Squiggly Careers
by The Squiggly Career
Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Amazing If (https://www.amazingif.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints, and tips that you can put into practice straight away. Every so often they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better. Past guests include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of The Joy of Work Bruce Daisley, and neuroscience expert Amy Brann. The Squiggly Careers podcast has been recommended by Harvard Business Review, Stylist, Marie Claire and Management Today. For more ideas, tools and inspiration every week, you can also sign up to their newsletter <a href="https://
Episodes
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#608 How to respond to feedback you don't agree with
How do you respond to feedback you don’t agree with? It can be hard to know what to say in the moment. You might feel you need to defend yourself or rush to work out what to do differently. In this Squiggly Careers Shortcut, Helen shares the ‘multiplier effect’ from our book, Learn Like a…
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#607: Accountability: How to Take Ownership at Work
What does it mean to take accountability at work, and how can you get better at it? In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore how taking ownership of your actions, decisions and outcomes builds trust and creates more freedom in your career. They assess their own accountability across six everyday...
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#606 How to find more focus
How often do notifications interrupt your working day? In this Squiggly Careers Shortcut, Sarah shares five practical ways to reduce notifications and find more focus. Learn how switching between tasks steals our attention, and how small changes can help us spend more time doing just one thing at...
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#605 Career magnetism: how to attract what you want at work
What if you could pull the right career opportunities toward you while pushing away the work that drains you? In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore how the physics of magnets can help you shape a more intentional squiggly career. Through three questions, they share practical ways to make new...
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#604 5 ways to have a more confident day at work
Building self-belief into your working day can help you feel more confident. In this Shortcut, Sarah shares five ways to have a more confident day at work, practical ideas to try if something feels missing, and two watch-outs that can get in your way. 🎯 What You'll Learn - Spot and use your...
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#603 Ask the Expert: Vibe and Building Better Connections with Adam Grant
What helps us connect with the people we work with, and what happens when that connection is missing? In this episode, Sarah is joined by organisational psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant to explore his new book, Vibe, and what the science of connection can teach us about our Squiggly...
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#602 High performance habits for your Squiggly career
What’s one small thing you could do today that your future self would thank you for? In this squiggly shortcut, Helen shares four high performance habits that compound over time to build a resilient and successful career. Drawing on the time-tracking insights of Laura Vanderkam, Adam Grant's...
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#601 How to use profilers for your career development
Profilers can help you understand yourself, find words for your strengths and choose where to focus your development. But your results are clues to explore, rather than labels that limit you. In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from three profilers: Lynda Gratton’s Living the...
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#600 Everyday actions for everyday resilience
When your week gets busy, do you find yourself dropping the things that help you feel good? It can be easy to put rest, support and time outside work on hold just when you need them most. In this Squiggly Career Shortcut, Helen shares six small actions you can build into your week to support your...
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#599 Friction: Why making things harder can make you better
Is something at work feeling harder than it needs to be? It could be a meeting that takes too long, a decision that goes back and forth, or a process with more steps than it needs. This week, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from The Friction Project by Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao. They explore...
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#598 How to understand and take action with your ambition
In this shortcut, Helen, talks about a matrix that can help you to understand where your ambition is right now and what is the most effective action to take to support your development. 🎯 What You'll Learn - that ambition is individual - where your ambition in today - what action to take to...
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#597 How thinking inside the box will lead to more opportunities for your squiggly career.
Could putting more constraints on your career actually create more possibilities? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from David Epstein's book (Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better) to explore how choosing your own constraints can help you think differently and more...
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#596 3 ways teams can learn when they are not together
The people you work with make a significant difference to your development. In this shortcut, Sarah shares 3 ways to learn more from the people around you. 🎯 What You'll Learn - the importance of showing how you work - why volunteering to support somone outside of your day job helps you grow…
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#595 How to Answer AI Questions in Job Interviews
Getting ready for a job interview can feel daunting, but what happens when you have to face an AI interviewer or answer tough questions about how you use artificial intelligence? In this episode, Helen puts Sarah on the spot with real AI interview questions shared by the Squiggly Careers…
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#594 How to increase your autonomy
Increasing your autonomy has a proven impact of work wellbeing and fulfilment and in this shortcut, Helen talks through 3 practical actions to help you to earn more autonomy at work. 🎯 What You'll Learn - how to build trust - why working autonomously doesn't mean going it alone - the importance…
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#593 No Regret Skills: How to Get Better at Adaptability
When things change at work, how good are you at changing how you think or act in response? In the second part of our No Regret Skills mini-series, Helen and Sarah turn their attention to adaptability. Sarah breaks this skill down into eight different dimensions and puts Helen through a real-life...
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#592 How to look for leaders you can learn from
The leaders you surround yourself with make a significant difference to your squiggly career. In this shortcut Sarah shares 3 ways to look for leaders to learn from and what you don't need to worry about. 🎯 What You'll Learn - how to look for leaders who get stuff done - why spotting leaders who...
