Jenny Blake
363: 🌈 Taking a Quiet Sabbatical and ...

As I round the corner into this ninth year of podcasting, after over 700 episodes today, I’m announcing a pause for both shows.

Listen in to hear what factors helped me reach this decision across time, money, energy, depressing industry articles, the pace of both shows’ growth, and mix of additional business factors that make this an important moment to pause and regroup. You might also appreciate the even deeper dive with my longtime friend (and first coach) Adrian Klaphaak in Pivot episode 360: 📦 Unpacking a Big Business Decision and Dissolving Related Doubts.

Jenny Blake
362: Setting Creative Intentions Instead of ...

“Expectations are the enemy to the creative process. Sometimes you have to let go of the known to see the unknown.”

Today I’m speaking with James McCrae, an author, poet, and meme artist based in Austin, Texas. He is the founder of 🌻 Sunflower Club, a global school and community dedicated to conscious creativity.

Jenny Blake
361: On Decision Engineering and Evaluating ...

Good decision-making is not about omniscience or clairvoyance—it's more about resilience, according to today’s guest, decision engineer Michelle Florendo. “Decision-making is harder than ever before, and it's not your fault,” Michelle says. “People feel like they ‘should just know’ how to decide.”

Today we’re talking about a framework more helpful than pro-con lists, tuning into your head, heart and gut; why the quality of your decision is not equal to the outcome—did good or bad things happen; keeping a decision journal to evaluate the quality of your decisions regardless of the outcome; and how to drop the guilt of “bad” past outcomes.

Jenny Blake
360: 📦 Unpacking a Big Business Decision ...

What happens when you make a big decision but still have lingering doubt, fear, and even despair? How do you know when a “download” from the universe is worth following, and what does test-driving a decision look like? What happens on the other side or when a pivot is taking far longer than planned?

We’re unpacking all these topics in today’s twelfth and final (for now) conversation for the Pivot x Career Pathfinder series with Adrian Klaphaak.

Jenny Blake
359: “You can’t give what you don’t have” — ...

“You can’t give what you don’t have.” That’s just one of the powerful lessons that Nataly Kogan learned the hard way seven years ago, after suffering a debilitating phase of burnout. As a former refugee from the former Soviet Union, she began her American journey in the projects and on welfare, then going on to build an impressive career as a finance and tech executive and serial entrepreneur over the next 25 years. Until she crashed at thirty-eight years old and needed to find a new way of moving forward.

As part of her healing process, Nataly began to paint when she was 40 by signing up for a painting retreat in Tuscony (that turned out to be for semi-professional watercolorists), and now her paintings are on the cover of her books—front and center as part of her bold self-expression.

Lead

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🦠174: Screen Fatigue—15+ Sanity Strategies for Organizers and Participants

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🦠174: Screen Fatigue—15+ Sanity Strategies for Organizers and Participants

Do your eyeballs hurt?! No matter my joy and awe at humanity’s creativity in times of crisis in terms of moving everything online—everything. is. online. Even pre-pandemic, our phones were already spitting out weekly Screen Time reports to help us put down the devices . . . now we’re glued to them as the only outlet for social connection, culture, and productivity.

In a New York Times article, When a Home Becomes Headquarters—also titled “Logged on from the Laundry Room” (LOL)—even the CEO of Cisco, the company that runs meeting software WebEx, Chuck Robbins acknowledged the difficulties. He said, “I tell you…this whole teleworking thing — as much as we sell it to our customers, I’m not sure I want to do it 100 percent of the time. Nobody prepares for this,” he said.

At the same time, people want to connect! We are hungry for it, going stir crazy, and missing our cultural outings. I wholeheartedly agree with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, who said “It’s a miracle you can run a company this way."

So today I’m sharing 16 strategies for staying sane amidst the endless screens—particularly for work-related meetings—across three categories: for meeting leaders, participants, and during the meeting best practices.

Got a brilliant solution I’m missing? Submit follow-up questions or audio notes for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/174

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🦠173: Beautiful Questions for Challenging Times with Steve Morris

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🦠173: Beautiful Questions for Challenging Times with Steve Morris

“There’s nothing more powerful than a united group of souls ignited in a common cause with love at the core.” – Steven Morris

Steve Morris is on a mission to help organizations and their leaders rise to their potential to live and work wholeheartedly, while making a positive impact on the world. In this conversation we talk about beautiful questions that reorient one’s life trajectory, moments of truth, and the practice of pivoting, or evolving.

