Sustainable Ambition

Pauses can be powerful.  There’s a Japanese concept called ma that translates literally as gap, space, or pause. In both art and life, it’s a strategic negative space that makes what comes next inevitable.  During my break, I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of strategic pauses. And all the while, I’ve also needed to shift into execution mode and get certain things done. As I return to the p...

Most of us are pretty bad at creating space for ourselves. Yet we need space for rest, for metabolizing and connecting experiences and ideas, for making sense of things. Today, I talk about the gap between knowing we need space and actually creating it. And I’m sharing my own failures and stumbles in this area, what I’ve learned from them, and the new strategies I’m putting into place.  As part of...

We’re not always in control when or how inflection points happen, but we can learn to navigate transitions with more awareness and intention. Today I’m joined by my dear friend and repeat guest, Philip VanDusen, as part of my Ambition In-Between Series. We get real about listening for signals that we need change, allowing for completion and subtraction, the importance of recognizing that transitio...

This month, I’m exploring sustainability through the lens of leadership and how we can focus our effort to make work better for ourselves and those around us. My guest today, Rebecca Hinds, is an expert on transforming the way we work to be more intentional, efficient, and effective. She urges us to resist functioning on autopilot and consider if our systems and environments are actually working f...

Leadership is hard right now. Maybe one of your intentions for this year is to grow as a leader. Maybe you’re questioning if you even want to be one. For those who choose to be leaders, it’s important to set our intentions so that we can focus our efforts on making work better for ourselves and those around us.  In this conversation, Harvard Instructor and leadership expert Margaret Andrews and I...

Intentionally choosing where to put our time, energy, and attention is an essential part of Sustainable Ambition. Today, I’m introducing a concept and tool, the U-curve of ambition, that helps us get clear on our current stage and state when it comes to our ambitions. I find this reflection from my book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work, really useful...

Much as we often find ourselves asking “ what now” at the culmination of an ambition, the start of a new year is also a time when many of us wonder how best to move forward. For the third episode of our Ambition In-Between series, I want to build on what I’ve shared about the unexpected outcomes and mixed emotions that show up at the completion of a big ambition, and talk about how to move forward...

I continue my Ambition In Between series by exploring something many of us experience but don’t always name: the mixed emotions that surface after completing a big ambition. I look at why conflicting feelings show up, what they might be pointing to, and how we can work with them instead of against them. Toward the end of the episode, I offer several sets of reflection questions to help you review...

What does it mean to live a creative life? How can creative pursuits support us in being ambitious and living sustainably? Fostering creativity, innovation, and visual thinking can boost our ability to see and enact new or different ways of working and living. Laura Holson offers insights on integrating creativity into our lives, why so many of us come back to creative pursuits in midlife and beyo...

Since the June release of my first book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work , a number of people have asked me how it feels to have achieved this big ambition. Have I checked that box and moved on to something different? Or am I percolating another book idea? Over the last few months, I’ve been mulling over and researching those questions. Today’s episo...

What if the future of work isn’t about technology but about being more human ? That’s the question at the heart of my conversation with Dr. Natalie Nixon , creativity strategist and author of Move, Think, Rest: Redefining Productivity & Our Relationship with Time . Natalie believes we’re not in a technology revolution. We’re in a human revolution . In this new era, imagination, curiosity, and...

Hard work isn’t a bad thing, even when we’re seeking sustainability. The trick is to put hard work into what actually matters to make progress and meet our goals. If you want to advance in your career, focusing on performance metrics alone won’t lead to success. In today’s conversation, leading visibility coach Susan Barber shares how visibility is an essential piece of making the impact you want...

If we want work to work better for us, we need meaningful work. But that doesn’t mean we have to choose between what’s good for individuals and what’s good for our organizations. In this episode, Wes Adams and Tamara Myles dig into why meaningful work matters, why we need to shift away from downstream metrics like engagement, and three essential focus areas for fostering meaningful work. And as th...

Our work and our finances are inextricably linked. Our financial wellness impacts how we view our work and shapes the choices and trade-offs we make, whether we’re aware of it or not. Return guest Dana Miranda joins me to discuss how embracing the link between financial wellness and our work can actually help us find more flexibility and peace in our choices as we navigate the inevitable ebb and f...

A “popular” metric people like to look at is employee engagement. But I’ve always thought this data isn’t that useful and have wondered if this is the best data point to focus on to understand how people really feel about their work.  But if not this metric, where do we focus instead?  My guest today, Mark C. Crowley, argues that we need to “lead with both mind and heart” to create environments wh...

Knowing that our work matters is a fundamental human need. But so many organizations and leaders struggle to help people feel that their work is worthy of the effort they put in. My guest today, Zach Mercurio, invites us to explore the fundamental role of work in our lives.  In this crisis moment when more and more people feel negatively about work, mattering is an essential antidote to apathy and...

When we ask ourselves, what is the role of work in our lives, there are often two camps: Work is just work or find your passion in your work.  But most of us want to find the middle ground between those extremes.  Today, I’m revisiting the question of the role work plays in our lives, and how we can make work work better for us. Workplace culture expert Bree Groff joins me to talk about how we can...

I’m flipping the mic again and being interviewed by my friend and past guest, Neha Mandhani, about the journey of writing and publishing my book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work.   In this conversation, I reflect on the vulnerable, imperfect process of writing and releasing the book because Sustainable Ambition isn’t a magic wand that will give any o...

In this episode, I share conversations that informed the Sustainable Ambition method and appear in my book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work .  I wanted to revisit these segments with Heather Ainsworth, Dr. Sahar Yousef, and Jack Hsueh because they are wonderful examples of the pillars of Right Ambition, Right Time, and Right Effort and how they align...

As of this recording, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work has been out in the world for two weeks and I’ve been so gratified to hear from readers and reviewers that the book and its principles are resonating and that they’re already putting it to use. This episode is a continuation of my conversation with Dr. Dawn Graham about Sustainable Ambition . Here...

Before we can step into Sustainable Ambition, we first have to challenge what we’ve been taught to believe about success and ambition. Today I’m sharing an excerpt of the audiobook for Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work. Chapter Two, “ Reclaim Personal Success and Ambition as Your Own,” breaks down why you need to define success on your own terms and of...

In this special episode of Sustainable Ambition , I’m doing something different. I’m stepping out of the host seat and into the hot seat! To celebrate the launch of my new book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work , Dr. Dawn Graham — corporate psychologist and career coach — joins me as guest host to flip the mic and interview me about the ideas behind t...

When we encounter a conflict or constraint that prompts us to question our current path, how do we determine our new way forward? After a long career with Procter & Gamble, including a senior leadership role in R&D, Ashish Chatterjee hit a surprising and painful inflection point — one that challenged everything he thought he knew about success. Ashish’s story is a masterclass in leading th...

What does it look like to live your ambition sustainably, with joy, intention, and wholeness? In this episode, I’m joined by Erica Meade, a former tech leader who made an unexpected and inspiring pivot — from product design work to making miniatures, co-founding a startup, and redefining what “work” means on her own terms. Whether you’re at a crossroads, recovering from burnout, or just seeking in...

In this deeply resonant conversation, I sit down with Moe Carrick — author, consultant, and advocate for more human-centered workplaces — to explore the role of work in our lives and what it really takes for people to thrive. Moe brings both research and lived experience to the table, sharing the seven human needs we bring to work, how they shift over time, and why we must move beyond the “ideal w...