A Brilliant Gamble

I'm so excited to introduce you to my guest this week. Yehudi is a fascinating guy, a team coach and org design specialist who asks some pretty big questions in his work, questions we would all do well to ask. In my solo shows I tend to focus on the inner work, but in my interview shows it's normally about these big questions - putting assumptions under the microscope and asking ourselves "What if there's nothing to these assumptions except conventional wisdom?". I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Yehudi and I talk about education, organisational change, organisational design and what the business of the future will look like. Stay in touch on twitter @blairepalmer, instagram @blairelyspalmer or email [email protected]

I'm so excited to introduce you to my guest this week. Yehudi is a fascinating guy, a team coach and org design specialist who asks some pretty big questions in his work, questions we would all do well to ask. In my solo shows I tend to focus on the inner work, but in my interview shows it's normally about these big questions - putting assumptions under the microscope and asking ourselves "What if there's nothing to these assumptions except conventional wisdom?". I'm sure you'll enjoy listening to Yehudi and I talk about education, organisational change, organisational design and what the business of the future will look like. Stay in touch on twitter @blairepalmer, instagram @blairelyspalmer or email [email protected]

Earlier this year I shared my view that there really isn't such a thing as "leadership development". But this doesn't mean you can't grow in to leadership or grow as a leader. The best leaders are endlessly curious and endlessly evolving. In this episode I share a few ways you can grow and evolve without anyone trying to teach you to lead. For me the only leadership development is inner work and big questions. But what does that actually look like? That's what I'm talking about today. I'd love your thoughts. Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]

Earlier this year I shared my view that there really isn't such a thing as "leadership development". But this doesn't mean you can't grow in to leadership or grow as a leader. The best leaders are endlessly curious and endlessly evolving. In this episode I share a few ways you can grow and evolve without anyone trying to teach you to lead. For me the only leadership development is inner work and big questions. But what does that actually look like? That's what I'm talking about today. I'd love your thoughts. Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]

Over the last few years I've made predictions about what's going to be in the agenda in the year ahead. This year it's taken me a few weeks because the start of the year was dominated by other stories. But now I'm sharing my 4 themes for the year. These aren't new concepts by any means but if you're not thinking about them this year, and I mean really thinking about them, then you're way too late. Without giving too much away, how deeply are you considering agile, diversity, digital transformation and the relevance of global social unrest? Chances are all 4 of these topics are on the agenda. But what about the leadership implications? Are you really considering your responsibility as a leader when it comes to something like Agile Working? How far have you taken that thinking? Taken individually these concepts are just technical changes - new policies, processes and systems. They don't mean much. But taken together and seen through the lens of a radically changing world, they are all telling us something about how organisations of the future need to look, and what you need to start changing now to be relevant by then. Hope you enjoy! Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]

Over the last few years I've made predictions about what's going to be in the agenda in the year ahead. This year it's taken me a few weeks because the start of the year was dominated by other stories. But now I'm sharing my 4 themes for the year. These aren't new concepts by any means but if you're not thinking about them this year, and I mean really thinking about them, then you're way too late. Without giving too much away, how deeply are you considering agile, diversity, digital transformation and the relevance of global social unrest? Chances are all 4 of these topics are on the agenda. But what about the leadership implications? Are you really considering your responsibility as a leader when it comes to something like Agile Working? How far have you taken that thinking? Taken individually these concepts are just technical changes - new policies, processes and systems. They don't mean much. But taken together and seen through the lens of a radically changing world, they are all telling us something about how organisations of the future need to look, and what you need to start changing now to be relevant by then. Hope you enjoy! Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]

I've been writing about, and consequently thinking about, feelings all week. The chapter of the new book, Punks in Suits, about Trust looks at the part emotions play in business and how important our ability to bring feelings in to the conversation is. One reason for this is that, very fast, computers are increasingly able to do things that have previously only been done by people. At some point these jobs will all be done by 'bots. Anything a bot can do - anything that is based on pure logic, data analysis, facts and process will be able to be done by a bot. What does that mean for humans and the workplace? Well, it means that if you say that you are able to leave emotion at the door and make decisions purely on scientific fact, you're basically saying that a bot can do your job. The truth is that, certainly for the foreseeable future, bots won't be able to empathise, sense, read between the lines or connect and therefore we'd better get good at doing that ourselves. Those might be the only jobs humans will be doing! And that ability to empathise, sense, read between the lines and connect is what makes humans great problem solvers, innovators and creatives - just the skills your business needs. If leaders are unable to connect with their emotions then maybe bots can do our jobs too! Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Twitter: @blairepalmer Email: [email protected]

I've been writing about, and consequently thinking about, feelings all week. The chapter of the new book, Punks in Suits, about Trust looks at the part emotions play in business and how important our ability to bring feelings in to the conversation is. One reason for this is that, very fast, computers are increasingly able to do things that have previously only been done by people. At some point these jobs will all be done by 'bots. Anything a bot can do - anything that is based on pure logic, data analysis, facts and process will be able to be done by a bot. What does that mean for humans and the workplace? Well, it means that if you say that you are able to leave emotion at the door and make decisions purely on scientific fact, you're basically saying that a bot can do your job. The truth is that, certainly for the foreseeable future, bots won't be able to empathise, sense, read between the lines or connect and therefore we'd better get good at doing that ourselves. Those might be the only jobs humans will be doing! And that ability to empathise, sense, read between the lines and connect is what makes humans great problem solvers, innovators and creatives - just the skills your business needs. If leaders are unable to connect with their emotions then maybe bots can do our jobs too! Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Twitter: @blairepalmer Email: [email protected]

In this episode of the Punks in Suits podcast I reflect on the concept of Trust, in the light of the publication of the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer (an annual, global survey of levels of trust in the 4 major institutions of goverment, media, business and NGOs) and the first week of President Trump. Trust is in crisis. 67% of Trump voters describe themselves as "fearful". The pace of innovation, globalisation, corruption and erosion of social values are cited as some of the main reasons people feel distrust. And all attention for fixing this is turned on government and the media. But business shares some responsiblity for creating the mess and therefore some of the responsibility to clear it up. How people feel about their work (if they even have work), and the behaviour of senior leaders, CEOs and Boards affects how trusting they are generally. Business cannot simply promote innovation and disregard the impact this has on those that get left behind. Business cannot simply treat people like disposable cogs in a wheel and then claim it's not their business when people feel social values are eroding. I have also written a short piece about this on LinkedIn if you follow me there. Please feel free to share this podcast, comment, review and start a conversation. What is the part business plays in repairing the state of trust? Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]

In this episode of the Punks in Suits podcast I reflect on the concept of Trust, in the light of the publication of the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer (an annual, global survey of levels of trust in the 4 major institutions of goverment, media, business and NGOs) and the first week of President Trump. Trust is in crisis. 67% of Trump voters describe themselves as "fearful". The pace of innovation, globalisation, corruption and erosion of social values are cited as some of the main reasons people feel distrust. And all attention for fixing this is turned on government and the media. But business shares some responsiblity for creating the mess and therefore some of the responsibility to clear it up. How people feel about their work (if they even have work), and the behaviour of senior leaders, CEOs and Boards affects how trusting they are generally. Business cannot simply promote innovation and disregard the impact this has on those that get left behind. Business cannot simply treat people like disposable cogs in a wheel and then claim it's not their business when people feel social values are eroding. I have also written a short piece about this on LinkedIn if you follow me there. Please feel free to share this podcast, comment, review and start a conversation. What is the part business plays in repairing the state of trust? Twitter: @blairepalmer Instagram: @blairelyspalmer Email: [email protected]