The Extraordinary Business Book Club

What does a good working life look like in the 21st century? Dr Hilary Cottam, OBE has spent the last five years exploring this question through collaborative workshops she calls 'imagininings', involving all sectors of the post-industrial workforce from gravediggers to consultants. The same resonant themes kept emerging: the need for work that pays the basics, offers meaning, allows space for caring and play, is tied to place, and demands collective, not just individual, change. She discovered that the challenges we face - technological disruption, ecological crisis and a lack of social justice - together provide the springboard for this change. And in the process of putting it all together into her new book, The Work We Need, she also discovered that writing, like change-making, is a slow, humbling process best done in community.  Profound, challenging, generous, inspiring - and very much worth your listen. 

 'Every time I interviewed somebody, I said, is there anyone you think I should talk to? And so it had a network effect for me. My network grew with these generous, amazing, thoughtful people.' Writing a novel can be lonely; writing a thesis can be demanding; writing a business book can be a team effort. Charlotte Otter's done all of these, with a side of journalism, and in this week's podcast we talk about the different approach to those genres, and what she learned about structure and community along the way.  In her new book 'We Need New Leaders: Mastering reputation management to reshape the C-Suite', Charlotte argues that reputation is a powerful tool of advancement too often overlooked by - or unavailable to - people from underrepresented backgrounds. Which means that communications professionals can play a key role as allies for more equitable business. Listen in for a fresh take on how we can build better business leadership, and how you can write a better business book, too.   

' I think reading a book is sometimes like... you've slowed things down. You're in this present moment, working on this very particular thing. And I think we want more of that in our lives.' What makes a business book worth reading - or publishing? If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume (and, let's be honest, variable quality) of business books on the market, you'll appreciate Todd Sattersten's refreshingly thoughtful approach. As the author of The 100 Best Business Books of All-Time and the upcoming 100 Best Books for Work and Life, he's done a lot of leg work on your behalf as a reader.  And as publisher and owner of Bard Press, he's doing his bit for quality over quantity with a startlingly original business model: Bard publishes just one book each year. Risky? Revolutionary? Realistic? All of those things. We also talk about the increasingly blurred lines between business and self-development books, the importance of identifying real-world problems and the route to 100,000 copies. Extraordinary Business Book Club gold. 

'Creativity needs oxygen just as much as fire does.' What does it take to turn a spark of inspiration into a sustained creative fire? This week's episode is a reflection on the art of making fire, from striking the first spark with flint and steel to nurturing the ember with just the right balance of oxygen and fuel, and how that process sheds light on the creative process. More specifically, it's about the moment I found myself grinning like a loon while holding a flaming bundle of hay on my recent Write it Wild retreat. (Yes, really. Check out the episode artwork.) Discover how permission, preparation, process, and patience all play a role not just in spark-wrangling, but in idea-wrangling too. And we'll talk about the art of holding your nerve when things get smoky. Whether you're at the start of your writing journey or tending an idea that's been smouldering for a while, this one's for you.

'The foundations of how authors build visibility, build a readership... while the tools change, the principles don't.' Jane Friedman has been commentating on the business of books for many years, and her classic The Business of Being a Writer has demystified the industry for thousands of authors. So on the release of its second edition it seems a good time to ask: what has changed over the seven years since the first edition? It turns out that while the specifics of platforms and tech tools have moved on, the principles of writing and promoting a good book are pretty much as they always were: the fundamental challenge of persuading people to care about your writing still remains, and it's arguably harder than ever in the face of what Jane calls 'the tremendous fragmentation of attention across so many different channels'. And as a writer you need to engage with those channels, in fact you should even be asking if you should be focusing there instead of on a book.  But in any case, one channel that remains powerful for authors, and which Jane herself uses brilliantly, is the newsletter: we talk about how to write a good one, and how and when to migrate to paid subscription. She also shares her own systems and processes for writing, including how she's integrated AI tools. It's part reality check, part masterclass, and it's wholly worth your time.

