One of the most wonderfully unexpected things about the 10-day Busines Book Proposal Challenge is that people within the group connect not just with me, but with each other. Who knew? Three great examples today: 1. One second-time challenger posted her marketing plan, which included a joint venture with someone who was on the previous […]
Continue readingThis morning I took part in Bryony Thomas’s Watertight Marketing conference, which was itself a masterclass in running an event. I hugely admire Bryony’s joined-up thinking and her incredible attention to detail, and today’s online conference was testament to that. Bryony asked me to talk about building community, with particular reference to The Extraordinary Business […]
Continue readingToday, the last day of half term, I took the kids up to Oxford to meet up with one of my first authors: Judy Hayman. Judy is the mother of my best friend from university days, Kate. Edinburgh was a long way from my home but just down the road for Kate, and over the […]
Continue readingIt’s half term here in Hampshire, but I managed to bribe the kids to stay quiet long enough to allow me to fit in a fabulous podcast interview today with Tim Harford, aka The Undercover Economist, presenter of Radio 4’s More or Less, columnist for the FT, and author of Messy: How To be Creative and […]
Continue readingThat interview with Emma Serlin is now live: http://extraordinarybusinessbooks.com/episode-47-the-communication-equation-with-emma-serlin/. Communication and conversations are very much on my mind at the moment – I’m currently in the US about to lead a 2-day retreat for the senior management team of a university press, which is going to involve communication at all levels. As an extrovert, I thrive […]
Continue readingJust over a year ago I worked with amazing coach Sue Revell on her ‘Gotta Be Me’ experience (which I highly recommend to anyone who wants to discover who they are and how they are when they’re at their unstoppable best, and learn how to bring that understanding into everyday life). But it’s amazing how […]
Continue readingStir (vb): Rise or wake from sleep; Begin or cause to begin to be active or to develop; Arouse strong feeling in (someone); Move or excite. Today marks one of my favourite days of the year – Stir-up Sunday. The name comes from the collect, or prayer, for this, the last Sunday before Advent in the traditional Anglican […]
Continue readingIt’s a very special day today – a very happy birthday to my first and biggest fan, my Mum. Probably the only person to have read every blog post, listened to every podcast, laughed at every joke. I know I’m beyond lucky. When you are loved and appreciated so completely, from your earliest days, you […]
Continue readingIt’s been an extraordinary morning: I’ve woken up to President Trump, and am more saddened than surprised. Angry, desperate people have taken the opportunity to kick the system. I don’t do political commentary on this blog and I’m not about to start now. So the point of this post is simply to observe that all […]
Continue readingDr. Hoenikker used to say that any scientist who couldn’t explain to an eight-year-old what he was doing was a charlatan. – Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle One of the things that Andy Cope said in today’s podcast (it’s live now – http://extraordinarybusinessbooks.com/episode-33-the-footbath-of-academia-with-andy-cope/) was about writing for children. As well as his books on happiness theory and […]
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