Squiggly Careers

The Squiggly Career
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Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Amazing If (https://www.amazingif.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints, and tips that you can put into practice straight away.  Every so often they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better. Past guests include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of The Joy of Work Bruce Daisley, and neuroscience expert Amy Brann.  The Squiggly Careers podcast has been recommended by Harvard Business Review, Stylist, Marie Claire and Management Today. For more ideas, tools and inspiration every week, you can also sign up to their newsletter Squiggly Careers in Action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 4 HR AGO

    3 Frameworks That Could Change How You Work (And How to Use Them)

    Could a framework change the way you think about your time, your strengths, or your team? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from three tried-and-tested strategic models, and put them to the test with AI prompts, Post-it® Big Notes, and a live coaching conversation to see how useful they actually are. From a classic time management matrix to a strengths development tool to a team effectiveness framework that's been around since the 70s, this episode is brought to you in partnership with Post-it® Brand. If today's episode sparked an idea, stick it down, find out where to buy Post-it® products at go.3M.com/squiggly 🎯 What You'll Learn – How to use the Eisenhower Matrix to see where your time is really going (and what to do if it doesn't give you new answers) – How to adapt the Ansoff Matrix to grow your strengths into new contexts and with new people – How the McKinsey 7S framework can reveal surprising gaps in how your team works together – Which frameworks are best done alone, in a pair, or with your whole team – How AI can help you get more from a model that feels too simple on its own 📚 Resources Mentioned Podsheet with AI prompts and framework diagrams: amazingif.com For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools 4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    43 min

  2. 5 DAYS AGO

    Should You Stay or Should You Go? A Simple Matrix to Help You Decide

    Should you stay or should you go? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares a simple matrix to help you think more clearly about one of the most common career questions she gets asked, and move beyond gut feeling alone. 🎯 What You'll Learn– How to use a two-by-two matrix to work out where you are right now in your career– What to do if you love where you work but aren't learning (and why this isn't a reason to leave)– How to make the most of a role where you're growing but not happy– Why "not learning, don't love it" is the one quadrant that calls for action, and how to make a considered move rather than a leap– What to do when you've got the dream scenario, because doing nothing would be a missed opportunity 📚 Resources MentionedEpisode 282: How to know whether to switch or stay in your role: https://www.amazingif.com/listen/how-to-know-whether-to-switch-or-stay-in-your-role/For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.comNeed some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools 4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 min

  3. 27 APR

    Could Gamifying Your Work Week Make You Better at What You Do?

    Are you a "track everything" person or a "just do the thing" person? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the world of gamification — and have a genuinely fun debate about whether it actually works for your career. Helen comes in as a convert (she gamifies her sleep, her deep sleep, her exercise, her steps, and possibly her vegetables). Sarah comes in as a sceptic. What unfolds is an honest, practical exploration of when gamification helps, when it doesn't, and how to design a game that works for you — not one that makes you feel judged by an app. 🎯 What You'll Learn – What gamification actually is and why it taps into some very human motivations – Four games you could play at work right now — from your to-do list to your energy, relationships and learning – Why the question to ask of any game is: does this make me feel more capable, or just more compliant? – How teams can play together without it turning into an uncomfortable competition – The rules of the game: how to design your own two-week experiment 📚 Resources Mentioned The Big Think Tim Harford's newsletter Squiggly Careers Skills Sprints For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools 4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    36 min

  4. 22 APR

    Mentor with Your Talents, Not Your Title

    What if mentoring had nothing to do with seniority — and everything to do with strengths? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah makes the case for a more inclusive, more accessible approach to mentoring that every team can make happen straight away. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Why strengths-based mentoring is more useful than traditional senior-to-junior mentoring – Three ways to make it work: one way, two way (strengths swapping), and one to many – How to make your ask for mentoring specific, easy to say yes to, and genuinely flattering to receive – Why building a spreadsheet of team strengths could be one of the most useful things your team does this year 📚 Resources Mentioned Episode 122 — How to make your strengths show up and stand out  For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? Download our free career tools Sign up for our Skills Sprints Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    10 min

