings in order to improve performance.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:24] Neil explores different life and work options at the beginning of his career.
[03:57] Neil shares his early work experiences—challenges, observations, and learnings.
[05:29] How you ask "why?" more working in a different cultural environment.
[06:42] Neil discusses the realities of direct and indirect communication and power dynamics in different cultures.
[09:17] What it was like for Neil working remotely as his first work experience in the US.
[11:56] As the only remote worker to begin with, Neil felt he always had to be the one making the compromises working with in-person teams and how that motivated him.
[13:07] How Neil could sense when in-person visits were needed to reconnect with colleagues.
[14:05] Reactions to pandemic-related remote-working and desires to transition back to the office.
[15:44] In-person meetings were the over-used catch-all tool for collaboration.
[16:33] Digital work offers benefits of new workflow options, not replicating office-based work.
[17:26] How should we be thinking about meetings if we optimize with digital tools?
[19:05] Understanding asynchronous working, its benefits, and how to do it.
[21:56] If you could "hire" a meeting what would it's functionality and objective be?
[22:56] Opportunities and challenges for digital leaders: aligning channels, content, and timing.
[25:49] Top benefits of meetings working with distributed/hybrid teams.
[27:48] Neil shares his tips for collaboration and intentional serendipity.
[29:08] How employees with different personality types show up in meetings.
[29:55] The beneficial results from starting a collaboration and ending it 24 hours later.
[31:25] Using empathy to be an effective leader of a distributed team.
[32:48] How Neil is adjusting his work preferences while onboarding a new team member.
[34:31] Neil offers advice on how to bring a new employee up to speed on culture.
[35:46] Onboarding a new hire offers an opportunity to make, re-evaluate, and communicate promises to the team as well as share an updated operating guide.
[37:45] Neil recommends when low and high fidelity communications are best used by leaders.
[41:51] Neil has an assessment tool on his website that helps gauge your digital workplace score.
[42:54] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Look at the next meeting on your calendar and ask yourself "what part of the meeting could be done asynchronously or another way?"
RESOURCES Neil Miller on LinkedIn Neil Miller on Twitter The Digital Workplace website Digital Workplace assessment tool
QUOTES
"When you're in an office, the meeting is the catch-all tool for collaboration. We use it for all sorts of different purposes. When we transitioned to digital work, we carry that reliance on meetings over with us."
"Now I have eight ways that I can collaborate instead of just one, instead of just meetings."
"It's going to require a lot of digital fluency, a lot of intelligence about picking the right mediums."
"Think of a meeting like it's something you hire. So if I'm going to hire a meeting, what is it that I really want it to do? If I'm going to hire a meeting, I'm going hire it to build connection with people because a meeting's going do that much better than a text message going back and forth."
"Look at your schedule tomorrow, what part of that meeting do you think could be done asynchronously or could be done in another way? It just opens up a lot of good questions." | |||
| 35: David Nour — How Transforming Work Relationships Improves Outcomes | 14 Jan 2022 | 00:48:03 | |
David Nour, CEO of the Nour Group, brings his extensive expertise on applications of strategic business relationships to the challenges of 2022's marketplace uncertainties and work conditions. As a senior leadership and board advisor, educator, executive coach, and prolific, best-selling author, David shares his insights about the importance of reciprocity, empathy, and the exchange of value to transform our professional exchanges and develop mutually beneficial, rewarding, and deep long-term relationships.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:44] How David grew up in Iran and as a child was sent to live in the US with relatives.
[03:36] David learns about the value of nurturing relationships from his father early on.
[04:24] There is a different emphasis in business in the US compared to other countries.
[05:04] David went on a listening tour and learned what he really did well.
[06:00] What David sees as the problem with 'networking'.
[06:40] The role of trust in relationships.
[07:39] How planning and value exchange generate success in relationships.
[09:06] Matching the natural give and take of relationships.
[11:05] How empathy changes the relationship dynamic.
[11:29] The importance of asking good questions.
[12:07] Why it starts with "you" first.
[13:05] How are you showing up? How are people experiencing you?
[15:05] Have you considered why anyone would want to spend time with you?
[16:26] David emphasizes the significance of consistency in relationships.
[17:26] How you can add or offer value to someone else to build a relationship.
[19:44] What the Great Resignation is really about. [20:20] Which relationships are worth investing time in?
[22:07] How pushback is healthy for developing a strong relationship.
[23:55] The importance of aligned values.
[26:16] The benefit of jobs fitting people, not people fitting jobs.
[28:27] How are we defining and measuring success?
[30:30] The relationship dynamics of high-performing teams.
[34:17] Key elements David has updated in the new version of Relationship Economics.
[35:52] David's research into influencing without authority.
[38:44] Coping with the pandemic long-term.
[39:30] How David suggests everyone can get comfortable at in-person events.
[40:20] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Suspend judgment. Give people more options. Focus on three priorities. And ask more about people's wellbeing—but only if you care.
[41:16] What are the key questions to ask?
[42:37] Focus on fewer things. Add less to people's plates, not more.
[43:32] How to nurture your priority relationships.
[46:00] David advocates for micro communities and shares an invitation to join his private community.
RESOURCES
David Nour on LinkedIn David Nour on Twitter David Nour on Instagram The Nour Group website
QUOTES
"If you lead with the relationship, if you think about the relationship as the arrowhead, not as the feathers at the tail end of the arrow, you'll create a very different set of outcomes."
"In every interaction you have basically two options: You're either going to enhance, elevate, and amplify that relationship, your reputation, the perceived value in you, or you're going to dilute it."
"If you're not thinking 'what's in it for the other person?' you're missing half the value."
"You know what it takes to network? A pulse. You know what it takes to make relationships succeed? A plan."
"A certain does of respectful pushback is healthy for every relationship."
"Let's talk about this pandemic. I think the evolution or the nature of human species says, "We will adapt."" | |||
| 34: Sophie Wade - Essential Learnings from 2021: Emotions, Excuses, and Insights | 24 Dec 2021 | 00:27:12 | |
As we wrap up 2021, there is much that we can learn, benefit from, and use to our competitive advantage in preparing for 2022. Much has changed since the pandemic started and the recent past—how we operated and acted over the last twelve months—provides us with some of the only available insights into how things have changed and examples of what worked and didn't. Sophie discusses what we experienced in 2021 and areas to reflect upon. She also shares questions for you to think about to gather the insights you need to support your business's growth and success in the year ahead.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[01:46] We are ready to put 2021 behind us, just as with 2020, but we are in a better place.
[02:51] However, the lingering pandemic has taken a toll on our mental health.
[03:19] Dashed expectations contributed to spring-time burnout, how could well-being be better supported next year?
[04:22] How empathetic concern dropped off during 2021 despite ongoing challenges.
[05:14] After a rollercoaster year, we need to pay attention to emotions and practicing empathy.
[06:30] The majority of new business conditions and lasting operational changes result from digitization, accelerated by the pandemic.
[07:40] Reflection can draw out the insights we need to transform successfully for 2022.
[08:35] Excuses that block or stall change are understandable, but they prevent important progress.
[09:56] The purpose of workplace flexibility is not "letting people work remotely".
[10:42] There are many ways to give employees more control over how they accomplish their work.
[11:37] Offering equitable working arrangements does not mean employees all having identical options.
[12:29] Surveys help uncover suggestions from employees who know what flexibility they would like.
[13:14] A new work model will fail if leadership is not consistently committed to making it work.
[13:43] How employees act if they are engaged in their work—wherever they are working.
[14:31] Many people use those magically creative "water cooler" moments to insist on office-based work.
[15:41] The realities of creativity and serendipity and being proactive.
[16:52] Why every company needs to implement flexible work arrangements and manage differently.
[18:16] What the new "Project Economy" means regarding how we think about and organize work.
[19:20] Questions to assess 2021 project work methods at your company.
[20:43] How digitization has changed our understanding of business workflows and increased adaptability.
[21:42] Questions to assess how digitalization effected your company's ability to adapt in 2021.
[23:23] Why are we able now to have a better understanding of our individual preferences?
[23:57] Questions to draw insights from your 2021 work experiences to optimize future results.
[25:05] Critical benefits of recognizing and accommodating our own and coworkers' preferences.
[26:05] Where to focus useful retrospection to gain useful awareness and start 2022 off well!
RESOURCES
Sophie's articles and interviews about the Future of Work including hybrid working models and working preferences.
Sophie's new book Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work that will be released May 3, 2022.
QUOTES
"The purpose of hybrid work models is to improve employee engagement and performance"
"Success in the Future of Work has much to do with individuals and teams taking proactive measures." | |||
| 33: YuChiang Cheng — The Hybrid Customer Journey and Creating Compelling Experiences | 10 Dec 2021 | 00:42:54 | |
YuChiang Cheng is the Chief Product Officer of Zwift, an online global fitness platform for cyclists, runners, and triathletes. YuChiang has spent his career trying to understand how to create meaningful online and hybrid connections, communities, and experiences for customers. At Zwift, responsible for all aspects of the Customer Journey, YuChiang explains how they try to discover and satisfy their different customer groups' online and offline pain points, needs, and desires.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:46] YuChiang's career was determined by his interests and relationships.
[03:19] YuChiang's interest in people generated early exploration.
[03:55] How YuChiang dropped out of law school and joined the compliance department of a betting startup.
[05:15] Learning about customers' experiences and bridging real and virtual.
[06:18] How to bring older, less tech-savvy people online.
[07:22] YuChiang helps (gambling) regulators understand technology and online operations.
[09:11] The upside to studying law and philosophy is that you learn to ask a lot of questions.
[09:25] "What are you afraid of?" and other questions to expose risk and reduce volatility.
[10:39] The process of identifying the opportunity that developed into World Golf Tour.
[12:11] What the co-founders discovered to be the customers' core pain points.
[13:33] How YuChiang understands customers, what drives them, and prioritizes their needs.
[14:16] The two main gaps that World Golf Tour concept focused on—time and cost.
[16:44] How did YuChiang consciously build community into his company and user base?
[17:52] The ways they involved community members in shaping the experience.
[19:27] Top Golf and World Golf Tour were great complements, bridging physical and virtual.
[20:16] How Angry Birds fit into the golfing picture!
[21:45] What ways are best to connect or integrate real and virtual experiences and benefits?
[24:47] YuChiang describes Zwift's unique offering and what customers learn.
[26:11] On Zwift, you have your own progression system.
[27:00] More companies are incorporating gamification with real life benefits.
