Working It

We do not always associate bosses with kindness. But being kind to your team can make workers more engaged, more likely to stick around and more productive. So how can managers weave kindness into their daily work, even if they’re annoyed or dealing with a colleague they are not keen on? Isabel Berwick speaks to Graham Allcott, author of ‘KIND: The quiet power of kindness at work’, and Bonnie Hayden Cheng, a professor at the Hong Kong University Business School and author of ‘The Return on Kindness’.

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How acts of leadership kindness make everyone better

Kindness in the workplace too often goes unrewarded

Is kindness a leadership superpower?

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Retirement used to be a cliff edge: you’d be working one week, and gardening the next. That’s changing. Now, retirement can mean working on the things you enjoy at a slower pace, and staying engaged with new ideas. Isabel Berwick speaks to author, columnist and Harvard Professor Arthur C Brooks on the science of flourishing in later life, and what older brains can do that younger ones can’t. Later, Isabel talks to former FT journalist Michael Skapinker about the importance of staying engaged with old colleagues and new ideas – even if you’re not doing the same thing every day.

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It’s time we stopped talking about retirement

The sun is setting on traditional retirement

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read the transcript of this episode which was first aired in December 2023 on FT.com

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

The idea of networking makes many of us shudder. But connecting with colleagues doesn’t have to mean cold emails and awkward encounters. Alison Fragale tells host Isabel Berwick how ‘strategic socialising’ can help us make genuinely helpful connections at work. They’re joined by Natasha Wood, head of strategy at the FT’s events business, FT Live. Natasha explains how joining colleagues in an ekiden — or long-distance relay race — helped her boost her professional status after coming back from maternity leave.

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Top ways to be a super schmoozer

Workplace friendships should be encouraged not policed

How do I get the most out of networking?

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Bankers and lawyers have long had punishing work schedules. Has the pandemic – and a widespread move towards flexible working – changed that? Guest host Bethan Staton speaks to Craig Coben, a former senior investment banker at Bank of America and Deutsche Bank, as well as Suzi Ring, the FT’s legal correspondent. They discuss why client satisfaction trumps work-life balance, why law firms can’t just hire twice as many lawyers to work half as hard, and what bankers actually do during a 100-hour work week.

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The ‘80-hour circuit breaker’: Wall Street banks tackle workloads of junior staff

High pressure, long days, crushing workloads: why is investment banking like this?

London’s junior lawyers deserve their £150,000 pay

Presented by Bethan Staton, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Corporate reorganisations can be hugely unsettling for employees, whose working lives can change overnight. What can managers do to make these periods of flux as easy as possible for their charges? Isabel Berwick speaks to work researcher Christine Armstrong, and Andrew Hill, the FT’s senior business writer. They discuss how to get ahead of gossip, why clarity is king when you deliver bad news, and the dirtiest office secret of all: that work isn’t your whole life.

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Silent lay-offs are rarely as quiet as bosses hope

We’re all busy again’, say UK restructuring experts

The anatomy of a corporate turnaround

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Amazon has ordered its staff back to the office five days a week from January. Will other companies follow its lead? Host Isabel Berwick asks Kevin Delaney, the editor-in-chief of media and research firm Charter, what the data says about the efficacy of remote work. They’re joined by the FT’s Emma Jacobs, who argues being in the office is not the solution to every workplace problem.

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Amazon orders staff back to office 5 days a week

Amazon says workers need to be in the office. Most of Silicon Valley disagrees.

The office is not the only solution

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Breen Turner. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Leaders are always under pressure – but the most successful ones know how to manage it. In this special episode, recorded live at the FT Weekend Festival in London on September 7, Isabel Berwick speaks to psychologist Dr Audrey Tang, who explains how managers can better resist the pressures of their work. Tang, author of books including ‘The Leader’s Guide to Resilience,’ tells Isabel about the importance of bosses modelling healthy behaviour, why skills (as opposed to strengths) can make workers unhappy, and how to know when a colleague is about to burn out.

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The balance between idleness and burnout proves elusive

How to avoid burnout and thrive at work

Burnout and America’s great resignation: how employers can help

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Every career involves choices; every choice involves risk. But being able to size up those risks, and think coolly about which are worth taking, can make the process of choosing between options much easier. The problem? Most of us aren’t actually very good at evaluating risk. In this episode, Isabel Berwick speaks to statistician, writer and sometime poker player Nate Silver to find out how we can take better risks in our careers. Silver, founder of analysis website FiveThirtyEight and author of the new book On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything’ explains why fear plays an outsize risk in our decision making, how to recover when a bet doesn’t pan out and why your 60s might not be the time to avoid risk.

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On the Edge by Nate Silver — the risk-takers who beat the market

We need to be better at predicting bad outcomes

Interview with Nate Silver

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

Lots of productivity advice tells you how you can cram more into your day, but accepting you can only do so much might be the only productivity “hack” that works. Oliver Burkeman, author of the smash-hit 2021 book Four Thousand Weeks, talks to Isabel Berwick about his new book, Meditations for Mortals, which lays out practical steps to living a less frantic life. Oliver tells Isabel why delaying our professional gratification can become a trap, how we should deal with our monstrous email backlogs and why pragmatism beats idealism every time.

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How can you manage your time in 2024?

Why I’m not tidying up before guests come over

Endless to-do list? Here’s how not to waste your life

FT subscriber? Sign up to get Isabel’s free Working It newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday: ft.com/newsletters

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Simon Panayi. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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

If you like your colleagues, the lunch hour is probably a highlight of your working day. But fewer and fewer of us are actually using it to, well, lunch. Since flexible working has become the norm, people have increasingly ‘banked’ their lunch hour, and spent their break time running errands, exercising, or seeing their kids. Stanford university professor Nick Bloom tells host Isabel Berwick. But is something lost if we don’t break bread with our colleagues? Is eating ‘al desko’ really so bad? And what’s the secret to a great homemade lunch? FT Magazine Food and Drink editor Harriet Fitch Little also joins to discuss.

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Sour-and-hot silken tofu with avocado — a Fuchsia Dunlop recipe

Recipe: The smacked cucumber salad chefs are obsessed with

Bring back the business lunch

Who picks up the bill for a business lunch?

FT subscriber? Sign up to get Isabel’s free Working It newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday: ft.com/newsletters

Credits:

Presented by Isabel Berwick, produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval, mixed by Jake Fielding. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s head of audio.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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