Unf*cking Work

In this episode of the Unfucking Work Podcast, Michelle Minnikin and James interview Alex, who shares insights into their journey of realising the flaws in the traditional approach to work and life. Alex discusses the importance of living intentionally and mindfully, rather than on autopilot, and reflects on the pivotal moments in their life that led to this realisation. She also explores the concept of post-traumatic growth and how personal tragedies can accelerate our journeys towards self-discovery and fulfilment. Alex shares her perspective on finding a balance between work and personal life, as well as her upcoming venture into coaching. She emphasises the importance of authenticity and self-awareness in personal and professional development, encouraging listeners to reflect on their desires and strengths. Key Points: Tips for Listeners: Find Alex: Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-couzens/ Website - https://www.alexandracouzenscoaching.co.uk/ About Work Pirates: The Work Pirates Unf*cking Work podcast is for people who want to unf*ck the workplace. Whether you’re a People Professional, a Business Owner or Leader or you’re simply looking to make work a better place to be, then, the Unfucking Work podcast is for you. Hosted by James Eves and Michelle Minnikin of Work Pirates. Climb aboard and join us on our mission to unfuck work for all.

In this podcast, we managed to get the authors of some amazing books in the same place, at the same time, after much wrangling! Jon Alexander and Sam Conniff join James Eves and Michelle Minnikin. We talk about: Jon Alexander is the author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us - a book that seeks to reframe the moment in time we're living in as one of huge civic opportunity, not just crisis and collapse, and in doing so opens up a world of possibility for organisations and leaders across sectors and across the world. He also co-founded the New Citizenship Project, a strategy and innovation consultancy that aims to shift the dominant story of the individual in society from Consumer to Citizen. Jon’s Links - https://www.jonalexander.net/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-alexander-11b66345/ Sam Conniff is the author of Be More Pirate and co-author of How to be more Pirate. His current passion is his social experiment - Uncertainty Experts. His work revolves around: Sam’s Links - https://www.samconniff.com/links https://www.linkedin.com/in/samconniff We've also bagged a 15% off discount code for our community with the code UFWPOD -Unf*cking Work x Uncertainty Experts You can also watch this podcast on Youtube - Watch this on youtube - https://youtu.be/EZFB8Cg4Nck Find out more about us at www.workpirates.com

Rebecca Cullum is a consultant working with leaders and teams to rewrite and build innovative and future-focused team culture. Her heart is for courageous, human, and creative leaders with engaged and thriving teams. Rebecca has two decades of experience in industry-leading tech and telecoms organisations. Her experience ranges from managing high-profile projects, supporting executive teams, building leadership teams, and leading culture change. For the last 8 years, she has worked directly with leadership teams on building culture, engagement, and performance. Her experience has given her a passion to re-imagine our ways of working, challenge expectations and disrupt the status quo. Being both strategic and action-orientated in her approach, she has a track record of turning workplace challenges into specific, achievable goals. As a trained counsellor she also brings a valuable level of insight into her client work. She is a unique mix of energy, passion, challenge, determination and compassion. Rebecca brings an entrepreneurial spirit into her consultancy work. Before her corporate career, she was the co-founder of a coffee shop at the age of 22. She successfully bid for funding, managed a building re-fit and established the coffee shop as a hub in the community. We talk about: The need to future-proof teams by focusing on building behaviors and mindsets, rather than just technical skills. Why building a learning culture is crucial for future-proofing teams. How creating an environment where failure is celebrated rather than punished fosters a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement. Find out more about Rebecca: https://www.rebeccacullum.co.uk/ or on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-cullum/ Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates. Find out more about Good Girl Deprogramming at https://www.michelleminnikin.com/ and the book is available to buy now in all major book retailers.

