For the Love of Work

When companies began designing hybrid workplaces, they came to an unexpected discovery... managers would now be responsible for two employee experiences — remote and in-office. Both at the same time. From one location to another.

In this episode, Sonia explores how best to get hybrid teams on the same page, what it takes to lead from home when your team is in the office, and why it takes extra effort to build trust in a hybrid environment.

Betsy Bula, all-remote evangelist at GitLab, explains what proximity bias is and why providing equal access to technology is even more important in a hybrid workplace.

Heidi K. Gardner from Harvard Law School teaches us how building a trust staircase fosters both competence trust and interpersonal trust in hybrid teams.

Jason McMaster, head equipment manager for the Winnipeg Jets, gives us a behind-the-scenes peek at how he has successfully managed a hybrid workplace during away games for more than a decade.

Learn more about the podcast at fortheloveofwork.ca. Or rate or review the show here. We'd love to know what you think.

Belonging means you feel seen for your unique contributions, connected to your coworkers, and supported in your daily life and career development. Offering a culture of belonging is an increasing priority for companies, and a lot of the responsibility for building it falls to new and middle managers.

In this episode, we'll explore the key elements of creating a sense of belonging in your team: how to work against bias, the downsides of being an insider, and how to be an ally.

Pooja Jain-Link, Executive Vice President at  Coqual, explains what belonging actually means, the pitfalls we need to be mindful of,  and how it applies to all of us.

Stephanie Creary, Professor of Management at the Wharton School, provides step by step examples of things you can do with your own team to foster belonging, including her LEAP system.

Learn more about the podcast at fortheloveofwork.ca. Or rate or review the show here. We'd love to know what you think.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to read emotions in yourself and those around you, then adjust your behaviour accordingly. This is the superpower of listening. But it isn’t something that happens automatically — listening at work takes intention and serious know-how.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to hear what people are not saying, how to practice psychological safety, and how to use active listening to draw your team closer together.

Helena Seo, Head of Design at Doordash, HelenaSeo, teaches Sonia the Korean art of listening called noon-chi, and how reading between the lines helps her create a level playing field for employees of all kinds, especially in team meetings.

Nate Brown, Chief Experience Officer at Officium,  explains how serving customers in call centres taught him how to care for his employees as a manager.

HR expert Nora Jenkins Townson teaches you how to check in with team members using the 1-to-10 method and why silence is your best friend during one-on-ones.

Learn more about the podcast at fortheloveofwork.ca. Or rate or review the show here. We'd love to know what you think.

Anyone can create meaningful change at work, even you. Yes, you! You don’t need positional authority to practice leadership. The secret is learning how to wield influence. Spot the difference between authority and power, and learn how to use your new skill set for good, regardless of your job title.

In this episode, we’ll show you where to carve out your area of influence, how to make a difference from the bottom up, and why sponsorship is the ultimate win-win situation.

Professor Tiziana Casciaro explains what power mapping is and how it will unlock your understanding of influence.

Leadership coach Lara Hogan teaches you how to use three tools in the influence toolkit: coaching, mentorship, and sponsorship.

Learn more about the podcast at fortheloveofwork.ca. Or rate or review the show here. We'd love to know what you think.

Time away from the office during the pandemic has given people a chance to cultivate new interests and consider new career goals. As they return to the office, the question is this: what do you want to pursue? Whether it’s vying for a promotion, or moving into a different department, or just leveling up your management style, now is a great time for a fresh start, or re-start.

In this episode, Sonia explores the building blocks of reinvention —  reinvention that can be achieved without leaving your current company.

Dorie Clark, author of Reinventing you, and The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World, outlines the best in-office strategies for workplace reinventions.

Angela Duckworth, author of Grit, describes the different mindsets one must adopt for success.

Chris Murphy is a member of the rock band Sloan. When the pandemic put their tour schedule on hold, it gave him time to reinvent one aspect of his performance repertoire.

Congratulations! Getting that first manager role is a huge accomplishment. But wait, do you know how to lead a team? The majority of first time managers don't receive enough training to succeed and lead their team.

In this episode, we’ll show you how to overcome imposter syndrome, how to communicate effectively with your team, and how to lead with vulnerability. How often should you check in with your remote team? What do you do if someone doesn’t respect you in your new role? And, one of the scariest things about being a manager...how do you give constructive feedback?

Basima Tewfik from MIT’s Sloan School of Management explains how to flip the narrative of doubt in your mind and unleash the benefits of so-called imposter syndrome.

Rachel Pacheco at the Wharton School teaches you how to make the implicit explicit in assigning work to team members, how to provide constructive feedback, and how to manage people who are older and more experienced than you. 

Learn more about the podcast at fortheloveofwork.ca. Or rate or review the show here. We'd love to know what you think!

How do you find meaning at work? Is it about loving the tasks you have to do each day, or is it more about your outlook? Is it about following your dreams and making your work your life...or following the dollar signs and living for the weekend? 

This was the decision facing freelance writer Allison Hope who was working at a non-profit when she received an offer to work on Wall Street.

Jacob Hirsh, a personality psychologist, says meaning and purpose are directly tied to one’s personal values. He explains why millennials are more likely to take a pay cut in order to work for a company that aligns with those values.

Julie Lee, co-creator of The Values Project, says you first must know what your values are, and offers a way to find out. Sharon Arieli, a professor who studies values, explains how and where to enact those values. Dave Mayer, at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, describes how to compare our personal values with our company’s stated values. Emily Esfanahani Smith, author of The Power of Meaning, tells us practical ways we can rethink our relationship to finding meaning and happiness at work.

Learn more about the podcast at Rogers. Or rate or review the show here. We’d love to know what you think.

Career and the opportunity to grow is the number one reason why people join a company. It’s also the number one reason they leave a company if they’re not getting opportunities.

Professional development is a major priority for employees — new and older. But it can be a difficult maze to navigate when you’re new at a company. In this episode, we teach you how get taught.

Clark Quinn, Director of Quinnovation, teaches us about our biases and misconceptions about learning, what helps us to retain new information, and provides practical advice to improve our capacity to learn. Tsedel Neely, from Harvard Business School, emphasizes the need for never-ending learning. HR expert Avery Francis describes how to create a development plan with your supervisor.

HR exec Gina Jeneroux, gives us the rundown on the massive proliferation of learning modalities, offered by employee-focused companies. Jeanne Meister, a workplace futurist, explains the shift to coaching and AI learning.

Learn more about the podcast at Rogers. Or rate or review the show here. We’d love to know what you think.