The sign was wrong on so many levels. Firstly, it was in a hairdressers window – the colour didn’t exactly fill me with confidence about the quality of service inside. And more importantly, what does it say about the existing loyal customer if they are going to charge new customers 10% less? We need to think about the unintended consequences of our actions.

Too many companies (see banks, insurance companies etc) don’t value their existing customers. Instead, they give all of the incentives to the new customer.

It’s much harder to find a new customer or client than it is to keep an existing one.

One podcast I have been listening to for over a year now which shrinks journeys and has me laughing out loud is a podcast from Absolute Radio. It’s produced twice a week – the Saturday download is the spoken pieces from the radio show featuring Frank Skinner with Emily Dean and Gareth Richards. It’s about an hour long. Then, mid-week the same team produce a download only 30 minute show. Both of them are incredibly funny. It’s difficult to tell to what extent they are improvising. The whole thing sounds incredibly spontaneous.

The itunes feed is here.

I love it!

He’s an interesting guy. He used to be a Trust Chair and has worked as a consultant for a number of years. He has also written a number of really useful books for managers. All interesting stuff – but the thing that is really worth connecting with is his regular email that he sends out with perceptive insights into the ongoing changes in the NHS. You can subscribe to it by going to www.nhsmanagers.net .

He also has a book available for free download which I particularly like – it is full of tips and ideas gleaned from a lot of the writers who I admire. I also like the format – and it has inspired me to get back to ‘The Coaching 30’ book which I have been writing for the last year. I’m motivated now to get on and finish the book – so, thank you Roy for giving that final push.

1. Connect
2. Be active
3. Take notice
4. Keep learning
5. Give

The more I mull over these factors, the more I realise that they are the key principles to an active and engaged life. Try it yourself. Think about times in your life when you have felt at a low point. What a difference it would make if you connect with others, exercise, take notice of the things around you rather than being self-absorbed, keep learning and being curious, and give to others.

Interestingly, the New Economics Foundation has as its strapline “Economics as if people and the planet mattered”. In the current political climate in the UK, it would be useful to apply that message! Understanding the value of everything rather than the cost of everything.

The first one I wanted to mention is called ‘Great Work Interviews’ . This podcast is an interview series put together by Executive Coach, Michael Bungay Stanier. He is Australian and lives in Canada, having also spent some time in the UK in the past as a Rhodes Scholar. He interviews really interesting people, and the focus of the interview is getting them to identify how they do ‘great work’. There are many insights and useful ideas in the interviews.

I’m also reading his book at the moment. Called ‘Do More Great Work‘, it’s a really practical guide which explains the difference between busy work, good work, and great work. There are plenty of exercises to do in it.

The benefit of the podcast is that it brings a lot of the thoughts in the book to life. Each interview is about 30 – 40 minutes long. Michael is a great interviewer and has chosen some fascinating guests to speak to. Give it a try here.

Over the next few weeks I will recommend other podcasts which are worth listening to. Watch this space, as they say.

It’s really good. You can send new posts to the blog (like this one) and manage comments too.

I’m impressed.

On the subject of comments, by the way, I reopened the blog to comments again a couple of weeks ago. But have closed it again due to a persistent attack of spam. Annoying. If you want to comment on anything on the site or get in contact please use the ‘Contact’ tab at the top of the page. Thanks.

Sacheverell Sitwell

I mentioned in an earlier post that I stumbled across the work of Harriet Martineau again recently. Another book which I remember being fascinated by when I was a student was ‘For want of the golden city’ by Sacheverell Sitwell. I had developed an interest in the Bloomsbury set along with friends of mine at the time. I had been particularly taken with the work of Virginia Woolf. This was the early 80s and the New Romantics were dominant in popular music. A group of us in Liverpool were looking for influences. The Sitwells caught our attention. I read the poetry of Edith Sitwell and some of the autobiographical work of Osbert Sitwell (I picked up a volume in a bookshop in Liverpool called Atticus).

Then one day I was wandering around Central Libraries in Liverpool, which has the most beautiful reading rooms and an amphitheatre shaped international library. I came across ‘For want of the golden city’ by Sacheverell Sitwell and began reading the first few pages as I sat on the floor. I was absorbed by the writer’s ability to capture so much with a wide sweep of thinking. He demonstrated a new renaissance attitude, an interest in learning across disciplines for the sake of learning, rather than for some utilitarian purpose. I was enthralled.

I was brought back to this book a few weeks ago when I met an old school friend in the doorway of Central Libraries. A week later I searched on Amazon and discovered that the book is out of print. A further search of my local library catalogue tracked down a copy which I am now reading. 

Thirty years brings a change of perspective, but I still think the book is fascinating. Sitwell’s writings stand the test of time well. John Betjeman said the following about him:

“What a relief you are after the fearful pedantry & dull art history which kills enjoyment & just gets scholarships for people and breeds more dullards. You are a life-enhancer.”

He wrote 135 books, only one novel, but a host of books on art, architecture, music (including biographies of Mozart in 1923, and Liszt in 1934) and many travel books. He was made a Companion of Honour and also Honorary Doctor of Sheffield University in 1951. With so many books written, I guess it is not a surprise that this particular book is out of print, but I would recommend a browse through any of his books. 

Many of these memories are opening up experiences from that time. I am reminded of writers, musicians and artists that I was following then. Amongst these is the work of Harriet Martineau. She lived from 1802 to 1876 and was a writer, philosopher and the first female journalist in the UK. She was also considered to be an early feminist and probably the first female sociologist. She was a prolific writer whose work I dipped into. I was particularly taken with the breadth of her work and her interests. I was fascinated by the idea that it is the intersections between topics, genres and disciplines that brings really rich content. I have continued to develop this passion over the years. It is very much an obsession for me today. As I write this I am dipping into ‘Biographical Sketches’ by Martineau and remembering the immense learning which I acquired from reading her nearly 30 years ago.

I’m at St Deiniols Library writing this. For years I have dreamed of a secluded place to hide away and write. A few years ago I spent a weekend at the Manjushri Buddhist Centre in Cumbria – but that is a significant distance from where I live. St Deiniols is the only Residential Library I know of.  It is located in the small village of Hawarden in Wales. It has a book collection of over 250,000 items which is incredible.

It’s one of those things that you want to tell people about because it is amazing, but not tell too many people because you don’t want its seclusion to be spoilt. The library is located in an old sandstone house which belonged to Gladstone. He began the library and it still runs along the principles that were originally set by him.

I’m going to use this place to push forward the various manuscripts I am currently working on. It will be a great place to escape for realistic chunks of time and create.

The books I am currently working on are:

• Archetypes at Work  – which sets out practical applications of archetype theory in organisations (much more accessible than I am making it sound)
• Coming through Change – a guidebook for personal survival in times of change
• Scrapes against the Soul – the latest poetry collection

You can see excerpts from each of these manuscripts by clicking on links on the right. More extracts will appear over the coming weeks and months.