Life Beyond The Numbers

#68 Extreme Experiences - Anna Haslock

"I think part of his personality and a lot of our riders' personalities is they need to test themselves like this. They need to push their boundaries. And try these extreme experiences and the rewards that they get very important to them, life affirming to them." Anna Haslock
 
Content Warning: Topics discussed in this episode include a fatal road collision and rape (c. min 22-29). Some listeners might find the content disturbing. If anything does impact you while listening to this episode please reach out to or speak to someone you trust. 
 
Anna Haslock has a powerful story to tell; a story about adventure, resilience, personal growth as well as dealing with and learning from extreme life experiences. We talk about the Transcontintenal Race - an unsupported ultra endurance single stage cycling race where the clock never stops. One of the aims of the organisation she runs, Lost Dot, is to promote adventure cycling for self-development and personal growth. And this is something quite close to her heart because both herself and race founder Mike Hall experienced, for different reasons, the real benefits that you can get from having been tested to your extreme. For Mike his was mostly self-imposed doing these events. Anna, although not a racer, experienced this test of herself through two very difficult life experiences. Lost Dot was set up to honour Mike's legacy and promotes road justice, cycling as a sustainable form of transport and celebrates integrity in sport over winning at any cost. We talk about the race, the racers, the community, the Dot Watchers and the 2019 race winner, Fiona Kolbinger. 
 
Anna Haslock co-founded Lost Dot Ltd to ensure Mike Halls's legacy is nurtured and preserved. She is the Race Director of the Transcontinental Race and Trans Pyrenees Race and previously the Race Coordinator of the Transcontinental Race from 2014 to 2017. 
Trans Continental Race
On Instagram and Twitter
2019 Race Winner Fiona Kolbinger
 

#67 Better Understanding - Matt Phelan

"If you can measure it, you can manage it. I used to say that for years. And  now I say if you can measure it, you can better understand it. If you can better understand it, you can make better decisions." Matt Phelan. 
 
Matt Phelan, co-founder of the Happiness Index, and I talk about how The Happiness Index provides organisations with an index of people's emotions. Emotions are data points that give you a better understanding of how your people feel so you can make better decisions. Matt says they are providing people with data to achieve emotional intelligence (EQ) at scale. We talk about how emotional data is four dimensional (4-D) and Matt takes me through an example of this using the interview process. Matt shares some of the evidence to support the business case for happiness at work. We chat about employee engagement, how happiness is associated with energy, that relationships are the number one driver of happiness at work and the impact of discrimination in the workplace. We also cover biases, belief systems, ignorance and incompetence as well as Matt's book 'Freedom to be Human'. 
 
Matthew Phelan is a co-founder and the Head of Global Happiness at The Happiness Index. He is on a mission to improve the way organisations treat people. He co-founded a global data and digital marketing agency before leaving the business after a trade sale and focussing entirely on The Happiness Index. His passion is to understand how people experience happiness and his vision is to use data to visualise culture in a similar way to how Google Maps visualises the world. He is the author of "Freedom to be Happy: The Business Case for Happiness." 
 
Connect with Matt:
On LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram or write him a letter!
If you want to collect data - go to The Happiness Index and book a demo
Read his book Freedom to be Happy
Tune into the Happiness & Humans podcast 
 
Resources Mentioned:
Jana Dowling Arkeo app
Advancing Racial Equity Conference and Sheeren Daniels
Happiness & Engagement Model
Happiness & Humans Podcast Episodes:
Employee Engagement with William Kahn (Mar 2021)
Employee Happiness with Professor Jeremy Dawson (Sept 2020)
Data & Research into Workplace Happiness with Professor Alex Edmans (Aug 2020)
 
 

#66 Lift the Lid - Amantha King

"So that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to lift the lid on it. It's not just me, it's my friends. I want it for our daughters. That's what I want it for more than anything." Amantha King. 
 
