Episode notes
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 quash qualifiers like "maybe" and "just" – The power of being the person who creates clarity – How to offer alternative perspectives to stop groupthink – Making a habit of offering a question and a suggestion – How to identify and fix your default assertiveness mistakes For questions about Squiggly…
Squiggly Careers
by The Squiggly Career · English · Business
Squiggly Careers is a weekly podcast that will help you take control of your career development. Hosted by the founders of Squiggly Careers. (https://www.squigglycareers.com/), Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper, together they cover all things work: from how to manage stress and overcome your…
More from Squiggly Careers
-
11 Aug 2026 · 35 min
#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 explores what it means to achieve true time abundance, and what your default response to a busy calendar reveals about you. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Understand the difference between time abundance and time scarcity – Apply the 'Would I do this tomorrow?' test to new commitments – Track your time to…
-
6 Aug 2026 · 7 min
#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 other people. In this shortcut, Helen talks through how you can use AI as a thought-partner for your career, your weekly work and the relationships you build to help you to be at your best. 🎯 What You'll Learn - how to use AI as a squiggly career coach - how to use AI to help you reduce overwhelm…
-
4 Aug 2026 · 35 min
#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 groundbreaking research and her new book 'Living the Hundred-Year Life', Sarah and Lynda discuss what it really means to design a multi-stage career, and what your balance of productivity and nurture threads reveals about your current career design. 🎯 What You'll Learn – How to manage the tension between…
-
28 Jul 2026 · 32 min
#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 M-shaped career model and why it is a competitive advantage – Identify your existing areas of deep expertise – Learn how to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated skills – Use reflective questions to map your own M-shaped development This episode is brought to you in partnership with the…
-
23 Jul 2026 · 9 min
#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 really means to develop this skill, and what your default response to it reveals about you. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Identify your personal distraction downfall – Understand why you are attracted to distractions – Learn why avoidance triggers procrastination – Audit your environment for high-attention work…
-
21 Jul 2026 · 28 min
#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 on the work of Keith Grint, they explore what it means to develop this skill, and what your default response to it reveals about you. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Identify the three distinct types of problems you encounter at work – Apply the right process to clear up recurring tame problems – Manage…
-
8 Oct 2026 · 8 min
#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 resilience. Pick one or two that feel useful to you and try doing them regularly, before things start to feel difficult. 🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn how to: – Find something to look forward to, even in a hard week – Work out what help you need and ask for it – Notice and celebrate your wins –…
-
6 Oct 2026 · 43 min
#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 how to spot the friction that slows you down, what you could subtract to make work easier, and why some friction is worth keeping. 🎯 In this episode, you’ll learn how to: – Spot where friction is showing up in your work – Ask your team what’s making their work harder – Subtract steps, meetings or…
-
1 Oct 2026 · 8 min
#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 activate your ambition For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com Need some more squiggly career support? 1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/ 2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints:…
-
29 Sep 2026 · 43 min
#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 creatively about your career. They experiment with constraints across six areas of career development, from learning and strengths to confidence and future possibilities. 🎯 What You'll Learn – Why constraints can help you think more creatively – How to experiment with constraints in your career – How to…
Take it with you
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
