Elevate with Grace

Elevate with Grace is back! Season 3 Introduction

• Elevate with Grace • Season 3 • Episode 1

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Elevate with Grace: Cultivating Success in the New World of Work

Welcome back to Elevate with Grace! In our Season Three intro episode, Miranda and Claire discuss the exciting return of the podcast after three years. We explore the evolving workplace and how embracing change can lead to success in 2025 and beyond. Three key areas of change iclude adopting a quality-over-busyness mindset, moving beyond outdated workplace models, and promoting true equality and balance. 

As you navigate this new world of work, join us for actionable tips, fresh perspectives, and a focus on creating a fulfilling career and life on your own terms. 

Subscribe in your favourite podcast app to stay updated on our latest episodes! 

Music created by Claire's daughter Hannah

Claire:

Are you feeling overworked, undervalued, and stuck knowing that you're meant for more? This is Elevate with Grace, a podcast that cuts through the noise and brings you the most valuable up-to-date insights, expert, wisdom, and practical strategies. With bite-sized actionable tips, we help you take bold steps to create real progress, real impact, and a career and life that truly works for you. get to creating success on your own terms.

Miranda:

Hey, our beautiful listeners. It has been a little while. There has been a lot going on. Life things, work, things, exploring new idea things. And while the podcast has been on a very long pause, always been a part of us. new, we'd come back to elevate with grace. Earlier this year, Claire and I caught up and the spark was back. The energy of sharing cool stuff, the excitement for a better workplace, all the reasons that we started this in the first place, it all came rushing back. It feels like the world along with us has taken a collective breath it's time to bring Elevate back. consider this your re-intro, a moment to say hey and let you know we are officially back, mid-May. We are so ready and we've got so much to share.

Claire:

don't think you could have started that off better, Miranda, I'm so excited. We are kicking off a brand new season of. Vape with Grace so much to dive into new ideas, fresh perspectives, and keeping it real. Chats about navigating this new world of work in 2025 and beyond the last few years have been a whirlwind of highs and lows, life has been moving at the speed of light. I don't know about you. It's such a joy to be exploring and reflecting with you again on how we can blend together this evolving workplace, the world of work, life leadership, new tech tools to create success on our own terms in 2025 and beyond, looking forward to it.

Miranda:

Bring on more fun. I think the world needs more fun right now and I keep having these conversations in my head anyway, but I'm excited to be having them out loud again. but I really have, I've been reflecting on where we are in the world. And how we can shape the culture and the way of working, that's gonna serve us all best going forward. And there really has been, I guess, a couple of overarching learnings that I'm excited that we're gonna be weaving into our new series. The first, I think we just sort of need to embrace change instead of resisting it. I just feel like there's a lot of tension right now and there's this real resistance. Between the groups of people that wanna see the world going forward and the kind of ones that are sort of going, oh, I just wish it was back the way it was. and that just feels really hard and I think we've got such a great opportunity to, embrace change. It can be uncomfortable, but. Change has always led to a better way of doing things, history tells us that it's a red flag for me when I hear, we need to go back to the way it was, or this always worked in the past. we should consider those learnings. I. But I think eyes wide open, it's new world landscape, new working landscape. There's new technology to embrace. new energy new vibe to consider, we can make a more efficient, more enjoyable, more exciting workplace. We're leveraging that latest tech and just making the most of the hybrid workplace opportunities available now.

Claire:

I couldn't agree more. I think one of the things that I really want to get across in our, next season is how to let go and be excited about these new changes. That's not to gloss over how difficult it is for many of us It is a different world and what is coming is much, different. How much opportunity there is to use all of those things, to adapt and be successful for ourselves and future generations, embrace this and run with it. while there is a lot to learn from the past, I think we can always look to the past for ideas on how we should. Embrace the future. it requires a new way of thinking that we really do need to explore what. Ways we wanna learn differently, how we're gonna respond, how we look at the ways we absorb information. It can be easy to get wrapped up in the stress of all this. But if we take a step back and we take a mindset of test and learn approaches of curiosity and connecting, and spend time reflecting when I think back on my last five years, 10 years, 15 years. And I think about all the challenges I've overcome and many of us have overcome. I mean, the global pause of Covid, particularly for us, Melburnians, we can achieve and get through and overcome so much. we can bring a force of energy that's positive and give ourselves the ability to really be hopeful about. the future of today and tomorrow, And so I am really excited to talk about this with you again, Miranda.