[31:19] How YuChiang understands passionate community groups and creating tools to enhance their experiences, especially in the metaverse.
[33:26] YuChiang programs virtual experiences like TV content segments.
[35:36] What Zwift is working on to attract, deliver, and become essential for all potential customers.
[37:32] Want to know your customers better? It starts with curiosity and conversations.
[38:01] YuChiang has merged experience with products—all part of the Customer Journey.
[40:00] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: It's a process and skill to create amazing customer experiences which starts with discovery and asking many questions. Once you have the data, don't be afraid. Try things incrementally and test them with actual customers.
RESOURCES
YuChiang Cheng on LinkedIn YuChiang Cheng on Twitter Zwift on Twitter - @GoZwift Zwift on Facebook - @gozwift Zwift on Instagram - @gozwift Zwift on YouTube - Zwift Zwift on LinkedIn - Zwift
QUOTES
"My process is really not that unique. It's going to talk to the customer. It's going to understand and ask questions about, you know, "What do you like? What do you not like? What do you hope? How would you describe this?" It's asking these questions hundreds and hundreds of times."
"Question I love to ask when trying to understand the consumer is, "What about the activity or the experience that you find the most delightful?" or "What is the thing that, if I took it away, the one thing that would cause you to quit?""
"At the end of the day, it's about having a constant curiosity about who your customers are, what do they really want, what are their behavior and motivations, and what are their pain points." | |||
| 32: Mikael Sorensen - How Decentralized Organizations Profit from a Human-Centric Approach | 26 Nov 2021 | 00:37:05 | |
Mikael Sorensen, the CEO of Handelsbanken UK, discusses the multinational bank's decentralized management system with a human-centric culture and core beliefs that drive value creation—emphasizing customers first and then branch employees. Mikael shares how the bank empowers and encourages front-line employees to make decisions and the critical importance of trust. He also emphasizes the necessity of taking a long-term perspective.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:56] Why Mikael first joined Handelsbanken.
[03:44] What was Mikael's initial experience of the bank.
[04:47] Why Handelsbanken's values are central to their culture and business model.
[05:41] How decentralization is the organizing principle of a human-centric business.
[06:45] It takes courage for leaders to "sit on their hands".
[08:08] What happens when people make mistakes?
[09:38] Handelsbanken's booklet "Our Way" is experienced by employees daily across the bank.
[13:14] How branch employees are valued and trusted exclusively to nurture customer relationships.
[15:04] Handelsbanken believes that people are naturally motivated.
[15:31] How bonuses can drive the wrong behavior, especially with financial products' risk profiles.
[16:44] The bank is driven by fulfilling customers' dreams.
[17:46] Handelsbanken has an equitable profit-sharing model.
[19:57] How turnover decreases the efficiency of an organization.
[20:45] Why low staff turnover increases customer satisfaction.
[22:08] The bank has a flat structure and encourages generalists.
[23:41] How talent mobility allows employees to revisit customer-facing roles. [25:27] Handelsbanken's recruitment process takes time to ensure there is a good fit.
[27:29] What middle managers may find hard in adapting to Handelsbanken's system.
[28:54] Not many people are natural leaders or managers—it comes from experience and being coached.
[31:03] Other organizations can benefit from Handelsbanken's approach to trust and dare!
[32:14] Why other companies haven't succeeded when adopting Handelsbanken's business model.
[34:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Think about your fundamental beliefs about human behavior--how we interact with each other, what drives us, and motivates us. Plus take the long-term view, not short-cuts, to ensure your business is around another 10 or even 100 years!
RESOURCES
Mikael Sorensen on LinkedIn Handelsbanken UK's website Handelsbanken on Twitter
QUOTES
"We really do believe that most people want to do good things."
"Fundamental belief in human nature leads to trust in and respect for the individual—that being the customer or the staff."
"If you empower people to take their own decisions, then you have to encourage them also to use that empowerment."
"We don't believe that we need to motivate people. They are motivated by nature and the worst thing you can do is try and interfere with that natural motivation."
"Everything we do is with a long-term perspective. If you start taking a short-term view or take short cuts then there's no guarantee that you will be here 10 years from now or 100 years from now. But we want to be here." | |||
| 31: Gena Cox — Inclusive Employee Experiences Start with Leaders | 12 Nov 2021 | 00:46:39 | |
Gena Cox, Founder and CEO of Feels Human, is an industrial/organizational psychologist with expertise in measuring and supporting inclusive behaviors. She works with companies to build inclusive organizational cultures. Gena has deep understanding about human dynamics in the workplace and the critical role leaders play. This episode is how to create engaging and inclusive employee experiences which leaders are responsible for.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[2:57] How Gena got into industrial/organizational psychology.
[04:25] The odd subordination of the human element in business to the operational system.
[5:45] Gena's positive early experience working at a company with a very purpose-built culture.
[07:03] How assessment and evaluation systems are inequitably applied.
[07:44] Leadership became Gena's focus, recognizing the impact individual managers have.
[09:06] How Gena used her expertise in measuring employee opinions and employee experience at IBM.
[10:57] Navigating the ethical challenges associated with using artificial intelligence.
[12:40] Have you ever done an online search for 'thought leader'? What comes up?
[15:18] Evaluating organizational effectiveness—measuring and identifying what's missing?
[16:02] To improve productivity, organizations need to accept the criticality of managers' behaviors.
[17:30] The (discounted) importance of human experience in the creation of business value.
[19:20] What happens when employees aren't included and asked for their inputs.
[21:30] Why haven't soft skills been emphasized in the workplace?
[22:35] How leaders study leadership but are not trained how to lead.
[26:20] The importance of psychological safety in effective teamwork.
[27:10] Most managers don't feel safe to ask for help, setting them up for failure.
[28:30] Gena describes her unexpected experiences arriving in US for the first time at 20 years old as a person of color.
[31:34] How Gena's experiences influenced her work as an I/O psychologist advising leaders.
[32:30] The problems with finding distinctions and sifting data—especially when insights are held back as leaders do not want to hear them.
[34:08] Who leaders should ask for valuable advice from.
[35:55] George Floyd's murder caused Gena to recognize that she had been being fake.
[36:40] How and why Gena is now combining her I/O expertise and personal and observed experiences to share understanding and insights about inclusion with leaders.
[38:09] Stories from Gena's childhood growing up in Barbados and the United Kingdom growing up.
[40:58] How to create an environment where everyone can flourish.
[42:33] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Inclusion starts at the top, as a leader be convincing in articulating why it matters, establish expectations of behavior, and hold managers accountable.
[44:17] Does Gena feel discouraged?
RESOURCES
Gena Cox on LinkedIn Gena Cox on Twitter Leadership Reckoning by Thomas Kolditz PhD, Libby Gill and Ryan Brown PhD Five Strategies to Infuse D&I into your organization by Gena Cox and David Lancefield
QUOTES
"Industrial organizational psychology has always been about that human element."
"We found in our research pretty consistently that it's really the manager that is at the core of the employee experience."
"I would outlaw the use of the word soft skills. What I take that to mean is that the human experience is lesser than all of these other experiences that go into the creation of 'the thing.'"
"In the context of leadership, it always includes the human experience."
"I'm trying to shed light on the leader's role and creating an environment in which all of us can flourish." | |||
| 30. Matthias Hollwich — The Office of the Future — Shaping a More Human Experience | 29 Oct 2021 | 00:48:24 | |
Matthias Hollwich, Founder of HKWN Architecture, has long focused on designing buildings that foster human connection and generate positive emotions and memories. He describes his vision for the office of the future designed to create a more human experience, recognizing the cadence of workers' emotions, tasks, and other needs during the course of their workdays. Matthias explains how these offices will lure people back and support positive and productive experiences and interactions.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[2:55] Matthias did not originally anticipate being an architect.
[05:00] One of Matthias' high school teachers unwittingly set him on the path to New York.
[8:00] Why Rem Koolhaas is such an inspirational architect for Matthias.
[10:48] Matthias wanted to understand how buildings made people feel.
[13:20] Taking part in a major competition Matthias' team's submission was a surprise last minute combination of ideas.
[15:02] How people connected emotionally with 'Wendy' their winning submission.
[16:03] Memories are generated by a combination of familiarity, emotions, and novelty.
[18:22] Architects were first to recognize that we need more than just cubicles and conference rooms at the office.
[20:07] How can we lure people back to the office? We don't want to force them back.
[21:48] For Matthias, the future office environment "resorting" comes from three mega trends: hub and spoke, hoteling, and longevity.
[23:45] Matthias just won a competition to create the first ever "work resort' in the world and explains the goal.
[26:22] Typical resorts create experiences. What would the work resort experience be like?
[29:38] How the economics can make creating a work resort effective and affordable.
[32:10] Matthias describes the buildings with personalities that visitors can interact with at the upcoming exhibition in Berlin.
[34:31] People have agency in shaping their living and working environments.
[36:35] Why did Matthias write a book about living smarter as we get older?
[37:55] Matthias recommends visiting an assisted living facility or a nursing home for a day.
[40:00] How do you design buildings with an older person in mind?
[42:15] At each age milestone, do a review of where and how you live and look ahead. How will your environment suit your needs in the future?
[47:45] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Walk around your local environment, single out a building and consider what you like about it and how you would change it. You are the user, you are in charge!
RESOURCES
Matthias Hollwich on LinkedIn Matthias Hollwich on Twitter New Aging: Live Smarter Now to Live Better Forever by Matthias Hollwich
QUOTES
"We did not create architecture, we created memories. And that was for me the big paradigm change."
"If you can create something so emotional that people connect to, it's magic that we can give to people. Suddenly they don't respond to that object anymore, it has a personality."
"When emotions are involved in your experience, it goes from short-term memory into the long-term memory."
"Now we can actually design buildings that really make it attractive for people to come there and have an incredible experience, which is about the corporate culture, the community and the experiences."
"Shape Tomorrow really is an invitation to interact with us as architects, so that people realize they have a lot of power in shaping their own environments."
"You have to look through the lens of older people, to be able to design things [for them]. So you have to really put yourself into the shoes of an older person."
"As the user, you're in charge, and you have the right to live in a city that serves you well." | |||
| 29. Lisa Morton - How Purpose and Values Make a Difference in Business | 15 Oct 2021 | 00:40:22 | |
Lisa Morton, CEO of Roland Dransfield, founded her PR agency in Manchester, England, combining entrepreneurial spirit, Northern grit, purpose, and values to build her company and expand nationally and internationally. Lisa explains her intentional emphasis on purpose and living her values daily which has been core for attracting and retaining clients and employees, while guiding all their actions and decisions. She also shares what happens when values are not clearly defined and how they have benefitted from setting boundaries.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:50] Who was Roland Dransfield and how was he relevant to Lisa's business?
