Sustainable Ambition

How we think about and plan our time matters, especially if we want to focus on the ambitions and goals in life and work that truly matter to us. My guest, Laura Vanderkam, has been studying time management for over fifteen years. In our conversation, she offers a fresh perspective on common narratives about how much time we have and how we use it. Her approach is both optimistic and practical, wi...

As leaders, we have to ask ourselves, how can we create more sustainability for ourselves and our teams? Among the challenges modern leaders face are the emotional demands of their roles, whether we want to acknowledge emotions in the workplace or not. Dina Denham Smith joins me to dig into the myths and misperceptions around how emotions impact workplaces, why we can’t keep ignoring emotions at w...

As the Sustainable Ambition podcast reaches its 150th episode, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the journey and the invaluable insights shared by various guests on the show.  The podcast has consistently explored the concept of Sustainable Ambition, exploring how to be ambitious without sacrificing yourself or your life. But the scope and lens of the show has also expanded to reconsider and...

How can we pursue our ambitions without sacrificing our lives or ourselves in the process? It’s easy to get overextended while following our passions, but we can use those moments to learn our limits and what we need to do in order to sustain ourselves for the long term.  In this episode, I talk with Cheri Magid about her art and how creative practices can help us live and work in more fulfilling...

So far this year, my guests and I have been discussing how we can do things differently through experimentation, creativity, and innovation to optimize our life and work for personal success, satisfaction, and sustainability. I’ve often focused on what we can do individually to ensure sustainability in our life and work, because we can’t rely solely on outside forces to do so. But as Dr. Richard S...

At the beginning of the year, it can feel like we have to go all-in right away toward our goals. But it’s important, maybe even essential, to pace ourselves. Today, Merideth Mehlberg returns to dive into how we can optimize our work, not with a full steam ahead press, but by stepping into our own knowing, listening to our bodies, simplifying, and embracing ease, experimentation, and evolution. It’...

If we want our experience of work and life to be different, we have to be willing to find new solutions and do things differently. We have to be able to innovate and evolve. I am joined by Dr. Amy Climer to discuss how we can apply that kind of creative thinking and problem solving to designing our work and life. We talk about how we might design work and life in a way that will make it more perso...

Let's start this year by exploring how we can live and work differently for more personal success, satisfaction, and sustainability.  This complements my last episode that closed out 2024 where I talked about how approaching uncertainty and complexity with a sense of hope, joy, and wonder can help us embrace our agency over our goals and ambitions even in tenuous times.  Today, neuroscientist Anne...

At this time of the year, many of us are taking time to reflect, consider what we’ve learned, and determine what to take with us into the new year.  In this episode, I share two major themes that I’ve been coming back to throughout 2024. I offer my reflections on embracing uncertainty and complexity and how both can benefit us on our journeys of Sustainable Ambition. I also share questions for you...

Many of us want to make a positive impact and gain fulfillment with the work we do.  Caroline Ouwerkerk is a career and leadership coach who works with people in the social impact space to help them find their purpose and pursue it sustainably.  Today, Caroline shares the structures she has put in place for herself to help her disconnect from work, how she models sustainable leadership, how to thi...

How can we sustain our engagement in our work and make our careers regenerative? Continuing the series of conversations about managing our work ambitions over time and at different stages of leadership, I’m joined today by Aybala Şimşek Galpin, CEO of the Turkish bank, Şekerbank. Aybala’s story illustrates how our environment and cultural context shape our ambitions. Her career path also shows tha...

Learning to embrace leadership and think intentionally about the kind of leader we want to be is important, regardless of where we are in our careers. It’s relevant whether we’re leading a whole team or just ourselves. Today, Pete Steinberg and I dig into what it means to be a leader and to step into that role. If you’re starting a new leadership role at work, it may be time to rethink your leader...

