Transforming Work with Sophie Wade

Allison Allen, worked at Twitter as Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition, through December 2022. She starts a new job at an as-yet-unnamed company in February. Allison’s expertise spans HR roles including Organizational Development, Diversity & Inclusion, and Talent Acquisition, mostly involving change management. Her experiences equip her well to recognize and adapt for ongoing workplace transformations—for leadership, HR, and managers at all levels. Allison discusses performance management, how leaders can foster employee engagement, who is responsible for retention, how Talent Acquisition can hire people internally, ways Human Resources can benefit from integrating silos, and much more. KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:22] Allison starts her career in risk management but decides she prefers a more “human” focus.   [02:55] Allison joins McKinsey during a period of change and is fascinated by people’s reactions.   [05:35] Next, she overhauls Cushman & Wakefield’s performance management process.   [06:05] After Deutsche Bank, Allison moves to Bloomberg focusing on organizational development during a strong growth phase at the company.   [07:03] Allison considers her interest in helping companies in the midst of change.   [07:28] What people need to deal with change: communication, strategy, understanding, and time.   [09:28] Drawing on her range of experiences, Allison thinks holistically how to help each person succeed.   [11:24] What are the learnings from each role to take away and grow as a leader?   [12:44] Performance management started to protect organizations, but it should be about employees and supervisors being on the same page.   [14:12] It is a leader’s role to connect with their team members individually.   [15:00] Feedback is not a gift—what is it?   [17:16] Allison sees a huge opportunity in Talent Acquisition stepping back and reframing perspectives and approaches.   [18:20] Instead of hiring new people, a first consideration can be reassigning existing employees.   [18:49] Talent Acquisition can also be responsible for retaining people and helping their career development.   [21:56] What drives people and what do they need? Organizational Development exists to provide the answers.   [22:31}Talent Acquisition can be responsible for helping ensure an organization can attract and satisfy people.   [24:01] The multifaceted nature of Gen Zs.   [26:15] What Allison would say to a leader who is concerned about younger employees’ side hustles and how to achieve their discretionary effort.   [28:10] McKinsey was a formative experience for Allison when she was assessed on her ability to deliver results.   [29:13] We should get over ourselves and move on from traditional ideas of tenure (and more). [31:30] “This is going to end badly” was Allison’s reaction when observing earlier mass hiring in tech.   [33:39] Firing new employees before they started work was a negative new trend Allison witnessed.   [34:02] Leaders—especially in the people team—need to be bolder about asking (strategic and operational) questions about the business.   [37:00] Allison is excited about her new job—wherever that may be!   [38:02] Aspects that attracted Allison to her new employer: leadership, operational agility, accountability, responsibility, and integration (rather than silos).   [39:59] Allison believes the world needs more leaders who have and lead with empathy.   [42:50] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Within your people team, look for ways to break down the silos and integrate everything so objectives are not isolated by function. For example, it should be important to the Talent Acquisition leader to retain—as well as hire—people. RESOURCES   Allison Allen on LinkedIn Allison on Twitter Allison on Instagram QUOTES   “How do we get people more comfortable with the notion that things will change, that they are not going to stay the same?”   “My role is actually to figure out how all these pieces come together so that we can impact people in the best way and we can actually impact the business in the best way.”   “I'm excited about it now because I think there's a huge opportunity at this moment for TA [Talent Acquisition] organizations to step back and reframe.”   “I actually don’t think we should worry about side hustles as managers: if you let your employees do what they want to do, you’ll get discretionary effort.”   “Just because my job is to hire people it doesn’t mean that my job isn’t also to challenge numbers.”   “I think we have to help people recognize that empathy doesn’t correlate to “soft” and weakness.“

