The Agile Career Podcast

In this episode, Martin Wachters joins me. We talk about how a hobby can turn into a full-time career. We also cover the importance of other skills and interests that can make this a reality.

Martin is the founder of Muziekles Amsterdam, a Netherlands-based music school. He also has several published online courses and resources to help beginners and more experienced students learn and improve the guitar and piano.
 

Key Takeaways

• If you are not in your ideal career, don't think that the experience or skills you learn are wasted
• You may not always land in your dream career, but often something closely related that you might not have initially considered
• It takes courage to quit the comfortable and move into the unknown
• Bringing together areas of interest such as (in Martin's case) music, teaching, entrepreneurship, and technology can create a niche
• Don't cater to everyone; pick a niche
• Start small by not committing to something big before you have tested the idea
• Be willing to think again, as you won't always be right
• Once you create your core offering or service, you can grow an ecosystem of businesses or services around this

Resources
Martin recommended the following books:

In this episode, Sonja Price joins me. We talk about making your career work for you. This means thinking about the guidance and finesse you will need, and what the decision criteria are for choosing what you do in your career. Very importantly, we talk about getting paid what you are worth.

Sonja is a career strategist and founder of Dynamo Careers. She is passionate about empowering professionals to accelerate their career success, to become financially free, and to make a positive impact around the world.

Key Takeaways

• Does your work, work for you? Are you getting the most out of your current role?
• Taking on a role at a small organisation can provide big opportunities for learning and growth
• Don't be afraid to re-invent your career. Multiple times if you have to
• A side hustle is a great way to soft start your new or changed career
• Pay attention to where you are at the moment, what skills you already have, and which you need to learn
• Create opportunities and even craft your ideal role
• Instead of a stretch goal, set yourself a stretch role
• Don't underestimate the value of building relationships and developing your social capital
• Having valuable skills (and knowing what these are) makes a big difference
• Use a combination of clarity and research to determine what you want from your career
• To get there, understand whether incremental adjustments or big jumps would work best
• Don't hesitate to seek help if you are stuck

Resources 

We discussed the following resources on the show:

In this episode, Bruna de Palo joins me. We talk about changing your nine to five to your nine to alive. We cover mapping your career, finding your ideal role, considering a career in the non-profit sector, and the importance of neuroscience when it comes to your career.

Bruna is a certified leadership, executive & career coach, keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and founder of Think and Act Differently.

Key Takeaways

• Don't use your passion as a compass. Create a map to help navigate your career
• A good career is one where you can express yourself and be who you are
• Know the difference between talents and skills
• Speak to people who have similar characteristics to you. Find out what career role they are in
• 'Learn to turn poison into medicine', i.e. make the most from a bad situation
• Regulating stress and handling your emotions is important
• Use a feedback loop to identify your limiting beliefs
• Differentiate your transferable skills from the obvious
• Know yourself, know others 

Resources 

We discussed the following resources on the show:

In this episode, Jim Barnish joins me and we talk about an alternative to climbing the career ladder. We also talk about how careers no longer follow straight lines; Jim shares how his career didn't follow a traditional straight line either. 

Jim has spent the last two decades growing tech companies as an entrepreneur, operator and consultant. Jim now runs Orchid Black, a growth services firm complete with growth experts, just like Jim, that share an incredible track record for making technology companies worth so much more.

Key Takeaways

• When considering job opportunities, don't only dwell on the functional aspects of the job but look closely at the company culture
• Sometimes your dream job isn't your ideal job
• Don't underestimate the value of having a coach
• When looking for your ideal role, look beyond the career and personality tests
• Ikigai is a fantastic tool to help find your purpose and ideal role
• Success is not built on success. It's built on failure. It's built on frustration. Sometimes it's built on catastrophe
• It is okay to make mistakes, as long as you are learning from them
• Perseverance and working hard are the basic skills that everyone should develop
• Wherever you are on your career or entrepreneurial journey, there is always help available
• Even if you are not a project manager, having those skills is important
• Key transferable skills are communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving
• Being a team player means that you don't always get the wins yourself, but you help others to achieve those wins
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Resources 

We discussed the following resources on the show:

I've been coaching youth rugby for eight years now. In that time there have been (and still are) so many lessons that I have learnt. The interesting thing is, these lessons can be directly applied to leadership. In this episode, I dive into more detail on these lessons.

