Life Beyond The Numbers

#32 Serial Entrepreneur - Kevin Ashley

"From a business point of view, you need to have the willingness to continuously learn and remain open and then be willing to pivot. And this is where I see a lot of people fail so often as they fixate on a framework of what success looks like to them. And when they come up to a blocking point they don't know how to just pivot and change". Kevin Ashley.
 
Kevin Ashley is one of the founders of Java House, an East African coffee house and diner. We talk about the early days of Java House and the first ten branches in the first 10 years. We also cover the further growth and diversification to eventual buy-outs by private equity firms. Kevin says that building Java House was really a HR story - one about purpose and dignity at work - while a lot of people think work is about showing up at Java they instilled in staff that while they were at work they were actually there to serve a bigger thing than themselves. Kevin believes that dignity of work and a sense of purpose is the key for the future of humanity to have a functioning society.
 
Kevin Ashley is a serial entrepreneur. His early career was as a humanitarian worker with World Food Program and Christian Aid. In the 90s he co-founded an aviation business, 748, and then  a coffee house Java House. Java House, commonly referred to as ‘Nairobi Java’, opened its first store in 1999 at Adam’s Arcade in Nairobi with the aim of introducing gourmet coffee drinking culture in Kenya. The brand evolved to an American diner style restaurant. There are also two sister brands Planet Yoghurt and 360 Degrees Pizza. 
 
https://www.javahouseafrica.com 
 

#31 Showing Your Personality - Robin Kiziak

"We've got a lot to offer beyond just giving a set of accounts to somebody. And it comes down to the fundamental fact that we're all people at the end of the day and it's all about relationships and building those relationships..." Robin Kiziak.
 
Robin and I discuss storytelling - with words and numbers. Robin illustrates the power of bringing numbers to life with a story about why a particular set of numbers (6, 2015, 15 & 107,398) is important to him. We talk about breaking down barriers at work, bringing your personality to the table and he shares where the idea for "nothing funny about finance" comes from. There is plenty of laughter in this episode as well as us discussing laughter, curiosity and the importance of finding the right balance. Robin also talks about the importance of networking and shares how he grew his audience and engages with people from Canada to China. 
 
Robin Kiziak is an experienced finance manager with 15+ years of experience in the distribution/logistics and retail industries. On LinkedIn, he describes himself as a Hardcore Finance Manager and his 'About' summary is well worth checking out - far more engaging than a CV. He believes that to stand out in finance and accounting you need to make the seemingly dark art of finance and accounting understandable to everyone in your business by focusing on how you behave and it will shine through in your people skills. Robin is known for his #nothingfunnyaboutfinance posts.  
 
Connect with Robin:
On LinkedIn
Twitter
Website: Nothing Funny About Finance
 

#30 Leading Change - Lisa LLoyd

"When people are able to pause and are given permission to pause by their leaders and they know the necessity of pausing, in terms of their brain being so much more productive and you'll be so much more engaged and so much more successful after a pause. And then that's where the magic happens." Lisa LLoyd.
 
Lisa and I talk about putting the human factor back into workplaces and treating people like people. We talk about the return on investment (ROI) of investing in staff and how a one-size approach does not fit all. We discuss how time is one of the biggest barriers to organisations implementing changes in the best way and Lisa points out they might well be going full steam ahead on the wrong path. We also cover the people side of change, the power of pausing, psychological safety, inner critics and how to become even more effective as a manager. And we chat about thinking in terms of blips instead of failure and the importance of self-compassion. 
 
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
Website: https://itstimeforchange.co.uk/ 
 
Resources:
Dr. Kristin Neff on Self-Compassion - https://self-compassion.org/ 

#29 Connect the Dots - Andi Lonnen

"The very first training course I delivered I thought this is it. I have actually found my thing. This is what I was put on this planet to do. I just cannot explain the explosion of happiness inside when I'm delivering training and just working so hard with different individuals". Andi Lonnen
Andi Lonnen chats to me about how she discovered her love for training and how she infuses that training with energy and enthusiasm. She talks about training non-finance people to help them understand the story behind the numbers and training finance people to communicate that story in a way that generates insights, inspires and influences. She talks about the benefits to individuals like overcoming fears, understanding how to work with colleagues in a way that reduces frustration and the benefit to the organisation when everyone can connect the dots and works together better. She also shares her work-life balance approach and tells me about an epic cycling adventure that changed her life. 
 
Andi Lonnen is a fully qualified FCCA accountant with many years’ financial experience to Commercial Finance Director level in addition to being a qualified ILM trainer. She is an International Trainer with a trademark upbeat & enthusiastic approach to delivering her training in an easily understood and engaging manner with skills that can be implemented in the workplace immediately and have everyone buzzing to do so! She is also an elected member of the Professional Speaking Association (PSA) and a published author. 
 