Leslie Grandy always wanted to be 'creative', but after discovering that she 'sucked' as a child at piano, painting, drama, dancing and so on she decided (to the relief of her teachers) that it simply wasn't for her.  Until she realized, in her corporate career working with visionary leaders like Steve Jobs, that creativity can also be defined as 'the ability to solve problems in novel ways'. And now she helps organizations - from major brands like Starbucks to early-stage ventures - navigate the challenges of innovation. Creativity, it turns out, is not an inbuilt talent reserved for the select few, but a practical skill that anyone can develop with the right mindset and tools. And that's exactly what she provides in her book Creative Velocity: simple, everyday techniques for building creative confidence. She also tackles the role of generative AI, inviting us to see it as a partner that can expand our creative thinking, provided we bring structure and discernment to the process. Leslie also discovered she could have filled a book with what she didn't know about publishing a book, and shares her insights from that journey too.  Funny, inspiring, practical, unmissable. 

 'If you just want a machine to write all of this stuff and put your name on it and say it's yours, I don't know what the motivation is. I don't know what results you think it could bring.' What does it look like to use AI in creative activities practically, ethically, and in a human-centred way? One answer to that question might be Cliobooks.ai, the speak-your-book technology developed by publishing entrepreneur and business coach Georgia Kirke.  Starting and ending with humans, and rejecting the quick fix of AI-generated content, this is an attempt to develop workflows that make authorship more accessible and less soul-sucking. But there's no short cuts to the human expertise behind each book (sorry), both on the part of the author and the publishing team around them.   This is a fascinating exploration of how AI can be used for good, the difference between timeless principles and evolving workflows, and the wisdom of understanding the difference between them. 

‘It's not a presentation or a business card. It's a conversation.' This Best Bits episode is a love letter to intentional conversations – the ones that unlock insight, build cohesion, shape identity and, ultimately, bring books into the world. As I looked back over the last few episodes, what stood out was how often my guests spoke about dialogue in all its forms – with ourselves, with each other,and with our readers – as the real work of writing, leading and changing the world. Hear from: Sarah Rozenthuler on the life-changing magic of energising, intentional dialogue; Claire Pedrick on the space between words and the attentiveness behind great coaching – and writing; Wendy Smith on paradox as a creative lens for thinking, leading, and writing; John Dore on the 'glue' that binds people together around ideas; Marissa Eigenbrood on publicity as a bridge into new conversations with new audiences; Petra Molthan-Hill on making complex ideas accessible and immediately useful; David Oxley and Helmut Schuster on creating a character to talk to an audience that's had enough of being talked at; Alison Jones (hello!) on how AI forces us to be more intentional than ever about the conversations we're having – and who we're having them with – as authors, publishers, and humans. If you're writing a business book, or even just thinking about it, this episode is packed with insights to get you talking.

'I didn't just want to do a sort of 'me-too' series just for the sake of it. I wanted to have a series concept that I could really get excited about and which would stand out in quite a crowded marketplace as offering something different.' This week, we're flipping the script a bit. Normally, I'd be bringing you an engaging conversation with a business book author, but this week we're exploring an origin story—one that gives you an insight into the inner workings of publishing as an industry and an individual publisher's mind. A successful book series is the closest thing we have to magic in publishing magic. But how do you go about finding the right concept in a crowded marketplace? Here's how our new 6-Minute Smarts series came about, from a series of conversations at Frankfurt to a 30,000-foot exploratory writing sprint to launch.  Whether you're a reader, an aspiring author, or simply curious about the publishing world, this episode offers insights and inspiration that you won't want to miss.

' We've invented a new genre, at least that's very modestly what we would like to believe. We're calling it Professional Advice Narrative Tales, and we'll leave you to figure out that acronym.' For the new generation entering the workplace, reading a traditional business book has all the appeal of a colonoscopy. So longtime colleagues and collaborators Dr David Oxley and Dr Helmut Schuster realized that if they were to get across their insights and advice, the only way was through storytelling. The result? The series of Shey Sinope books, which explore the complexities, conundrums and constraints young professionals face as they navigate the modern workplace in a lighthearted, readable, engaging way. It's a fresh perspective that speaks directly to the experience of embarking on a profession career; the absurdities and challenges, but also the profound need for meaning and fulfilment. But we all know that writing a standard business book is hard enough - how on earth do you go about writing fiction collaboratively? Find out here.

