Humans At Work
Humans At Work
Jules Harrison-Annear
These fireside chats illustrate how joyous it is to engage with another person, to be curious, and to recognise the value they bring just by being there.
Postscript Moment:  Forgotten Stories Matter More Than Ever, with Enver Samuel
This episode of the humans at work podcast features a Postscript Moment – a special follow-up conversation with one of our previous podcast guests.  For those of you who can remember letter-writing, after you’d signed off your letter, you could write P.S. and add in one last story or commentary that you knew would appeal to your letter recipient!  You wouldn’t have much space left on the paper, so you’d need to be more succinct and often P.S. information was the most informal and ‘juicy’ part of your news.   “So, you cannot pretend those things didn’t happen and you cannot pretend that those things don’t have an influence on what happened a hundred years later, and how living with that legacy of that trauma can still have an impact in today’s world.”   This episode of the humans at work podcast features a short(er) follow-up conversation with Enver Samuel, Documentary Film Maker, head of EMS Productions and currently a board member of the Documentary Film Makers Association.  It builds on the full podcast with Enver in episode 1.   Enver and I talk about: The beauty of Kruger National Game Park The peaceful sound of Africa How social and economic imperatives take effort and investment away from environmental issues The power of storytelling to fundamentally change the settings of the future The success of impact campaigns – bringing forgotten voices back to life Transgenerational trauma and the importance of addressing it to move forward The need to acknowledge the past and its affect on people’s futures, particularly the impact of colonialism The importance of taking breaks, particularly when dealing with trauma and hard topics Techniques for keeping safe when dealing with difficult topics and working for impact.   Resources and Links: To learn more about Enver:  Visit EMS Productions   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn
Oct 5, 2023
38 min
Kindness Matters with Sophie Bretag
“Kindness can look different to different people as well. Kindness for me is very specific around boundary setting; by setting clear and not rigid but I’m very strict with my boundaries around my time, my emotional energy, my energy levels, my mental bandwidth around what I will and won’t take on and what I will and won’t keep."   This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Sophie Bretag, Kindness guru and CEO and Founder of Metta Leaders. Sophie and I talk about what kindness looks, feels and sounds like in the workplace, the value of the Human Resources function within organisations, and the challenges and opportunities of adaptive parenting.   Sophie and I talk about: Our journeys to not drinking alcohol Adaptive strategies and applying them to parenting Parenting opportunities and challenges Choices and conscious risk taking Change and opportunities to use scenarios to demystify the future Organisational change processes and people impacts The invisible value of Human Resources for the system that is the workforce of an organisation Taking responsibility for your own health and wellbeing The shift that COVID brought to organisations’ view of the value of HR The intersect between HR and leadership, behind common purpose Jules’ views on the true definition of an organisation The return on investment from kindness in the workplace Understanding what kindness looks like The importance of personalising purpose and values Modern offices that don’t encourage connection with nature Opportunities to partner with nature in the design of healthier workplaces The value of daydreaming   Resources and Links: To learn more about Sophie: Visit Sophie at mettaleaders.com/   Follow Sophie on LinkedIn   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn
Sep 7, 2023
1 hr 11 min
Linking actions to goals, with Nina Field
“One of those examples is, we talk about articulating strategy, because strategic thinking is no good if it just stays in your head.  So, we talk about articulating strategy and how you can get clear on that in your head, in order to communicate it and articulate it. That’s not just how do you write a strategy document, that’s how do you have day to-day conversations where you’re being clear with people, you’re leaving space for them to come up with their own solutions.”   This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Nina Field, Business Psychologist.  Nina shares her journey from her love of water to joining the Navy and then designing her own highly successful strategic thinking programme. Nina and I talk about what its really like in the Navy, how organisational psychology and a love of strategy led to Nina designing a programme to help people translate the process of strategic thinking into tangible actions, and the value of understanding how you think.   Nina and I talk about: Working in the Navy The focus for organisational psychology The training foundation of defence work that enables readiness Strategic thinking from a psychological perspective Nina’s strategic thinking framework and programme Metacognition – the process of thinking about your thinking Jules’ decision-making practice work The link between thinking and decisions, and decisions and actions The need for clear articulation of your strategy Use of assessment tools in selection and development Cognitive Profile process and the value of understanding how you think The value of knowing your strengths and weaknesses and recruiting for complementary skills and capabilities.   Resources and Links:  To learn more about Nina: Visit Nina at ninafield.co.nz/ Follow Nina on LinkedIn   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn
Aug 31, 2023
43 min
The ripple effect of change making, with Carlos Terol
“I think that’s where we need to use our power as global citizens and keep putting that pressure on Governments and corporates. I believe that corporates are driven by profit and Governments are driven by votes. That’s what they want, so it’s us that we can actually force them to change. If we start putting pressure and being loud about what we want, ultimately, when we build this critical mass of people, they’ll have to change.” “But if you can connect with three, four, five people in your street, in your neighbourhood who has aligned values to you and want to change the world, that gives you a really special power that virtual connections can’t give you. Suddenly you can go for a walk and have a chat face-to-face; you can have a meal together, talk about it, come up with ideas, brainstorm and start running things locally. I think once we tap into that power of seeing how many people there are around you that want to change the world, I think we will change the world much, much faster.”     This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Carlos Terol, Impact Entrepreneur, owner of Terol Engineering and Good Ripple champion. Carlos and I talk about what it takes to make change happen, how to be an active change maker, and what drives him to champion the concept of community collaboration and community action. We dive into his personal journey to knowing his purpose, and how incentives need to be rethought to drive innovation and regenerative approaches to building, infrastructure, government spending among other things.   Carlos and I talk about: His journey from wanting money and sports cars to being a globally-known influencer for good How civil engineering can contribute to sustainability Better incentives for sustainable building and infrastructure planning Biophilic design opportunities and changing traditional mindsets The geographical roulette of where you’re born dictating your opportunities The concept of global change makers and how to connect and collaborate Finding your sense of value and contribution Not postponing starting doing something for impact The joy and inspiration of conversation and connection Defence against despair and inaction The criticality of non-measurable things The Good Ripple concept and the power of local connections.   Resources and Links: To learn more about Carlos: Visit Carlos at carlosterol.com Follow Carlos on LinkedIn   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn
Aug 10, 2023
49 min
Conscious marketing and social entrepreneurship, with Cláudia Guerreiro
“That led me to believe that, no, there has to be a better way for us to do marketing because marketing has the power to change behaviour. Marketing is really important in society.  And instead of perpetuating stereotypes, instead of promoting scarcity tactics or fear-based marketing strategies, there is a way to use marketing for change, for positive change.”   This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Cláudia Guerreiro [Conscious Marketing Freelancer, Master of Chaos], who brings incredible optimism and creativity to the world of conscious and ethical marketing. Cláudia is a positive force for rethinking push marketing in favour of pull marketing – storytelling, value-driven work and organically developing communities of customers who share your ethics.  Cláudia offers 1-1 consulting support and workshops on conscious marketing, content development and personal branding, helping entrepreneurs and solopreneurs to take that leap, and have that positive impact..    Cláudia and I talk about: Tired old tactics of marketing, and how to step away and rethink Social entrepreneurship and the movement to set up your own business for good - the good and the hard parts. Authentic storytelling and the value of organic marketing The value of collaboration over competition Personal brand, the fun and scary parts of being yourself Redefining success as value creation and authenticity Spreading yourself too thin The dangers of burn out Fighting against perfection expectations and societal biases Listening to your body and energy levels, and working when you're most productive Staying optimistic.   Resources and Links: To learn more about Cláudia: Visit Cláudia at claudia-guerreiro.com Follow Cláudia on LinkedIn   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn and on Instagram
Aug 6, 2023
56 min
Strategic thinking and sustainable value creation, with Jeroen Kraaijenbrink
“For me, strategy is a company’s or an organisation’s unique way of sustainable value creation.  In my approach, in the very definition of strategy, there is this word “sustainable” and the way I mean this is not just planet proof but also sustainable from a commercial perspective, from a strategic point of view. If that’s the core, if sustainable value creation is your core and not competitive advantage, growth, profits and so on and you at least start with the right attitude, the right mindset. Because it’s about contribution. It’s about thinking, who is this for? Who’s the customer? Who’s the target group? How do I create value for that customer? So how do I solve the real problem, how do I really help them?  How do I do that in a sustainable way which means I take into account the interest of different stakeholders, I take into account the limited resources, the boundaries of our planet?”   This episode of the humans at work podcast features conversation with Jeroen Kraaijenbrink, author of The Strategy Handbook: The Secret Sauce to Daily Business Success and The One-Hour Strategy: Building a Company of Strategic Thinkers, and consultant supporting organisations around the world with more effective strategic thinking.   