[03:46] Lisa's father great saying about cars and baked beans!
[04:16] How Roland Dransfield started Lisa off as an entrepreneur.
[05:54] Circumstances were not easy when Lisa started her company.
[07:34] A dramatic incident impacted the purpose and role of Roland Dransfield early on.
[08:53] Manchester has changed significantly since Lisa first started her career.
[10:19] How purpose is manifested for employees coming to work at the agency.
[12:15] Lisa's approach to mutually enriching development and progress.
[13:20] The celebration dinner for Roland Dransfield alumni.
[14:21] What happens when values do not have defining boundaries?
[15:54] Lisa set hard lines to achieve alignment and expected some people to resign.
[17:16] How they explored values—finding out which values resonated most.
[18:20] What they did once new values were agreed to integrate them effectively.
[18:49] Exploring Greater Manchunian values through their podcast "We Built This City"
[19:29] Values are lived actively—one is selected and reinforced every week.
[20:44] Lisa confirms potential new clients' values before agreeing to work with them.
[21:33] How their value "Admit it, fix it, move on" helps them improve.
[22:08] How BrewDog admitted their mistakes and made amends and why other companies don't.
[24:17] After finding disconnected values were really upsetting her team, Lisa resigned a client project.
[26:31] The positive outcomes after Lisa took this difficult step.
[28:08] How new recruits connect with the company values.
[29:40] Purpose helps retention and values provide protection.
[31:04] Why Lisa feels pro bono work is important.
[32:14] Are the agency's values manifested differently in London and Los Angeles?
[35:26] How do boundaries make it easier when things are really tough?
[36:25] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – Take time out to work on your values. Write them down, do some iterations and consider how to integrate them into your life.
RESOURCES
Roland Dransfield on Instagram
QUOTES
"My dad always used to say, 'if business is going well, have a great car and eat baked beans. And if business is going badly, have a great car and eat baked beans."
"We will hope to make your lives better in terms of your personal professional development, and we want you to help us make our platform even richer."
"You wouldn't come and join Roland Dransfield if purpose wasn't at your heart, or if you didn't feel you wanted to be part of a purpose driven organization."
"I want to know—for a 21 year old who's coming into this business—what's important to you? What does work need to look like for you? What gets you out of bed in the morning?"
"What we don't want to be as individuals or an organization that just goes through life using all the resources around us. Our platform as people and as a business needs to use the platform to create more resources. So we go out having left more than we've taken out."
"Having put that values piece in has helped me to create space for myself as a mom, as a business person, as a friend, and as a leader." | |||
| 28. Jeremy Fleming - Shifting Skills and Scope for Growth and Resilience | 08 Oct 2021 | 00:41:57 | |
Jeremy Fleming, the Founder and CEO of Stagekings, discusses how he evolved and grew the Australian event and theater staging business after a necessary radical pivot at the beginning of the pandemic. Re-applying everyone's crafts' skills to design, develop, sell, and distribute innovative desks, they engaged new customers online and used feedback to help expand the product range. Jeremy also shares how encouraging people to work across all areas of the business as well as diversifying revenue and vertically integrating is creating resiliency to ensure the company's ongoing stability and success.
[02:57] How Jeremy started his career in bridge carpentry and scaffolding.
[04:11] Jeremy brought his event staging experience from Europe to launch Stagekings in 2015.
[05:52] Versatile use of their skills expanded services into building theater sets and whole theaters.
[06:52] Jeremy's scaffolding and event experience and innovative approach enabled rapid assembly and dismantling.
[08:07] Friday March 13th 2020: Devastating news for Stagekings' business.
[10:03] Friday March 20th: Jeremy's difficult decision to let employees go after exhausting all options.
[11:58] How chatting with a former employee seeded the idea of creating desks for people working from home.
[12:22] Sunday March 22nd: Mick's furniture-making hobby and skills are engaged to explore desk ideas.
[13:13] Unique desk designs: no-tool quick assembly/disassembly, one packs flat for easy storage.
[14:15] Monday March 23rd: The business now needs ecommerce to sell the new desk products online.
[15:18] How Jeremy's frank letter shared on social channels to market their desks goes viral.
[16:11] Tuesday March 24th: StageKings' former employees are called back to work!
[16:55] Stagekings hires more people as the demand for IsoKing desks grows.
[18:25] New desk designs and other products are added as the business expands rapidly.
[19:19] Customers enjoy receiving desks delivered by entertainment event roadies.
[20:07] The product line expands driven by 'community-led innovation' with surprising requests!
[23:01] Stagekings consolidates IsoKings' products and operations after rapid first year growth.
[24:27] A new brand of at-home furniture is launched as well as IsoKing becoming its own brand.
[26:42] With continuing uncertainties, the focus becomes establishing more income streams.
[27:58] Vertical integration enables Stagekings to broaden their offering and customer base.
[30:55] Jeremy attributes their success to the team, their adaptability, and positive attitudes.
[34:02] How Stagekings gives back to the event industry, supporting unemployed event workers.
[34:59] Discussing the challenges for freelance workers during the pandemic.
[37:02] The optimism Jeremy has about 2022 for Stagekings across market segments.
[37:39] What flexible approaches to work and encouraging employees to move around business areas means for them and the company.
[39:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you have an idea, go for it. And it doesn't have to be massive steps. Small, consistent steps will get you much further.
RESOURCES
Jeremy Fleming on LinkedIn Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink Supportact.org.au/get-help/crisis-relief-grants Jeremy Fleming's website
QUOTES
"There's a time when the show must go on—and wherever we're up to, that's where it is when it happens!"
"We called it community-led innovation, where it was the community telling us what they wanted, and we'd design it."
"Out of anything bad, something good will come, and you need to work on that. Don't focus on the bad, focus on the good that'll come from it."
"It's real event mentality—problems are going to come up, and you're just going to deal with them, you've still got to get through it."
"We lost all of our work, what can we do? What can we do? Yeah, there's something you can do."
"I've really focused over the whole of the last 18 months on establishing more pillars of income."
"I think that's what people like about it here—it's that nothing is every the same!"
"The big thing for me is if people have an idea, just really go for it."
| |||
| 144: Kamber Parker Bowden - Adapting Leadership for the Modern Multigenerational Workforce | 10 Apr 2025 | 00:47:13 | |
Kamber Parker Bowden, Founder and CEO of Generational Performance Solutions, explains how leadership must evolve to integrate a multigenerational workforce in modern work environments. Kamber shares research insights and her personal journey that sparked her focus on closing workforce gaps and fostering cross-generational collaboration. To bridge differences, Kamber emphasizes clear communication, setting expectations, and empathy. She explores how different generations value flexibility, entrepreneurship trends, and side hustles' appeal for younger workers. Kamber recommends building trust and supporting internal growth pathways to engage and retain younger talent.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[01:42] Kamber shares her early dream of becoming a broadcast journalist before shifting paths. [03:32] Kamber's first job in corporate insurance proves to be a poor fit and she doesn't stay long.
[04:24] Many of Kamber's friends also leave their jobs after 18 months or less—why? [05:41] Common narratives of starting work after college and climbing the corporate ladder. [06:33] Lack of clear expectations and poor communication emerge as key reasons for early exits. [07:16] Despite good salary and benefits, Kamber leaves because of poor mental, physical and emotional health. [08:03] Taking a pay cut at a nonprofit which offers flexibility, Kamber develops her business on the side. [09:30] Companies often focus heavily on recruitment while neglecting retention and development. [13:48] Check which generational research to trust.
[14:39] The issues of skills gaps as skills not being transferred sufficiently from experienced workers. [15:14] A feature of modern work is Gen Zs' interest in side hustles and the Creator Economy. [17:31] The current lack of trust in the establishment and younger employees' desire for fulfilling work. [18:24] Job satisfaction and career growth outweigh stability and recruiters become more aggressive. [19:36] How can organizations cultivate opportunities to entice younger employees to stay?
[23:08] Millennials have a unique position understanding both older generations and Gen Zers. [23:51] Millennials reject being grouped with Generation Z. [24:23] Micro-generational differences shape unique experiences and perspectives. [25:01] "Entitlement" is best understood through generational context and upbringing. [26:45] Gen Z seeks in-person connection; Millennials look for flexibility and remote work. [28:06] Communication breakdowns arise when expectations go unspoken or unmet. [30:46] Data helps leaders understand generational change, trends, and frustrations. [31:56] Kamber asks leaders to consider the risks of falling behind if they resist adapting to change.
[32:57] The importance of understanding senior professionals as well as younger workers. [34:38] Helping young and emerging leaders build bidirectional communication skills.
[35:45] Recognizing people as individuals with different communication styles. [36:10] Kamber trains on respectful tech mentoring and basic professionalism. [37:42] Trust starts with understanding each team member's communication preferences. [38:24] Asking about preferred communication methods can transform team dynamics. [40:03] Generation Z's ideas of professional dress vary widely, so clarity is essential. [41:10] Kamber suggests sharing dress codes during hiring to avoid judgments and misunderstandings. [44:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: "To improve how you lead a multi-generational team, build trust, set clear expectations, and ask your team their top communication style."
RESOURCES
Kamber Parker Bowden on LinkedIn Generational Performance Solutions website
QUOTES
"So many companies put so much effort into the recruiting and not as much on the growth, the development, the retention, the activation of talent."
"We rarely talk to any young professionals that either don't have a side hustle or don't have that interest."
"Trust is broken or never even begun. When there is a lack of clear expectations, when there is a misunderstanding, that typically leads to some type of disconnect. How you bridge that is truly through understanding how people communicate."
"If somebody is not fulfilled, even if they're getting paid what they want to get paid, but they're not fulfilled in other ways and there aren't growth opportunities, they will leave."
"We have to be what I like to call 'generationally curious' and I think that's a true leadership skillset."
