What's Your Work Fit?

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen unpacks the Power of Hybrid Professional Identities with Sarabeth Berk, Ph. D. Dr. Berk is a self-described Chief Creative Disruptor. She believes that hybrid professional identities help people in the workplace to project their unique value to hiring managers. When asked: "what do you do for a living?," most people respond with their current job title. Or they lau...

A stand-up comedian and workplace culture expert answers the burning question: Is the future of work funny? David Horning is the principal of Water Cooler Comedy . He works closely with organizations to inject humor into the workplace, to help them build strong, positive, and enduring cultures. As a young child, David discovered that he could make family, friends, and teachers laugh. Later on, he...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Andrea Koppel,  who is helping people pivot from college to career. Andrea is a former CNN correspondent , PR and nonprofit sector corporate executive. She draws on those amazing professional experiences to empower 1 million students to turn their degrees into careers they will love. Each week, she hosts and executive produces the Time4Coffee Podcast whi...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets a tech career strategist who helps people get unstuck for the future of work. Raj Subrameyer arrived in the US for graduate study. He was an introverted South Indian student who pursued the lofty career goals that others expected him to follow. Raj says he applied for over 1,200 jobs and got but a handful of interviews. That's when he decided to focus on his...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets with Rob Citronberg MD to discuss the pandemic and the workplace. Dr. Citronberg is Advocate Aurora Health Care's Executive Director of Infectious Disease and Prevention. What is more, he leads his healthcare system's Covid-19 response and addresses the needs of hospitalized Covid patients. Beyond his hospital responsibilities, Dr. Citronberg also counsels me...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen believes that Career and Technical Education or CTE is key for future work. As students across the U.S. return to the classroom, more school systems are delivering STEAM instruction and career and technical education or CTE . STEAM and CTE are key for future work. Provided together, they help students to gain access to well-paying jobs that don’t require a 4-year c...

Podcaster and Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen believes that times like these are perfect to turn crisis into career opportunity. It takes a steeled spine to log onto the New York Times' website and read so much grim news. However, it is in times of deep crisis that people can connect with the dream of doing meaningful work. Right now, we can turn crisis into career opportunity. Throughout Dan's l...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses how the Code Red for Humanity's future work will deal with existential crisis. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that humans have changed Earth in ways both dire and irreversible. The IPCC calls this a "code red for humanity." Without intervention, during the next 20 years, human activity will cause Earth to get 1.5 degrees Cels...

Podcaster Dan Smolen is in awe of Gymnast Simone Biles ' future of work masterclass. By far, the biggest story to emerge from the Tokyo Olympic Games has been mindfulness of elite athletes. And American Gymnast Simone Biles is the face of mindfulness at these games. Biles exited team competition when her mind and body fell out of sync. Apparently, there is a name for such disconnection: the twisti...

Crisis and the future of work are now intertwined. And, the effects of climate change and the pandemic altered the work that we do and hope to do. During each day, practically everyone in the workforce addresses issues. Often, these are time and place-related included in the job spec. For instance: a marketing manager's task is in overcoming customer loyalty erosion. However, in the first seven mo...

Podcaster Dan Smolen sees future work in local food production. We have a serious food problem. And, according to the International Monetary Fund, the price of food has jumped 47 percent in the past year. Our once reliable agricultural model scaled a food pipeline driven on abundant water, millions of acres of rich farmland, a huge supply chain, and cheap labor. However, the pandemic and climate c...

Future of work podcaster Dan Smolen says that the time has come for healing an emotionally distressed workforce. Gallup's latest workforce study is out, and it indicates that workers across the globe are suffering. And Jim Clifton , the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, minces no words: “What if the next global crisis is a mental health pandemic? It is here now.” Gallup concludes that the global workfor...