'[Olympia's] gorgeous vaulted glass roof feels kind of like a metaphor for the fair itself. Rooted in history, but always looking upwards and outwards.' Something a bit different today: join me for a deep dive into a publisher's experience of London Book Fair 2025. I have been to a LOT of book fairs, but this one was a little different. I'm exploring the issues faced by publishers of all sizes today, navigating challenges such as AI's disruptive potential to the demands of new EU regulations and the current geopolitical chaos, and reflecting on the opportunities they present. Whether you're in the business or simply curious about the world of books, this episode is a behind-the-scenes look at an industry perpetually on the brink of transformation as well as a very personal reflection on how it feels to be part of it.

 'This is all a web that's woven together, and how it all works is really important. You can't just do one piece of it. And a great partner is someone who understands that this is a marathon, not a sprint.' You think writing a book is hard? Well, ok, yes it is, but it comes as a nasty shock for most authors to realize that writing the damn thing isn't enough - then they have to promote it. Luckily, there are people out there who do this really, really well. And even more luckily, one of them is about to give you a book publicity masterclass.  Marissa Eigenbrood, President at Smith Publicity, specialises in the art of connection, matching the right authors to the right platforms, so the right readers can find the right books. While marketing is great for creating a buzz at launch, publicity helps establish enduring credibility. Marketing directly engages your readers; publicity harnesses the power of established media to supercharge your authority and reach.  The good news is that there's a wealth of opportunities out there. The even better news is that you don't just get one chance to shine; long after publication day, savvy publicity means you can continue to use your book to build an enduring professional presence. Here's to the long game.

 'When I first started, people were like, "Don't say the word paradox... don't say it because they won't get it." And now people are like, "Oh my goodness, I need this."'  When it's a case of scarce resources - as it always seems to be, right? - our default thinking is Either/Or. Either I spend time on this project, or I prioritise my family. Either I work on delivering today's priorities, or I focus on planning for tomorrow.  But Professor Wendy Smith would like you to consider a different way of thinking: Both/And. Life is essentially paradoxical, and she argues that the best way to navigate all the competing demands on our time successfully is to understand their interdependence. In an increasingly complex world, navigating tensions creatively can lead to better, more inclusive solutions - and this applies to personal life just as much as professional life. She also shares the challenges of writing for a natural speaker and extrovert, the hacks she's developed for herself, and why books are 'rocky splashy'. (If you were worried that all this research-based, insightful stuff was going to be terribly academic, I hope you're now reassured.)

' I really like to read other people's ideas and then add my own ideas... you start with the brainstorming together and say, so what could be in here?' Petra Molthan-Hill is a professor of Sustainable Management and Education for Sustainable Development at Nottingham Business School, and a prolific academic writer. But when it came to The Handbook of Carbon Management - which was named Change & Sustainability Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards 2024 - she knew she wanted to take a different approach. She knew this had to be a practical book for anyone, at any level of the organization, and in any size of organization, wanting to make more sustainable decisions. It had to contain not just evidence-based theories, but pragmatic, easy-to-implement solutions grounded in research and real-world impact. And it needed to get out there quickly and start making a difference, because this is a crisis that demands a response and there is literally no time to lose.  So Petra turned to a trusted group of her peers, and between them they created something that is more than the sum of its parts.  In this week's episode Petra tells me about their collaborative, creative writing process, and the way in which reading and writing more generally can provide some of the most satisfying conversations you'll ever have, even when there's noone else in the room.  

'I have learned to have a different relationship with resistance... when we're actually really on track with things, resistance comes up.' Sarah Rozenthuler is no stranger to the art of conversation at work. With over two decades of experience as a business psychologist, she's seen both how energizing high-quality conversation can be, and also how most people, most of the time, would do almost anything to avoid difficult topics (or difficult people).  Her latest book, Now We're Talking, addresses the deep-rooted reasons for this - the fear of our own and the other person's emotions, the challenge to our fragile self-image, the risk of the bad outcome, and more - and also the transformative power of leaning into the resistance and engaging with each other more effectively. And we discover along the way that sitting down to write a book involves much of the same fear and resistance. Sarah's own journey as a writer, the false starts and the slow burn, is as relatable as it is inspiring. So here's a nudge to lean into the discomfort - in writing, in conversation and in life - because it's a sign that we're doing the work that matters. 

