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Welcome to the New Manager 
Podcast. 

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I'm your host, Kim Nickel. 
Hello and welcome. 

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I'm glad you're here and I hope 
you're doing well. 

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If you listen on Spotify then 
you might have noticed this 

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short episode that I released a 
few days ago because it was 

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video and if you're listening on
Spotify then you can also see 

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the video. 
If you listen to Apple Podcasts,

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and I believe that most of you 
do, then you will not have been 

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able to see the video. 
And the reason I'm sharing this 

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is because I'm experimenting a 
bit more with how I produce the 

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podcast, how I share my 
perspective and thoughts with 

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you, and so I am interested in 
your feedback. 

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If you watched the video, did 
that work for you? 

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I know for some of you, you 
probably listen when you're 

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driving or commuting and don't 
want to be looking at your 

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screen. 
So I am curious and I am open to

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hearing what your experience was
like. 

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You can either message me 
through the Spotify app or, you 

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know, find me on LinkedIn, 
message me there or go to my 

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website, kimnickel.com and let 
me know what you think, because 

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things are going to continue to 
evolve and change. 

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And that brings me to the topic 
I wanted to speak with you about

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today, which is thinking about 
your career in the context of 

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ecosystem. 
And I'm thinking about this for 

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a few reasons. 
One is that when you are a 

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manager, when you're in any kind
of leadership role, I find it 

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very useful to take the 
perspective of, you know, your 

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work is to nurture the health 
and well-being of the ecosystem 

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in which you're operating. 
So that includes both the people

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on your team that includes you 
as part of this ecosystem, 

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right? 
Like it will be healthier and 

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function better when you're also
healthy and functioning and 

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being cared for. 
And also when you think about 

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what is the ultimate goal of a 
healthy operating organization, 

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whether you work in the public 
sector or the private sector, 

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whether you do client facing 
work or whether you're focused 

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more towards internal clients 
and supporting other 

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departments. 
I find that when we look through

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the lens of how do these 
different forces relate to one 

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another? 
What does it even mean to be 

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doing a good job? 
What is the indicator that we 

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are doing good work and having 
good outcomes? 

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I find that looking at that 
question through the lens of 

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ecosystem and relationships is 
very helpful, both because it 

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puts things into context both in
terms of what are we measuring 

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as a performance or success 
metric, but it also puts things 

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into context when you're facing 
challenges or when things are 

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hard. 
Because sometimes what happens 

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is you will face a very specific
problem in your day that is 

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actually the symptom of 
something bigger that can be 

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harder to put your finger on. 
It's kind of like you know the 

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the problem or the challenge 
that you might have with a 

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specific person or with your 
team. 

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It might be coming as a result 
of the processes that you're 

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being, you know, required to 
use, or the limitations of the 

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tools or the resources that you 
have to work with. 

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Or it might be indicative of 
some other professional, 

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cultural something. 
You know, like I'm thinking, 

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because I have a bit of a 
background in the legal 

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profession, you know, sometimes 
we'd see different burnout 

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situations happening or people 
in that profession making 

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mistakes. 
Not because they're not smart or

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not or or not well-intentioned, 
but because the way that the 

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business is set up and the way 
that the professional culture is

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within the legal profession with
billable hours and needing to be

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perfect. 
And, you know, it creates this 

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very siloed kind of situation 
where people can mask the 

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challenges that they're having 
in their mental, emotional and 

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physical health. 
And then what happens is, you 

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know, you would get really good 
at masking until things reach a 

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point now where you're seeing 
these errors or you're seeing 

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like a like a bigger problem. 
And the problem is actually not 

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just about this one person, but 
it actually points to something 

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bigger and environmental. 
You know that that the the 

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person is working within. 
And so when we're thinking about

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how am I trying to solve a 
problem, what is the problem I'm

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trying to solve, right. 
We can look at the personal 

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individual level. 
We can look at the environmental

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level. 
We can look at the processes, 

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tools and resources available. 
And so for you as the manager 

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and as the leader, I really see 
you in the role of how you know 

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from where I'm sitting, how do I
nurture the well-being and 

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continued thriving of, you know 
of this organization. 

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And it looks different when we 
look at it as just our team. 

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Like is my team thriving? 
Are we hitting our goals? 

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Are we working well together? 
Are people getting burned out? 

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Will I have to replace people 
because they get burned out and 

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leave or because the environment
is not conducive to people 

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working well together. 
And what else becomes 

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interesting is that we can also 
then consider, given the scope 

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of the particular challenge that
you're facing, sometimes it 

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really helps to be able to name 
it as such. 

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So we sometimes will face 
challenges that are more complex

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than an individual person can 
solve. 

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But there is relief in being 
able to name that because it 

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allows people to then be in a 
different relationship with it. 

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And instead of feeling, for 
example, like, oh, I must not be

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good enough, I'm not trying hard
enough, you can actually say, 

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oh, no, that's actually not 
what's happening here. 

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What's happening is that we're 
currently understaffed. 

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And so you're going to be 
overwhelmed and overworked. 

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And if you're not able to hit 
those targets, it's not because 

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there's something wrong with 
you. 

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It's because we're working now 
in an environment that has 

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changed. 
And you know, and so here's how 

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we want to try to address that, 
right. 

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It just helps us to locate 
ourselves in relationship to the

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challenge in ways that can be 
more sustaining and less 

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draining. 
And I think this is also 

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something that really comes into
play when you think about your 

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career like your career is 
bigger than the specific 

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organization that you're in. 
And when we, you know you hear 

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conversations about networking, 
oh, it's important to network. 

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And what I want to say about 
that is I think it changes when 

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you think in terms of you are 
part of an ecosystem. 

