The Business of Being Brilliant

On the pod this week I chat to Verena Hefti MBE, CEO of LeadersPlus, about how parents of young children can advance more successfully into senior leadership roles. We discuss promotable vs non-promotable tasks, micro-learning experiments and why your choice of life partner makes a difference to your pay.

If you’re a working parent or you manage working parents, then tune in to find out:

1. Why informal flexibility becomes a barrier to progression
2. How job adverts discourage working parents from applying
3. How to more easily open the doors you want to be knocking on, as a working parent
4. Why accepting imperfection is a great place to start.

Interview starts at 5m 17s.

Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

#podcast #working parents #leaders #careers

Collective wisdom on balancing today with tomorrow.

To wrap up this series you get to hear a little bit from all of my guests on the question of how we enjoy today whilst keeping an eye out for tomorrow. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Professor Robin Dunbar of Oxford University, originator of ‘Dunbar’s number’ and a leading expert in the psychology of high-performing groups. We chat about optimimum group sizes for different tasks and why investing in social time at work yields the greatest returns. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Sandra Burley, marketing and communications leader, about avoiding tunnel vision, managing information overload and why she loves the 4 day work week. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Sam Smith, former finnCAP Group CEO now entrepreneur, NED and scale-up adviser, about how to encourage entrepreneurship in children, get your team to buy into your vision and turbocharge your business with empathetic leadership. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Hal Hershfield, Professor of Marketing, Behavioural Decision Making and Psychology at UCLA's Anderson School of Management, about how mental time travel can help us to procrastinate less, make better decisions and become the person we want to be. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Dr Lucy Ryan about why so many women are exiting the world of work at midlife, those ‘midlife myths’ that don’t stack up, and how employers can hang on to this valuable talent pool better. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Kate Adams, Director at The Forward Institute, about what drives her career choices, what ‘leading responsibly’ means and how she aims to enjoy today to the full. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

Here are nuggets of wisdom from all my guests in series 5, along with questions to prompt some summer insights. Think of it as a carefully selected ‘pick and mix’ to brighten your day and inspire your work. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Professor Vijay Pereira of NEOMA Business School, France, about the astonishing impact on productivity, wellbeing, engagement and performance that results from introducing company-wide meeting-free days. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 3s my news update

5m 44s conversation with Vijay starts

I speak with Dr Ajit Menon, Head of People & Organisation at Investec plc, about looking beneath the surface of organisational life and how they’ve established a strong and unique work culture based on dialogue, empathy and trust. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 4s - my weekly news and offers

6m - conversation with Ajit starts

I talk with Joy Burnford, gender equality expert and author of ‘Don’t Fix Women’, about how organisations can dismantle the structural barriers holding women – and men -  back in their careers. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Kevin Hogarth, Non-Executive Director, former Chief People Officer and award-winning Diversity & Inclusion advocate, about how to keep our career options open and how to increase social mobility in organisations. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Deborah Gray, co-founder and Director of Totum Partners about how to successfully bring in the executive level talent you really want. Find out how our world of work is evolving, what experienced candidates and hiring employers are prioritising today, and what persuades good people to stay. Transcript and show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

Welcome back to the podcast and this week I’m thrilled to be talking with Yael Schonbrun PhD, clinical psychologist, author and Brown University assistant professor about how to thrive as a working parent. Finding the work/home juggle exhausting? Pulled in too many different directions at once? Yael explains how we can adopt some proven psychological strategies to solve these and many other challenges of working parenthood. I just wish I’d had this conversation 11 years ago! Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

What are the best ways to stay motivated at work and help others to do the same?

For this series 4 wrap-up episode, I've picked out some highlights from my conversations with all my brilliant guests over the last few weeks. Discover how our motivations at work generally have evolved since the pandemic and how to build team of people who love what they do. Find out how workplace collaborations can affect our motivation, how to overcome setbacks positively and how to weigh up 'stick or quit' decisions.

Season 5 will be back in May; see you then!

Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com.

I talk with Eileen Burbidge MBE, tech venture capitalist and CEO of Fertifa, the reproductive and hormonal wellbeing provider for employers, about what gives her the confidence to start something new, how employee wellbeing support is evolving and how to grow a new venture – or a whole industry - successfully. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Joe O’Connor, co-founder of the world's first Centre of Excellence in Work Time Reduction and former CEO of 4 Day Week Global, about the recent UK pilot and how to adopt a shorter working week in a way that feels fair and beneficial to everyone. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast. Got a question you'd like answered? Tweet it to @helenbeedham.