Liam Martin, who co-founded and runs Timedoctor and Staff.com, is an avid proponent of remote work and co-organizer of the Running Remote conference. Liam draws on much personal experience learning the asynchronous mindset and optimizing designing processes to enable “deep work” by distributed teams. For the new book he co-authored, Running Remote, Liam researched how remote pioneers built their businesses. He shares high level and granular advice, including useful tools and practices for organizations interested in improving their hybrid models or going fully remote.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:30] Liam left home at fifteen to compete internationally for Canada in ice dance.   [04:39] Liam suffers a career-ending shattered kneecap which forced him to refocus his life at 19.   [07:28] Growing up in international training centers left Liam with no High-School diploma.   [08:45] The discipline required to compete at the highest level of sports can be useful in other fields, such as business.   [09:40] Liam starts teaching as a lecturer at McGill but discovers entrepreneurship is a better fit.   [12:10] 6 For those interested in entrepreneurship but thinking about college after high school, Liam shares his opinion based on his own experience.   [13:29] Liam discusses what he worked out about the mechanics of business.   [14:23] Key learnings as Liam was forced into a remote business early on.   [16:07] The tutoring business hit an issue tracking work which Liam and his new business partner, Rob Rawson, created a new venture to solve.   [17:20] They launch the Running Remote conference in 2018 to support people wanting to build and scale fully remote companies.   [18:16] In 2018, there were only seven companies with over 1000 people that were fully-remote.   [19:07] In his book, Running Remote, Liam explains how remote pioneers have a different methodology to running their businesses.   [20:17] The Future of Work is trending to be mostly hybrid, but distance bias must be overcome.   [21:20] Leaders are choosing to work remotely certain days to mitigate distance bias.   [22:34] Asynchronous management is the key methodology remote pioneers implemented - the ability to be able to communicate without directly interacting with someone synchronously.   [23:47] To deploy a hybrid work model successfully, Tenet 1: Deliberate over-communication.   [25:06] Liam starts interacting with “on-premise” organizations and is very surprised at the lack of documentation for everything.   [27:03] Tenet 2 - Democratized workflows – the ability to have information available to everyone.   [27:37] Relinquishing control of information is difficult, but it enables better decision-making.   [28:54] Tenet 3 – Really detailed metrics – the most difficult part.   [29:23] If process documentation feels overwhelming, Liam advises starting with an asynchronous week.   [30:41] More than 95% of process documents are never accessed. Is this an opportunity for ChatGPT?   [32:23] The number one reason companies failed to become fully (90%) asynchronous.   [33:40] The system needs to become the manager then managers can focus on people.   [34:34] Weekly iterations are ideal, biweekly at the most.   [36:08] Liam’s book “Running Remote” is “Deep Work” (by Cal Newport) for organizations—emphasizing people working independently.   [38:17] Most asynchronous—remote first—organizations Liam spoke with for the book target ~10% of synchronous communication per day.   [39:12] Synchronous communication for fully-remote and hybrid organizations is currently probably around 40-50%, which is too high to be effective.   [40:32] Liam believes that synchronous may allow better communication and development of ideas in the startup phase, but asynchronous management is much more effective to scale a company.   [42:19] 13% of all remote workers are customer support reps. From onboarding to training asynchronous can do it better and faster.   [44:06] Liam’s goal is to reduce meetings and give people back hours of work time.   [45:29] Their rule about being able to walk out if a meeting isn’t valuable—Liam finds it effective.   [46:50] Liam is unclear where we are going post-COVID since 14% of the US economy involves corporate real estate.   [51:28] Liam shares the tools he uses to manage projects, record, document, and collect information.   [55:28] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Optimize for work rather than meetings. Use effective asynchronous enabling tools including a project management system to be able to document information, and others to establish new processes that reduce live interactions.     RESOURCES   Liam Martin on LinkedIn  Instagram @liamremote Twitter @liamremote Liam’s book Running Remote TimeDoctor.com The Running Remote conference on Youtube Future Forum by Slack Deep Work by Cal Newport.   Tools mentioned: Loom Asana Trainual Fellow     QUOTES   “Education wasn’t the goal for me, it was entrepreneurship.”   “The mechanics of running a business is just bureaucracy, unfortunately. The reality is that you can actually cheat your way up until the Dunbar number, which is about 150 people.”   “Distance bias posits that as you get closer to a manager or a decision maker, you then have better access to decision making.”   “The CEO of the company has all of this information in their head, and that's usually the person that ends up making these very serious decisions. Inside an autonomous meritocracy, you empower everyone to make their best decisions and be as autonomous as humanly possible, they need as much information as they can consume. Well, when you give everyone else that same amount of information, magically the CEO isn’t a genius anymore.”   “I would define synchronous as a lazy form of communication, which lacks documentation and produces an environment where 10 years down the road, you've got all of these people that are doing things but have no idea what they're doing or what goal they're serving.”   “Inside remote organizations, there is a digital paper trail for everything, because you're forced to actually produce that.”  

