We often take on a lot… more than we should which is stressful.   So Ral shares a fascinating concept from Harvard when it comes to better prioritising what we take on. It’s called the water we carry and she talks us through a great exercise you can do to help you manage your daily life.   Jac could feel something in her waters… Ral told her it was more than likely the great wine offer she could get from Wild Duck Creek Estate which is exclusive to our Keepers.   What we water,...

88% of people feel extremely valued when given a compliment… yet 70% of us feel embarrassed or uncomfortable giving and receiving compliments.   Enter Pookie! And Tony, Phil, Wes and Digger… our characters in this episode.   Find out the impact of giving a compliment at work – and why we should get more deliberate in handing them out.   But equally important is how you receive a compliment. It’s very simple but often not done well. We teach you in this episode how to give and receive...

Have you worked for a toxic leader before? Do you work for a toxic leader today? Are you a toxic leader??   One in 5 leaders are toxic and 80% of professionals have had 1 toxic leader… 30% of professionals have had more than 1 toxic leader!   Toxic leaders are destructive to teams and to an organisation. They demonstrate a selfish abuse of power, and they only ever have their own self interest at heart. Moi, moi, moi…   Jac shares the 4 types of (most common) toxic leaders,...

Two ENTJ’s walk into a room… and Keehlan starts producing their podcast Myer Briggs personality test has identified Jac and Ral as both ENTJ’s – extroverts, no surprise there. However personality is not your destiny. And personality is different to character.   “Oh that’s just the way I am” is a line many of us have used… However when we say this we are giving up personal responsibility for our actions and impacts.   If you recognise your biology and sociology aren’t destiny, you will...

Do you work long hours? And continue to work long hours… and complain about this? Are you in an unhappy relationship? And remain in this relationship… and complain about this? Do you love a good pity party?   The final question you should be asking yourself is: Could you be a victim? Or perhaps you know a victim? Someone who often doesn’t take responsibility, feels they have no control, looks for sympathy and demonstrates patterns of behaviour.   Jac talks about “Dolly” and how...

Some say culture eats strategy for breakfast but in this episode, Jac & Ral (the culture queens) reckon you should drink culture and make it a buffet! So how is your culture? We’re not talking yoghurt, but how people (and you) feel in your workplace.   And in the spirit of keeping it real… hot tip: Everyone is responsible for culture. Jac & Ral talk about: If you’re going for a new role? Be mindful of the culture, take the steps to understand and know the culture you’re...

Want to know the 3 most important relationships in your life?   Relationship 1: can set you up for life Relationship 2: can determine your career success Relationship 3: can shape your character   Find out what these relationships are (and why they’re SO worth knowing, finding and maintaining) and what Ral was looking for in one of her important relationships… blue eyes and a small head!   And if you’re looking for bells to ring and angels to sing, there might be a 4th relationship…...

They could talk underwater… especially Jac! In today’s episode Ral continues her interview of Jac and what inspires her (listen to part 1 last week if you haven’t already). Today Jac talks about an entertaining series on Netflix she’s inspired by and calls out one of the cast members, her new role model “Susie Glass”. There’s a great book about the second stage of our career lives and how we can leverage our strengths that only those post 40 get to do which Jac is reading and she also talks...

In today’s episode Ral interviews Jac about what inspires her and because Jac’s life philosophy is “more, not less” this is part 1 of her inspiration download. Today Jac talks about the people who inspire her – American dudes who speak directly (and Ral helps Jac understand the difference between a hood and a bonnet for our US listeners!) along with Parents, Progressives and a couple of Product she’s swearing by – one of which is thanks to Elle MacPherson.     So if you’re looking for...

You can learn a lot from others. If you’re prepared to listen, ask questions and explore things, there’s a very good chance you will encounter interesting opportunities through who you hang out with, what you watch, listen to and read.   In today’s episode Jac interviews Ral about what inspires her. Ral shares so many great things across business, people, technology, reading and life. Who knew Ral would bring a ‘business book’ from the late 80’s into the conversation… Jac remembers the book...

Does everyone at your work agree with you all the time? Do they also laugh at your jokes regularly?   If the answer to these two questions are ‘yes’ and you’re a senior leader, more senior than those agreeing and laughing… you might want to listen to this podcast.   Success delusion. The higher we move up the organisational ladder, the more our employees let us know how wonderful we are. And we all want to hear what we want to hear.   We want to believe those great things “the world’...

Critical Thinking. Creativity. Collaboration. Communication.   Once upon a time you’d be taught reading, writing and arithmetic which was helpful but not enough… especially when it came to entering the workforce!   Today we need to learn differently and we need to know more in order to achieve in life and as leaders at work. The 4 C’s are a framework to broaden your mind, help you solve problems, learn more and articulate what you know and don’t know.   Asking great questions to...

