Putting things away, 2023 TGIM

This weekend was an important weekend in our home, it is the weekend we put the Christmas decorations away and begin to think of returning to work. As much I love putting up the decorations, I have learned to love when it ends. You have to, if you want to achieve anything in life. SoContinue reading “Putting things away, 2023 TGIM”

Desirable ends with available means

I have been in strategy for nearly three years now and it is the most interesting business area I have worked in. It has tested me more than any other role and still three years on I am learning things daily. ‘STRATEGY’ is however the most misused word I can recall, except maybe the wordContinue reading “Desirable ends with available means”

Mentoring; My Journey

Mentoring has had a profound influence in my life and I think always will play a huge part. Through the position I have attained I continue to pay that forward with how I mentor my children, colleagues and the wider community. My children as adults are both paying it forward in their professions as aContinue reading “Mentoring; My Journey”

Bad parenting; Hair today, gone tomorrow

Author’s note: I have for the last twenty years or more kept a daily notebook/journal and the things I hear and see I squirrel away for myself, the future or just because I must write something. Now I have kept this daily blog thing up for 150 days I put ‘some’ of the things upContinue reading “Bad parenting; Hair today, gone tomorrow”

Earn your Saturday: The 2 minute Rule

My Grandad Dennis used to say to me when I was complaining about a hard work week. “earn your Saturday”. I think I have earned this Saturday, I hope you have earned yours too. My aim for these posts that they are two minutes at most. To explore an idea or concept and share itContinue reading “Earn your Saturday: The 2 minute Rule”

Reading is not slacking

Meetings, team calls and 1:1’s are part of our working day culture and no one questions them on a calendar. What if you saw ‘Read a Book for an hour’ on someone’s calendar what would you think? Reading can change your perspective. This in turn can lead to improved productivity or you and your teamContinue reading “Reading is not slacking”

2021: Just Ship It

New year resolutions are always so tedious, so self quickly and indulgently shared with the world on some platform or other, or in a facile conversation. If ‘The definition of insanity is repeating the same tasks over and over again expecting different results’ a new years resolution must be insanity on steroids. I don’t meanContinue reading “2021: Just Ship It”

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 standingContinue reading “Lead like a conductor”

My favourite teacher story

As my son is a school teacher now and I am a very proud father I have started to collect or notice teacher stories. This one below is one of my favourites, enjoy: A school teacher ran a test that had several sections, each of which contained three questions. He told the students to chooseContinue reading “My favourite teacher story”

Seeing others perspective

Not sure why I remember this but it just came back to me this morning on hearing someone talking about the problems in our country at the moment with Covid-19. I remember travelling to Scotland over 10 years ago, right up to the Northern most tip of our beautiful island. Where I had driven forContinue reading “Seeing others perspective”

My Podcast Episode; Mentoring

I had the pleasure of appearing on the Grasp.hr Podcast a few weeks ago and the episode just dropped. Click on the link above to listen. I talked about my earliest mentoring experience as a caddy to businessmen at 13, my life at Eli Lilly and my eventual move to Veeva Systems. We discussed theContinue reading “My Podcast Episode; Mentoring”

No crabby pants allowed only happy clams

As I write this post the bank holiday weekend still has half of Monday left but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it has been one of my best long weekends for ages. I am at peace with ‘the me’ down at the beach. Whether it be short walks on theContinue reading “No crabby pants allowed only happy clams”

Vision needs venture

During my days on vacation, my wife Melanie and I walked round ancient english towns. It was just before starting a new role at work. I was exploring this beautiful town and still thinking about starting my new role, (so much for being mindful) I turned a corner and looked at a magical set ofContinue reading “Vision needs venture”

UK Beach Sunset August 2020

I return to this spot so often to photograph as it has for me all that is wonderful about a British beach sunset. A pebble beach, a calm tranquil blue ocean, slowly lapping white waves juxtapose to the most glorious reds and oranges. I cannot see a sunset now with out thinking of the A.E.Continue reading “UK Beach Sunset August 2020”