Squiggly Careers

By The Squiggly Career

Business Careers

What's Squiggly Careers about?

Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Amazing If (https://www.amazingif.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints and tips that you can put into practise straight away. 
Once a month they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better. Past guests include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of The Joy of Work Bruce Daisley and neuroscience expert Amy Brann. 
The Squiggly Careers podcast has been recommended by Stylist, Marie Claire and Management Today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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LAST EPISODE

#324 How to stay confident ...

03.28.2023

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 ...

Squiggly Careers episodes:

03.28.2023 #324 How to stay confident during a job search 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 ...
03.21.2023 #323 How to progress when you can't get promoted 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 ...
03.14.2023 #322 When good enough is great 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 ...
03.07.2023 #321 Women who have made a difference to our development 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 ...
02.28.2023 #320 How to improve ways of working 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 ...
02.21.2023 #319 How to upgrade your listening 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 ...
02.14.2023 #318 Achievement Overload 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 ...
02.07.2023 #317 Doing by Learning In this Ask the Expert episode of the squiggly careers podcast Sarah has a conversation with author and founder David Erixon about the topic of Doing by Learning. Together they discuss what learning through experiences really looks like, what the ...
01.31.2023 #316 Stress Tolerance In the final episode of the Squiggly Soft Skills Series, Helen and Sarah talk about the topic of Stress Tolerance. They borrow insights from 2 books to support the conversation. Helen reads Widen the Window by Elizabeth A. Stanley PHD ...
01.24.2023 #315 Social Influence In this week's episode Helen and Sarah talk about the skill of social influence as part of the four-part soft skills series. Helen reads Techniques of Social Influence by Dariusz Dolinski and Sarah reviews Invisible Influence by Jonan Berger. Together ...
01.17.2023 #314 Critical Thinking This is the second episode of a four part series of the soft skills we need to succeed in our squiggly career. This week Helen and Sarah take on the topic of critical thinking and review two books to learn ...
01.10.2023 #313 Originality Helen and Sarah are back with another squiggly skills series and this time they are focusing on the soft skills we all need to succeed. Over the next 4 weeks they’ll be exploring originality, critical thinking, social influence and stress ...
01.03.2023 #312 What's holding back your career development? Helen and Sarah's most recent article for Harvard Business Review is now live and in this episode, they bring it to life! Listen and learn about creative ideas to overcome the most common career challenges, such as; not having enough ...
12.27.2022 #311 2022 in Review - How to look back to look forward In the final episode of the year, Helen and Sarah reflect on a series of questions to support awareness and action. You'll get behind-the-scenes insight into the reality of Helen and Sarah running a company together and having their toughest ...
12.20.2022 #310 10 ideas for action from the top 10 episodes Helen and Sarah have reviewed the most downloaded podcast episodes and shared an idea for action from each of them in this week's Squiggly Careers podcast. Listen and learn about: 1. Improving your work/life fit 2. Getting the most from ...
12.13.2022 #309 Ask the Expert: Networking with Sharmadean Reid, MBE In this weeks podcast you can hear Sarah in conversation with Sharmadean Reid, MBE, founder of The Stack World. Sharmadean shares her perspective and practical advice on networking, and explores the power of creating connections by asking curious questions. Together ...
12.06.2022 #308 How to create your career cushion (aka increase your career resilience) Have you come across the term 'career cushioning'? It's essentially about how you protect your career from changes that might feel out of your control and actively invest in yourself to keep your options open. This week, Helen and Sarah ...
11.29.2022 #307 How to improve your presence at work Presence can seem like a tricky topic, so this week Helen and Sarah are making it practical. They talk about the 3 principles of presence and how language, your body and your use of power can all play a role. ...
11.22.2022 #306 How to start a portfolio career This week, Helen and Sarah are talking about portfolio careers and how they can help you find more flexibility and freedom, increase your career resilience and stretch your strengths. They share lots of practical ideas for action to get you ...
11.15.2022 #305 How to approach your first 90 days This week, Helen talks to the author of 'The First 90 Days' Michael D. Watkins about how to start a new job well. Together they discuss common transition traps, actions to take regularly in your role and how to make ...
11.08.2022 #304 How to change your pace and perspective When work feels out of control or a bit overwhelming, it can be a flag that we need to reassess our pace and perspective. This week, Helen and Sarah share practical ideas for action to slow down or speed up ...
11.01.2022 #303 How to bust the career myths that hold you back Are career myths holding you back? This week, Helen and Sarah are in myth-busting mode talking about the most common assumptions that get in the way of people's growth and sharing ideas for action to overcome them. So if you've ...
10.25.2022 #302 How to make your job application stand out Job applications are an important part of a recruitment process, however it can feel hard to work out how to stand out when there is so much you need to say. In this week's Squiggly Careers podcast episode, Helen and ...
10.18.2022 #301 How to give and get fast and frequent feedback Feedback is a brilliant source of data for our development but too often fear and formality get in the way. This week, Helen and Sarah share 5 ideas for action for you to give and get faster and more frequent ...
10.11.2022 #300 How to take a coaching approach Everyone faces knotty moments in squiggly careers and needs support to get unstuck. Learning how to take a coaching approach means that you can help people to help themselves, so they can navigate their way through tough times today and ...
10.04.2022 #299 How to talk about values in teams Your person values are an important thing to reflect on but increased self-awareness can only get you so far. Values are useful in managing a squiggly career but the awareness needs to be matched with action. Talking about values in ...
