Amazing If

Self-esteem has been linked to higher levels of happiness, satisfaction and quality of relationships.The day to day challenges of demanding work, tricky stakeholders and social-media led comparison can significantly impact our belief in our worth and value. In this week's Squiggly Careers podcast, hosts Helen and Sarah talk about how to measure and grow your self-confidence, sharing tools and tops to build belief in yourself.For links and resources, head over to amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Squiggly Careers are full of choice and opportunity which can sometimes mean we are faced with more decisions than we can handle.In absence of a clear and confident reason to say ‘no’, we can find ourselves drowning in the things we say yes to by default. In this week’s podcast, Helen and Sarah talk about how to say ‘no’, sharing their experiences of getting it right (and getting it wrong).They talk through their top tips for how to say no in a way that feels right for you and share other resources they think will help.Head to amazingif.com for links.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Sarah interviews Viv Groskop, author of How to Own the Room (and host of the brilliant podcast with the same name). Together they discuss three ways in which you can improve your presence, performance and authenticity and generally ‘be more’.First up Viv shares why her unofficial and unpaid job is to be Michelle Obamas biggest fan, and shares how we can all be more Michelle. A big part of this is achieving what Viv calls ‘happy high status’ and she shares the actions we need to take to make that happen in our work.Then Sarah and Viv discuss storytelling and how to be more JK Rowling. And last and most importantly how you can be more you. Why nerves are not going to go away (and why that’s ok) and why it's useful to remember that its not all about you!Viv combines humour with piercing insights (no surprise that she’s both a stand up comedian and a journalist) in a way that will leave you feeling confident about how you can Own the Room. For further resources visit amazingif.com  See acast.c

Our squiggly careers are full of change and uncertainty. At times, that can take the form of organisational restructures and even job redundancies. These challenging times can make us question what we're great at and what we should do next.In this week's podcast, Sarah and Helen share their experiences and their top advice is this is something you find yourself experiencing.For links to further resources, head to www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen talks to Marie Forleo about her new book 'Everything is Figureoutable' and what insights we can apply to our future careers.Their conversation covers how to build great networks, the importance of creating a vision and how you build your resilience.For resources and links, head over to www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this weeks episode Sarah interviews Scott Morrison one of the authors of Creative Superpowers and founder of bringer of the BOOM!Scott shares with Sarah why we all need to learn to teach ourselves by unlearning and relearning and how this connects to a growth mindset. Together they discuss how learning by doing and learning from unexpected places helps us to solve problems in new ways and what practical actions you can take to bring creativity to whatever job you're doing.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

