Beyond Busy

This week on the Beyond Busy podcast we welcome Dr Samantha Boardman. Samantha is a clinical psychiatrist and she has a Master's in positive psychology, so her work joins the dots between all those different fields. She combines years of training in medical school and psychiatry with studies in the field of positive psychology. Samantha is also the founder of ‘Positive Prescription', and the author of a new book called ‘Ready for Anything'.In this episode, we talk about resilience being on you, how to create uplifts in your mood, and many other practical ways to deal with stress and be happier in your thinking. Samantha kindly shares her background, her education, and the way she came to positive psychology.She also said what was the reason to turn to positive psychology:"It was about 10 years ago, I was seeing a patient who had this. Maybe she didn't qualify for a full sort of diagnosis of depression, but she wasn't, she wasn't thriving. She wasn't feeling great. She was having issues with her husband. She h

This week on Beyond Busy podcast we welcome Ndidi Okezie. Ndidi is a rising star in the charity World, the CEO of UK Youth and a board member of three boards, including Centrepoint. In this wide-ranging episode, we chat about having courageous conversations, kindness and much more. The conversation starts off with Ndidi's current plans and the mission of UK Youth: 'So UK Youth is a leading charity with a vision that all young people are equipped to thrive and empower to contribute to every stage of their lives. We are an open network organization. We have about 7,000 youth organizations and national partners in our network. Based on our new strategy, we are very much focused on unlocking youth work as a catalyst of change that we believe is needed now more than ever. Fundamentally, we are a bit of a hybrid organization. So, we're an infrastructure body for the youth sector. We are a direct and program delivery organization as well. And, we're a campaign for social change. So collectively our wo

This week on the Beyond Busy podcast we welcome Jodie Cook. Jodie is an entrepreneur, a powerlifter, and a writer. She writes regularly for Forbes and is also an author of a number of books including ‘How to Raise Entrepreneurial Kids'. We caught her in a quite interesting moment in her life - she just sold her business JC Social Media. In this episode, we talk about this and her experience of leading the team through the pandemic. She also tells us why she's determined not to make plans just yet, how to get mentored by your heroes, and much more. The conversation starts off with Jodie sharing the big news including releasing two new books. Then they move the conversation to her first new book - ‘Instagram Rules'. Jodie kindly shares her story of writing this book and finding a publisher:‘The story of how the book came about is actually quite indicative of how people can use Instagram right now. And that's the 'Instagram rules' that came about from an email in my inbox, from a publisher who I d

This week on the Beyond Busy podcast we welcome Cal Newport.   Cal is the author of ‘Deep Work' and ‘Digital Minimalism' and this is his second time on Beyond Busy. Last time we discussed the evolution of knowledge work, how social media compulsion has shifted in recent years and lots of other things. In this episode, we talk about his new book ‘A World Without Email' and why it is so hard to make time and space for deep work. Cal also shares his own strategies on how to beat it. The conversation starts off with Cal and Graham talking about how they've dealt with the pandemic and how we finally got used to the new normality. Although, Cal tells us he is lucky enough to have some not-online-guests in his studio in Washington DC to record podcasts soon. Then they move to Cal's new book ‘A World Without Email'. Cal shares that he actually paired his other workpiece ‘Deep Work' with ‘A World Without Email' so they work as a tandem. He also talks mor

Phoebe Benta is the guest of this week's episode of Beyond Busy.Phoebe is the national president of JCI (Junior Chamber International). She's also the founder of North West Charity Awards and she also has a day job! Phoebe is a Global Digital Events Manager at Atos Medical.The conversation starts with Phoebe's background experience and JCI.'JCI – Junior Chamber International. We're a global nonprofit membership organization for young people, 18 to 40. And we have approximately 200,000 members across the world. JCI's mission is to provide development opportunities that empower young people to create positive change.'Graham then shares that he was involved in student volunteering.That leads the conversation on to empowering leaders: why it is important to learn by doing:'I think for me, from my experience with JCI, the learning by doing part in leadership, that's been absolutely amazing. And just given me a lot of different ways to try new roles without being like in a paid job, but you're actually doing these

