Worklife with Molly Graham

Many people approach job searches backwards, trying to squeeze themselves into the mold of what a company is looking for in a candidate. But there are two sides to every hiring decision, and who you are and what you want is just as important as the job description. Jamie Tilotta Green is one of the most respected recruiters in Silicon Valley, and has helped some of the world’s most influential tech companies find their senior leaders. In this episode, Jamie joins Molly to take a closer look at what it actually means to be a good fit for a job, and how to effectively and authentically tell your story in an interview. She also offers advice on how to identify your key strengths, shares strategies for finding out the truth about what a company is actually like before you take the job, and reflects on the things that never change about hiring.

Take our WorkLife Audience Survey!

Featured guest

• Follow Jamie Tilotta Green on LinkedIn

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

Molly Graham is back for round two, and this one is even more powerful. Molly has spent more than 20 years helping organizations and the humans inside them navigate growth and change. She’s held leadership roles at Google, Facebook, Quip, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and is the host of TED’s WorkLife podcast (which she took over from Adam Grant). She also runs Glue Club, a leadership community for senior operators, and writes a popular newsletter called Lessons.

In our in-depth conversation, we discuss:

1. Why Molly’s famous “give away your Legos” career advice no longer holds true in an AI world
2. The grief, loneliness, and burnout sweeping through the tech industry right now
3. Why delegating to AI is fundamentally different from delegating to a human
4. The fear narrative around AI job displacement, and why it’s overblown
5. Which Legos you should never give to AI
6. What the best managers are doing right now

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

Technology has been promising to revolutionize education for a long time. Online learning, smartphones, and even asynchronous classes during COVID seemed for a while like they might finally transform what learning can look like, but all we really learned was that changing education is slower and harder than anyone wants it to be. Could AI finally be the unlock we’ve been looking for? Leah Belsky has spent nearly 20 years at the intersection of education and technology. She helped lead Coursera during the rise of online learning, and is now the head of education at OpenAI. In this episode, Molly sits down with Leah to find out what AI really has to offer as a learning tool, and where it falls short of the hype. Leah shares what she’s learned as both a leader in the ed tech world and a parent of AI-curious kids, and offers tips for how to coach kids to use AI as an empowering tool without getting in the way of their learning.

Take our WorkLife Audience Survey!

Featured guest

• Follow Leah Belsky on LinkedIn

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

We all know the stereotypical story of the midlife crisis: leave your spouse, buy the red convertible, start from scratch and blow up your whole life. But for most people, the transitional period of midlife is a little more complicated, and it doesn’t have to feel like a crisis. Chip Conley founded Joie de Vivre Hospitality in his 20s, and built it into one of the largest boutique hotel companies in the country—but then the Great Recession, a near-death experience, and other personal tragedies forced him to reevaluate his ambitions. Now Chip is the founder of the Modern Elder Academy, where he’s spent the last eight years working with people in the middle of their lives who are trying to figure out what the next chapter of their work and life is supposed to look like. In this episode, Chip and Molly explore different ways to frame the midlife crisis as a joyful and important transition. Chip shares a “midlife atrium” framework to promote taking time to step back, ask bigger questions, and curate the second half of your life, and Molly reflects on how she broke out of the success scripts prescribed to her in her youth. Chip also shares a “wisdom hack” for reflecting on what he’s learned throughout his career, and breaks down the three stages of a healthy transition.

Take our WorkLife Audience Survey!

Featured guest

• Follow Chip Conley on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at his website
• Buy Learning to Love Midlife

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

The term “nepo baby” has been used in recent years to describe people who are born into successful families and industries with advantages that aren’t available to the average person. What does your success mean if you weren’t the one to earn it? Bryce Dallas Howard is the daughter of famous actor and director Ron Howard, and now a successful actress and director in her own right, having earned a Golden Globe nomination for her film adaptation of As You Like It and starring as Claire Dearing in the Jurassic World franchise. In this episode, Molly and Bryce share their experiences growing up in the shadow of their families’ legacies, and ponder what it means to own your own successes when you know you were given a head start. Bryce reflects on the biggest lessons she learned from watching her dad at work, and explains why people are often blind to their own privilege and ashamed to admit their unfair advantage. She also emphasizes the importance of finding ways to share your unique edge with others, and that while you can’t pick where you come from, you can decide what to do with it. 

