A different path this month...

Just a short update on CEO Secrets - which isn't really about CEO Secrets in fact...

This month we've given our normal slot to a mini-series called Paths To Success. It's another inspiring, instructional, business advice strand very similar in format to CEO Secrets.

We do these occasionally when BBC Studios co-commission a run. (This is the BBC's commercial arm that makes content for outside the UK, money made is ploughed back into the BBC). The Paths interviews are video-only and tend to be focused on global leaders. I made three of the four, which are running every Wednesday this month.

First up was Amit Walia of 咨科和信 , who shared leadership development advice about how he transformed himself from "an introvert kid" into a CEO confident at public speaking.

Next up was Pamela Maynard of Avanade . She shared some very personal and practical advice about feeling unheard at meetings - and what you can do about it. It involves having a mentor and a good relationship with your line manager. Watch it here.

Pam's one did really well on LinkedIn getting more than 50,000 views just on my own page, and lots more views and engagement on the BBC News account (which I hope you all follow, like more than 8 million other people).

As part of an experiment, following a suggestion from my colleague Kinjal Pandya-Wagh , this one is also being shared with BBC Language Services, so it will be translated into potentially dozens of different languages, and reach new global audiences on the BBC's non-English News TV channels and digital platforms. If this goes well we may do this with other CEO Secrets episodes too. This is the power of the BBC, if you are a creative with a good story, it can really travel around the world.

The third video I made for Paths was with Athan Didaskalou , founder of luggage company July . He had a stark inspirational motto to share, which he said gave him the confidence to quite his job and start his own businesses. Found out what it is here.

While Paths To Success has been going out I've been working on recording fresh episodes of CEO Secrets to run next month. Expect to hear from Arne Schepker of language learning website Babbel . He's normally based in Berlin, but I caught up with him on a trip to London. Did you know that the USA is their biggest market and the most popular language to learn there is 'Mexican Spanish?' I asked him about that and it will hopefully make it into a radio interview.

I also caught up with Andy Yen founder and CEO of secure email platform Proton . He shared some advice that surprised me and made me laugh for the video, which is always a good sign! We also discussed serious matters like the UK's Online Safety Bill and the use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) in Russia.

I'm speaking next week at an event for women entrepreneurs in central London organised by Two Chicks , explaining some of the things I've learned from making the CEO Secrets series. If you know of any other entrepreneurship clubs or similar that would be interested in a talk from me you can drop me a line. I'm doing various events to promote the CEO Secrets book, which you can check out here.

Dougal