Instead of grand dreams, what about your 2014 New Year’s resolutions being a form of succession plan?

In a remarkable bit of succession planning, Prince William is to attend a bespoke agriculture course at the University of Cambridge to prepare him for his inheritance of the Duchy of Cornwall when his father, Price Charles succeeds to the… Continue reading

Raising your head above the parapet

I am forever, it seems, banging on about how important it is to be visible, whether you expect to get a new job, help with your existing one, to keep informed about your field or whatever. Well this random statistic… Continue reading

Nine out of ten people don’t follow-up

Speaking at a networking event the other day, I did a quick straw poll to test out one of my theories about why so many people find such events a pointless exercise despite feeling compelled to go along. Not surprisingly,… Continue reading

Learning something new or going through hoops – and for whose benefit?

I’m not a great believer in paperwork exercises – simply documenting something that you’d do anyway in order to gain a piece of paper seems intrinsically wrong to me. It’s a question of how much effort is necessary. When the… Continue reading

How to keep in touch with your network

One of the few skills most senior executives will admit they need to develop is their networking skill. Even though it is a fundamental aspect of most such positions, the ability to network is often seen as a bolt-on rather… Continue reading

The Personal Branding Phenomenon – distinguish yourself

Book summary: The Personal Branding Phenomenon by Peter Montoya (2002) Back in 2003, this summary was sent to friends and colleagues on my personal email mailing list – as it was then! Recent conversations, led me to resurrect it, to… Continue reading

Business Book of the Week – Robinson – The element – How finding your passion changes everything

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (Robinson) A few weeks ago, I chose one of Tony Buzan’s books as my Business Book of the Week. On Friday night, I went to hear Buzan speaking. He is a polished… Continue reading

Unaccustomed, as I am, to effusive praise…

That isn’t actually true. Anyone who knows me from days gone by, and certainly anyone who has experienced me on the old public speaking circuit will be aware that I used to carry around a mental list of heroes. With… Continue reading

Juggling family expectations and personal passion in an executive career

Following in his father’s footsteps, Charles joined what was once the family firm in the City roughly ten years ago. Ownership long-since passed to corporate hands, although there is still a portrait of his great-grandfather hanging in the corridor by… Continue reading

Using an empty chair to turn negatives into positives

We’ve been working together for a couple of years, and along the way seen Beverley’s organisation grow from 30 or so people to 60. You wouldn’t expect it to have been plain sailing, and certainly a fair bit of the… Continue reading