Steven Miller is a Senior Growth Manager on Uber’s product team, co-Founder of startup ChatSight, and an angel investor in early stage technology ventures. Steven wants his work efforts to have impact as so many young employees do—he is a “Zillennial” on the cusp of Millennial and Gen Z generations. Steven offers his and his friends’ views and learnings from experiences at multiple startups and large corporations about emerging realities and preferences—the new what, why, where, when, and how of work—sought by younger cohorts of workers.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:10] Steven’s own early approach to learning.   [03:44] Studying finance, software engineering, and social entrepreneurship, Steven was also interested in having impact.   [04:14] Steven focused on outcomes and productivity not work for the sake of it.   [05:12] Consulting and banking sounded like “busy work” without impact, so Steven started his own company based on artificial intelligence.   [05:42] Steven found it very rewarding to work on a high impact venture even if a moonshot idea.   [06:50] Friends on the entrepreneurship path tended to be happier and more fulfilled than those on the corporate path who were generally burned out.   [07:27] Impressions that corporate work is how you look like you are working rather than the impact you are achieving.   [08:33] Young employees in large corporations often feel disconnected from the impact they want to have.   [10:11] Steven has seen promotions given to leaders with larger teams resulting in unnecessary team expansion.   [11:25] Larger tech companies ballooned leading to lower profit margins and current layoffs.   [12:09] Startup dynamics contrast with few people, more ownership, and investment in efforts to collaborate and create impact.   [13:15] Side hustles are Millennials and Gen Zs safety net after growing up seeing their parents’ laid off, to improve their financial stability.   [14:08] Hardship catalyzed side hustle growth which also fulfills people’s desire to invest in themself.   [15:26] During the pandemic, the experiment of all remote work allowed interesting development of side hustles.   [16:30] The 40-hour work week is so old!   [17:08] Why outcomes are more important than hours in an output and knowledge driven world.   [18:39] It doesn’t make sense to timebox creativity.   [20:27] Reason 1 Young workers move jobs: I don’t want constraints when I can be productive WFH.   [20:49] Reason 2 Young workers move jobs: “Lifers” were shaken up with the recent boom to bust.   [21:54] The growth of the creator economy, gig work, and new classifications of employment.   [23:03] Steven’s views on the new type of struggle between labor and owners.   [23:43] Individuals have more voice and empowered to be more creative and not be forced into traditional occupations.   [25:35] Steven started at Instacart during the pandemic—fully remote (messy) onboarding!   [26:49] Learning to deal with ambiguity and chaos!   [27:22} How to be productive when working fully-remote - #1 Communicating well, especially in writing.   [27:39] How to be productive when working fully-remote - #2 Being organized.   [28:54] Remote/hybrid is a new game and you need to learn the rules to reduce friction.   [30:33] Steven shares experiences in startups and big tech companies, including rebuilding the Uber rides business.   [31:58] Mixed reviews for the back to the office moves, Steven recognizes that people do enjoy seeing their colleagues occasionally.   [33:05] Steven gives Uber empathy credits as they transition in 50 countries, hiccups are inevitable. [34:32] Governments should rethink the idea of “an employee”.   [35:52] What DO workers want (looking at balanced and nuanced viewpoints)?   [38:10] AI GPTChat essays are not very creative yet – perhaps C minus graded papers!   [39:50] Focusing on skills for the future—starting in early education—to develop specializations across many critical needs such as climate change, food insecurity, and energy insecurity.   [44:14] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Feed your curiosity engine and understand how the world works. Consider how your 9 to 5 job can give you a level of security and income while you explore other opportunities—a bifurcated approach can be valuable preparing yourself for an uncertain world.     RESOURCES   You can follow Steven on LinkedIn Twitter @realstevenmiler Chatsight Uber     QUOTES    “I do think that a lot of fundamental components of the education system are not well suited for this new world.”   “I'm not interested in doing work for the sake of doing work. I'm interested in outcomes and impact for the inputs and effort that I put in.”   “For a lot of corporations it tends to be more about how you look like you're doing work versus the actual impact that you have.”   “All humans want to know that their time is worthwhile in whatever situation or context that they're in.”   “The actual value that you bring to the world is your creativity and by nature creativity is a process you can’t really timebox.”

