Squiggly Careers

This episode is the first in a series of 20 episodes as part of the Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint. The sprint is designed to help you create a regular learning habit to support your squiggly career development. Each episode in the series is less that 7 minutes long and has ideas for action and go-to-gurus on a specific topic. In this episode, Helen and Sarah talk about Feedback and share how stre...

In this episode, Sarah speaks to researcher and author of Impact players, Liz Wiseman. Together they discuss the concept of High Impact players- people who make a difference in their roles regardless of where they are in their career or what expertise they have. Sarah and Liz discuss the role of pragmatism in the workplace, how to play with your passion rather than be pushed by it, and how to adop...

This week Helen and Sarah are talking about rebellion and when its constructive for your career. They discuss the difference between being a useful rebel and a random rebel and how to spot opportunities to challenge the status quo. There are lots of ideas for action for you to be more confident in releasing your inner rebel at work. Sign-up to August's Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint: https://bit.l...

This week, Helen and Sarah talk about how to stop time being a blocker for career development. They share ideas from their latest Harvard Business Review article to give you lots of practical tools and approaches to try out. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Download our Squiggly Careers PodBook: https://rb.gy/orb0n5 2. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly caree...

In this week's episode Sarah talks to writer, journalist, stand up comedian and all round squiggly careerist, Viv Groskop. Together they explore a concept called 'happy high status', a new take on confidence which feels relatable and relevant to everyone no matter where your self belief is starting from. Sarah and Viv talk about how to escape the enemy of happy high status (judgement or fear of ju...

The moments when teams come together are crucial for bonding and belonging, but we can get stuck in a rut of doing the same things in the same way. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about lots of different ideas to include in your team meetings and moments that can help you to get the most of time spent together. Whether you want to get closer, work smarter or grow better they've got practical ideas...

If you ever feel conflicted by competing priorities, you are not alone! You might be struggling to balance short-term AND long-term thinking. You might be feeling frustrated trying to juggle investing in your development AND getting the day job done. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about what we can do to avoid 'AND overload' and how we can all develop 'AND agility'. In this episode, you'll hear l...

This week, Helen and Sarah tackle the topic of multi-tasking and why it's actually a myth! The reality of multi-tasking is that it's actually task-switching and the more we do it, the worse it is for our work. Together Helen and Sarah talk about practical ways you can spend more time in mono-tasking mode, increasing the impact of your outputs and working in a way that is better for your brain. Mor...

In this episode, Helen and Sarah talk about the role that senior people play in your career development and what you can do to make sure you stand out. They discuss the fears that can keep people from building relationships they need and share 10 ideas for action to help you to get closer to and more credible with senior stakeholders. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Download our Squi...

In this week's episode Sarah explores leadership with Rob Goffee, Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour at London Business School and co-author of the brilliant leadership book Why should anyone be led by you? Together they discuss how to approach answering what can initially appear to be a confronting question, the difference between management and leadership and why it's useful to borro...

Vulnerability is often accepted as a good thing at work but it's not always easy to know how to do it. This week Helen and Sarah talk about what vulnerability at work actually means and how to be vulnerable authentically and effectively. They share their own insights and reflections and practical ideas you can try out individually and in teams. You can also get a free copy of The Squiggly Career v...

This week Helen and Sarah are trying out AI tools to determine which are actually helpful for your career development. From applications to interviews, presentations to problem solving they have got some recommended resources to support your squiggly career. You can also get a free copy of The Squiggly Career videobook! This offer is for May 2023 only - details below: - Head to: https://litvideobo...

In this weeks episode Helen and Sarah discuss how to derisk career decisions, whether it's changing jobs, industries, taking the leap to work for yourself or changing career. They talk about 6 different types of risk that often get in the way of making decisions and how these risks can result in your career stalling and getting stuck. For each risk they discuss a different resolution, that can sup...

This week, Helen is joined by Dr Samantha Hiew, Founder of ADHD Girls and David Pugh-Jones, Trustee and Founding Member of one of the fastest-growing UK charities, Neurodiversity in Business to discuss neurodiversity at work. Together they talk about language and labels, the everyday reality of being neurodiverse in a workplace designed by and for neurotypical people and what we can do differently...

In this weeks episode Helen and Sarah discuss how hard moments at work can help us learn. They explore how to repond when a hard moment happens (especially when it's unexpected), how to get perspective after the moment and training our brains so that in the future we can feel good about how we show up in a hard moment. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Download our Squiggly Careers Pod...

Our inner critic is the negative voice in our head that makes us feel smaller or 'less than' in situations at work. It's a common way people hold themselves back. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about how you can quieten your inner critic so it doesn't get in the way of your career growth and share practical ideas you can put into action. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Download our...

This week, Helen and Sarah talk through the skills from their bestselling book The Squiggly Career. They share what they are, why they matter and ideas for action to invest in them. Whether you have read the book or not, this is a useful podcast to listen to if you want to take control of your career development and achieve more in your squiggly career. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1...

We can't always rely on our hard work being seen by the people who are important for our development. When we increase our visibility it leads to more awareness of our impact and more opportunities for our career. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about the actions you can take to increase your visibility with authenticity. It's not about doing more work and it's not about being the person who shout...

Looking for a new role can feel hard when it takes longer than expected and you're not sure what to do differently. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about how to stay confident during the job search process. They share 5 different ideas for action to increase your sense of control and make you feel more positive as you're going through the process. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Down...

Promotions are a career focus for lots of people, but they are not always possible for everyone. Whether a promotion is motivating because of pay or more power, the opportunity to work with new people or do more of the work you love (and less of the work you don't), there are other alternatives you can explore to get what you want from work. If you feel like you can't get promoted, we don't want y...

This week, Helen and Sarah talk about how trying to make everything great can get in the way of your growth. They discuss how to practice a 'good enough' approach to reduce pressure and accelerate your progress. Their mindset matrix will help you self-assess how a need for control affects your work and they share 5 ideas to adapt your approach and recognise when it's good to let go. More ways to l...

This week, Helen and Sarah talk about the women whose work has made a difference to their development. From authors to academics, sponsor and supporters, Helen and Sarah will help you to think through your own career development community. If you’re in search of some new sources of inspiration, this could be a good episode for you! More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Download our Squiggl...

This week, Helen and Sarah are talking about ways of working. They explore how to create clarity with roles and responsibilities, how to reduce confusion by reviewing your tools and tech and how to develop a unique culture with rhythms and rituals. More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers: 1. Download our Squiggly Careers PodBook: https://rb.gy/orb0n5 2. Sign-up for PodMail, a weekly summary of t...

This week, Helen talks to journalist and author of 'You're not listening' Kate Murphy. Together they discuss why distractions are affecting our ability to listen and simple ways you can upgrade your listening skills including team improvision exercises and some propmts to reflect on the quality of your conversations. To learn more about Kate and her work head to https://www.journalistkatemurphy.co...

This week, Sarah and Helen talk about how a need to achieve can get in the way of your growth. They help you to assess whether you are an overachiever, explore the implications for your development and discuss how to gain more perspective and increase your performance. For more on this topic, pre-order Emma Gannon's new book The Success Myth now: https://bit.ly/TheSuccessMyth More ways to learn ab...