Amantha King and I talk about menopause. Every woman deserves the right to a fulfilling life and she says hands down we know the number one thing that improves menopause is actually women's awareness going into it. Amantha talks us through the phases of menopause from peri to post. We talk about some of the symptoms and some of the different ways to get help. We both speak openly about our own symptoms and our menopause stories. We talk about the workplace and what employers can do and how important it is to take the whole person into consideration. We talk about lifting the stigma, speaking openly, honestly and transparently, with kindness, compassion and humour and not suffering silently. 
 
Amantha King spent over 20 years spent soaking up people skills in pharmaceutical sales, training and management roles.  In 2010 she set up her own coaching and development business around her passion that coaching using NLP and neuroscience creates behaviour changes that have far reaching positive outcomes. She is also passionate about educating and providing support for women transitioning through menopause and is an advocate for sharing best practice within organisations who are looking to support their teams. Amantha is also a Judge at The UK Business Awards and advises businesses on how to get the most from their important asset, their people.
 
Connect with Amantha:
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
On Instagram as My Meno Coach and Amantha King Coaching
 
Resources Mentioned:
My Menopause and Me - Amantha King
Dr. Louise Newson website
Balance App
NICE Guidelines
Oestrogen Matters: Why Taking Hormones in Menopause Can Improve Women's Well-Being and Lengthen Their Lives - Without Raising the Risk of Breast Cancer by Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris 
Headspace App
Davina McCall: Sex, Myths and the Menopause on Channel 4
 
 

#65 Leadership Reinvented - Special

The theme of International Leadership Week (#ILW21) is Leadership Reinvented. What does reinvented leadership look like? 
Many guests on this podcast share their views on leadership and their experiences of leadership. This week I've compiled some excerpts from different episodes, including an intro about what reinvented leadership might mean. 
The estimated start times for each of the segments is:
8:30 Helen Joy on workplace engagement from Episode 6, Learning How to Manage
9:40 Gib Bulloch on leadership problems from Episode 28, Breakthrough 
13:10 Jenny Ashmore on the day you find out what type of leader you are from Episode 49, A Sense of Belonging 
15:00 Caroline Mabon on aligning intentions and action when it comes to leadership from Episode 60, Leadership
16:40 Luke Kyte on a cultural evolution from Episode 43, Putting People First
21:00 Sheila Walsh on working in a people first environment from Episode 27, Healthy High Performance
24:00 Kevin Ashley on leading individuals and being a leader from Episode 32, Serial Entrepreneur
27:00 Sue Rosen on inclusive leadership and workplaces from Episode 1, Stepping into the Unknown
32:30 Eamon FitzGerald on being authentically you, flaws and all from Episode 64, Being Yourself
36:30 Helen Joy on why changes are finally happening from Episode 6, Learning to Manage
and
37:30 Caroline Mabon on leadership as an honour and a huge responsibility from Episode 60, Leadership
 
Resources Mentioned:
Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy video
Nine Lies About Work by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall
 

#64 Being Yourself - Eamon FitzGerald

"As it turns out being authentically me means more sales when it comes to marketing and everything. So that was the big lesson I learned early on. It took a very tough learning experience. But that sense of being yourself for all its flaws and all its good things as well that was a huge learning for me." Eamon FitzGerald.
 
Eamon FitzGerald and I talk about wine. Eamon has a passion for connecting great wine makers with people who appreciate their wine and loves to share the winemaker's stories. With his new venture, WineSpark, he has created a business model that makes amazing wines accessible and affordable to regular people. Eamon spent 10 years with Naked Wines in the UK and became Managing Director within a year of joining the fast growing company. He talks openly about taking on this role at a young age, and how he learned to lead and grow a business. As he says businesses are a complex beast but the key is to focus on some simple things - not rocket science. We talk about the Customer Happiness Team and culture at Naked Wines, being yourself and the importance of quality and service for customers. Eamon also talks about wine production costs and shares some stories from his extensive travels. 
 
