Life Beyond The Numbers

#122 What Matters Most? - Susan Ni Chriodain

"...and each time I would attempt to do something, I would stop and stare out the window and wonder what matters. I began to ask variations of this question: What matters here? What actually matters? Does this really matter? What matters most?" Susan Ni Chriodain
 
In this solo episode I share on a life-changing family event. And explore what it means to have your world change in an instant, discovering what matters most and having the courage to go after that. This episode is dedicated to M & M. 
I'd like to thank all my listeners for their understanding during this time of flux. 
And if there is anything here that resonated with you and you'd like to have a chat please get in touch. 
 
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 120, Reconnecting with Sam Allen
Episode 121, Courage with Robbie Swale

#121 Courage - Robbie Swale

"If instead you just take small action, you not only get the rush of courage from having taken the action and the satisfaction that you've actually done something, but you have negated that building of resentment and regret. So it's a double benefit if you take the tiny action today." Robbie Swale
 
Robbie Swale explains that courage is a key part of achieving our goals. And with small, repeated actions you can overcome fears, conquer resistance or procrastination and make progress. And often the confidence you need to do something and the competence required to do it is on the other side of doing it. You first need the courage to act - one of the most admirable qualities that humans can ever personify. Robbie talks about his 12-minute method and his four books which help people understand and apply some of what we discuss, and encourages people to take action now.
 
Robbie Swale is a leadership coach, author and podcaster whose work focuses on creativity, leading with honour and the craft of coaching. He is the host of two podcasts – The Coach’s Journey Podcast and The 12-Minute Method Podcast – and the author of The 12-Minute Method series of books, including How to Start When You’re Stuck and How to Create the Conditions for Great Work.
 
Connect with Robbie:
Learn more about Robbie from his website and the coach's journey.
Buy the 12-Minute Method Books here
On LinkedIn
On YouTube
On Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Robbie's 100 podcast episode challenge
 
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 78: It's All About Relationships with Travis L. Scott
James Clear on Warren Buffett blog
Robert Holden
Jennifer Garvey Berger
Stephen Pressfield The War of Art
Liz Gilbert Big Magic
Roger Bannister on Seth Godin blog
The Burnout Fix Dr Jacinta Jimenez
 

#120 Reconnecting - Sam Allen

"Gradually I was shrinking, because this is such a big thing in me. So my process was, during that time, reconnecting to that creativity and taking seriously that need in me." Sam Allen
 
Sam Allen provides an insight into how creativity can be used for healing and inspiration. She explains how she reconnected with her own creativity during a particularly tough period of her life. Sam writes poetry about topics such as truth, freedom, pleasure, self-love, and love. Her poems can be deep and meaningful as well as light-hearted. We talk about leadership and not taking ourselves too seriously. We discuss the importance of looking outside and connecting with nature to gain perspective and resilience. And we chat about the idea of simplicity and gratitude when it comes to finding joy in life. 
 
Sam Allen is a Creative Leadership Coach, Trainer, Podcaster and Poet and Co-founder of DynamiX Leadership. She designs and leads tailored leadership programmes for global organisations and is particularly passionate about female empowerment. Throughout her career Sam has empowered individuals to write books, make life-affirming career changes, overcome anxiety and to take giant leaps towards heightened self-realisation, increased authentic leadership presence and spiritual growth. A blogger and a jogger, Sam lives and breathes her own creativity and in turn inspires others to do the same. She writes poetry in nature on a daily basis ever since losing her incredible Father to pancreatic cancer and loves helping her clients to express and heal through creative expression.
 
Connect with Sam
Through her website
Through her LinkedIn profile 
Through her Insight Timer profile 
On Facebook
Email: samallencoachingcreatively@gmail.com
 
Resources Mentioned
Follow these links to purchase a copy of The Wild, Feminine SpiritUK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BJBYXBDCUS: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJBYXBDCGERMANY: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BJBYXBDCFRANCE: https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BJBYXBDCCANADA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BJBYXBDCAUSTRALIA: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BJBYXBDC
 
Untaming Femininity Podcast

#119 Serial Entrepreneur - Kevin Ashley (From the Archives)

