Anxious Laughter

Right now, we were supposed to be about halfway through Season 2 of the podcast.

But with lockdown, I've run out of new episodes, and it's not possible for me to keep recording them at the rate I'd need to in order to keep going.

In lockdown, I've got back into running six days a week.  But am I actually enjoying it?  Well no. I'm not.

In this episode, I explore my relationship with running a bit, I think about how I used to run long distances, and how I once entered the ballot for a place in the London marathon and was relieved when I didn't get a place - but not for the reason you may think.

In this episode, I talk about getting out into nature for walks, and how nature has a soothing effect, even if it's nothing mystical or spiritual.

And I talk about how bad I am at doing nothing.  

How much I'd hate a beach holiday sitting by the sea, or by a pool.

And about how threatening cows can be.

Recently was the date of the cancelled Eurovision Song Contest 2020.    

But rather than late the date pass without ceremony, I set up a studio in my garage and hosted my own.  I sang a few songs, did all the video editing and pulled the show together.  I even presented it live and coped with the internet went down halfway through the broadcast.

Only confident, charismatic people can do that sort of stuff, right?

We are all contradictions, and we're all moulded and beaten into shape by the people and circumstances around us.

In maybe the most raw and personal episode yet, I talk about being a contradiction, and what life may be life without anxiety.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Scott Bird, a personal trainer from London, on the subject of body confidence.

It's easy to very personal trainers are people who've always been fit and sporty, and to think that they are comfortable and confident in their bodies.

But in this episode I ask Scott what it was like being overweight as a teenager, and how he finds the gym environment as both a trainer and someone with body confidence issues.

You can find Scott at https://birdpersonaltraining.com/ for information and to sign up to train with him! :-)

In this episode, I talk about social media and the things people say which aren't kind.  The world is a strange place at the time this is being recorded, and so the importance of kindness have never been stronger.  I talk about people who use Facebook to push their activism on strangers, and I talk about those people on LinkedIn who use the word "humble" when they are anything but.

This episode comes from the Monologue stream, so it's much more about me, and my thoughts than the Conversation episodes.

This episode, I continued my conversation with Duncan Skelton.  This time, we talked more about the interplay between a leader and their team members, we talked about creating a place of safety for team members to express themselves and also whether everyone who wears a pretty hat is gay.  They aren't.  At least not anymore.

Duncan is a leadership coach, and you can find out more details of what he does - and even book in for a free first session - on his website...

https://duncanskelton.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncanskelton/

This episode was recorded last week, and touches upon the virus and working from home as a result of it.  In other episodes, I've not really talked about coronavirus or the lockdown, but in this extra episode Richard Jackson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rjacksonuk/) and I talk in detail about the impact of the virus on our working lives, how we cope with working from home full time and how neither of us really abide by the list of "best practices" that are floating around the internet.

We talk about how much fun it is being able to see into other people's houses, what rubbish we both have piled up in our studies and whether it's OK to check your work email of a morning before you're dressed and showered.

In this episode, I have a conversation with Duncan Skelton, about anxiety in leadership.  How do leaders feel, and what does it mean to be a leader?

During the course of the episode, we'll take about how our personal values affect whether or not we intervene in situations we don't feel comfortable with, we talk about whether it's OK as a leader to be open about your mental health with you team and we also mention Beyoncé because - you know - she's Beyoncé and she is amazing.

Duncan is a leadership coach, and you can find out more details of what he does - and even book in for a free first session - on his website...

https://duncanskelton.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncanskelton/

Links to some of the books we talked about can be found below:

The book in which talked about competent vs. confident leaders was the - brilliantly named - "Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?"

Brene Brown, "Dare to lead"

Simon Sinek, "The infinite game"

Google reWork guide, "Understand team effectiveness". Available from https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/

Nick Robinson, "Leadership, Role-modelling and behaviour" (blog) Available from: https://www.nickrobinson.org/reflections-on-leadership-role-modelling-and-behaviour/

Additional info - we mentioned a couple of other topics  lots of resources are available - suggestions below

Impostor syndrome

Gill Corkindale, "Overcoming Imposter Syndrome", Harvard Business Review. Available from: https://hbr.org/2008/05/overcoming-imposter-syndrome

Neurodiversity

R. D. Austin, G. P. Pisano, "Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage", Harvard Business Review. Available from: https://hbr.org/2017/05/neurodiversity-as-a-competitive-advantage

For the first time on Anxious Laughter, I talk a bit about work.  This is an introductory episode to my work life, how I got here and why I moved down to London.