I'm delighted to introduce you to real-life punk, Joel Vos. Psychologist,Vos, AKA the Punk Professor, talks to me about Meaning, Mental Health and Punk. He's hugely knowledgeable and I love his academic but also very practical approach to the topic. I hope you enjoy seeing the world through his eyes for half an hour today. Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]
Should I do this? Shouldn't I be doing better than this? Shouldn't they listen to me? Shouldn't I have done something differently? This episode is all about shoulds and shouldn'ts. We look at 4 different kinds of shoulds and how to deal with them. From a leadership perspective, shoulds give you the impression that you don't have a choice, that you are duty bound to behave a certain way or that "that's just life". But shoulds are beliefs and assumptions. And true leaders don't simply accept belie...
I'm so excited to introduce you to my guest this week. Yehudi is a fascinating guy, a team coach and org design specialist who asks some pretty big questions in his work, questions we would all do well to ask. In my solo shows I tend to focus on the inner work, but in my interview shows it's normally about these big questions - putting assumptions under the microscope and asking ourselves "What if there's nothing to these assumptions except conventional wisdom?". I'm sure you'll enjoy listening ...
Earlier this year I shared my view that there really isn't such a thing as "leadership development". But this doesn't mean you can't grow in to leadership or grow as a leader. The best leaders are endlessly curious and endlessly evolving. In this episode I share a few ways you can grow and evolve without anyone trying to teach you to lead. For me the only leadership development is inner work and big questions. But what does that actually look like? That's what I'm talking about today. I'd love y...
Over the last few years I've made predictions about what's going to be in the agenda in the year ahead. This year it's taken me a few weeks because the start of the year was dominated by other stories. But now I'm sharing my 4 themes for the year. These aren't new concepts by any means but if you're not thinking about them this year, and I mean really thinking about them, then you're way too late. Without giving too much away, how deeply are you considering agile, diversity, digital transformati...
I've been writing about, and consequently thinking about, feelings all week. The chapter of the new book, Punks in Suits, about Trust looks at the part emotions play in business and how important our ability to bring feelings in to the conversation is. One reason for this is that, very fast, computers are increasingly able to do things that have previously only been done by people. At some point these jobs will all be done by 'bots. Anything a bot can do - anything that is based on pure logic, d...
In this episode of the Punks in Suits podcast I reflect on the concept of Trust, in the light of the publication of the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer (an annual, global survey of levels of trust in the 4 major institutions of goverment, media, business and NGOs) and the first week of President Trump. Trust is in crisis. 67% of Trump voters describe themselves as "fearful". The pace of innovation, globalisation, corruption and erosion of social values are cited as some of the main reasons people f...
This week I'm talking to the co-founder of Happy Start Up, a business school with a difference. Happiness - not the smiley-all-time kind but deep-sense-of-fulfilment kind - lies at the heart of their business philosophy. What if business could meet your personal needs, be an expression of your values and, by the way, do good in the world (even in some small way)? Laurence talks to me about the Happy Start Up Canvas - a 7 part, one-page business plan template that helps budding entrepreneurs thin...
Do we need to re-think what we mean by "influence"? Often "influencing techniques" are tricks we use to get people to take us seriously, to do what we say, to get people to do what we want them to do. But what if influence really begins far before you actually have to change anyone's mind? What if it starts with you, your ability to connect with others and YOUR ability to change YOUR mind? That's what we're talking about in this episode. And we'd love your thoughts - twitter: @blairepalmer, inst...
Welcome back to the first episode of 2017! In this show I talk about leadership not as a profession (like being a lawyer or doctor) but more as a way of being, more like being a citizen or a friend. When we attempt to professionailse leadership we end up with complex, theoretical approaches and the need to "teach" people how to do it. It becomes an academic endeavour. But if we see it as a way of being, learning to be a great leader is more like learning to be a great member of society. It is se...
In this, the final episode of the Punks in Suits podcast for 2016, I share the 10 books, podcasts and concepts that have inspired me the most during 2016. You may even get a few gift ideas from it! I'm back on 9th Janurary 2017 but meantime do stay in touch on instagram (@blairelyspalmer), twitter (@blairepalmer) and on the Punks in Suits Facebook page. Have a wonderful festive season and a happy New Year!
What does it feel like to walk away from the security of a management job in a big company to start your own business, when you don't know what business you want to start? How does it feel when you start breaking unwritten "cultural laws" because of the way you've chosen to work, the philosophy that guides your life and the decisions you make about how you live? In this interview with Sally McCutchion, one of the UK's only Holacracy facilitators, we hear what her experience has been of all of th...
I'm not saying that self-management is the future but it certainly represents an alternative to many of the baked-in issues of the hierarchical organisational structure. In this episode of The Punks in Suits podcast I talk to Alexander Maier, a Managing Director with Saint Gobain who is guiding his organisation towards self-management...putting himself out of the job in the process. He talks about what self-management looks like, some of the questions he and his colleagues are faced with and the...
We are all so busy, right? There's never enough time to do everything. But what if 90% of what we spend our time on isn't making much of a difference? What if we could be spending our time on activity that really moved the dial, that really made an impact in terms of the purpose of our organisation and in terms of what we value in our lives? While this episode doesn't attempt to entirely address that challenge with one simple tool, I do introduce a tool I've developed recently to help me decide ...
I'm often asked why people won't step up and take ownership even when the bosses in the organisation tell them they're empowered. But people can only be empowered to the same extent that you are willing to give away your power. In this episode I talk about standing in different positions in the organisation to see the world a different way, and inviting people in your company to stand where you stand and see what you see. Please contact me on social media with your experiences of leadership and ...
I'm delighted that actress, producer and playwright Leandra Ashton was able to talk to me this week. Leandra has always been someone I've admired for her calm, centred approach to life, her massive creativity and her down-to-earth nature alongside her very great talent. In this episode we talk about the moment that Leandra realised she needed to slow her life right, right down and what the past few months have been like as she's explored what true balance actually looks like. This episode is per...
In this week's Punks in Suits, I start by talking a bit about how the book is coming along (it's tough!) and what it's about. While writing I've changed my mind about the purpose of Purpose. So in this podcast I reveal my current thinking - the relevance of identifying your needs and getting them met, identifying your values and making changes to live in alignment with those, and whether you, as a leader, need to have a purpose. Please remember to share, rate and review the podcast. It's still n...
In Episode 3 of the Punks in Suits Podcast we talk Assumptions! Assumptions will get in the way of your true authenticity, they will limit your creativity, they will cloud your best, intuitive decision-making and make it tough for you to bring about change. Given that leaders look at what is (which you can't do when your judgement is clouded) and what could be (which you can't do when your judgement is clouded) and disrupt the status quo to bring about change (which you can't do when your judgem...
In Episode 2 of the Punks in Suits Podcast I talk about leadership as something temporary, where you sometimes lead and sometimes make way for others to lead, I bust a few myths about the myriad qualities people assume you need in order to qualify as a leader and encourage you to let the mask drop. What does that mean? Well, it's all the gloss and polish, this very narrow part of ourselves that we allow to show up at work. Doing that requires real bravery. But what if, instead of hiding your wea...
In Episode 1 of the Punks in Suits Podcast I introduce myself and some of the themes of the podcast to come. The world is changing and we're not in the Industrial Age anymore. That means how we see leadership has to change too. But most models of leadership are based on Industrial Age approaches to managing people as if they are poorly functioning machines, and they simply don''t work any more. In this podcast I share what's changing, why it matters and what shifts in perspectives you can make t...
