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174: Oli Barrett on making the connections that matter most

This week we spent all our time pressing the flesh (until finding out we’d misunderstood what that means and getting very firmly asked to leave Subway) all in order to win the approval of this week’s guest, the master networker Oli Barrett MBE. Blessed with the ability to bring together the right people with the right ideas at the right time, Oli has built a reputation for being the nation’s ultimate connector. But, being a fine fellow as well as a canny-business operator, he has used his powers for good – forming remarkable social change initiatives like ‘Tenner’, the UK’s largest schools entrepreneurship competition and ‘Turn On The Subtitles’, a global children’s literacy campaign. Deftly uniting the worlds of entrepreneurship, innovation, education and social impact, Oli has been rightly lauded and awarded for his considerable efforts – bagging, among other accolades, the title of ‘Most Connected Man in Britain’ from Wired and a place in GQs ‘Top 100 connected figures’. Plus there’s the small matter of being awarded an actual MBE from the actual Queen who, we assume, Oli was able to successfully introduce to an off-the-grid artisan driving-goggle manufacturer based in the Peak District. In a chat where Oli reveals the magic behind all his connective conjury, we ponder everything from the value of active learning to the magnetic powers of a well-built network.Follow Oli on LinkedIn ////Timestamps 02:27 – Quick Fire Questions 05:18 – The Zigzag Journey: Dropping Out and Moving On 11:04 – Disney World vs. Lecture Halls: The Awakening 12:01 – Networking: Chance Encounters vs Intentional Connections 14:40 – The First Business: Amazing You 18:05 – The £10 Challenge That Took Off 24:22 – The Power of Defaults: Small Changes, Big Impact 26:04 – Permission to Create: The Entrepreneurial Mindset 30:08 – Connecting the Dots: How to Build Real Networks 35:45 – The Art of Introduction: What Actually Makes It Work//// Oli’s book recommendations are: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell Reflections on Success by Martyn Lewis The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger ////

173: Paul McVeigh on football, psychology and leading without ego

This week we tried (unsuccessfully, messily, hauntingly) to mate a canary with a cockerel – all in a bid to impress our guest, former Norwich and Tottenham footballer, turned performance psychologist, Paul McVeigh. Having played more than 270 professional games, as well as earning 20 caps for Northern Ireland, Paul kicked ball with and against some legendary players, earning a few trophies, a few promotions and, perhaps the ultimate honour, his own song.But rather than go off and do the sort of generic post-playing jobs many ex-pros go for (like moaning about stuff on the tv. Or moaning about stuff on the radio. Or moaning about stuff on a podcast etc.) Paul has bottled up all his remarkable experiences in sport and used them to help all kinds of leaders to perform when it matters most.As a highly respected performance psychologist, Paul has built a super-successful second career out of helping to dismantle the old narratives about shouty, macho, ego-driven leadership, through his coaching and his two excellent books: ‘The Stupid Footballer is Dead’ and ‘It’s Not About You: The Psychology of Leadership. In a chat where Giles tries really, really hard not to dribble ‘Spurs’ all over the conversation, we ponder the most common mistakes, and misunderstanding, when it comes to ‘being the boss’, and some of the most influential sporting figures who inspired Paul’s philosophies on leadership.  This episode is proudly dedicated to Paul’s Aunt Jean – proof that it’s never too late to reinvent yourself and that anything is possible.Follow Paul on LinkedIn /////Timestamps1:32 – Quick Fire Questions5:37 – Leaving Belfast for Tottenham Hotspur10:05 – Inside a High-Performance Environment16:03 – Leadership Styles in Football19:12 – It’s Not About You and Modern Leadership24:21 – Leadership Beyond Football27:25 – Humility and Misconceptions About Leadership33:18 – Ahead-of-the-Curve Professional Habits39:58 – Transformational Habits That Stick42:52 – Advice to His Younger Self/////Paul’s book recommendations are:Awaken The Giant Within by Anthony RobbinsMoney Master the Game by Anthony Robbins/////