We me after he sent me a handwritten thank you note, then two years later we got to meet in person when I took his 2018 workshop on how to cultivate a life of curiosity.

Steve’s emphasis on curiosity, conscious business, and wholeheartedness are an inspiration to me, and I know you’ll love his take on how to cultivate habits and a path of choosing curiosity over fear. Be sure to also check out his free Care Package for COVID-19.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/173

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🦠171: Dr. MJC on Business Scenario Planning, Buying Time, and Third Doors (Part 2)

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🦠171: Dr. MJC on Business Scenario Planning, Buying Time, and Third Doors (Part 2)

Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back for part two of this week’s “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now. And more importantly, we’re diving into practical tips and tools for the business side of things: journaling, scenario planning, buying time, “hot wash” analysis, and third door solutions.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://pivotmethod.com/171

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🦠163: 25 Favorite Tips for WFH (Working From Home)

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🦠163: 25 Favorite Tips for WFH (Working From Home)

While it can seem distracting and disorienting at first, working from home is an incredible opportunity to tune into your circadian rhythms and exactly how you work best. Even though your new commute may be from the bed to the living room to the office, you can still create rituals and boundaries that set you up for success when you start the day, and sanity when you end it. These are 25 of my favorite tips from nine years of working from home.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Background from our kick-off to this series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.

When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well, which has now turned into a full-blown series:

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/163

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🦠162: What It's Like—Two Weeks in to Self-Quarantine in the Seattle Area (Hint: Ditch the Pressure for a Pinterest-Worthy Pandemic Response)

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🦠162: What It's Like—Two Weeks in to Self-Quarantine in the Seattle Area (Hint: Ditch the Pressure for a Pinterest-Worthy Pandemic Response)

While all of us have been adjusting to self-imposed social distancing and quarantine this week under new global guidelines, Lindsay Pedersen had a head start. She and her family live in the greater Seattle area, which was the site of the first major outbreak in the U.S. In this conversation with Lindsey and Dr. Consuelos, we talk about the emotional rollercoaster of the entire family staying home all day, and creative ways to infuse silliness, sanity, and connection.

Quick background on both: Lindsay Pedersen is a brand strategist and author of Forging an Ironclad Brand. Dr. Michael J. Consuelos is the Principal at MJC Solutions, a veteran-owned, small business that provides professional consulting and advisory services to organizations serving the healthcare sector. He has held several leadership roles in emergency preparedness and pandemic response since 1997.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Background from our kick-off to this series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.

When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well, which has now turned into a full-blown series:

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/161

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🦠 161: Personal Safety, Contingency Planning, and Crucial Conversations with Dr. Michael J. Consuelos

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🦠 161: Personal Safety, Contingency Planning, and Crucial Conversations with Dr. Michael J. Consuelos

Just this morning (after we recorded), the recommendation has gone from not gathering in groups larger than 50 to groups larger than 10. Dr. Michael J. Conseulos and I are back in a “huddle” as we discuss what’s in the news now.

In this episode, we discuss how all of us can stay safe, think through contingency plans, and have crucial conversations with our family members and others as we all practice unprecedented social distancing.

What’s on your mind? Submit follow-up questions for a future COVID-19 conversation at http://pivotmethod.com/ask

Background from our kick-off to this series, episode 159: With so much happening daily in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.

When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/161

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🦠 159: Pivoting Around a Pandemic—Maintaining Business Continuity and Caring for Self and Others with Dr. Michael Consuelos

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🦠 159: Pivoting Around a Pandemic—Maintaining Business Continuity and Caring for Self and Others with Dr. Michael Consuelos

With so much happening in the world and global economy around coronavirus, we’re all dealing with massive amounts of uncertainty, pivots at work, and for many—fear and anxiety that comes with not only the health concerns, but questions around how to maintain our livelihoods moving forward.

When Momentum member and pandemic expert Dr. Michael J. Consuelos reached out to offer himself as a resource to the JBE team and the MoMo community, I jumped at the chance to record a conversation for all of you as well.

In this episode, we discuss how entrepreneurs, leaders and organizations can transition from fear and anxiety toward calm, measured action and experiments. How can we know what actions to take? We can’t. These times require responsiveness, vulnerability, transparency, releasing perfectionism, and a willingness to be far more innovative and creative than we have in the past.

Michael and I talk about how to shift from victim to hero, how to quiet internal concerns, and small daily actions to focus on—as well as what organizations and entrepreneurs can we learn from each other during “Black Swan” events like these.

