Squiggly Careers - podcast cover

Squiggly Careers

The Squiggly Careerwww.amazingif.com

Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Amazing If (https://www.amazingif.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints, and tips that you can put into practice straight away. 


Every so often they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better. Past guests include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of The Joy of Work Bruce Daisley, and neuroscience expert Amy Brann. 


The Squiggly Careers podcast has been recommended by Harvard Business Review, Stylist, Marie Claire and Management Today.

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

Episodes

#296 How to take control of your career

Is it possible to take control of your career in a world of work that’s full of change? Helen and Sarah think it is IF you focus on the right things in the right way. So, instead of over planning our careers they talk about increasing your control by defining what you want and developing the skills and support you need. By increasing your clarity and focusing on the factors that are in your control, you can better adapt and take advantage of the squiggleness we experience at work. Hosted on Acas...

Sep 13, 202236 min

#295 How to redefine (or define) your relationship with work

In this weeks podcast Helen and Sarah discuss why we want to take control of our relationship with work rather than leave it to chance. Together they discuss the trend of quiet quitting and how the psychological contract we have with work has changed. They then explore how to reflect on the relationship you want to have with work and how to use the Care/Create framework to make changes that matter to you. Ways to learn more: 1. Catch-up on past episodes and download our PodSheets https://www.ama...

Sep 06, 202232 min

#294 How to find Fortitude with Bruce Daisley

Helen and Sarah bring back Bruce Daisley to the podcast to talk about his brilliant new book Fortitude. They explore the 3 foundations of fortitude to increase your adaptability and resilience to all the inevitable change and challenge we experience in Squiggly Careers. Fortitude: Unlocking the Secrets of Inner Strength Hardcover is out now - https://uk.bookshop.org/books/fortitude-unlocking-the-secrets-of-inner-strength/9781847943651 Ways to learn more: 1. Catch-up on past episodes and download...

Aug 30, 202246 min

#293 How to rethink about your relationships in and out of work

This month, Helen and Sarah have been focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. So far they have covered health, sleep and money and in this final episode of the series they are exploring the role of relationships on your happiness in work. They explore attachment theory and insights from Amy Gallo's new book 'Getting Along' and share practical actions to create the strong foundations for squiggly career success. Ways to learn more: 1. Catch-up on past episodes and download our PodSheets https...

Aug 22, 202237 min

#292 How your money mindset influences your career success

Over the next month, Helen and Sarah are focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. They will be covering health, sleep, money and relationships and understanding the practical actions you can take to create the strongest foundations for squiggly career success. Today, they are talking about money and borrowing some brilliance from Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, and 'badass' Jen Sincero. Ways to learn more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools htt...

Aug 16, 202229 min

#291 How understanding the science of sleep can improve your work

Over the next month, Helen and Sarah are focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. They will be covering health, sleep, money and relationships and understanding the practical actions you can take to create the strongest foundations for squiggly career success. Today, they are talking about sleep and deep-diving into 2 books for inspiration. Helen reviews Life Time by Russell Foster and Sarah explores insights from Matthew Walker in Why We Sleep. Ways to learn more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a w...

Aug 09, 202226 min

#290 How to improve your health to increase your impact

Over the next month, Helen and Sarah are focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. They will be covering health, sleep, money and relationships and understanding the practical actions you can take to create the strongest foundations for squiggly career success. Today, they are talking about health and deep-diving into 2 books for inspiration. Helen reads and reviews the advice of Dr Rangan Chatterjee in his book 'The 4 Pillar Plan' and Sarah shares the insights she gained from 'Do Walk' by Lib...

Aug 02, 202233 min

#289 How to avoid a holiday hangover

If you have a holiday ahead, chances are that you're already thinking about how you're going to get everything done before you go. Even worse, you might worry about work when you're away and get the 'back to work blues' when you're home. Instead of experiencing a holiday hangover, Sarah and Helen have got lots of practical ideas for action to help you prep before you go and make sure you're coming back to day 1 without dread and clear goals to re-find your focus on your return. Ways to learn (ev...

Jul 26, 202236 min

#288 Beyond Burnout - Ask the Expert with Jennifer Moss

This week we have an ‘Ask the Expert’ conversation between Sarah and Jennifer Moss. Jen is an award winning journalist and author of The Burnout Epidemic. Together Sarah and Jen discuss the causes and consequences of burnout. They also explore what we can do individually and as organisations to go beyond burnout and create an environment where everyone can do their best work. To learn more from Jen you can read her Big Idea article on HBR here: https://hbr.org/2021/02/beyond-burned-out and conne...

