Overview

Today I’m joined by Al Dea, the founder of Betterwork Labs, an organization focused on helping companies create cultures where their people can thrive. Al is an author, speaker, podcast host, and researcher on workplace trends and talent development.

In this conversation, we talk about key aspects of building a sustainable career. Both Al and I believe in paying attention, following your curiosities, and the power of community. Al shares more on the importance of being self-reflective while also getting into action, building your career operating system, and fostering a mindset for career growth. Al offers a lot of great wisdom bombs in here!

Al - I love what you champion and appreciate your ambition to create better work for all. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insights with us!

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Overview

In this Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip, host Kathy Oneto talks about career arcs with adventure, grace, and courage. Often when people are at a career inflection point, they can feel angst and guilt and be cautious. Why? Because there’s a lot of well-meaning, yet inaccurate, work and career advice out there that sets the wrong expectations. When we aren’t able to live up to those expectations, stress manifests. Instead, Kathy talks about reframing towards adventure, grace, and courage to help reduce the stress associated with such transitions and, most importantly, redirect our energy to help us enjoy and make positive progress on our career journeys.

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Leanne Hughes, an Australian businesswoman, entrepreneur, and high-performance business consultant who helps organizations lift performance through people. Leanne is also the host of two podcasts: First Time Facilitator and Leanne Hughes’ Work and Live Large.

In this conversation, we hear about Leanne’s own career journey, what led her to find her zone of genius, and what took her out on her own leaving Corporate. We learn about one of Leanne’s core philosophies around treating life like an experiment. Leanne is a prime example of someone who leans into taking action and learning by doing. For her, a paradox is that it isn’t confidence that gets her into action, but rather knowing that being in action is what actually breeds confidence.

What I loved in this conversation was hearing how Leanne is continuously moving towards how she operates best in the world and leans into what’s possible for herself, just as she is championing with Work and Live Large, through which she helps you imagine what's possible is possible for you.

This was such an energizing conversation, Leanne! Thank you for being on and sharing your journey and wisdom with us all.

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Overview

This Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip builds on the last Quick Tip in Episode 67: On Don’t Know? Get Into Action. Many of us often get caught off guard when our life and work algorithm shifts. How can we avoid being surprised, leaving us standing in the messy middle of a career transition not knowing what’s next? By being proactive and consistently exploring and investing in our next play. Thinking about what’s next as a practice can help us avoid feeling angst on the journey and being overly cautious along the way.

This concept is rooted in the Sustainable Ambition method, yet this episode was inspired by a talk I was able to hear back in May with Shane Battier, the basketball player who played for Duke in college and won two NBA championships with the Miami Heat. This core mantra of Duke’s former, legendary basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), has relevance for all of us.

How are you exploring and investing in your next play?

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Overview

In this episode, I’m joined by my friend, Wade Brill, who was on the podcast with me early on in Episode 5. Wade is a Mindfulness Coach, Podcaster and Speaker.

Wade and I got together to discuss Pace, a topic we’re passionate about as it shows up in the work that we both do. If you’ve been listening to the podcast, you know that I’ve talked about pace on a few other episodes in the past year: Episode 52: On Setting Your Own Pace and Episode 39 on Rethinking & Shaping Your Time.

We thought it would be interesting to explore this topic further and share our own experiences working with and experiencing pace.

This is the second episode where we talk about ambitions, goals, and pace. How does pace show up when we consider ambitions and where that intersects with life and work? We hope through these two episodes that we raise your awareness of the power of thinking about and being intentional with pace both in your daily experiences and how you manage your personal and professional ambitions.

It’s been a pleasure, Wade! What thought-provoking conversations, and I was even a part of them! These discussions have further deepened my own consideration of pace in my life and my decision-making.

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Overview

In this episode, I’m joined by my friend, Wade Brill, who was on the podcast with me early on in Episode 5. Wade is a Mindfulness Coach, Podcaster and Speaker.

Wade and I got together to discuss Pace, a topic we’re passionate about as it shows up in the work that we both do. If you’ve been listening to the podcast, you know that I’ve talked about pace on a few other episodes in the past year: Episode 52: On Setting Your Own Pace and Episode 39 on Rethinking & Shaping Your Time.

We thought it would be interesting to explore this topic further and share our own experiences working with and experiencing pace.

This is the first episode where we talk about how we define pace and what works for each of us around a slow or fast pace and when it feels right. We close with some tips on what works for us in working with pace. Perhaps you’ll get inspired to try some of our practices and see what works best for you. We hope at minimum that we raise awareness for you of the power of thinking about pace and being intentional with pace both in your daily experiences and how you manage your personal and professional ambitions.

Wade - I always love being in conversation with you. 😊 And thank you for being one of my guides on my own journey of Sustainable Ambition, often reminding me to get centered and be thoughtful about my own pace.

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Overview

In this Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip, host Kathy Oneto offers an antidote to not knowing what you want to do. When you don’t know, get into action.

Kathy shares how one of the most common phrases she hears from coaching clients and those in a career inflection point is, ”I don't know what I want to do!” It’s usually said with angst and frustration. She found the same having done research with those who made career transitions; they often start the process in a state of not knowing. If you are in a career or life transition and find yourself saying the same thing, this quick tip is for you.

Putting this quick tip into action requires just that. Action. Listen in for more.

