The Future Talent Learning Podcast

Access the podcast transcript here.

How do I present so that people really listen? And how do I calm my nerves so I can present with confidence? To answer these questions, Ross D and Ross G are joined by Caroline Goyder, voice coach and author of the books Gravitas, Find Your Voice and The Star Qualities. We discuss:

• The importance of telling an engaging story
• The importance of preparing for 'rehearsed spontaneity'
• Breathing techniques to calm your nerves.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction – 00:00-00:34
• Using storytelling frameworks and the dramatic arc – 00:34-02:47
• Practicing intention-setting, visualization and empathy - 02:47-07:44
• Controlling nerves and rehearsing – 07:44-16:15
• Balancing preparation with spontaneous response 16:15-19:20
• Using breathing, body language and energy 19:20-27:49
• Wrap up – 27:49-29:09
• One thing I learned this week – 29:09-34:47

Additional Information

Caroline's TEDx talk is online at: https://www.carolinegoyder.com/2017/02/03/the-surprising-secret-to-speaking-with-confidence-caroline-goyder-tedxbrixton/

Future Talent Learning described how to create presentations that pack a punch at: https://www.changeboard.com/article-details/17201/nutshell-from-aristotle-to-obama-how-to-create-presentations-that-pack-a-punch

In 'One Thing I've Learned This Week', Ross G discussed research into why bosses are inflexible about flexible work arrangements. You can find out more at: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/employers-flexible-working-post-pandemic

Caroline discussed techniques for neutralising nerves. You can find these in her blog 'How to Stay in Your Lane and Avoid Comparison': https://www.carolinegoyder.com/how-to-stay-in-your-lane-and-avoid-comparison/

And Ross D discussed AI features in the photo editing software Lightroom.

Access the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

What is psychological safety? And how can leaders and managers promote psychological safety in a hybrid working context? To answer these questions, Nathalie Nahai and Ross G are speaking to Amy Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School and author of The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. We discuss:

• Whether you can really have psychological safety in a work environment
• What the shift to hybrid working mean for psychological safety
• The impact of diverse teams on psychological safety.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction - 00:00-00:56
• Defining and Challenges of Psychological Safety 00:56-13:05
• What does psychological safety mean in virtual environment 13:05-27:02
• Cultivating Psychological Safety 27:02-29:21
• Potential in the Metaverse - 29:21-33:56
• Wrap up – 33:56-37:29
• One thing I learned this week – 37:29-41:17

Additional Information

The book Ross mentioned was Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert D. Putnam.

The Daily Mail article Ross mentioned was 'Working from home increases your risk of making mistakes', online at: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10283471/Working-home-increases-risk-making-mistakes-scientists-say.html

This article discussed the paper: Künn, S., Seel, C., & Zegners, D. (2021). Cognitive Performance in Remote Work-Evidence from Professional Chess. The Economic Journal.

Find out more about Professor Edmondson at: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=6451

In 'One Thing I've Learned This Week', Ross discussed the 'Mission: ISS' experience, available on the Oculus VR headset: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1178419975552187

And Nathalie discussed the book From What Is to What If: Unleashing the Power of Imagination to Create the Future We Want, by Rob Hopkins.

Access the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

What is followership? And why is it important for leaders? To answer these questions, Ross G and Ross D are joined by Dr Zahira Jasser, Assistant Professor at the University of Sussex Business School, who worked in the financial sector as a banker, manager and consultant before entering academia. We discuss:

• The need to focus on 'followership' as much as 'leadership'
• Four types of 'follower'
• How followers influence leaders.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction - 00:00-00:37
• The traditional heroic view of leadership is limited – 00:37-09:53
• Followership is an active, empowered role – 09:53-20:08
• Connecting leaders use practices like being a Janus – 20:08-24:08
• Other practices include being a broker – 24:08-27:28
• And a conduit – 27:28-29:32
• As well as a tightrope walker – 29:32-34:38
• Wrap up – 34:38-36:44
• One thing I learned this week – 36:44-43:21

Additional Information

Zahira's Harvard Business Review article on this topic was 'The Real Value of Middle Managers', online at: https://hbr.org/2021/06/the-real-value-of-middle-managers

You can find Zahira on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/ZahiraJaser

In 'One Thing I've Learned This Week', Ross D recommended Nate Silver's book The Signal and the Noise, and specifically how the 'Super Bowl Indicator' is correlated with the stock market's performance. You can find the book at: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/305826/the-signal-and-the-noise-by-nate-silver/

Zahira recommended A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Management Theory, by Todd Bridgman and Stephen Cummings: https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/a-very-short-fairly-interesting-and-reasonably-cheap-book-about-management-theory/book268894

And Ross G shared an extract from the book Letters of Note, which you can find online at: https://lettersofnote.com/

Access the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

What is strategy? Is it a complicated plan that no one understands? A unique offering that's hard tomaintain? A business buzzword while the boots on the ground do the....y'know... work!