Connect with Andi
On LinkedIn
Websites:
https://www.fbpacademy.com/ 
https://financetrainingacademy.com/ 
Read Andi's Book: My Summer Sabbatical: Cycling Across Switzerland & France
 

#28 Breakthrough - Gib Bulloch

"Businesses are fairly unhappy places to be at the moment. People, young people, bright people who've done everything right, who've got a good education they've paid through the noses for, who've worked hard and they've got into these elite organisations and are saying "Is this it? Is this what I want to do?" They look 30 years ahead 40 years ahead to the bosses and say, "Is that what I want to be?"" Gib Bulloch.
 
Gib talks about how he began to question his 'lovely yuppie lifestyle' in London, in the late 90s, having done very "well" for himself. Is this all there is to life? A committed non-conformist and a catalyst for change he founded Accenture Development Partners, described by some as a guerilla movement within Accenture, where today 50,000 staff are on a waiting list to work for a 50% pay-cut. We talk about leadership, corporate immune systems, seizing opportunities and entrepreneurship. Being a corporate insurgent isn't all plain sailing and Gib openly discusses his stay in a psychiatric unit and he explains that one of the main drivers for writing his book was to stand up and be counted about mental health and to shift the debate from the mental health of individuals to the mental health of the organisation and of the system causing these problems.
 
Gib Bulloch is a speaker, writer and facilitator with a unique perspective on the relationship between business, society and the self. He spent 25 years at three of the world’s largest companies – BP, Mars and Accenture. During his time at Accenture, he set up the award-winning Accenture Development Partners, a corporate social enterprise that provides development sector organisations access to Accenture’s top people, knowledge and assets on a not-for-profit basis.  With an insider’s view of the corporate engine and an awareness of the impact that business can have on the individual, he is passionate about creating a more mindful, empowered and balanced approach to the world of work. 
 
Connect with Gib:
On LinkedIn
Website: https://gibbulloch.com/bullog/ 
Craigberoch: https://craigberoch.org/ 
 
Resources:
The Intrapreneur: Confessions of a Corporate Insurgent, Gib Bulloch 
Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership, Joseph Jaworski
The Hero's Journey, Joseph Cambell
 

#27 Healthy High Performance - Sheila Walsh

"We're really focused on the core fundamentals of organisational clarity, communicating that clarity, over-communicating that clarity, minimising confusion and politics. And when that's present, then you have the good stuff. And for me, the good stuff is that you're creating that environment for people to flourish and thrive." Sheila Walsh. 
 
Sheila Walsh takes me through the tumultuous year in a tech company in the travel sector. We talk about keeping teams engaged when everyone is remote working and about the lack of spontaneity in a remote environment. Sheila talks about what it is like to work in a people-centric organisation that is driven by the Leadership Team and cascaded down - the LT have a team coach and no chance to get comfortable or complacent. She shares that CarTrawler has upgraded its high-performance focus to 'healthy high-performance'.  We talk about finding meaning and purpose, rabbit-holes, pixie-dust, growth mindset, learning and more.  
 
Sheila Walsh is Chief People Officer at CarTrawler. A hands-on and motivated HR professional, Sheila has a broad range of experience across many sectors including; software, telco, publishing, healthcare and not-for-profit. She strongly believes that the provision of meaning and purpose within the workplace results in engaged employees who live and breathe the behaviours that support sustained business success. She holds an MBS in Business Practice from University College Cork, is an accredited Life Coach & Lifeskills Consultant and is an associate member of CIPD.  She is a Board Director of Self-Help Africa UK.
 
Connect with Sheila:
On LinkedIn
 
Resources:
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni
 

#26 Guinness & Tea - John Collins

"We have a very progressive organisation that values its people, but the most satisfying and motivating thing about an organisation like Pukka is the genuine feeling that we are making decisions for the right reasons." John Collins
 
John Collins saw his accounting qualification as a passport and had opportunities to travel with Diageo - he says he was a 'walking stereotype' (Irish, red-hair and works for Guinness).  We discuss working out what you really want to do and exploring extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. John tells me about his awakening on joining Pukka Herbs in terms of having a responsibility to have a positive impact on the world. He also shares his thoughts on how business and consumption are at the heart of the situation that we're in and you can either bemoan that from the outside or you can be part of the solution on the inside.
 
John Collins is Finance Director of Pukka Herbs, whose mission is to create a world where plants play a central role in human health and wellbeing. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland and has extensive experience working in the private sector across a number of disciplines and geographies. He is a board member of Friends of the Earth.
 
