The tag-line for Penelope Trunk’s blog is ‘advice at the intersection of life and work’. That’s good, but quite frankly it undersells what Penelope does. For one things, she’s the founder of Brazen Careerist, a social network which helps young people manage their careers. Second, her blog is a no-holds-barred, deeply personal and often provocative look at her life and what it takes to be successful in business today. It’s a compelling mix of research, personal revelation and wise advice.

Penelope’s piece in Do More Great Work is as thoughtful and as provocative as you’d expect having read her blog.

In this interview we look at:

• The problem with our own ‘internal rules’ about how the world is run
• How wisdom is often found in the ‘in between parts’ and the moments of transition
• Why career advice is often best when it’s based on the ’stumbling around’ rather than the straight line
• How the risk of being real is more than worth it

You can follow Penelope on Twitter at @PenelopeTrunk and on her blog.

Listen to my interview with Penelope Trunk

I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing Seth’s blog is the most read in the world of business. In his blog, just as with his numerous and excellent books, (Linchpin, Tribes, Purple Cow etc.) Seth has an unparalleled capacity to offer up insights and ideas that challenge, provoke and support us all to do more Great Work. What does it mean to serve others? What does it mean to break the rules? What does it mean to do business in this changing world?

It is quite an honour that Seth has contributed an original piece to Do More Great Work.

In this interview we talk about:

• Why the idea of the ‘individual hero’ is over-rated
• One great way to deal with increasing responsibility
• What the driving force behind workaholics
• How you can be the best in the world, no matter where you are or what you do

You can follow Seth on his blog or on Twitter at @ThisIsSethsBlog

Listen to my interview with Seth Godin

Those who like Hugh MacLeod’s cartoons and writing like them a lot, and I’m one of those people. His cartoons are wise, abrasive and often cut to the heart of what it means to do Great Work, to find your own path and to stay human in the corporate world – or as he puts it in this interview, “figure out what’s really going on.” In fact, he often refers to this cartoons as ‘cubicle bombs’ – little explosions that disrupt Business As Usual. I’ve got this one hanging up in my house:

In our interview, we spend a good deal of the time exploring some of the 40 strategies for creativity he outlines in his book ‘Ignore Everybody‘ including:

• What it really means to ’sing in your own voice’ (and how Hugh found his)
• How Hugh manages to stay creative and fresh – and the answer is surprisingly undramatic
• What, when it comes down to it, Hugh thinks is the secret to his and others’ success

You can follow Hugh on Twitter at @gapingvoid and see his cartoons and art at his blog, www.gapingvoid.com

Listen to my interview with Hugh MacLeod here

Here’s a confession.  I want to be able to think like Merlin Mann.

He’s really smart on the topic of productivity, and in fact some part of his success comes from 43Folders.com which is a reference to David Allen’s Getting Things Done system.  But his work is not just about productivity.  It’s about creativity and purpose and striving to stay human and sane in a busy and distracting world and doing work that matters, doing Great Work. And he does all of this in funny, provocative, iconoclastic way.

In fact, writing this introduction and listening to the interview again has already provoked me to shift some of my own commitments in an effort to, as he puts it, “identify and destroy small return bullshit.  Shut off anything that’s noisier than it is useful.”  Great stuff indeed, and this is a wise and funny interview.

In our conversation we talk about:

• How the present is a “remedial course for the future” – and the pros and cons of those ‘creation myth’ stories of where people find clues for their Great Work
• The importance of an open heart and just where that might lead you
• The connection between productivity and creativity
• The two levels of prioritization (and how freeing it is to know that)
• And quite a bit more

You can follow Merlin on Twitter at http://twitter.com/hotdogsladies

The interviews are all between 25 and 30 minutes long.
You can either download them here as mp3s, or go to iTunes, type in “Great Work Interviews” and you’ll see them all there.

Listen to my interview with Merlin Mann