Ebeth’s Top 4 Podcasts For Professional Inspiration
Our Director of Business Development, Elizabeth Miller, is an avid podcaster. If we’re looking for a new series or need some professional inspiration, we always ask her for recommendations on what to listen to next. This blog, “Ebeth’s Top 4”, is the first installment of curated podcasts that will enlighten us on topics such as organizational psychology, leadership development, team building, and corporate culture. Enjoy now, and stay tuned for more!
Ebeth’s Top 4 Podcasts for Professional Inspiration
My love of this spoken word medium likely comes from being held captive in the back of my folks’ minivan listening to books-on-tape (such a funny antiquated term) while we were driving up and down the East Coast every summer. Now I crave my podcasts, looking forward to this “me” time while out on a run, folding laundry, doing dishes, or driving pretty much anywhere.
Podcasts are a great place to reset your brain and get a little (or alotta) inspiration in bite-site amount of time. While they will never replace the depth experience you get from reading, podcasts offer an opportunity to explore new topics without the time commitment of a book. You may choose to dive deeper, either subscribing to a podcast series or researching the topic further, or you can just enjoy the podcast for what it was – a nice brain break as comforting as storytime in preschool. So if you are looking for some personal growth during this social isolation, here’s a list of some of my current and classic favorites in the genre of professional inspiration.
Understanding a company’s structure and culture helps our company Spark4 create meaningful group events, so naturally we enjoy research on company culture, structure and organizational psychology. When I stumbled upon Work Life w/ Adam Grant, I realized that there are thousands of listeners also interested in these topics. Grant brings us the most current data supporting and debunking theories around best work practices, and the science behind “making work not suck”, in his words. Dedicate 45 minutes a week to this podcast, and you’ll be inspired to take these ideas on improving productivity, culture and morale to your own workplace. Adam Grant has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers, has written four New York Times best sellers and became Wharton School’s youngest ever tenured professor. Plus he’s good-natured and generally pleasant to listen to.
If you are looking for some inspiration, you might as well get it from today’s most creative intellectuals. I look forward to new episodes of The Next Big Idea like some do with The Bachelor. Episodes like ‘Why Generalists Succeed in a Specialists’ World’ and ‘How to Have More Productive Disagreements’ deconstruct some seemingly simple topics to find the why behind the why and get us thinking about how to be better humans at home and at work. “Listen to this podcast on a run and you’ll find yourself running faster and thinking bigger – energized to create a better tomorrow.
If you are curious about why we are the way we are – this is the podcast for you. Racial bias, work conflicts, personal relationships, consumer behavior, loneliness in the time of Covid, Hidden Brain host and social scientist Shankar Vedantam brings us the latest behavioral science research, distilling and communicating the results in a way that is relevant to a general curious audience. He has a pleasant speaking voice and a genuine, humble nature that comes through nicely via the radio, making him an enjoyable person to spend a half hour with. In need of some conversation starters at home, work or with peers? Vedantam shares plenty of material on Hidden Brain to keep us chatting and growing.
After sitting at the computer for hours or working through mundane life chores, my senses feel dulled and creativity is non-existent. This is the time where I force myself to put on my running shoes and a new episode of Innovation Hub. As a bystander listening to the discourse between these creative thinkers, I find myself stimulated to join the conversation and examine the topics with my own network. Some of gravest challenges and exciting innovations in the realms of science, technology, education, culture, and business gives me a glimpse of what leaders in these fields are working on, and gets the creative ideas flowing for ways I can incorporate them into my own professional growth. Some topics are more relevant than others, but they are always a fun way to spend 25-50 minutes.