Podcast Summary
Discovering High-Quality Candidates on LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a valuable platform for small businesses to find potential hires, as over 70% of its users don't visit other job sites monthly.
LinkedIn is an essential tool for small business owners looking to hire professionals. It's where you can find candidates who aren't actively seeking new jobs but might be open to the right opportunity. In fact, over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites in a given month. So, if you're not posting your job openings on LinkedIn, you're missing out on potential high-quality candidates. During this conversation, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Grace Laudan, an associate professor in behavioral science at the LSE and the author of "Think Big, Take Small Steps and Build the Future You Want." We discussed various topics, including building resilience, unconscious bias in the workplace, and the importance of taking time off. Dr. Laudan's academic writings have been published in international journals, and she currently advises the UK government as a board member on the skills and productivity board. When it comes to productivity and time management, Dr. Laudan prefers winging it over time blocking and checking emails frequently. She also found the writing process for her book to be a mix of academic work and storytelling, which made it more accessible to readers. Overall, it was a fascinating conversation, and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did.
Identifying enjoyable activities and acquiring necessary skills: Find joy in daily tasks, develop skills, manage time effectively, and build resilience to handle setbacks and criticism.
Building a successful career involves finding activities you enjoy, managing your time effectively, and developing resilience. The first step is identifying what you like to do and acquiring the necessary skills. Time management is crucial for making progress and achieving your goals, even if it means dedicating time to unpleasant tasks. Lastly, resilience is essential for handling setbacks and criticism, which are inevitable when pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Moreover, it's important to acknowledge that finding a job you love and finding happiness in your career isn't always as simple as social media portrays. Instead, focus on what brings you joy and satisfaction every day, even when faced with stress or challenges. Remember, the definition of success is personal and unique to each individual.
Believe in yourself and find joy in small passions: Self-belief and identifying micro passions are essential for a fulfilling career. Meeting people in various fields can provide valuable insights, and resilience is crucial for success.
Building a successful career and finding personal fulfillment requires self-belief, identifying micro passions, and understanding the realities of various occupations. Self-belief is crucial, and having someone who believes in you can be a significant boost. Identifying small passions or activities that bring joy can lead to a fulfilling occupation. It's essential to acknowledge that every job has its ups and downs, and meeting people in those fields can provide valuable insights. Resilience is another essential aspect of success. Focusing on positive experiences and disengaging from negative ones can help maintain resilience reserves. Remember, success is an internal journey, and it's essential to look within and find what truly fulfills you.
Practicing gratitude for small positive events: Acknowledging good experiences and writing them down releases hormones for better mood and reduced negative emotions, improving resilience and overall well-being.
Focusing on small positive events and practicing gratitude can significantly improve resilience and overall well-being. This simple act of acknowledging good experiences and writing them down releases hormones that contribute to better mood and reduced negative emotions. While research suggests short-term benefits, individuals can easily test its effectiveness for themselves. It's essential to remember that everyone is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. Therefore, it's crucial to maintain a filtering system when consuming online advice and be open to trying different methods to enhance productivity and fulfillment.
Exploring Personal Growth and Inclusion: A Data-Driven Approach: Be open-minded, try new things, and reflect on their impact for personal growth. For inclusion, focus on both moral and business cases, experiment with interventions, and measure progress using an index.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to personal growth, productivity, or inclusion. While research and evidence can provide valuable insights, it's essential to remember that what works for some may not work for others. The best approach is to be open-minded, try new things, and reflect on their impact on yourself. Regarding the inclusion initiative, it's an innovative approach to improving inclusivity in firms by implementing interventions, conducting experiments in the real world, and measuring inclusion using an index. By focusing on both the moral and business cases for inclusion, the initiative aims to create more profitable, creative, and lower-risk firms. It's a fascinating development in the field of diversity and inclusion, offering a data-driven way to identify and invest in inclusive organizations.
Measuring Social Responsibility and Environmental Impact: Socially responsible companies tend to outperform, and startups that demonstrate social responsibility are better investments. Unconscious bias influences decisions, but being knowledgeable, confident, strategic, and aware of the 'peak end effect' can help.
While it's trendy for companies to focus on environmental impact and social responsibility, it's still a challenge to measure these impacts effectively. However, research shows that socially responsible companies tend to perform better than those that aren't. At the individual level, startups that demonstrate social responsibility are a better investment. Unconscious bias is also a significant factor in decision-making, especially in big decisions like hiring, promoting, and funding. People make most decisions on autopilot, and bias can influence these decisions without us realizing it. However, there are ways to tip the odds in your favor. Knowing your stuff and being confident is crucial, but positioning yourself strategically can also help. For example, being the first or last person to present can make a difference. Additionally, avoiding lunchtime and the end of the day when people are hungry or distracted can improve your chances. Understanding the "peak end effect" can also help you craft a memorable pitch, focusing on a compelling beginning, a high impact middle, and a memorable ending.
The Power of Storytelling, Efficiency, and Communication: Effective storytelling, streamlining processes, and clear communication can increase your chances of success in business and academia.
Having a compelling story and a satisfying ending can significantly tip the odds in your favor, especially when it comes to pitching ideas or securing funding. This is particularly important in business environments, where competition can be fierce. However, even in academic institutions, where the pace may be slower due to bureaucracy and excessive paperwork, finding ways to streamline processes and focus on the essentials can lead to more efficient progress. For individuals looking to improve their chances, resources like LinkedIn for hiring professionals or tools like SAP Concur for automating business finances can be valuable assets. Additionally, embracing open communication and implementing practices like personal user manuals can help create more productive work environments. Overall, being mindful of the importance of storytelling, efficiency, and communication can go a long way in tipping the odds in your favor.