Jeroen is a powerhouse of strategy and leadership content development, using his repository of concepts and models and turning them into practical advice. Jeroen and I talk about strategy as a collective sense-making process, and the benefits of using strategic tools across all aspects of your life. And we talk about challenging our mindsets for sustainable value creation, and the need for ‘unlearning’ or rethinking.   Jeroen and I talk about: Reasons, openness and the opportunities of remote working Falling back into habits of filling your life post-pandemic Commonalities of humankind when working internationally The opportunities and challenges of working in academia Starting your consulting practice Whether having an academic or theoretical background helps or hinders your career The value of concepts and models to validate your intuition Discipline and dedication of impactful LinkedIn posting What it takes to write books about strategy Strategy as a collective, integrative and community process Decision-making as an intuitive process Vulnerability as a key leadership trait Sustainable value creation to help address sustainability challenges for organisations Generative AI and the ongoing importance of imagination, voice, judgement and connection.   Resources and Links: To learn more about Jeroen: Visit Jeroen at https://www.jeroenkraaijenbrink.com/ Follow Jeroen on LinkedIn   To dive into the concept of Strategy:  The Strategy Handbook: The Secret Sauce to Daily Business Success The One Hour Strategy: Building a Company of Strategic Thinkers Certified Strategy & Implementation Consultant Certification course   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn and on Instagram
Jul 24, 2023
57 min
Creating a better future, with Dan Sherrard-Smith
“That was probably the most formative 18 months, the best education I could’ve got was those 18 months in terms of what it took to launch a business. But crucially understanding that it is okay to fail if you fail for the right reasons. If your morals and values are in the right place, it is absolutely fine to test something out and fail.”    This episode of the humans at work podcast features Jules’ conversation with Dan Sherrard-Smith, Founder of MotherTree, a ground-breaking social impact organisation giving its customers the information they need about how their money is used within the banking and pension industries, and giving them the control to use their money for good.  Dan has been focused on social impact and climate change since he was a child, through trying and not succeeding with this first charitable organisation targeting loneliness, to his success with Look After My Bills. He talks candidly about his responses to initial failure, lessons learned, and his inspiration for founding mymothertree.com, which is using the old adage ‘money talks’ to send big messages to global systems about humans and our focus on a positive life worth living.    Dan and I talk about: being a first-time parent and balancing parenting with work the similarities between parenting and running businesses Good Company and what he learned from it and the value of failure not letting others or yourself put you in a limiting box of potential the inspiration of the Mother Tree, and purpose and values of mymothertree.com how The Climate Challenges work learning from nature concepts of control and choice building better systems to transition to, and taking a longer-term perspective the importance of purpose, and its link to optimism and resilience what's next for www.mymothertree.com   Resources and Links: To learn more about Dan: Visit My MotherTree Follow Dan on LinkedIn To learn more about Mother Trees or hub trees, visit the MotherTree project website or Suzanne Simard’s website www.suzannesimard.com    Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn and on Instagram
Jul 17, 2023
1 hr 3 min
Ocean regeneration and climate action, a marine biology perspective with Johnny Singh
“I think it’s not just up to one person, everyone needs to know about this, realise what’s really going on.  You know, you don’t need to be a scientist to be in. Even in Fiji, ask any local people in any village, they’ll tell you.  Climate change is real.” “The question is what’s more important – the environment or the economics?  We can live without the economics but the environment, we need it. It sustains us in multiple ways.”   This episode of the humans at work podcast features a thought-provoking conversation with Johnny Singh, Marine Biologist at the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort in Fiji.  Johnny is the first Fijian marine biologist employed at the resort and talks about his passion for all things nature.  From running a kid’s educational programme to grow budding ecologists, to coral nurseries and mangrove replanting, its clear that Johnny is an example of the kind of care for biodiversity and balance between humans and nature so often characterised by island-based communities.    Johnny and I talk about: Sparking motivation and interest in young people Sustainable design of buildings, using local and renewable materials Impacts of climate change on coral and actions to regenerate and protect future coral How Fijians are adapting to current (and planning for future) climate change impact Food insecurity – in the sea and on land The importance of nature in feeling (and keeping us) alive and healthy The reality of climate change on the weather and life in a nation like Fiji Why people in power aren’t taking the action they can to change the direction of climate change Marine biology as a profession The importance of storytelling in Fijian culture. Note: Jules travelled to the Jean-Michel Resort Fiji as a paying guest.  The recording of this podcast was made possible by the management of the resort and generosity of Johnny himself.    Resources and Links: To learn more about Johnny, follow him on LinkedIn on https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnny-singh-074a0553/ For more information the Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort Fiji: https://www.fijiresort.com/ To understand more about how the Jean-Michel Cousteau resort focuses on sustainability https://www.fijiresort.com/sustainability/   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn and on Instagram
