Latest Episodes:

SEASON 4

Episode 45

Michael speaks with Ana Pliopas, Ph.D, a coach in Brazil who trained at the Hudson Institute, where Michael also did his coach training. They discuss how the pandemic affected the way people see their careers, the differences and similarities in how pandemic stress showed up in Brazil vs. the United States, and how coaching might show up differently in the two countries. Read more.

Episode 44

Career progress isn't just about how competent or hard-working you are. It can require the ability to attain and exert power within organizations. This is a scary thing because power tends to have a bad rap. You might think you can't attain it, or you might not want to attain it. As our guest Michael Chang Wenderoth explains, power is simply the ability to get your way in the face of opposition, and it's something that you can understand, unlock and use for your own benefit. Wenderoth is the author of the new book, Get Promoted: What You're Really Missing at Work That's Holding You Back, which is a practical, intelligent guide to mastering power at work. Read more.

Episode 43

In this episode, we speak Lara Sullivan, the CEO of Pyxis Oncology, and a friend of Michael's of many years. Lara has served as CEO since 2019 after roles at Pfizer, McKinsey & Co. and in private equity. No slacker, she also has both MD and MBA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, we discuss the role of curiosity in career success, how mentoring works differently from the way people assume, and the role of relationships in "de-risking" career moves. We also learn how studying Comp Lit in college can be a highly useful preparation for the world of business. Read more.

Episode 42

And we're baaaaaaaaack. Michael took a break to write a manuscript and manage some other life and career things, but here we are. We're kicking off this new season with an exciting Coaching Realness episode. Jennie Nash, America's favorite book coach and writing entrepreneur, last seen in Episode 31, returns to the pod, only this time as a client. Jennie's business is doing great but she's facing a big issue: namely, that to take things up to the next level she's going to have to let go of things, which is easier said than done. Read more.

SEASON 3

Episode 41

What is really goes on inside a mentoring relationship? How do these unique relationships start, evolve, manage bumps along the road, and be useful to both parties? In this episode, Michael is joined by Lauren Laitin, the founder of Parachute Coaching who is -- spoiler alert -- Michael's mentee. They review the random way that they met, what initially kicked off their connection, when it turned into a mentoring relationship, and what they've learned along the way. Read more.

Episode 40

In this episode, Lauren talks with Coach Michael about her initial views on networking, how she made the process work with her, and how she took it to the next level when running for office. She also has great advice for people thinking of public office but who haven't quite taken the first step. An extra-delightful and interesting episode! Read more.

Episode 39

It's time for another real coaching session. Michael's client-for-the-day is Meghan Daum, host of The Unspeakable podcast and author of many bestselling and critically acclaimed books, including The Problem With Everything. The topic in front of them relates a lot to money - namely, how to make more of it. Curious? Tune in. This is some good stuff! Read more.

SEASON 2

Episode 38

? In this episode, we are joined by Michael's business school classmate, Ed Gray, who is Director of Partnering Programs and Accessibility at Avid. In the past few years, he gradually lost his eyesight and he talks about his journey, what he's learned about living with a disability, and how you can navigate disability – and help your company navigate it as well. Read more.

Episode 37

What if you end up achieving a big dream, but discover that it's someone else's dream, not your own? What do you do then? This week, we are joined by Executive Coach Jennifer Chow Bevan. Jenn and Michael talk about how putting your head down and working hard isn't always the best strategy for career happiness, and how true insight is difficult but can come over time. Read more.

Episode 36

This week we go DEEP and ask: If you were really present in your life, as opposed to being stuck in your head most of the time, what might you experience? Michael is joined by executive coach Duncan Drechsel, who walks us through the subtleties of this thing called awareness: what is it, why it is important, and how we can develop it. Read more.

Episode 35

You have a brain and, guess what, it has an impact on how you function. What can you do to make sure it functions well? In this week's episode, we speak with executive coach Deb Elbaum about what we can learn from modern brain science. Read more.

Episode 34

Michael Roberts is best known for his leadership and experience in the philanthropic and not-for-profit worlds, but he actually started out as a Broadway performer.  He shares with us why courage is so important, what his parents taught him about planning for careers. and how to figure out where to make your mark in the not-for-profit world.  Read more.

Episode 33

In this week's episode, we have a special guest, NPR host Ailsa Chang, who shares her own career story. Ailsa grew up as a high achiever, which led to a career in corporate law that she discovered she had no interest in. Read more.

Episode 32

In our Pride Month special, Michael interviews bestselling author and general cool person, Dorie Clark, author of Reinventing You, Stand Out, Entrepreneurial You and, forthcoming in September, The Long Game. Dorie explores how to reorient ourselves to see the big picture so we can tap into the power of small changes that, made today, will have an enormous and disproportionate impact on our future success. Read more.

