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Which singers have the biggest vocabulary in their songs
“Words of nuance, words of skill/Words of romance are a thrill/Words are stupid, words are fun/Words can put you on the run…” WordTips counted the words used by 100 modern stars and the 100 greatest singers of all time and added up the number of unique words they used per 1,000. For example, Patti Smith…
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21 best productivity apps of 2021
This excellent list of 2021’s best productivity apps from FastCompany is a perfect way to start organising your digital life.I’ve already started utilising some of them, including listening to web articles and starting to try and change some of my own articles here on the PlayBook into read aloud options. Great apps like the ones…
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How to: effectively lead contractors and full time employees
As a team leader, it’s easy to assume that all people working together on a project should be treated and managed similarly. But the reality is that full-time employees (FTEs) and contractors have different motivations, expectations, and backgrounds. Putting together the best talent to create an incredible workforce would appear to be a straightforward strategy…
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Watch: gap analysis, self-reflection and growth – The Leadership Circle and how to interpret your results with Bruce O’Brien
After sharing an article recently about The Leadership Circle – a leadership profiling model I have undertaken with my own coach and found particularly useful – I received several questions and comments about its potential and how to go about analysis of what can at first glance seem a fairly complex set of results.…
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Reframe.
The story of the Manchester Shoe Company, told by Benjamin Zander in his book The Art of Possibility, neatly encapsulates the power of reframing and the significance of a positive mind-set. In the early 1900s, inspired by a desire to enter a faraway market, two traveling salesmen were sent as a beachhead into the region.…
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TikTok – a force for good?
If TikTok were a person, they would almost certainly be the individual who spent too much time in the headmaster’s office being reprimanded. The ads, the underage users, the content, the privacy breaches, the cyber cruelty and the possible Chinese spying… it’s fair to say that the ByteDance-owned app has (and continues to have) its…
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Just four hours. Do not ‘maximise your time’ or ‘optimise your day’
There’s not a lot I don’t love about this article by Oliver Burkeman. A few spoilers (but please read the full article, it’s worthy of serious consideration): Give up demanding more of yourself than three or four hours of daily high-quality mental work Do not ‘maximise your time’ or ‘optimise your day’ – instead, specifically ringfence…
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You are 14% more likely to be Fully Engaged if you trust your team leader (and other workplace findings)
The Global Workplace Study was brought to my attention by Trenton Moss, and if you’ve got some spare time it’s well worth a read. The study focuses on how COVID-19 has affected Engagement and Workplace Resilience — and the interplay between them — in 25 countries. As someone who is constantly reflecting and advising on…
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A rally to arms – take on an apprentice (and how to do it)
Some of my articles are deliberately written with the intention to cause action, and this is one of them. I’ll try to write it without sounding too earnest but in short, I can’t find a single reason why agency leaders aren’t applying to take on apprentices right now. For the last few weeks, I’ve been…
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Want to stick it to the man? Get your boots on!
As you might already have gathered, I love to walk – to ramble in the countryside. To unplug and yet simultaneously reconnect. Putting on my walking boots and heading out into the countryside is not just how I choose to relax, but also a purposeful way to figure out problems or ideas I’m tussling with.…
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Direct isn’t dirty. And six other tips for requesting referrals
I’ve spoken before about the potential for referrals to be a golden ticket for agencies. That said, there are still feelings of awkwardness and appearing either desperate or pushy when it comes to asking for, or discussing, the potential for referrals. This article from The Future Factory was worth sharing because it makes some great…
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You scratch my back… the power and pitfalls of referrals
Referrals can be such a good source for new business but most fail to live up to the expectations. How can you ensure that referrals become an effective and impactful part of your new business process? You know how it works with referral agreements. You meet someone who can introduce you to prospective clients, you…
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Mind the (L&D) Gap. What’s the secret for successfully upskilling your team?
Learning and development. If there was ever a name for something that is earmarked as ‘important, not urgent’, then this surely must be it? That’s not to say most business leaders and founders don’t see it as valuable, because they almost certainly do. I would say 100% of agencies I’ve worked for and with have…
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Understanding your leadership style – a free test
I was recommended The Leadership Circle by my own coach, Bruce. Since I can attest Bruce is both thoughtful and wise (just checking you’re reading my articles Bruce) I figured it would probably be worth sharing. The Leadership Circle offers a number of models, tests and insight into leadership, because, in their own words ‘ The…
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Be an outbox, not an inbox
This simple step change in how you deliver information might just help you to win your next pitch. Quick question… Hands up if a decent proportion of your pitching process is (in one way or another) an exhaustive list of all the things you’re planning to do for your potential client? I’d be surprised if…