Eamon FitzGerald loves discovering talented winemakers and sharing their wines and stories with his friends. He did this for 10 years when he was MD and Global Wine Director for Naked Wines in the UK and US. He spent most of his time hunting down the best independent winemakers and setting them up in business. Now back in Ireland he has set up WineSpark. WineSpark is a community of passionate wine drinkers and winemakers aiming to make the world’s best wines accessible and affordable to everyone. Eamon has worked for Decanter magazine, and on the side of a mountain in France picking grapes. He also worked in financial services in London and Dublin for Accenture. 
 
Connect with Eamon:
Through his website WineSpark
On Instagram
On LinkedIn
 
Resources Mentioned
If Disney Ran Your Hospital: 9 1/2 Things You Would Do Differently by Fred Lee
Legacy by James Kerr
Frederico Cerelli winemaker
Johan Kruger winemaker
Naked Wines

#63 A Quest - Spyros Gousetis

"We are both in a quest. We are partners in this quest, both the coach and the coachee, and when we have this quest it is something that unites us." Spyros Gousetis. 
 
Spyros Gousetis and I talk about becoming the best version of ourselves. Becoming the best human being that we can be - personally and professionally. Spyros compares this journey to a virtual computer game - as we learn we go up a level. We learn skills and competencies but we also have to learn about ourselves, our inner world. One way to do this is to understand how we think. Evaluating our own thinking style Spyros says is like tickling yourself: you know what to do but you just can't do it and so you stop. This is where a coach can help. A coach becomes your thinking partner, a thinking partner who helps you to think purposefully and helps you determine your choices. Spyros also explains that all beliefs, or limiting beliefs, fall under three categories: possibility (it is not possible to do that) ability (I cannot do that) and self worth (I don't deserve that). We talk about motivation, discipline, habits, action and how Aikido is like coaching. 
 
Spyros Gousetis is an international executive and business life coach and NLP practitioner, former corporate board member and strategic consultant. He has 20+ years of Europe and Middle East corporate business experience, in Strategic Marketing and Business Development, spanning Foods, Personal Wash and Skin with Unilever, Consumer Electronics with Sony. Driven, motivated with sense of humour, curiosity and a bias for learning. Ability to influence within C-suite, critical thinker and Board facilitator. Comprehensive knowledge of the human and operational strategies required to succeed in sectors with rapidly changing competition and technologies leading to Business Model Innovation and Digital Transformation.
 
Connect with Spyros:
Through his website
On LinkedIn
 
Resources Mentioned:
Elie Wiesel

#62 Acceptance - Sarah Wells

"And I think acceptance, real acceptance, for me is like: today, where am I? In a week or a month it may be better or worse, but today, how am I am?" Sarah Wells.
 
Sarah Wells became a master at putting her head down, getting on with things and assuming everything would be ok. This worked until it didn't. After her first child was born Sarah received a diagnosis of a rare and chronic condition. On her return to work her coping mechanisms no longer served her. She left work, had another child and applied her old coping mechanisms to this new situation. After the birth of her third child Sarah was diagnosed with another rare and chronic condition. A medical appointment for her daughter was a turning point for Sarah as she realised she needed to step up and advocate for her children and show them how to live their lives well. This began with acceptance. Sarah talks openly about the impact of chronic conditions on people's lives - at home, at work, with family and friends - and that to be able to live life well it is really important to manage conditions really, really well. 
 
Sarah Wells has always had helping people at the core of her work, from long summers working with disabled kids while studying at university, to her early career as a teacher. With a lifetime’s experience living with chronic illness and a first degree in biology, her newest role supporting women with chronic illness feels like coming home for her. Trained in coaching and NLP she gives women the tools they need to feel supported and in control, to be seen, to be heard… sometimes for the first time. She specialises in supporting them through and after their diagnosis, to hang up their superwoman cloak, to rediscover who they are and to become chronically empowered.  
 
Connect with Sarah:
On instagram
Through her website
 
Conditions Mentioned:
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS)
Charcot Marie Tooth Disease (CMT)
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome
 
 
Thank you for listening.
If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving a review and sharing it with someone who is curious like you. 