Connect with John:
On LinkedIn 

#25 Your Career Story - Megan Haupt

"A professional summary and professional summaries, in general, tend to be these sort of really abstract statements." "There's no sort of connection to the human being. It could be anybody. I'm like, well, let's try to find a way where we can actually write these professional summaries that relate to the human being on this piece of paper." Megan Haupt.
 
Megan Haupt started career storytelling as an exercise to help people write their professional summaries. We talk about how working takes up a third of your life and many career paths are not linear but to do something significant with that time people benefit from being able to articulate how various strands connect. We talk about how she uses storytelling to get insights that clients have said to her after: 'I have never been able to think of myself in these terms'. We also chat about how having clarity around your story, is really helpful to apply specific interviewing techniques land different forms of behavioural interviewing. Megan and I also talk about her upcoming workshop Bad Boss Exorcism that uses a horror genre to help let go of bad experiences at work - as she says "everyone has a horror story to tell you about work".
 
Megan Haupt has over a decade of career coaching experience, working with clients at all stages of their careers. Her 25-year professional background spans from the performing arts to higher education, non-profits, and corporate business, and she has successfully navigated several industry changes throughout her career. In addition to her coaching work, she is a serial entrepreneur, public speaker, and business consultant. A long-time practitioner of meditation, Megan brings a practical approach of mindfulness to her work with clients. To learn more about Megan’s professional background, visit her LinkedIn profile.
 
Connect with Megan:
On LinkedIn
https://www.briocareer.com/
http://www.hungryeducation.com/ 
Facebook: Brio Career 
 
Resources:
How to Future by Scott Smith with Madeline Ashby - https://changeist.com/
Deem - https://www.deemjournal.com/
Whetstone - https://www.whetstonemagazine.com/ 
Podcast on Future Self:
https://extraordinarybusinessbooks.com/episode-247-speaking-to-the-future/
The Business Value of Autonomous Mobile Robots Report
 
 

#24 Changing the Status Quo - Gillian Fawcett

"We are, the first international mentoring scheme for public finance, the first, scheme to be totally virtual for public financial by management." "I see public finance by women as being a powerful network to try and influence the status quo and change the status quo." Gillian Fawcett.  
 
Throughout her career, Gillian has focused on making public services more efficient and more effective on a local, national and international level.  We discuss the impact she wants to have on the world and the impetus for starting Public Finance by Women. The organisation has two key objectives (1) to support women in their career development  (2) to advance gender equality in public financial management.  She explains that the organisation is international and inclusive - as although the focus is on women men are also involved. Globally out of 188 ministries of finance only 39 have women ministers of finance so there's a real need to promote gender equality and change the status quo.  We discuss mentoring, skills development versus career development and the role of finance professionals in public finance. Gillian shares a fantastic example about snow and the impact of gender budgeting in Sweden as well as some other stories from Vietnam, Philippines and Belize.     
 
Gillian Fawcett is a co-founder of Public Finance by Women (PFW), an international non-profit organisation focused upon supporting women working in public finance to fulfil their career potential by providing mentoring and other support, as well as promoting the advancement of gender equality. Previously, she was head of international at the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA), head of public sector at ACCA Global, a senior fellow at the Office for Public Management (OPM), head of policy at the Audit Commission and head of finance at the Scrutiny Unit in the House of Commons. In January 2019 she was appointed as a member for the Cifas local government anti-fraud and corruption advisory board and joined the board of Friends of the Earth Charitable Trust in February 2019.
 
Connect with Gillian:
on LinkedIn
Website: https://www.publicfinancebywomen.org/ 
Twitter https://twitter.com/publicfinanceb1 
 
Resources:
Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado-Perez
Time to Think by Nancy Kline

#23 Work-Life Magic - Various

In this episode, I've pulled together some insights from guests on 'work-life balance' - what is work-life balance, how do you know you have it, does it exist and more.  
I introduce the episode with an overview of 'body-budgeting' - a phrase coined by neuroscientist and psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett.  She is the author of 'How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of The Brain'.  
This episode includes:
John Hayns (#14) on attuning to your body and work-life magic
Kim Bowden (#17) on a work-life balance 'aha' moment
Gary Cox (#4 & #5) on the need for a time machine and more sleep
Andrew Codd (#8) on is there any such thing as work-life balance
Helen Joy (#6) on boundaries
Jerry Harris (#9) on appropriate selfishness (my new favourite phrase!)
Michelle Heer (#3) on her daughter's approach to her work-life balance
Dave Greenaway (#2) on being able to say 'no'
Sue Rosen (#1) on finding joy
Steve Haines (#10) on the power of movement - internal as well as external
 
What does work-life balance mean to you? 
If you have a favourite strategy you'd like to share I would love to know.
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