Fast Track: Career conversations with Margie Hartley

Ep 100: Special Reflection Episode

Navigating the world of work and career is difficult at the best of times, and the pandemic has made it even harder. In this milestone 100th episode of Fast Track, Margie Hartley reflects on five impactful guests of the show around how to build psychological safety, dealing with jerks at work, the art of teamwork, the pursuit of perfection and being the coaching leader. Their expert advice and insights are sure to provide motivation and practical tips you can apply to accelerate your own career.
 

Ep 99: Bullying, harassment and toxic leadership

Being part of a toxic workplace or having a toxic leader can be complicated and confusing, and one person’s experience can be vastly different from another's. So how do we know if we're in a toxic workplace or have a toxic leader, and what can we do about it? Margie Hartley talks to Behavioural Scientist, CEO of Bright Research and Insights, and author of 'Bullying and Harassment: Understanding the psychological and behavioural tactics of the toxic leadership stronghold,' Susan Broomhall to get an evidence-based understanding of the different tactics used by toxic leaders that form a pattern of bullying, how a chaotic and dysfunctional environment enables leaders to have control, and insights to help navigate bullying and harrasment in the workplace.

Ep 98: Inspiring action through speech

Powerful speeches change minds, communities and the world, and teach us valuable lessons in the art of persuasion and creating positive change. Speech writing and presentation is a common minefield in leadership but a strong, engaging speech is imperative in giving direction, guidance and inspiration. Margie Hartley sits down with Founder of leadership consultancy Mojologic and author of What She Said, Monica Lunin to find out how powerful speeches work and why they’re effective, how we can deliver more persuasive presentations, why being good at oratorical leadership is so important to our career and how we can leverage the power of the spoken word.
 

Ep 97: Parents who lead

Parents who work in today’s fast-paced, volatile, and at times disorientating world can easily lose track of who they are and what really matters most. Feelings of reactivity and running from one thing to the next abound and many parents feel guilt at work because they aren’t at home and guilt at home because they aren’t doing work. Margie Hartley speaks with Organisational Psychologist and co-author of Parents Who Lead, Professor Alyssa Westring about how a leadership mindset can help parents reframe their approach to work and parenting, how overwhelmed parents can refocus their attention to better align with their priorities and why we need to Parent with Purpose.

Ep 96: Perform well by living well

We all want to perform our best at work, but this often comes at the expense of our well-being or physical health. Margie Hartley sits down with Coaching Psychologist and author of 'Get Moving Keep Moving' Dr Gordon Spence to learn how we can perform well by living well, why getting the balance right is transformative and how to best increase our motivation, energy levels and ultimately create a longer and more successful life.

Ep 95: Sponsorship

Have you got a sponsor? This is a question that is posed to workers in recent times and a discussion particularly held for women. So why is sponsorship important as part of an organisation's culture and what role can leaders play as sponsors in the workplace? Margie Hartley talks to Managing Director at Pathway To Your Potential and adjunct professor at Torrens University, Dr Jess Murphy to find out how sponsorship is different to coaching and mentoring, why meritocracy is a myth, and how to build a culture of sponsorship in the workplace.

Ep 94: Don’t Quit Your Day Job

In the age of the Great Resignation, the idea of quitting seems to be on everyone’s mind. Margie Hartley sits down with former Google and Twitter executive, now Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group and author of 'Don’t Quit Your Day Job' Aliza Knox, to uncover how to have a great career and a fulfilling personal life at the same time, why stamina is essential to longevity in a career and the importance of seeing the bigger picture and rising above the low points. They discuss the essential mind shifts needed to thrive, why success depends not just on hard work but also our ability to build and maintain genuine relationships throughout our career, and practical strategies for when we feel stuck in a job that no longer challenges or inspires us.

Ep 93: Jerks at work

Have you ever watched a colleague charm the pants off management while showing a competitive, Machiavellian side to the lower ranks? They happily throw peers under the bus, but their boss is oblivious to their bad behaviour. What about a constantly interrupting colleague, or an over-bearing manager? Margie Hartley speaks with Professor of Psychology at New York University and author of 'Jerks at Work,' Professor Tessa West about how to spot a jerk at work, understanding their motivations in order to deal with them and the best way to manage and respond to poor behaviour in the workplace.

Ep 92: Navigating work when your life is in crisis

What do you do when you're a confident working human one day and then the next, a cancer diagnosis blows your life up? Margie Hartley talks to global digital leader and author of The Naked Truth About Breast Cancer, Jane Marshall to learn how to best handle difficult and disruptive life-changing events both personally and as leaders, how to navigate this important part of our identity alongside our work, and the right and wrong way to lead or work alongside someone who is going through a major personal crisis.

Ep 91: Is the four-day work week really possible?

In several countries around the world, the four-day working week has been trialled where workers moved from a 40 hour week to 35 hours, without a reduction in pay. The trial found that productivity remained the same but wellbeing increased and there was a reduction in stress and burnout. So as we come out of the greatest remote working social situation, how does the four-day work week stack up? Margie Hartley speaks with Vice President of Research and Advisory for Gartner, Aaron McEwan about what’s possible with the 4 day work week, whether it's good for us, good for productivity and good for society.