Sophie Wade, work futurist, Workforce Innovation Specialist, and host of this podcast, reflects on the past year and all that we have experienced and been adjusting to as we emerged from pandemic conditions. Sophie considers the wide-reaching effects of increased digitalization, changing customer behaviors, and evolving talent management dynamics and needs. She invites you to review your successes, sharing context and a framework for understanding what worked and why. She also encourages analyzing areas for improvement, identifying reasons and what aspects to focus on so as to have the necessary data and priorities to move forward with clarity and confidence in 2023.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   [00:44] Sophie prompts listeners to learn from your actions, reactions, and results in 2022.   [01:29] A recent history recap gives important context for reviewing the year and orientation for 2023.   [01:48] Extensive recent digitalization has changed the trajectory of our businesses for the long-term.   [02:55] Conditions have “normalized”, but our personal lives are more digitally facilitated.   [03:55] Pandemic-related technology integration forced beneficial and overdue modernizations in the business realm too.   [04:43] More adjustments or further redesign may be needed or worthwhile to take full advantage of digitally-based advances.   [05:36] To assess 2022, it is essential to recognize our current context and what is necessary to stay competitive.   [06:09] Who are your target customers now--how have their behaviors been changing over the past year?   [07:13] Sales – understanding achievements, issues, and overall alignment during 2022.   [08:19] Checking business fundamentals during a period of flux to confirm or make adjustments to operating practices.   [08:53] Most countries are now managing COVID19, but restrictions or issues continue elsewhere.   [09:50] What epiphanies did you have during the year eg relating to technology or supply chain management?   [10:56] Have employees been able to engage and perform well despite uncertain conditions?   [11:18] How has the Great Resignation affected your company, division, or team?   [12:36] Why Gen Zs’ and Millennials’ departures are useful to understand.   [14:03] Many people are questioning the role and meaning of work, and it’s not a bad thing.   [14:40] How many days a week different age groups want on average each week.   [15:36] The benefit of talking to team members considering or on the point of leaving.   [16:04] How any layoffs were handled in 2022 will likely affect workforce dynamics in 2023.   [16:36] Who on your team is engaged and how did you foster and support that?   [17:24] Whatever your results, how were they achieved and what learnings are relevant for 2023?   [18:12] Getting personal about business—respecting people’s experiences and reactions.   [20:02] Sharing our vulnerabilities can help us support each other beyond the pandemic.   [20:49] The importance of recognizing our new circumstances to prepare for the year ahead.   [21:57] Listening to other episodes during the break to gain wide-ranging useful insights.     QUOTES (edited)   “The Digital Genie is not going back in his lamp.”   “If your business is to stay competitive—with your customers and employees—it means recognizing the attributes of the current operational landscape and seeing your company on the new growth trajectory.”   “Do you feel that working conditions were healthy and encouraging employees to go above and beyond?”   “Business got personal in March 2020 and that human connection isn’t going away.”   “We have discovered what is possible and how we can and, yes, must work differently.”  

Dr. Meghan Grace leads Gen Z research at the Institute of Generational Research and Education and leads research and data strategies at learning and development consultancy Plaid. She sheds light on who the youngest workers in the labor market are—a group whom leaders and managers across all sectors are struggling to attract, engage, and retain. Meghan shares illuminating research findings about Gen Z’s college experiences. She explains their concerns and desires are as they enter the workforce and develop their careers as well as how they respond to our new work environments.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:12] Meghan’s Gen-Z-focused career began by accident at a staff retreat.   [04:48] Meghan and her research partner’s first study in 2014 was on Gen Zs then still in their teens.   [05:39] Understanding “peer personalities” in generational theory and differences between Millennials and Gen Z which begin before college.   [07:36] Gen Z’s world feels bigger and their collective reactions to society and the world shapes their peer personality.   [08:39] How multimedia consumption of information differs by generation.   [09:35] Meghan’s research was initially driven by the need to ensure colleges and universities are structured and supporting students effectively.   [11:41] Their studies have always been mindful of exploring Gen Z’s from several different angles.   [12:42] While themes haven’t changed, Gen Z’s have evolved over the seven years of studies.   [13:00] Gen Z’s major issues/concerns: stability (especially financial), healthcare, and homelessness.   [14:10] How Generation Z has been affected by watching the challenges older adults have been facing.   [15:14] Safety and security-related issues are also key issues relating to mass violence, sexual predators, climate and environment, and inclusion.   [18:52] Without shared values—such as integrity—Gen Z feels a trust gap with older generations.   [21:47] This young generation is maturing and developing agency—such as in politics.   [23:00] Collaboration between Millennials and Gen Zs could positively influence change at work.   [26:30] Meghan observed Generation Z dealing with very tough conditions during the pandemic with maturity and grace.   [29:20] Many of this generation missed an important year when young adults typically develop their world view through different social interactions and settings.   [32:19] Gen Zs were talking about work-related issues such as flexible work structures, financial stability, and meaningful work before the pandemic.   [33:02] Gen Z’s priorities are the same as most employees’.   [34:18] It is easy for the youngest generation to be the scapegoat, and they may be the loudest voices as a cohort, however, they aren’t creating the trend.   [36:04] Core values and characteristics to attract and keep Gen Z: meaningful work, transparent and empathetic leadership, and an opportunity to participate.   [37:57] Side hustles are integral to the concept of work for this multi-faceted generation—whether developing multiple income streams or monetizing a passion.   [39:20] The world of the “lifer” is over—time at any company can be viewed as a “productive layover” for both sides.   [41:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Gen Z’s don’t take themselves too seriously and are willing to share if you ask, with curiosity and care.   [43:13] How to approach questions—recognizing vulnerability in the conversation—by channeling Ted Lasso’s “That is fascinating”!   [46:05] The issue of “shared language” for different cultures, companies, and generations.     RESOURCES   Meghan Grace Ed. D. on LinkedIn Meghan on Twitter Meghan on Instagram Meghan’s website Institute for Generational Research and Education For recent research visit Global Gen Z Study Meghan’s podcast: #GenZ     QUOTES    “Gen Z’s world feels bigger because their access to the world is bigger.”   “Financial security is at the top of the Gen Z list of concerns.”   “Gen Z is losing patience with older generations.”   “They’re heavily responsible to the people they love.” [about Gen Z]   “While we’re all being very serious about Gen Z, they don’t take themselves too seriously.”   “We are living in the same world, but we are all living in very different worlds at the same time because we exist in different spaces and different mindsets.”