To answer these questions, Ross G and Ross D are speaking to Alex Smith, founder of Basic Arts. Alex created Basic Arts to help organisations where strategies are disjointed or confused. Which sounds like pretty much every organisation.

We discuss:

• What a good strategy looks like
• Famous (and not so famous) examples of brands with an effective strategy
• How strategies can be developed.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction - 00:00-01:54
• What is business strategy and why do so few companies have one - 01:54-05:06
• Examples of effective business strategies - 05:06-20:36
• Key elements of a good business strategy - 20:36-25:37
• How to develop an effective business strategy - 25:37-28:49
• Wrap up - 28:49-29:55
• One thing I learned this week - 29:55-38:01

Additional Information

In 'One Thing I've Learned This Week', Ross D shared that Hollywood studios store old film reels in a salt mine in Kansas. You can read more at: https://klaq.com/thousands-of-priceless-movie-reels-are-kept-in-a-salt-mine-in-mo/

Alex shared the story of the Savannah Bananas and their 'circus' routine, see: https://advertiser-tribune.com/news/339878/savannah-bananas-minor-league-baseball-team-or-circus/

And Ross G discussed Michael Mann's interview about 1995 drama Heat on The Rewatchables podcast: https://www.theringer.com/2021/11/2/22758064/the-three-heat-with-bill-simmons-chris-ryan-and-michael-mann

You can find out more about Alex at: https://basicarts.org/

His newsletter is online at: https://basicarts.org/the-way/

Access the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

Should we be more curious about how we're managing our time?

Whether you're planning the next five years of your career or the next eight hours of your working day, there are plenty of tools and techniques that can help us achieve our goals. But is the practice of time management all that it claims to be?

To discuss, Ross D and Nathalie Nahai are joined by author and speaker Francesco Dimitri. We discuss:

• Whether we can really 'manage' our time
• The pros and cons of time management tools
• The importance of 'messing up'.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction – 00:00-01:10
• Time management implies time is a resource to be optimized – 01:10- 06:58
• Time management has diminishing returns – 06:58-07:45
• Creativity requires a more holistic approach – 07:45-13:54
• Leave space for messiness – 13:54-28:06
• Ritual can distinguish mindsets – 28:06-31:46
• Wrap up – 31:46-32:37
• One thing I learned this week – 32:37-38:27

Additional Information

In 'One Thing I've Learned This Week', Nathalie discussed how Climate Works store carbon from the air. You can find out more at: https://www.climateworks.org/

Ross D discussed the eco-friendly web browser Ecosia: https://www.ecosia.org/

Francesco discussed the old tradition of carving turnips at Halloween, instead of pumpkins: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-people-carved-turnips-instead-of-pumpkins-for-halloween-180978922/

Find out more about Francesco at: https://www.francescodimitri.com/

Access the podcast transcript here.

Episode Summary

Do customers want a relationship? We hear a lot about brand loyalty, but does it even exist? To answer these questions, Ross G and Ross D are joined by Anna Miley and John Sills.

Anna is a strategy and insight specialist, who once scientifically validated that Lynx deodorant does indeed make the wearer more attractive.

And John is a Managing Partner at The Foundation, where he makes things better for customers.

We discuss:

• What a 'customer relationship' is.
• Examples of brands that have good customer relationships.
• The role of marketing in building brand loyalty – or papering over the cracks.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction - 00:00-06:00
• Do customers inherently want brand relationships? - 06:00-13:36
• Is marketing just window-dressing on poor service? - 13:36-18:13
• Who owns the customer relationship? - 18:13-22:31
• Examples of customer-centric brands - 22:31-26:00
• How to build loyalty - 26:00-28:28
• Why do customers stay loyal - 28:28-33:33
• What is an example of good marketing and customer experience? - 26:00-36:14
• Wrap up - 36:14-37:00
• One thing I have learned this week - 37:00-44:49

Additional Information

In 'One Thing I've Learned This Week', Ross G shared an article from Oliver Burkeman: 'How a longer walk to baggage reclaim cut complaints', available online at: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/07/how-to-beat-bottlenecks-oliver-burkeman

Details of Burkeman's book, Four Thousand Weeks, are available at: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/books

John discussed the impact on the world of the Mercator projection, once discussed in a famous scene from The West Wing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVX-PrBRtTY

For more from The Foundation, visit: https://www.the-foundation.com/

John writes a newsletter at: https://johnjsills.com/

And the book, The Customer Copernicus, is available from: https://www.thecustomercopernicus.com/