Jul 19, 202239 min

#287 How to increase your freedom at work

Having the freedom and autonomy to work in a way that works for us and on the work we find meaningful is a significant contributor to our motivation. This week, Helen and Sarah talk through practical things you can do at work to create more freedom and give yourself the space to succeed. They address the biggest barriers to finding freedom and what you can do to respond to it. Ways to learn (even) more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools https://mailchi.mp/squiggly...

Jul 12, 202239 min

#286 How to help people to squiggle and stay

The majority of people look outside of their company first when they are considering making a career move. This means that companies risk losing their best people and individuals might miss out on valuable opportunities for learning and growth. This week, Helen and Sarah take insights from their most recent article with Harvard Business Review about how managers can help people to squiggle and stay in the organisation. They explore the role of career conversations, the need to create internal ca...

Jul 05, 202235 min

#285 How to re-energise yourself and your work

With so many things drawing on our energy reserves, it's not surprising that we can often be left feeling drained by the end of the day. This week, Sarah and Helen talk through 5 areas you can focus on outside of work than will help you to feel more energised inside of work. Expect lots of practical ideas for action and don't forget to download the Squiggly Careers podcast to help you reflect on the conversation. Ways to learn (even) more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly car...

Jun 28, 202237 min

#284 How to move forward from failure

We're all told that failing is a good thing, but it doesn't make it that much easier in the moment and we have a tendency to miss out on the learning that could help us on the way. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about how to move forward from failure by practicing 'pre-emptive' failure and working out how best to respond to failure depending on the situation. There are lots of practical ideas for action which are summarised in the PodSheet (you'll find the podsheet in the links below). Ways to ...

Jun 21, 202243 min

#283 How to stop self-sabotage

Saboteurs are the negative voices in our head that generate stress and get in the way of our ability to handle work and life challenges. They often operate on autopilot and limit our happiness and performance potential. We can all learn to limit the impact of our self-saboteur and this week Helen and Sarah talk about how. They share ideas for action to increase you saboteur self-awareness and the practical things you can do to break the saboteur cycle. Ways to learn (even) more: 1. Sign-up for P...

Jun 14, 202241 min

#282 How to know whether to switch or stay in your role

There are times in our careers when we are all faced with a decision about whether to switch or stay in our roles and it's not always easy to know what move to make. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about the factors to consider when you are in this position (and how to help other people who may be coming to you for advice). They discuss the importance of learning vs. loving your job and the different options you can take to ensure that going into something new isn't the automatic assumption how ...

Jun 07, 202236 min

#281 How to work well with different people

Working with people who work in a different way isn't always easy but with awareness and skill, it can create lots of opportunity for everyone to be better because of it. In this week's podcast, Helen and Sarah talk about how to understand what makes you different and how to work effectively with other people who may work differently to you. They introduce the concepts of 'heated hexagons', 'data-based diamonds', 'talkative triangles' and 'consensus seeking circles' and share their top tips for ...

May 31, 202234 min

#280 How to find friendship at work

A big part of our happiness at work depends on the people we spend time with and finding genuine friendships impacts our engagement and performance. However, it's not always easy and remote work, comparison and conflicting priorities can all create pressures which prevent meaningful friendships from forming. This week, Helen and Sarah (friends, co-hosts and co-founders) talk about the ins, outs, ups and downs of finding friendship at work and talk through some of the common conundrums many work ...

May 24, 202242 min

#279 Ideas to invest in your learning

As part of Learning at Work Week, Helen and Sarah share their best ideas to invest in your learning whether you have £50 or £500, lots of time or non at all! This episode is full of ideas on events, courses and resources to support you and your learning. Ways to learn (even) more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools https://mailchi.mp/squigglycareers/podmail 2. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 19/05/22 at 9am https://www.amazingiflearning.com/courses/podplus 3....

May 17, 202244 min

#278 How to be a good manager

Managers have a significant impact on people's engagement in their work and squiggly careers can often feel like it makes the job of being a good manager even harder. This week, Helen and Sarah go back to basics on the 5 factors that make a 'good' manager and share 3 ideas for action to support managers in their role. They discuss the importance of aligning the contributor with the contribution, saying what people don't see and showing your working when making decisions. Ways to learn more: 1. S...

May 10, 202236 min

#277 How to use experiments to accelerate your career development

Experimentation is a great way to learn at work and accelerate opportunities for your career. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about practical ways you can put experiments into action and try out different approaches to support your development. Ways to learn more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools https://mailchi.mp/squigglycareers/podmail 2. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 05/05/22 at 9am https://www.amazingiflearning.com/courses/podplus 3. Read our books '...

