Transforming Work with Sophie Wade

Minter Dial and the podcast’s host, Sophie, discuss empathy at work in the new technology-driven era of business and work. They both draw from their books—Minter’s rerelease of Heartificial Empathy: Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence and Sophie’s second book Empathy Works: The Key to Competitive Advantage in the New Era of Work. They explore and debate how to integrate empathy effectively as well as bring a human-centric approach to the AI-infused business and working landscape. Minter shares his insights about the importance of companies’ having an ethical framework that incorporates empathy as they integrate more AI.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:48] Minter’s journey into empathy was by the “back door”.   [05:45] Recognizing the benefits of teaching empathy to sales people, l’Oréal initiates a program for those contracted to sell their products.   [06:30] Minter finds the approach ironic and reflects on authentic leadership.   [07:05] Assessing yourself for empathy skills and how to connect with somebody else's experience.   [09:22] Why haven't we been working with more empathy?   [11:20] Other factors elevating the need for empathy at work—now.   [12:56] Has our empathy—and deeper understanding of each other—generated during pandemic times all evaporated?   [14:35] What is behind the high levels of unhappiness and unfulfillment at work?   [15:10] The significant shift in the US in people’s views about their working lives.   [16:12] What drives empathy that isn’t intentional and authentic.   [18:30] How does empathy and flexibility improve business results?   [20:15] The pros and cons of having choices.   [21:00] Can you engage people individually in a traditional company that has 10,000 employees?   [22:02] Focusing on the needs of individuals within a unit.   [22:40] How the pandemic helped us understand different approaches and methods.   [23:45] Aligning empathy with the business objectives and all the players across the ecosystem.   [23:45] The “why” of any company is central to making the organization work.   [24:22] Minter believes empathy is a pre-condition for an ethical framework.   [25:29] AI is something to bring your humanity to. Minter shares examples of how AI can be used.   [27:22] Are we thinking sufficiently about why and how we are introducing generative AI?   [29:19] Bettering people’s lives at Redken—connecting people along the value chain with purpose.   [32:20] How gen AI search results reflect our collective consciousness—good and bad—elevating the need for an ethical framework.   [35:15] Minter gives permission to be imperfect, pushing out and trying.   [37:25] Empathy doesn’t mean always being nice—but making tough decisions. [38:18] What standard are we holding ourselves to? How well do we understand ourselves?   [39:15] Minter calls for more self-awareness, especially to understand our reasoning and flaws.   [40:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Do something for others and reconnect with the ordinary things in life.     RESOURCES   Minter Dial on LinkedIn Minter on Twitter Follow Minter’s Substack DIALOGOS — Fostering Meaningful Conversations Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch       QUOTES (edited)   “I do feel that the level of unhappiness and unfulfillment at work is about as high as it gets. And perhaps the lingering element is ‘What is this all about? what, what are we doing, Sophie, on this earth? What is my life for?’”   “I feel that empathy is a precondition for your ethics, but it doesn't mean you’re good. At the end of the day, what are you trying to achieve? Who are you? If you use empathy with manipulation, you’re going to have manipulative ethics.”   “If we want to call AI a step change like the printing press, I think it’s possibly the right call. But I would wish that we would be more focused on the meaningfulness of our business as opposed to the technology that’s going to drive the numbers.”   “This notion of having a purpose that resonates inside and out is really key. Being customer-centric is lovely — It’s probably a sine qua non. However, make sure that it’s congruent with what you’re trying to live as an employee in the organization.”   “The permission I give with AI is to push out and try stuff. And if you accept that you are flawed, then it becomes easier to understand the imperfection that comes out, because that’s what we’re trying to do. The intention is right.”