How do we stay engaged with our careers and make them feel sustainable and regenerative for the long haul? Today, master coach Merideth Mehlberg introduces common traps that keep us feeling stuck and dissatisfied at work, shares what gets us to the point where we can take action for change, plus offers reassurance that finding more fulfillment isn’t as arduous as it may seem at the outset. Learn m...

If you are a workaholic or have workaholic tendencies, you are not alone. Many of us struggle with overwork and assessing the right amount of effort to put towards our ambitions and priorities, without going overboard. Today, Dr. Malissa Clark, author of Never Not Working: Why the Always-On Culture Is Bad for Business—and How to Fix It, joins me for a conversation about workaholism and overwork, w...

What is work? And what is the role of work in our lives? For many Americans, work is a primary source of meaning and identity. But what if you embraced a more holistic identity? Today, I’m in conversation with Simone Stolzoff, author of The Good Enough Job, about the roles of work in our modern lives. Simone invites us to embrace more sides of ourselves as we write our stories and, through a broad...

If you live and work in the U.S., you might have daydreamed about finding better work-life balance by moving to another country with different norms and structures around work.  But what if the challenges of navigating life and work in the modern world are more pervasive than we think?  France-based coach and consultant Sandra Fillaudeau joins me to dig into the challenges French professionals fac...

Sustainable Ambition is a practice and a journey that is ever-changing and each of our journeys is unique to us. In this episode, I reflect on the Summer Book Series, how I was impacted by the concepts I shared in those episodes, and what I have been learning about Sustainable Ambition over the last several months. I also want to share updates on where I am in my own journey of Sustainable Ambitio...

Part of pursuing Sustainable Ambition is examining how we can live our lives more fully, and with more purpose, without sacrificing ourselves. Today’s guest, speaker and author, Jodi Wellman, calls us to look death in the face in order to become more alive. And while this might sound dour or heavy, it really isn’t. Jodi shares her philosophy for crafting a life well-lived, and it doesn’t always re...

We hear a lot about resilience these days. We say people who overcome obstacles and challenges in life and work must be so resilient. But is that the only way to build our resilience muscles? What does it mean to build resilience in practice? Building resilience is essential to Sustainable Ambition, both to grow in and navigate our careers over time, and to create the lives we desire and sustain o...

Over the months of June and July episodes, I’ve been sharing books that have delighted me. Some of them have been written by past guests, while others are new books that have really inspired me to think more deeply about sustainability.  My hope in sharing these books with you is that you’ll be inspired, as I was, and think differently about how you operate this summer. Through this summer book se...

This summer and over the June and July episodes, I am sharing books that have really delighted me. Some of them have been written by past guests, while others are new books that have really inspired me to think more deeply about sustainability.  My hope in sharing these books with you is that you’ll be inspired, as I was, and think differently about how you operate this summer. Through this summer...

Over the months of June and July, I will be sharing books that have really delighted me. Some of them have been written by past guests, while others are new books that have really inspired me to think more deeply about sustainability.  My hope in sharing these books with you is that you’ll be inspired, as I was, and think differently about how you operate this summer. Through this summer book seri...

This summer and over the four episodes in June and July, I will be sharing books that have really delighted me. Some of them have been written by past guests, while others are new books that have inspired me to think more deeply about sustainability.  My hope in sharing these books with you is that you will be inspired, as I was, and think differently about how you operate this summer. Through thi...

How can the arts support our ability to thrive and flourish in life and work? As part of my continuing conversations about creativity and how it intersects with Sustainable Ambition, I’m talking with Dr. Tasha Golden about the role of art in our evolution and its power to help us express ourselves more fully.  We also discuss the dangers of “robotic” behavioral norms to our physical and mental wel...

If asked, most of us would likely say that we want to live with a sense of meaning and purpose. But how many of us truly put that intention front and center in how we make choices for ourselves?  In this episode, I’m continuing conversations that explore how creative practices can help us come to a deeper understanding of our ambitions and support us as we seek to live and work in meaningful ways....