"And I always ask [leaders] 'what happens if you don't?' Things are not changing, they've already changed. And so are you going to be ahead of the curve? Are you going to be ahead of your peers or are you going to kind of sit back and see what happens and then risk being farther behind in 10 years? And usually that snaps them into attention." | |||
| 27. Laurel Farrer - Remote & Hybrid Models – Realities, Recommendations, Rewards, & Risks | 17 Sep 2021 | 00:37:13 | |
Laurel Farrer, Founder and CEO of Distribute Consulting—a virtual organizational development consulting firm, is well aware of the rewards of transitioning long-term to remote working, and the risks, especially with hybrid models. As a 15-year seasoned remote worker, Laurel has identified the key factors that are critical for success and benchmarking goals for healthy virtual organizations. She shares her experiences, insights, and cautions as we all work through our inevitable, work-related transformations.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[04:02] Laurel's accidental exposure to remote working and her early experiences.
[07:43] The primary barrier to success was credibility.
[08:21] Determination to overcome the credibility gap fueled her company's internal culture development.
[09:46] The benefits of facilitator in virtual discussions, especially for brainstorming including introverts and extroverts.
[10:53] How asynchronous communications and pre-work boosts collaboration and outcomes.
[12:29] Laurel works on benchmarking to develop goals for healthy virtual organizations.
[13:48] How to navigate the challenges as we explore new work arrangements.
[14:37] The importance of balance and transparent communication.
[15:29] Companies with economic challenges in offering work from home options benefit from explaining the situation to their employees.
[18:17] Company culture is impacting the management process because it takes time to develop a strong culture.
[21:03] Culture is one the six pillars of Laurel's company's methodology.
[21:21] Training is key for remote workers to be equipped as successful self-managers.
[22:11] Managers need training to be able to manage people they can't see—replacing supervising with support and encouragement.
[23:14] The difference between deliverables and results and the importance of tracking both.
[25:15] How a knowledge management system unifies a team to streamline communication and collaboration.
[26:16] Virtual infrastructure encompasses documenting culture and workflows with virtual handbooks.
[27:01] Compliance is a major issue - we haven't yet achieved operational models for location irrelevancy yet.
[28:16] Understanding what you are getting into is essential.
[29:05] When we were forced to work remotely, it was an emergency not a long-term plan—which are two very different things.
[30:52] Hybrid teams are complicated. The risks and rewards of hybrid work models.
[32:15] The ultimate goal is to be operating as location irrelevant as possible, but we have not broken our habits enough as organizations.
[34:09] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Communicate! Employers and employees need to be talking and listening to each other! Together you can work out how to unleash the power of remote work for your specific and unique organization and organizational culture.
[34:34] Remember, remote work is not a one-size fits all.
[35:23] Go at your own pace—if some people are stressed and resistant, slow it down.
RESOURCES
Laurel Farrer on LinkedIn
QUOTES
"We also leveraged asynchronous communication. So everybody always felt safe in the systems."
"What is the checklist of things that I have to do in order to be better? That doesn't exist for virtual organizational development. It doesn't exist necessarily for remote work at all."
"We really need to figure out how to communicate as transparently as possible about why decisions are being made the way that they are."
"You might have those cat posters on the wall that say you're humble and that you're innovative and that you're adaptable, but are you really?"
"We need to be able to create space to measure and track all types of outcomes, all types of diverse productivity as opposed to just deliverables."
"We haven't yet achieved operational models for location irrelevancy yet."
"There are so many organizations that say, "No, it's not possible. Everyone come back to the office." And it is possible. You just need to know what to do."
"We haven't broken habits enough to have location irrelevant mindsets yet so naturally we are dividing people by location which is going to be problematic as we try to move forward as a unified team." | |||
| 26. Ramon Ray - The Empathy Factor Driving Small Business Success in the New Era of Work | 27 Aug 2021 | 00:37:48 | |
Ramon Ray, founder of SmartHustle.com, has been involved in the small business sector for over twenty years as a serial entrepreneur, podcast host, author, and expert advocating for small business success. As a vocal participant and active contributor, he helps small businesses adapt to new marketplace dynamics—from developing meaningful client relationships to motivating and supporting employees. He shares five priorities to focus on and the strategic importance of empathy.
TAKEAWAYS
[02:27] How Ramon's experience working at the UN was the embryonic beginning of his focus on entrepreneurship and small businesses.
[03:56] Technology advice and understanding have been core to Ramon's support to small businesses growth which has evolved with platform, application, and digital media advances.
[05:41] Ramon bridges the chasm between small emerging businesses and large tech companies trying to reach them—their empathy factor and influencer.
[08:36] Five priorities for small businesses to focus on to transform for the new era of work.
[11:34] How empathy came to the forefront for Ramon in 2020 as many significant events occurred.
[13;16] What it means to wear someone else's shoes—in life and when offering business advice.
[14:59] Empathy can mean recognizing but not agreeing with another person's perspective.
[16:14] Ramon encouraged a client to empathize with him, facilitating an effective way to work together.
[17:46] Understanding and fulfilling your own needs as well as supporting others during tough times.
[19:51] The power of contentment to appreciate the positive aspects of your situation.
[22:35] How empathy is particularly important now to bridge differences, connect with more people, and mitigate our more insular situations due to COVID19 restrictions.
[24:02] Managing differently in small companies to adjust to a less predictable marketplace while staying profitable—being more transparent, flexible, and supportive with employees.
[26:57] The reciprocal benefits of empathy, trust, and communication especially in changing conditions.
[27:56] Ramon shares the challenges of his kids—navigating work as a recent graduate and coping with very restrictive situations overseas during the pandemic.
[30:02] Wondering about new labor market entrants learning new work conditions as the standard.
[31:13] Aligned intention, shared values, and empathetic understanding with customers promotes strong relationships.
[34:33] The benefit of clients recognizing you for who you are!
[36:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Encourage and care about people. Be empathetic. Build and focus on your personal brand. Don't be afraid to amplify who are you—in an empathetic way!
RESOURCES
Ramon Ray on LinkedIn Ramon Ray on Twitter Ramon Ray on Facebook Ramon Ray on Instagram Ramon Ray's video "I'll Wear Your Shoes" Ramon Ray's latest book "Celebrity CEO"
QUOTES
"We cannot predict the future. Be comfortable with that."
"It comes to the human dimensions, right? That make the biggest difference."
"It's not just shooting the target. 60% of it is mindset."
"Somebody reading this may want to do it a different way. That's okay."
"We all need someone to reach out to us. It's not a business thing. I go on WhatsApp once a week and send a message to 10-15 people and let them know I care."
"I understand the broad strokes of your company [and your values], now unleash me and let me do what I do."
"Don't be afraid to amplify who you are." | |||
| 25. Sacha Connor — How to Succeed as a Remote Leader: Include, Innovate, & Iterate | 23 Jul 2021 | 00:52:58 | |
Sacha Connor—Founder and CEO of Virtual Work Insider—was a remote work pioneer for The Clorox Company. Sacha explains how she transitioned to working 3000 miles away from HQ for eight years and became the first fully remote member of the Leadership Team of a $1 billion division. Sacha shares how processes were reimagined, what issues arose, what solutions were developed, as well as surprising benefits gained along the way.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:50] Sacha discusses her career in marketing.
[05:28] Why Sacha chose to go remote and move 3000 miles away from her company HQ.
[06:29] How Sacha planted seeds over time to get agreement to work remotely as an experiment.
[08:32] A trusted relationship laid the foundation for constructive conversations about how it could work.
[09:29] How Sacha was allowed to lead an innovation team remotely.
[10:43] The three major career limitations that were initially part of Sacha's remote arrangement.
[11:26] How risk was assessed in allowing this remote experiment.
[12:15] Potential was initially linked to promotability which was tied to location.
[12:38] How acceptance was enabled by The Clorox Company's existing performance management system which tracked her defined and detailed objectives and measured her success.
[13:55] Surveys allowed Sacha to monitor team sentiment and development of trusting relationships that were important for virtual collaboration.
[14:40] What were some of the challenges and benefits of remote working across time zones?
[15:50] How to work effectively with new team members.
[17:27] Sacha's steep learning curve and technology challenges in 2010.
[20:19] Adapting workflow for a distributed innovation team.
[21:54] Sharing experiences, learnings, and resources improved effectiveness.
[22:24] How the Employee Resource Group for remote workers helped employees bridge gaps between office locations too.
[23:40] Sacha became an influential pioneer regarding Future of Work adaptations at a 100-year old organization.
[25:06] Definitions of workplace flexibility, hybrid models and working, and remote working.
[26:47] 'Virtual' used as a term to encompass work and relationships across locations.
[28:51] Myth #1: The 'magic' generated by chance office encounters does not happen in virtual environments.
[31:03] Intentionally establishing rituals to create the interactions that enable creativity, influence, problem-solving, and ideation for virtual and multi-office workers.
[32:58] The importance of stimulating intersections of people across divisions and networks.
[34:05] Myth #2: Brainstorming effectively is not possible in virtual environments.
[36:09] Unintended (beneficial) consequences of new processes for virtual brainstorming.
[38:35] Hybrid meetings: reducing the challenges and biases, and improving inclusiveness requires facilitation and conscious action.
[40:10] The impact of a 'virtual-first' work approach and being intentional about how work is done.
[44:05] Whatever workforce and workplace strategies companies are working on now are not the final answer—it takes a flexible and iterative approach.
[45:21] It takes an infinite mindset to tackle the Future of Work—with each organization iterating and adjusting as they go.
[47:15] Everyone needs to upskill for new work circumstances and learning virtual leadership skills, whatever role employees are in.
[48:30] More areas to emphasize to enhance virtual work—setting expectations clearly; building relationships; fostering a culture of trust and inclusion; having the right technology tools; and teaching how to use the tools.
[49:05] Empathy is key for understanding each other beyond the virtual curtains between people and other 'soft' skills which are critical.
[50:42] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Have empathy for yourself and others in order to be able to adjust and iterate and make this next transition. Everyone is at a different stage and comfort level about what's next.
RESOURCES
Sacha Connor on LinkedIn
Sacha Connor on Twitter
Special resources available for podcast listeners '10 Tips from 10 Years of Remote Work' and 'Hybrid Work Kickstarter Toolkit'
The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures by Frans Johansson
The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek
QUOTES
"Do we want to live near the careers that we love or near the people that we love?"
"They trusted me and trust is a huge component with remote work. They knew I was dedicated."
"Innovation felt like one step removed from the risk (of being remote) because it was something that we were preparing for the future."
"Potential was linked to promotability which was linked to location."
"You think about measuring performance. You need to have that in place whether you're located together or not."