Kate Lister, President of Global Workplace Analytic and seasoned expert on distributed work, returns for Part 2 of her interview about hybrid and remote working. In this episode, Kate describes how to deploy remote options successfully—how we need to update management and work practices. She explains what claims and complaints about remote working research confirms and counters, what we need to be productive and to innovate, why surveillance is not managing, and how important remote options are for supporting sustainability.     TAKEAWAYS   [03:59] Prior to the pandemic preparations for new work practice deployment took months.   [05:08] Even with preparation, establishing new practices as routines takes time and attention.   [08:00] New tools, asynchronous communication, and documentation are improving work experiences and effectiveness.   [08:41] Who can manage to break through hybrid meetings and how?   [09:42] Making better decisions about the practices and processes of meetings.   [10:41] Managing remote workers requires a shift in approach—to coach.   [11:28] The growing issues of surveillance, work breaks, and stress.   [13:20] Monitoring is babysitting not managing—why not manage by results instead?   [13:53] The four things remote working is supposed to be negatively affecting.   [15:09] How to nurture culture intentionally.   [16:32] Telework doesn't create management problems it reveals them—such as low trust, weak culture.   [18:05] How Capital One communicates layoffs transparently—very differently from other companies.   [19:08] Survey design is critical when trying to find out how employees are (really) doing.   [20:47] Deciding the key (new) norms of effective work.   [23:10] After agreeing norms, trust and empathy can build, reducing potential conflict.   [25:52] How can middle managers build trust, stuck between return-to-office and work-from-home tensions.   [27:05] Innovation’s two components: (1) creativity—best done alone; (2) vetting—best done in a group.   [28:21] Addressing the decrease of weak ties which are important for innovation and growth.   [30:15] Goals should cascade down internally to connect employees with purpose.   [33:04] Onboarding was not working before the pandemic, how can we redesign it?   [33:58] Mentoring, training, skills, and access combined with appropriate tools and equipment are critical for success.   [34:45] Dealing with the “sludge of work” to improve results.   [36:46] The importance of transparently sharing the managerial “why”.   [38:07] Sustainability is a key benefit of reducing traffic to the office through use of remote work options.   [40:46] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To modernize your workplace and ways of working, listen to your people. Listen to your customers and suppliers. Listen to the investment community. Don’t make assumptions. Also lift your foot off the gas sometimes or people will get burned out and leave.     RESOURCES   Kate Lister on LinkedIn Kate on Twitter Kate’s company website GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com     QUOTES (edited)   “Working remotely is something that's gonna take a lot of practice, and you're gonna have to keep each other honest on it.”   “Culture is about people, and we were using an office as kind of a proxy for culture when it wasn’t.”   “Is there anybody that doubts that if somebody is happy and feeling good, they’re going to perform better? And yet what do we do to help them with that?”   “The research shows that people who are brainstorming face-to-face feel more productive. They’re not! They come up with more ideas, but fewer commercially viable ideas.”   “When it comes to onboarding, 50% of people quit in the first six months, this is before the pandemic! How was that onboarding going before? I don’t think that’s one of those things that we want to replicate! This is about practices and processes.”

Kate Lister is President of Global Workplace Analytics and a veteran advocate of remote working—or teleworking as it was previously called. Kate brings almost two decades of experience making data-based business cases to employers to convince them of the financial merits of offering remote working options. She discusses the catalyzing effect of the pandemic which substantially increased the awareness and acceptance of new work arrangements. Kate highlights the long history of employees’ desire for flexibility over their work location and schedule. She also warns of significant downsides for corporations if they do not integrate hybrid or remote work models.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:34] Kate starts as a banker, becomes an entrepreneur, and is about to retire when the Great Recession hits.   [04:14] With her husband, Kate builds and runs a vintage airplane ride business for 16 years!   [05:10] They sell the business—which they had run from home—and research their next home-based venture.   [06:40] Kate’s daughter gets scammed by home-based work, so Kate and her husband write their third book revealing the “naked truth” about making money from home.   [07:56] Researching for the book, Kate notices no one has made the business case for “teleworking”—trying to quantify the benefits.   [08:40] “Show me the money!” The financial benefits are clear—saving 52 mins of commuting time and 3 hours of distracted time at the office every day.   [09:07] Kate has built up a database of over 6,000 research documents studying workplaces and quantifying telecommuting/remote working effects and benefits.   [09:32] Making the fact-based business case to the C-suite, quantifying why productivity and or retention would increase. A calculator is available online.   [10:20] Benefiting people, planet, and profit. Employees also saved money—employees’ desire to work remotely or not is not considered (pre-pandemic).   [11:02] A champion typically brings Kate in to persuade the (rest of the) C-suite depending on the pain point(s) for the particular company—such as saving money, talent or office space.   [13:59] Contingent labor typically goes up and down signaling the start and end of a recession, but that does not happen at the end of the Great Recession—and reasons change.   [14:54] Reported remote workdays grow 10% a year pre-pandemic, but from a small base.   [15:41] Census data (questions) is not capturing accurate data about remote workdays.   [16:57] Kate is surprised by how quickly people adapted to working remotely during the pandemic.   [18:31] Remote work becomes more humanized and egalitarian, people feel more trusted.   [20:59] 2021 is Kate’s busiest and most polarized consulting year to date as employers and employees had conflicting desires about returning to the office.   [21:59] Time-shifting work is even more popular with employees than remote working options, but meets more resistance from employers.   [23:12] If people working from home get their work done, why do you care what else they do?   [23:37] The percentage of people wanting to work fully-remote and hybrid is increasing.   [24:02] 18 years ago, 90% of people already wanted to work part of the week from home.   [26:26] Kate shows CEOs and CFOs the business costs if they were to force people back to the office.   [27:13] The business case often involves reducing real estate costs, also recognizing workplace issues.   [28:27] Research shows people want the ability to have privacy at the office.   [29:00] Activity Based Working was building prior to the pandemic to provide better office workspaces.   [30:18] Kate shares the likely stable office- and home-based working percentages going forward.   [31:35] Remote working is one choice in a palette of flexibility to give people autonomy.   [33:52] Trust hindered telework taking off in 1973—leaders are babysitting, not managing by results.   [34:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To hire the best and the brightest, the work has got to be where they are, as well as to achieve levels of engagement necessary to be successful and to attain the kind of trust that will support innovation. So double down on integrating remote to benefit.     RESOURCES   Kate Lister on LinkedIn Kate on Twitter @FutureWorkforce Kate’s company website GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com Hybrid and remote work costs and benefits Workplace ROI and breakeven calculators Undress for Success: The Naked Truth about Making Money at Home by Kate Lister and Tom Harnish     QUOTES (edited)   “The C-suite talks in numbers. ‘Show me the money!’ and it just seemed easy to me to look at.”   “At the end of the day, we showed that you could save $11,000 per halftime remote worker per year.”   “They could offset the cost of the entire office space with an increase of productivity of less than one minute a day.”   “I know a big part of the reason, from the data I've collected, that people didn't want to come back to the office is because we've made them so awful.”   “We're also starting to see that it's just one choice in a palette of flexibility. We wouldn't just be doing a telework program or remote work program. It would be a suite of programs so that everybody had a chance to participate.”   “Nobody's telling you how to do it or when to do it. We’ve known since the fifties that it's the best way to manage people anyway. And we just ignored the science.”   “Managers didn't trust their people, it’s why telework didn’t take off in the 70’s.”

Jeffrey Shaw has never had a traditional job. He started his entrepreneurial journey as a teen, grew a successful business for 25 years, then became a coach for those who want to be or are self-employed. Jeffrey founded the Self-Employed Business Institute and authored “The Self-Employed Life” and “Lingo”. He discusses the fundamentals and key rules of engagement for entrepreneurs that he learned along the way and how he helps people transition to self-employment and build their own businesses. From recognizing your value to finding your customers, and “deprogramming” your corporate mindset Jeffrey shares his insights for the swelling ranks of the self-employed. KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:15] Jeffrey has never had a traditional job.   [03:35] Started his entrepreneurial journey at 14 years old, Jeffrey wants to be independent.   [04:18] Jeffrey's father's words were pivotal.   [06:17] After receiving multiple awards for his photographs, Jeffrey decided to become a photographer.   [06:49] Jeffrey focuses on buildings then falls in love with portrait photography on location.   [07:33] At 20, Jeffrey has to make it work to support his wife and life.   [08:34] Jeffrey realizes his value/offering and target audience do not match.   [10:15] Jeffrey works out who his audience should be and where they are.   [10:40] Three months should be all he needs to figure it out!   [11:34] How to learn critical intelligence about your target audience.   [12:55] A saleswoman at Bergdorf Goodman shares critical nuances about customer behavior.   [14:05] Jeffrey's book “Lingo” is about his clientele’s secret language.   [14:42] The power of asking questions and seeing things in others that we don't see in ourselves.   [15:40] Achieving success in his business, Jeffrey decides he wants to do more.   [16:25] Jeffrey discusses self-doubt and starts to pursue the idea of coaching.   [18:22] Why did Jeffrey hire his first business coach at the peak of his success?   [19:30] Why had the business plateaued?   [20:25] After 9/11, Jeffrey thought everything was at stake.   [21:33] With every major struggle that business owners go through, there is a shift in values.   [24:15] Crises speed up the process of change.   [25:15] Jeffrey's older clients want to transition quickly to have more freedom through self-employment.   [27:29] To gather useful insights from prior experiences, Jeffrey asks what compliments people have repeatedly received throughout their life.   [28:44] Most people want to set up a business to optimize what they have been doing--there's a catch.   [29:38] How does Jeffrey help people shift from the corporate mindset?   [30:31] The self-employment ecosystem has three components.   [32:35] How Gen Z’s can pursue the self-employment.   [33:34] What Jeffrey thinks the Future of Work looks like. Jeffrey encourages employees to push corporate America to offer a better way to work.   [34:10] What percentage of people are solopreneurs who Jeffrey works with?   [36:10] Is the cycle of contracting, over-hiring, layoffs, and re-contracting changing at last?   [39:10] We shouldn't overlook the fresh perspectives and creativity that come with hiring self-employed specialists.   [39:50] Jeffrey learned how to employ and questions the effort many companies put into hiring.   [41:10] What it means to be self-employed, from real-estate agents to sales associates.   [43:30] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To speed up a typical 12-month transition to self-employment from a corporate job, identify your passion first and build a side gig to test it. You want to know if you have enough passion for what you want to create that’s going to keep you going and get you through the frustrations.     RESOURCES   Jeffrey Shaw on LinkedIn Twitter @JeffreyShaw1 Jeffrey’s websites www.jeffreyshaw.com SelfEmployedBusinessInstitute.com  Jeffrey’s book “The Self-Employed Life” Jeffrey’s book “Lingo” Jeffrey’s podcast “The Self-Employed Life”     QUOTES (edited)   “I used to say, I never had a real job. And then anybody else that was self-employed would look at me and say, you need to stop saying that because there's nothing more real than running your own business.”   “I think you can change everything in life in three months.”   “I didn't know if I could handle having a traditional job because I would live in fear of the rug being pulled out from underneath me. And I always felt like the advantage of being self-employed is that it would at least get slow painful death, but it wouldn’t be sudden.”   “You get to a point in life where you want to get to where you want to go quicker. We all felt like we had all the time in the world in our twenties and maybe even our thirties. You get in your forties, fifties, and sixties, and you're like: ‘Give me the goods so I can get to where I want to go because I don't wanna figure this all out on my own!’”   “I think everybody wants the agency of self-employment, but not everybody wants the burden of responsibility that comes with business ownership. Therefore, let's also make it feel that way in traditional jobs.”

