Our guest this month is Janie van Hool. Van Hool is a RADA (The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) trained actress and corporate communications specialist. She's worked with many different companies (Vodafone, Nationwide, Sainsburys, London Business School, Imperial College) and leaders to improve their communication skills. She's also the author of the new book, The Listening Shift: Transform your organization by listening to your people and helping your people listen to you.

Her book is a constructive toolkit for raising the game in communication, providing the tools you need to create a listening environment where colleagues are heard and acknowledged, and yet understand clearly how to move forward.

What you will learn in this interview:
- How preparing like a performer will improve your interviews
- A breathing technique to prime you for an interview
- How to use silence to your advantage
- The best ways to interrupt someone
- How to be listened to at a meeting

Quote:
"I think listening carefully is the thing that gets hijacked when we are under interview pressure.” - Janie van Hool

In this episode, Jane analyses Bill Gates' new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need.

Jane talks about what opportunities there might be in the future of work, not only in terms of innovative businesses, but also in terms of the type of work that might be available in the future.

She then discusses the emerging markets addressing climate change, including international agricultural research and global green technology. Finally, she highlights one innovative company working to make a difference.

Blog Post: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster? A Career Opportunity in the Face of a Crisis

Clinical psychologist Dr Candice Seti joins Jane to discuss self-sabotage, with questions taken from the audience watching via live stream.

In her specialist field helping people with weight loss and weight management, Dr Seti became aware of the overarching theme of self sabotage, which she defines as "standing in your own way".

She cites imposter syndrome as one of the many causes of self sabotage, and how important it can be to admit to what we don't know, rather than try and bluster our way through unfamiliar territory.

Jane and Dr Seti discuss their own self sabotaging voices, giving them names and finding ways to externalise them to make it easier to combat. They also talk about ways to combat procrastination, using Dr Seti's writing process as an example.