Dec 2, 2020Why the lifeline of SEISS may bankrupt us next yearAt the start of the pandemic, roughly 5 million of us were self-employed. At the start of the pandemic, government made financial support available to business owners (in the form of grants linked to business rates) and employees (in the form of the furlough scheme). Only after what seemed an…Pandemic4 min readPandemic4 min read
Nov 13, 2020Can I be your (no so) secret Santa this year?The Christmas season usually entails a lot of traditions and conventions, that this year are thrown into confusion by Covid — and the uncertainty about restrictions we’ll be under as a country, region, town, college, business, and even household, on any given day. I therefore want to try and do…Secret Santa3 min readSecret Santa3 min read
Oct 15, 2020Celebrating #WorldValuesDay — by exposing most values are bull!Today is World Values Day — and typically I’d be using it as an excuse to (re)share the annual impact reports I publish on myself to encourage people to think about how their values affect how they approach their work. But today, I’ve decided to be a bit different. Today I want to call out the bullsh!t that most organisations espouse when they list their values on their websites and paint them into inspiration posters in hallways and meeting rooms.Values1 min readValues1 min read
Oct 5, 2020When video calls make you feel like a failure before you’ve even begun2020 has brought in a new age where video calls have become the default norm for meetings. But even before the pandemic and the first full national lock-down in the spring of this year, I had committed to seek to do more meetings remotely through this marvel of technology back…Video Conferencing5 min readVideo Conferencing5 min read
Sep 14, 2020an awkward question about how we’re making sense of the pandemic…As some people may know, I was quite active during the national lock-down earlier this year — supporting a range of colleges, businesses, social enterprise support bodies, and others to consider, plan, and then enact their respective responses to the first wave of the pandemic. And as part of my…Pandemic3 min readPandemic3 min read
Sep 2, 2020zoom-ing from our bedsAt the start of lock-down, I started do video calls from the toilet, then in my dressing gown, and now from under the duvet — for many people forced to work from home, the space to create a home office anywhere other than their bedroom may be a luxury they don’t enjoy; and whilst doing zoom calls from our beds can be helpful, there’s also a hidden risk in doing it that no-one seems to be talking about…Bedrooms1 min readBedrooms1 min read
Aug 7, 2020introducing… a pole dancing lion tamer!As always, it was supposed to be straightforward. But, as always, it’s turned out to be by turns shocking, touching, encouraging, worrying, and more… And no, it’s nothing to do with Covid-19, but my biennial 360 degree feedback, that I introduced 7 years ago as part of the CPD* framework…Cpd5 min readCpd5 min read
Jul 23, 2020why do we theorise in isolation from each other?Over the last few years, there’s been growing encouragement for the charity and social enterprise world to uptake the ‘theory of change’ approach more. For many who approach this model of thinking and presenting how you work for the first time, it appears daunting with a lot of jargon, technical…Theory Of Change3 min readTheory Of Change3 min read
Jul 23, 2020in search of an opening ‘cue’…As you may know, I have an usual approach to my CPD, part of which is an adapted 360 degree feedback that I try and do every couple of years — and this is the year that it’s due to run again. But don’t worry, dear reader! I’m not asking…Cpd2 min readCpd2 min read
Jun 24, 2020the Hobo consultantAfter 15 years of doing what I do as a sole trader, part of which has included offering mentoring, advice, and coaching to a variety of people in a multitude of roles across different sectors, marketplaces, and types of organisations, I’ve finally taken the plunge… and got myself a business…Hobo2 min readHobo2 min read