Miranda:

Absolutely. change is hard, but there's so much opportunity in it and there has been so much change in everyone's lifetime. It doesn't actually matter when you were born. The amount of change that we have adapted to the resilience of the people today is awesome we've done it before. We can do it again. it's uncomfortable, but I know we'll get there. the second one is just this quality over busyness. I think there's this real, Shift. I do believe that previously we were judged on how many hours we were sitting at that desk, how many hours we were putting in before and after, et cetera. It was like this sort of almost badge of honor how busy we were. And I think that there's this real push for a better quality of life overall there's a great studies out there saying that anything more than 40 hours a week in your work. Returns are diminishing and we discussed that in season two.

Claire:

We did,

Miranda:

It continues to stick with us. And as a collective consciousness, there's been that push to say, we're gonna put in a hard day's work, do great things, but we need work life balance. people have demanded it, more than ever before, So we aim for quality work. We talk about purpose. Finding fewer distractions, making sure we get in that flow state. People are more protective of their time. They really wanna see the agendas before the meetings. There's no meetings before the meetings anymore. just get in, get it done. Let's keep moving forward. we can leave behind some of the stuff that doesn't serve while still focusing on efficiencies and achieving more. by focusing on what's most important, what those big rocks are.

Claire:

I think it's still such a challenge. it does take conscious effort to pull away and keep reminding ourselves, it's a muscle like mindfulness, like exercise we need to build about how much time we are spending on. Distracting tasks getting to the bottom of that inbox checking all those messages quickly, checking the news and putting limits on those things, being very conscious of it so we are looking, like you said, to quality work, clear purpose, focus, and I do think that it's something that we really need to be quite. Conscious. I know I do. Am I, am I being distracted by this little thing when I've got bigger things to be delivering and focusing on? And it's just something that we always now need to have at the forefront of our minds,

Miranda:

And I think that flows really nicely onto a third point that we're seeing, which is that we are moving beyond outdated workplace models. Whether it's the hierarchy of management, whether it's the idea that working from seven in the morning till nine at night is the only way to rise in terms of management status. guys as well as girls are going to do the pickups and drop offs and things like that. So I think the idea of work is a being your full life, that's sort of a bit outdated, that we are definitely seeing a better priority of family and community, as well as work. work doesn't necessarily have to be our family anymore. We don't need to be doing a lot of those big, just culture building exercises. We're happy. To do great work, feel purposeful, have balance in our lives, but not necessarily need them to coate all of our boxes and cannot wait to dive into this one in our episodes because there's some great conversations with Simon Sinek and Trevin Noah made me think, this is a big issue and this is something that's not just in my world, but more broadly, happening out there in the community.

Claire:

There is some complexity around it. We've got competing thoughts that everyone is trying to work through. evolving attitudes towards, career progression, for example. We have five generations in the work for, for the first time ever in the history of humankind and how people are, are, are seeing things are. Very different there's lots of, variety in amongst that stuff. I think, one of the things that's, that balance is out of sight, out of mind. How are we connecting, making sure we're. seen. on the flip side wanting flexibility and remote work. Where's the sweet spot I'm not sure we've nailed that yet, I think there's work to be done into how we do all that. I agree with you that we don't just have home and work. There's a blended life and opportunity to feel purposeful wholesome and have successes. the practicalities of how we work together as five generations to. Get everyone's needs met is still a bit of tension I'm looking forward to diving into that topic there's lots to talk about

Miranda:

Yeah, absolutely. And I didn't realize five generations. Wow. different upbringings, technology milestones depending on when you were born, The next one, I guess, is this focus on true equality and balance. this shift beyond real equality, not just gestures. Ensuring everyone has space to live a full life beyond work. Bit of the same, but a bit different that the balance will make us more resilient and potentially more creative. we're seeing more of the, gig economy. portfolio careers. people that are, really valuing their time and, what they're looking to bring to the table. And I think that's been quite interesting

