Becoming You with Suzy Welch

A personal grief story becomes a metaphor for identity and reinvention. A solitary swan and its disappearance mirror the moment life shifts and choices appear. The narrative traces caregiving, loss, surrender, and the turn from waiting to intentional action.

A deep dive into why people avoid true self-knowledge and the costs of that avoidance. A striking name experiment reveals surprising perceptions and sparks a values conversation. The Four Horsemen that erode values are unpacked. A values assessment is introduced and the emotional fear of discovering misalignment is explored.

A three-part series kickoff about fear, self-knowledge, and why people avoid truths about themselves. A listener’s sabbatical sparks a debate on resume transparency and framing time off as growth. Research on information avoidance and the value of authenticity in career choices are explored. Practical reasons to be honest about major life pauses are discussed.

Leslie John, a Harvard Business School professor who studies judgment and decision-making and wrote Revealing, discusses the upside of sharing more of your inner life. She explores how candid disclosure builds trust, why we hold back, and practical ways to reveal thoughtfully at work and in relationships. Expect funny, surprising personal stories and actionable ideas about practicing authentic self-expression.

Three fresh questions to get unstuck replace the usual search for purpose. Listeners hear prompts that expose avoided risks, hidden longings, and what abundance would reveal. A playful prompt even asks you to imagine what your dog would want for your wellbeing. Practical, probing, and designed to kickstart forward motion.

Dustin Liu, Associate Director at NYU Stern who studies purpose, flourishing and Gen Z work trends, joins to unpack career chaos. They tackle mass layoffs and whether AI is the real cause. They discuss ageism and 'resume Botox.' They weigh if AI destroys or creates jobs, examine trade workers’ rising security, and debate why remote work remains so polarizing.

A Paris stroll becomes a reckoning about values and clarity. She confronts grief, workcentrism, and the uneasy pleasure of leisure. The story traces a journey from academic rigor to personal revelation. The conversation centers on honoring your own organizing principles without judgment.

What if the stories you inherited about where you come from were all a lie?In part two of a three-episode Becoming You series about the places you travel and the self-discoveries that arise, your host Suzy Welch voyages to Sicily. Not for sun-drenched escapism or waterfront glamour (hello White Lotus), but to confront the whispered mythology that shaped her childhood and, without her knowing it, her values. This is an episode about ancestry, silence, and the stories families tell to survive.Suzy takes us to Caltanissetta, her family’s ancestral village in the center of Sicily, where a long-told narrative of nobility and elegance collides with historical truth, about the kind of suffering that forces people to choose between staying—or running for their lives. What unfolds is not just a revelation about where her family came from, but a profound insight into a core value she would later name Scope: the desire (or lack thereof) for risk, stimulation, and a big, expansive life.This episode explores: How generational trauma gets buried under idealized fictions The difference between grief and gratitude when facing your family’s past How values like Scope shape whether we run toward calm and security vs chaos and excitement  With vulnerability, honesty, and unexpected joy, Suzy reflects on her ancestors’ courage, and their decision to leave everything behind, cross an ocean, and choose uncertainty over suffering. And she asks the question at the heart of this series: What do the places you’ve been reveal about who you are?Next week, the journey continues—in Paris—where a completely different truth waits to be discovered. Because sometimes, you have to travel all the way across the world to meet yourself.  The Values Bridge digital assessment is available at thevaluesbridge.comPIE360 Feedback tool is available at pie360feedback.comWant more Becoming You? Check out the Becoming You book.You are always growing and evolving and so are we. Sign up for the Becoming You newsletter for fresh new content in one tidy package. You can follow and tag Suzy on: Instagram: @suzywelch Linkedin: @suzywelch TikTok: @suzywelch YouTube: @suzywelch_ X: @SuzyWelch To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A travel story that turns inward in Agra at the foot of the Taj Mahal. Personal reckoning about love, power, and how public narratives can hide complicated truths. A new value called belovedness is born from confronting self-betrayal and living misaligned. The episode teases further identity-shattering travel reflections to come.

Sue Jacobson, a communications CEO and longtime friend of Suzy Welch, shares profound insights on friendship and resilience. They discuss the concept of 'mattering' and the three key practices: Noticing, Affirming, and Needing. Through personal stories, including a near-death experience, they reveal the importance of vulnerability in relationships. The conversation balances heartfelt moments with humor, demonstrating how to strengthen connections and become more impactful individuals.