The lessons are:

• Sometimes you need to work with what you’re given
• Even top performers have bad days
• Peer pressure counts for more than you think
• Everybody has baggage
• Commitment varies – not everyone is there because they want to be
• Team members need to be engaged
• It’s not always about talent
• A team requires balance
• Some like to lead, others are happy to follow
• You can’t win without an aligned team

In this episode, Fiona Hathorn joins me and we talk about the importance of boards in organisations, and how becoming a board member could enhance your career. Fiona shares the benefits of serving on a board, whether it is a commercial or community-based organisation, and how you might get started.

Fiona is CEO of Women on Boards UK and has several board positions. Fiona launched Women on Boards in 2012 to support women, and men, make the right connections and career choices to get to board level within their own company or to take on a non-executive board role. Since its launch, Women on Boards has supported over 1800 women and a number of men get onto boards.

Key Takeaways

• Serving on a board is a great way to further or enhance your career
• Many skills you have developed are transferable and will help you fulfil the duties of a board member
• Serving on a board is ultimately about conformance and performance. Which is your strong skillset?
• Serving on a board can help you build your future and grow several additional skills
• Boards want to understand what value you can add. Know who you are and what you do
• Networking outside of your 'box' is a large part of success
• There are no certification requirements to serve on a board, and there are many resources available to help you
• Serving as a board member is not limited to commercial organisations. Your local charities and community organisations need help and guidance too

Resources 

Fiona recommends the following resources to learn more:

In this episode, Joe Delagrave joins me; we talk about his love for sport and how he was set to make that his career. Unfortunately, a significant, life-altering event changed everything. Joe shares his journey of how he moved on from, probably, the lowest point of his life to representing the United States internationally, at a competitive level.

Key Takeaways

• Step into what it is you want to do. Live for your purpose and stop trying to please others. It doesn't matter what other people think
• Stop playing the blame game. It might be easy, but it won't take you very far
• Let go of thinking you can do everything by yourself
• Don't see the obstacle, see the opportunity
• It is important to have people around you that can lift you up and also bring you down when needed
• Find a mentor and your tribe
• If you can't see the impact you are making, don't quit. Set smaller goals to help you achieve your bigger goals
• Make your goals public, for accountability
• Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you are right
• You'll never find success if you stay in your comfort zone
• If you are feeling stuck, just move forward one step at a time

Recommended Reading

In this episode, Tom Rees joins me, and we talk about significant career shifts. Tom is a medical doctor with the NHS and before that was a professional rugby player, playing for both London Wasps and England. Tom shares how he got started with the sport and ended up as a professional rugby player and goes on to talk about how an injury ended his sports career, how he dealt with it, and how he moved on to a new career.

Key Takeaways

• Luck sometimes plays a part in success but working hard, brings that luck
• Success is not an overnight thing. Small achievements, wins, and skills snowball and bring more success
• Having someone not making you do anything, but encouraging you to try everything is important. This could be a parent, a coach, or a mentor 
• Take ownership of what is going on with your job or career
• It is the hard work away from the pitch that leads to success
• Expose yourself to those who are more skilled or experienced and learn from them
• Get comfortable making mistakes and pushing beyond where you think your limits are
• Take in advice from other people and use the bits that work for you
• You don't need to make a massive impact on the world, just improve a little bit of the world around you
• Don't define yourself by your job
• Lean on friends, family and colleagues during tough times
• Understand that things that have made you successful to this point and then apply to other areas
• Listen to the episode for more gems of wisdom!

Recommended Reading

Tom recommended the following books:

In this episode, Eldon Davis joins me where we talk about recruitment and job seeking. Rather than approaching this from a job seekers perspective, we switch contexts and talk about this from a recruiters perspective. Eldon spent 18 years in talent acquisition roles. He talks about how he brought together several interests to shape his career. Eldon also shares some tips for job seekers and career changers and talks about how he is now in a career transition, mentoring and coaching others.