"The seemingly innocuous moments that happen on the way to the elevator, they're actually moments of influence. They're moments of problem-solving, connection, and idea generation." | |||
| 24. Neil Bedwell — Marketing Internally to Effect Change, with Empathy | 25 Jun 2021 | 00:42:54 | |
This episode is about using sophisticated traditional marketing techniques to transform employees' apathy and ambivalence into engagement and enable change initiatives to succeed. Neil Bedwell is a Founding Partner of LOCAL where he applies his extensive expertise in consumer marketing to internal corporate audiences to effect lasting change. The key is understanding how culture impacts new initiatives from ideation through development and execution. Neil explains what marketing techniques are core to LOCAL's effective 'Change Marketing™'.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:49] How Neil fell into marketing.
[04:49] Realizing the effect of corporate culture on ideas as they are developed.
[7:10] In big organizations, it is a challenge not to weaken ideas as they become more complex, trying to solve additional asks.
[10:06] Neil shifts to marketing to employees, founding LOCAL with two partners.
[11:00] What is 'marketing' and what is 'Change Marketing'™?
[12:08] Why knowledge about your employees is a central sources of competitive advantage.
[13:30] Understanding the dire effect of unengaged employees on your business.
[14:33] Insights—Why Neil believes listening to employees is the difference between success and failure.
[15:23] Narrative—Change is a journey with employees as the heroes of the story.
[16:40] Helping people understand every step of transformative change by taking them along the storytelling journey.
[17:26] Craft—creating the quality of messaging to the win attention of employees.
[19:29] The significance of employees' participation in change initiatives.
[20:17] What stories can fill the void if companies don't communicate to their employees.
[21:32] How culture allows new initiatives to survive or die.
[21:57] Culture is created by your people, not you as a leader.
[22:42] How to influence employees by listening and crafting an intentional story.
[23:40] How to craft a story that is going to resonate with each employee.
[25:52] The meaningful role of a company's 'Believers'.
[26:46] Who influences the 'Swayables' in the middle?
[27:21] How to shift the norms within a company.
[30:30] The level of empathy in your company's culture has determined resilience to disruption.
[32:36] Talented people are moving to cultures that have natural empathy built in.
[33:33] What it takes to foster, strengthen, and maintain a culture.
[34:10] Being in one place together used to be a key part of cultural 'glue'.
[35:25] How cultural 'cyclones' can be developed away from the corporate hub and help solve the problem of cultural dilution.
[37:54] The powerful 'Infinity Loop': two connected halves—the customer and employee experiences.
[39:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The Assumption Problem – Marketers don't assume anything. Start with employees' apathy and ambivalence. You have to earn their caring and their belief.
RESOURCES
Neil Bedwell on LinkedIn
LOCAL on LinkedIn
Neil Bedwell on Twitter — @Neilbedwell
LOCAL on Twitter - @insidelocal
QUOTES
"I'm a big believer that people shouldn't have one career, that you should have as many different careers as you can."
"Culture is what allows things to survive or die."
"It doesn't matter how helpful your idea is, if you don't actually think about how it travels through culture, you're likely going to lose that battle."
"Marketing is 'the orientation of everything you do around your audience.'"
"Around 2/3 of adults in the US are disengaged at work. They are unhappy, miserable, with the thing they spend half their waking life doing."
"If you're not listening to your employees and understanding how they think and feel, you are in danger of not understanding the impact of that disengagement."
"Disengagement hampers innovation, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, customer service, the quality of your products, etc. Anything that you attribute to growth can be linked back to employee engagement."
"Two thirds of those [change] initiatives require significant employee behavior change in order to succeed."
"Smart talented folks are voting with their feet…they are seeking out those culture that have natural empathy built in." | |||
| 23. Paul Reid — Triggering Trust and Engagement through Anonymity and Action | 28 May 2021 | 00:46:31 | |
Paul Reid is the CEO and Founder of Trickle and a serial entrepreneur. He shares how his early employment experiences taught him to build trust-based, thriving cultures at his first two start-ups. Now, these learnings have been encoded into the software that powers his latest venture, Trickle. Trust—which is key for employee engagement, effective communication, and collaboration—is generally earned, slowly. However, Paul explains how to generate trusting relationships more quickly through a purposeful combination of anonymity and action, supplemented by transparency.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[04:00] Paul's first work experience at a tech start-up and the work conditions for employees.
[06:05] How Paul tried to solve employees' issues by sharing anonymous data.
[07:18] The surprising response he got from the company's founders.
[08:34] The recurring process established to fix the problems and its impact on the culture.
[10:12] How important was the co-founders' role in the process?
[11:15] Paul's first venture—a tech start-up that focused on feedback and open discussion to create a high-performance culture.
[13:15] Recruiting software engineers and then setting them free to do the right thing.
[14:22] As a business scales up, how trust can be sustained.
[15:09] The 'Broken Windows' criminology study of derelict buildings and what it signals.
[17:00] The benefit of Trickle's internal 'broken window sessions'.
[18:25] How do you 'trigger' trust in a company, enabling it to build quickly?
[19:00] Psychological safety is a huge component of a highly-functioning team. How do you cultivate that? People feel they can speak up without fear of negative consequences.
[20:18] Why Trickle doesn't record anything if someone wants to contribute anonymously.
[21:14] Action must follow quickly after listening to employees. If you survey employees, it is important to show them progress is being made based on their feedback.
[22:01] Trickle's effectiveness is based on tying engagement to the actual issues.
[22:58] Why Trickle focuses on introducing three things: inclusivity, transparency, and agility.
[23:25] As trust builds within an organization, many employees start to feel comfortable enough to submit feedback without being anonymous.
[25:05] How champions spend five minutes a day to support habit-forming.
[27:19] Due to the pandemic, people were afraid to ask doctors how they were doing, so Trickle added a feature to check in with them and gathered insights to help improve their well-being.
[31:20] How Trickle helps nudge people to establish new habits—e.g. sending a fist-bump!
[32:35] Why the sign of a healthy organization is engagement with a rolling cadence responding to issues of interest to talk about.
[33:45] The three stages of check-ins to engage employees feedback on key issues.
[35:16] What will happen when people go back into the office and how can Trickle help?
[36:23] How transparency is always a key theme for Trickle.
[36:51] Why not to fear anonymity – it helps more people engage in and contribute on key issues.
[37:47] The hybrid model that Paul anticipates for Trickle going forward and why.
[38:58] What is Paul's onboarding process like, especially sharing the company's culture?
[41:52] How Paul helps employees speak up during uncertain times and Trickle shares targeted mental health advice responding to anonymous check-ins.
[43:51] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Don't get hung up on how to respond to employee feedback. Gather the data so you can understand how people feel. Without that, you can't create the environments that people are going to thrive in.
RESOURCES
Paul Reid on LinkedIn
Paul Reid on Twitter — @TricklePaul
Trickle on Twitter - @TrickleWorks
Smart and Gets Things Done by Avram Joel Spolsky
QUOTES
"You're here because you're very talented and you've got a desire to get things done and we've got a desire to be the best at what we do, and in order to do that, we are going to need to challenge each other."
"The premise of Trickle is about helping people to speak up within an organization. So, we built it because we know that people don't often speak up about things that they care about."
"When Google studied their highest-performing teams, what was the thing they had in common? Psychological safety. The ability to speak up without fear of negative consequences."
"People don't often see the value in speaking out, because they feel that things don't change."
"The idea is to tie the engagement and the action into one thread."
"You're trying to embed this openness."
"When there's massive uncertainty, that's when you want to be giving people a chance to speak up and get feedback."
"If you don't understand how people feel, you can't create the environments that people are going to thrive in." | |||
| 22. Laetitia Vitaud --The Unbundling and Re-bundling of Jobs in the Future of Work | 23 Apr 2021 | 00:49:22 | |
Laetitia Vitaud is an author and authority on the Future of Work and brings a European perspective with her experience living, lecturing, consulting, and doing research in France, the UK, and Germany. She has long been concerned about the unbundling of jobs and the impact on employees, especially women. In this episode, Laetitia shares her views on new employment dynamics and emerging options that mean proactive attention and re-bundling can change future outcomes for workers.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:51] Why did Laetitia have a mid-life crisis at 20 and what did she do about it?
[06:28] Laetitia initially focused on how individuals make professional transitions successfully.
[07:39] Evangelizing the idea of freelancing which was a novelty in France in 2016.
[08:10] Laetitia compares the difference between US healthcare vs. French healthcare.
[10:29] There was a rise in freelance job opportunities during the mid 2000s. Why is that?
[12:06] Consulting contracts for younger people are common in Europe because the full salary bundle has become a barrier to hiring someone as an employee.
[13:09] Rigid employee contracts for well-protected bundles led to outsourcing to service companies as well as freelancers.
[14:50] The evolution of the social contract with specialization, alienation, and subordination.
[16:23] The broad attractive work bundle offered by Ford and other auto manufacturers.
[18:01] Laetitia shares some key traits that have disappeared from the job bundle.
[18:56] Unalignment, exploitation, and inequalities are effects of the unbundling.
[19:45] Corporations' attempts at realignment and filling in the gaps.
[20:34] Laetitia describes broad job dissatisfaction about trade-offs.
[22:18] What is a 'good job' now?
[23:33] Considering the concept of 'good work' which could mean bundling gigs.
[24:52] What questions should you be asking about your work?
[26:36] People aren't calculating if their current bundle enough for the long-haul.
[27:32] The disparity in younger and older employees recognizing the reality of job bundles.
[29:08] How someone can become a craftsperson and remain relevant and valuable in the market.
[29:59] How employers can redefine contracts, employment arrangements, and open up work to be more flexible, attractive, and creative.
[31:09] How the pandemic has increased flexibility in work models to adapt to uncertainties.
[32:57] Managers are so reluctant to have a distributed workforce. Why?
[33:45] The return to the office is about order and rituals.
[37:07] 'Hybrid work' means many different things and must be applicable for everyone's needs.
[39:28] Flexible working is a mindset first and not enforcing one model for everyone.
[40:28] How to create an inclusive workforce in a hybrid context.
[42:35] Increased options for creating new bundles—especially beneficial to counter ageism and discrimination against women.
[45:01] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Thinking about the impact of increased longevity, before you make any important decision, invite past and future selves to the table to confer with your current self. You should all have a say in discussing important issues before making your mind up!
RESOURCES
Laetitia Vitaud on LinkedIn
Laetitia Vitaud on Twitter — @Vitolae
Subscribe to Laetitia's Newsletter
QUOTES
"In France, whatever you do, you will have access to healthcare insurance and it would not cost you more [as a freelancer]. So, it's easier to leave a salaried job and become self-employed even if you have a preexisting condition."
