Ollie on Work

In the final episode of this first series of Take My Advice, we focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.My first guest is Zoe Young, founder of Half The Sky, author of Women's Work: How Mothers Manage Flexible Working in Careers and Family Life, and co-investigator of Work After Lockdown, a research project exploring how the effects of the pandemic on working from home, and looking at which new behaviours and working practices will remain, and which should be encouraged. We discuss flexible working, job design, and the impact of the changing face of work on women, in particular.I then speak to Nishita Dewan, founder of CollaboratEQ and a diversity and inclusion advisor to organisations like BCorps, The Wellcome Trust, The Royal Society of Arts, and Virgin. We discuss how businesses have responded to the seismic events of 2020, as well as focusing on the value of becoming a learning organisation.Thanks again for listening to Take My Advice. I'll be back in the new year with a new series, and already have some fantastic guests lined up. So please subscribe to the podcast and also check out my newsletter, Future Work/Life.LINKS:Zoe's LinkedIn profileWork After LockdownNishita's LinkedIn profileFuture Work/Life Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's guest works at the forefront of the exploration of how this future could and should look. Allison Baum Gates is General Partner of SemperVirens; a Silicon Valley-based early-stage Venture Capital Fund focused on the future of work.I discovered Allison's Medium articles a few months ago in which she brilliantly articulates some of the challenges and opportunities that existed even before 2020 and that are now rapidly accelerating. Amongst other things, we discuss her ideas on what she calls the 'flipped workplace', education and work, the difficulties of measuring outcomes in a remote work setting, diversity in the world of venture capital, and workforce tech.If you're enjoying the first series of Take My Advice, please subscribe and check out my newsletter, Future Work/Life.LINKS:Allison's LinkedIn ProfileAllison's Medium ArticlesFuture Work/Life Newsletter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why has someone who’s never surfed invited one of the worlds greatest ever surfers on to his podcast?Well, a conversation I listened to in March between Guy Kawasaki and today’s guest Shaun Thompson made a profound impact on me and offered reasons for optimism during what was such a strange and challenging time.This podcast was originally going to be called Take My Advice (I’m Not Using It), but since it’s such a mouthful, I cut the name back a little. We discuss this theme in the podcast, though, specifically in relation to how Shaun shares his wisdom with others. We also talk about Shaun’s fascinating life as one of the creators of professional surfing as we know it, how his life in the water and out of it has been influenced by Flow, and most importantly we discuss his Code. Originally written as the Surfer’s Code, this was a very simple list of promises that Shaun lived his lived by using the metaphor of surfing. Following the tragic loss of his son in 2006, however, The Code became something much greater, and Shaun now shares it with people around the world.I found this conversation inspiring and I’m certain you’ll enjoy it too.LINKS:Shaun Tomson's websiteThe Code - QR CodeGuy Kawasaki's Remarkable PeopleFuture Work/Life Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rewind 8 months to the start of the first lockdown in this strangest of years. My wife and I, like many people, were about to begin what was definitely the most challenging period of our parenting lives. Schools had shut, work was uncertain, and many people were understandably anxious.A couple of weeks before, I had ordered a copy of a new book called Parents Who Lead: The Leadership Approach You Need to Parent with Purpose, Fuel Your Career, and Create a Richer Life, which applies leadership principles to how you manage your personal life. Well, sometimes in life, things drop in your lap at exactly the right time, and so it was the case with this book.As you might imagine, when I decided to start recording this podcast, Alyssa Westring, one of the authors of this book with Stew Friedman, was among the first people I contacted and I’m delighted and honoured to bring you this brilliant conversation, which should fill you with insights and optimism whether you’re a parent or not.Alyssa Westring is an organisational psychologist at DePaul University in Chicago and is an award-winning educator and expert on leadership, work/life integration, working parents, and women’s careers. She’s also a frequent speaker at Fortune 500 companies and has two school-aged children.Thanks as ever for listening, and if you haven’t already, please check out my newsletter Future Work/Life for related insights, including last week’s edition which prefaces this episode. LINKS:Parents Who Lead Alyssa WestringFuture Work/Life Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ben Legg is the CEO of The Portfolio Collective, his new business and a community that helps entrepreneurial professionals launch and grow their portfolio careers.Ben has had a diverse career including as an army officer, McKinsey strategy consultant, COO of Google Europe and global technology CEO. He has lived in nine countries and worked in 60. He now has a portfolio career, which includes board roles, mentoring (and investing in) entrepreneurs, advising investors, speaking at conferences and consulting. We talk about his career, some of the principles he lives by and, of course, how to approach building your own portfolio career.LINKS:Future Work/LifeThe Portfolio CollectiveThe Portfolio Collective's Catapult Course Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I talk to consultant and author, Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, who has written two brilliant books that demonstrate the importance of incorporating deliberate rest into your life, and the value of a shorter working week - for example, a 4-day week or 6-hour day.Both books have impacted the way that I structure my time and influence my thinking about the future of work.Alex is a fascinating guy and has spent years studying organisations from a range of industries, including agencies, restaurants, call centres and manufacturing businesses. In our conversation, we cover a range of topics, from reducing the number and duration of meetings to the impact of AI on work.If you enjoy the show, please make sure to Subscribe and to sign up to my newsletter, Future Work/Life.Links:Future Work/LifeRest: Why You Get More Done When You Work LessShorter: How Working Less Will Revolutionise the Way Your Company Gets Things Done Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Take My Advice with me, Ollie Henderson - this is the second episode of this new podcast in which I talk to leading thinkers about subjects related to the future of work and our place in it.My guest today is Cath Bishop. She's an Olympian and World Champion rower. She's also a former diplomat, and now a leadership speaker, coach and writer, as well as a thoroughly lovely person to chat to.I enjoyed our conversation, which covered a range of topics, including sport, leadership and education. It includes fascinating and important points to do with our culture of winning and how we should aspire to judge success in the workplace and with our kids.We had a great chat. I think you'll find it really useful and interesting. I've included links below to anything we referenced in the notes below.Also, I'd like to point you in the direction of my newsletter, Future Work/Life.Enjoy.LINKS:Future Work/LifeThe Long Win: the search for a better way to succeedDaniel Pink's DriveDan Cable's Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to this first episode of my new podcast, Take My Advice.I'm Ollie Henderson, and I started this podcast mainly because I just wanted to speak to some fascinating people about subjects in which I'm interested. They range from the future of work, and how that intersects with our personal lives, to marketing, management, entrepreneurship and sport.In this episode, I speak to one of my favourite business authors and podcasters, Christopher Lochhead. Christopher wrote the best-selling book Play Bigger with Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson and Kevin Maney and it's a how-to guide on category design, which I've linked to below. With Heather Clancy, he also wrote Niche Down, which focuses on how entrepreneurs should identify and own their own niche, whatever size business you're running. He also presents two fantastic podcasts. Follow Your Different is one of the top business podcasts in the world; repeatedly in the top five, and Lochhead on Marketing is a must-listen for marketing advice from one of the best around. He's also a straight shooter as well as a genuinely nice guy.If you enjoy this show or any of the other future episodes, please make sure you subscribe. Also, check out and subscribe to my newsletter, Future Work/Like You'll be joining thousands of others based around the globe who are interested in my take on how we react to our fast-evolving world. Links:Future Work/LifePlay BiggerNiche DownFollow Your DifferentLochhead on MarketingMophie Wireless-Charging UV Phone Sanitizer Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.