Key Takeaways

• Be prepared and planned for chance meetings and networking opportunities
• Don't underestimate the power of networking
• Seek first to understand and then be understood
• It is important to understand and demonstrate the difference between features and benefits
• Always keep your skills current
• Identify your limiting beliefs as the first step to overcome them
• Share your knowledge with others
• When looking for new roles, do your research and homework about these roles
• Network and connect with others in similar roles that you are looking for
• Be resilient because you will get turned down at some stage
• Plan and organise your day
• Practise gratitude and positive affirmations

Resources

Eldon referenced the following resources:

In this episode, Felix Wong joins me, and we talk about education, building communities, and passion projects. Felix is APAC Head of Growth at AngelHub, bringing investors and entrepreneurs together. He has an entrepreneurial background which is well suited for his role as well as several side-hustles or passion projects that he is working on. He is very active in the No Code community and sees these tools and platforms as excellent resources to help entrepreneurs realise their goals. In the show, Felix shares how he builds skills, both for himself and others. He also talks about how important it has been for him to allow more people to experience entrepreneurship.

Key Takeaways

• Finding your tribe or building your tribe is very important in helping you on your learning journey
• There are many learning resources available, and when it comes to technology, Codeacademy and YouTube are great places to start
• Community building is important because it allows you to build your profile whilst contributing
• Storytelling is an excellent transferable skill to work on
• Giving people access to knowledge is important. The beauty of education should not be underestimated
• Keeping a career "scoresheet" and reviewing this every quarter is a powerful way of managing your career goals and progression. Set yourself goals on working in different roles, verticals, and organisation size/maturities
• In addition to your main role, always be looking for problems and how these could be solved, as a side hustle
• Use no code tools to quickly translate your ideas to reality and then test them
• No matter how senior you are, you need to always be learning
• Create a routine that will enable your learning goals. 
• Compound your learning experience by making notes of your learnings and the sources of information you've used. Connect with the authors and build your network

Resources Mentioned

Felix mentioned the following resources:

Today is World Mental Health Day, and in this episode, I focus on mental health and wellbeing. The world is going through an extremely turbulent time and it is taking its toll on people lives, relationships, and careers. In the episode, I reflect on Episode 3 and the insight that David Beeney shared. In summary, be kinder to others and to yourself. I also share some tips and thoughts to help in these times.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on the present. You cannot control the future
• Talk to people you trust
• Don’t rely on social media or speculation for your news or facts
• Reach out to friends on Skype, Zoom, telephone, and social media. Keep connecting with others
• If you are stuck at home – plan your day and have a routine, as if things were normal
• Keep exercising, even if it is only for a walk
• Relax and take time to reflect. Especially on the good things and things you can be grateful for
• Make sure you get enough, good quality sleep
• Talk to your kids. Remember this is just a blip for many adults, for many kids this is a defining moment.
• Remember, this affects everyone – you are not alone
• Practise kindness and consideration to others 

Resources Mentioned
I spoke about the following resources in the episode:

In this episode, I talk about the three things that you can do to get promoted or to progress your career. Obviously, there are many things that you can do, and I have taken my experience and the experiences of many others and distilled these down to three key themes. What are they? Let's take a look.

1. Solution Orientation 
2. Responsibility
3. Putting your hand up

Easy, right? Take a listen to the episode and hear more!

In this episode, I am joined by Anita Toth who traded her career as a university researcher for a career of self-employment. After completing both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, Anita took on a job at the university. After 16 years, the role was made redundant and Anita needed an alternative. In this show, Anita shares how she applied for over 20 jobs before starting on her own. She shares how she used the skills - especially those she had developed by running several side hustles - to start her new career, the challenges she faced, and ultimately, how she found her niche.  