At any given moment you are in control of how the story ends. Life is 10% of what happens to you, and 90% of how you respond to it. It was a beautiful day and then it could have gone to sh*t… but I didn’t let it. Because we all have a choice… a choice about our attitude.   Perspective is everything and so is a good memory! Ral reminds us of the FISH training program from the 90’s and 2000’s which had 4 philosophies for creating positivity - and she remembered all of them!   In this...

Learn the art of questions to gain a career advantage.   Do you ask (enough) questions?  Most of us don’t and it’s holding us back. We need to ask more and better questions so we can deepen our knowledge, challenge beliefs, uncover new opportunities and be considered a curious and intelligent leader.   In this episode, Jac reveals the key to asking great questions and she shares a story about her and Jimmy Barnes… Ral comes up with a genius invention (who wants to invest??) which could...

Would you go to the opening of a wound?? If so, maybe you have FOMO! Do you experience the Fear of Missing Out…Or maybe you embrace the Joy of Missing Out?   Which ever one it is, you can learn from both these acronyms born out of social media. Jac did some research and learned there are 2 processes to FOMO, both are a bit sad… so it’s good to be aware when you get FOMO, and then make a decision based on what really drives  you.   They say comparison is the thief of joy. And even...

Imagine if someone came up to you and gave you the title GENIUS. And you had to just own it. You would be more reluctant to self censor, you would be more confident to speak up and act, you would demand more from others and yourself. You would dare more, learn more and commit more. SIGN US UP! Listen in to really understand the true meaning of the word Genius. It has nothing to do with academia or intellect... Thank you Romans! The genius lives in all of us so we tell you how to...

They create legends. And we create keepers! “They”… are the team at Eleven Madison Park (EMP), one of the world’s top restaurants who we are a bit fascinated with. Not because this restaurant is fancy, and not because it is in one of our favourite cities in the world, New York, but because the leadership at EMP believes in the remarkable power of giving people MORE than they expect.   In today’s episode we talk about a fabulous book we are both reading which inspired this episode,...

This episode could be a coaching session to ourselves… we both could talk under water and we’ve never met a microphone we didn’t like but that doesn’t mean we should keep talking. In fact we need to remind ourselves regularly to shut the f**k up! If you find you talk too much when it comes to interviews, public speaking or presenting, when introducing others or in meetings then it’s time you learned a few tips and techniques on how to stop talking too much. There are many reasons why...

There’s a few things that annoy us (at work and in our personal lives) and we reckon they are universal. No manners (especially in adults!) People who litter Those who run late… regularly! Plastic apologies People who waffle… Inconsistent leadership A meeting that should have been an email And there’s quite a few more! Listen in and see if you agree with our list and let us know if we have missed something that annoys you which you reckon is also shared by many. As always, there are a few...

We negotiate every single day. What we’re having for dinner… Where we’re going for our next holiday… and then there’s the work negotiations… promotions, salary increases, professional development, flexibility and much more. Negotiation for positive outcome. In this episode, Ral and I share why women need to negotiate differently than men, what we learned when we studied negotiation at Harvard with Hannah Riley-Bowles (who partnered with Sheryl Sandberg to write “Lean In”) and the fact...

Ral wants to return as a shark in her next life and Jac quotes Albert Einstein in this episode which is all about the need to keep learning. Why is continuing to learn so important? The more you keep learning, the higher your self esteem. The likelihood you will be more successful in your career and also personal life. Learning keeps you relevant and connected, yet so often we create excuses as to why we can’t learn something new today… I don’t have time… I can’t afford it… for...

How often do you answer this question “How are you?” with the response: “Busy!” or “Stressed”. Well you might want to rethink that in future…   Jac did some research and learned an individual’s perceived level of busy-ness or being stressed is heavily connected with their feelings of self worth and how others view their status.  Telling people you are busy/stressed all of the time could mean you’re trying to impress… or prove your worth In this episode we talk about how to give...

It’s a known fact, women undermine their value, they are too humble too often. We need to change that!   So what is your value? Listen in to find out our value equation, it is critical to you understanding how you position yourself for the future. And how do you price your value? We have an answer for that too! But you need to listen Why are Ral’s workshops so expensive? Because she helps you change the way you communicate for the better and for the rest of your career, and we reckon...

On average we change jobs 12 times in our lifetime. Jac has had at least 16 jobs and Ral has had 12 so collectively we have conducted around 28 successful interviews. Listen in to learn the tips and techniques from our experience – we teach you the importance of prepare, prepare, prepare; why talking less is better than gabbling; the 4 different types of stories you should practise; and anticipation being your friend. Understand why you shouldn’t repeat your resume in an interview and...