A Brilliant Gamble

I've noticed that when someone asks how you are, the answer is often "Busy" or some related variant. When did being busy become the right answer to that question? We live at a time when work dominates life - it defines who we are, our worth, what we think about, what we think matters. And we are all so busy that, even if we enjoy what we do or think it is important, we often make massive sacrifices in order to do that work. In this week's show I look at what you can do to cut back on the busy, including what you'll need to let go of in order to do so without guilt. I'd love to hear your experiences and suggestions too! You can email me blaire@thatpeoplething.com, comment on instagram (@punksinsuits) or on our Punks in Suits Facebook page. And please remember to share this podcast and leave us a comment and star rating on iTunes! It's much appreciated. Blaire

Everyone’s got an opinion about what you’re doing. Of course, their opinion often doesn’t matter and more often shouldn’t matter but that doesn’t mean you’re always able to shrug it off when people pass comment on your plans. In today’s show I share some of the more common comments I’ve heard whenever I’ve shaken up my life a little (or a lot) and how to respond. Of course there are people who have valuable insights and feedback that you can listen to…you just don’t need to take on board all the comments you’re going to receive. In the show I mention The Work of Byron Katie. You can check out http://thework.com/sites/thework/downloads/worksheets/JudgeYourNeighbor_Worksheet.pdf. I highly recommend this approach if you want to care less (or not at all) about what other people may think of your decisions. To stay in touch with us please follow me on twitter @blairepalmer, Instagram @punksinsuits, on our Punks in Suits Facebook page and visit www.thatpeoplething.com. Please do leave a comment on iTunes too as this helps boost the profile of the podcast AND we love it!! Thanks!

This is a tough one for me. I've always struggled with the concept of "Financial Abundance". I believe it's true that what you put out there in to the world in your beliefs comes back to you in your reality. But I've always had a hard time believing that will be true for me when it comes to money. I've believed it isn't all about working harder. But, at the same time, I've always worked very hard...just in case! Recently I had a breakthrough and found a way to take money off the table so that I could think more creatively about what we really want as a family, the work I really want to do and how we can be "successful" on our own terms. Finance isn't in my 5 pointed Pentagram model I shared with you last week. And there's a good reason. Money can't be part of your thinking, upfront and central, when you're looking to work in a way that doesn't feel like hard work. You have to find a way to make it a non-issue...even if you, like me, can't quite convince yourself that the universe will provide. That's what I'm talking about in today's podcast. Please stay in touch on Instagram (@punksinsuits), on our Punks in Suits facebook page or direct by emailing me at blaire@thatpeoplething.com And PLEASE leave us a review on iTunes. We really appreciate it!

I’m so excited about today’s podcast. The ideas I talk about today have been brewing for weeks! I would go so far as to say that I’ve never met anyone working in business or the public sector who feels fully integrated in their work. By which I mean, there’s always quite a lot that they are tolerating about the way they work and the sacrifices they’re making. Often they have come to terms with those sacrifices in some way seeing it as a price they have to pay as part of having a job, especially if it’s a job they feel is important. But is it necessary? More importantly, are the things we tolerate about work and the way we work actually inhibiting our ability to make a difference? Could we construct a way to work that doesn’t require making such sacrifices? And, does there come a time in life where you start saying “I don’t want to make those sacrifices anymore?” In today’s show I explain the term “Unwork” - an term I've coined to describe work where there is little if any distinction between work and non-work in our lives. There’s no reason why you need to channel a special “work-you” and then switch that off as you switch on the “real you” in the rest of your life. In fact, when you stop making the distinction you are able to bring more of yourself to every aspect of life and therefore be of MORE value in your professional contribution than you are able to be today. I also run through the 5 criteria that make up my “Unwork Pentagram” - a down and dirty tool you can use to check-in with how integrated your life, your self and your work are. It should help you spot which areas might benefit from your attention. You probably won’t be surprised if you’ve been feeling out of sync with your work for a while that something is missing. And this tool will help you, in a blunt way, work out why that might be. In future shows we’ll look in more depth at the model and dive in to the 5 criteria, plus I will talk more about unwork, my unwork journey and the stages you’ll go through as you start questioning everything we’ve taken for granted about work in the Industrial Age. I can’t wait!! Sign up to the newsletter to get more inspiration including a 5 part series busting the myths of leadership. You can also read my articles on Medium. And follow Punks in Suits on Instagram (@punksinsuits), our Facebook page and twitter (@blairepalmer). I’ve added a Patreon button to the PodOmatic podcast page too so if you want to support this podcast financially you now can. Thank you so much for your support so far and here’s to an exciting 2018!!

