Absence

Savannah has been absent from my life since Monday 18 October. As she took her last breaths and her heart stopped beating, her final thoughts held my words, that I loved her so much and would carry her in my heart forever. We met on Friday 3 July 2009. I knew little about Rhodesian Ridgebacks,…

Knowledge

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) has published its Strategy for 2020-2024. This includes a Vision that sees a commitment to lifelong learning as a key element of creating a sustainable profession, building a community of professional peers and ensuring that public relations is understood and valued. Knowledge management is positioned as supporting the…

Achieving

In our careers, we don’t always achieve everything that we would like to achieve. We may not secure a promotion, win an award, gain a payrise or attain our outcome objectives. But life isn’t a game of hopscotch where you have to follow the rules to get from 1 to 10. Does it matter if…

Power

Giving a voice to the voiceless is a powerful thing to do. Without advocates, those unable to speak up or speak out, for themselves, all too easily become victims of others with more power, The voiceless can be misunderstood, evoke negative feelings and be subject to negative behaviours. New York based Sophie Gamand uses her…

Platinum

What is platinum? Platinum has been called “white gold”; its name derives from the Spanish platino, meaning “little silver”. Platinum is special – in chemical properties, colour and symbolism. Platinum is the name of a new book – more on that below. The alchemical symbol for Platinum connects those of silver (moon) and gold (sun)….

Human

In a crisis, what kind of connection do you want with an organisation – machine or human? Will you rely on an app or seek a human voice? When you call – and eventually get through – do you want an automated response to push button 1, then 2, then 3 – or to speak…

Recovery

There has been a lot spoken and written about mental health in recent months. The prompt for this post is my own story of recovery over the past year after completing my Phd and the decade since my dad died. This has been a process of grief and re-engaging with life. Triggers to mental health…

Life

In the first episode of the excellent three-part BBC documentary examining the murder of Stephen Lawrence, his mother says it is important “to talk about Stephen a bit more. So people can see he had a life, not just in death, but before.” Tomorrow, 22 April 2018, it is 25 years since Stephen died, aged…

Dedication

At this time of year, it is common to look back over recent achievements and plan ahead to how we may dedicate our time and efforts in future. This approach is a key step in sustainable professional development and involves two of three stages of reflective thinking: Reflection on action – what have we done?…

Normal

What is normal? It is something that is usual, typical, standard, average, unexceptional, routine, predictable, to be expected. Normal is the way things are done, part of the fabric of society, everyday habits, the unnoticed, taken for granted, culturally embedded. It defines the benchmark against which everything else is measured. The middle of a normal…