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Squiggly Careers

Squiggly Careers

By: The Squiggly Career
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About this listen

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 Squiggly Careers in Action.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amazing If
Career Success Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • #485 Why Thinking Together Boosts Team Performance
    Jun 24 2025

    In this episode, Helen and Sarah explore how to help teams think better—together. They share simple but powerful tools you can use to encourage reflection, collaboration, and better decision-making in your team. Discover a practical matrix to help you choose the right thinking tool for your team—whether you need to improve performance or inspire new ideas. From “worry lists” to “borrowed brilliance,” you’ll learn how to create space for smarter, more intentional team thinking.


    ⏱️ Timestamps


    00:00 Intro: Welcome to the Squiggly Careers Podcast

    00:43 Why We Struggle to Think as Teams

    01:56 Who Are Your Thinking Partners?

    02:18 Team Thinking Drives Team Performance

    03:02 Principles for Better Team Thinking

    07:38 Signal Thinking Activities in Your Team

    08:46 Turning Thinking into Action via Experiments

    09:43 The Team Thinking Matrix Explained

    11:48 Idea for Improvement: Worry Lists

    17:20 Idea for Improvement: What's Not Working (The "Knots")

    23:30 Everyday Idea for Inspiration: Borrowed Brilliance


    🎯 What You’ll Learn:


    - Why teams need more time to think (and how to make that time work)

    - 3 powerful principles for better collective thinking

    - Tools like “worry lists,” “what’s not working,” and “borrowed brilliance”

    - How to run quick team exercises

    - Ways to turn thinking into action—without overcomplicating it


    For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com


    More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers:


    📩 Download our free careers tools https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

    🏃‍♂️ Sign-up for our Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint https://bit.ly/skillssprint2024

    📮 Sign up for Squiggly Careers in Action, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/SquigglyCareersInAction

    📚 Read our books ‘The Squiggly Career’ and ‘You Coach You’ www.amazingif.com/books/ http://www.amazingif.com/books/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • #484 How Role modelling leads to rewards for your career
    Jun 17 2025

    We often talk about the value of having a role model - someone to learn from and be inspired by. But what about the impact of being a role model?


    In this week’s episode, Helen and Sarah explore how being a role model can support your development, raise your profile, and help you build stronger connections at work. When you're intentional about how you show up, you attract opportunities and create a community around your work. They explore practical ideas to help you decide your role model focus, borrow brilliance, and put role modelling into practice in your day-to-day work.


    For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com


    More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers:


    📩 Download our free careers tools https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

    🏃‍♂️ Sign-up for our Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint https://bit.ly/skillssprint2024

    📮 Sign up for Squiggly Careers in Action, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/SquigglyCareersInAction

    📚 Read our books ‘The Squiggly Career’ and ‘You Coach You’ www.amazingif.com/books/ http://www.amazingif.com/books/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    29 mins
  • #483 Ask the Expert: How to have better conversations with Jefferson Fisher
    Jun 10 2025

    Better conversations help you build stronger relationships, understand others more deeply, and make meaningful progress - together.


    In this episode, Sarah talks to Jefferson Fisher, lawyer, speaker, and best-selling author, about five common situations where conversations can get tricky. From dealing with someone very different to you, to getting interrupted, or feeling stuck in people-pleasing, Jefferson shares simple shifts that can help you handle these moments with more clarity and confidence.


    For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com


    More ways to learn about Squiggly Careers:


    📩 Download our free careers tools https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

    🏃‍♂️ Sign-up for our Squiggly Careers Skills Sprint https://bit.ly/skillssprint2024

    📮 Sign up for Squiggly Careers in Action, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/SquigglyCareersInAction

    📚 Read our books ‘The Squiggly Career’ and ‘You Coach You’ www.amazingif.com/books/ http://www.amazingif.com/books/

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    34 mins
All stars
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Not really a review as I'm sold to your podcast and books. keep doing what you do and thank you for this podcast and the hardwork you put in it

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So far I have found all their podcasts interesting and very easy to listen too. They cover lots of relatable topics in a light hearted way, in my view anyway. I'll keep listening.

Interesting and informative

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