Eric Ng, Senior VP of Marketing at Two Chairs, has an agile mindset which has enabled him to keep adapting to the significant changes brought about by technology developments in the marketing discipline—including many new channels, formats, and granular measurement tools. Eric shares insights about screening for a flexible mindset when building teams, and how trust, empowerment, and co-creation are key for nurturing growth. Eric explains how his flexible attitude has allowed him to adapt to new hybrid/remote working arrangements.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:58] Seeing the Apple 1984 commercial in grade school, Eric knew he wanted to do marketing.   [03:30] At college, Eric co-founds Student.com with friends which goes well, he learns a lot when his second start-up fails completely.   [05:01] Eric joins Apple’s advertising agency Chiat/Day which was a dream job for him.   [06:27] Marketing is about resource allocation or figuring out how to make (increasingly informed) bets.   [07:24] Flexibility is essential in an ever-changing industry—mixing testing and iterating with renewed use of broad-based ideas to drive fame.   [10:02] Eric reflects on his experience building teams, and how screening for mindset is paramount.   [11:27] Eric’s methodology to consolidate his team’s learning is that they must teach others in turn.   [13:02] Working for a mission-oriented organization makes motivation, branding and recruiting easier.   [15:30] Two Chairs offers a diverse group of therapists to serve market requirements as people’s needs and relationship with therapy evolve.   [16:37] If connection with your therapist—the therapeutic alliance—is the best predictor of success, having a diverse therapist offering increases potential matches and outcomes.   [19:02] The pandemic reduced mental health-related stigma along with willingness to be vulnerable.   [20:12] Eric never worked remotely prior to the pandemic, but his perspective has shifted significantly.   [21:05] Rethinking many aspects of work in hybrid situations, including how to recognize people’s successes.   [22:18] The dial tone, a remote version of the high-five!   [24:24] Meetings are important, they just need to be well thought out.   [26:09] Shifting your mindset to manage distributed teams starting with trust and empowerment.   [27:20] Empathy is essential to understand who each person is, what they are doing, what their needs are.   [29:00] Cultivating trust requires a safe space, time to adjust, and guardrails to avoid the worst.   [30:24] People do best when they can discover on their own and co-create.   [32:30] Eric sees potential of simplification in the future, especially in healthcare which can be overcomplicated and confusing.   [35:00] Eric asks Sophie what excites her—understanding better how we each work, how we can come together effectively as a team, and what we learned by about what we are capable of under pressure.   [36:55] Technological and societal changes are bringing additional layers of diversity we can address in different ways.   [40:16] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If adapting with an agile mindset becomes overwhelming, take one small step that you haven’t taken before and explore the new experience.     RESOURCES   Eric Ng on LinkedIn Two Chairs website     QUOTES (edited)   “I think that's one of the things when you're growing where everything seems to be going well if you don't hit a roadblock, you don't grow.”   “I'm hoping that the team members who are learning are also going to teach others. It gives them that opportunity to solidify the things that they're thinking about and really learn. There's nothing like teaching something in order to learn it!”   “That connection with your therapist — this idea of a therapeutic alliance — is perhaps the best predictor of having successful outcomes for mental health. So if you match really well, you end up having a great outcome. I'm obviously interested in user experience as a marketer, but in this case, the actual outcomes for a patient or a client really, really matter.”

