1st September

My (late) dad's birthday.

A time to pack the school bags and iron the uniforms.

A time of transitions, when you wonder if it's time to pull out your autumn coats.

A time to reflect on the summer - going through the photo reel with a grin. Peeking at the bank account with a wince.

A time to look forward to what can be done over 122 days till the end of the year.

A time to ask: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What next?

The Next 122 days

I am designing and delivering a leadership programme focused on trust, collaboration & inclusive leadership - that will roll out across Western Europe, piloting in October.

I am finalising a Conscious Inclusion 'train the trainer' programme for a Cultural Arts trust.

I am coaching both individuals and teams - all of whom are going through periods of transition, carrying stretch marks of growth.

I am starting a Leadership diploma for advanced coaches with the Eco-Leadership Institute to continue my journey of self growth & learning.

I am rolling out a series of 'Understanding DEI Across Cultures' virtual sessions, featuring some exciting guests.

I have joined the Marketing Society and looking forward to their Impact Conference in November.

I will continue to work with marketers on how we might build brands, drive profit, and yet 'do good'.

I am continuing my 'Let's Crew & Riot' podcast series and supper clubs.

I will challenge myself to another Moth 'open mic' storytelling night.

I will be a friend, a mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an explorer.

I am going to Ibiza ??

Crew & Riot: What next

Over the summer, a few people have said to me, "I follow you online but I'm not super clear what you do." Moving into September, my aim is to get sharper.

The name of my company signals my focus and intent.

CREW: Helping leaders & companies think in ecosystems & collectives. To break down individualistic and siloed thinking. To see that we are all interconnected.

RIOT: Helping leaders & companies engage with each other, to avoid apathy, to widen the narrative, to take action, to look to the margins and address inequalities.

My services come in the form of :

1) Leadership Coaching - for conscious leadership that builds organisations of the future

2) Inclusive Marketing (marketing for social impact & sociocultural change)

3) Workshop Design & Facilitation - in service of driving team collaboration & performance, cross cultural understanding & the architecture of inclusion.

I love the simplicity of the visual below. It is a guiding force for what I do.

Inspired by Jessica Nordell's book, The end of Bias, she highlights that for effective change, we must transform minds, hearts and habits of individuals.

We must also change processes, structures and the culture of organisations.

The two are intertwined. Individuals create the processes, structures & organisational cultures, and these in turn shape individual thoughts and actions.

It also begs us to ask how brands & businesses can change the sociocultural worlds in which those hearts & minds are immersed. We are after all, a product of our larger culture.

My work is focused on all the ways we can design, influence, create spaces to share & learn - for a more equitable, and kinder society.

How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division

I read this book last night. Elif Shafak is a brilliant author and inspiring human. I met her this weekend at the Queen's Park Book Festival and thought "This is a woman you'd send out to greet the aliens."

There are no clear answers to this question. Specifically - how do we remain engaged and yet manage to remain sane?

Some excerpts:

Tell your stories - but also be willing to listen

Stories bring us together, untold stories keep us apart. "Through our stories, we learn to think, perceive, feel and remember the world in a more nuanced, reflective way."

"Today, in the twenty-first century, in a deeply divided and increasingly tangled world, craving dignity and equality, overwhelmed by the speed of change and the acceleration of technology, our shared feeling is, "Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the humans' hierarchies?"

To be deprived of a voice means to be deprived of agency over our own lives.

But also be willing to listen. "When convinced that no one- especially those in places of power and privilege - is really paying attention to our protests and demands we will be less inclined to listen to others, particularly to people whose views differ from ours... if perpetuated and made routine, the feeling of being systematically unheard will slowly, gradually, seal our ears and then seal our hearts."

Be wary of Apathy

Do not be afraid of complexity. Nor should you be afraid of emotions.

But be wary of apathy - "the most pernicious emotion".

"Apathy is a combination of many emotions: anxiety, disillusionment, bewilderment, fatigue, resentment.. mix them fast, mix them hard and you end up with pervasive paralysis, lack of feeling, numbness."

When we do not engage in civic discourse and public space, we become increasingly isolated and disconnected, thereby breeding apathy.

Information, Knowledge, Wisdom

"We live in an age in which there is too much information, less knowledge and even less wisdom. That ratio needs to be reversed. We definitely need less information, more knowlege, and much more wisdom."

"Knowledge requires reading. Books. In depth analyses. Investigative journalism. Then there is wisdom, which connects the mind and the heart, activates emotional intelligence, expands empathy. For that we need stories and storytelling."

We need a blend of 'conscious optimism and creative pessimism'.

The Edge

To finish, I recently came across this paragraph in Jessica Nordell's book that I'd like to share.

"In the field of ecology, there is a notion of an "edge," a place in the landscape where two different ecosystems meet, like the salt marshes where land meets sea or the riparian zone where a stream cuts a hillside. This edge is often the most fertile and generative area in an entire lanscape, providing nurseries for fish and stopover points for migrating birds.

Where one human meets another is also an edge. It's the place where bias appears, a space thick with potential for harm. But it's also the place where we can interrupt and replace it with different ways of seeing, responding and relating to one another.

In the ferment of that edge, something new can grow- insight, respect, a mutuality that has evaded us for too long. The stakes are high, the repercussions are serious and the problem is solvable. There is so much we can do."

Hi, I'm the founder CEO of Crew & Riot.?

My mission is to help leaders build inclusive brands and cultures.

Here's how I can help you:

1) Leadership Coaching - for conscious leadership that builds organisations of the future

2) Inclusive Marketing (marketing for social impact & sociocultural change)

3) Workshop Design & Facilitation - in service of driving team collaboration & performance, cross cultural understanding & the architecture of inclusion.

If any of this interests you, please drop me a message on Linkedin and we can arrange a no obligation discovery call.