15. The Value of Mentorship, Embracing Nuance, and Finding Your Red Thread | Hazel Maclaurin

Have you ever felt caught between competing identities in your professional life? Perhaps you've built a career on expertise and achievement in one domain, only to find yourself navigating an entirely new landscape that fundamentally changes how you're perceived.

Today's conversation explores the importance of evolving your identity as your context changes, and how as we get older, we can get more nuanced in how we relate to the complexity that change brings. 

Hazel Maclaurin shares her multifaceted journey as a musician, poet, digital marketing leader, and strategic HR content expert. She discusses the profound impact of mentorship on her career, the importance of storytelling in evoking change, and the necessity of nuance in today's world. 

Whether you're wrestling with complexity in your organisation or seeking to honor all dimensions of your life, this conversation offers both wisdom and a refreshingly honest take on what it means to lead with authenticity.

We discuss:

The growing importance of ‘adaptive capacity’The power of brilliant mentorsThe difference between running away from something vs. moving toward something and how that difference transforms our relationship with work and leadership.the value that her ‘squiggly career’ has brought her the importance of embracing nuance in decision-making. the power of storytelling and language in fostering understanding and connectionthe societal expectations placed on women, the impact of motherhood on professional identity, the significance of self-compassion in personal evolution

Hazel Maclaurin is a strategic HR content expert with over a decade of high-level corporate experience, including roles as global content manager for enterprise at Korn Ferry and global head of content at the Project Management Institute. Her "squiggly career" path—spanning titles including (but not only) musician, poet, digital marketing specialist, and HR strategist—has given her ‘range’ - unique insights and understanding into the human condition and the power of connection through language.

You can find Hazel at:

Website: https://www.hazelmaclaurin.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazel-maclaurin-b985a625/

Blog: https://thiswomenswork.com/

Substack: https://thiswomenswork.substack.com

Check out my services and offerings https://www.digbyscott.com/

Subscribe to my newsletter https://www.digbyscott.com/#subscribe

Follow me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/digbyscott/

Dig Deeper

There's no one way to lead. Yet we need to find a way. Our own way. And it can be hard to get right. As we find our way to lead it can be useful to listen to how others found theirs.

Each fortnight, I’ll share a rich, unhurried conversation with someone who’s leaned into and learned from the challenges of leadership, change, and life while staying true to themselves.

You'll get to experience me doing what I do best: asking the surface-piercing questions to help people see what they couldn't see before. Including you.

Learn more about my courses and get more resources at https://www.digbyscott.com/

And follow me on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/digbyscott/

• No. of episodes: 29
• Latest episode: 2025-07-14
• Business Careers Management

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