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#591 No Regret Skills: How to Make Better Decisions
With so many skills competing for our attention, how do you decide which ones are worth investing in? In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore the idea of 'no regret skills' – skills that will stay useful whatever the future of work looks like. In the first of this two-part series, Helen borrows...
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#590 How to increase your impact in every meeting
We spend a lot of our working week in meetings, but how much impact are you having when you're in them? In this Shortcut, Helen shares three simple ways to increase your impact in every meeting: asking a question, making a suggestion and offering a reflection. Whether you tend to stay quiet or…
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#589 How to use the next 88 days at work wisely
With 88 working days left until the end of the year, how will you choose to spend your time? September can bring a 'new pencil case' feeling – a useful opportunity to reset and refocus on what matters most. In this episode, Helen and Sarah share eight questions to help you use the rest of your...
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#588 How to Decide Which Goals to Give Up
Setting goals is one thing. Knowing when to let go of them is another. In this Shortcut, Helen explores the idea of productive quitting and why trying to hold on to too many goals can get in the way of making progress. Drawing on research from the Goal Adjustment Scale and a New Scientist article...
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#587 80,000 hours with Benjamin Todd (A Career Well Spent Series)
How can you make sure the 80,000 hours you spend at work are truly well spent? In this episode, we challenge the traditional advice to "follow your passion" and look at how to build a career that makes a meaningful difference. This episode of part 4 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing…
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#586 Questions to ask in an interview
Most of us focus on preparing for the questions we'll be asked in an interview, but what we ask at the end is just as important. It is your ultimate opportunity to take control of the conversation and leave a brilliant lasting impression. In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah explores how to ask...
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#585 What to make of a life with Jim Collins (A Career Well Spent Series)
Are you feeling lost in a career fog or facing a major transition? In this special episode, Sarah is joined by legendary author and researcher Jim Collins to explore what it really takes to build a fulfilling life and career. This episode of part 3 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing…
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#584 How to Create Your AI Learning Plan
AI is changing quickly, which can make it hard to know where to start. If you're feeling overwhelmed by everything there is to learn, you're definitely not alone. In this Shortcut, Sarah shares how to use the Squiggly Careers Learning Navigator to turn AI into something practical and personal....
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#583 Big Time with Laura Vanderkam (A Career Well Spent Series)
Do you feel constantly defeated by a packed calendar and rushed for time? Reclaiming control of your schedule starts with changing how you view your 168 hours. This episode of part 2 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing on Laura’s bestselling books '168 Hours' and 'Big Time', Helen...
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#582 How to use AI as your thought partner
Outsourcing your thinking to AI erodes the value of your contribution and means you are less likely to make a distinctive difference. Using AI as a thought-partner is a skill which can help you to refine your thinking, communicate more clearly and spot gaps before you share your perspective with...
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#581 The 100 year life with Lynda Gratton (A Career Well Spent Series)
How do we design a career that lasts a lifetime without running out of energy? In this episode, Sarah talks to world-renowned expert Lynda Gratton about how to navigate a multi-stage, 100-year life. This episode of part 1 of 4 in the 'Career Well Spent Series' Drawing on Lynda Gratton's...
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#580 Small actions to increase your assertiveness
Do you struggle to speak up in meetings or find yourself watering down your ideas? Assertiveness isn't about being the loudest person in the room; it is built through small, daily actions. In this episode, Helen shares simple actions to increase your assertiveness. 🎯 What You'll Learn – How to...
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#579 How to build an M-shaped career
Do you feel like you were never meant to master just one thing? It is time to move beyond the traditional career path and embrace the potential of an M-shaped career. In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore what it means to develop mastery across multiple areas. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Define the...
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#578 How to overcome your distraction downfall
Do you find yourself constantly checking your phone or email instead of focusing on your most important work? In this squiggly shortcut, Helen shares practical ways to beat distraction and reclaim your attention. Drawing on Nir Eyal's research on becoming indistractable, they explore what it…
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#577 How to solve tame, critical and wicked work problems
Not all problems are created equal, and trying to solve them all the same way is likely to result in frustration. In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore how to identify whether you are facing a tame, critical, or wicked problem and the specific approach needed to make progress on each. Drawing…
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#576 Set yourself up to fail, so you're more likely to succeed
Want to achieve your biggest career goals this year? The answer might lie in planning exactly how you could fail first. Drawing on research from New York University on mental contrasting, Helens explore how balancing your biggest career opportunities with your realistic obstacles can…
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#575 Oracy: How to improve your speaking and listening skills
Do you often feel like you are just waiting for your turn to speak, rather than truly listening and learning? In this episode, we explore the power of oracy and how it can change the way you think and work. Drawing on the work of Voice 21, Barbara Oakley, and research from More in Common, they...
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#574 How to Adapt Your Skills for Career Growth
Is your current way of working holding you back from your next career milestone? Sometimes, the very habits that helped you succeed in the past can become obstacles to your future progress. Drawing on Marshall Goldsmith’s concept of 'What Got You Here Won't Get You There', Helen explores what it...