Episode 31

In this week's episode, we speak with author, publisher and book coach extraordinaire Jennie Nash, who is the CEO of Author Accelerator and happens to be Michael Melcher's very own and highly valued book coach. Michael and Jennie talk about what would-be authors do wrong, why writing a book will probably not change your entire life but still possibly be worthwhile, and the role that book coaches can play in helping you get where you want to go. Read more.

Episode 30

Networking is a necessary part of career stewardship. It can be hard to find the time, know what to say, and overcome discomfort. But it's even harder if you don't have preexisting relationships, grew up speaking a different language, and are trying to make a career change. Yet, it's still possible to triumph. Read more.

Episode 29

No matter how you slice it, work involves getting things done. "Getting Things Done" is the name of a bestselling book published nearly 20 years ago by David Allen, and it's spawned a community of ardent practitioners. In this week's episode, Michael Melcher is joined by Michael Dolan, a coaching colleague who also has deep knowledge of how this program works. Read more.

Episode 28

Today we're joined by Niki Khoshzamir, the CEO of PracticePro, a social enterprise that helps new grads set themselves up for success in their new careers. We talk about the unwritten rules of career success, why your most important relationship is your relationship with yourself, the challenges and rewards of being first generation, how to talk up potential mentors, and why looking for sponsors might be a distraction. Read more.

Episode 27

Career stewardship includes knowing how to navigate problems like bias, prejudice and bullying, as well as doing our part to create workplaces that don't have those problems. Currently there is a lot of talk about these kinds of problems, but what can you actually do? In today's episode, we speak with Kim Scott and Trier Bryant and get some specific, practical tools for dealing with unfairness in the workplace. Read more.

Episode 26

Politics is one of those careers that is featured frequently in television and movies, but how much do we really know about it? In this week's episode, we examine ways you can get into politics and what it's like when you're there. Our guest is Maria Robles Meier, a political staffer, and inclusion expert who grew up in a working-class family in Nebraska and built a career working on Capitol Hill, ultimately running the Senate Diversity Initiative under former Senator Harry Reid. Read more.

Episode 25

In this episode, we interview Soraya Darabi, general partner and co-founder of the venture-capital firm, TMV. We learn about how one ends up as a VC when you're from a family that never read the business section of the New York Times, the value of doing a ton of internships when young, and what it's like to work in an industry that has a lot of people born on third base who think they hit a triple. Read more.

Episode 24

How many bad, boring or ineffectual meetings have you attended this week? How many bad meetings do you expect to attend in your lifetime? It doesn't have to be this way. It's possible to have good meetings and if you know how to make them happen, your career will benefit. The question is: Do you have the courage to make this happen? In this episode, we speak with coach and organizational psychologist Dennis Adsit about how to triumph over bad-meeting culture. Read more.

Episode 23

In this episode, we speak with Marci Alboher, a writer and expert on the intergenerational workplace.  We learn about the idea of "stage not age," examine our preconceptions on what we thought aging would feel like, and look at the various ways that we self-segregate by age, even when it's not good for us.  We also ask a key question:  are you just a one-channel communicator?  Read more.

Episode 22

Do you feel uncomfortable with self-promotion? Join the club. Lots of people have hesitations, discomforts, or hang-ups about American-style career self-promotion. Yet talking about yourself, your capabilities, and your interests are not optional. It’s a requirement of career stewardship. In this episode, Michael is joined again by his colleague, Leslie Hom. They talk about the particular cultural choices of “American-style self-promotion”. Read more.

Episode 21

Season 2 of the Career Stewardship podcast kicks off with a bang. In Episode 21, we introduce a new, occasionally recurring feature: coaching realness. Michael has a coaching conversation with Liz, a 31-year old who is at a professional crossroads, and the convo is real, unscripted and human. Read more.

SEASON 1

Bonus Episode

Season 2 of Career Stewardship starts on January 6!  In the meantime, here’s one of Michael’s favorite episodes from “Meanwhile.”  He speaks with noted author, teacher, citizen of the world, and now writer on the HBO series “Calm,” Faith Adiele, who also happens to be his close friend of 30+ years.  Read more.

Bonus Episode

We’re busy preparing Season 2 of Career Stewardship! In the meantime, here is a bonus episode from Michael’s other podcast, “Meanwhile.” In this episode, Michael speaks with coaching colleague Hanna Hart about receiving feedback – why it’s so important and why it can be so hard! Read more.

Episode 20

“We want to hear from people who know things.  And they are a lot of different ways of knowing.”  - Katie Orenstein. In this episode, we speak with Katie Orenstein, founder, and CEO of the hugely influential organization, The OpEd Project.  Read more.

