Career Advice: Career Planning, Seizing Opportunities and Ambition
This month on Career Stories, Dr Luella Forbes and Associate Professor Michelle Gander reflect on the career stories of Steve Price, Dr Mia Carbon, and Dinda Timperon — three very different people with some surprisingly connected threads running through their careers.
In this episode:
- Why the people who say they don't have a career strategy often turn out to be the most strategic of all — and what Steve Price and Mia Carbon's decisions reveal about planning versus being open to what comes up.
- The difference between push and pull factors in career decisions, and how Maslow's hierarchy of needs maps onto the moments when we choose to move on or stay put.
- What ambition actually means for women at work — including research showing there's no ambition gap between men and women when career support is equal, and why that gap appears when it isn't.
- Why Dinda Timperon's story, from deciding at 17 to join the RAF to building a community around cybersecurity and personal development, is a case study in knowing your own mind.
- Seizing opportunities versus planning for them — and what happens when the universe decides to make the decision for you (Luella shares the story of how she ended up in Australia).
- The role of networks, mentors and sponsors in career development, and why the most powerful career conversations are often the ones you're not having.
Michelle's take on ambition:
"I applaud all the young women nowadays that embrace wanting to be ambitious and wearing that as a badge of honour — because there is nothing to be ashamed of about that."
Resources mentioned:
• Drive — Daniel Pink
More detailed show notes with links to information discussed by guests can be found here.
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Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.
Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.
Creators and Guests
Host
Associate Professor Michelle Gander
Michelle is an Associate Professor at Murdoch University, specialising in careers.
Host
Dr Luella Forbes
Dr Luella Forbes is a consultant specialising in Organisational Change and founder of The Career Library and it's podcast, Career Stories.