Happy New Year! Is this the year when you decide enough is enough? You still want to make a difference - you haven't given up on your ambitions. But maybe you can't do it in your current role or in your current organisation. Maybe there's another way that doesn't entail so much sacrifice but does get stuff done! This week I've revived my interview with Sally McCutchion, one of the first I did for this show and one of my favourites. What does it feel like to walk away from the security of a management job in a big company to start your own business, when you don't know what business you want to start? How does it feel when you start breaking unwritten "cultural laws" because of the way you've chosen to work, the philosophy that guides your life and the decisions you make about how you live? In this interview with Sally McCutchion, one of the UK's only Holacracy facilitators, we hear what her experience has been of all of this. Whether you're curious about alternatives to the hierarchical structure or whether you're asking yourself deeper questions about how you live and what's authentic to you, there's lots to inspire you in this interview. To contact me email blaire@thatpeoplething.com or you can follow me on instragram (@punksinsuits) or twitter (@blairepalmer) or join our new facebook page, Punks in Suits. I will be posting information about Sally's upcoming workshop on that page too. I love to read you comments and hear about your experiences so please stay in touch!

I must admit that I was pretty desperate for the Christmas Holidays. 2017 has been a year of big life changing decisions and no small amount of overwhelm! So it was with that in mind that I thought I would re-share my interview with actress and playwright, Leandra Ashton. This was the first interview I did for the show in 2016 and I still think it was one of the ones that made the biggest difference to me personally. I hope at this time of year, when maybe you have a little time to think and reflect, you will find this as inspiring as I did. Instagram: @punksinsuits Facebook: Search Punks in Suits Web: www.thatpeoplething.com Please remember to give us a star rating and leave a comment on iTunes! Thank you!! Blaire

There's a theory - a very established one - that people are either "away from" motivated or "towards" motivated. You're either someone who typically moves away from pain or towards a goal or vision. This has always been problematic to me, especially as so many people appear to be "away from" which makes them feel inadequate compared with the aspirational "towards" people. Not only that but you may feel you need A LOT of pain in order to move forward so you create discomfort as a motivation - fear, anger, indignation. It's not a fun way to live but it seems to work. But what if the negatives that happen to us that make us feel so uncomfortable that we have to move away from them aren't what they seem? What if what's really happening is that the Universe is trying to tell us something, something we keep ignoring whilst manifesting the discomfort we're feeling, until we manifest enough discomfort to take action? That's today's podcast! Please stay in touch with us here - @blairepalmer on twitter @punksinsuits on instagram (just recently updated) www.thatpeoplething.com on the web Punks in Suits facebook page... We're everywhere! Thank you! Blaire

This week's podcast is a topic very close to my heart - education. With a child who is currently home educated I've become more and more interested in how children actually learn and what they learn from different forms of education. Kerry McDonald is my guest and is well positioned to explore education, and how education may need to change to address the future needs of business (and our world!). Kerry is a mom of four unschooled children, a writer for Natural Mother Magazine and a self-directed learning advocate who is a Board member at the non-profit Alliance for Self-Directed Education. She has a Master's degree in education policy from Harvard University and is an education writer for several national media outlets. Her writing has appeared in Forbes, NPR, and Education Next among others. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts and writes at Whole Family Learning. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter (@kerry_edu). The books she mentions in the interview are Now You See It, by Cathy Davidson, and Wounded by School, by Kirsten Olson. Here is the blog link where you can find her book recommendations if you're interested in learning more about home education and self-directed learning - http://www.wholefamilylearning.com/2017/09/letter-to-prospective-homeschooling.html To follow my journey with my daughter Ivy we are @abrilliantgamble on Instagram and we have a Facebook Group called A Brilliant Gamble too. You can find out more about my work with organisations and individuals and how to book me as a speaker at www.thatpeoplething.com and follow me on twitter (@blairepalmer). Please feel free to share this podcast, leave a review on iTunes and stay in touch, especially if you have a particular topic you'd like me to discuss on the show! Thank you!

