#132 From tech giant to embracing entrepreneurship with Glenn Block
Release Date: 10/03/2024
#159 5 lessons from failing Ninja Warrior with Brandon Clift
Another Door Stories
"Are you at least willing to push through the discomfort so that the team can win, so that your family can win, so that the mission can win and ultimately perhaps so that you can win?” Have you ever had life slam a door in your face maybe even in the most public way possible? What if, in that moment, you could hit pause, dig into the mess, and come out the other side with fresh lessons (and maybe even a laugh or two)? In this episode, I talk to executive coach and all-around inspiring human, Brandon Clift. Brandon shares his spectacular "door closed" moment on national TV as a contestant on...
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#158 How to keep going through the setbacks with Mike Morrison
Another Door Stories
“When you're too comfortable, when you have space to overthink, then nothing happens... But when there’s fire under you, you have to move, or you die.” In this episode, we are joined by Mike Morrison, entrepreneur, founder of Membership Geeks, and a true veteran of life’s unexpected detours. Mike shares openly about the many doors that have closed throughout his career and personal life, including the literal locked door that ended his "secure" marketing job, relationship breakdowns, and the surprising, sudden departure of his co-founder. Each setback forced Mike to reimagine...
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#157 The layoff journey: from dismissal to discovery with Steve Jaffe
Another Door Stories
“Resist that urge to jump right into job applications and start applying. You want to give yourself some space to process what you've been through and maybe avoid making any big decisions." In this episode, we have Steve Jaffe, author of The Layoff Journey: From Dismissal to Discovery. Steve has been laid off four times during his career each time making space for reflection, resilience, and ultimately, growth. We talk about the messy middle: what it really feels like to lose your job, how to process grief and anger, and why hope, connection, and self-care make all the difference....
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#156 The importance of empathy at work in times of change with June Hogan
Another Door Stories
“Sympathy is rushing to turn the light on into someone’s darkness so that we feel better, whereas empathy is being prepared to sit with somebody in their darkness and connect with them and just be there for them.” In this episode, I’m joined by June Hogan. June helps organisations to do redundancy and layoffs well! So of course I’m a fan. It’s never easy or simple when companies have to let people go, but it can be done well, and with empathy and fairness. This is what June’s work is all about. We talk about the difference between empathy and sympathy when you are leading...
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#155 The no bullsh*t approach to life, career and leadership with Chris Hirst
Another Door Stories
"You can have a bad day, some days, that's fine. But then at some point, you've got to go, all right, I've got to take a little bit of responsibility now and get on with this." In this ‘epic’ (long!) episode, I sit down with Chris Hirst, author known for his “no bullsh*t” approach to leadership and work. We go deep, wide and around the block talking about the realities and myths of career progression, change, redundancy, and what it really means to be a leader. Chris shares transformative moments in his career, including going to Harvard and facing redundancy, and how...
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#154 Breaking barriers and empowering the next generation with Marie-Ange Eyoum Tagne, PhD
Another Door Stories
“I want to frame my journey to be an example, to be a road map, to hand the baton to somebody else, to the next generation.” In this episode, Marie-Ange Eyoum Tagne, PhD, a product leader, and technologist, shares the inspiration behind her new memoir “For Such a Time Like This”. From her childhood in Cameroon, dreaming of going to the moon, to leading teams at Meta, Amazon and Yahoo, Marie-Ange’s journey is a powerful testament to following your heart, staying strong, even when everything around you suggests you should be doing something completely...
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#153 Finding a different way to use your magic (and humour) with Emma Djemil
Another Door Stories
“There has to be a different way for me to use my magic in the world. My magic can't keep mopping up messes that are created by ridiculous decisions like this.” When HR Director Emma Djemil hit a moment of ‘enough is enough’ she knew it was time for her skills, energy, passions to be directed elsewhere. Stuck cleaning up the messes of others, she knew it was time for a big change. In this episode, Emma talks about what it really takes to walk away from a toxic job, where to find the drive for something new, and why humour is such a powerful tool for getting through...
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#152 Starting all over again with Mark Green
Another Door Stories
“There were two significant moments, two significant doors. One was the thought of that's it. I'm dead. Door closed on everything. And the other moment was when the consultant said, you can have all this back. You've just got to work for it. Door open.” In this episode, Mark Green, founder of Change Rebellion, shares his wild story of a door closing, nearly for good, and how it changed him and his perspective for life. It’s not just a story about navigating professional change; it’s about survival, resilience, and finding purpose. When COVID hit his family in late 2020,...
