When it comes to pitching ideas and where you need to convince someone to back you, there are three things that make for consistently successful presentations.

And just like that, there goes the Easter weekend.

For many clients, this is where the first-half performance starts to properly come into view. And with just over two months to go, the results are coming in as to what will and won’t make it across the line before the mid-way point of 2023.

This is one of the most common coffee questions I get asked. It’s right up there with, “What are you seeing happening? How are others going? What are people focusing on?”.

Everywhere you look, there’s a digital device with a face glued to it. Whether that’s on trains or planes, on the sofa, in meetings or even across the table at dinner. We’re truly living life through a lens. Full disclosure, I count myself as one of those people too – and this is certainly not a rant about how devices and the content we consume are changing society. Rest assured, I’ll keep that for another day. This is more a reflection on whether our digital reliance means we are losing our connection to storytelling.

I spend a lot of time with teams – executive teams and departmental leadership teams all the way through to operational units.  One differentiating factor between them all is simply cohesion.   

It has been more than a little while since I have had such a substantial piece of work reviewed, critiqued and analysed. I can honestly say I went in optimistically nervous. I was invested in the idea of having an outside perspective to make my work as strong as possible, but if I am completely honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to it.  

Human beings like to be able to compartmentalise things and give them a label. It helps us compare and contrast, and make sense of the world around.

Have you ever created a piece of work and agonised for days, weeks, even months after, while you collate, curate and further create – only then to begin to question whether it is correct, good enough, worth sharing, complete or ready for the world?  

We have all become fixated on goals, both personally and professionally.  

But here’s the bad news: The goal doesn’t actually matter. I mean, it does of course – no one’s denying that goals don’t win games. But it’s certainly not the most important part.