This is a wide-ranging, imperfect, in-the-moment response so we could at least start the conversation around how to maintain business continuity while Pivoting around a pandemic, primarily for people in information-based roles and industries — and both of us are open to an ongoing series on this topic if/as you find it helpful! Feel free to submit follow-up questions for a future episode at http://pivotmethod.com/ask.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at http://PivotMethod.com/159.

Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call where you can ask me anything, and discuss the latest books, tools and topics I’ve shared in recent episodes. Our next session is TODAY, March 11th — with Michael as our special co-host to answer COVID-19 specific questions — I’d love for you to join us!

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156: MBS on Tipping Points and Pivoting Out of CEO (From His Own Company)

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156: MBS on Tipping Points and Pivoting Out of CEO (From His Own Company)

I’m so excited to share this week’s Pivot conversation with one of my longtime friends and most important mentors, Michael Bungay Stanier. We talk about tipping points, preparing for TED Talks, and transitioning out of the CEO role from the company he founded nearly 20 years ago, Box of Crayons. We are also celebrating the launch of his latest brilliant book, The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious, and Change the Way You Lead Forever.

To enroll in free upcoming workshops on the Pivot Method as a coaching for managers, mentors, and leaders, visit PivotMethod.com/live. Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at PivotMethod.com/156.

Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call where you can ask me anything, and discuss the latest books, tools and topics I’ve shared in recent episodes. Our next call is coming up on March 11!

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155: Becoming a Successful Speaker with Grant Baldwin

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155: Becoming a Successful Speaker with Grant Baldwin

This week’s episode was recorded while on the road, preparing to speak at the International Monetary Fund to help them kick-off new career programs for 2020 (an honor!).

Thankful for a quiet hotel room all to myself in the midst of puppy-training (semi)chaos, I stacked a call with my attorney for a licensing contract, then recorded this interview and two solo shows — true to this week’s topic of navigating life as a professional speaker!

Grant and I discuss guidance from his new book, The Successful Speaker: Simple Steps to Make a Living Off Your Message, on everything from pricing, to outreach, to navigating life on the road.

Check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned at PivotMethod.com/155.

Enjoying the show? Pivot Podcast is listener supported—consider donating to become a Pivot Insider and you’ll get access to a private monthly Q&A call where you can ask me anything, and discuss the latest books, tools and topics I’ve shared in recent episodes.

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142: Creative Economy Lessons from “The Great Race to Rule Streaming TV”

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142: Creative Economy Lessons from “The Great Race to Rule Streaming TV”

Given the “mutation of television’s DNA” that reporter Jonah Weiner describes in his fantastic New York Times Magazine article, The Great Race to Rule Streaming TV, there is much we can learn about where the creative economy is heading, how to stand out, and how to Pivot your own creative projects.

This article is so juicy—so jam-packed with insights into where TV is heading that parallels publishing, podcasting and product creation—that I couldn’t resist jumping on the mic to do a point-by-point analysis of how they might apply to our own creative projects in this experimental episode.

The article—and what we’re going to dive into together—spans a fascinating swath of topics that I’ll help unpack. Everything from prestige content versus quick bites, hyper-abundance and the atmosphere of plentitude, infinite possibilities, unpredictability, celebrating fringe, “great-ish” and the golden age of good enough, quiet time meetings, licensing versus original content, hoarding, the great reclamation of content, perceived barriers to entry, and preserving storytelling.

If it goes well, and you’re interested in these topics, I can even invite Jonah to a follow-up interview for the Pivot podcast. :)

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132: The Making of a Manager with Julie Zhuo

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132: The Making of a Manager with Julie Zhuo

In her book, The Making of a Manager: What To Do When Everyone Looks To You, author Julie Zhuo takes us back to the childhood lemonade stand in a way that flipped a major “aha” lightbulb switch for me.

As the founder of a budding business, you might be the best at making lemonade, or at least think you are, even as you hire helpers to (wo)man the stand. But if you only ever make lemonade you’ll only be serving an additive role in your business. Instead, if you hire a small team and teach them how to make the lemonade, even if they’re not quite as skilled as you at first, you’ll be serving a multiplicative role.

You serving as a multiplier in your business means exponential returns are possible (including exponentially reducing your time). But most of us aren’t handed a manual on how to become an effective manager of other people—we learn by fumbling through the job. In this conversation, Julie and I dig into the three P’s of people management: people, process, and purpose—and it’s a good idea to create a user guide to . . . you!