'How do you make a strategy a story? The best leaders and the best communicators do that. They turn something that's functional and rational into something that's a story.' John Dore, head of London Business School's Senior Executive Program and founder of Wave Your Arms, wants you to reimagine your idea of 'glue': as the magic ingredient that holds organizations together. Creating glue, he argues, is a core leadership capability: building real connection, delivering not just strategies but stories that resonate, that are galvanizing and engaging.  Storytelling is a key ingredient in glue, and as you might expect from someone with a side hustle in screenwriting, John is a genius at telling stories. You can see it in his book, Glue: Transforming leadership in a hybrid world, which was the winner of the 2024 Business Books Award Leadership Category.  In this week's conversation, we get stuck in to the idea of glue in organizations, and also how as a writer you can create a different kind of glue, the kind that keeps a reader engaged with your book, and makes your ideas stick in their minds. 

If you know anything at all about coaching, you know that it's all about asking questions, right? Well, yes, and also: that's not the full story.  Claire Pedrick and Lucia Baldelli sat down together to write a book on how to move from 'really good' to 'even better' coach, but they quickly realised that mastery is less about what the coach does or says, and much more about how they are in the coaching conversation. It's about noticing and responding, being the person that can facilitate the coachee's own work, being a little less certain, being a little more human, in fact.  And that approach spills into Claire's approach to writing, too: it's about noticing, iterating, being curious, and being unafraid to let the ideas evolve and develop. Which is how The Human Behind the Coach came about, and why it was named Specialist Business Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards.  (Although I don't THINK she uses scissors quite so regularly in her coaching work as she does in her writing process...) If you care about coaching, writing or thinking - or just about being human in a world that's increasingly inhuman - make tea, sit down, listen up.   

 'Writing isn't just about creating content; it's about creating ourselves.' It's another Best Bits episode, and the theme that really stood out to me as I looked back over the last few episodes was one that you'll have met here before if you're a regular listener: it's the power of writing not just as a means of communication, but as a tool for self-discovery, clarity, and growth. Writing, it turns out, isn't just about creating content; it's about creating ourselves. It helps us process our thoughts, discover and sift ideas, and make sense of the world. One the things I love most about this podcast is that I don't just get to talk to authors about their books or even their ideas; I get to ask them how the act of writing has shaped them and changed them, personally and professionally. So that's what this episode is all about: uncover how writing transforms not just the reader, but the writer, and hopefully it'll fire you up and give you some practical ideas on how to go about getting more of this in your own life. Because as these powerful writers will tell you, it's powerful stuff. Hear from:  Jenny Proctor on sifting through what's already in place;  Kate Toon on pushing through to the new stuff;  Todd Rogers on the joy of rabbit holes;  David Falzani on the satisfaction of writing that makes a difference;  Per Wimmer on self-reflection and future direction;  Laura Hamill on letting go of performing and embracing authenticity;  Amy Walters Cohen on trusting the process;  Lucy Ryan on flow and joy. 

 'That's my goal here is to hopefully provide an inspirational story that can be a catalyst for the reader to go out and do amazing things.' Per Wimmer has spent his life soaring to new heights, metaphorically in global finance and quite literally as an astronaut. It's a fascinating mix, but the two spheres have more in common than you might think.  When you've lived a life so full of variety and adventure, it's a double bind: this is exactly the kind of life worth writing about, and yet how do you choose what to include, and how do you link it all together? We talk about the challenge of making sense of one's own life in order to create sense for others.  And how do you give people a reason to read, beyond the mere act of goggling? Per's solution: catalyse inspiration and action in everyone. Winning Business Journey Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards 2024 meant everything to him, as it was a sign he'd achieved just that.  (He's not one for being constrained by limits, and he's not done yet; this is just Volume One.)

