The next two podcasts I see as a piece with each other, today is about meaning the next one is about mattering. Collectively I feel they present serious substance about the foundations of good culture.

Read Meaningful Work

Read the latest newsletter

There’s some overlap - the authors today,Tamara Myles and Wes Adams, have done research with next week’s guest Zach Mercurio. One of today’s guests Tamara Myles said one of the most powerful questions you can ask to measure engagement at work is to ask ‘does your manager care about what is going on in your life?’

Today is about meaning, and I feel it gets to grips with questions of purpose. Why sometimes purpose doesn’t seem to create an impact in an organisation - and other times really makes it hum.

The authors describe meaningful work as work that provides community, helps us contribute to something that matters, and challenges us to learn and grow.

For full show notes go to the website.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up for the newsletter

Someone posted on LinkedIn that the podcast had died. Or I had died. But he is risen! I'm back with a great discussion, powerful in its simplicity.

Psychologists Dr. Patricia Grabarek and Dr. Katina Sawyer have created a guidebook for anyone who wants to make things better for their teams. In it they suggest that managers need to set the tone for our colleagues. Yes, of course I hear you say but it's so often something that the hectic buzz of work distracts us from.

As workplace wellness is in decline they suggest that it's time for managers to step up and be the creators of great culture, even if that might be pushing against the tide.

Leading for Wellness is out now.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join 100,000 other workplace culture enthusiasts by signing up for the Make Work Better newsletter

Interested in how skills could enhance your business? Check out the short film I made with the Department for Education.

Get in touch with Bruce

What do your typos say about you?

What's the right medium to build connection with your colleagues?

How did Shopify and Netflix reinvent their communication?

How can any of us navigate a bulging calendar and overloaded inbox?

Professor Andrew Brodsky gives us a field guide to communications and tells how we should be rethinking how we message.

Andrew's new book Ping is out in February.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interested in how skills could enhance your business? Check out the short film I made with the Department for Education.

Sign up for the newsletter

Today's episode is an Avengers Assembled of podcasts about work. I join host Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis from the Squiggly Careers podcast, as well as Isabel Berwick from the FT's Working It and Jimmy McCloughlin from Jimmy's Jobs.

We talk AI, asking payrises, RTO and much more.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michael Morris's book Tribal covers the codes that bond humans together. It has been shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award 2024. It came runner-up to 'Supremacy' by Parmy Olson.

He explains that humans are inspired by peer codes, human codes and ancestor codes when it comes to their behaviour - and he gives plenty of insight of how we could build more tightly bonded groups in our own teams.

Make Work Better: Resisting the Enshittification of Work in 2024

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everywhere we look we see someone who is outraged - and plenty of that anger makes its way to the workplace.

The last time President Trump was in power it led to employees becoming more active - who knows if the same will happen in 2025.

Karthik Ramanna talks us through the way to deal with outrage - and the actions that any leader can take to make the workplace a better place. His new book is out now.

More about the Edelman Trust index

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up for the newsletter

Tiffany Gaskell outlines coaching as a route to transformational leadership

Tiffany Gaskell is the co-author of Coaching for Performance, the top-selling guide to coaching first published by Sir John Whitmore the inventor of the discipline.

It's curious to consider that there was a founder of coaching, and Tiffany takes me through the history of the practice, how it took hold and where it is today.

There's a key consideration about the modern manager given to us by the Gallup Global Workplace Report, 80% of those who are engaged with their jobs say they've received direct feedback from their manager in the last week.

This is a powerful insight but also poses a huge challenge - how can any of us find the time to observe and then feedback to every worker in our team. Tiffany explains that this is where a culture of coaching comes in, transferring the burden of observation from the manager to facilitating a socratic questioning approach.

You can follow Tiffany on LinkedIn and the book is out now.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe to the free Make Work Better newsletter

Brigid Schulte is a journalist and writer who brings a reporter's ear for stories to her exploration of modern work.

Over the course of a decade Schulte has talked to people about the impact their jobs has on their lives - and has explored any hope that we might be able to make this better.

Her new book, Over Work and paints a hopeful image of how we might fix the toxic elements of our jobs.

One of the examples is about Intel, who in 2013 experimented with a new initiative styled Freelance Nation to bring some of the upsides of gig work to a professional knowledge work environment. It proved hugely successful and yet they decided to scrap it.

Buy Over Work

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin Ellis is a consultant and author who spends his time working with organisations to improve their culture. He's turned his attention to why some companies go bad in a new book Detox Your Culture. He talked me through what has gone wrong at the likes of ITV's This Morning, the CBI, The Ellen Show and Boeing.

Sign up for the newsletter

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sign up for the newsletter

How can any of us build a more effective team?

Owen Eastwood is one of the world’s most in demand performance coaches, with a focus on team culture & leading. Owen has worked with some of the most successful sporting sides in the world. He also works with corporate teams wrestling with similar themes.

Last year I talked to Owen about his work on belonging and identity but I wanted to pick his brains on the biggest challenge for modern leaders - how to build a stronger team.

Buy Belonging

Follow Owen on LinkedIn

Owen talks me through his step-by-step approach to building better teams - starting with the toughest starter question that most teams never tackle.

takeaways

• Determine whether a team is necessary for the desired outcome
• Clearly define roles and expectations within the team
• Recruit talented individuals who can contribute to the team's success
• Establish effective communication channels within the team
• Consider the challenges of being part of multiple teams in the corporate world Individuals have a choice in shaping the team's identity and should be selfless and committed to the team's purpose and desired outcome.
• A high-performing team is one where individuals consistently perform at their best and have a culture of excellence.
• The environment plays a crucial role in enabling or disabling team success, and teams should create an environment that fosters innovation and energizes individuals.
• Teams should regularly reflect on their environment and identify and eliminate factors that hinder performance.

For a full transcript see the website.

Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/eatsleepworkrepeat.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.