"This quote what's good for GM is good for America and vice versa is actually a very profound thing because there's perfect alignment between what you do and the interest of the country, the nation, the planet, and that's that, that's also something that disappeared from the bundle."
"What made the Fordist deal attractive was that in exchange of this alienation—division of labor and subordination—you had a very attractive bundle."
"The more rigid the contract is, and the more companies want a flexible workforce and on demand work, the more hesitant they are to recruit people with that rigid contract."
"The business of consulting is booming in those countries where the work contract is so rigid. You have so many consultants everywhere."
"It's not all bad for everybody. Some people have a satisfactory bundle, but by and large a lot more people are dissatisfied with the bundle that they have."
"A lot of people are trapped in the vision of the old bundle and do not realize that without the job security [in this new bundle], they need to do some financial calculations that incorporate the risk of losing their jobs and transitioning to other jobs."
"One way of inventing a new bundle by becoming a craftsman or craftswoman."
"The question about what a good job is too narrow, because it's based on the assumption that basically there is a bundle behind a job." | |||
| 21. Muriel Clauson — Skills versus Jobs — Talent Mapping, Mobility, and Management in the Future of Work | 26 Mar 2021 | 00:53:44 | |
Muriel Clauson brings a rich background in industrial and organizational psychology and psychometrics to the discussion about the importance of reorienting our employment focus from 'jobs' to 'skills'. As co-Founder of Anthill—which enables adaptive talent management with employee buy-in using talent-mapping software—Muriel explains how we can emphasize people and skills, since talent, not technology, will ultimately determine competitive advantage.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[03:32] Muriel started in finance, but soon realized it wasn't for her. What next?
[03:50] With a mentor and determination, she got a job, then did a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology.
[04:48] On a NASA program, looking at humanities' challenges, she missed the connection to work.
[05:57] Muriel was asked to fill a keynote spot at short notice. Without experience, she stepped up!
[06:45] If you're passionate about something, tell everyone!
[07:27] - How we have typically been cataloguing and defining different occupations—by KSAOs: knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics.
[08:40] Instead of thinking about how people can keep their jobs as automation comes to the forefront, what are people bringing to a work experience, starting with skills?
[09:40] Using a relationship database with a more understanding of people's skills and their jobs, the projections on job replacement went down dramatically.
[11:25] Muriel wanted to change databases so technologies being created to navigate Future-of-Work changes would be built on top of data organized around skills.
[12:29] How executives need to help employees navigate work changes as technology won't be a real differentiator in the future, it will be people.
[12:42] Employers over-correct for a gap in skills, training everyone on that skill.
[13:50] The perfect world? Where each person understands all they bring to the table, what next steps they could take, where each could lead them, and what their priorities might be
[14:32] The 30 year linear "one" career is gone.
[15:08] How can companies best track and manage employees' new non-linear careers?
[16:20] Public school systems still use the Strobe Test to assess what job someone should do, although it is most correlated to their parents' socioeconomic status.
[17:51] Muriel helps companies think about the skills their people can bring to the table and develop a strategy and jobs around them.
[19:18] People leave companies not because they're disengaged or overworked, but because they don't see a progression and a future.
[20:44] More enterprises are adopting a people-first approach, realizing treating people well is aligned with incentives.
[21:03] After a necessary mental shift, how can employers individualize skills'-based solutions at scale?
[22:56] What are YOUR skills today?
[24:20] Muriel digs into psychometrics to help people identify what their skills are.
[26:10] Context for different tests is important in order to understand what they are assessing.
[28:28] Using a relational database and much historical data, answering a few questions can generate a good hypothesis which is then refined.
[29:29] Sharing test results with employees so they also benefit from insights.
[30:59] The importance of establishing a culture of trust at organizations.
[32:28] The benefit of asking employees: What skills and interests are you not bringing to the table now that you'd like to use more of?
[37:01] The pandemic catalyzed many leaders to change their mindsets, strategies and thinking about work.
[39:06] Muriel has been surprised by the shift in executives' approach to internal talent mobility.
[41:10] We do robust modeling for resources and companies, but not talent.
[41:55] Employers began to have more empathy—helping employees get the most out of work.
[43:00] Imagine employees feeling comfortable enough to say "Hey, I'm not feeling fully leveraged" so they can be moved to a new opportunity.
[44:14] Talking about the future of work, it always boils down to deciding between technology/profits or putting their people first, but it's a false choice.
[47:09] Muriel considers how we can bridge the gap between employers and employees.
[48:35] As a new generation of graduates enter the workforce, what do they need to be aware of in this new work environment?
[50:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The future doesn't have a 'type'. In a rapidly-changing world, there is no one type of person that is most 'future ready'. Each of us has a seat at the table and plays a role in creating our future.
RESOURCES
Muriel Clauson on LinkedIn
Muriel Clauson on Instagram — @anthillai
QUOTES
"There is so much more to people than job description."
"I became obsessed with actually helping governments restructure their labor data in a way that was skills first."
"When people started to take a skills-based approach, the projection on job replacement went down dramatically."
"Technology actually won't be a real differentiator in the future, it will be people."
"We have employees who want to learn and develop their career but lack that navigation on how to do it."
"We need to come up with a way to help people really understand what they bring to the table." | |||
| 20. Reforming Capitalism, Promoting A National Human Capital Strategy, and Embracing the Future of Work | 26 Feb 2021 | 00:47:11 | |
Matthew Bishop—author of Philanthrocapitalism, visiting senior fellow of the Brookings Institution and a founder of the Social Progress Initiative—discusses how we can begin to rethink, and reform, capitalism and better value all workers' contributions. As we plan to emerge from a period of extreme disruption, our economic framework needs to be reconfigured and the human capital of America assessed as to whether it's well-suited for the Future of Work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[04:00] The pandemic highlighted existing fault lines and intensified and accelerated disruptions that were already underway.
[05:37] Why does capitalism need to be reformed?
[06:55] After the crash of 2008, it became clear that we have a system of two halves – with almost all benefits going to the half with financial capital.
[07:45] COVID caused economic justice to rise to the top of the political agenda because of its impact on the average worker who already felt insecure about work.
[08:48] Capitalism wasn't delivering for the average family and COVID accelerated the need to address this.
[08:57] The significance of the Business Roundtable announcement about all stakeholders, not just shareholders, benefiting.
[09:56] Why it makes sense to separate workers out from the rest of 'social' in the 'S' of ESG.
[10:43] There are a lot of conversations right now on how to be a better employer--but a big challenge is to figure out how to find broad agreement.
[11:49] WorkMoney is a new organization lobbying for working family rights in Washington—including the delineation between employees and independent contractors.
[12:50] What can be reconfigured to reform capitalism—setting an enabling context?
[13:33] Next steps--vocal companies talking about long-term stakeholder strategy.
[14:23] Measuring how companies are performing against UN Sustainable Development Goal targets.
[15:20] Is it time to reformulate GDP since it has never adequately measured progress?
[16:33] Matthew co-founded the Social Progress Index—a series of measures of the good society to use alongside GDP.
[17:22] COVID highlighted places with poor social performance as more vulnerable to deaths.
[18:39] What 'normality' may look like with the release of pent-up demand!
[20:28] Companies will be judged on how they responded during the crisis.
[22:00] CEOs know they have to change, but will their investors punish them if they do?
[23:40] The younger generation has seen nothing but chaos and catastrophe which likely results in jadedness and low trust levels.
[24:31] Without long-term career prospects, employees are happy to share opinions about their companies publicly especially credentials about social issues.
[26:40] Google has a large percentage of contract workers who are treated differently to employees.
[27:57] A bifurcated workforce can exist where high-paid employees are not focused on the social contract as regular employees are.
[29:47] Gender bias in management may improve after men have been more exposed in home-based chores and challenges during the pandemic.
[30:51] Matthew believes the ability to work from home will be an option for almost every job going forward.
[31:17] African American billionaire Robert Smith has proposed the 2% Solution to the Business Roundtable to address structural social challenges.
[33:17] COVID has highlighted deep social and structural problems in the economy and how difficult it is to get ahead.
[34:35] There will be a need for a massive re-skilling.
[35:19] The average American family needs to be equipped for the new world of work.
[36:02] A new initiative to create a national human capital strategy for America.
[37:03] The private sector needs to collaborate with universities and colleges and discuss future skills' needs and what degrees will prepare future employees best.
[38:44] Employers, educators, and the government ought to get together and talk about what the future of work looks like even though you can't predict how technology is going to evolve.
[39:51] The pandemic has shaken up the traditional four-year in-person degree.
[41:14] Where is 'Philanthrocapitalism' headed in the upcoming years?
[44:02] We have the opportunity to have a more constructive dialog between business and society.
[45:56] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Big picture - demand a national Human Capital Strategy and be willing to participate. Within your own company - Talk with your own team and find out what they really want, what their expectations are and what good practice looks like.
RESOURCES
Matthew Bishop on LinkedIn
Matthew Bishop on Twitter — @Mattbish
Worldbenchmarkingalliance.org
Association of American Colleges and Universities
QUOTES
"There was already a recognition that capitalism wasn't delivering for the average family."
"You look at the last year and the richest people in the world, they've done fantastically well, and the average worker with no benefits, their life has gotten much harder."
"I do think a lot of CEOs get it, they get the need to change, but they are concerned that investors are ultimately going to punish them for doing that rather than reward them."
"There is a need to look seriously, not just at economic growth, but about how the money is spent in terms of really investing in a healthy society."
"The average working family needs to be equipped for the new world of work. What's striking to me is that we don't have a lot of ideas about what to do beyond going to college."
"Nobody really knows what the human capital of America is and whether it's well-suited to the work of the future."
"Employers, educators, and the government ought to get together and talk about what the future of work looks like."
"We have the opportunity to have a more constructive dialog between business and society."
| |||
| 19. Rob Tercek — 2021: Forecasting and Planning a Foundational Year | 29 Jan 2021 | 00:45:20 | |
This episode Rob Tercek—author of Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World—discusses the reality of where we are, how to forecast appropriately, and plan strategically for 2021—understanding the opportunities and challenges. Rob poses questions to consider, identifies trends and advantages we can capture, as well as alerting us to dematerialization's impact and how to work with it rather than be disrupted by it.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:56] Humans are used to adapting for short crises which made 2020 endless and hard.
[03:55] Business decisions were paralyzed as many people were unable to decide how to move forward in 2020.
[04:27] There is light at the end of the tunnel in 2021 with the vaccine rolling out.