May 03, 202241 min

#276 How to increase your assertiveness

Making our work and our career work for us takes self awareness and assertiveness, skills we can all develop but ones that aren't always easy to do! This week, Helen and Sarah taking the skill of assertiveness and make it as simple and practical as possible to take action. They explore the difference between assertiveness and aggression, how to be adaptively assertively and have to practice your assertive skills. Ways to learn more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career too...

Apr 26, 202243 min

#275 How to build and be part of a career community

This week, Helen talks to Pritesh Chauhan, Head of Community for Sedex and one of the 100 people who become part of the 2021 Squiggly Career Advocates community. Together they talk about the importance of building a community around your career, the communities they have benefited from being part of and what they have learnt about how to give and get the most from them. Ways to learn more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools https://mailchi.mp/squigglycareers/podmai...

Apr 19, 202232 min

#274 How to create your career criteria

Squiggly Careers are full of change and that can some times create confusion about where we should go and how we can grow. Creating your career criteria is a really useful filter for you decisions about your development. This week Helen and Sarah talk about how to create your career criteria, how to understand the constraints that might get in your way and use your insight to have more effective career conversations. Listen and learn how to find your squiggly career sweet spot! Ways to learn mor...

Apr 12, 202233 min

#273 How to make manifestation work for you

Manifesting is having a moment and this week Sarah and Helen take a critical view of the role it can play in career development. They talk about the value of vision boards, whether you can think your way to success and how to respond when your dreams don't magically materialise. Whether you're a fan of the manifesting concept or a curious critic, this episode has lots of reflect on and is full of practical ideas for action. Ways to learn more: 1. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 07/04/22 at...

Apr 05, 202240 min

#272 How to create (not wait) for challenge at work

This week Sarah and Helen are talking about the benefits of creating challenge at work vs waiting for it to come to you. They talk about why pandemic driven ‘boreout’ makes this a need for many of us and practical actions you can take to stretch your strengths and stop the risk of ‘stagnate while you wait’ Ways to learn more: 1. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 31/03/22 at 9am https://www.amazingiflearning.com/courses/podplus 2. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools...

Mar 29, 202237 min

#271 How to have a high trust team

Trust in teams make a big different to work and wellbeing. This week Helen and Sarah explore the practical ways trust shows up and ideas for action to create teams where people feel respected and able to be themselves. They discuss the importance of assessing the practical and emotional aspects of trust, how to make mistake moments part of your team ways of working and the role of red table talks in addressing tough topics. Ways to learn more: 1. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 24/03/22 at...

Mar 22, 202234 min

#270 How to stop being a people pleaser at work

Lots of fall into people pleasing at work and while it's nice to be helpful, constantly prioritising other people's needs before our can have a big impact on how motivating and meaningful feels for us. In today's episode of the Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah talk about the 8 signals of people pleasing and share ideas for action to help you respond in a way that can help you to be at your best. Ways to learn more: 1. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 17/03/22 at 9am https://www.ama...

Mar 15, 202236 min

#269 Squiggly Career Conversations: Eric Sim

This week is National Careers Week and Sarah and Helen are shining a spotlight of squiggly career possibilities with 4 conversations with people whose careers are as individual as they are! Today you'll hear Eric Sim. In the rest of the series you'll hear career stories from people starting a new career from scratch, squiggling and staying in organisations and creating their own unique opportunities. Ways to learn more: 1. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of squiggly career tools https://ma...

Mar 11, 202233 min

#268 Squiggly Career Conversations: Simon Mundie

This week is National Careers Week and Sarah and Helen are shining a spotlight of squiggly career possibilities with 4 conversations with people whose careers are as individual as they are! Today you'll hear Simon Mundie In the rest of the series you'll hear career stories from people starting a new career from scratch, squiggling and staying in organisations and creating their own unique opportunities. Ways to learn more: 1. Join the live PodPlus conversation on 10/03/22 at 9am https://www.amaz...

Mar 10, 202242 min

#267 Squiggly Career Conversations: Jim MacLeod

This week is National Careers Week and Sarah and Helen are shining a spotlight of squiggly career possibilities with 4 conversations with people whose careers are as individual as they are! Today you'll hear Helen talking to Jim MacLeod about his career in the Royal Navy and what he has learnt about how to 'squiggle and stay'. In the rest of the series you'll hear career stories from people starting a new career from scratch, creating their own unique opportunities and life as an entrepreneur. W...

Mar 09, 202232 min