Featured guest

• Follow Bryce Dallas Howard on Instagram and at her website

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

In a world filled with requests, many of us are struggling to stay afloat. Even if you’re not a people-pleaser, the desire to maintain a positive reputation can make it hard to turn others down. In this episode, Adam explores the art and science of delivering an effective “no.” He highlights strategies for setting boundaries with others to create space for yourself—and healthier relationships with those around you. Guests: psychologist Vanessa Bohns, author of You Have More Influence Than You Think; Sherri Lu, founder of Eldest Daughter Club; playwright Topher Payne, author of The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries.

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

When you’re tasked with solving a problem that has a deep impact on a lot of people, it can feel impossible to deliver results that everyone is happy with. How do you decide whose perspective should shape your decisions, or create change when people don’t even agree on the problem? Kaya Henderson took over leadership of the District of Columbia Public Schools when it was one of the lowest-performing school districts in the country, and in under a decade transformed it into one of the fastest-improving. So what’s her secret? She didn’t do it alone. In this episode, Kaya and Molly take a closer look at how Kaya led a revolution backed by parents, teachers, and other members of the community to deliver results that actually mattered to the people who needed them. Kaya emphasizes the importance of listening and collaborating with the people closest to the problem, communicating clearly when you have to say no, and showing people what they have in common before jumping into heavy negotiations.

Featured guest

• Follow Kaya Henderson on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at aspeninstitute.org/people/kaya-henderson/

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

When it comes to seeking wisdom or advice in your career, there’s a lot of focus on mentorship and what more senior players in your field can offer you. But the truth is that your most important and valuable relationships are those with your peers—reciprocal, two-way relationships with a foundation of vulnerability and shared experience. Bill Gurley is one of the most influential venture capitalists of the last two decades, and his book Running Down a Dream explores how people build careers that they actually love. In this episode, Bill and Molly dive deeper into his belief that strong peer relationships are a key to professional success. They reflect on how they each found and nurtured cross-disciplinary peer groups that helped them at difficult crossroads, and offer tips for building authentic relationships with people who understand, push, and support you.  

Featured guest

• Follow Bill Gurley on X, LinkedIn, and at https://abovethecrowd.com/
• Buy Running Down a Dream

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

Success in your career looks different for everyone — but no matter your industry, you'll need to take risks. Company and community builder Molly Graham took to the TED stage two years ago to share three key skills to learn before jumping off a metaphorical cliff, outlining a path off the corporate ladder and into true professional and personal growth -- and these key skills are more relevant today than ever.

Today, Molly has returned to TED as the new host of the podcast, WorkLife. WorkLife is a show where Molly and her expert guests talk through the messy feelings we all experience at work—conversations that delve into our ambitions and failures. Elise Hu, host of TED Talks Daily, caught up with Molly to look back at her talk and how those ideas continue to evolve in today's world. They discuss the importance of embracing the emotional side of work, how to tell the difference between good fear and bad fear, aging, why so many successful things feel messier than we think they’re supposed to, and so much more.

Molly's talk originally aired in 2024. Elise and Molly’s conversation was recorded in April 2026.

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

Managing people is a deeply human line of work—it requires relational skills, judgement, and deep knowledge of the people you work with. But Hilary Gridley believes that when used properly, AI can not only help you become a better manager, but can help your team make more meaningful use of their human skills. Hilary has spent years leading teams at companies like Whoop, and she’s known for her work helping managers use AI to coach people, give feedback, and develop talent more efficiently. In this episode, Hilary makes the case for why AI belongs in management, and offers practical advice for how to help your team use AI in a way that adds value to their work instead of generating meaningless slop. Hilary and Molly also take a closer look at where many organizations have gone wrong in their adoption of AI tools, and the importance of clarity and communication within a team no matter what technology you have at your disposal.

Featured guest

• Follow Hilary Gridley on X, LinkedIn, and at writerbuilder.com/
• Subscribe to Hilary's Substack

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

Let us know your thoughts! Take the WorkLife Audience Survey!

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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