[05:02] The vaccine doesn't mean 'normality', but we can start to plan to go back to the office.
[06:10] COVID19 has just accelerated the process the internet began.
[06:53] Companies are not going to abandon the investment they made in work-from-home infrastructure leading to two kinds of workforce—distributed and onsite.
[07:56] Executives secret desires to go back to the office and concerns about remote working.
[08:46] Questions to consider as leaders assess strategic options about how to configure their workplaces for 2022.
[10:04] Companies may use a faulty forecasting process when planning for beyond crisis mode.
[10:57] Organizations can mistakenly think they are the only ones dealing with these circumstances.
[11:41] What is the impact of the broad shift in consumer behavior—changed habits and products they are no longer buying?
[12:35] Invest for the future will not be to rebuild the company as it was in 2018 and 2019.
[13:47] For B2B businesses, user and developer conferences are turning into tutorials for users—creating new habits and switching costs.
[14:57] How to use data to counter some of the loss in face-to-face meetings for sales people.
[16:47] Putting the IT department and CIO at forefront of rebuilding for the future.
[18:02] The importance of HR gathering and tracking data for C-suite discussions.
[18:46] The balance of responsibility between employer and employee to maintain skillsets.
[22:37] Rob describes how to create an actionable forecast.
[23:42] The only way you can tell if a prediction is accurate is after it's happened.
[24:40] Why confidence intervals and probabilities matter.
[27:18] How to adjust for different geographic restrictions and vaccine rollout to develop a rough hypothesis and timeline.
[31:39] For companies to be laying a foundation in 2021 for 2022 and beyond. Robert thinks we will have two quarters this year that will not be great.
[32:19] Plan to deploy new digital infrastructure for 2022, since it usually takes 12-18 months.
[34:07] Robert describes the significant impact of COVID19 on digital healthcare.
[35:59] What smart companies are doing differently now to gain market share.
[37:00] Critical focus needs to be on the customer journey, which may be different now.
[38:15] We have to have more self-awareness, especially about our emotional state
[39:27] The impact of digital media immersion which can act as an outrage-generator.
[40:56] Disruption is scary. It's hard. Cutting people some slack is being empathetic.
[42:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: What parts of your work and life can—and will—be replaced by software or 'dematerialized'? Consider carefully taking action or leave the opportunity for someone else!
RESOURCES
Robert Tercek on LinkedIn
Robert Tercek on Facebook
Robert Tercek on Twitter — @Superplex
QUOTES
"There is a feeling, it's a depressing thought, that 2021 seems like it's going to be a continuation of 2020, and everyone knows 2020 was a terrible year on many levels."
"Based on the current deployment of the vaccine, it seems unlikely we're going to be through this COVID-19 until the latter half of 2021 and it could be as late as 2022. To set expectations."
"You can't turn back the hands of time. Many big organizations reallocated massive budgets to create a structure to work from home. That investment isn't going to go away."
"We lost two channels of information: Face-to-face meetings and conferences, but what we've gained is a different channel of feedback which is real-time usage data."
"Everyone knows that we live in a changing world. Everyone knows that sudden dislocation seems to be the theme of this century."
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| 18. Simone Sloan — Reframing Leadership: Shifting from Transactional to Inclusive | 18 Dec 2020 | 00:37:47 | |
Simone Sloan—diversity and inclusion specialist, business strategist and leadership coach—discusses how to become an inclusive leader. Simone shares her own early discovery that leaders with transactional management styles cannot nurture the kind of inclusive community at work that they need to succeed and advance. Bolstering practice with study and research, Simone explains how to lean in and understand team members' experiences to: communicate differently, withhold judgments, connect and shift relationships, and improve collaboration.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
[02:25] Feeling the impact of a manager saying your inputs and ideas aren't important or valued.
[03:50] What Simone discovered when she started branching out across the organization.
[04:20] The benefits of advocates and allies within your company.
[05:18] Building social capital – where women often miss out.
[06:14] When Simone took time to reflect and started being intentional about reaching out for short one-on-one meetings, she was surprised by the positive reactions she got.
[07:08] The importance of follow through and being strategic about building your tribe at work.
[08:39] During a merger, a colleague told Simone they 'didn't know her'. What did they mean and why did it matter?
[10:30] How Simone connected differently with her reports after she re-introduced herself.
[11:35] As relationships deepened across the team, the energy shifted and collaboration improved.
[13:15] How Simone transitioned from marketing to inclusive leadership by studying human behavior.
[13:45] What is ontological coaching and how does it help leaders perform?
[14:15] The difference it makes to start a meeting genuinely asking, 'How is everyone doing?'.
[16:00] By understanding how everyone is showing up, it's possible to shift a meeting from being transactional to intentional.
[16:40] How emotional intelligence creates awareness which leads to organizational clarity.
[17:35] Changing leadership styles and how to define what kind of leader you are.
[18:56] Simone explains how to be intentional about fostering an empathy-based company culture as a leader.
[20:44] How to help people connect by telling their diverse stories.
[22:06] Combining understanding and accountability—are you asking the right questions?
[22:40] Inclusive leadership means creating a safe space for people to share without retribution.
[23:52] The additional human dimension that COVID has pushed us all to understand.
[24:22] How vulnerability humanizes leaders and helps support people they're not alone.
[25:46] Simone starts with values—what do you value as a human being?
[27:03] People want to be: welcomed, valued, respected, and heard—with commitment. Without one one of these, it's exclusion.
[27:40] It's a lot of work to make sure all four of these components are in place, but that's the role a leader has to take on.
[27:53] How we start to reduce polarization and division across the country?
[29:15] We are in a period of change, which is why there is tension.
[29:57] Simone sees lack of trust as the greatest hindrance to cooperation going forward.
[30:40] Communication is the key to building trust, paying attention to style, cadence and content.
[32:25] Putting aside assumptions and judgments about others is essential when collaborating and communicating with others -- allowing them to show you how they see themselves.
[32:52] How leaders can reduce judgments with intentional awareness and reality checking.
[36:10] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To become a more inclusive leader, think about what kind of experience people are having with you.
RESOURCES
Simone Sloan on LinkedIn
Simone Sloan on Facebook
Simone_Sloan_ on Instagram
Simone Sloan on Twitter — @AimInspireGrow
Biz Coach Network on YouTube
QUOTES
"When you are in it from a non-management role, that's where you feel the impact of what's inclusive, and what's not."
"Think about who do I know, who knows me, who have I been interacting with? And start bridging out, and asking for a 15-minute one-on-one."
"After opening up about our mood then we get into the agenda. Then we can start tackling things because now we have an understanding of where everyone's coming from and how they're showing up."
"How are you defining your leadership style? Because some people have no clue, they're just like, 'I just do.'"
"During this pandemic, I've seen more leaders get more vulnerable. When people can humanize themselves in front of large groups, people go, 'Oh I'm not alone.'"
"People want to be welcomed, valued, respected, and heard. If one of those four things do not exist, it's an exclusion."
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| 143: Stephen Dooley - Solving for Flexibility: A Creative, Cost-Saving Business Travel Model | 27 Mar 2025 | 00:41:13 | |
Stephen Dooley is Founder of Roamr, a corporate travel accommodation platform built for distributed teams. Merging insights from trust dynamics and the sharing economy, Stephen explains how a personal pain point led to an innovative travel solution rethinking cost structures and workplace needs. He shares how listening to customer feedback evolved the initial concept into a fresh approach to business travel that—being empathetic and practical—supports flexibility, connection, and culture while delivering measurable impact for businesses and employees alike.
TAKEAWAYS [01:22] Stephen studies commerce aligning early interests in business and entrepreneurship. [01:45] A year abroad gives Stephen an exciting experience and global perspective. [03:11] The year studying in the US sparks Stephen's ambition and sharpens his interpersonal skills. [03:47] Graduate research initially focuses on financial technology and wealth management. [05:15] Stephen is interested in tech-related consumer psychology dynamics and adoption drivers. [06:25] The sharing economy reverses historical fundamental trust patterns and behaviors. [07:11] Younger consumers now influence their parents' tech-based adoption decisions. [08:34] Stephen takes a new role then the pandemic hits, requiring rapid learning. [09:28] A light bulb moment about new realities for travel, lifestyle and career compatibility. [09:47] A great workation opportunity is dashed by unaffordable accommodation. [10:42] Identifying remote work necessities reveal need for better infrastructure. [11:17] Location flexibility is widespread, but how to take advantage of new opportunities. [12:21] Societal tailwinds are behind Working From Anywhere and distributed work. [12:55] Roamr launches with an employee-focused offering home swaps for workations. [13:49] During customer discovery, many employers ask to apply the model to corporate travel. [14:20] Employees get alternatives to hotels, financially benefit, and firms save money. [14:52] Now business travel is more relationship-focused, so culture and collaboration benefits can outweigh reduced costs. [16:31] Travel expenses can be significant so more than 20% in savings is valuable. [17:09] Improved culture, engagement, and retention offer meaningful additional benefits. [19:21] More younger workers understand the Roamr concept and have much interest to connect and network. [20:09] Hosting income also helps employees towards meaningful financial goals. [21:04] Roamr aligns CFO cost savings priorities and CPO employee experience goals. [22:40] Global platform partners expand reach to over 100 countries. [24:31] Top talent understand their worth and if not offered flexibility will work elsewhere. [25:50] Finding the option(s) that work for each person—where is the middle ground? [28:08] Research revealed how taxi rides fostered long-term interactions. [28:46] Engineering connections by mapping users to have facilitated serendipity. [29:32] Adding personal networks to expand reach, connectivity, and flexible opportunities. [31:50] Employees can create and plan local events during work trips. [32:30] Visibility avoids missed connections among nearby remote coworkers. [33:15] Highlighting common interests to encourage sharing experiences while traveling. [34:11] In-person sales increase in relevance as AI outreach becomes oversaturated. [36:02] Commoditized business travel offers few incentives for employees to reduce costs. [37:15] Incentivizing smart booking combined with uplifts for culture and engagement. [37:47] Buffers in travel planning processes reveal hidden budget inefficiencies. [38:55] Roamr is a win-win choice – an optional, flexible alternative to hotels. [39:18] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP – How can you think differently about business travel processes to avoid or reduce bloated costs?