"Within the first year of the aviation business is when we started doing the coffee business. So I was suddenly involved and being the executive director of the aviation business and the executive chairman of the coffee shop business at the same time. So I was suddenly the serial entrepreneur, it was crazy." Kevin Ashley
 
Kevin Ashley is one of the founders of Java House, an East African coffee house and diner. He attributes his success to staying flexible and having a passionate purpose beyond just getting money. We talk about the early days of Java House including how they got to the first 10 branches in the first 10 years. We also cover the further growth and diversification to eventual buy-out by private equity firms. Kevin says that building Java House was really a people story - one about purpose and dignity at work. People might think work is just about showing up. But at Java they instilled in staff that while they were at work they were actually there to serve something bigger 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.
 
Please note that this episode was originally released as episode #32 in March 2021. In the introduction to this episode I provide an update that has had an impact on the podcast schedule. 
 
 

#118 Happiness with Sashenka Milston

"Happiness is enjoying that journey. Carving out that 15 minutes of pleasure. Happiness then increases our performance and our achievement and makes it easier to achieve success." Sashenka Milston
 
Sashenka Milston and I discuss happiness and how we can achieve it. She explains that the research shows that it's not actually how much time you have it's what you do with it that matters to your happiness. What counts is whether we spend the time passively or on personally enriching experiences. Can we be happy at work? And what about stress? Sash talks about different types of stress. We explore the benefits of immersing ourselves in nature and Sash offers insightful tips on how to connect with nature, even without leaving the office, as well as practical exercises to ground yourself and reduce stress. 
 
Sashenka Milston helps leaders and their teams gain a greater sense of purpose and control over their lives and workflow. Sashenka has a PhD in Psychology (Social Neuroscience) and her work is grounded in evidence-based, practical techniques. Outcomes include increased happiness and well-being, productivity, and customer happiness, whilst reducing stress and employee turnover. She guest lectures at the Oxford Brookes Business School. She is a published author and  Happiness Through Goal Setting is short, practical, and based on empirical evidence. 
 
Connect with Sashenka:
On LinkedIn and Twitter
Through her website
 
Resources Mentioned:
Kelly McGonigal "Make Stress Your Friend" TED talk 
Happiness Through Goal Setting: A Practical Guide to Reflect on and Change the Reasons Why You Pursue Your Most Important Goals in Life by Christian Ehrlich and Sashenka Milston 

#117 Your Career - Javed Bobat

"There's always merit and value in being proactive when it comes to making changes within your career and not sleepwalking into a situation where your career's flatlining or you’re not achieving and getting the satisfaction and the enjoyment that you want within a particular job." Javed Bobat
 
Javed and I talk about the importance of taking a proactive approach when it comes to making changes within your career. He encourages regular reflection on what you are looking for within your career and working life as it stands at the moment? And to think through what is important to you? Are you clear on the motivation and purpose behind it? Do you understand and are you prioritising your needs and non-negotiables. We chat job-searching and what to do if your receive a rejection. We discuss leaving a job without another one to go to. We also cover what line-mangers can do to retain staff, like taking responsibility for the people side of their job, and understanding that employees need both their professional and emotional needs met. 
 
Javed Bobat launched Fide Careers in 2019 as an ethical, new benchmark in agency recruitment. He is on a mission to prioritise people over profit and Fide is purpose-driven and socially motivated. They take a percentage of every recruitment fee and reinvest it directly back into the team, candidate and business they recruit for. He also set up a community interest company F=@#! Mental Health for mental health and well-being of the finance and accounting industry.  
 
Connect with Javed:
On LinkedIn
Through his recruitment website
And F=@#! Mental Health website
 
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 12, Building Communities

#116 Challenges - Diego Adame

"One of the challenges this year that I loved was one of my friends created a book and she had 40 questions and I had to answer each question with a picture. And really good questions about reflecting about life, about my past, about my present, about where I want to go." Diego Adame
 
Diego Adame turned 40 during 2022 and decided to take on 40 challenges with friends and family as a way of celebrating the year. This included a variety of physical, fun and creative challenges, like skydiving, trying 40 different types of cheese, dressing up as an ant in Mexico City with friends and swimming 40km during the year with his siblings. Some of the challenges led him to reflect on his life and even revise some of his long-held beliefs about his childhood. Diego works at The Lego Foundation and we talk about our experiences with play in the workplace, and how it helps to create a psychologically safe environment, build relationships, and increase creativity. We conclude this episode with a reflection on how we can always find the time for things that are important to us.
 