Claire:

And to add to that, in terms of true equality, I mean equality has been a topic on people's agendas for, many years. I've noticed more discussions around, neurodiversity and what that means for, for people who are neurodiversity in the workplace, being much more open to lots of different nuances around. What equality means for so many different people. It's, my mind, there's a lot more nuanced things around that other than just binary discussions around gender diversity, what's happening in leadership. There's so much around everyone being able to, take acceptance and be thoughtful about all the different generational changes, gender changes, neurodiverse changes, introverts, extroverts, and all of these complexities that we need to be much more thoughtful about how we're being inclusive to many more people. I really like how it's a multi-dimensional conversation now. there's a lot to explore in that It's pretty cool.

Miranda:

I really agree. it's actually also taken a shift from You bring your whole self to work, to you bring your work self to work. sometimes the whole self doesn't work. It's actually what's that respectful corporate self that's gonna get the best outcomes out of the team. And it's not inauthentic, it's actually just that conversation belongs at home with your family, whether it's religion or. politics or all of those good things doesn't belong In the workplace. You're here to focus on the purpose and the outcomes of the work that you're doing. So I've quite also seen that move from, let's bring our whole selves to work to bring our work selves to work. I think that's a good shift. Which I guess leads me to the third one, which is just a more mindful and a less competitive approach. I think this is the first time we've seen, generations where it's very, they're looking at very sideways careers or careers that are not necessarily just following that standard corporate ladder that they're, that we're looking to calm down a bit we've come out of this, ideal of living, this extreme competitive life to going, why are we here and what do we wanna get out of this one beautiful life we wanna contribute to the workplace do great work and bring our, best selves. But we also want, a more intentional, thoughtful way of working that doesn't have us racing to a finish line, but actually having whole self wellbeing. Claire, you were talking to me a couple of weeks ago about an awesome article and it was Chef's Kiss. It was exactly what I was thinking I don't need to run the next marathon. I'm okay with where I am and getting to do things better within the environment I'm in.

Claire:

that was, a HBR. Article in praise of extreme moderation. interestingly, it was written in 2018, so it's not even, a new article, but one of the things I really liked about that article. I also really liked the concept of being satisfied. Being grateful for what you have and where we are. even the smallest things, we get caught up in social media and, advertising, want more, buy more, be more. That's never going away. in Australia, and I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, there is such a argument for being appreciative and satisfied with the that you're doing, the life that you're having, and. celebrating that. So there's nothing wrong with wanting more and doing more, but as you said, do we need to be working 80 hours? How are we getting that balance? And I think it all sort of circles back to a couple of the first topics that we're talking about that we'll delve into, into this season. nothing wrong with being, excited about extreme moderation, about exercising in moderation. Like you said, I don't need to run a marathon, but if I'm exercising well, I'm eating pretty good. I'm sleeping okay. I've got a great job Good work colleagues and my family's happy and healthy. recognizing that for the things that it is, rather than more, more, more want, want, want. And I think that there's so much opportunity to appreciate those wonderful things that we have in our lives. And, and we talked about that in previous seasons, and I think that's something that hasn't. in terms of a theme that we can all, think about and bring to the forefront a more mindful, less competitive approach, in a world of ai, blended work, global connection, getting off our screens. Human connection humans looking after each other and collaborating not being competitive is essential for. our place in the future of work. when technology can do all these things for us, moving away from a, a competitive approach and really thinking about collaboration and connection is, really, I think, quite a fundamental pillar for what success can look like, for 20, 25 and beyond. I am looking forward to talking about that

Miranda:

So exciting indicative of how excited we are for these topics and just this new world of work. podcast episodes we've been thinking about. the new world of work, redefining success. Ai critical thinking, humanistic leadership, digital overload, And bringing creativity into workflows I think we need to close it here for now. we are looking forward to being back with a full episode. From mid-May. please like and subscribe to ensure you don't miss a beat and help us get the word out that we are back. Thank you so much, Claire. It's been an absolute joy.

Claire:

I'm really excited So good to be back here doing this again with you, Miranda. We'll talk very soon.

Miranda:

Talk soon. Bye everybody.