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Art Markman, a professor of psychology, human dimensions of organizations, and marketing and vice provost of continuing and professional education and new education ventures at the University of Texas at Austin. Art brings insights from cognitive science to a broader audience through his blogs at Psychology Today and Fast Company, as well as his radio show/podcast Two Guys on Your Head.

I wanted to have Art on the show because I kept running into his content from the above blogs and in Harvard Business Review. I then went on to read his books. I knew he’d have a lot of great insights to share on how to think about career management, be more fulfilled in our work, and how to work at our best, especially in today’s environment. Art didn’t disappoint.

We cover a lot of ground in this discussion, and Art offers a lot of great nuggets of wisdom on how to manage one’s career over time, feel more successful day-to-day, be more productive, and sustain oneself. I love the idea of starting meetings with a joy moment and the sneaky, smart tip to put a meeting with a “fake” person on your calendar to carve out thinking time. I’m doing both!

Art - thank you so much for being on and being willing to share your brain insights with all of us!

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Overview

In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 5 of the series, the final episode, we talk about getting your brand and new business going: the launch and beyond.

We cover some similar ground yet go deeper in exploring how to build your visibility, activate your connections, other approaches for sales and marketing, and be prepared to demonstrate your credibility and the importance of doing great work. Throughout, we offer power tips and set expectations to embrace the journey of work-life after corporate life.

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for the fun and informative series, Philip! Always great to be in conversation with you.

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Overview

In this episode, Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition, builds on the series that kicked off the year on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year. This episode is about checking in on your Q2 progress. How have things gone? What worked? What didn’t work? What do you want to practice next? It’s time to Assess and Adapt to help you both stretch and sustain yourself in your life+work in the months ahead.

The series coincided with the launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together over the year. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

Have a beautiful and enjoyable summer! Here’s to sustaining ourselves!

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Overview

In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 4 of the series, we talk about getting resourced for going out on your own and running your business. What is the “infrastructure” you need to put in place to have your business operate.

Another way to think about it is what do you need for your front office (like your website, social, email lists, and more) and back office (like administrative systems and your physical office) and with whom are you going to work (not clients, but partners or team members) to deliver your product or services.

A fun discussion, Philip! On to Part 5 in the series! To close things out: Getting your brand and new business going: The set-up and beyond.

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Jack Hsueh who is an ultra-marathoner who has run races like the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-mile race, Tor de Géants which is a 330km race in Italy running through the Alps (which takes about 6 days to run!), and the Western States 100. Jack does these events while managing his career and having a family.

I wanted to have Jack on to learn how participating in endurance events that require commitment, resilience, and grit helps inform how we might manage our life+work from decade to decade, which in our modern times is an endurance event, as well.

Building on Episode 54 with Dominic DeMarco, in this conversation with Jack we discuss finding motivation in loving the journey, the benefits of putting in the work, redefining success beyond the outcome, embracing failure, and how others support you along the way.

Jack - I loved our conversation! Thank you so much for sharing with us. You’ve given us a lot to think about and consider on how to apply your experiences to our own life+work journeys.

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Overview

On Episode 61, I’m in conversation with Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 3 of the series, we talk about what to do before you leave your Corporate gig, putting plans in place so you have a soft landing when you do go out on your own, yet knowing that you can’t plan it all and will need to learn and pivot along the way.

In the end this conversation is about managing the transition from one to the other, from Corporate to being on your own, and that includes creating a transition plan to start with, addressing both internal and external support you’ll need. Then think about your initial business model and brand plan for how you want to present yourself. And be prepared for the fact that it will evolve over time.

We’re on a roll, Philip! On to Part 4 in the series! Next up: Getting resourced to be ready when you start your own work outside corporate.

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Overview

Ruth Gotian has for decades studied and researched the most successful people of our generation, including Nobel laureates, astronauts, and Olympic champions, to understand what they do when the world isn't watching that ultimately put them in an elite class of people who achieved exceptional success.

In this conversation, we dig into Ruth’s research and her new book, The Success Factor: Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Business Performance. We discuss why it’s important to find what you love to do, how to optimize what you work on and when to improve your productivity and avoid burnout, the importance of breaks and staying true to the fundamentals, and why mentorship is critical to success. Ruth offers many great insights from the best of the best, and the book offers useful guides to support your own personal journey.

Thank you, Ruth, for sharing your insightful work on unlocking the keys to success and showing all of us the way to reach beyond the average.

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Overview

In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 2 of the series, we talk about recognizing it’s time to go and how to go.

In this conversation, we share our own experiences with stepping out on our own, talk about the importance of paying attention to the internal and external signals you might be noticing that are telling you that leaving Corporate might be a good next step for you, acknowledge that transitions can take time, and importantly share how to leave to best support you on your next adventure.

Great discussion, Philip! On to Part 3 in the series! Next up: What to do before you leave.

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Overview

In our first episode in the series of Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tips, host Kathy Oneto talks about sustaining ourselves through energizing.

Oftentimes we think that recovering and building resilience come from rest. But what if that’s not the case? What if instead we actually need to get our metabolism going? We need a shot of adrenaline?

That’s what I learned over the last year during the pandemic, both through my own experiences and also through coaching and talking with friends.

How can you put this quick tip into action? If you are like some of us who are starting to feel a little antsy or dull even and you are looking to find a new spark or need some stimulation, add an energizer. What will energize you or inspire you?

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