Diego Adame, at 28, was scared of becoming old and turning 30. He thought adulthood started at 30 (now he knows it starts at 50). Whenever he approaches an age with a multiple of 10, he feels the need to question his life. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro on July 2012 and, without planning it, started a tradition of celebrating birthdays with challenges. Diego has worked in the development sector for almost 15 years and is currently based in Denmark with The Lego Foundation as Senior Director Team Lead of Inclusive Learning. 
 
Connect with Diego
Read his blog "This is (not) a midlife crisis"
 
Resources Mentioned
The Lego Foundation 
 

#115 Work-Life Highlights with Previous Guests

Seven work-life snippets from 2022 guests make up this compilation episode. 
 
David Lee, Episode 102, Human Nature 
Kirsty Ritchie, Episode 91, Mental Fitness
Pete Bearder, Episode 109, Collective Joy
Natasha Tomlinson, Episode 103, Just Go For It
Kris Lantheaume, Episode 111, Success
Dougal Freeman, Episode 92, A Common Goal
Robyn Harris, Episode 108, The Answers Are Inside
 
Wishing all my listeners a joyful and fulfilling 2023
 
Resources Mentioned:
Episode 90 The Way You Make Me Feel 

#114 What’s Another Year? Susan Ní Chriodain

"How did you feel about this year as a whole? And if you were to title this past year as a chapter in your story, what would it be? So, I've put together some thoughts on this year." 
 
The years seems to go by so quickly and can seem like they all roll into one. It can be easy to think well 'what's another year'. In this episode I reflect on the year and explore 2022 around four main themes - self-expression, nature, community and the inner world. 
 
Connect with Susan
On LinkedIn
Through my website
 
Resources Mentioned
Caitlin Cockerton, episode 112 
Gib Bulloch, episode 28 and Craigberoch
Pete Bearder, episode 109
Helen Joy, episode 6 and episode 77
How to Think More Effectively, The School of Life 
Alison Jones, episode 58 and Exploratory Writing 
Rob Lawrence
Kerry Cullen
David Whyte
Seth Godin 
Greta Solomon, episode 80 and Heart, Sass and Soul

#113 Psychological Safety - Dr. Susanne Evans, David Lee & Me

"....isn't that true of so many issues in organisations that it's just because people don't speak to each other and they don't listen to the other side. And that for me is the root, if we're talking about psychological safety, that is at the root. It's the willingness on all sides to be open and to listen." Dr. Susanne Evans
 
Does psychological safety have an impact at work? In this episode Dr Susanne Evans, David Lee and I explore the concept of psychological safety and the impact it has on our working lives. We talk about the work environment, power dynamics, being open, listening and treating one another as humans. We wonder if the term gets interpreted at times as never having to feel uncomfortable. We all agree that feeling uncomfortable at work is inevitable at times but feeling unsafe isn't. And we talk about taking responsibility for our own behaviour. 
 
Dr Susanne Evans is an organisation change consultant, trainer, coach and researcher on a mission to change the way that transformations are managed in organisations. She founded Feldspar Consulting in 2007 to help her clients lead change in a more human, effective way. As well as writing and speaking about organisation change, Susanne hosts open storytelling workshops, supporting organisations and individuals in writing a compelling story for themselves, and she is the host of the popular ChangeStories podcast.
David Lee is a coach, consultant, workshop facilitator, keynote speaker, and author, who loves creating a win/win/win relationship between people and the organizations they work for. He helps leaders and leadership teams learn how to become "people whisperers", and by doing so, increase their ability to make their organization THE choice for "A List Talent" and inspire the best in their people.
 
Connect with Susanne
On LinkedIn
Through her website: Feldspar Consulting
Listen to Change Stories podcast
 
Connect with David
On LinkedIn 
Through his website Human Nature at Work
 
Resources Mentioned:
Amy Edmondson on Psychological Safety
Dealing with a Difficult Coworker by David Lee
Google & Project Aristotle