I loved this chat with Darren Allen about all things career! He loved drawing and creativity and wanted to be an architect or an engineer as a child. His path changed when he got some loving, but frank feedback during his student years, and he swapped engineering for project management and professional problem solving.

Since then, he’s spent most of his career in the community and events space. In this chat we unpack how you can be more honest, have more fun and enjoy the work you do to be more productive.

Some of the things we cover: • Finding the line between the things we love and the things we monetise or work with. • Unpacking your unique way of problem solving. • The balance between following the rules and forging ahead • Reframe the bigger picture problem you are part of solving in your work • The risk of mission fatigue, especially in the not-for-profit space • Building your work on principles and values, rather than rules • How to shape decision making filters to work better. • Creating decision making frameworks that helps you work better and more efficiently • Integrity and how to figure out if a business is doing it well • Learning to regulate your pace and well-being to keep delivering great work and build a sustainable career • The challenges with bringing your whole self to work • Crying or and dealing with grief and difficult emotions in a workplace • How to lead with heart and still deliver great results • The gift in giving and receiving mentoring for people in any industry

Darren’s top career tips - Dare to reinvent yourself when you make a career change - Fail quickly. Make mistakes, but only maker them once. - Be prepared to be surprised. You will be wrong sometimes.

Resources: • Feeling stuck on what’s next in your career? Start by downloading the free career checklist via ⁠https://www.thebridgecoaching.com.au⁠ or book a free chat with Emmy. • Connect with Darren on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darren-allen-453b4333/