Key Takeaways

• Never underestimate the power of having a mentor and building a long-term relationship with that mentor
• Good written and verbal communication skills are invaluable and will serve you well in whichever direction your career takes you
• Project management skills are a fantastic value-add to your transferable skills. Even if you are not a project manager
• When make making career choices and decisions, be clear on what you are looking for. Understand what makes you happy
• Side hustles are an excellent, low-risk way of building new skills and knowledge as well as testing business and career ideas
• Spending time with people and developing relationships is extremely important - find your community!
• Focus on growing your network, not by asking what people can do for you, but what you can do for them
• Identifying and understanding your core values will help guide you and help you make tough decisions
• Find your niche - something that you are good at, something you enjoy, and something that others will pay you for
• Use a coach to help you develop skills that you may be struggling with

Resources Mentioned
Anita spoke about several resources:

In this episode, I am going to provide a little "behind the scenes" view of the podcast. Quite a few listeners have been asking what it took to get the show running and what it takes every week to get each episode produced. I thought I would share some key points in this short episode. By no means is this a complete guide but hopefully, it will give you an idea of what is involved. 

Key Takeaways

• You'll need to choose a podcast platform to host your podcast on. This platform then distributes your podcast to all the popular listening platforms. I considered Soundcloud, Buzzsprout, and Audioboom, choosing Buzzsprout
• You'll need a decent microphone. I chose the Marantz Pod Pack 1 that included the condenser microphone, the cable, and boom arm
• You'll need some software to produce the podcast. I use GarageBand on Mac OS. Audacity is also an option for both Mac and Windows computers
• There are some optional extras that I use like Canva for producing promotional artwork and Buffer for scheduling social media posts

Resources Mentioned
These are the resources I spoke about in the episode:

In this episode, I am joined by Hanlie Smuts who is an associate professor at the University of Pretoria. Like many professionals, Hanlie completed her undergraduate degree before entering the corporate environment as a software developer. For many of us, this would have been the end of our academic career but Hanlie went on to complete both her Master's degree and her PhD whilst working fulltime jobs as a senior executive. Hanlie shares her story about how she didn't choose between the academic and corporate worlds, but instead, wove the two closely together. She shares how she applied learnings and skills gained in academia to her corporate career and vice-versa.

Key Takeaways

• Don't underestimate the importance of learning and never stop learning
• Even if your career is very technically focused, don't neglect engaging with people and building relationships and people skills
• Always consider the human factor when completing projects, building products, or just completing business as usual activities
• Try and immerse yourself into your surrounding working environment so that you can truly understand how the business you are in, works
• Always be professional and deliver quality work
• Delegation is an important transferable skill to develop. Start by trusting your team
• Always be open to opportunities
• Given the opportunity, try and understand all aspects and functional areas of the business that you work in
• Always build your network
• A skills bubble chart is a great tool to identify the skills you need to be successful in a role, highlight any gaps, and track your progress in developing those skills
• The ability to analyse data is an important transferable skill
• Building resilience will help see you through tough times
• Build your personal brand to ensure that your name is always top of mind when opportunities are being considered
• Frameworks are a great tool to help you get things done
• Don't forget about your family and other support structures. These are what allow and support you in achieving great things
• You can work smart by finding your work cadence. Understand what works for you, segment your time, and stick to the rules you set yourself

Connecting With Hanlie
Listeners can find out more about Hanlie and connect with her by visiting her:

In this episode, I am joined by Mark Colgan. After completing his business studies at university, Mark aspired to a job in the marketing industry but finding no suitable roles, he began working as a recruiter. Mark talks about the transferable skills that he developed and how working as a recruiter allowed him to spot a new role that was emerging, that of a digital marketer. He shares how he then changed direction in his career and moved into the digital marketing space. Mark also talks about a moment of realisation whilst travelling South America that led him to develop his career and bring him to a point where he has simultaneous roles helping both organisations and individuals. 