  5. 20 APR

    Draw Your Way to a Better Workday

    When did you last draw something at work? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the science of drawing — and make a surprisingly strong case for why picking up a pen (or a Post-it® Note) could be one of the most useful things you do this week. From boosting your mood to supercharging your memory, drawing does things for your brain that writing simply can't. Helen and Sarah put this to the test live, working through four drawing exercises — some just for you, some brilliant for teams — including how you're feeling about work this week, a strength you want to make stronger, your confidence gremlins, and your dream work day.Want to see Helen and Sarah's drawings for yourself? Make sure you're signed up to the Squiggly Careers Newsletter — we'll be sharing them there.This episode is brought to you in partnership with Post-it® Brand. If today's episode sparked an idea, stick it down — find out where to buy Post-it® products at go.3M.com/squiggly 🎯 What You'll Learn – Why drawing beats writing for memory and mood — and the research behind it– Four drawing exercises to try by yourself or with your team– Why "I'm not a good drawer" is the one thing that should never hold you back– How drawing someone else's dream day can tell you more about their values than almost any other team exercise 📚 Resources Mentioned Squiggly Careers on YouTube (watch the drawings in action)Squiggly Careers on SpotifyFor questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? Download our free career tools 1. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 2. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools 3. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    39 min

  6. 15 APR

    3 Ways to Be More Persuasive at Work

    How do you get people to actually listen — and say yes — more often? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares three simple, research-backed ways to become more influential at work. Whether you're trying to get an idea across, shift an outcome, or build stronger working relationships, this episode will give you practical things you can do both in the moment and over time. 🎯 What You'll Learn Why mirroring language (not just body language) is a subtle but powerful way to build connection– How likability works as a persuasion tool — and why it's less about being smiley and more about genuinely listening– Why reciprocity is a long game, and how to think about what you have to give 📚 Resources Mentioned Influence with Robert CialdiniFor questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools 4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 min

  7. 13 APR

    The Difference Between Working Hard and Getting Better | Big Think

    What does it actually take to go from good to great at work — and is "mastery" even the right word for it? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from The Big Think's collection of articles on mastery, and make it feel a lot more relevant to everyday squiggly careers than the word itself might suggest. They explore two big ideas: how to master your response to tricky situations (think: the passive aggressive Canva comment, the "I'll just do it" default, or the unexpected tears in a meeting), and how to master your ability to succeed — including how elite athletes think about risk and failure in a way that's surprisingly useful for anyone with an ambitious goal. 🎯 What You'll Learn How to move from a default response to a deliberate decision — and why that space in between is everything– What elite athletes do differently when things go wrong (and how to apply it to your own goals)– Why naming your version of success — and stress-testing the risks — makes you more likely to actually get there– How to reframe failure as a data point rather than a verdict on you 📚 Resources Mentioned The Big Think newsletter The Big Think — Mastery collection For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints 3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    32 min
  8. Squiggly Shortcut: Listen Like You Mean It (5 Ways to Improve)

    8 APR

    Squiggly Shortcut: Listen Like You Mean It (5 Ways to Improve)

    90% of us think we're good listeners — but we retain about 20% of what we hear. In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah shares five practical ways to close that listening gap, starting with the one thing most of us never even notice. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Why listening isn't just about words — and what to pay attention to instead – How the pressure to respond is the biggest enemy of good listening – Why repeating back the words someone uses can unlock a whole new conversation – What a no-interruption meeting feels like — and why it's worth trying with your team – The simple summarising habit that will make you a noticeably better listener overnight 📚 Resources Mentioned Episode 319 — Listening with Kate Murphy You can also find Kate Murphy's book I Never Said I Was a Good Listener via your usual bookshop. For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? Download our free career tools 1.Sign up for our Skills Sprints 2.Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools 3.Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    8 min
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About

Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Amazing If (https://www.amazingif.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints, and tips that you can put into practice straight away.  Every so often they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better. Past guests include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of The Joy of Work Bruce Daisley, and neuroscience expert Amy Brann.  The Squiggly Careers podcast has been recommended by Harvard Business Review, Stylist, Marie Claire and Management Today. For more ideas, tools and inspiration every week, you can also sign up to their newsletter Squiggly Careers in Action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    The Squiggly Career
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    572
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 3dde6ae0-10a9-11f1-ba69-4db03cc06081
  • Show Website
    Squiggly Careers

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