All of the data points to meetings being an increasingly ineffective way of us getting work done. In this week’s podcast, Helen and Sarah explore what’s going wrong with meetings, sharing their own experiences of the good and not so good and thoughts on common wisdom to make them better. They conclude with tips and approaches that work for them and might also be useful for you too. For links to additional resources, head over to www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In celebration of 100 episodes of the Squiggly Careers podcast, hosts Helen and Sarah bring together 4 people that are making work better for everyone with a live studio audience.In this episode you'll hear from Simon Biltcliffe about how marxist-capitalism creates a new operating model for work, Pip Jamieson and Dan Murray-Serter about the entrepreneurs reality of launching and running The Dots and Heights and John Vincent, co-founder of Leon about what we can learn from Wing Tsun and why winning at work, doesn't mean fighting.For more information, head over to www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Sarah interviews special guest Dame Stephanie Shirley; tech pioneer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. In this episode we talk about what it was like to start a tech business as a woman in 1962 with a £6 initial investment (she went on to make £150m, at least £65m of which she has given away).We talk about her book Let It Go and her secrets to success including having faith in others, relentless enthusiasm and building a values led, progressive organisation.If you'd like to read more Sarah has written an article for Management Today profiling Dame Stephanie which you can find, along with our other career resources, on www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do you ever struggle to speak up or feel frustrated in your ability to share your views and opinions at work? If so, don't worry, in this week's Squiggly Career podcast Helen and Sarah share their top 5 tips for preparing for and engaging in a courageous conversation. Listen to their stories and insights to increase your confidence and inspire action. For additional resources, head over to www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Sarah is joined by special guest and co-author of the book, No Hard Feelings, Mollie West Duffy. Mollie shares her insights and ideas about the new rules of emotions at work including: be less passionate about your job, inspire yourself and why your feelings aren't facts. Together they discuss how you can use your emotions at work positively and the benefits it will bring for both you and your colleagues.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Helen talks to Rachael Glynne from LinkedIn to help you make the most of the platform. Whether you are an active user or you’ve let your profile gather dust, this week’s podcast will help you to standout on LinkedIn and build your brand and network. Head to www.amazingif.com to access links to any resources mentioned.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Emails. Projects. Meetings. The long list of things you want to do and things you think you should do! Our work can sometimes feel overwhelming and difficult to manage. In this week’s Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah talk about how to cut through the noise and prioritise your work. They cover tools, tips and tricks that you can put in place to give you more control over and confidence in where you are spending your time so it can make the biggest difference to you in your squiggly career. Head to amazingif.com for resources to accompany this week’s episode.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If you haven't heard of Heather McGregor, you need to listen to this week's Squiggly Careers podcast! Heather is one of the most squiggly and brilliant people we have met and have long been inspired by her journey. Her book 'Careers Advice for Ambitious Women' sparked the thinking for our business Amazing If and we have been inspired by her career journey ever since. Listen to this week's podcast to hear about how to manage your career, where to invest your time and efforts and why being in control of your finances pays career dividends. Links to resources mentioned are over at www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Squiggly Careers allow people to try many different modes of work and one that comes up a lot for our community is freelancing. If you’re curious about what work is like as a freelancer and how you go about making the leap from corporate life to freelance, this week’s episode is a must listen. We’ve invited Matthew Knight, founder of the Leapers Community, and Chloé Jepps, Head of Research at IPSE into the Squiggly Careers studio to explore the highs, lows, ins and outs of a career as a freelancer. Links to resources mentioned are over at www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Negotiation can feel like one of those skills we know we could be better at, but we're not sure how to go about improving. It's in the moments when we know negotiating would really help us (think salary negotiations and job crafting) that we often realise we've got work to do in order to successfully and confidently ask for what we want. In this week's Squiggly Careers podcast, Sarah (a great negotiator) and Helen (a work in progress), share their experiences and top tips for approaching key conversations at work confidentially and negotiating your way through to the outcomes you want. For resources and links, head to www.amazingif.com.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Managing for the first time can feel like a daunting experience that triggers all kinds of Confidence Gremlins. What if I get found out? How do I help people when I don't know how to help myself? How do I feel in control without micromanaging? In this week's Squiggly Careers podcast, Helen and Sarah share the moments they started managing and their top insights and actions to help you be the kind of manager that makes a positive and lasting impact on the people that work for you. All resources mentioned are linked over at www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Loneliness is a growing issue in the workplace and one that we can all take action on to support people. In this week's podcast, Helen interviews Tracey Crouch, the UK's first Minister for Loneliness about the Loneliness Strategy and the work being done to support individuals and organisations to create more belonging at work. For resources and links mentioned on the podcast, head to amazingif.com.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our careers are longer than ever and more and more people are looking not only to do a great job, but also to make a difference. In this week's Squiggly Careers podcast, Sarah and Helen talk about how to increase your social impact at work. They share their experiences of building businesses with a social purpose and working in large organisations with a social agenda. They also share organisations you can learn from and top tips you can action to build social impact into your career. All references and links can be found over at amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

How aware and affected are you of microaggressions at work? Perhaps it’s something you’ve not heard of before or maybe you think you may have unintentionally done something that could be categorised as a microaggression. This week, Helen and Sarah deep dive into the topic, exploring definitions, examples and actions you can take to respond to it and create workplaces that make work better for everyone. You can find any resources mentioned on the podcast over at www.amazingif.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.