Key Takeaways

• When at school and university, in many instances we are learning for job or roles that don't yet exist
• Wanting to take on more responsibility is a good way to help grow your career
• There is immense value in having a part-time job whilst studying
• Knowing the theory of how to do something is important and equally important is having the confidence that you can do it
• Doing work for friends and family is a great way to practise your skills and build a portfolio
• Create a vision for potential employers by asking the question "Imagine what I could do for you?"
• Combining your strengths and skills to find your niche is a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors
• Work hard to spot in-demand skills. Research what similar type roles might be like in ten years
• Keep developing your skills and be comfortable with the unknown
• When presented with opportunities, instead of asking why, ask why not?
• Always be connecting and give freely
• Build an ecosystem of value and find an audience or industry that you can serve
• Speak to people, actively listen, and connect people

Resources Mentioned
We spoke about the following resources:

In this episode, I am joined by Helen Peatfield who gave up her secure job in London and moved to Thailand. Not only was it a change in location, but also a change in career. Helen shares her story and we talk about her early working years, her big move to Thailand, and how she found her niche and shaped up her new career. She shares plenty of insights about a career in copywriting and generally, changing careers.

Key Takeaways

• When considering higher education, follow something that you are passionate about. Ideally, this will lead to greater career satisfaction and fulfilment  
• Have a curious mind and don't stop learning. Keep developing by reading, completing courses, and networking
• Start listening to your customer/colleagues, show empathy, and ask "How can I help this person succeed?"
• When making changes in your life and career, think about pull versus push motivation. Sometimes with a push motivation, it is easy to keep looking back, rather than forward
• In your career, look ahead at those on the rungs above you and ask yourself the question, "Is this a role I aspire to?". This can help you determine what the right career path is
• If you are selling your services, don't believe your value is only the prices you see offered
• Find your tribe!
• In any career, don't be scared to look at the numbers. Research and analyse data to help you make decisions
• Don't be afraid of hard work
• Don't get stuck only reading the books. Get out there and practise your skills
• Stalk your ideal customer/employer (not in a creepy way) to learn more about them
• Reach out to your network for help and advice

Resources Mentioned
Helen shared the following great resources:

In this episode, I talk about the steps to take to build a skills inventory. I'll cover some of the resources that we spoke about in Episode 17 as well as the specific approach for creating your skills inventory. We'll also talk about why having a skills inventory is important and how you can use it to support your career and learning journeys.

Key Takeaways

• Broadly, skills can be grouped as transferable skills (what you can do), special knowledge (what you know), and self-management skills (how you conduct yourself) 
• Transferable skills are the most important and these are skills like constructing, creating, researching, analysing, teaching, organising, repairing, initiating, networking, communicating, planning
• Special knowledge is skills like physics, graphic design, bookkeeping, mathematics, data analysis, French, and psychology
• Self-management skills are skills like being adaptable, self-confident, dependable, supportive, loyal, persistent, innovative, and resourceful
• The more transferable skills you have, the more choice you will have when it comes to jobs and careers
• Transferable skills can be further broken down into people skills, information or data skills, and skills working with things
• Identify and describe seven stories that are significant to you. These can cover both your career and personal life. Typical things might be something that stood out in your life, publicly displaying your skills, a really good outcome, something that gave you pride or was a particular challenge, something that your colleagues or peers could not do, something that you would like to do or experience again, something that excited you
•  Matching skills to these stories will provide you with a skills inventory, highlighting your strongest skills and also any gaps
• Use this inventory to compare against still that are in demand

Resources Mentioned
I used the following resources in this episode:

In this episode, I am joined by Jamie Mackay. Jamie is an employment professional and works with organisations and learning institutes to help them offer relevant learning opportunities to individuals. His work is very focussed on the skills that people need to find suitable employment and build their careers. Jamie shares not only his career story on the show but also some tips, ideas, guidance, and resources that people can use to continue their learning journey. 

Key Takeaways

• While you are ultimately responsible for your career, don't underestimate the value of your parents, career or guidance counsellors, and mentors
• Certain people find jobs because of their social capital (it's not what you know, it's who you know) and you can build your social capital using tools like networking
• When thinking about building transferable skills for the future (ca. 2030), think about skills that are difficult for artificial intelligence to replace like creativity, critical thinking, adaptability, communications, reliability, and even project management
• Storytelling is a fantastic communication and learning tool because people can relate to stories
• Having a part-time job at school and whilst studying is vitally important as it helps build transferable skills and prepares you for the workplace
• In addition to the usual books and online courses that are used for learning, think about other approaches like attending conference and networking
• When considering further education in the arts and humanities fields, think about the skills that employers may be looking for and how these might be learnt in your chosen field of study
• Having a growth mindset is vital to your continued learning and development
• Be responsive to opportunities and enjoy making the choices you need to make

Resources Mentioned
Jamie shared many resources during the interview:

In this episode, I talk about coaching by briefly explaining what coaching is, answering some common questions about coaching and finally, tackling some coaching misconceptions.