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#151 The Art of Being Brave: Strength in Breaking, Power in Rising
Another Door Stories
“I think whenever you feel yourself being resistant, the challenge is to find acceptance. Because you have to accept something to shove that resistance out of the way. And once you've accepted it, you can move beyond it.” In this episode, I’m speaking with Kreena Dhiman, a friend, and an incredible keynote speaker who leaves you feeling like you can achieve anything! Kreena shares her story of unexpected redundancy after a decade in a successful accounting career, and how that shock forced her to confront not only her professional identity but also lifelong struggles, setbacks,...
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#150 Finding your voice and your value in times of change with David James
Another Door Stories
“It was a phenomenal time looking back, of anxiety at the beginning and disbelief that this was going to do anything for us, to finally being acquired at the end of 2021 in a life changing deal.” In this episode, I speak to David James about the reality of walking away from a, on paper, dream corporate role in search of something else. David left the Walt Disney Company and joined the startup world, he shares the story of facing into the setbacks, the moments of wonderful serendipity, the moments of deep, dark doubt (my words, not David’s!). We talk about the emotional...
info_outline“What if I could author my life the way I want it to be? What would that look like? And the more I started to think about that it was, you know, not working for anybody. It was creating my own spaces, creating my own company where I get to do the things I really care about, and where I can structure it”
Join me talking to Glenn Block, whose journey from corporate life to entrepreneurship is packed with valuable lessons and insights, and stories of how getting it wrong on the first go can turn out to be OK! Glenn shares the moment he decided to close a door on working in ‘big tech’ and launch not one but two of his own businesses. We discuss the magic of having unfiltered conversations with people when you first have an idea, our love of books and the importance of watching out for your mental health during life changes.
"Leaving corporate politics felt like closing the door on a toxic relationship; it was a necessary step towards reclaiming my mental health and professional integrity."
Here are the highlights:
06:47 MBA led to realisation: Leave the corporate for new opportunities.
20:39 Enjoying flexibility and fulfillment outside corporate environment.
22:30 Launched business in 2023; in a struggling economy.
30:01 ADHD's hyperfocus can lead to extreme productivity.
33:10 Learned more being self-employed than in a corporate job.
42:07 Seeking music to inspire hope during change.
51:57 Runway provides security and focus for success.
Glenn’s Another Door go-tos
The things that helped Glenn navigate change.
Book: “Leadership and Self Deception” by The Arbinger Institute
Music: "My Life" by Billy Joel
The one piece of advice: "Planning is crucial. Having a financial runway, for me it was a year-long plan, gave me the stability I needed to make the leap from corporate life to self-employment with confidence."
About Glenn Block
Glenn is a product and innovation leader with almost 30 years of experience in the tech industry. Throughout his career he has been at the forefront of building innovative enterprise solutions and advancing cloud computing. He has led initiatives at a number of top tech companies including Microsoft, Docusign, Auth0, and Splunk. After many years of witnessing the deep systemic inequities in the tech industry and how that impacts product development, Glenn started ProdSense where he advises organizations on how to build more inclusive products.
Glenn’s mission is to create a more inclusive and safe environment in tech. He invests a large amount of his energy in mentoring, advising, and sponsorship especially for black women, women of color, and the LGBTQ community. He has also worked in multiple organizations to change culture and policies, and has collaborated with several non-profit organizations as part of his mission including TechBridge Girls, Tech2Empower, and Code Nation.
He is a lifelong learner and received his executive MBA in leadership and social justice from Seattle University
Find out more: https://prodsense.net
Connect with Glenn:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gblock/
About your host Eleanor Tweddell:
Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it’s 121 coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training. Eleanor’s work centres around how we, as humans, work through change, embracing the messy bits, the role of playing, with the aim to see opportunity. “Too often we get stuck in the change happening to us, when just through that next door is an exciting next chapter.”
Eleanor is the founder of Another Door, and Get-Recommended.com and the author of Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Connect with Eleanor:
Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/
Website: eleanortweddell.com
Produced by winteraudio.co.uk