RESOURCES
"What if we could make work from anywhere, work from everywhere?" "It's a platform that helps companies save 30% on their corporate travel accommodation and we do that by paying employees instead of hotels." "We believe that's a way better way to build culture rather than a kind of team building awkward session in the middle of the office." "So we're not just saying we want to save money. We actually want to make the experience better, more intentional, more engaging." "How do we find a way to give some flexibility, but also bring teams together and make it work?" "Everybody can send a million emails now. How are we going to stand out? How we're going to build those relationships?" | |||
| 17. Michael Ventura — Transforming with Empathy: From Awareness to Application | 20 Nov 2020 | 00:42:31 | |
Michael Ventura—Founder of Sub Rosa and author of Applied Empathy—discusses his process for integrating empathy practices in work environments. He recommends doing self-work first and attaining sufficient awareness to stimulate and present an empathetic self. For business situations, he emphasizes cognitive empathy which involves perspective-taking driven by inquiry, as well as identifying and unpacking top workplace challenges. For the broader setting, Michael suggests we have conversations to understand, rather than conversations to win.
Key Takeaways
[00:53] Where the journey of empathy starts.
[03:36] Michael gets encouragement to be brave as an entrepreneur.
[04:00] Sub Rosa's role as UN translator helping brands connect with their target audiences was Michael's first empathy-making moment.
[04:42] How Michael's entrepreneurial ventures have all applied empathy in order to connect with people in meaningful ways.
[05:15] Generations differ in how they relate to technology.
[06:28] Defining generations, and the conundrum for those born 1977 to 1984!
[09:27] The interior work involved in empathy—observation, witnessing, and practice.
[10:14] In his book, Applied Empathy, Michael included self-work practices and how these help us learn about others.
[11:53] What is the most effective way to communicate the value of empathy in business?
[12:30] How we can measure empathy—through its impact.
[13:42] Since March 2020, has interest increased in practicing empathy at work?
[14:30] People have recognized issues communicating and collaborating, but not known that practicing more empathy was the solution.
[15:28] An unintended consequence of quarantine work environments: that employees see more of the 'whole person' of their co-workers.
[17:10] If managers want to support their team better, they need to shift their behavior and manage each person individually.
[19:04] When managers understand more about themselves, they can show up more empathically and be more effective.
[20:09] We become more aware when we ask ourself questions, recognize and take care of multiple aspects of our 'self'.
[21:42] Michael finds core issues by asking managers about the biggest rock they are facing.
[23:04] There is so much on managers' plates right now, how can their transition be supported?
[23:58] Michael advocates for manager peer groups for problem-solving and support.
[25:15] How does Michael define empathy? It's not about being nicer to people!
[26:24] The three types of empathy.
[27:59] The importance and challenge of cognitive empathy - the Platinum Rule.
[29:43] How cognitive empathy is the easiest to demonstrate value generation to an organization.
[30:22] Michael positions empathy as a hard skill—it's hard to practice and slows things down before it speeds them up.
[31:12] Cognitive empathy is inherently neutral and needs to come with a set of ethics.
[33:10] How can we apply empathy and help bring people together across the country?
[34:59] Approaching conversations to understand, not to win.
[36:52] Michael shares learnings from conversations he and his wife have had while traveling cross country in their caravan.
[37:44] Practicing empathy is sometimes a slow process.
[39:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To create a daily practice of empathy, find the benign moment of the day or questions and think about ways to shift them—such as going from an autopilot 'How are you doing?' to 'What's it like to be you today?'
Resources
Michael Ventura on LinkedIn Instagram - @themichaelventura The Bridge Generation by Michael Rosa
Quotes
"If you don't learn how to get into trouble, you'll never learn how you will get out of it."
"Good managers already know, especially in this time, that there is no one-size-fits-all way of managing. You can't manage everybody the same way."
"Everyone has a synonym for empathy because we don't have a shared definition of empathy."
"There's a big difference between having a conversation to win and having a conversation to understand."
"Practicing empathy is sometimes a slow process."
"Find the benign questions or moments in your day where you go on autopilot and think about ways you can shift that." | |||
| Jeff Wald — On-Demand versus Remote Workers: Regulation, Opportunities, and Skills | 23 Oct 2020 | 00:43:07 | |
Jeff Wald, founder and former CEO of WorkMarket, shares his data-rich perspective with authoritative clarity to discuss the evolution of the On-Demand Economy, including the impact of technology, regulation, and the pandemic on its future direction and potential. Jeff considers how new understanding about remote working affects opportunities for on-demand workers, what is the 'future of the firm', and the critical issues facing us all with shifting business conditions and labor markets.
TAKEAWAYS
[03:44] A lack of systems and processes was holding back the On-Demand economy.
[04:57] The IRS has a 2-factor test to determine if someone should be classified as an employee or not.
[06:02] Each company has a complicated task to decide relevant criteria for their on-demand workers.
[06:55] Labor force regulation needs simplifying, but there's zero near-term possibility of it happening.
[07:25] The impact (or continuing uncertainty) resulting from California's Uber lawsuit conclusion.
[08:36] How regulation-related confusion is causing companies to consider hiring fewer freelancers.
[11:00] How much the On-Demand economy has been going over the last 10 years.
[12:20] Regulation has been hindering growth, but software has helped interpret regulations.
[12:39] Jeff guesses that regulation will shrink the on-demand economy over the next 10 years.
[14:48] Are more companies tapping into the 'total extended workforce' strategically?
[17:00] The percentage the remote workforce will grow as a result of COVID19.
[17:31] 42% of the US workforce CAN work from home.
[18:03] Moving on from 'productivity equals presence' mindsets.
[19:27] How policies, procedures, and infrastructure changed in March 2020, so that everyone possible could work remotely.
[20:11] Humans are social animals—the 'Hub and Club' role of offices in the future.
[21:39] The percentage of people wanting flexible work arrangements going forward.
[23:53] Needing to be more responsive, organizations can adapt the employee/freelancer composition of the workforce.
[24:42] One impetus for WorkMarket was the prediction that firms have small fixed cost kernels with everything else done on-demand.
[25:08] Understanding 'total talent management' where companies see all their labor resources together.
[26:08] Job versus income security relating to full-time jobs and on-demand work.
[27:12] How the economic environment might affect workers' attitudes towards full-time positions.
[30:00] The changing social contract and convergence between full-time and on-demand workers.
[32:05] The depletion of training budgets with responsibility shifting to workers.
[32:49] The COVID19 disruption enabling non-incremental change and crafting new work conditions and practices.
[33:50] The rise of robots means displaced workers and re-skilling—but who owns workers' training?
[35:15] What the impact of workers getting left behind means for society.
[36:00] Now, the average skill diminishes in four to six years, rather than 30 years.
[38:52] Jeff's interim full-time gig with the Biden campaign, supporting the democratic process, and the need for Presidential support of the working class and retraining.
[40:31] Jeff's next entrepreneurial venture—potentially helping companies benefit from staying connected with former employees.
[34:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Jeff's lingering question—'who should own employees' retraining?' Until there is a clear answer, be proactive, keep learning, and keep your skills updated!
QUOTES
"My guess is that regulation wins that fight, and that the on-demand economy shrinks."
"There is convergence between the part-time or on-demand worker, and the full-time worker."
"You will see millions of workers that need to be retrained…and as a society we have not done that retraining well, and it's unclear who should own that training."
"Everybody has got to constantly be reading and updating and staying in touch with the new stuff, or you will become irrelevant… Everybody's got to own it in some way on their own."
RESOURCES The End of Jobs: The Rise of On-Demand Workers and Agile Corporations by Jeff Wald The Nature of the Firm by Ronald Coase | |||
| Karyn Twaronite — Leaning into Diversity and Inclusiveness with Empathy | 28 Aug 2020 | 00:31:01 | |
Karyn Twaronite, EY's Global Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusiveness, explains the depth and breadth of diversity and how inclusiveness is at the core of a culture of belonging. She describes the importance of practicing empathy and being authentically and actively involved for nurturing these values. Karyn suggests what more we can all do to enable fully-supportive corporate environments.
Key Takeaways
[2:48] Diversity has many different dimensions and has evolved. How does Karyn define it at EY?
[4:04] Karyn describes the evolution of diversity with four Cs: Compliance, Character, Commerce, and Culture.
[05:12] How important authenticity is to avoid an 'inclusion allusion' and keep striving.
[06:36] A sense of belonging creates inclusiveness which comes from people having empathy for each other.
[07:16] Employees felt the most sense of belonging was when the people they worked with checked in with them one on one.
[08:40] Highly-effective team leaders are being asked to lead their team and their teams' families.
[09:25] Empathy is a key ingredient with respect to checking in and feeling a sense of belonging.
[10:00] How to create a culture of belonging while maintaining uniqueness and not asking for conformity.
[11:17] How equitable sponsorship has been a transformational lever for EY to increase diversity.
[12:56] Women who are sponsored are more likely to stay longer, lean in to opportunities and return from maternity leave.
[13:41] How executives can be measured and rewarded for achieving inclusive leadership goals.
[14:39] Empathy relating to recent experiences and protests has moved people from passive disapproval to more active roles.
[15:53] Racism and discrimination exist everywhere. Understanding, compassion and empathy also exist everywhere and have ignited new conversations, creating a sense of urgency.
[16:36] A platform for social equity: What does your organization stand for and against?
[16:56] How can you be an active anti-racist? What does that mean for you and your situation?
[19:37] What leaders and senior executives can do to create a more inclusive corporate culture.
[20:39] Key DNI reasons for companies include creating a safer and more respectful work environment.
[21:21] Key inclusive leadership behaviors.
[21:30] Creating DNI as a business topic to track and share updates on progress.
[23:40] Why checking in on employees matters.
[24:08] Leaning into similarities AND differences.
[25:26] Anybody can take charge and become an inclusive leader.
[25:50] 'Violent politeness' and why the highest earning team member should offer their opinion last.
[28:04] How to stay proactive—consider who is sitting on the sidelines in your company or team?
[29:46] Immediate Action Tip: Expand your A team. You might be pleasantly surprised who's sitting in the wings.
Resources
How to strengthen inclusive leadership in times of crisis EY Global Executive Diversity & Inclusion Statement EY's commitment to anti-racism in the US
Quotes
"If you aren't really authentic in your effort to bring about a real inclusive culture, you can end up with something I call an inclusion illusion."
"Employees felt a sense of belonging when the people that they worked with checked in with them one-on-one."
"Empathy is a key ingredient and without it you're really going to miss the bullseye."
"A mentor stands beside you, but a sponsor is someone that stands in front of you and is very active."
"Tone from the top is critical."
"'You don't have to be the most senior person on the team to be an inclusive leader."
"Inclusion allows everyone on the field to play."
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