A few weeks ago I gave a presentation at Tramshed Tech in Cardiff, one of the new breed of co-working spaces popping up all over the world. These facilities are more than just places to park yourself when you need a desk. They cater for the broader needs of entrepreneurs - the need to connect, to co-create, to partner, to be inspired and have a place they can call home. Iain has had a long and varied career and taken many zig-zags in his professional life, sometimes sacrificing the safety and security of big corporate to indulge his curious, wanderlust side, and other times seeking the opportunities that big business provides. In this wide-ranging interview we talk about co-working, traveling, big business versus start-up and generally how to find a sense of peace with your career choices. You can find out more about Tramshed Tech at www.tramshedtech.co.uk. If you are looking for a desk or have desk space spare, check out www.desksnear.me and if you use this service, let me know how you get on! Finally, to stay in touch with us here at That People Thing - twitter @blairepalmer instagram @abrilliantgamble email blaire@thatpeopething.com web www.thatpeoplething.com (and sign up to the newsletter!) Please share this podcast and please leave us a review on iTunes as it really helps people find us!

This week I found myself head in hands bawling my eyes out in a hotel lobby with my two business besties. It happens. Change is emotional, not logical, as I'm always saying, But despite the fact I know so much about the process of change, I was takenn by surprise by the huge feelings of overwhelm and confusion I was experiencing about the changes I'm making in my life and work. So I used the opportunity, once we'd mopped up the puddle, to think about that Belly of the Whale stage in change and how to both recognise you're in it...and get out. If you know anyone else who's in this place right now forward them the link to the podcast. It might just help! And please sign up to the newsletter by going to the website www.thatpeoplething.com and filling in the popup that pops up. You'll be the first to know about new classes and programmes you can participate in AND get a summary of the key points of shows that need a few show notes to help you guide your way through the topic. You can also stay in touch with us on - twitter @blaire palmer instagram @abrilliantgamble facebook A Brilliant Gamble Group AND the Punks in Suits page website www.thatpeoplething.com Thank you and have a great week!

We tend to ignore "tensions" until so many have accumulated that a massive amount of change is required to set things right. Of course, every time you address a tension you risk creating another one so when you undertake a massive overhaul you often unintentionally create a whole lot of new problems that need to be addressed. In today's episode I'm talking about how to identify little tensions and make small tweaks rather than waiting until a major change initiative is required. There are lots of signals that something's not quite right and I identify a few of these today. I'd love to know what tweaks you're making in your life, your organisation or your industry. Stay in touch on twitter (@blairepalmer), email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com) and our Punks in Suits Facebook page. And follow our "brilliant gamble" on Instagram (@abrilliantgamble) and join our A Brilliant Gamble Facebook GROUP! Thanks!