172: Tim Delaney on building one of ad-land’s most brilliant careers

This week we made our way through twenty rolls of ‘Word a Day’ toilet paper – not (entirely) because of tummy trouble, but in order to impress one of the world’s greatest wielders of words, copywriting legend Tim Delaney.An advertiser who made all of advertising try harder with their adverts, Tim is of course the founder of the famous Leagas Delaney agency as well as being one of the all-time great copywriters. You’ll no doubt have spent much time gawping at and/or weeping over some of his most iconic work – including some extraordinary campaigns for Harrods, Adidas and Nationwide. He’s also the creative brain behind the unforgettable ‘Perfect Day’ film for the BBC – giving the world the briefest sniff of what a Bowie/Boyzone collaboration might have been.Wildly successful in both the building of an agency and the writing of copy, Tim is also one of advertising’s most compelling talkers of sense – with a philosophy built around strategic thinking, disciplined work and a healthy appreciation for the value of intuition.In a chat where we skid quickly and wildly away from what we laughably called ‘the agenda’, Tim takes us on an entertaining and eye-opening journey through one of the most remarkable lives in the creativity game. This episode is proudly dedicated to Tom Harrington.Follow Tim on LinkedIn  /////Timestamps 04:40 - First Job in Advertising 06:45 - Transitioning to Copywriting 09:40 - Early Days in Advertising 12:49 - The Band Experience 14:03 - From Music to Advertising 19:07 - Climbing the Advertising Ladder 22:11 - The Role of Creativity in Advertising 29:03 - Challenges at BNP 30:41 - Understanding Advertising's Mystique 34:08 - The Impact of Technology on Advertising 39:39 - Enthusiasm for Newcomers 43:53 - Advice for Junior Copywriters

171: Kazeem Jamal on the importance of finding the funny side

This week we’ve been out every night, committing crimes (twocking Nokias, cussing at ducklings, stealing the dust caps off your dad’s tyres) all to attract the attention of South-London Batman himself – and this week’s guest – Kazeem Jama. A comedian so entertaining he almost makes you hate yourself slightly less for being on Instagram all the goddam time, Kazeem has been liberally lubricating the amusement pipes on the BBC, Comedy Central and the Mobo Awards.Before comedy grabbed him by the earlobe and dragged him over to the funny side, Kazeem spent decades working in the education sector, primarily with children with special needs and in alternative education – making him humorous and kind-hearted enough to make us all feel really bad about our own decisions, especially the terrible stuff we said to those ducklings. This episode is proudly dedicated to the people who shaped Kazeem: his mum, his dad, his kids, and all the doubters along the way./////Follow Kazeem on Instagram and FacebookWatch the videos that has us cracking up: Frozen and WazeSign up to the mailing listTo go see him live: tickets here./////Timestamps02:50 - Kazim's Uncommon Path: From Rugby to Comedy 07:51 - Ownership: The Key to Kazim's Comedy Journey 11:26 - Drama Class: The Shy Comedian's Dilemma12:52 - Channelling Frustration: The Sports Outlet 18:30 - Stage vs. Socials: The Comedy Landscape 21:26 - Navigating Tough Topics: Kazim's Approach 27:06 - The Unexpected Funeral Laugh31:03 - Nine-to-Five vs. Comedy Dreams: The Struggle34:08 - Attention, Skill, Monetizing: The Comedy Cycle39:03 - The Art of Not Giving a Damn: Embracing the Process42:48 - Comedy Contracts: The Safe Space Agreement

170: Marcus du Sautoy on how to see the stories in numbers

This week we rented the top 3 maths movies of all time – A Beautiful Mind, The Imitation Game and 3 Men and a Baby – all in order to be mathematically competent enough to share a pod with one of the world’s greatest number nibblers, Marcus du Sautoy.So highly acclaimed and awarded, we could have filled the entire podcast by listing out his many achievements, Marcus is perhaps best known as a Professor in Mathematics, Fellow of the Royal Society and Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University.But, as well as being one of the very smartest people on the planet, he’s also one of the most engaging and enlightening speakers on the unexpected stories to be found in numbers, having written for several national newspapers and appeared on a number of mathematically-inclined TV shows including Mind Games, The Story of Maths and The Code (not to be confused with The Cube).By now you’ve probably run out of fingers to tally up all the brilliant things he’s done, so we shall just wrap up by saying he’s also the author of a series of superb books examining the relationship between maths, creativity, music, games and more – including Blue Prints, The Music of Primes and The Creativity Code. (Basically, the fact that it took us all this time to mention he’s also an OBE tells you all you need to know. He’s an impressive dude.)In an episode where Giles wears his disappointing GCSE results like a hi-vis vest of inadequacy, we ponder the search for meaning in numbers and how the stories behind them can help shape ideas and solve problems.   This episode is proudly dedicated to Mr Baleson. Follow Marcus on LinkedIn/////Timestamps04:17 - The Influence of a Great Teacher06:03 - Mathematics as a Language and Creative Outlet08:44 - The Intersection of Mathematics and the Arts12:08 - Exploring Creativity in Mathematics15:17 - The Relationship Between Structure and Artistic Expression21:10 - The Cicada's Prime Number Life Cycle30:51 - Patterns and Expectations in Art and Comedy33:09 - The Role of Mathematics in Problem Solving43:15 - The Importance of Storytelling in Science46:25 - The Search for Meaning in Numbers48:13 - The Dual Nature of Scientific ThinkingMarcus’ Book recommendations are: A Mathematician’s Apology by G.H. Hardy   /////