09.27.2022 #298 How to create career karma Career karma is the benefit we create from taking a 'giving' approach to building relationships. This week, Sarah and Helen share 5 ways you can give to the relationships that support your career development to create a community that gives ...
09.20.2022 #297 How to make difficult career decisions This week Helen and Sarah are exploring how to make difficult careers decisions. When emotions take over it can be hard to see through a situation, but in this episode, you'll hear how to take a structured approach to your ...
09.13.2022 #296 How to take control of your career Is it possible to take control of your career in a world of work that’s full of change? Helen and Sarah think it is IF you focus on the right things in the right way. So, instead of over planning ...
09.06.2022 #295 How to redefine (or define) your relationship with work In this weeks podcast Helen and Sarah discuss why we want to take control of our relationship with work rather than leave it to chance. Together they discuss the trend of quiet quitting and how the psychological contract we have ...
08.30.2022 #294 How to find Fortitude with Bruce Daisley Helen and Sarah bring back Bruce Daisley to the podcast to talk about his brilliant new book Fortitude. They explore the 3 foundations of fortitude to increase your adaptability and resilience to all the inevitable change and challenge we experience ...
08.22.2022 #293 How to rethink about your relationships in and out of work This month, Helen and Sarah have been focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. So far they have covered health, sleep and money and in this final episode of the series they are exploring the role of relationships on your happiness ...
08.16.2022 #292 How your money mindset influences your career success Over the next month, Helen and Sarah are focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. They will be covering health, sleep, money and relationships and understanding the practical actions you can take to create the strongest foundations for squiggly career success. ...
08.09.2022 #291 How understanding the science of sleep can improve your work Over the next month, Helen and Sarah are focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. They will be covering health, sleep, money and relationships and understanding the practical actions you can take to create the strongest foundations for squiggly career success. ...
08.02.2022 #290 How to improve your health to increase your impact Over the next month, Helen and Sarah are focusing on Squiggly Careers 'life skills'. They will be covering health, sleep, money and relationships and understanding the practical actions you can take to create the strongest foundations for squiggly career success. ...
07.26.2022 #289 How to avoid a holiday hangover If you have a holiday ahead, chances are that you're already thinking about how you're going to get everything done before you go. Even worse, you might worry about work when you're away and get the 'back to work blues' ...
07.19.2022 #288 Beyond Burnout - Ask the Expert with Jennifer Moss This week we have an ‘Ask the Expert’ conversation between Sarah and Jennifer Moss. Jen is an award winning journalist and author of The Burnout Epidemic. Together Sarah and Jen discuss the causes and consequences of burnout. They also explore ...
07.12.2022 #287 How to increase your freedom at work Having the freedom and autonomy to work in a way that works for us and on the work we find meaningful is a significant contributor to our motivation. This week, Helen and Sarah talk through practical things you can do ...
07.05.2022 #286 How to help people to squiggle and stay The majority of people look outside of their company first when they are considering making a career move. This means that companies risk losing their best people and individuals might miss out on valuable opportunities for learning and growth. This ...
06.28.2022 #285 How to re-energise yourself and your work With so many things drawing on our energy reserves, it's not surprising that we can often be left feeling drained by the end of the day. This week, Sarah and Helen talk through 5 areas you can focus on outside ...
06.21.2022 #284 How to move forward from failure We're all told that failing is a good thing, but it doesn't make it that much easier in the moment and we have a tendency to miss out on the learning that could help us on the way. This week, ...
06.14.2022 #283 How to stop self-sabotage Saboteurs are the negative voices in our head that generate stress and get in the way of our ability to handle work and life challenges. They often operate on autopilot and limit our happiness and performance potential. We can all ...
06.07.2022 #282 How to know whether to switch or stay in your role There are times in our careers when we are all faced with a decision about whether to switch or stay in our roles and it's not always easy to know what move to make. This week, Helen and Sarah talk ...
05.31.2022 #281 How to work well with different people Working with people who work in a different way isn't always easy but with awareness and skill, it can create lots of opportunity for everyone to be better because of it. In this week's podcast, Helen and Sarah talk about ...
05.24.2022 #280 How to find friendship at work A big part of our happiness at work depends on the people we spend time with and finding genuine friendships impacts our engagement and performance. However, it's not always easy and remote work, comparison and conflicting priorities can all create ...
05.17.2022 #279 Ideas to invest in your learning As part of Learning at Work Week, Helen and Sarah share their best ideas to invest in your learning whether you have £50 or £500, lots of time or non at all! This episode is full of ideas on events, ...
05.10.2022 #278 How to be a good manager Managers have a significant impact on people's engagement in their work and squiggly careers can often feel like it makes the job of being a good manager even harder. This week, Helen and Sarah go back to basics on the ...
05.03.2022 #277 How to use experiments to accelerate your career development Experimentation is a great way to learn at work and accelerate opportunities for your career. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about practical ways you can put experiments into action and try out different approaches to support your development. Ways ...
04.26.2022 #276 How to increase your assertiveness Making our work and our career work for us takes self awareness and assertiveness, skills we can all develop but ones that aren't always easy to do! This week, Helen and Sarah taking the skill of assertiveness and make it ...
04.19.2022 #275 How to build and be part of a career community This week, Helen talks to Pritesh Chauhan, Head of Community for Sedex and one of the 100 people who become part of the 2021 Squiggly Career Advocates community. Together they talk about the importance of building a community around your ...

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