By Heather Campbell >> Anyone who travels regularly by train knows only too well the irritation of that tinny sound emanating from someone else’s headphones. Today I had that pleasure. First of all, the repetitive delights of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” followed by some kind of game that necessitated repeated meowing sounds. Delightful to the toddler listening to it; less so to me! With adults, I usually ask them to turn down the volume. But it seemed a bit churlish to do this with ...

By Heather Campbell >> I disagree with the old adage that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. There is a third – and that is that we will all feel fear on a regular basis. It’s a major part of being human. Cialdini’s research shows that we are more driven by fear (of loss) than we are by desire (for gain). But, while taxes – and how inappropriately they are spent by successive governments – are a topic that we ...

By Glenn Widelko >> Recently I had the pleasure of bumping into Heather Campbell, a colleague from years past whose company, CommsMasters, specialises in developing capability in having great conversations. In our conversation about conversations we reflected that, while there are all sorts of conversations to have content-wise, there is really only one conversation to have process-wise – and that is the real conversation. Unlike easy conversations, real conversations take us outside our comfort zones into the unfamiliar territory of our stretch zone ...

By Heather Campbell >> What’s the link between a high-performance Formula One car and fear in the workplace? Well, that’s precisely what business leaders from around the UK are going to be exploring at our Business Leaders’ Seminar this Friday. Our guest speaker Mark Jenkins, Professor of Business Strategy and Director of Community for Strategy, People & Leadership at Cranfield School of Management, will be sharing insights from his research into teamwork, leadership and innovation in the cut-throat industry that is Formula ...