Welcome Perry Maddox, the guest of this week's episode of Beyond Busy podcast. Perry is the CEO of Restless Development, an international development charity that puts young people at the heart of change. His passion is helping other leaders to create change in this world. Over the years, he has led teams in more than 20 countries across 5 continents, and interviewed thousands of people for jobs, developed hundreds of senior leaders, and supported tens of thousands of diverse leaders to unleash change. He had led organisations from small grassroots outfits to complex, global organisations. The conversation starts off with Perry’s explanation of his work:'We are all about young leaders. What we do is we work with young leaders around the World to tackle problems that they think are most important. Like getting a job or taking care of the families. We work with young people to kinda make changes happen.' Graham also shares that his career had a lot of enabling young people into work. They discuss the difficulty

This week's guest on Beyond Busy is Cyril Bouquet.Cyril is a co-author of the book called ‘Alien Thinking: The Unconventional Path to Breakthrough Ideas’. He is also a professor of Strategy and Innovation at the IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.Cyril has worked with a lot of big companies, e.g. UEFA, which welcomes the European Cup 2020 this year in 10 different countries.In this episode, we talk about productivity, how we can use our imagination in the working process and much more.The conversation starts with Cyril’s background experience and his interesting job title which is Professor of Strategy and Innovation.'If you would ask me when I was a kid what I’d like to do when I grow up, becoming a professor would be the last thing but somehow it was my destiny.'Cyril tells his fancy story of how he loved being a professor during his civil service time. Then the conversation moves to Cyril’s workday, how it usually looks like and how it looks now during the COVID-19 times.Also, Graham is intereste

This week on Beyond Busy we are happy to e-meet Dr Robert Livingston, author of the book "The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth about Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations". Dr Robert Livingston is a social psychologist, based at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is one of the World's leading experts on science underlying bias and racism. In this episode, Graham talks with Robert about biases, what we can learn from the #blm movement, and what YOU can do in your workplace. In the first part, the guest talks about the reason he wrote a book.'My book is a tool so it's neither a thesis nor a testimonial. I wanted to write a book that would help move the needle on racial equity. So the purpose of my book was to provide a tool for managers, leaders, organisations that are interested in increasing the level of diversity, equity, and inclusion.'Robert tells us about his experience and his press model. Also, Robert explains why black people are really tired of educating white people

The guest of the new episode of Beyond Busy weekly podcast is Lauren Currie. Lauren is a serial entrepreneur with a background in service design and she is the CEO and founder of Upfront. An organization that’s helping women to tackle issues about confidence. She is one of the most interesting and articulate speakers on subjects of gender, race and diversity. In this episode we talk about empathy, curiosity, and what it meant to her to be awarded an OBE. The episode starts with the description of Lauren’s main activity right now - Upfront. She explains the mission of the company and how the organization can help. ‘UpFront is an organization on a mission to change confidence - not women. We were founded in 2017, we work with women all over the World to change their relationships with confidence. And we do that in three ways: one is through bonds. We have a six-week online course, the fourth bond starts in a couple of weeks. We also have membership space which is the global community bond for women who are real

Jon Smith, CEO of Pobble is this week’s Beyond Busy episode guest. Pobble is an Edtech startup platform for teachers and students to improve speed, confidence, and enjoyment in writing. The platform won the Bett award for the Best Classroom Aid for Learning, Teaching and Assessment and the GESS award for Best Paid ICT Product. Graham and Jon start off by talking about how Jon’s decision to move to Cornwall from London helped his work with Pobble within the startup tech scene.'A lot of education startups aren't actually in London because it’s expensive to grow a star top talent. It’s very expensive because you're competing with companies like Google and Amazon. When we arrived in Cornwall, I didn't really expect any sort of ecosystem at all for anything. What I found is that there are a lot of socially-focused entrepreneurs.''If you can show children real examples of other children's writing, it becomes motivating for them. If you've got a load of people that are publishing their writing online, those examples