"I used to say, wouldn't it be great if I could work like a normal person and do 40 hours a week? And the realization comes that you do have 40 hours, it's just not in the same week." Passive income—it's the dream, right? Earning money while you sleep, basking in the golden glow of financial freedom. Sadly, it's not quite that simple.  Award-winning author and digital marketing expert Kate Toon, author of  'Six Figures in School Hours' and 'Six Figures While You Sleep', has achieved that dream and now shows others how to do it for themselves, but she doesn't sugarcoat it: there's no such thing as truly passive income. Every income stream, no matter how automated it appears, demands upfront effort and ongoing maintenance. And just as with business books, marketing is just as vital as creating the product itself - maybe even more so.  In this energising and practical conversation we discuss the taxonomy of automated income, the way we value time over money, the need to play the long game, the centrality of community and the importance of rationing dopamine.

'Don't let AI set your vision. But harness AI to help you execute your vision.' For me, the start of a new year always brings a sense of potential. It's a chance to make changes. But I'm old enough to know that resolutions are easy to make and hard to keep - these days I'm all about design rather than decisions. This year, more than any other I can remember, feels like a tipping point in history as AI goes mainstream and the polycrisis comprising climate, economic and geopolitical unrest swirls around us.  What does it mean to be a slightly better human in this context? It'll be different for everyone, but it's almost certain to involve some intentional choices about our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dimensions. And it will also demand that we think carefully about what we delegate to AI to boost our productivity and effectiveness and what we retain as a core human capability.  Here are some thoughts on how I'm approaching this new year, and some questions for you to think about, too. And however you decide to design 2025, there's some thoughts on how you can use exploratory writing as your secret weapon for making those changes stick. Let's make this New Year extraordinary!

 'It's that place of, you know, because it's your business and your livelihood, having to say, "Come and buy my thing because I'm great. I'm great at it. Look at me, look at all these great things I can do for my clients." And oh my goodness, that's difficult.' Jenny Proctor is living proof that you don't need to shout to get the right kind of attention. It can feel pretty lonely, being an introvert in the famously extrovert environment of a corporate marketing department. But setting up her own business meant Jenny was free to set her own rules, and the fact that her book, Marketing for Introverts, won the Business Self Development Book of the Year award is proof that her approach is welcomed by others, too. Whether it's the quiet power of a well-crafted blog post or the paradoxically introvert-friendly nature of video marketing, Jenny's insights on how introverts can rewrite the marketing rules are as practical as they are reassuring. I'm an off-the-scale extrovert, and we discovered, hilariously, that we have at times both secretly envied the other's MBTI profile. But whether you're an introvert, an extrovert, or something in between, you'll find something worth listening to in this episode.

'[And this is} the rationale and the motivation for the book. It's about, well, how do we spread this? How do we do some good with it? How do we improve the economy? How do we make businesses more effective?' David Falzani has spent decades building and growing businesses, and now, as a  Professor of Practice, helping others to do the same. And throughout that time he's watched entrepreneurs grapple with one constant, intractable, mysterious issue: pricing.  It's not just about numbers. (In fact it's not really about numbers at all.) The price we put on something, the price we're prepared to pay for anything, is wrapped up in emotion and our deepest most irrational cognitive processes. Understanding that and getting your pricing right is all too often the difference between thriving and failing as a business, which is why David wrote his Business Book Award winner, 'Double Your Price'.  If better pricing leads to better business, David is equally clear that smarter writing leads to more satisfied readers. (Or at the very least, fewer rewrites.) And he has some good tips to help you with that, too.

'The writing is joyful, more or less. It's painful, but it's also joyful. The marketing of it is much harder.' Dr Lucy Ryan's book Revolting Women touched a nerve worldwide: many women can relate all too well to the perfect storm of challenges facing midlife women at work, and everyone has an opinion on it. Which took a bit of getting used to. In this week's conversation, part of my series talking to this year's Business Book Awards winners, Lucy talks frankly about the learning curve when a doctoral research project becomes an award-winning, conversation-sparking business book, and how she learned to love (or at least manage) the work of promoting it. From being squeezed down to seconds in her first radio interview to talking sex, drugs and rock and roll with Mariella Frostrup, her experience and hard-won lessons are pure gold to anyone setting out to write - and promote - a business book that makes an impact.