Download a copy of Julie’s sample user guide below (or if you’re viewing this in a podcast player view full show notes at http://pivotmethod.com/132).

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97: Conscious Business, Superconscious Capitalism, and The Meaning Revolution with Fred Kofman: a Teacher Who Changed My Life Without Knowing It

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97: Conscious Business, Superconscious Capitalism, and The Meaning Revolution with Fred Kofman: a Teacher Who Changed My Life Without Knowing It

Although it wouldn't be like him to take much (if any credit), Fred Kofman changed the trajectory of my life. This week I got the privilege of thanking him, live on the Pivot Podcast.

A little backstory: In 2006, while working at Google on the training team under Sheryl Sandberg’s Online Sales & Operations organization, I was fortunate to participate in a three-day immersion called Conscious Business, based on a book by visionary leader, teacher and thinker Fred Kofman.

Just 23 years old at the time, it opened my eyes to powerful principles like taking full responsibility (player versus victim), making and keeping impeccable commitments, integrity in action, success beyond success, and much more. Two small examples: I stopped saying the phrase, “I’ll try” — replacing it instead with what I will (or will not) do and by when — and I aim for total truth in my speech, over even small white lies, such as saying I’m not feeling well as a reason to back out on plans if that’s not true.

As part of the program, I also had three coaching sessions that led to my biggest contributions at Google, and everything I’m doing now. Because of those sessions, I connected with my mission to help others, completed CTI’s coach training and certification, co-created Google’s global Career Guru program to help launch these meaningful conversations for others, started the Life After College blog that became my first book in 2011, then left to pursue my own business, write Pivot . . . and the rest is history—or at least readily available on previous Pivot Podcasts 😃

And this week, nearly twelve years later, I got to connect with Fred to interview him about his new book, The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership, diving into his thoughts around “superconscious capitalism” — how business is enhanced through spirituality, meaning and love — and how he decided to make his own pivots from Axialent to LinkedIn and now Google as a leadership development advisor.

Most importantly, to Fred: thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for who you are, all that you stand for, and the many fires you light within others.

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90: Inside the Mindset, Systems and Strategies of charity: water's Chief Operating Officer Lauren Letta

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90: Inside the Mindset, Systems and Strategies of charity: water's Chief Operating Officer Lauren Letta

In Pivot I ask what your sliding doors career/s might be: in a parallel universe, if time, money and judgement from others were not a factor, what other career paths could you see yourself taking?

I often play this game with friends even while going about life in New York, calling out alternate reality careers when I see them. For example, in one scenario I’m a book-color-coding consultant for wealthy people's personal libraries, traveling up and down Manhattan and beautifying their bookshelves. 

Another title that always fascinated me: Chief Operations Officer. All those logistics and systems and processes, oh my! So I was thrilled to discover this week’s guest, Lauren Letta, who serves in that very role at charity:water. In this conversation we explore what it means to organize an entire rapidly-growing organization, why role labels are overrated, her best strategies for building scalable systems, and how to be open to pivoting within a company even before you can spot specific opportunities.

This episode also coincides with World Water Day, a United Nations observance day to increase global knowledge about water related issues, that's coming up on Wednesday, March 22! World Water Day is a big moment each year for charity: water as the organization continues to raise awareness about the global water crisis.

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31: Illuminate: How to Lead a Movement with Nancy Duarte

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31: Illuminate: How to Lead a Movement with Nancy Duarte

“The future is a formless void, a blank space waiting to be filled. And then a Torchbearer envisions a new possibility. Some say being a torchbearer is a burden. Some say it’s a blessing. Either way, those who light the path are the ones who change the world.” —Nancy Duarte and Patti Sanchez, Torchbearer’s Calling in Illuminate

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6: How I Work with My VA: Systems and Strategy

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For those of you considering hiring a virtual assistant in 2014, I cannot recommend it highly enough — this is easily one of the best things I did for my life and business last year. And yet, control freak that I am, I did not go down without a fight!

For YEARS I had read all the books (4-hour Work Week chief among them), and knew the importance of delegating and not being a bottleneck. But each time I tried to move forward with hiring someone, I got overwhelmed, discouraged and gave up. Who to hire? US or overseas? What should I delegate? How do I do it efficiently? Can I trust them?  

Thankfully I gave it another go by hiring someone in October, and I’ve been hooked ever since. After just four days of working together, she became indispensable to my daily workflow.