Key Takeaways

• Coaching is different from mentoring and consulting
• To find a good coach you should start by understanding your needs, use your network, and evaluate potential coaches on their ability to help you achieve the outcome you are looking for
• Coaching does work - it needs a good coach and a coachable person
• If you are serious about achieving your goals and putting in the hard work, then coaching could be good for you
• Coaching brings new perspective, helps you set your direction, holds you accountable, improves your self-awareness, and helps you adapt to and drive change
• Coaching is not the same as therapy or counselling
• Coaching does not take a lot of time
• Coaching is not only for people with problems
• Coaching is collaborative and not "done to you"
• Coaches don't need to have a similar background to you
• A coach doesn't need to be a sports star to coach as a sports star
• Coaching is not a luxury 

Resources Mentioned

In this episode, I am joined by Tim van Aarde. Like many of us, Tim started his career in a corporate environment, working for one of the big accounting and auditing firms. He soon found himself thinking that this was not the career for him, as it lacked purpose and he wanted something deeper and more fulfilling from a career.

He set out on a journey, back to university, studying humanities before shifting his focus to theology. 

After university, Tim took up a position at a local church and a chance meeting led him on the next step of his journey, which was a move to Burundi in East Africa. Tim shares his wonderful experiences and learnings and how he found purpose in what he was doing.

Key Takeaways

• Don't get stuck in an environment where you are not exposed to new ideas
• It is never too late to study or learn something new
• In looking for your purpose or deeper meaning in what it is you do, there needs to be conviction. This will help you identify your purpose
• Always be open to new journeys (or the next step) and opportunities
• Be flexible and embrace change
• Expose yourself to different cultures and languages. Learn them!
• Building resilience is key in helping you overcome challenges and struggles
• Being able to relate to other people and building empathy is important
• Having a guide or a mentor will make your journey, learning, and growth much easier
• Building your cross-cultural communications skills will serve you (and others) very well
• We don't always see the potential in ourselves. Others do, and we always have something to give that others will need

Resources Mentioned
Tim shared the following in the interview:

In this episode, I interview Steve Stewart-Keene. Steve shares his story with us, that begins with a life-changing motorcycle accident and how he had to consider the career options available to him. He talks about some of his earlier jobs before taking on a role with The Prince's Trust, helping vulnerable young people get their lives back on track. Steve then shares how he took a great leap and left the United Kingdom to start and run a resort in the South African bush. He shares some of the challenges that he needed to overcome to make this a reality.

Having made a success of the resort and running it for nine years, Steve talks about his return to the UK and how, after several jobs, found a massively fulfilling role, co-caring for a disabled young man.   

Key Takeaways

• Knowing your product (or service) and believing in it, is key to you making a success of your role
• You can come up with a lot of reasons not to do something. If you have an idea and you believe in it, do the research, look at alternatives, think about worst-case scenarios, and then plan
• In addition to having a plan, always have a plan B
• Have patience and look at things holistically - understand the big picture
• You need to develop the ability to sell what you are doing
• Be flexible and adaptable and be willing to change things that are not working
• Take feedback from others, sometimes it is not only your plan
• Understand that the world is a bigger place and expose yourself to diverse cultures and experiences
• Enjoy what you do, many people don't
• Obstacles are there to be overcome

In this episode, I interview Matt Roadnight, an Agile and Scum coach. Having developed an interest in IT, Matt completed a BSc. degree and went on to begin his career in a corporate environment. After a stint of travelling, he then went on to join a niche IT services company. It was here that he was given that latitude to work in a way and develop himself that he enjoyed. Acquisition of the IT services company by a large corporate got him reevaluating his position and coupled with an opportunity to provide some Agile coaching independently, Matt left to establish his own business. 

Matt now owns and runs SprintAgile and is a founding partner of BeLiminal LLC. Both organisations focus on developing individuals and teams.