It's a year (and a bit) since I started this podcast. A year ago my plan was to sell my house and buy a smallholding and, other than that, keep my life pretty much as it was. My business was doing fine, I was enjoying my work and although I had a long term plan to add other "solutions" - like a retreat centre where leaders could come to reflect, have important conversations with each other and help me muck out the sheep - that was a long term ambition, not something I planned to initiate in the coming 12 months. But the thing about change is that it's rarely predictable. If you're open to what's going on around you, the opportunities and the risks, and you tune in to your intuition about what's right for you, you end up changing your goals...or at least taking a different route than you expected to get there. Which is why I'm selling my house...but not buying a smallholding. Instead, I'm joining the increasing number of people who operate as "digital nomads". Disrupting the status quo has meant, for my family, starting to home educate my daughter which has led to a period of "deschooling" - getting school-think out of our system - which has led to me thinking about "deworking" - wondering whether I can break the rules of work but continue to be of value to my clients. Or in fact be of MORE value to them. I don't want to give it all away here. You'll have to listen to the show! I asked my friend and colleague, Ginny Baillie, back to interview me and I tell all to her (and to you!). I hope you'll enjoy the new direction we're taking as a family and in the business and what new insights this will give me to share with you as you disrupt the status quo in your industry, your organisation and your life. Follow us on - Instagram: @abrilliantgamble Facebook group: A Brilliant Gamble Twitter: @blairepalmer Facebook page: Punks in Suits Email: blaire@thatpeoplething.com Web: www.thatpeoplething.com And please share this podcast with anyone who you think may have a little bit of punk underneath their suit!

Today's show is an interview with Bryan Falchuk. Bryan in the author of a new book called "Do A Day" in which he explores why we get stuck in bad habits and how to break those habit...for good! Whether you're stuck in a rut in your work, with your health and fitness, in your relationship or something else, you will love this interview and Bryan's ideas to get unstuck. You can buy Bryan's book at http://www.doadaybook.com/amazon or http://www.doadaybook.com/amazonuk And please stay inn touch with us! Twitter @blairepalmer Instagram @abrilliantgamble Email blaire@thatpeoplething.com Or just give us a ring! Go to the www.thatpeoplething.com website for more details. Thank you!!!

I'm not the only Palmer to have turned their back on coroprate life to run a business of their own. Ryan Palmer and his friend Dave Pickard are the co-founders of The London Sock Company, an online store started in 2013 based on the observation that although more and more men don't wear ties these days, people do notice your socks. Since them the company has gone from strength to strength with celebrities like Daniel Craig and David Gandy wearing the products. But we're not really talking socks in this interview. In my conversation with Ryan we talk about leaving coroprate life, the secrets to running an online business in the 21st century, loyalty and brand and much more more. Whether you plan to set up on your own or are just wondering why it's hard to keep lively young people like Ryan and Dave in your big business, there's a lot for you in this show. AND there's an offer for all Punks in Suits listeners. With Christmas coming up in makes sense to listen to the very end when I explain how you can get a major discount on London Sock Company products and subscriptions. Stay in touch on twitter (@blairepalmer), Instagram (@abrilliantgamble) or email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com). Thank you!! Blaire

So excited about today's podcast! I'm talking to Lisa Talbot, Award Winning Personal & Fashion Stylist about how to shake up your professional "look" and reveal more of the real you underneath. No one's saying you have to get a mohawk and wear a safety pin through your nose but business wear is so conservative that it's almost the last taboo. Even people who are outspoken, creative and enthusiastic about shaking things up tend to conform to the uniform. And that might be undermining their credibility as a model for change. Not to mention that hiding who you are every day takes its toll on your enthusiasm and sense of purpose. Lisa is well known for her fun and full of energy personality and passion for helping both women & men feel & look amazing. She firmly believes your wardrobe should work for your personality, lifestyle, body shape & budget. Lisa’s wealth of experience and her natural ability to relate to her audience make her consultations, presentations & interviews exciting, interesting and thought provoking. I'm sure you'll agree! You can find out more about how to work with her at www.lisatalbot.co.uk. To stay in touch with us you can tweet (@blairepalmer), email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com), follow our personal adventures on Instagram (@abrilliantgamble) and our personal Facebook page (@abrilliantgamble). Or just pick up the phone and call. We love that!