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And so you want to grow and have
a very active and dynamic 

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ecosystem of people that you 
know who know you whether you're

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job searching or not. 
Even within your organization, 

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if you are so happy where you 
are, you love what you're doing,

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You don't have any plans to 
leave. 

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It is still of great value to 
you and your organization for 

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you to have an active, dynamic, 
connected network of people that

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you know both within the 
organization and also outside. 

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Whether that's other peers in 
that same industry who are 

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working in different, you know, 
different organizations or 

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whether they are people who work
in adjacent industries or in 

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different industries but are 
also in the world, right. 

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And so have different and 
various perspectives. 

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You never know when it will be 
helpful to hear what someone 

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else is working on, what they 
are seeing in the world, how 

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they are thinking about their 
industry, about their work, 

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being able to access that kind 
of diversity in your network by 

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knowing different people. 
In my mind, that creates such a 

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robust ecosystem, which can be 
very helpful for you in your 

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work now, as well as if there 
comes a day when you decide that

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you want to change. 
Whether you're thinking about 

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going to another organization 
and already having conversations

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and ideas about, you know, what 
direction that might be. 

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Or if you're in a position where
you need to hire. 

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Maybe your team is growing or 
something is changing in your 

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organization. 
And they say, Oh my gosh, we 

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really need someone who kind of 
understands this, but also this.

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And we're not really sure where 
to start. 

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And you might be the person who 
says, oh, within the ecosystem 

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of people that I am a part of 
and that I am connected to, I 

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actually know someone who meets 
both of those requirements. 

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And I can reach out to them and 
ask for their advice or see if 

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there's someone in their network
who might be interested in this 

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kind of role. 
Like, there are so many benefits

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that come from having an active,
robust, A diverse ecosystem of 

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networks and people that you 
know. 

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And again, like, even inside the
organization that you're in, 

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especially if you work in a 
really big, highly complex 

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organization, it's helpful to 
know people in different parts 

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of that organization, to 
understand what they do, what 

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makes their job easier, what 
makes their job harder, what are

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the things that they care about.
It is just helpful to understand

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more about how things work and 
to have that personal 

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relationship. 
It's a thing that I think we 

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sometimes don't make time for, 
either because we feel awkward 

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or uncomfortable reaching out 
for a conversation or we 

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sometimes think, oh, that's what
you do early in your career when

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you are first starting out, or 
oh, that's something that you're

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supposed to do only when you are
job searching. 

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But no, I want to suggest this 
is something that can really 

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support you in your career and 
be valuable even if you are 

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happy and not planning to go 
anywhere. 

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Simply building relationships, 
having conversations, learning 

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about how other people are 
thinking about the industry or 

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about their work or about, you 
know, what they're observing in 

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in, you know, in the workspace. 
So do that right. 

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Like think about your network 
and if networking feels kind of 

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transactional and not that warm 
like it kind of does for me, 

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think about it as, you know, 
you're part of this ecosystem of

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people that work and you know, 
hopefully work well in what 

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they're doing. 
And it's it's really helpful to 

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have conversations and get to 
know what people are about. 

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You'll want to do this in a way 
that makes it easy, that makes a

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light lift, both for you and for
the person. 

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I'm a really big fan of virtual 
coffees. 

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If it's somebody that maybe you 
don't know very well and I'll 

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just reach out and say, hey, I 
would love to know more about 

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what you're doing and what your 
work is and who you are. 

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If you want to find time on my 
calendar, here's a link you can,

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you know, book a virtual coffee 
with me. 

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It's 20 minutes, 25 minutes. 
And just invite people. 

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Depending on your organization, 
your industry, where you are in 

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the world, you might make it not
a virtual coffee, but you might 

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say, hey, do you want to go grab
a coffee and just make an easy 

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invitation for someone to say 
yes? 

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Because, you know, we also like 
being able to talk about what 

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we're doing, what we're 
experiencing, our perspective. 

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So it adds value to that person 
to bring that curiosity and that

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listening and then also to share
your perspective. 

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Because now they also are 
starting to enhance and nurture 

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their network. 
Like it happens at the exact 

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same time, which I, which I 
really love. 

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I love when things become easier
and a little bit more sort of 

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gently efficient. 
We live in a dynamic world. 

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You work in a dynamic industry. 
Things are changing all the 

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time. 
Sometimes we are in charge of 

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that change, and sometimes we're
simply doing our best to respond

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to changes that we did not 
choose. 

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But either way, if the idea is 
that you will be a healthy, 

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happy person, that you will 
enjoy your work maybe a little 

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bit better than you did 
yesterday, then tending to this 

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ecosystem of your career and of 
the organization and the 

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environment that you work in 
will become a part of that. 

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So that is what I wanted to 
share with you today. 

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I really do hope you have a 
better day at work because of 

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listening to this show. 
That's why I show up here for 

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you. 
If you have questions, comments,

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you can either leave a note in 
the Spotify app or find me on 

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LinkedIn, message me through my 
website kimnickel.com and if you

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want to work with me one-on-one,
then book some time on my 

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calendar and let's talk about 
it. 

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You'll find the link in my show 
notes or go to my website 

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kimnickel.com. 
And last note is that in a 

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couple of weeks I'm hosting 
another career conversation with

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my friend Wendy. 
She's an amazing career coach 

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with a lot of expertise in tech.
We will be talking about career 

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pivots and side hustles, so if 
that's something you want to 

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learn more about, I hope you're 
going to be able to join us. 

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It's going to be great. 
All right, that's it for me 

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today. 
Have a great rest of your day 

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and I will talk to you next 
time. 

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When you're more effective at 
work, you're happier in your 

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life. 
And when you're happier in your 

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life, you're more effective at 
work. 

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I can help. 
Go to my website, kimnickel.com 

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and sign up for a coaching 
consult. 

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It can get better.