Future of work podcaster Dan Smolen asks: do our best days lie ahead? Lately, some workplace observers have taken me to task for the tagline of this podcast: our best days lie ahead. With pandemic restrictions eased, we are in the midst of the biggest workforce and workplace disruption in over 100 years. Now, a career professional must come to an understanding of "new normal," whether they office...

In this episode, Dan discusses becoming the future of work sherpa: Months ago, I challenged myself to come up with a succinct value statement to explain the scope of my work. I also sought to differentiate myself from other experts in future of work. And that is how I arrived at the notion that I am the future of work sherpa whose mission it is to help people connect with work that is profound, pr...

Few professionals demonstrate the case for workplace empathy better than Hannah Jew. Hannah Jew (last name pronounced "Joe") is an empathy building brand strategist for Scotts Miracle-Gro , the nation's leading lawn and garden care company. Empathy is central to how Hannah does her job; it helps drive value for consumers who rely on her company's products to grow flowering plants and food from see...

For many in the active workforce, project leadership drives future work. As dramatic shifts in work behavior unfolded during the pandemic, one key insight popped out as truly meaningful. Project leadership drives future work. To help us explore the growing importance of project leadership, we turn to Rich Maltzman for guidance. He is a master lecturer of project management at Boston University's M...

Cristina DiGiacomo applies practical philosophy for future work benefit. An author, podcaster , and practical philosopher, Cristina draws on ancient insight to help people solve contemporary problems. And as the founder of MorAlchemy , she guides people to lead happier, more purposed lives doing meaningful work. Skeptics may not recognize the immediate value of practical philosophy for future work...

Career professionals are swaying to the future of work, to thrive in their roles and workplaces. During 2020, the intense stressors of remote work sent many professionals to a panic state. But 17 months since the pandemic started, those professionals may now languish. They handle their responsibilities well and don't feel despair, but they don't necessarily thrive . According to workplace futurist...

When we act on future work opportunities, we help make our career dreams come true. Paired with dreams, exploration, and strategy, action helps us to achieve career success. These four components weave together like DNA, in countless combinations, to create a pathway for people to seek and do meaningful work. In this episode, Dan Smolen recalls how his early career ambition benefitted from a big r...

Strategize for your future work success to find and do the work of your dreams. Paired with dreams, exploration, and action, strategy helps us to achieve career success. These four components weave together like DNA, in countless combinations, to create a pathway for people to seek and do meaningful work. In this episode, Dan Smolen recalls an experience from his junior year of college. Back then,...

Explore future work opportunities to live your dreams of doing meaningful work. Paired with dreams, strategy, and action, exploration helps us to achieve career success. These four components weave together like DNA, in countless combinations, to create a pathway for people to seek and do meaningful work. In this episode, Dan recalls the impact of Seventh Grade Career Day on his lifetime of work....

We discuss how dreams inspire our future work. Dreams are part of the components that help us to seek and do meaningful work and careers. Paired with exploration, strategy, and action, dreams help us achieve career success. These four components weave together like DNA, in countless combinations, to create a pathway for people to seek and do meaningful work. In this episode, Dan relives his early...

Fostering a civil workplace is key to the future of work. As organizations reintroduce their people to the workplace, they must also reckon with social responsibility. It is one thing for management to express a desire for positive social change. It is quite another to "walk the talk" to create a civil work environment. Sejal Thakkar understands the sting of incivility like few others. During her...

Few issues pair as precariously as A.I. and the future of work. Artificial intelligence or A.I. frightens people who fear that robots will take away their jobs and paychecks. Truth be told, A.I. will soon replace millions of low-skill jobs, for it can manage many tasks faster and better than people. But A.I. has no heart; only people can do jobs that require human touch and interaction. To help us...

We pose five questions on post pandemic work experiences to our guest,  Edythe Richards . Edythe is an Emotional Intelligence expert. She is also the new host of the EQ  at Work podcast which explores how EQ may be used to positively shape the future of work. As we emerge from the pandemic, some of us will travel back to co-located offices. The prospect of returning is both exciting and terrifying...