Matt shares his journey and the values that he developed that shaped his career and choices. He also talks about the enablers of learning and shares some great resources.

Key Takeaways

In this episode, Peter Robinson joins me. Peter has more than 20 years of experience in the corporate world with recent roles as the Head of IT at Specsavers and the Head of Retail Applications at Dixons Carphone. Peter shares his experiences of entering the corporate world and how he grew alongside a growing organisation, before moving to an even larger organisation. He shares the challenges of delivering change in large organisations and how this ultimately led him to the realisation that working in a large organisation wasn't what he wanted to do.

Peter talks about deciding to join another corporate or go his own way. He shares his experiences of starting on his own and the says the advice that he gives to his 18-year-old daughter, starting her career, is the same advice he would have given to himself at that age. 

Key Takeaways

In this episode, Crystal Metcalfe joins me. Crystal is the UK VP at RGP, a consulting firm that helps customers implement their business strategy. Crystal shares her career journey and talks about how she used a growth mindset that helped her develop the skills she needed when making career transitions. She also talks about moving countries and how she dealt with that.

Key Takeaways

In this episode, I cover the importance of focus and some of the tools that we can use to create and maintain focus. I first talk about focus in the broader context and how we can approach goal setting and track our progress. Next, I speak about focus at a more granular level and share some tips and tricks on how we can maintain focus and avoid distractions.

Key Takeaways

• Think about setting our goals in the same way that organisations set their strategy by using vision and mission statements
• Long-term planning is important but don't get blinded by your longer-term goals as circumstances change around you 
• Write down your objectives!
• Be specific about your objectives
• Focus on the essentials
• Use objectives and key results (OKRs) to plan and track your goals
• Avoid procrastination by just making a start and eating the frog
• Break your tasks down into smaller chunks
• When tempted by distractions, think if this distraction will help you achieve your end-goal
• Multitasking comes at a 20-40% overhead
• Think about the 80/20 rule when deciding which tasks to tackle
• Be aware of attention fatigue
• Unsubscribe from email lists!
• Learn to say no
• Use the Eisenhower matrix to triage and prioritise tasks
• Reframe negative thoughts to help you get back on track
• Be present

Resources Mentioned

In this episode, Doug McGeachie joins me. He is Sales Director at Snowflake, a cloud-based data platform company. Doug has built his successful sales career for close on 20 years and in the show, he shares the skills, mindset, and motivation that helped him do this. He talks about the traits that good salespeople need and the approaches that he has used to build new skills and grow existing ones. Doug also talks about the transferable skills that help him coach children's rugby.

Key Takeaways

In this episode, Foti Panagiotakopoulos joins me. He is the VP for Growth at euroVPS and also the founder of GrowthMentor. In the show, Foti talks about how he started his career as the only non-technical hire at a very technical company. He shares how he used this opportunity to create and shape the role that it is now.

He also shares the challenges he experienced and how he tackled these in a very surprising way. Take a listen and find out how!

Key Takeaways

• It's okay to make mistakes, as long as you are learning from them, and not making the same mistakes again.
• Learn from everything you do
• Don't underestimate the importance of building relationships and networking 
• Take pride in doing the hands-on "dirty work". This teaches you the importance of doing things in the right way
• Be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses. Once you know what your strengths are, double-down in them
• Break down your goals into achievable pieces that you can complete and tick off your list
• Create more than you consume
• Learning on-the-fly is a great way to pick up and build the skills and knowledge that you need
• Bootstrapping is a great way to get things started
• Don't spread yourself too thinly

In this episode, Llewelyn Fernandes joins me to talk about making career shifts and how you can equip yourself with the skills and the knowledge that you will need. He shares his journey and how he used an approach of "just-in-time" learning to develop the new skills that he needed.

Llewelyn talks about how he created a niche for himself by bringing together his skills and interests in computing and creativity and becoming a freelance educator. He also shares the importance of having a shed. Listen in for more!