I talk with Jonathan Bond, Global HR & Learning Director at international law firm Pinsent Masons about how they are creating - with their clients - new and better ways of managing their work, their time and their wellbeing. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com.

To mark the halfway point in this series I’m sharing 5 interesting developments in our world of work and 5 brilliant business books that argue persuasively for cultivating patience in one form or another. So grab a cuppa or the dog lead and tune in! Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com.

I talk with Alison Jones, founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing and author of ‘Exploratory Writing’, about how putting pen to paper for just 6 minutes can help us think, communicate, innovate and collaborate better. Grab your pen and paper and tune in! Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Alastair Douglas, CEO of TotallyMoney, the fintech business that is helping people to move on up. We chat about the 5 organisational themes he focuses on to build a business where people really care about the customer. And how to have a hit single! Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

I talk with Jim Detert, Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy at the University of Virginia and the author of ‘Choosing Courage: the everyday guide to being brave at work’. We discuss his extensive research into acts of workplace courage, why superheros don’t exist and how we can be more ‘competently courageous’ in our own work lives. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

Series 4 of The Business of Being Brilliant kicks off later this month  and my brilliant guests include Deb Mashek, Dr Julie Humphreys, Natasha  Whitehurst, Alastair Douglas, Eileen Burbidge, Alison Jones and more! To  whet your appetite, here's a short clip where I put 3 questions to  social psychologist Deb Mashek about workplace collaboration and her  wisdom-packed new book 'Collabor(h)ate', launching on 23 Jan. Enjoy 🥳

What are the critical things people need in order to want to stay in their organisation?  For this final podcast episode of series 3, my guests share 8 wise answers to this question. Use them to reflect on your own career, or if you’re leading a business, these could make the difference between a retention strategy that works and one that doesn’t. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com.

I talk with Victoria Livingstone, EMEA Chief People Officer for Dentsu International, about growing a commercially-focused HR career and leading business transformations. Victoria explains why there’s no such thing as a bad career move and how to make sure your change programme doesn’t fail. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 3 weekly news

6m 30s conversation with Victoria starts

I talk with Rob Hatch, coach to business owners and author of Attention! the power of simple decisions in a distracted world. He explains how we can slow down our brains, regain control over our attention and focus more on the important work. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com.

1m 4s weekly news

6m 32s conversation with Rob starts

I talk with Geraldine Gallacher, CEO of the Executive Coaching Consultancy, about her own career, her new book Coaching Women: Changing the system not the person, and how our outdated office cultures need to catch up with today’s workplace policies. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com.

1m 3s weekly news

6m 4s conversation with Geraldine starts

To mark the half way point, instead of chatting to a guest I’m sharing six book recommendations from my 2022 reading challenge Reclaim Time To Read, comprising three business or other non-fiction books and three novels.  Show notes are at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

 4m 53s - Book 1, The Lonely Century by Noreena Hertz

 8m 29s - Book 2, The Culture Code: the secrets of highly successful groups by Daniel Coyle

 11m 42s - Book 3, Four Seconds by Peter Bregman

 18m 5s - Book 4, Machines like me, by Ian McEwan

 20m 11s - Book 5, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo

 24m 8s - Book 6, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré

I talk with Jacqueline Taiwo, private equity lawyer and Chair/CEO of Black Women in Asset Management, about taking the uncomfortable path, creating community and helping others succeed. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 4s weekly news

6m 20s conversation with Jackie starts

I talk with Jane van Zyl, CEO of the national charity Working Families, about National Work Life Week, how workplace flexibility is evolving and what forward-thinking employers are doing post-pandemic to help employees work at their best. Show notes are at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 5s weekly update

5m 56s conversation with Jane starts

I talk with Ariel White-Tsimikalis, corporate finance lawyer, ESG specialist and partner at the global law firm Goodwin Proctor. We talk about how to find your passion within a corporate role and how to use our inner dialogue to help us develop a sustainable, rewarding career. Show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 4s weekly update

5m 14s guest interview

I talk with Susan Room, former business leader and now a voice and executive coach, about her path onto the Executive Committee, her mid-career transition and how to ‘move mountains’ at work whilst managing our own boundaries. Audio, video and show notes are at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m3s weekly update

5m34s guest interview

I talk with Dr Randall S.Peterson, Professor of Or ganisational Behaviour at London Business School and founding Director of the School's Leadership Institute, about how to ‘create the magic’ at work so people want to stay and how to prevent corporate disasters from happening. Find the show notes at www.helenbeedham.com/podcast.

1m 3s – latest news

5m 45s – interview starts