#61 Imagination - Lisa LLoyd

"So when we use our imagination well the possibilities are endless." Lisa LLoyd
 
Lisa LLoyd believes our imagination is our most misused resource, an innate resource that is so important for us. We delve into all things imagination and Lisa explains how our imagination can help to inform thinking or can be a barrier to that thinking depending on the state of our emotional arousal. Lisa talks us through what goes on in our brains when we enter a state of high emotional arousal and introduces us to some practical approaches to managing our emotional state, including recognising early warning signs and giving our amygdala a name, like Bob! We take our discussion into the workplace and Lisa explains how we operate based on patterns. She talks us through the power of visualisation as the key to imagining different outcomes and changing patterns. And we talk about how to harness our imagination at work in order to be creative and innovative. 
 
Lisa LLoyd is a Chartered Psychologist & Psychotherapist. Alongside her private psychotherapy practice she founded It’s Time for Change based on the belief that if we all started to do things a little bit differently, we’d achieve huge results. She is an advocate for putting the human factor back into business and her mantra is: when we get people right, we get business right. She works collaboratively with organisations, using psychological principles and evidence-based practices to improve leadership, employee engagement and resilience and to create workplace cultures where employees excel, where teams are dynamic and where people are happy.
 
Connect with Lisa:
On LinkedIn
Through her Website: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/ 
 
Resources Mentioned:
Check out episode #30, Leading Change with Lisa LLoyd

#60 Leadership - Caroline Mabon

"...it's that balance of being really clear with your purpose and having this people centric style that actually brings out the best in the people around you." Caroline Mabon
 
Caroline Mabon and I talk about leadership. Caroline has been inspired by Bob Chapman who describes leadership "as the stewardship of lives entrusted to you." And we probe this a little covering how we need to have the skills and self-understanding to know that leadership isn't just something that you fall into because you're functionally amazing at what you do. It is a huge responsibility and we need to become more conscious about the way that we're leading. And of course there is huge financial reward for a business when we tap into what truly engages people. We also talk about fear-based workplaces and we explore what having a compassionate culture means.  
 
Connect with Caroline
Compassionate Cultures website and on instagram
On LinkedIn
 
Resources Mentioned:
Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman
Time to Think by Nancy Kline
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
First Follower: Dancing Lessons from Leadership Guy
 
 
 
 

#59 Weird & Wonderful - Lisa Milnor

"I love uncertainty. But most people don't. There's this kind of innate thing about humans that we want to be in control. We like to think we're in control. We like certainty. And if nothing else the pandemic has shown us that life is totally unpredictable and uncertain. And it is moment by moment." Lisa Milnor 
 
Lisa Milnor began her career immersed in numbers. She talks about how at age 40 she began to wonder what else was out there. She left her FD role and ran a ski chalet for three years at the same time as setting up her business, Shaping Clarity. Lisa shares her stories about yoga, mindfulness, TRE, herbal medicine and more. We take a deep dive into awareness, what it is and how do you know if you have it. We apply it to the workplace. And we talk about emotions and the intelligence of our bodies including why we have tear ducts! Lisa shares plenty of stories and insights from her work-life, including one about donuts and nettles.
 
Lisa Milnor has a business background in Finance and Accountancy. She undertook three years of yoga teacher training and qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in 2012. Through her own practice and teaching she came to realise and experience the transformational healing power of yoga and in 2012 had a total career change and undertook training as an integrated Yoga Therapist and then as a Mindfulness Teacher. She has also completed training in TRE (Tension and Trauma releasing exercise).  
 
Connect with Lisa:
Her website is Shaping Clarity
 
Resources Mentioned:
Heather Church website
Cathy Mae Karelse Clear Mind International
Sarah Beck website
Set Free: A Life-Changing Journey from Banking to Buddhism in Bhutan by Emma Slade 
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Eckhart Tolle https://eckharttolle.com
Steve Haines, episode #10 and #47 of Life Beyond the Numbers and TRE The Body College
Andi Lonnen, episode #29 Life Beyond the Numbers