Rowena Hennigan is a university lecturer at TU Dublin, published academic author and researcher, remote work expert, and digital nomad. She lives her ethos “work is not a place” and transitioned from working remotely—starting in 2007—to establish a digital nomad life for herself and her family. Rowena explains how digital nomad options are expanding to encompass slow travel, nomad families and communities, and extended business travel. She shares her experiences and learnings that have helped her improve productivity and performance as a remote and traveling worker.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:52] Rowena’s journey starts with leaving Ireland for a drier climate as her daughter was sick.   [04:19] Moving to Spain improved her daughter’s health and changed their perspectives.   [05:02] During the pandemic, they wondered “why not travel all 4+ months of the school holidays?”   [07:38] The new possibilities and value of extra curricula activities for her daughter.   [08:52] Digital nomads emphasizing time without devices.   [10:47] Why any remote worker or digital nomad should master teaching skills.   [11:45] Establishing virtual learning agreements to create common ground.   [13:06] Understanding when/how you learn and the role of asynchronous interactions.   [14:27] Good educators are constant reflecting and ensuring they are accessible and understood by all.   [15:37] Setting up effective meeting norms.   [16:59] It is essential to manage expectations and dealing with the nuances of any human exchange.   [18:40] The importance of vulnerability and honesty to have productive conversations.   [20:18] The emergence of digital nomad hubs and communities—for families too.   [21:56] New nomad education options being offered that span more than one location.   [24:40] Discussing productivity for digital nomads and what’s sustainable for you personally.   [26:15] The benefits of slow travel—adding extra days away and working remotely effectively.   [28:53] The changing profile and lifestyle of digital nomads.   [30:31] The mentality of nomads who crave new experiences around where they work.   [33:21] Improving upon “helicoptering” in/out of places for meetings and events.   [34:15] The enriching experiences and leaning into curiosity and broad interests.   [36:20] Developing a habit of tourism—near and far.   [37:44] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: What new digital nomad experience might you explore considering the emerging and expanding options including work trip extensions, new tourist locations, and nurtured nomad communities.     RESOURCES   Rowena Hennigan on LinkedIn Rowena on Twitter RowenaHennigan.com Rowena’s new LinkedIn Learning course: Staying productive when you remote work and travel Rowena’s newsletter Remote Work Digest. Digital Nomad Village Madeira Islands Boundless Life website Adventurely’s website (CEO Mita Cariman) Selina’s website   QUOTES   “Work is not a place.”   “Any good educator will be constantly reflecting.”   “Can you travel slower? Can you extend your time? Can you take it easy on the way back rather than rushing to and from?   “We need to look at workload and make sure that with the act of travel I can do it as well within my performance and I’m managing everyone’s expectations because we can use remote work to supplement and complement that, but we have to do it with intention.”   “Increasingly, there’s a big slowmad, slow travel movement that’s emerged. It’s because of things like sustainability.”

