Pivot with Jenny Blake

(Recorded 2/12/20) Laura Huang is a professor at Harvard Business School who studies interpersonal relationships and implicit bias in entrepreneurship and in the workplace. In this conversation, we’re talking about her new book Edge: Turning Adversity Into Advantage. You’ll learn about her framework: Enrich, Delight, Guide, Effort — and how she recovered from almost getting kicked out of Elon Musk...

Here in the U.S., a record 10 million people have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks, and employment estimates are at a mind-boggling 13%—which doesn’t even include gig economy workers. I have friends who are pregnant, slated to get married, and who have family members who are sick that they can’t visit. On a personal level, I am staying buoyant, although in the last few weeks I have los...

(Recorded 4/1/20) Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part two of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now, along with practical tips and tools for the business side of things. What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http...

(Recorded 4/1/20) Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part one of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now on the medical front. I ask about make-at-home supplies like masks, and re-washing gloves, and managing our energy (and workload) through the daily ups and downs. What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod....

(Recorded March 25, 2020) How do we help others navigate change, particularly during moments of crisis? In this episode, I’m including a replay from another recent workshop I delivered on March 25: Pivot for Managers, Mentors, and Coaches. This mirrors the keynote I give within organizations around helping managers and coaches improve their career conversation capabilities, but I have shifted (ahe...

(Recorded March 18, 2020) How do we map what’s next when the ground underneath us shifts on a daily, if not hourly, basis? How do we navigate change when change is accelerating so quickly? In this episode, I’m including a replay from the recent Map What’s Next workshop I ran for individuals. This mirrors the keynote I give within organizations and my annual “Set Your Strategy” podcast episode, but...

(Recorded March 4) How do you know when to trust your intuition? What is it about certain people that prickles your spidey senses? I’m delighted to bring you this conversation with former FBI Agent Robin Dreeke on how to read behavior signals for who we can trust — and who we can’t. Robin and I also discuss one of the lowest points of his career, six months after 9/11. As he writes in his book, Si...

Do your eyeballs hurt?! No matter my joy and awe at humanity’s creativity in times of crisis in terms of moving everything online—everything. is. online. Even pre-pandemic, our phones were already spitting out weekly Screen Time reports to help us put down the devices . . . now we’re glued to them as the only outlet for social connection, culture, and productivity. In a New York Times article, Whe...

“There’s nothing more powerful than a united group of souls ignited in a common cause with love at the core.” – Steven Morris Steve Morris is on a mission to help organizations and their leaders rise to their potential to live and work wholeheartedly, while making a positive impact on the world. In this conversation we talk about beautiful questions that reorient one’s life trajectory, moments of...

If you ever feel like a sponge for the energy (and moods) of people around you, particularly during times of massive change or crisis; if you feel flooded by emotion, overwhelmed with empathy, more sensitive than usual to sights, sounds, and media; and/or hit with powerful bursts of intuition, this episode is for you. Sarah Santacroce and I recorded a two-way conversation for Pivot and her podcast...

Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part two of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now. And more importantly, we’re diving into practical tips and tools for the business side of things: journaling, scenario planning, buying time, “hot wash” analysis, and third door solutions. What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://piv...

Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back in a “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now. And more importantly, we’re diving into practical tips and tools for as many aspects of this pandemic as we can, including: vaccines, what to do if you get sick, contact tracing, what he’s seeing and hearing from the medical community front lines, and his professional opinion on whether “the cure is worse t...

Part 2 of yesterday’s conversation with Penney Peirce (episode 168) — listen in as we continue unpacking her essay in conversation together, How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency. In this second half, we talk about the stock market, how money is like a child and responds to our inner energy blueprint, how to find and reconnect with your home frequency, and making the most of business...

I’m delighted to have Penney Peirce back on the podcast to unpack her essay in conversation together, on How Coronavirus is Speeding Us Toward Transparency (Part 1). Since the pandemic started, I have been wondering what Penney’s take would be. Longtime listeners know she needs no introduction, as people often remark to me that the episodes with her are their favorite! We have 11 conversations in...

New York City is now in a state of emergency, the usually overflowing streets and parks are eerily vacant, and the line for Whole Foods was around a city block today, cordoned off by fences and a security guard. I’m so grateful to all grocery store workers, Amazon and USPS employees, teachers, and health care providers.  Since the pandemic started, I have been wondering what Penney’s take would be...

Pivot Insider member and creativity expert Kathryn Haydon is here to help parents “turn a difficult time into a time of possibility.” Over the past decade, she has written four books, several hundred articles, taught and trained thousands of kids, educators, and businesspeople, all while working from home and homeschooling her son, while her husband worked long hours at the office and on weekends....

Story time! ❤️📘🤓 Today I’m reading one of my all-time favorite passages for tough times, from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet. I love this timeless letter (#8, written in 1904) so much that I included an excerpt at the very start of Pivot, and a second excerpt to close the book—both are included in the full text that I’m reading on this episode. What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up...

(Recorded pre-pandemic) I’m thrilled to bring you another one of my favorite friendtors, Mike Michaelowicz. He’s the author of several books that have dramatically improved my business: Profit First, Clockwork, and now this week we’re talking about his latest upcoming release, Fix This Next: Make the Vital Change that Will Level Up Your Business. Mike was last on the show in episode 37, Surge: How...

While it can seem distracting and disorienting at first, working from home is an incredible opportunity to tune into your circadian rhythms and exactly how you work best. Even though your new commute may be from the bed to the living room to the office, you can still create rituals and boundaries that set you up for success when you start the day, and sanity when you end it. These are 25 of my fav...

While all of us have been adjusting to self-imposed social distancing and quarantine this week under new global guidelines, Lindsay Pedersen had a head start. She and her family live in the greater Seattle area, which was the site of the first major outbreak in the U.S. In this conversation with Lindsey and Dr. Consuelos, we talk about the emotional rollercoaster of the entire family staying home...

Just yesterday (after we recorded), the U.S. recommendation has gone from avoiding gathering in groups larger than 50 to groups larger than 10. Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back in a “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now, and more importantly, practical tips and tools for as many aspects of this pandemic as we can cover. In this episode, we discuss how all of us can stay safe, think...

“Don’t buy in to the fear / media hype” is something I’ve heard more than once this week. No matter how calm you are staying (or not) there is no doubt our lives are already significantly impacted by the spread and precautions around coronavirus, far beyond fear itself. I feel an urgency to keep this conversation going, with real-time content that addresses what’s going on around us, particularly...

With so much happening in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward. When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource...

This week’s Pivot Podcast is a field report from seeing one of my heroes live! I attended Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour: Your Life in Focus in Brooklyn in early February, and I was so curious going into this event that I thought you might like to hear about the experience and key takeaways. Oprah is inviting a different headliner from each stop on the tour (ours was Michelle Obama), so if you want a pe...

What kind of company are you building (or working for)? Are you optimizing for chaos or for calm? One of my favorite books from recent years as it relates to company culture — even if you're a culture of one (or one+) — is It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy At Work, by Basecamp co-founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Jason and David aim for a calm company, so every chapter (and business are...