This week we welcome Panos A. Panay and R. Michael Hendrix, the authors of the book "Two Beats Ahead", who are both leading figures in the legendary Berklee College of Music. Panos Panay is the Senior Vice President, Global Strategy & Innovation at Berklee College of Music. He is credited for spotting and capitalizing early on three emerging trends in the music business: the shift to online marketing; the emergence of an “artistic middle class”; and the shift to a consumer/brand-funded music business. He was awarded the Fast Company's "Fast 50" honor, Boston Business Journal's "40 under 40" and BosInno "50 on Fire" Award for excellence in education. In June 2016, Panay co-founded the non-profit Open Music Initiative in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and individuals including inventor Dan Harple and IDEO partner Michael Hendrix. Michael Hendrix is a Partner and the Global Design Director of IDEO, based in the Cambridge, MA studio where he practices brand strategy, creative direction, and graphic desi

Julie Nerney is one of the co-authors of “Own Your Day: New light on the mastery of managing in the middle". She’s worked at the heart of government and played a key leadership role in the London 2012 Olympics. Graham and Julie start off the conversation by talking about how they met through Sussex Lions, the Aston Villa fanclub in Sussex. Graham then asks Julie how she would summarise her very diverse background.'It is the common thread, through all the different types of roles and sectors. It’s about driving and securing change, but doing that in a way that’s got kindness and compassion at its heart. So it’s about cultures. It’s about creating environments that allow people to excel.'Julie then talks about her experiences as Head of Transport Integration for the London 2012 Olympics.'So I always say to people, it’s probably the thing I’ll be most proud of, because what a great showcase for the country. There was something optimistic and happy about that time, maybe there’s with rose-tinted glasses with the

Graham Allcott’s co-author for the new book “How To Fix Meetings”, Hayley Watts, is this week's Beyond Busy episode guest. Hayley is a mum, a coach, and she also has a background as a leader in the charity sector, where she gained a lot of experience with meetings - both good and bad. Graham and Hayley start off by talking about how Hayley got into the whole productivity business which led her to join Think Productive as a Productivity Ninja, and how she helps people change their work habits for the better.'If somebody said to me "You need to do some work on how you organise yourself and your productivity" I might have said something quite rude to them about that.'They then go on to chat about meetings: what's broken about meetings and how that affects people and businesses.'I speak to so many of our clients who will say: "Oh, yeah, I've just got back to back meetings. I've got too many meetings. I can't get the work done because I'm in meetings all day." And then you look at people's calendars and they are i

Overnight online sensation, Jackie Weaver, talks about meeting etiquette, workplace respect, standing orders and more in this latest Beyond Busy episode. Graham and Jackie start the podcast by talking about why the public was so fascinated by the online video that made Jackie famous.'My take on it is that I think there’s something inherent in us that makes us want to see fairness. I think if you think about all the injustices you've seen, somebody cutting in front of you in traffic, We’re not talking about huge world-changing things here. You know, where you didn’t get the pay rise at work, where somebody was rude and they got away with it, all those things, and we put up with them all the time. And at that moment, I think what you saw was justice. I think that’s my take on it... Either that or I’ve just become the nation’s favourite grandmother.'Jackie tells Graham that she finds this a wonderful opportunity to shed more light on council meetings.'I kind of feel I’m supposed to say it’s been surreal or confu

David Bradford and Carole Robins from the Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics, talk about improving existing relationships, building new connections and more in this latest episode. They are also the authors of the book 'Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues'. Graham, David and Carole start the podcast by talking about the legendary 'Touchy-Feely' program in the Stanford Graduate School of Business course Interpersonal Dynamics.David: 'What they discover in this course, almost inevitably, is that the more they are themselves: the more interesting they are, the more attractive there. We frequently have students halfway through the course say to another one: "I thought in finance, you were really obnoxious, but now that I see you and I see that you’re human, I like you." So where this translates is that they not only learned that they can be themselves but they learn how to be themselves, they take this elsewhere.'Carole: 'People do busin