How do you release the Punk inside you? On this podcast we normally talk about the “work you” - how to be a leader in your work, how to bring about change in your organisation. But inevitably re-thinking yourself at work leads to changes in your life outside of work. In this week’s show I share four places where you could look to start to integrate your growing authenticity in work and your desire to be yourself in your wider life. These are highly practical suggestions that will make a difference both inside and outside of your working life. Over the coming months I will return to these ideas with a variety of guests who will help me to explore how your growth as a leader might impact your life choices. Certainly the growth I’ve undergone professionally has brought about massive changes in my personal life too. Please stay in touch via twitter (@blairepalmer), instagram (we have a new name on instagram which is @abrilliantgamble because my account is not only about my work but about our family adventures as homeschoolers, animal lovers, music makers and everything else we get up to) or email blaire@thatpeoplething.com. And if you go to our website www.thatpeoplething.com you can sign up to our newsletter and get a free 5 part series covering the basics of the Punks in Suits concept and irregular news, insights, tips and thought provoking questions.

A listener has asked me to do a show about Parent-Child Dynamics. So here it is! I see Parent-Child relationships and a Parent-Child culture in many organisations. In so many other ways people are fully formed adults but occasionaly they slip in to either parent or child reactions...which is very understandable since the Industrial Age workplace is designed to reinforce this dynamic. In today's show I talk about how to recongise this in yourself and in others and what to do about it. I'd love to hear your tips too! Stay in touch on twitter (@blairepalmer), Instagram (@blairelyspalmer) and email (blaire@ thatpeoplething.com). And please sign up to the newsletter for show notes on this episode and a free 5-part series covering the fundamentals of the Punks in Suits philosophy! Just go to www.thatpeoplething.com and fill in the pop-up sign up form.

Behind all of my work with clients is a kind of screensaver - a story or image of the working future we can all look forward to. Bots and AI taking their place alongside human workers, small companies of primarily freelance workers, a possible shortage of jobs and need for a universal living wage, a diverse multi-generational workforce...I could go on. And in this episode I do! This week I share with you some of the elements of my screensaver. And whenever I'm having a conversation with a client, no matter how practical or immediate the topic, at some level I'm also connected with this screensaver, asking myself "How does this scenario relate to the future world I can see in my mind's eye? And what kind of leader can this person be TODAY whilst being congruent with the world of tomorrow?". I'm always thinking about how today's decisions either prepare the ground well for what's coming or prepare the ground badly for what's coming. And the guidance I give today always has that perspective built in. I hope you find today's thoughts interesting. Please stay in touch and share your own ideas on Instagram (@blairelyspalmer), Twitter (@blairepalmer) or email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com. And please, please, please write a review for iTunes as it helps people find us.

You'd think the tricky bit of having a team would be the people on that team. But in my experience the really tricky relationship is with your boss! I use that term advisedly. I don't mean the relationship you have with a true leader. I do mean the relationship you have with your manager when your manager embodies a "boss" mentality to get you to get stuff done. Not everything I suggest in this podcast is going to work for you. Every situation is unique. But you will notice that I put the responsibility for re-thinking how you approach this relationship on you. That's not because you're the problem! But it is because you are listening to this podcast, it's you I'm able to talk to and it's you who is highly motivated to change something. If you change how you see this relationship at least 50% of the dynamic is changed...and that might be enough. If it isn't you may have to consider a more radical course of action. I hope you enjoy listening and find the ideas provoke some thoughts of your own. Please feel free to share your feedback, stories and tips on twitter (@blairepalmer), instagram (@blairelyspalmer) and email (blaire@thatpeoplething.com). And please leave a review on iTunes as it really, really helps other listeners find us. Maybe your boss will tune in and that will help you! (Picture credit @benhughesart)

I don't really like the term delegation. Or empowerment. Or any of those other cliches for describing how loosely or tightly managers hold on to work they've distributed to others. But in the current system we have, you may well be in the position of having to divvy up work amongst your team and then make sure they do it. How do you do that in a way that is as close to empowering as you can get and makes the most of the incredible talent you have around you? And why don't people always grasp the opportunity to step up even when they've asked for it? That's today's podcast topic! Feel free to share your thoughts on Twitter (@blairepalmer), Instagram (@blairelyspalmer) or email me (blaire@thatpeoplething.com. And please rate and review this podcast on iTunes as it helps more people find us! Thank you!