Squiggly Careers

Building self-belief into your working day can help you feel more confident. In this Shortcut, Sarah shares five ways to have a more confident day at work, practical ideas to try if something feels missing, and two watch-outs that can get in your way. 🎯 What You'll Learn - Spot and use your strengths to help your team - Find five-minute favours to experience the helper's high - Zoom in and zoom o...

What helps us connect with the people we work with, and what happens when that connection is missing? In this episode, Sarah is joined by organisational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant to explore his new book, Vibe, and what the science of connection can teach us about our Squiggly Careers. From seeing someone else’s ‘snow globe’ to sharing what brings out your worst, Adam shares pr...

What’s one small thing you could do today that your future self would thank you for? In this squiggly shortcut, Helen shares four high performance habits that compound over time to build a resilient and successful career. Drawing on the time-tracking insights of Laura Vanderkam, Adam Grant's research on the power of giving, and Helen and Sarah's own 'Learn Like a Lobster' framework, learn how smal...

Profilers can help you understand yourself, find words for your strengths and choose where to focus your development. But your results are clues to explore, rather than labels that limit you. In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from three profilers: Lynda Gratton’s Living the 100-Year Life diagnostic, 16Personalities and the Squiggly Skills Profiler. They share their own results, wh...

When your week gets busy, do you find yourself dropping the things that help you feel good? It can be easy to put rest, support and time outside work on hold just when you need them most. In this Squiggly Career Shortcut, Helen shares six small actions you can build into your week to support your resilience. Pick one or two that feel useful to you and try doing them regularly, before things start...

Is something at work feeling harder than it needs to be? It could be a meeting that takes too long, a decision that goes back and forth, or a process with more steps than it needs. This week, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from The Friction Project by Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao. They explore how to spot the friction that slows you down, what you could subtract to make work easier, and why some...

In this shortcut, Helen, talks about a matrix that can help you to understand where your ambition is right now and what is the most effective action to take to support your development. 🎯 What You'll Learn - that ambition is individual - where your ambition in today - what action to take to activate your ambition For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsar...

Could putting more constraints on your career actually create more possibilities? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from David Epstein's book (Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better) to explore how choosing your own constraints can help you think differently and more creatively about your career. They experiment with constraints across six areas of career development, from...

The people you work with make a significant difference to your development. In this shortcut, Sarah shares 3 ways to learn more from the people around you. 🎯 What You'll Learn - the importance of showing how you work - why volunteering to support somone outside of your day job helps you grow - how next level noticing will support you to succeed in your team For questions about Squiggly Careers or...

Getting ready for a job interview can feel daunting, but what happens when you have to face an AI interviewer or answer tough questions about how you use artificial intelligence? In this episode, Helen puts Sarah on the spot with real AI interview questions shared by the Squiggly Careers community. Together, they explore how AI is changing the interview experience, what interviewers might be looki...

Increasing your autonomy has a proven impact of work wellbeing and fulfilment and in this shortcut, Helen talks through 3 practical actions to help you to earn more autonomy at work. 🎯 What You'll Learn - how to build trust - why working autonomously doesn't mean going it alone - the importance of owning your outcomes For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helena...

When things change at work, how good are you at changing how you think or act in response? In the second part of our No Regret Skills mini-series, Helen and Sarah turn their attention to adaptability. Sarah breaks this skill down into eight different dimensions and puts Helen through a real-life scenario to explore where her adaptability strengths are and where she could get better. 🎯 What You'll...

The leaders you surround yourself with make a significant difference to your squiggly career. In this shortcut Sarah shares 3 ways to look for leaders to learn from and what you don't need to worry about. 🎯 What You'll Learn - how to look for leaders who get stuff done - why spotting leaders who say I don't know is a good source of learning - the most curious leaders will help you to stay curious...

With so many skills competing for our attention, how do you decide which ones are worth investing in? In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore the idea of 'no regret skills' – skills that will stay useful whatever the future of work looks like. In the first of this two-part series, Helen borrows brilliance from poker player and author Annie Duke to explore decision-making and shares four practical...

We spend a lot of our working week in meetings, but how much impact are you having when you're in them? In this Shortcut, Helen shares three simple ways to increase your impact in every meeting: asking a question, making a suggestion and offering a reflection. Whether you tend to stay quiet or want to make your contributions more useful, these small actions can help you show your strengths, add mo...

With 88 working days left until the end of the year, how will you choose to spend your time? September can bring a 'new pencil case' feeling – a useful opportunity to reset and refocus on what matters most. In this episode, Helen and Sarah share eight questions to help you use the rest of your working year well and wisely. Exploring priorities, time, people and skills, they reflect on their own an...

Setting goals is one thing. Knowing when to let go of them is another. In this Shortcut, Helen explores the idea of productive quitting and why trying to hold on to too many goals can get in the way of making progress. Drawing on research from the Goal Adjustment Scale and a New Scientist article on goal adjustment, she shares a practical way to review your goals so you can focus your time and ene...

How can you make sure the 80,000 hours you spend at work are truly well spent? In this episode, we challenge the traditional advice to "follow your passion" and look at how to build a career that makes a meaningful difference. This episode of part 4 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing on Benjamin Todd's book, 80,000 Hours, and his research on effective altruism and career impact, they e...

Most of us focus on preparing for the questions we'll be asked in an interview, but what we ask at the end is just as important. It is your ultimate opportunity to take control of the conversation and leave a brilliant lasting impression. In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah explores how to ask powerful culture and commercial questions, and what the answers reveal about whether a company is the right...

Are you feeling lost in a career fog or facing a major transition? In this special episode, Sarah is joined by legendary author and researcher Jim Collins to explore what it really takes to build a fulfilling life and career. This episode of part 3 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing on Jim's new book 'What to Make of a Life', they explore what it really means to navigate life's 'cliffs...

AI is changing quickly, which can make it hard to know where to start. If you're feeling overwhelmed by everything there is to learn, you're definitely not alone. In this Shortcut, Sarah shares how to use the Squiggly Careers Learning Navigator to turn AI into something practical and personal. Instead of trying to learn everything, you'll identify what matters most for your role, connect learning...

Do you feel constantly defeated by a packed calendar and rushed for time? Reclaiming control of your schedule starts with changing how you view your 168 hours. This episode of part 2 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing on Laura’s bestselling books '168 Hours' and 'Big Time', Helen explores what it means to achieve true time abundance, and what your default response to a busy calendar re...

Outsourcing your thinking to AI erodes the value of your contribution and means you are less likely to make a distinctive difference. Using AI as a thought-partner is a skill which can help you to refine your thinking, communicate more clearly and spot gaps before you share your perspective with other people. In this shortcut, Helen talks through how you can use AI as a thought-partner for your ca...

How do we design a career that lasts a lifetime without running out of energy? In this episode, Sarah talks to world-renowned expert Lynda Gratton about how to navigate a multi-stage, 100-year life. This episode of part 1 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing on Lynda Gratton's groundbreaking research and her new book 'Living the Hundred-Year Life', Sarah and Lynda discuss what it really...

Do you struggle to speak up in meetings or find yourself watering down your ideas? Assertiveness isn't about being the loudest person in the room; it is built through small, daily actions. In this episode, Helen shares simple actions to increase your assertiveness. 🎯 What You'll Learn – How to quash qualifiers like "maybe" and "just" – The power of being the person who creates clarity – How to of...