Award-winning human resources conference speaker and author of "Solving the Productivity Puzzle – How People Engagement, Innovation and Performance Will Transform Work", Tim Ringo talks about the 3-dimensional definition of productivity, making the future of work more fun, how humans interact with machines and how to encourage more productivity at work. Graham and Tim open the conversation with an insight into the productivity paradox.'What we're seeing now, and this is what I found in my research, is that the technology in the past 10 years has been overwhelming people and organisations have not been very good at aligning people to that technology, and investing in them to align to that technology. We're really only getting back to where we were, you know, say early 2000s, in terms of levels of investment in that space.'Tim explains that there is more to the meaning of productivity and how we measure them in these modern times.'There's a small number, and growing number, of companies that are realising that,

With over 100k followers on Instagram and YouTube, Rev. Chris Lee is on Beyond Busy to talk about enriching people’s lives on social media, how identity is one of today’s main sickness and accepting that we are loved. He also talks about his new book “The OMG Effect”. Graham and Chris start the podcast by talking about how he became viral on social media.'I started this thing called “60 second sermons” and then the 60 second sermons just hit a note with many people and suddenly it had its own growth and momentum.'Chris also talks about how ego is a struggle for many people.'I think CS Lewis said something like, "To be humble is not to think less of yourself, but to think of yourself less". And the idea to be confident and at peace with who you are, no matter what the situation, I think that’s a really powerful thing, a unique thing and something that I gravitate as a person towards. People who hold that and it’s rare in this world. We either overcompensate or we undersell ourselves, we’re insecure or arrogant

Acing interviews, managing recruitment websites and creating happiness at work with James Reed, Chairman of REED – Britain’s biggest and best-known recruitment brand and the largest family-owned recruitment company in the world. He is also the author of the book “Why You?: 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear Again”. Graham and James start the podcast by giving a bit of a background on what the company, REED, is all about and what the company focus is. James then shares a brilliant strategy that he believes helped their business grow:'Our strategy is to build it organically. So like a tree from the ground up. I say to people, the only two ways you can grow a business organically is: One - is through service, good service, so people come back. The other is through ideas, good ideas, so you can get a new service. That’s our focus.'James then shares a great chapter in his book called "The Fateful 15".'We call them the fateful 15. In fact, there are 15 questions. The first one is: Tell me about yourself. If

Productivity Ninja, Grace Marshall is back on Beyond Busy to talk about life's sh!tty moments, overcoming trauma, and how difficult times inspired her new book "Struggle". Graham welcomes Grace and asks her about where she got her inspiration for her newest book "Struggle".'Sometimes, the fact that we're struggling with something doesn't mean that we're in the wrong place. Sometimes it means we're absolutely in the right place. And so, I felt like there was this thing around struggle that we weren't talking about in productivity, but generally, in the world as well. I just wanted to have a different conversation about struggle.'Grace talks about different kinds of struggle and the shame we feel when we talk about it.'Sometimes the most dignity you can give somebody is to allow them to speak into your world, to allow them to help you.'Graham and Grace then cover the topic of crisis management when it comes to work. They talk about their experiences when the lockdowns were fairly new and the challenges their te

FreelanceHER100 ambassador and mentor, and author of the book ‘Survival Skills for Freelancers’, Sarah Townsend talks about the Pomodoro technique, how freelancing has changed over the years, curbing perfection and how important community is over competition. Graham and Sarah first talk about her 20 years of freelancing and what her freelancing journey has been like.'I wanted to achieve that perfect sort of idyllic balance that we all think about when we think about going freelance, the flexibility and the freedom to kind of do the things you love, and also to get paid good money for doing the work that you enjoy. Working from home and maintaining a balance between running a freelance business and being a mom can be a challenge.'Sarah covers the important topic of setting healthy boundaries and switching off.'Anne Lamott said "almost everything will work again if you reboot it, including if you reset it, turn it off and on again", you know, that kind of concept. And it’s so true because we rarely think to do