The Art of Work

Classicist and bestselling writer Dame Mary Beard on what she has learnt about power

Dame Mary Beard is one of Britain’s best known classicists. She’s Cambridge Emerita Professor and Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge. She’s a trustee of the British Museum and classics editor of the TLS, where for 20 years she has been writing a blog, “A Don’s Life”. Her bestselling books include SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, the Wolfson-prize-winning Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town, Confronting the Classics and Women & Power. She has presented highly acclaimed TV series including Meet the Romans and BBC arts shows including Inside Culture and the landmark series Civilizations. She has been awarded an OBE and a DBE for services to classical scholarship. In this podcast, she shares what she has learnt about power.

Entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Ken Olisa on the thrill of the entrepreneurial life

Sir Ken Olisa is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. After a career in tech, with IBM and then Wang Labs, Ken is now Founder and Chairman of Restoration Partners, a boutique technology merchant bank. He has chaired and been on many boards, including Thomson Reuters, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and the charities Shaw Trust and Thames Reach. He has been awarded an OBE and a Knight Bachelor for services to business and philanthropy. In this podcast, he talks about the ups and downs of the entrepreneurial life and the thrill of helping others.

Judge and novelist Nicola Williams on ambition and the joy of justice

Nicola Williams is a judge, ombudsman and novelist. Called to the bar in 1985, she has been a part-time Crown Court Judge since 2009. She has been Commissioner at the Independent Police Complaints Commission, Complaints Commissioner for the Cayman Islands and the first ever Service Complaints Ombudsman for the UK Armed Forces. She has served on many boards, won a Cosmopolitan magazine Woman of Achievement Award and been listed as one of the 100 most influential Black people in the UK. She’s the author of a legal thriller, Without Prejudice, which was reissued in a series curated by Bernardine Evaristo in 2020. Her second novel, Until Proven Innocent, will be published in March 2023. In this podcast, Nicola talks about ambition and the joy of justice.

Motivational expert Sharath Jeevan OBE on how to reignite your inner drive

Sharath Jeevan is one of the world’s leading experts on motivation. After starting off in strategy consulting, Sharath started Ebay’s charity arm and then Teaching Leaders, an organisation that helps school leaders raise life chances for the most disadvantaged children. In 2022, he was awarded an OBE for starting and running STIR Education, which has helped hundreds of thousands of teachers fall back in love with teaching. As Executive Chairman of Intrinsic Labs, he now helps leaders build motivating cultures. He’s the author of Intrinsic and is currently writing a book on intrinsic leadership. In this podcast, he tells us how we can all reignite our inner drive.

Coach and coach trainer Colin Brett on "useful conversations" and our hunger for meaning

One of Britain’s leading coaches and coach trainers, Colin Brett has been described as a "gentle bulldozer". He has worked as a Transactional Analyst and a counsellor as well as an executive coach, helping individuals, leaders and teams flourish, both at work and in their personal lives. He has four masters’ degrees, including one in Organisational Analysis, one in Coaching Psychology and one in Positive Psychology. He is the founder of a coaching training company, Coaching Development, and has also recently been ordained as an interfaith minister.”. In this podcast, he talks about the life-changing power of a “useful conversation” and our hunger for meaning.