What Professionals Need Most in 2026 cover art

What Professionals Need Most in 2026

What Professionals Need Most in 2026

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 Episode 332 - Natalie Moore joins me to explore what leaders and professionals need most in 2026: courage, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and space to think. We also discuss burnout, work design, hybrid work, and how career pivots can happen through small, intentional steps. The themes in this week's podcast episode are not really about personal reinvention in the lifestyle sense, but they're also not hot takes about work culture. They sit at the intersection, as so many issues do when it comes to career and our personal lives. How to we reinvent leadership, organisational design, career strategy, and human behaviour so we can cope with the new ways of working? That is where many of my clients live. They are not junior workers trying to “find their passion.” They are experienced corporate professionals, senior managers, and executives trying to make good decisions in a labour market that has become harder to read, less forgiving, and more emotionally demanding. Here is what I keep seeing in my coaching work. My clients are not simply struggling with job search mechanics. Yes, they need resumes, LinkedIn positioning, networking strategies, and interview preparation. But those are not the only things making this moment difficult. Many are also dealing with return-to-office mandates they did not choose, leadership cultures that speak the language of wellbeing without redesigning work, and AI-driven hiring processes that make the market feel more opaque than ever. LinkedIn reported in January that nearly two-thirds of people say finding a job has become more challenging, while U.S. applicants per open role have doubled since spring 2022. At the same time, 93% of recruiters say they plan to increase their use of AI in 2026. Those are not small shifts. They change how people experience work, how they think about security, and how they approach career planning. In my conversation with Natalie Moore on The Job Hunting Podcast (332), what emerged most clearly was that professionals who are coping best right now are not necessarily the most confident. They are the ones who are able to think clearly under pressure, notice when an environment is no longer working for them, and act with intention before their options narrow. Read the full Blog on the Website31 Days of Action for Job SeekersFind Your Talents: Learn About Your Strengths, and Watch Your Career GrowJoin 5,000+ Readers of The Job Hunting Newsletter: Subscribe NowLear More About Renata's career coaching and coursesTimestamps to guide your listening:00:00 – Welcome Back: Natalie Moore Returns01:11 – Reinvention After Closing a Business03:10 – Headline Hopes for the End of 202606:42 – How Leaders Can Stop Reacting and Start Responding08:59 – True or False: Can Resilience Training Fix Burnout?09:47 – True or False: Will Good Workers Naturally Adapt to AI?10:55 – True or False: Do Career Pivots Require a Big Leap?12:42 – Three Questions to Ask When You Feel Flat at Work16:45 – What Stress and Burnout Really Look Like in High Performers21:45 – Listening to Your Body and Noticing Your Triggers24:03 – What We’re Leaving Behind in 202625:22 – Showing Up Differently in Business and on LinkedIn28:40 – Why Workplace Wellbeing Still Feels Surface-Level30:32 – Is It Time to Redesign the Workday?32:55 – When Training and Development Add to Burnout35:19 – The High-Performance Habits That Need to Go36:50 – Why White Space Matters at Work and in Job Search38:08 – Natalie’s Career Change Story and the Power of Slow Pivots39:21 – What Matters Most in 2026: Confidence, Courage, or Clarity?41:43 – AI, Human Work, and What Still Makes Us Valuable43:34 – The Human Capabilities Professionals Need Now45:44 – Final Thoughts and Where to Find NatalieLinks mentioned in this episode:Natalie Moore's LinkedIn ProfileFollow Josh Piterman on Instagram to find out when he's running breathwork workshops in MelbourneJosh Piterman Inside TimerEpisode 130 - Post-pandemic Stress and Other Factor Affecting Your Wellbeing at Work, with Natalie Moore and Lisa SaundersEpisode 72 - Systemic Gender Biases, Double Standards, Mental and Physical Dangers Affecting Women in the Workplace - with Hannah Piterman Ph.D.About the host, Renata BernardeHello, I'm Renata Bernarde, the Host of The Job Hunting Podcast. I'm also an executive coach, job-hunting expert, and career strategist. I teach corporate, non-profit, and public professionals the steps and frameworks to help them find great jobs, change, and advance their careers with confidence and less stress. Watch the Episodes on YouTubeFollow Renata on Social Media:LinkedInInstagramFacebookX / Twitter
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.