Key Takeaways

• Bringing together multiple skills and interests can be an effective way of creating a career niche
• Although learning new skills can be painful, the journey can be very rewarding
• Taking a "just-in-time" learning approach is an extremely effective way of learning the right skills at the right time. It avoids a heavy upfront investment in learning things that might not be relevant
• Trying diverse things like painting, woodworking, pottery, and blacksmithing is a fantastic way of learning to learn
• Nothing worth doing is easy!
• Whether you are five or 65 years old, you are always able to learn
• Listen and learn from others but make your own mind up
• Get a shed!

Books Mentioned
Llewelyn recommends reading

In this episode, Jessica Pybus joins me to talk about the importance of understanding yourself. Jessica shares how she used this skill to make choices when choosing a career direction, when making tough career decisions, and when growing her career. She talks about how knowing your strengths and weaknesses and how this allows you to focus on what you need to.

Jessica also shares how understanding herself has enabled her to understand others, and why this is an important skill to master in the modern workplace.

Key Takeaways

• Knowing what you don't want to do can be as important as knowing what you do want to do
• Know and understand your strengths. Once you have done this, you can apply those strengths more effectively
• You don't have to push yourself to know 100% of everything
• But you do need to sufficiently understand important things enough so that you can easily explain them to others
• Curiosity is an important transferable skill because it helps you improve things around you and helps understand others in a better way
• Bringing people together is an invaluable transferable skill and will serve you well in any situation
• Always ask questions. Don't be afraid to speak out and don't be afraid to contribute your ideas

In this episode, actor, Alastair Thomson-Mills joins me. He talks about the tough and, often, not so glamorous journey to becoming a professional actor. Alastair shares the steps he took and the hard work involved in ultimately making his dream come true. He talks about the skills that he has learnt as an actor and how these serve him in other aspects of his life and career. Without giving too much away, Alastair talks about some truly heartwarming experiences. 

Key Takeaways

• The importance of finding a mentor that can help you reach the goals you have set out for yourself
• The importance of loving what you do and doing what you love
• How building rapport can help you. Maybe not immediately, but definitely in the longer-term
• Using humour and honesty to build relationships
• The importance of self-awareness
• How we should all display empathy towards others
• How to keep going when it doesn't seem like you'll reach your goals

Interesting Things That Alastair Shared

In this episode of The Agile Career Podcast, I speak to Romey Jacketts, who after a career of 26 years with British Airways started her own business. In the show, Romey talks about the wealth of available opportunities, making the most of these opportunities, and using them throughout her career and life. Romey also shares some of the setbacks that she faced and how she dealt with these.

Key Takeaways

• Make the most of the opportunities given to you, even if these are not prescribed or compulsory
• Don't expect someone else to do, what you wouldn't do yourself
• Think about what is stopping you from achieving your goals
• Once you have achieved your goals, set some more
• Identify the skills you are missing and find a way to learn these
• Be able to admit that we don't know all the answers, but can work together to find them
• There are skills that you already have, that you don't even realise
• "Everybody has a choice. You can choose to do something, or you can choose not to do something"

Books Mentioned
Romey recommends reading:

In this episode of The Agile Career Podcast I interview David Beeney, founder of Breaking The Silence. In the interview David talks about his journey from a commercial role in the publishing industry to his role as a counsellor and champion for good mental health. He describes the challenges he faced, particulary his mental health, and how this lead him to find his purpose and establish himself as a counsellor.

David shares how his coping mechanisms set the foundation for the transferable skills he built and he also shares some insight into how we can improve our mindset.

Key Takeaways

• Be yourself
• Be kinder to yourself and to others
• Transition is not as difficult as you think
• You might already have many of the transferables skills you need, to drive a simple mindset shift

In episode two, I talk about a number of tips for taking stock of your current situation. This is important because understanding where you are, is your first step in determing where you want to end up. These tips and approaches will help you 

1. Recognise what you know and what you don't know
2. Get clear about what you want to achieve
3. Know yourself

Ultimately, this will help you identify a sort of baseline to get started and to continuously measure progress against.

Welcome to The Agile Career Podcast. In this episode, I talk about the thinking behind the podcast and why it is important that we take control of our careers and the skills that we need to develop in order to become employable for life, rather than employed for life.