Paula Gardner of Scarlet Thinking is a business psychologist, Human Givens psychotherapist and executive coach working with businesses and their employees around visibility, stress, overwhelm and getting needs met in the workplace. With a background of previously running her own PrRand marketing company, Paula advises and consults around creating businesses where everyone feels visible, vital and valued. We talk about: The importance of recognising and addressing human needs in the workplace The nine key human needs and the significance of understanding and fulfilling these needs for employee well-being and engagement Creating a fulfilling and productive work environment Find Paula On her website - https://www.scarletthinking.com/human-givens-consultancy/ Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates

#18 Alex Barker Alex Barker is a speaker, facilitator, writer and community builder. And a Pirate Captain. She’s the Co-Author of How to Be More Pirate, the sequel book to Be More Pirate, and Captain of the ever-growing community. She’s also an advocate of helping women find their voice, to become more influential, powerful and effective speakers, negotiators and decision-makers. We talk about: How she advocates for empowering women to enhance their influence, power, and effectiveness in various roles, including as speakers, negotiators, and decision-makers. Disconnection between an organisation's stated values and true motives often leads to organisational gaslighting. The significance of rest as an initial step when facing workplace challenges, as taking a break can help individuals gather their thoughts and energy. Find Alex On her website - https://alexbarker.co.uk/ On Be More Pirate - https://www.bemorepirate.com/ On Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-barker-46745471 On Twitter - https://twitter.com/AlexandraBarke1 Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates

#17 - Vanessa Raath - Unf*cking Work This month James and Michelle speak to Vanessa Raath about unf*cking work. Vanessa is globally renowned for her contributions to the international Sourcing Community. She has delivered Keynotes across three continents and has trained teams based from Auckland to Seattle. Vanessa launched her Talent Sourcing Training business in early 2019 and has not looked back. She is a qualified teacher with experience in both agency recruiting and internal talent acquisition (she loved both roles!). She now gets to combine her love of empowering others to do better, with her passion for recruiting through her own Online Academy. She loves it when her training delegates experience that ‘light bulb’ moment as she knows that she has just changed someone’s career, for the better. When Vanessa is not doing research for her training, recording content or delivering a Keynote, you can find her at the Beach or in the South African Bushveld, taking photographs. In this episode we talk about: The need for companies to consider individual preferences and circumstances when determining work arrangements. Why managers should possess the skills to effectively manage remote teams. The need to embrace and learn how to use AI tools rather than fearing their impact on job security Find Vanessa On LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessaraath/ On Twitter - https://twitter.com/Van_Raath On Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/van_raath/ On YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@Van_Raath On Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/vanessa.raath.3/ On her website - https://academy.vanessaraath.com/ Read Vanessa's Guest Blog - https://www.workpirates.com/post/unfucking-work-with-vanessa-raath Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates

#16 - Matt Ballantine - Unf*cking Work This month James and Michelle speak to Matt Ballantine about unf*cking work. Matt is a sociologist and technologist who has worked managing and leading technology teams in organisations across the public and private sectors for the last 30 years, including the BBC, Microsoft and Reuters. Since June 2022 he has been an Engagement Manager at Equal Experts. He usually also has at least a couple of side projects on the go at any given time. In this episode, we talk about: The lie that all problems can be solved by technology Human-sized organisations and all the things that go wrong when people increase beyond that number. And why performance management processes are the devil incarnate! Find Matt and PlayCards here: https://stamplondon.co.uk/, Matt on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattballantine/ and Equal Experts here: https://www.equalexperts.com/ Matt's Blog on the Work Pirates Website - https://www.workpirates.com/post/unfucking-work-with-matt-ballantine Find out more about the Milgram experiment - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment Find out more about Human - https://www.we-are-human.co.uk/ Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates

This month James and Michelle speak to Grant Duncan about unf*cking careers. With a career spanning both executive search and consumer media industries, Grant brings significant experience from these worlds of consumer media and content where he has worked with some of the world's biggest companies to build their senior teams. These are sectors that were disrupted early on by digital, so he has also developed expertise in advising organisations across all sectors on how to navigate the leadership challenges and opportunities of digital transformation. Before joining Korn Ferry, Grant worked at a global search and leadership advisory firm where he led the U.K. TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) and EMEA Digital Transformation Practices. Prior to working in executive search, he spent 25 years in the advertising industry, latterly as CEO of Publicis Groupe's U.K. operation. Grant is the author of Looking Beyond the Car in Front, which guides both senior and mid-career business executives in taking a more assertive and strategic longer-term approach to career choices. Grant is a Patron of the Royal Television Society and Fellow of both the Marketing Society and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. Grant holds an MA from St Andrew's University and is a graduate of the INSEAD Advanced Management Programme. In this episode we talk about: How we need to be more conscious about managing our careers and not having always to follow the obvious paths to success Not having to be good at everything and know all the things when you're a leader Trying to find work that is fulfilling and meaningful to you. Find Grant at his website - grant-duncan.co.uk and get social with Grant on FaceBook, Twitter or Linkedin And - grab a copy of his book, Looking Beyond the Car in Front, at all good bookstores! Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com or follow us @WorkPirates

This month the Work Pirates are speaking to Cathryn Barnard about unf*cking recruitment at work. Cat is a partner and co-founder at Working the Future, a consultancy helping business leaders both make sense of the future of work and build easy-to-implement, people-centred, future-proofing strategies. With a previous career in workforce planning spanning three decades and experience of growing her own successful businesses, Cat recognises the criticality of human connection and relationship in accelerating team engagement and performance. In this episode we dive into: Why it's essential to prioritise investing in your team and recruitment processes so that people feel secure, taken care of and are allowed to thrive in the workplace. How Cat sees the world of work post-2008 crash and what can be done to make sure work is about passion, not just transactions. Feeling down about the world of work? Learn how Cat harnessed her LinkedIn community to create meaningful connections about collective action, climate change and making work less f*cked! Find Cat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cathrynbarnard/ Remember, if you want to hire a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates Links: https://qz.com/611774/period-pain-can-be-as-bad-as-a-heart-attack-so-why-arent-we-researching-how-to-treat-it https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/02/17/spain-paid-menstrual-leave-countries/

How does light affect you at work? In this episode of Unf*cking Work, the Work Pirates sit down with Neina Sheldon, journalist, coach and Founder of Make Light Matter, a platform that supports individuals in managing the health impacts of light to improve their wellbeing. Neina shares her personal experience and interest in light nutrition and chronodiversity, dating back to her diagnosis with seasonal affective disorder in 2003. The discussion also touches on the importance of understanding the impact of light on our health and wellbeing, the benefits of sunshine breaks at work, and more. Tune in to this enlightening conversation and learn how to un*fck your workday with light! - Michelle's LinkedIn post about being asked 'are you a leader?': https://bit.ly/3K9e8oh - Connect with Neina Sheldon on LinkedIn.

It's a new year and we're ready to get things started on the right foot with the first episode of the Unf*cking Work podcast for 2023 by sharing our UnF*ckit List for the year ahead! Tune in to hear our top picks for what has the best chance of improving work in the next 12 months: 🏴‍☠️The 4-day work week! It's a full culture shift where a reduction of hours doesn't equal a loss of pay. Proven to improve engagement, productivity, and energy levels. 🏴‍☠️ Why collective action, such as through trade unions, is necessary to unf*ck work and fight for basic benefits and a liveable wage. 🏴‍☠️How a strengths-based culture that understands and empowers individuals' strengths leads to increased sales, profits, and reduced staff turnover. 🏴‍☠️Fear-based management is unsustainable and leads to high employee turnover. We discuss why it should be replaced with a more humane, intuitive, and value-led leadership style. Want to add to the UnF*ckit List? You can do that by clicking here! Climb aboard, subscribe and join the movement! If you want to hire or become a Work Pirate get started at https://www.workpirates.com/or follow us @WorkPirates

