Hello, I’m NCS.
This is where I think out loud, mostly from the little yellow beach hut I built on Lancing beach. Notes on reading, work, life and lighthouses, written when something is worth writing down. More about me.
Latest from the collection
Lighthouse stamps and postcards, and the stories behind them. See all the postcards and stamps.
-
Our Bookish Family Christmas tradition
Many years ago I started a Family tradition, which I learned about from an Icelandic friend. You see Icelandic people celebrate Christmas each year with a book exchange. This tradition is known as Jolabokaflod, which translates roughly to Christmas book flood. Jolabokaflod started during World War II, when paper was one of the few things not rationed in… Read more
-
Presenting with humour
I love watching anyone at the top of their game. Sir Ken Robinson delivered a barn storming Ted Talks years ago which I return to time and time again to be inspired If you get a moment watch him in this youtube clip notice how he uses humour to soften you and to help make… Read more
-
You are not in traffic, you are traffic
When I look at my schedule and it is full of meetings, other people are wasting my time! When I am queueing in a shop and I am in a hurry I am cursing the people in front of me When I come back from a holiday to a mountain of emails, how can these… Read more
-
Looking for motivation
I have started so many diaries, journals and blogs in 20 years. I struggled searching for regular writing motivation. This year that changed, I realised that motivation is an excuse. I no longer wait for motivation to arrive, I just sit down in a space and write. Most of what I write is awful, some… Read more
-
Asking for feedback
You don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes or the most emotionally aware person to know who your fans are, those people who will give you positive feedback, that think you are great – Your colleagues, family and friends are hardwired to say nice things about you. Are you as good as they might say you… Read more
-
The art of the follow up
I learned a lot from my colleagues in sales and wanted to apply that when I worked in sales a couple of years ago. It was the time in my life when I was meeting so many new people on a regular basis. I kept finding myself in need of a workflow. Needing a repeatable… Read more
-
Lead like a conductor
There is a quote: “if you want to lead the orchestra you must turn your back on the crowd”. It is often used by people as a justification for ignoring the criticisms of the many to focus on a task or mission. The quote is about leadership and the lone figure of a conductor standing… Read more
-
Put the work in
When you aspire to excellence you must aspire to a level of effort which goes unnoticed consciously by most people, you should accept that excellence disappears easily into the background when its done properly. An example I can easily explain is in the movies. There is a lot of thought that goes into every detail,… Read more
