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Better At Work with Cathal Quinlan
Pet Shop Rabbits, Hope, and Big Career Moves | Q&A with Annette
Season 4, Ep. 27
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Annette's back with three takeaways from last week's Jennifer Moss episode that genuinely changed how we think about hope at work. Plus a listener question from Paul, an Australian who's been working in Dublin for 7-8 years and is now moving the family home to Melbourne while weighing a career change.
In this Q&A:
- The Admiral McRaven "make your bed" reminder
- FOBO (fear of becoming obsolete) and the five-step Gallup framework for compassionate leadership in the AI era
- Why scheduling time for learning is the part most leaders skip
- "Hope is not a method" vs. "hope IS a strategy": Annette's full reframe
- The four-part hope framework: goals, pathways, personal agency, agency for others
- Paul's question: how do you survive an international move AND a career pivot at the same time?
- The both/and move that changes the maths on midlife career transitions
Annette tells the story of the Post-it she kept on her monitor at one of the toughest jobs of her career: "Hope is not a method." Years later, Jennifer Moss reframed it for her. Hope is a strategy when you build goals, pathways, and agency underneath it. Without those, it's just wishful thinking with better PR.
For Paul, and anyone considering a big move plus a big career shift at the same time, the advice is the both/and: contract while you network, build foundations while you research, and don't try to do all the big rocks at once.
Got a career dilemma? Send it in at betteratwork.com
NEXT WEEK: Wendy Smith on Both/And Thinking. You're going to love it.
Making your work life better, one conversation at a time.
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