Winston Peters is the Program Director of the Entrepreneurs@MC program and the new Entrepreneur Center at Manhattan College in New York. He is a co-founder of WÜLF University and a Principal at MyÜberLife Consulting Group. Winston explains how he purposefully connects and builds trust with his Gen Z students starting with the first homework assignment. He teaches students the skills they want and need for entering the labor market including those not on the syllabus. Winston shares what drives and concerns Gen Z’s leaving college. He suggests how we can build bridges across generations and help each other find fulfillment at work.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:15] Winston quickly bores of building high-rises using his civil engineering degree and delves into the New York cultural scene.   [03:54] Winston applies his skills differently to analyze and solve problems, wanting to make an impact.   [05:00] Winston found many creatives don’t fully understand the mechanics of their business.   [07:00] An engineer’s approach separates the fluff and breaks things down.   [08:08] WULF university was launched to provide critical learning that students don’t typically get in the classroom to help them in their careers.   [08:58] Empathy skills are needed to complement students’ competitive academic orientation so they can collaborate well in the workplace.   [10:45] How does Winston shift students’ mindsets?   [11:22] Looking through different lenses to develop understanding and build trust.   [12:51] How Winston shows up to develop trust, engage on a personal level, and make education collaborative.   [15:24] The importance of checking in and understanding how each student is (really) doing.   [17:02] Setting the tone at the beginning by understanding where people’s energy is.   [17:54] Human beings are judging machines based on pattern matching, and authenticity can be modeled to build a safe space.   [19:15] Winston leads by example.   [20:13] Winston’s compelling first homework assignment.   [20:56] Asking people how they learn develops understanding and context.   [23:12] The four +1 types of entrepreneurship students Winston teaches at Manhattan College.   [25:08] The importance of being anti-fragile and having multiple revenue streams.   [26:44] Some want corporate jobs to learn about corporate structure (for their own future venture).   [27:27] Two areas Gen Z’s believe are going to be key to their future success: understanding financials and creating contacts.   [29:25] Leaving college in debt, many students only explore the highest-paying jobs, not what will be fulfilling or give them security.   [31:05] Many Gen Z’s are entering the workforce taking jobs to survive.   [32:00] Why Winston doesn’t give extra credits in his class.   [33:54] The fundamental teaching orientation for Winston is human-centric—how to solve humans’ problems and sell to them.   [35:37] Winston is excited to work with students on a competition for a Blue Economy project—to convert water into reusable electricity.   [36:44] How Winston effectively enforces his “no phones in class” policy!   [38:24] Winston asks what students want to learn beyond the syllabus for their preferred career.   [40:02] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you are older, have more empathy for Gen Z: the world they are growing up in is very different; they are under a lot of pressure. Ask Gen Zers deeper questions about fulfillment. There’s no job security, so how can you help each other find fulfillment and what does that look like?     RESOURCES   Winston Peters on LinkedIn Twitter @WinceP_ofMUL Instagram @Professor.p_ofMUL Entrepreneurs@MC at Manhattan College News about the Entrepreneur Center at Manhattan College MyÜberLife Consulting Group’s website     QUOTES (edited)   “The basic premise of being an engineer is being a problem solver and able to break things down into empirical forms.”   “There’s no difference between hard and soft skills. Soft skills are just more human skills that aren’t taught in the classroom that everyone needs.”   “In your professional career, you will most likely be collaborating with people. And so the sooner you learn the skills of collaboration the better off you'll be, “How can we win together? Instead of how can I beat you?’’”   “Trust is the most important thing. I don’t care how smart you are, but if you don’t have the trust of a young person, good luck trying to convince them that what you’re saying is true.”   “Gen Zers want to be more entrepreneurial. They’re looking for financial freedom and financial stability, as well as fulfillment.”   “I have a three-strike no-phone policy in my classroom. If by the third strike, I see someone with their phone, I don’t take away that person's phone, I take away everyone else’s phone….Now everyone’s working as a team. Everyone is accountable.”  

