Jazzed About Work

Today we talk about the life-changing power of asking meaningful questions. Our guest is Marc Champagne, a consultant who has studied the self-management practices and reflective questions shaping the lives of brilliant and successful thinkers around the world. And in his book, Personal Socrates, Marc uses profiles of fascinating people to illustrate the magic of asking yourself questions, and being honest with the answers.

Today Marc describes how journaling around questions helped him to work past what felt like a career catastrophe. And he talks about how to manage your mental fitness, and create the clarity to help you find job success and a fulfilling life. For more, see: https://cherry-dosa-0e5.notion.site/Marc-Champagne-Media-Kit-25bafb466bc34fb08ca397e4bc2b0568

In this episode we discuss how human beings are typically influenced by feelings and emotions, and why the heart – and not just the brain -- drives motivation and achievement. Our guest, Mark Crowley, spent 25 years in banking and financial services, and once led nearly 2,000 investment brokers to record-breaking performance. Before that role, Mark had no direct experience selling stocks, but his results were so strong the firm named him “leader of the year” in his first year. These days, Mark is a speaker, consultant and writer. And today he tells us about the new edition of his classic book, Lead From the Heart. He explains that leadership today involves connecting on a personal level, heart-to-heart. And he suggests that -- whether you’re leading a company or a family -- people are more likely to do well if you lead with caring and emotion. For more see: www.MarkCCrowley.com

Today’s guest, Abby Falik, is an expert on the value of pausing during our busy lives. Abby has degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Business School, and she’s widely known as an innovative thinker, a higher education futurist, and an award-winning social entrepreneur. Abby was the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Year, which creates meaningful pre-college bridge years for high school grads. She explains why taking a purposeful gap year after high school can make a huge difference in a student’s leadership skills and ultimate success. She also describes some ideas related to leadership and learning that she will explore in her new role as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Emerson Collective, created by Laurene Powell Jobs. For more, see: abbyfalik.com

A theme of this episode is how creating a human-centric culture can help an organization to thrive. Our guest is Michael Kurland, the CEO and founder of the Branded Group, an award-winning, fast-growing facility maintenance company.

He’s also the author of Broken to Better: 13 Ways Not to Fail at Life and Leadership.

Michael says he was once a broken man, struggling to recover from a divorce, and uncertain about how to find meaning in his work. So he decided to restart his life,

and focus on what really matters. He says the slogan “Be Better” guided his way as he changed his personal life and launched a successful business. For more see: http://michaelkurland.co/

This show brings good news and practical tips to anyone who believes they are not creative. Our captivating guest is Joey Cofone, an award-winning designer, visual artist, and entrepreneur. Joey talks about his interesting career path and shares insights from his helpful new book, The Laws of Creativity: Unlock Your Originality and Awaken Your Creative Genius. Joey says that creativity isn’t magic – it’s a skill that we all can develop, although it takes some practice. He says creating something may begin by committing to a process. And he shares suggestions about how you can unlock your creative thinking to reach all kinds of goals, at work and in your life. For more, see: https://www.joeycofone.com/

Innovative media company WorkingNation creates and distributes educational and inspiring stories about current and future unemployment trends in the U.S. Today’s returning guest, Joan Lynch, has long been a powerful woman in media, and now she is head of all WorkingNation content. Among other workplace developments, Joan talks about Tear the Paper Ceiling, a collaborative marketing campaign to encourage employers to stop demanding a bachelor’s degree for skilled jobs that don’t truly require four years of college. She discusses the digital divide and how it leads to inequity and disconnects in the nation’s job market. And she describes the growth of green jobs, as well as opportunities in health care and other areas. For more, see: https://workingnation.com/about-us/

This episode explores how shifts in global aging – with masses of people living to a very old age – will transform society. Our guest is Bradley Schurman, an expert on demographic change and how it disrupts social, cultural, political, and economic norms. Brad is CEO of the global research and advisory firm, The Super Age, where he assists organizations with their age-inclusion, workplace planning and other strategies. We discuss his insightful and futuristic book, The Super Age: Decoding Our Demographic Destiny. He talks about how the growing pool of healthy people aged 50+ is changing how employers recruit workers and plan for the future. He describes how demographic moves may impact our communities and the markets that serve them. And he comments on the longevity gap between rich people and poor people

After earning her PhD in linguistics at Penn, Kieran spent a decade creating impactful language products at Microsoft and Amazon. Now she is co-founder and CEO of Textio, a platform offering inclusive and equitable communications tools. And she is continuing her ground-breaking research, including an extensive study showing that bias is still widespread in managers’ performance feedback. In this episode, we discuss how workplace feedback can be unfair and discouraging, even if the intent is to say something positive. Kieran describes other areas, like recruitment and hiring, where systematic language bias is undercutting inclusion efforts. She explains how language patterns are linked to organizational cultures. And she offers tips for promoting language awareness. For more on her recent study and other free information, visit https://textio.com

Apprenticeships can help solve the tech talent crisis, says work force expert Jenn CarlsonWe’ve been hearing a lot about how technology companies are scrambling to find enough workers with the skills they need. Our guest today, Jennifer Carlson, points us to one way to address the hiring crunch. Jenn is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Apprenti, a non-profit that provides a new pathway to access tech talent, address digital skill shortages, and guide underrepresented groups into the employment pipeline. Apprenti has created a model that meets the needs of both employers and job seekers, and its program is first on the list of Federally recognized apprenticeship programs. Jenn explains how apprenticeships differ from internships because the employer offers robust training and a serious intent to hire. She describes how apprenticeships can meet companies’ needs. And she explains why a tech apprenticeship might be an attractive career route for you, even if you don’t have a college degree. Check out Apprenti here: https://apprenticareers.org/hire/

Retirement isn’t what it used to be. These days many people step away from their full-time careers to start building new portfolios of rewarding jobs and projects. Our guest, Rich Eisenberg, knows all about late life careers. For more than a decade he was managing editor, and also work and money editor, at Next Avenue, the PBS site for people 50+. Early this year he left that job and launched an “unretirement” phase that includes podcasting, freelance writing and teaching digital media. Today he describes important ways you can start early to lay groundwork for your later career phase, like networking, staying up to date with technology, financial planning and taking good care of yourself.

For more about Rich, check out his podcast https://friendstalkmoney.org

and watch for his writing on https://www.marketwatch.com

and https://www.nextavenue.org