Creating a culture of effective communication and feedback: Encourage open communication, act on feedback, streamline processes, and build trust to reduce unnecessary meetings and increase productivity.
Effective communication and encouraging feedback are key to avoiding pointless meetings and increasing productivity in the workplace. Grace emphasizes the importance of creating a culture where employees feel comfortable sharing their opinions and suggestions, and managers appreciate and act on this feedback. She also suggests streamlining processes and eliminating unnecessary red tape to save time. Transparency and trust between team members can also help reduce the need for excessive meetings. On a personal note, Grace shares that her biggest work-related regret is time wasted on pointless meetings and that she finds she is more fulfilled when facing and overcoming challenges with her team.
Take control of your work experience: During challenging times, we can ask for new opportunities or craft our jobs to better suit us. Frame concerns as solutions to make it easier for managers to help us and increase positive change.
Even during challenging times at work, we have the power to take control and turn things around. Feeling unproductive or unfulfilled doesn't mean we're stuck – we can ask for new opportunities or craft our jobs to better suit us. It's important to remember that we often have more autonomy than we think. Instead of complaining about boring meetings or lack of work, we should frame our concerns as solutions and approach our managers with ideas for improvement. By doing so, we make it easier for them to help us and increase the likelihood of positive change. Ultimately, it's up to us to seek growth and fulfillment in our roles, even if we feel uncomfortable asking for more. Whether it's through job crafting, seeking new opportunities, or framing our concerns as solutions, we have the power to transform our work experiences and find greater meaning in our professional lives.
Effectively Resting and Recharging: Identify what rejuvenates you, set boundaries, and prioritize rest to improve overall well-being and enhance work performance.
Finding a job you enjoy and investing time in it is crucial for personal growth and productivity. However, it can be challenging to disconnect and recharge, especially when work spills over into personal life. To effectively rest and recharge, individuals must identify what truly rejuvenates them and prioritize it. This could mean setting boundaries, such as turning off emails during time off, or making weekends a dedicated time for relaxation. The struggle to balance work and rest is common, but the importance of taking proper time off cannot be overstated. It not only improves overall well-being but also enhances work performance in the long run.
Recognizing the challenge of implementing knowledge: To make progress towards our goals and overcome biases, we must commit to implementing the knowledge and creating structures for positive behaviors.
Knowledge alone is not enough to overcome our biases and make positive changes in our lives. Both naive and sophisticated individuals struggle with implementing the advice they know to be true. The speaker specifically mentioned the challenge of taking weekends off as an area where she knows what she should do but still struggles to do it. The solution, according to the speaker, is to establish structures and commitments to put important actions into practice. The speaker shared her personal morning routine as an example of a successful structure that helps her focus on her priorities and avoid distractions. She emphasized the importance of identifying and tackling the hard tasks that move us forward, rather than procrastinating and warming up with easier tasks. The speaker acknowledged that everyone may have different preferences when it comes to productivity techniques, but the key is to find what works best for each individual and commit to it. Therefore, the takeaway is to recognize that knowing what to do is only half the battle. The real challenge lies in implementing the knowledge and creating structures to support positive behaviors. By committing to these structures and prioritizing hard tasks, we can make progress towards our goals and overcome our biases.
Balancing Work and Self-Care: To live a fulfilling life, prioritize work and self-care. Make time for self-care to avoid burnout and maintain overall well-being.
To live a balanced and fulfilling life, it's essential to prioritize both work and self-care. While finding work that you love can bring great joy, it can also lead to burnout if you don't make time for self-care. Self-care is about disconnecting and creating a change of scenery, whether it's a day at the spa or a budget-friendly unplugged moment at home. However, finding this balance can be challenging, especially when work spills over into personal life. It's crucial to set boundaries and make time for rest to avoid a warped view of productivity versus rest. Remember, getting enough sleep is personal and necessary for optimal recharging. Ultimately, finding a healthy balance between work and self-care is essential for overall well-being and happiness.
Focusing on a few key areas for greater productivity: Saying no more often, taking weekends off, and focusing on initiatives that make a positive impact can lead to increased productivity and progress.
Focusing on a few key areas instead of trying to do everything at once can lead to greater productivity and progress in the long run. It's important to identify what those areas are, even if it's a challenging question to answer with so many demands on our time. Grace Lichtenstein, the guest on the podcast, emphasizes the importance of saying no more often, taking weekends off, and focusing on initiatives that make a positive impact on society, while still maintaining the things we've built. Her book, "Think Big," offers insights and encourages experimentation to help individuals shape their future. The book is accessible and actionable, making it a valuable resource for those looking to make career changes or improve their work habits. By implementing these strategies, we can avoid the trap of constantly feeling overwhelmed and make the most of our time and energy.
The Power of Appreciation in Business: Appreciation boosts performance and productivity in businesses by fostering a culture of recognition, leading to improved employee engagement and morale.
Appreciation holds significant value, not just for individuals but also for organizations. At Eden Red's Reward Gateway, they understand this and offer a total employee experience platform to help companies harness the power of appreciation. By focusing on people and fostering a culture of recognition, businesses can experience improved performance and productivity. So, if you have suggestions for interesting topics to discuss or if you'd like to learn more about their platform, feel free to reach out. Remember, appreciation can bring about a rush of warmth and a wave of confidence, making it a valuable tool for personal and professional growth.
