Episodes

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen asks: should careers require a college degree? As the graduating class of 2022 enters the workplace, many of its members will carry forward substantial student loan debt. And the son of one friend of mine amassed $250,000 in debt to earn his Bachelor's degree. That is a nightmare scenario. So how did we get to a nightmarish place where the college degree no longer ensures the American Dream? Truth be told, we got here, because of the Vietnam War. Main podca...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses inciting a workplace revolution with guest Vinny Tafuro. Vinny is the Founder of the Institute for Economic Evolution. He is also the author of two books, including Unlocking the Labor Cage. For those who study the future of work, this much is clear: we are in the midst of a workplace revolution. And career professionals are inciting it. After the past 40 years, during which shareholder value reigned supreme, stakeholder value is at last resonating i...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen explores mastering time for future work with guest Kris Ward. Kris is the host of the Win the Hour, Win the Day Podcast. She counsels entrepreneurs on how to manage their time resources so that they become successful in work, but also in life. Main podcast segment starts at 3:02 Time mastery is critical for success in the future of work. And to that end, Kris and Dan cover a lot of ground around time mastery including: * The unique value proposition for Win ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets up with Randye Spina, to discuss fostering benefit for future work. Randye is the founder of Marketing on a Mission, LLC. And she is a self-described "business as a force for good champion." Her consultancy enables B-Corps and other entities to drive positive, purpose-driven brand attributes. Now, more than ever, career professionals want to work for companies that stand for noble purpose. Interestingly, as Randye points out, the first driver for benefi...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen asks the question: are bosses crushing worker dignity? Answering this question, and many others, is Dr. Betty Johnson. She is the founder of Bridging the Difference LLC; it helps company leaders embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to ensure worker dignity. As the Covid pandemic ebbs, and more of their talent work remotely, managers are using Zoom sessions in ways that they may believe are effective, but actually rid their people of dignity. Requirin...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen establishes a Dominatrix's Guide to Future Work with executive coach Dana Pharant. Dana is a former dominatrix who now uses her skill to help entrepreneurs and career professionals. They learn to overcome past traumas to live and work joyfully. What is more, Dana's clients apply skill to escape from ingrained behaviors that bottle up their emotions. And when they do that, they can achieve "10X" success. Main interview segment begins at 3:01 In a provocative a...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen explores how to make work from anywhere work with guest John Lee. He is the co-founder of Work From Anywhere, a resource that helps people across-the-globe to overcome international barriers-to-entry. When that happens, career professionals may live and work in the place of their dreams. John and his family are experienced digital nomads. And recently, they seized the opportunity to relocate from Ireland to Portugal. Their new community offers lower taxes, grea...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen digs into the WHY of building workplace leadership culture with guest Bret Packard. Over a 30-year corporate career, Bret "crushed it" at managing large global teams tasked with scaling profits and market dominance. And, he was rewarded well for his hard work. But Bret discovered early on that he wasn't the leader of people that he wanted or needed to be. Inspired by the corporate manager to whom he reported, Bret embarked on a journey to connect well with the...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Lucas Krump on supporting men in future work. Lucas is the CEO and Co-Founder of EVRYMAN, a platform of resources, groups, retreats, and more. It empowers men to lead fuller and more connected lives. Men struggle with their relationship to work as much as they do in expressing their emotions. What's more, men quite often craft identities--their personal narratives--around work and career. Now, emerging from a two-year pandemic, many men grapple with...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Debra Olshan Cooper to discover how personal storytelling builds brilliant careers. Debra is the founder and principal of Your Career Design Lab. She empowers people new to the workplace and not, to find and do the work of their dreams. What is more, by leveraging mindfulness and neurolinguistic programming (NLP) techniques, Debra poses questions which get to the heart of her clients' career journeys: "What were you doing when you were truly happy, ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews author Hana Ben-Shabat. She illustrates how the future of work is Generation Z. Hana is the author of Gen Z 360: Preparing for the Inevitable Change in Culture, Work, and Commerce. And, to tell the generation's story, she gleaned considerable insight from a large sampling of the cohort. This much is evident: Gen Z is changing every aspect of life and work. And, the oldest among them, people in their early 20s, are positively shaping the future of wor...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen explores future work recruitment with Russell White. Russell is a veteran executive recruiter who is based in London. For years, he supported candidate development for top brands in digital marketing, insights, and social media. But, in the wake of the pandemic, Russell remade and rebranded his firm as Future Work. Now, along with core executive search services offered, Future Work partners with Pimento to help enterprising talent join a community of professi...