This Working Life

You’ve probably got a focus music playlist but did you know being musically trained can help you in other jobs? And no, it’s not too late if you didn’t learn the piano when you were a child.

Guest: Dr Diana Tolmie - Musician and Senior Lecturer in Professional Practice at the Queensland Conservatorium

And thanks to Sophie, George, Mark and Deirdre for sharing their stories.

And if you liked this episode you’d enjoy our episode on the power of being a generalist at work - find it in our podcast feed from March 2023.

Our childhood phantasy careers (different to fantasy with an ‘f’) help uncover our unconscious motivations and can unlock job satisfaction in our careers. Here’s how to figure out yours.

Guest: Paul Harvey - Lecturer and Executive Coach at the INSEAD Business School

And thanks to Afrouz, Karen and Ryan for sharing their stories.

"Don't we all hold many things? We all have to work jobs often we don't fully politically or ethically agree with because we have to pay our rent."

When we have the privilege to choose what work we do, how do we ensure we're ethically aligned with that career choice? And once we’re working in a job, how can we ensure we’re behaving ethically day to day?

Guests:

• Dr Tim Dean - Senior Philosopher, The Ethics Centre
• Maryam Kouchaki - Professor of Management & Organizations, the Kellogg School of Management
• Jess Shane - radio and podcast producer

If you enjoyed this episode, you'd like our episodes about values at work (from April) and why good people do bad things (from June 2023). Find them in our podcast feed.

“I can honestly say this is a question that I’ve never encountered before.”

New Yorker magazine reporter and author of Supercommunicators - How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, Charles Duhigg answers your questions about how to navigate tricky conversations at work, sharing advice and skills to truly connect with colleagues.

Thank you to listeners Lorissa Garcia, Louise Thomson and Tanmay Vora for your questions. 

A new person joins the team and immediately sparks fly... or perhaps you start seeing a colleague in a different light and the friendship turns into something more... 

Workplace romances are common and it’s no wonder - we spend a lot of time at work, and we have a lot in common with people in the same industry as us.

But what are the rules around falling in love or flirting at work? And what are the costs of dating a colleague, or even a boss? 

Guests:

• Dr Amy Nicole Baker - Professor of Psychology, New Haven University
• Mia Pantechis - Principal Lawyer, Maurice Blackburn

And thanks to Rose and Nick for sharing their story.

Feel like you're cycling through the same old ideas? Or just tired and out of inspiration? 

Albert Read has some tips on how to use and strengthen your 'imagination muscle'.

Guest:

Albert Read is managing director of Conde Nast and author of The Imagination Muscle.

During the conversation, the concept of the T-shaped worker came up - which is being both a generalist and an expert. You can listen to our episode on that topic here or find it in our podcast feed entitled 'Forget expertise. Here's why being a generalist is great for your work' from 24 March 2023.

From creativity to collaboration, to growth and generosity, we can easily name values. But can we as easily apply them in our day-to-day work? 

Hear how we can more effectively identify and apply values in our jobs and why it’s so important to do so. 

Guests:

• Greta Bradman - Psychologist and CEO/Founder, The Compass AI 
• La’Kita Williams - Founder and CEO, CoCreate Work

We all know the impact stress can have on our minds and bodies. But it turns out that it’s not the stress itself that’s impacting our health - it’s how we think about it.

In the fifth and final instalment of This Working Life's special series about your health at work, we hear stories of work-related stress and our expert panel tell us how to change our stress mindsets so we can harness its power to work and live better.

Guests:

• Alison Earl - Author, speaker and trainer on mindset and resilience
• Dr Kari Leibowitz - Health psychologist and mindset researcher, Stanford University

We all know what we need to do to be healthy and feel good so why aren't we doing it?

In the fourth instalment of our special series about your health at work, we’re hacking health habits to help you feel more energised and creative in your workday.

Hear personal stories and expert tips on how to overcome the afternoon sugar slump, move more without going to the gym, and sleep better to power up your workday. 

Guests:

• Amantha Imber - organisational psychologist and author, The Health Habit
• Dr Norman Swan - Co-host of RN’s The Health Report and What’s That Rash?
• Lizzie Williamson - author, The Active Workday Advantage

And thanks to Renata Bernarde for sharing her story.

Have you ever cried at work or been yelled at in front of your colleagues?

In this third instalment of our series about your health at work we’re digging deep and talking about emotions at work.

You’ll hear why it’s good for you to talk about your feelings at work, what selective vulnerabilities are and why you should know about them, how leaders need to be more emotional, and what the detrimental costs of emotional labour are when we don’t express ourselves at work.

Guests:

• Liz Fosslien - Expert on emotions at work and author of No Hard Feelings and Big Feelings
• Dr Saul Karnovsky - Senior Lecturer in Education, Curtin University

And thanks to Alana for sharing her story.