J.R. Richards is a platinum selling American rock artist. He was the lead singer and songwriter for the band Dishwalla which achieved a major US No 1 hit, several music awards, and released five albums. J.R. now is an artist entrepreneur with four solo albums who continues to develop his 30+ year career. He shares the open-minded and entrepreneurial approach which allowed him to ride the technology wave that disrupted the music industry. What learnings can help us adapt through the current period of disruption?     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [01:28] How the music industry can offer us ideas having faced earlier major technology disruption.  [04:16] J.R. writes his first song at nine and then starts studying opera techniques at 18.    [04:58] The importance of protecting and managing content creation ability as an artist.    [07:40] J.R. enters the music industry at the tail end of its traditional operating model.    [08:19] Control was signed away to get essential physical distribution on finite shelves.    [09:32] Artists mostly kept revenues from touring but events also relied on labels’ power.    [10:32] The opaque economics as labels lent artists money to record, market, and distribute their albums.    [12:24] Technology disruption hits and the labels scramble to restructure as revenues drop.    [13:15] As digital music quality improves, distribution barriers disappear along with the need to be on a major label.    [14:30] Label consolidation took Dishwalla from A&M Records to Polygram to Universal to Interscope.    [16:24] A merger grounds release of Dishwalla’s second album prompting them to embrace technology developments to connect with fans directly and get more control at a smaller label.    [18:15] Who actually had the rockstar lifestyle—the label executives or the rockstars?!   [19:37] The industry is in upheaval exploring revenue models in licensing deals with multiple platforms.    [21:50] A dramatic murder causes the band’s label to fold and J.R. gets disillusioned.    [23:35] The band breaks up and J.R. goes solo just as digital distribution becomes mainstream.    [24:43] A massive Aha moment as J.R. gets his first ever accurate sales reports.    [26:31] How the pandemic forces JR to develop emerging opportunities as venues close.    [28:30] Why it is beneficial to check out and experiment with new options.    [29:40] J.R. pivots well creating innovative experiences for fans (helped by a talented marketer—his wife!).    [31:37] The vital importance of owning your core IP—the master of your album.    [34:35] New, tougher touring economics after many venues closed down.    [35:59] J.R. continues experimenting on YouTube, Spotify, and other platforms to engage new fans.    [36:58] A young singer has millions of views on TikTok of him singing a Dishwalla song J.R. wrote.    [37:25] J.R.’s equitable approach to collaborating with the singer.    [39:25] J.R. enjoys the collaboration process and finds more access and conversation helps.    [40:24] Inviting big fans into the song development process, J.R. agrees with one fan’s suggestion.   [41:37] How scary it was to show fans behind the curtain.    [43:19] The new balance of art and business as creators have to push themselves out in front of people.    [45:22] Using data to make educated decisions, control your career, and make a living.    [46:53] How ongoing learning allows you to develop your craft and create long-term value for yourself.    [48:35] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Be really open-minded and when change starts happening, instead of fighting against it, check it out and ideally embrace it because you may find it’s better now than it was in the past.   [53:02] J.R. Richards sings!      RESOURCES   J.R.Richards website J.R.’s Shop J.R. on Facebook J.R. on TikTok J.R. on Instagram J.R. on Patreon J.R.on YouTube J.R.on Spotify   QUOTES    “It was the nineties, you had to sign a deal with a big label if you want to make it big.”   “It always felt like the executives running the label had more of the rockstar lifestyle and personality than the actual rock stars on the label!”   “It is terrifying because you are showing them [fans] behind the curtain. But you also realize how much people really appreciate that and it doesn’t diminish the way they look at you as an artist, it actually increases their appreciation for what you do.”   “I think the hardest thing is for the artist to put monetary value to what they do and push themselves out in front of people in hope that someone will buy what they’ve created.”   “You can get all that information and you can make some really educated decisions about where you focus your time and your energy and you can make a massive career out of it.”

Adam Tuckwell, Managing Director for Mobas, a brand transformation business in the UK, crafts, seeds, amplifies, and channels corporate messaging to affect change as social media and other communications platforms shift information power dynamics between leaders and their constituent audiences. Adam brings communications experience spanning video gaming, traditional publishing, and brand agencies to explain how customers’ and employees’ voices generate and facilitate transformation externally and internally.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:49] Adam imagined his career differently to how it turned out.   [03:36] People have helped Adam identify his skills and what they are best suited for.   [04:34] Adam recognizes the importance of communications.   [05:59] The challenge of engaging teens in the video game sector.   [06:52] The wonderful challenges of wide-ranging tasks involved during the company’s growth stage.    [09:07] Adam’s next employer couldn’t be more different!   [09:45] Updating how Cambridge University Press communicated with their audiences.   [10:16] Adapting to different pace and process challenges at his new job, Adam also launches a podcast.    [11:20] The role of empathy in interviews—stopping broadcasting and starting to listen.   [12:03] Being naturally inquisitive, the next move was to an agency to explore diagnosis and problem-solving.   [14:16] The Future of Work manifests differently for SMEs versus for large enterprises.   [15:10] The Future of Work is being driven by workers—not management—being empowered.   [16:03] Companies’ transformation involves exploring different ideas and ways of working, getting beyond blinkered views of their situations.   [17:30] How the Future of Work is entirely changing the way we work.   [20:35] Clients want to solve a particular problem and don’t initially recognize how the issue fits within their wider organizational structure.   [19:08] The ongoing journeys of change—some are iterative, some are fundamental.    [21:39] Helping future leaders identify where there are issues as iterations are ongoing.    [22:30] In the current environment, where everyone is strained and stretched, how to identify the opportunities.   [25:17] Customers now have choices and voices which mean companies need proactively to manage how they are viewed so issues don’t snowball.   [27:20] Adam gets excited about inward communications and the Employee Value Proposition, which is hard for some organizations to adapt to.   [30:30] The next generation of workers give Adam hope with their openness and  different expectations of the workplace.   [31:52] As a child, Adam communicated visuals for his parents and appreciated the experiences of others and the relevance of tailoring messaging.   [33:40] The importance of trust and sensitivity to bring people along, combined with transparency and openness.   [34:20] Different types of leaders are rising now with diverse backgrounds and experiences.    [36:08] The future for leaders who can channel Gen Zs’ insights and appetite for change.   [39:12] The importance of investing in failure, experimenting for the future.   [40:52] Encouraging companies to focus 70% of their energies on today. [43:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Don’t be alone as a leader. Ensure you have a friend or a group of friends with whom you can be vulnerable and who will be honest and critique what you do. Invest in relationships that ensure the decisions you make are the right ones for everybody.     RESOURCES   Adam Tuckwell on LinkedIn Adam Tuckwell on Twitter@adamtuckwell adam.tuckwell@mobas.com Mobas website     QUOTES   “People have helped me along the way to identify what I’m good at and how my skills might best be used.”   “The future of work is already here, it’s just that some companies haven’t opened their eyes to it yet.”   “So what I really like about transformation within the organizations we work with is that there’s a real appetite to try different ideas and concepts and ways of working that they wouldn’t have done before.”   “I think so many organizations are purely built to be reactive and they have too many layers that stop issues from being dealt with when they’re small and instead they snowball into big issues.”   “We need to have an understanding of where our people are, what they're experiencing, whether they're up or they're down, whether they've got issues outside of work.”   “Gen Z is seen as being a bit more entitled or set in their ways which are very negative traits. But then on the positive side, they’re really passionate about the environment, they want to save the world — they really don’t like what we've done to it.”

Dr. Grin Lord is the founder and CEO of mpathic.ai, an AI-powered service bringing empathy to enterprises. Trained as a clinical psychologist, Grin describes critical discoveries while a research scientist and gaining expertise in conversational design. She shares insights about how AI and machine learning can augment human connection, improve therapy bots, and train leaders, managers, and employees to be more empathic.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   [03:12] Dr. Grin Lord’s scientific background and early focus on empathy.   [04:15] The extraordinary benefits of listening and withholding judgments.   [07:28] The national rollout and financial impact of empathetic listening.   [08:12] Grin finds the 3-day training workshops are not successful for forming habits.   [09:43] Grin transitions to coaching modality to change behaviors.   [11:21] Specific intense training rules for providers optimize empathy, engagement, and trust.   [12:53] Unnatural learned techniques have undeniable power!   [13:41] Self-awareness is needed to adhere to the rules and be most effective.   [14:30] With phone-based coaching, Grin starts using machines to support the process of learning empathy.   [15:17] Research and ratings evaluate provider effectiveness and how computers were trained to do it.   [16:40] Grin explains synchronizing—people naturally adjusting their language style to others’.   [17:39] How synchronizing is a form of empathy.   [18:44] Grin is curious about other ways we can measure empathy.   [19:49] Dr. Lord’s realization: we need to get outside of the clinical space. [20:00] Grin wants to use her learnings outside clinical and academic fields and moves into the startup space.   [21:48] When the pandemic starts, Grin is working on a therapy chatbot that uses artificial intelligence.   [22:56] People start preferring to talk to the chat bot as it “gets” them.   [23:56] During the crisis, Grin starts her own company while looking after her kids and both parents at home.   [25:36] Starting with a game Empathy Rocks, Grin teaches coaches and therapists how to listen with empathy.   [27:03] The next step was applying empathy in different business and work situations.   [27:24] The powerful effect of empathy—or lack of empathy—when handling insurance claims.   [30:00] How empathic suggestions help managers give feedback.   [31:56] The next feature will direct users responses over time to relevant skills training.   [33:54] The goal is to give objective, timely feedback at scale, not to replace human interaction.   [35:48] Grin explains how mpathic is currently being integrated in HR platforms to improve communications.   [38:05] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you want to be more empathetic, start with seeing if you can repeat back what you heard when you’re listening, before you ask a question or provide advice.   [39:02] Grin recommends starting to apply a couple of simple skills in your daily life.     RESOURCES   Dr. Grin Lord on LinkedIn Dr. Grin Lord’s blog Dr. Grin Lord on Twitter @drgrinlord mpathic.ai mpathic.ai on LinkedIn     QUOTES   “We found that the folks that got the empathy intervention had major drops in their drinking and those effects held for three years and led to a 46% reduction in readmissions.”   “Some of the key ingredients of listening interventions have to with approaching people with non-judgment, curiosity, and accurate listening.”   “Even if the person knows that you’re using those techniques — it’s undeniably powerful — they still work!”   “We even had users report that they would rather talk to the bot than a human because of how consistently non-judgmental it was.”   “A large percentage of customers will leave after a bad interaction.”   “The core starting place for improving your empathy over time is seeing if you can get accurate understanding before you jump in providing advice or assuming.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS   [02:50] Colin started his career in accounting and then retail banking.   [03:50] Colin discovers he enjoys seeing people win and developing their careers.    [04:35] When banks were fighting for survival, the focus was internal not on customers.   [05:54] Colin wanted to understand the business end to end and the role he and others played.   [06:54] Transitioning from a large to a small organization was a shock for Colin—a risk for both sides.   [07:34] The culture at Saffron was warm from Day One.   [08:41] Colin rose rapidly to CEO, despite having no plan to achieve the role at this time.   [09:52] Colin leads transformation of the organization‘s culture and ethos from having top down centralized control.   [11:02] The “how” of work changes, especially opening up communications.   [12:13] To affect a culture change, being candid is key, bringing people into the process and encouraging them to ask questions.   [13:34] Cultural transformation starts with trust and being relentlessly honest and open.   [15:30] Emphasizing career development meant showing people growing and winning.   [17:18] Culture needs to be aligned internally and externally, including customers too.   [18:02] To develop the business, people’s roles needed to change.   [19:05] Achieving the improvements employees had committed to build trust and gained commitment for the next, growth phase.    [20:32] When the pandemic struck, Saffron was able to adjust rapidly as employees were used to change and communicating effectively.   [21:54] The pre-crisis transformation laid a strong foundation for two of the company’s strongest trading years—during and since the pandemic.   [23:33] Saffron was able to respond flexibly to customers’ different situations.   [24:37] The human-centered approach recognizes and responds to changing customer needs.   [26:42] Coming out the pandemic, Colin senses a seismic shift in how the employee value proposition [EVP] needs to considered.   [27:22] Colin is certainly not asking employees to return to the office five days a week   [28:23] Saffron takes a ‘principles approach’—the most important principle is that a society comes first, the service of customers comes first.   [29:00] Colin observes that people know how to work best, they don’t need the rules and expectations that other companies are talking about.   [30:11] During times of heightened ambiguity, ongoing conversations and iterations are important.   [31:08] A ‘management manager’ people training program facilitating new ways of working.   [32:12] Colin believes you need to understand where the people you work with are coming from.   [32:43] Saffron’s top executive team, who are spread out across the UK, are intentional when interacting online and in person.   [34:29] How to encourage transparent dialogue and assimilate new habits.   [37:46] People are adjusting how they’re living their lives no longer bound by geography—it’s a work in progress.   [38:57] Customers’ and employees’ expectations are needing to adapt.   [40:56] Colin has an open and less conventional approach for attracting good talent.   [42:35] Colin helps employees grow in their roles and even out of the organization.   [44:17] Colin shares the story of a bus driver looking for a career change at Saffron.   [45:15] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To make whatever transformation your organization needs, start with the culture…then leadership, people, and processes….and stay the course — it will take at least twice as long as you think it will.     RESOURCES   Colin Field on LinkedIn Colin on Twitter @ColinHField Saffron Building Society on LinkedIn Saffron on Twitter @SaffronBS Saffron on Facebook @SaffronBS   For weekly video updates from Sophie and her Work In Progress newsletter and follow her on LinkedIn and Twitter @ASophieWade.   Sign up for the Work In Progress Report and Sophie’s blog on Sophiewade.com and flexcelnetwork.com     QUOTES    “I found the thing that made my heart sing! And the thing that made me smile was seeing people win, seeing people around you win, colleagues developing their careers and actually seeing and getting proud about something you were doing as a business.”   “Trust is the hardest thing to build in terms of culture.”   “Overnight we went from a business that was head office in two central buildings and eight branches, to all of a sudden we're in no buildings, and we're in studies, spare bedrooms, dining room tables.”   “Why would we want to start saying to people “you need to come back into the office again.” It's crazy! We've just proved over two years that we don't need to do that. That makes no sense.”   “I fell the secret is to swim with the tide here as a business, you go with it as much as you possibly can do and that’s the way to unlock the benefits.”   “Our customers set, a lot of them are 50+, and a number of them are 80 plus. And people would say to me “Colin, digital channels: you're wasting your time in that group. People will not want to use digital channels.” And now that's been completely debunked.”