Rachael is the founder of SIC, shaking up what it means to have an accessible and inclusive workplace. Disabled since age 12, she has faced barriers to education and the workforce. An inclusive work culture expert, Rachael takes academic theory combined with lived experience of disability and growing and leading both small and large-scale operations to effectively make change. In this episode we dive into: Find Rachael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-mole Rachael’s company SIC: https://sicofficial.co.uk/ Help shape the future of Work Pirates! Take our survey now: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QYCLYCB Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Laura is a Consultant and Founder of Thrive Leadership. She helps businesses understand and manage stress to build cultures of resilience through workshops, programmes and retreats. Laura co-hosts the “Healing Corporate Trauma” series which gives expert advice on personal strategies to protect against corporate trauma and how organisations can stop traumatising their people. A registered yoga teacher, Laura leads transformational retreats around the world which help leaders use holistic and integrative practices to build self-awareness, compassion, and resilience. In this Unf*cking Work episode, we dive into: Find Laura on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauracaiken/ Healing Corporate Trauma project: https://www.instagram.com/healingcorporatetrauma/ https://youtube.com/@corporatetrauma Thrive Leadership: www.thriveleadership.net Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Laura Rothwell is an accidental marketer of almost two decades. After 10 years in fashion, retail, and destination marketing, she founded cultural communications agency Crystallised in 2013 to work on projects that prioritise people, planet, and purpose. Over the years Crystallised - which is a certified B-Corp - has won multiple awards for their work with organisations in arts, culture, charity and ethical brands who believe in a better way of doing business. An outspoken advocate of the 4-day work week and extremely passionate about dismantling capitalism, listen to this episode to find out how Laura is leading the way in unfucking work. In this Unf*cking Work episode, we dive into: How to confront your internalised capitalism - is it giving you an illusion of equality? Why self-awareness and examining your own bias are crucial to minimising the negative impacts of living and working in a capitalist society. Is the business pursuit of ‘more’ risking the health of your staff? Why you need to prioritise pre-recovery, life/work balance and the protection of the individual. The reality of creating the company you’ve always wanted to work for: minimising exploitation and compromises to rethink and reshape what work can be. Find Laura on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_laurarothwell_ Follow Crystallised on Twitter: https://twitter.com/crystalliseduk Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Great minds are Unf*cking Work alike in this month’s episode as James and Michelle sit down with Neil Usher, Chief Workplace and Change Strategist and author of the upcoming book Unf*cking Work: How to Fix Work for Good (yes, he’s on the same sweary mission as Work Pirates!). This episode is a deep dive into what Neil believes is at the root of why work is f*cked. Join us to discover: Why unf*cking work has to start with empowering the individual and how nobody is coming to save you from the stormy seas of a bad workplace. How you can unpick and rebuild what isn’t working for you, with real-life examples of how Neil has cut the cr*p, freeing up time and stopping unnecessary busy work. The power of reframing your thinking around your job; hear how Neil utilised the concept of ‘being good neighbour’ to unf*ck a workforce of over 3000 people and what you can do to implement it yourself! With over 30 years in industry as a property, workplace and change leader, Neil has delivered innovative environments for organisations in a variety of sectors, all over the world including Warner Bros., Honeywell, Rio Tinto and Sky. He is now Chief Workplace & Change Strategist at GoSpace AI, creators of the only dynamic and intelligent workspace management application available today. He leads the advisory arm of the business, providing strategic and practical advice to clients on creating and operating human-centric workplaces in a hybrid world. He has been actively blogging about work for over a decade. His first book The Elemental Workplace was published in 2018, the follow-up Elemental Change in 2020 and his third Unf*cking Work is out in September this year. Find Neil on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilusher/ Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