David Stillman is a generational expert, researcher, consultant, and author of three best-selling books on generations. David explains how the major events and prevailing technologies of our early lives shape us and our thinking, producing generational characteristics. He describes the effect of parenting trends on generations’ offspring and how these translate into workplace behaviors. David shares insights on issues causing friction and concern between and among generations including “entitlement”, quiet quitting, side hustles, and mental health.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:29] Starting as a journalist, David is asked to study Generation Xers.   [03:40] How generations’ size in the labor market matters as well as inflow and outflow.   [04:40] The ghost of the Traditionalists’ culture still lingers in many workplaces.   [05:20] David believes companies will be haunted by lack of knowledge transfer as Boomers retire.   [06:57] How Boomers disseminate knowledge could be improved and be better received.   [07:19] David sees good healthcare plans as a competitive advantage.   [08:55] Boomers raised Millennials and are more familiar with them—so why the complaints?!   [09:33] 80 million strong, Baby Boomers faced much competition as well as structure, rules, and policies to manage them.   [10:38] Boomers parented their Millennial children to be collaborative—even rule-breakers at home.   [13:20] How technology enhanced Millennials’ group orientation.   [14:50] As a smaller generation, Gen Xers didn’t have to follow policies and procedures, were enabled by technology, and raised independent Gen Z kids.   [16:05] Gen Zs are more competitive and results-focused than Millennials.   [18:42] Employee behavior that many people call “entitled”, David sees as “engaged”.   [22:10] “Quiet quitting” began with Gen Xers and relates to (a lack of) job security.   [23:42] Why would someone go “above and beyond” without any guarantee—just the possibility of burning out?   [24:57] David observes older generations measuring loyalty in tenure rather than engagement and performance which are harder to measure.   [26:59] David discusses the relationship between engagement, performance, and side hustles.   [28:51] How side hustles can support mental health, work-life balance, and skills acquisition.   [31:37] Millennials were smart, changing the tenure paradigm, saying “If I’ve mastered these skills promote me.”   [32:07] Gen Zs are showing interest in pursuing more than one career at one company at the same time.   [33:37] All generations have had work stress, but it could be left at the workplace in the past.   [34:34] New approaches and ideas support mental health at work.   [36:11] Encouraging judgment-free dialogue about mental health.   [38:15] It’s not about who is right or wrong, better or worse—the generations are different.   [38:08] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: First, sit down with people from different generations and ask them about a major event that has shaped who they are today. The next step is to ensure there is generational diversity at work especially when targeting any particular generation.   RESOURCES   David Stillman on LinkedIn David’s website www.genguru.com     QUOTES (edited)   “Everyone's talking about Gen Z right now, and I'd say you need to look at the top of your chart because you're going to have a mass exodus of Baby Boomers and close to half the labor pool to fill those leadership positions.”   “One of the biggest things I think that’s going to haunt organizations is this lack of knowledge transfer.”   “You will not find a generation more collaborative than Millennials.”   “A lot of Baby Boomers did really struggle with the notion of going from competitive rules and procedures to ‘let’s reinvent them’.”   “For every time someone is trying to use the word ‘entitled’, I ask them instead to exchange it with the word ‘engaged’.”   “The side hustle is not only here to stay, but I would say everyone should be embracing it.”   “The first quiet quitters were actually Gen Xers. And anyone sitting in a Gen Z’s or Millennial’s chair would do the exact same thing.”   “Work is no longer a place and time. I do not believe in Monday to Friday, nine to five. We will never have a four-day work week. It's going to be a seven-day work week and a seven-day live week.”

Will Ridgway is a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft, an extreme athlete, and a Guinness World Record holder. Graduating from his Masters in Aerospace Engineering just as the pandemic hit, Will launched his work career remotely. Supported by his employer, Will found that extreme sports goals forced him to develop effective training and working patterns. He discovered ways to hold himself accountable and micro steer his activities to optimize all outcomes as well as achieve life/life balance.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:24] Right out of university, Will starts trying to optimize his working life.   [04:29] Will and his friends wonder if their pre-pandemic job offers are secure.   [05:21] Feeling disconnected from his university, Will is skeptical about virtual on-boarding.   [07:00]  When the second lockdown happens in the UK in November 2020, Will and his friends gather a large group to go work remotely in the Canary Islands.   [08:07] Will finds it hard to balance on-boarding with learning how to work effectively entirely virtually.   [09:48] Before serious work starts, Will wants to benefit from a less intense schedule and surf more.   [11:51] Will decides to set himself a sports related challenge to force him to improve his work pattern.   [13:24] Preparing for an Iron Man race requires 2 to 3 hours of training a day.   [14:12] To improve productivity, Will starts alternating periods of high intensity work and training.   [15:21] The culture of Will’s employer supports open conversation about mental well-being and how to achieve high outputs.   [16:04] His company backs the fundraising that Will connects with each race.   [17:15] Will gets more responsibilities and starts to focus on how to maximize outcomes.   [18:25] Sports training models help Will figure out optimization patterns for his work.   [19:30] WIll develops two ways to stay accountable and on track—a mentor and fundraising goals.   [20:30] A big hairy audacious goal is always the starting point!   [21:22] Will applies the same approach to commitment to his work goals.   [21:49] Setting a Guinness World Record as a new goal!   [23:35] Will and his friend tell everyone about the new goal so they can’t back out.   [24:10] They break the Guinness World Record and raise over £20,000 pounds for charity!   [25:27] Guilt about his non-traditional work routine was key for Will to manage.   [26:37] Work has a daily flow which Will “micro steers”, recalibrating often.   [27:25] The fine-tuning model was developed together with his boss—through experimentation and ongoing conversations.   [29:00] Will and friends are contemplating a new audacious goal!   [31:03] The difference between “willpower” and “way power”   [31:30] Removing layers helps maintain a baseline as well as motivation.   [32:42] Will wants to inspire people by what he has discovered through experimentation in sports as well as committing to something and finding external accountability.   [34:38] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Discover what drives your energy patterns. Work out how to hold yourself accountable. Then map the way to remove steps or hinderances to achieving your goals.     RESOURCES   Will Ridgway on LinkedIn Instagram @will_ridgway Built to Last by Jim Collins (source of “big hairy audacious goals”)     QUOTES (edited)   “As long as I would give the output that was required, I could free myself to experience more surfing.”   “I would work intensively for 90 minutes, focus only, everything off, phone away and be very productive. And then I would allow myself to completely disconnect and have a 90-minute recovery from brain activity by doing exercise and physical activity. And then, switch back.”   “Aim big and you will figure a way to do it. You're not too busy. Aim to do a big fundraising, this will hold you accountable to your race because you've raised that much money.”   “Every time I complete one of those crazy extreme challenges, when I cross the line, I tell myself: never again, this was really suffering from A to Z.”    