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#573 How to build a super team
Ever wondered what sets high-performing 'super teams' apart from those that are stalling? It's not just about talent, but a shared belief in your collective ability to learn, adapt, and succeed together. In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from a feeling and dive deep into one of…
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#572 The Listening Habit That Changes Every Conversation
Are you a conversational narcissist? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah introduces a deceptively simple idea from Celeste Headlee that will change how you listen, and make you notice everyone else's conversations differently too. 🎯 What You'll Learn – What a shift response is, why we all do it…
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#571 How to Get Better at Holding Uncertainty at Work
Uncertainty isn't going anywhere. So what if the goal wasn't to get rid of it, but to get better at holding it? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from a feeling and dive deep into one of the most relevant topics in work and careers right now. Drawing on Margaret Heffernan's...
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#570 The Four People Every Squiggly Career Network Needs
Your career doesn't need a bigger network, it needs a better one. In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares the four roles that matter most for your career community, and why focusing on just these four makes building your career relationships feel a lot more doable. 🎯 What You'll Learn – What a...
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#569 Why zero distance will make you better at your job
How close are you to yourself, your team and the people you serve? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the concept of zero distance, a philosophy championed by brands like e.l.f. Beauty, and turn it into one of the most honest and practical self-reflection exercises they've…
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#568 Why Slowing Down Makes You a Better Learner
In a world that keeps telling you to learn faster, what if slowing down was actually the smarter move? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah makes the case for slow learning, and shares three questions and three actions to help you get started. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Why slow learning and fast…
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#567 How to use Tiny experiments to make progress at work | Tiny Experiments
What if the key to navigating uncertainty wasn't a better plan - but a better experiment? In this episode, Sarah borrows brilliance from Anne-Laure Le Cunff, author of Tiny Experiments. Together they explore what it means to have an experimental mindset, how to design a tiny experiment using the...
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#566 The Only Script You Need for Curious Career Conversations
Most people wait until they're ready to make a career move before having career conversations. In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares the only script you need to make curious career conversations feel less daunting and a lot more useful. 🎯 What You'll Learn – What a curious career conversation...
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#565 Networks, Progression and Guilt: Six Career Opinions From Emma Grede | Start With Yourself
Emma Grede has some strong opinions about careers, and not everyone will agree with all of them. In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from Start With Yourself, Emma's new book, picking out six of her most provocative statements and asking the question: do we agree? Emma Grede,...
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Communication and how to use it to create opportunity in your career (Day 5) | Open to Work
In a world full of words, the people who communicate with clarity, humanity and story will stand out. In the fifth and final episode of this special series, Helen and Aneesh Rahman close out Open to Work with the last of the five Cs, communication, and why it might be the skill that ties…
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Compassion and why being more human is becoming a career advantage (Day 4) | Open to Work
What if compassion isn't just a nice-to-have, but one of the most important skills for the future of work? In day four of this special five-part series, Helen and Aneesh Rahman explore the fourth C, compassion, and why the new world of work demands something the industrial age actively…
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Creativity and the human skill AI can't replicate (Day 3) | Open to Work
Creativity isn't a talent some people have and others don't, it's a skill. In day three of this special five-part series, Helen and Aneesh Rahman explore the third C, creativity, and why it's becoming one of the highest-value human skills in an age when AI can generate generic content at scale....
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Courage and why playing it safe in your career is becoming riskier (Day 2) | Open to Work
Even if you're not changing jobs, your job is changing. In day two of this special five-part series, Helen and Aneesh Rahman explore the second C, courage, and why it's becoming one of the most important skills you can bring to work right now. From Polynesian wayfarers to Apollo 13 to leaving a...
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The Careers Skills AI can't replace (Day 1) | Open to Work
What if the future of work isn't less human...but more human? In this special episode, Helen kicks off a brand new five-part series borrowing brilliance from Open to Work, a brilliant new book by Aneesh Rahman, Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn, and former Obama speechwriter. Over…
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#564 Why Slowing Down Makes You Better at Solving Problems
Are you a fix-it-fast problem solver? In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen makes the case for slowing down before you jump to solutions. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Why surface-level fixes create ping pong problems that just keep coming back – How to use two simple questions "why is this a problem?" and...
About this show
Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Amazing If (https://www.amazingif.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your confidence gremlins to micro-aggressions and discovering your strengths. Each episode is full of ideas, actions, hints, and tips that you can put into practice straight away.
Every so often they take a break from talking to each other to interview other people who are leading the way in making work better. Past guests include entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley, author of The Joy of Work Bruce Daisley, and neuroscience expert Amy Brann.
The Squiggly Careers podcast has been recommended by Harvard Business Review, Stylist, Marie Claire and Management Today.
For more ideas, tools and inspiration every week, you can also sign up to their newsletter <a href="https://
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The Squiggly Career
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