This week Work Pirates are unpacking (and unf*cking!) toxic workplaces with Jimi Okubanjo. Director of documentary film Vanishing Women: Why Senior Women of Colour are Fleeing the Corporate World, Jimi’s expertise comes from her first-hand experience as a woman of colour in the global workplace and London over 20 years. This episode is a treasure chest of Unf*cking Work wisdom, with Jimi giving insight on combating toxic workplaces. Join us and dive in to: Why work doesn’t need to be a linear climb, and why leaving a job that’s making you sad should never be considered a failure! Is your CEO lying to you? And what damage is done when we assume all employees have the same goals at work? The importance of doing the work! Why leaders must be proactive in combatting systemic issues and ensuring they pay people for their knowledge. You can find Jimi: Jimi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/folajimi/ Vanishing Women website: https://www.vanishingwomen.com/allies/ Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate, get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Work Pirates are ripping up the one-size-fits-all rule book with Rob Baker and Chloe Mark from Tailored Thinking and learning all about the power of Job Crafting! Join them on this podcast journey to discover: - How job crafting and personalisation can revolutionise your workforce and unf*ck the 'we've always done it that way' mantra - Which small, positive and tangible differences will unf*ck your job (and the power of just 1% change!) - Why Gen Z might be the greatest job crafters of us all Rob is a specialist in bringing positive psychology to life within organisations. He is the founder and Chief Positive Deviant of Tailored Thinking, a pioneering evidence-based positive psychology, wellbeing and HR consultancy who were named the UK’s HR Consultancy of the Year 2020 by the CIPD. Chloe is the Marketing and Engagement Officer at Tailored Thinking, Chloe is passionate about changing the world of work for the better and helping others thrive. Find out more about Tailored Thinking: https://tailoredthinking.co.uk Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Raise the sails! We’re five episodes into the Unf*cking Work podcast, and James and Michelle are dropping anchor, to pause and reflect on the voyage so far. Dive into this episode where we explore: What will the work strikes across the country achieve and should we start a Work Pirates union? How do the Swedes do break times better than any other country?What is the 4-day work week trial in the UK and will it change anything?The one workplace that’s too f*cked even for the Work Pirates and why if you don’t value your staff properly, someone else will! Climb aboard, subscribe and join the movement! If you want to hire or become a Work Pirate get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Work Pirates are joined by maverick talent maven Elizabeth Lembke. Jump aboard this episode to uncover golden nuggets of Unf*cking Work wisdom, including: - What is the Great Resignation, and why is it happening now? - How do we recognise and protect talent? - The importance of civil courage in unf*cking work for everyone! Trust us, this one is worth watching on our YouTube, Elizabeth’s visual metaphors are not to be missed! Think maleficent horns and an oracle Furby. Yes, you read that right – this podcast features an oracle Furby. For the video version of this episode follow this link: https://youtu.be/KGPlicEnT5E Elizabeth is a certified work, pedagogical, and culture psychologist, a systemic team and individual coach and is the Chief Talent Navigator at Transforming Talent, specialising in all thing’s talent and impact-at-work related. A talent and learning maven with 20+ years of experience in global, strategic, and hands-on HR, she is an ardent proponent in making talent and organisational development exhilarating - not debilitating. In fact, Elizabeth is known as the devil’s advocate for talent and has won multiple innovation, benchmark, and industry awards in Talent Development, Learning, Employee Engagement, and Human Resources. You can find Elizabeth: Website - https://transformingtalent.co Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.lembke Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hrimprov/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-lembke-6976547 Twitter - https://twitter.com/ElizabethLembke YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVZPJ8pc4ZfqhS6qjAPEPA Remember, if you want to hire or become a Work Pirate get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates

Sakshi is the world's first UNESCO Kindness Leader. She is the founder of Project LEAP, a social service project that she established at the age of 17 in India. Sakshi leads three key regions: India, Australia and Africa for the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) mission which is a part of an acceleration program for the SDGs globally. As an Occupational Psychologist and published author, she also facilitates change management sessions globally and is creating a movement for Humanitarian Psychology based on her work on Kindness in organisations and ESG models. She also advises multiple AI-Based start-ups after three years of her own start-up experience which began in early high-school years. Sakshi has received recognition from the Division of Psychology in the UK, Association of Business Psychology, European Association of Work and Organisational Psychology and is frequently featured in various media mediums for her work. She has made efforts to essentially- unf*ck work, one LinkedIn post at a time! She is currently researching ESG, social work and organisational resilience. She keeps sane by travelling alone with 54 trips under her belt (and counting). You can find Sakshi at: Website - Www.theprojectleap.org Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/project_leap LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sakshi-bansal If you want to hire or become a Work Pirate get started at https://www.workpirates.com/ or follow us @WorkPirates