Episode 19

If you really want to grow in your career, it’s going to take more than buying a book of tips from an airport bookstore. You need to examine your inner landscape, ask yourself what needs to change, and anticipate what’s going to be hard about that change. In this episode, we speak with Pam McLean, the CEO of the Hudson Institute of Coaching, which is where Michael got his own coaching training back in the day. Read more.

Episode 18

What do you do if what you want doesn’t square with the dreams your parents have for you?  This is a common problem – and it’s even more intense when you are first generation, the golden child, and the standard bearer for an entire extended family or even community.  What happens when you exchange what others see as a sure thing for something that doesn’t check off as many boxes of “making it?”  Do you dare not to turn in that winning lottery ticket? Read more.

Bonus Episode

Michael Melcher has ANOTHER podcast – “Meanwhile:  A Podcast to Improve Your Life” – and this week we are bringing you a sample episode for you to check.  Read more.

Episode 17

In this week’s episode, we speak with Sarah Fain and Liz Craft, veteran TV writers/producers/showrunners who are also the hosts of the wonderful podcast, Happier in Hollywood.   Sarah, Liz and Michael discuss the ingredients for thriving in a long-term, gig-economy career, the ingredients of successful partnerships (ask yourself, “what are you pretending not to know?”) and why good Midwestern manners may be the secret to career success.  Read more.

Episode 16

Episode 16 is the second of our two episodes dealing with starting off right.  Coach Hanna Hart joins us again with her provocative idea that the onboarding begins in the interview process.  Read more.

Episode 15

We put a lot of effort into getting new jobs.  But that’s not the end of the story. How do we ensure things go well once we’ve started?  Episodes 15 and 16 are both about starting off right.  In this episode, Michael speaks with colleague Dennis Adsit, Ph.D., about misconceptions we can have in starting new jobs, especially in very senior positions.  Read More.

Episode 14

Negotiation may not be something you do every day but doing it well can have long-lasting benefits.  In this week’s episode, Michael is joined again by his colleague, Rebecca Zucker, who lays down the law about why you should always negotiate – even if it gives you the heebie-jeebies.  Read more.

Episode 13

When you are reaching out to meet someone or asking them for help of some kind, your success will often depend on how you make the request.  We have a lot of hang-ups about asking for things:  we often feel uncomfortable doing so, and we often have a limited idea of how others might help us.  Read more.

Episode 12

Vision is an important part of career stewardship but coming up with a career vision isn’t always easy.  You might not know where you want to be in the future or you might have lots of different ideas, none of which seems more than 15% likely. But there are specific practices you can undertake to explore and articulate your potential future life. Read more.

Episode 11

Michael is joined by the wise entrepreneur and bestselling author Chip Conley.   They discuss building careers of relevance and meaning at all stages of life – and it’s an episode full of golden nuggets. Read more.

Episode 10

Informational interviews are one of the most important ways we learn about careers and jobs, build connections, and present ourselves as potentially wonderful hires.  Info interviews might seem lower-stakes and less formal than actual job interviews, but the Career Stewardship podcast is here to challenge you to take them seriously! Read more.

Episode 9

What really goes on in interviews?  In this episode, Michael explains why you should take interview feedback with a grain of salt and why you shouldn’t expect interviewers to do their jobs very well.  Read more.

Episode 8

Spending 20 minutes a day working on your career sounds so manageable. So why is it so gosh darn hard to do every day and how can you actually get yourself to do it?   Michael is joined by internationally bestselling author Gretchen Rubin to figure this out! Read more.

Episode 7

In this episode, we examine the narratives that we tell ourselves about our careers, particularly in times of stress and change. 

Episode 6

In Episode 2, we talked about decoding your values. In this Episode 6, we explain how to apply your values for greater satisfaction and success in work, leadership and life.

Episode 5

In this episode, we explore a big “ism” and investigate whether it’s such a big deal:  specifically, how to deal with your career when you are 40+, 50+ or beyond.  

Episode 4

Is it possible to make a big career change, even when you have a few years under your belt?  The answer is a resounding YES . . . provided you keep a few key things in mind. 

Episode 3

Career fulfillment is isn’t really about following your passion.  Instead, it comes from building something that is in tune with your personal values.  We all have a set of core personal values, but we rarely take the time to identify what they are. 

Episode 2

Just because you don’t have a big rolodex populated with powerful names doesn’t mean you can’t attain career success.  Learn about “the strength of weak ties.”

Episode 1

To get what you want out of your career, you need a framework.  Learn what career stewardship means, the four-part model (values-visions-competencies-relationships) for managing your career, and the life-changing principle of “20 Minutes a Day.”