Jul 13, 2023
22 min
The importance of vocabulary for feelings and our gut instinct in decision-making, with Andy Longley
“So, hearing a company purpose and talking about this, that might sound great, but that may not be what I need to access and understand consciously before I can really give myself to this organisation. All of these different purposes, even in a great organisation, don’t mean we all share the same thing. That’s the, I think, the hard part with working with purpose and helping teams acknowledge it, is that everyone will have a different one and it’s really hard for an individual to put their finger on what theirs is. If you can help them do that, then you can find some common ground to create that shared purpose for the team.”    This episode of the humans at work podcast features a conversation with Andy Longley, founder of Psych-io, a boutique leadership, training, and culture consultancy that brings deep expertise from psychology and neuroscience to help people create engaging, motivational and inspiring environments.  From working as a performance psychologist the New Zealand Navy, spending a year as a United Nations unarmed peacekeeper in the Middle East, and working with Emirates Airlines as a performance psychologist and coach to both pilots and cockpit teams, Andy has travelled the world supporting leaders and teams to be their best. Andy is also the co-founder and CEO of the CoachUp Academy, through which he combines his love of sports for sports sake, with applied neuroscience to develop high-performing sports teams.   Andy and I talk about: what its like to return as an adult and new parent to live in New Zealand the competitive and social aspects of sports teams the diversity of motivation and how it drives people the importance of finding individual purpose rather than relying just on organisational purpose looking beneath the surface at assumptions in decision-making maximising the role your gut plays in decision-making wider vocabulary for emotions to unlock knowledge and awareness – in both leadership and parenting.   Resources and Links: To learn more about Andy: Visit www.psych-io.com or www.coachup.academy or check out his profile on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-longley-psychio-and-coachup/   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn and on Instagram
Jul 10, 2023
1 hr 8 min
Postscript Moment: Inclusion for Alternative Workforces and Action-Focused Decision Making, with Jeff Mike
This episode of the humans at work podcast features a Postscript Moment – a special follow-up conversation with one of our previous podcast guests.  For those of you who can remember letter-writing, after you’d signed off your letter, you could write P.S. and add in one last story or commentary that you knew would appeal to your letter recipient!  You wouldn’t have much space left on the paper, so you’d need to be more succinct and often P.S. information was the most informal and ‘juicy’ part of your news.   I think sustainability has been an organisational or a corporate responsibility for a long time. Just look at all of the, we call them continuity plans in case of an emergency. But most organisations that I know, and I work with, are looking beyond, say, quarterly returns.   Again, while there are those market pressures, I think organisations recognise they want to be a going concern. I think I saw a statistic recently where a certain number of CEOs were wondering, maybe the majority were wondering if their organisations were even going to be in existence in 10 to 15 years, given the rate of change.   This episode of the humans at work podcast features a short(er) follow-up conversation with Jeff Mike, Head of Insights and Impact at FlexTrack, a global company providing an extended workforce solution that aims to support organisations to acquire, engage, and manage their contingent workforce.  It builds on the full podcast with Jeff in episode 4.   Jeff and I talk about: his hypothesis on the importance of non-employee workforces playing out leadership traits for maximising mixed workforce value capturing knowledge with non-employee workforces inclusion, remote working and opportunities for non-employees and people with alternative abilities organisational sustainability and question of ongoing relevance tools like AI and the importance of human-focused judgement action as the critical step in decision-making.   Resources and Links: To learn more about Jeff: Visit Flextrack at https://www.flextrack.com/ You can read Jeff’s blogs at https://www.flextrack.com/author/jeffadmin/ Follow Jeff on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-mike/   Join us at humans at work: Sign up to the human hub newsletter today! Engage with Jules as she discusses important and thought-provoking questions and themes every month, and keep up to date with all things Humans at Work. Find more info here. To listen to more podcasts, read the blogs, invest in some active community learning and mentoring…visit https://www.humansatwork.org/ Follow Jules on LinkedIn Follow Humans at Work on LinkedIn and on Instagram
Jul 7, 2023
24 min
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