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen explores the emergence of a human and adaptive workplace with Rodney Evans. Rodney is the host and executive producer of the Brave New Work Podcast. What is more, she leads The Ready which helps companies become more human and adaptive. Out of the pandemic, we begin to recognize a future of work that is less about co-locations and siloes and more about recognizing and leading talent. And of the shift, Rodney says: "At [their] core level, human beings want to c...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen asks internationally recognized Corporate Diva Dipika Trehan: will women lead future work? A self-described "philanthrepreneur," Dipika promotes the health, wellness, and professional success of women across the globe. Her brands, the H.O.W. Forum and Corporate Diva, work across many verticals of holistic employee well-being and female empowerment. As Dipika explains: "Women are looking for two things which they don't deservingly receive: one is dignity of lab...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses mastering the digital workplace with podcaster Neil Miller. He helps careerists to make sense of digital workplace innovations, to be truly intentional in the future of work. Neil calls himself a "thought stealer." Actually, he is a best-practices synthesizer. Neil helps people and companies to succeed in the digital workplace. What is more, his journey through life and career is unusual. With a college degree in religious studies, Neil moved to Indi...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses workplace trends for 2022 with Kettle's Dan Rosenzweig. Most notably, Dan explains two trends this year with the biggest workplace impact: the clubhouse as the office and pop-up venues for work. On one hand, clubhouses enable professional talent to gather safely and with engagement. On the other, pop-up venues allow companies to reassemble team members in laboratory-like settings. Pop-ups help people re-learn people skills and test out new leadership ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen and podcast guest Achim Nowak delve into the Fourth Act Career. In his first career act, Achim was a successful New York City-based theatrical director who, as a workaholic, sought perfection. But a vision of a white house on a tropical island soon captivated his dreams. Achim's dreamy vision turned into reality. He found that white house on the tropical island of Tobago and moved in. As a result, he left the stage and his life in New York City. While on Tobag...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses employee experience and future work with Professor Diane Gayeski. Professor Gayeski teaches Strategic Communications at Ithaca College's Park School of Communications. What is more, she is a noted thought-leader in employee experience or EX. In the future of work, EX is a linchpin for people to find and do meaningful work. Main segment begins at 2:59 In a wide ranging podcast interview, Professor Gayeski: * Defines employee experience or EX. Starts...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses a startup parent's workplace culture fix with entrepreneur and podcaster Sarah K. Peck. Sarah is the CEO and founder of Start Up Parent and host of the popular Start Up Parent Podcast. As a former start up executive, and the mom of two young children, Sarah is leading the charge to improve start-up business environments. To that end, she wants start-up enterprises to become as innovative in workplace culture as they are in technological advancement. S...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses Myers Briggs and the Great Resignation with expert Edythe Richards. As 2022 begins, an estimated 20 million American workers opted for the Great Resignation. With such an unprecedented exit of active workforce members, we wondered about the correlation between Myers Briggs Type Indicators and the Great Resignation. To help guide us through this critical discussion, we bring back Edythe Richards. Edythe is a world-renowned Myers Briggs expert who helps...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen says people should use SWOT to focus on career success. That's right. The time-honored business management tool, the SWOT analysis, can help careerists to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Getting to blissful work and experiences takes great planning and imagination. And this time-honored business tool can focus our minds on finding and doing meaningful work. SWOT helps entrepreneurs focus for career success. That is, because, it prep...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen believes that good health and future work will be informed by pandemic responses. As 2021 draws to a close, the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus has spread like wildfire. And clear to many people now is this: because about a one-third of the nation remains unvaccinated, we will, for the foreseeable future, encounter more Covid variant outbreaks. Good health and future work are inextricably linked. And that is, because, future variants will impact how and w...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen reflects on the Holiday Season and one tired, burned out workforce. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! Have you arrived at the holiday rested or refreshed? Or are you a burned out mess? According to a recent post on FortuneDaily: "The physical and emotional exhaustion that turns into workplace burnout doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of hundreds of microstressors on the job that ultimately lead to employees hitting the wall, mentally checking out, ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discovers from Gitlab's Darren Murph how remote work can work. As GitLab’s Director of Remote Work, Darren is “the voice in the room” that evangelizes the trailblazing company’s distributed workforce operating model. What is more, Darren authored The GitLab Remote Work Playbook, which thousands of people around the globe have downloaded. As 2021 concludes, positive forces of workplace change mean that people can live and work wherever they please. And as such...