Zoë Routh is a leadership futurist and multiple award-winning Author. Zoë discovered and developed her own leadership skills in the wildernesses of Canada and Australia, learning from and then running Outward Bound training. She shares insights from her ongoing work with leaders and teams exploring what’s ahead and what that means for leadership of the future. Zoë discusses aspects of her fourth leadership book, “People Stuff - Beyond Personality Problems: An Advanced Handbook for Leadership”, how to move through difficult transitions, and the meta-skills required for the world of tomorrow.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:33] Zoë’s leadership initially manifests with her volunteering to carry a moose “rack”!   [04:33] The different ways leaders show up.   [6:09] Why it made sense for Zoë to be carrying the canoe, but not others.   [06:57] Zoë rethinks what is fair and equitable.   [08:14] Zoë leaves Canada and starts nine years with Outward Bound in Australia.   [08:50] HR for wilderness expeditions is far more complex and nuanced than for “office” jobs.   [10:06] How staff have to manage the emotional duress of being part of a group.   [12:04] People joining Outward Bound as staff have a human-centered value set which guides them.   [13:06] Staff go through a challenge course to learn from and be able to relate to lived experiences.   [14:00] Zoë learns the commonalities of Outward Bound and corporate experiences.   [15:03] The sources of most dysfunction and conflict at work.   [15:58] Zoë learns more about leadership theory at the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.   [17:59] How archetypes are practical—rather than theoretical—to embody and act upon.   [19:34] Leaders need to understand the context of any situation before deciding how to act.   [20:18] Flexibility and adaptability are essential for good leadership.   [21:25] An exercise in self-awareness—especially understanding shadow sides of archetypes.   [23:15] Technology is driving many shifts and challenges us to do things differently—which Zoë finds exciting.   [25:03] Leaders need to be authentic, genuine, and ethical—transparency is key.   [25:50] ESG principles are not “nice to have” but need to be integrated aspects of operations.   [28:27] First new theme for leaders: Negotiation as employees bargain more.   [29:27] Second theme: Increased responsibility for managing employees’ well-being, using empathy.   [31:16] Zoë sees three major shifts for leaders: maximizing energy, reducing friction, and amplifying ability.   [32:51] Why people are struggling with the shift to delegating, coaching, and training.   [33:46] Leaders need to think about their system-wide “sphere of impact” which is a massive maturity shift.   [36:01] Transition generates grief, growing pains, and a sense of failure, getting comfortable with discomfort is a new necessary meta skill for leaders.   [38:50] How younger employees are reacting to being stuck in the conventional system—radical change is (mostly) not evident to Zoë.   [41:02] Zoë believes the rising tide of ESG will wash through everything and start to change the entire ecosystem.   [41:22] Zoê’s views on the Future of Leadership and the three meta skills to embrace: exploring, mapping, and adapting.   [43:09] Adaptation goes beyond resilience.   [43:48] Major trends: transparency, collaboration, and co-creation, as well as collective decision-making through DAOs.   [45:08] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Consume—being selective and intentional about what you’re reading and listening to. Question—sit back and ask “what does this mean?”. And then Connect—give your brain rest time that allows your subconscious to make the connections between the threads.     RESOURCES   Zoë Routh on LinkedIn Zoë on Twitter @zoerouth Zoë on Instagram @zoerouth Zoë on Facebook @Zoe.Routh Zoë on Youtube Zoë’s website ZoeRouth.com Outward Bound Australian Rural Leadership Foundation GenTech by Dr. Rick Chromey Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson     QUOTES (edited)   “Everybody contributes to the group to the best of their individual ability. It's not a question of sharing all the jobs equally. That's not equitable and that's not fair.”   “The risk management for the wilderness is easier than managing the emotional duress of being part of a group in difficult circumstances. That's probably the more nuanced and challenging aspect of the role.”   “The idea that leaders need to have mental health first aid as part of their role and be caretakers is absolutely a big shift.”   “It’s more about my sphere of impact. It’s not just about my little pool of work. It’s the whole ecosystem.”   “There are leaders who are individually resourced and emotionally intelligent enough to want to poke the bear, prod the edges, and start to make some systemic change.”   “Caring for each other and realizing that people's mental health and personal well-being is on the table as part of being able to deliver the work.”   “The rising tide of ESG, I think, is going to be the thing that will wash through everything and start to changes things across the entire ecosystem.”   “From an individual point of view, to explore, map, and adapt are the three key areas that leaders will need to cement and embed into their leadership habits and rituals as they go forward.”

John Riordan, the so-called “Godfather of Remote” and Chairman of Grow Remote, an Irish-based social enterprise organization, has led fully remote teams and divisions for over 20 years including for multiple airlines, Apple, and Shopify in the US and internationally. John’s remote working division’s expertise enabled the office-based 60% of Shopify employees to transition quickly to fully remote in March 2020. John shares transferrable insights from his experiences leading remote, hybrid, and on-site empathetic customer services teams—emphasizing community.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:07] John Riordan starts in investment banking but quickly pivots to sales and marketing.   [03:49] John moves to the US loving the accent of positivity of personal marketing.   [04:55] The sheer size of American companies and amplification of scale quickly teaches John to be more structured and rigorous in his thinking and execution.   [07:14] John steps up to join Virgin Atlantic as VP of Sales and Marketing leading a much larger than at US Airways, spread across nine US cities.   [09:17] John is challenged to deliver on Marketing’s promises and transition to be VP Customer Service.   [10:40] John spends valuable time in the call centers and airports learning to empathize with customers.   [12:40] Humility as a leader comes with recognizing reliance on the team and the importance of choosing team members well.   [13:57] John learns from the staff what real empathy is.   [14:25] A seismic shift in outsourcing customer service happens post 9/11.   [15:53] In 2006, Apple calls researching how to create a remote-based customer service operations for the first iPhone launch.   [17:48] Why a remote-only call center was Apple’s sustainable option.   [18:55] The challenges of the very beginnings of remote work: teleworking or telecommuting. Remote working was a small percentage of workdays in 2006.   [20:35] John starts selling remote services and finds a general lack of acceptance.   [21:33] The fully-remote services company originally started to serve underemployed and under-resourced workers.   [22:46] Fully-remote-served customer service was an important niche market.   [23:36] Key points of resistance to fully-remote services—especially “I don’t think I could do it myself”.   [24:30] Mavericks made the leap, but John sees the inflection point as happening in March 2020.   [25:09] The next move, with Apple, is fully on-site—a tough transition for John.   [22:55] The points of resistance from companies are easily managed, except for one.   [25:08] From consulting for remote work with Apple to working for Apple back home in Ireland, but in a traditional brick-and-mortar call center.   [26:22] Without knowing John’s a remote pioneer, Shopify calls about a fully remote leadership role.   [27:38] Ecommerce requires 24/7 support, but local coverage leads to constant churn out of the night shift.   [28:48] Shopify becomes 40% remote (customer service) and 60% office-based pre-pandemic.   [30:44] Learnings from a major office move helped prepare Shopify to go remote in 2020.   [32:40] John has to readjust to remote working—eg self-discipline. He tunes into team members who excel at remote working.   [34:12] Painful personal experiences teach John what does NOT work in hybrid meetings.   [35:30] Pre-pandemic, office-based leaders start staying at home to participate equitably in meetings.   [37:44] 24/7 coverage teaches asynchronous, well-documented hand-offs and timing adjustments to wait for local contributions.   [39:55] John leads the company-wide initiative to remote in March 2020, as decentralized communication is humanized and normalized.   [42:50] The three most important areas to focus on that ensured emergency remote working success.   [44:55] The HR department had already compiled a “how to” book of the customer service department’s remote work experiences which became very useful for the whole company.   [45:31] The biggest challenge Shopify faced was for people to embrace their own vulnerability.   [47:10] John’s seemingly ageist concern about the irrelevance of using a 2015 approach to solve a 2023 problem.   [49:09] The future is about communities, not companies, especially to reduce the isolation that often accompanies remote working.   [51:12] How remote workers need to proactively design their work weeks, including nurturing non-work activities and setting boundaries.   [51:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To reduce feelings of isolation, encourage remote working employees to connect with people regularly—virtually and in person in their local area—supporting humans’ need for community.   [53:25] How John identifies people who have good work-life balance—he uncovers their passion!     RESOURCES   John Riordan on LinkedIn Grow Remote Boundless Otonomee Habitus Health     QUOTES    “The last -- and toughest -- objection to telework from companies: I don’t think I could do it therefore I don’t think somebody else could do it.”   “The number one thing -- absolutely paramount -- was to embrace your vulnerability.”   “You may well go back to an office, but you're not going back just because you had one, there has to be a reason.”   “What are you doing to make your business stronger in ‘25, ‘27, ‘29? You can’t go back 5, 7, 8, 10 years and tell me what it used to be like because those conditions don't exist anymore.”