'The TLDR, the too-long-didn't-read of the whole thing, is that everybody's skimming. So we need to write in a way that makes it easy for skimmers if we want to achieve our goals as writers.' Todd Rogers has been using behavioural science for good for many years, from strengthening democracy to increasing student attendance, so his kids were somewhat underwhelmed when he turned his research to writing. But think for a moment what the world would be like if everyone wrote clearly and effectively in a world where readers have little time and patience. Imagine the time not wasted, the offence not taken, the goodwill not squandered, the ideas not lost in translation.  Todd argues, and I agree with him, that better communication can lead to a kinder, more efficient world, and it starts with us. Whether it's an email, a business report, or a book, here are practical ideas for writing that's simply easier to read. 

'Ruthlessness exists on a continuum, caring exists on a continuum, and it's about being in the sweet spots of both of those, not overplaying either one, or underplaying either one.' Amy Walters Cohen is the author of Ruthlessly Caring: And Other Paradoxical Mindsets Leaders Need to Be Future Fit, which was named overall Business Book of the Year in 2024. It's based on years of research, which revealed that the key skill for effective leadership in a complex world is the ability to hold in tension five seemingly paradoxical mindsets.  As well as talking me through these, Amy told me about the challenges and rewards of translating her research into a book, including the amount of fidgeting, procrastination and coffee-fetching involved in the early stages. She also introduced me to the 'pub test', which I am shamelessly stealing for all future writing... 

'Mom, why don't you just write it like you talk to me?' When Laura Hamill set out to write a book about the subject she knew best - the subject she'd spent years researching in theory and practice - she naturally drew on all the studies, statistics and evidence she'd gathered together to support her argument.  Turns out, that's not what the reader needed. (And it wasn't just her editor who told her that, it was her son, too.) Those in organizations with a problematic culture don't need research studies, they need help. Laura had to learn how to step out from behind the screen of academic writing, how to own her experience and her opinion, and to sit with the discomfort of uncertainty and self-doubt that involves throughout the writing process.  The result is a book that allows leaders and indeed anyone at any level to look beyond the words stencilled on the lobby walls to see how the real culture - what's expressed in how people speak and behave - is aligned with strategy, and what to do about it if it's not. 

'As we lean into artificial intelligence across every sector of business and life, how do we ensure that we're delegating the right things and keeping responsibility for the right things? And specifically, how do books and writing play into that?' In this best bits episode, I'm exploring the role of writing in human intelligence in a world where it's suddenly possible to delegate writing to an AI tool. How does generating a written output quickly and easily fit alongside the hard yards of writing for ourselves, and is there still a place for that at work? [Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes, there is.] Hear from:  Patrick Dixon on why physical books have become even more meaningful in an increasingly virtual world;  Anna Faherty on why AI takes us backwards when it comes to story-telling;  Dan Kieran on why we need the alchemy of writing to make sense of our lives;  Thomas Bergen on the renaissance of the book and capturing its soul;  Kathryn Jacob and Sue Unerman on why creativity matters so much in a world run by algorithms;  Tiffany Gaskell on how being more human benefits the organization as well as the individual;  Graham Allcott on why he doesn't let his AI avatar write his newsletter;  Colin Ellis on the importance of the discography;  Alina Addison on giving readers the courage to embrace both the too-muchness and the not-enoughness.  Get ready to be challenged and cheered by these outstanding humans.   

'They think the goal is to have the book, but no, the goal is to become the person it takes to write your book.' Dan Kieran is a publishing legend: as a co-founder of Unbound he revolutionizing the industry by empowering authors and readers. He learned a lot about himself and about setting up a business along the way, and he brought all that together in Do Start, winner of the Startup Book of the Year at the Business Book Awards.  But he also firmly believes that writing isn't just, or even primarily, about the final product; it's the process itself, the way you understand and articulate your journey, both professionally and personally. Which is why turning to AI to generate your writing outputs for you is such a dangerous, self-defeating habit for anyone who cares about ideas. Or as Dan put it: 'Why would anyone want to read something that you couldn't be bothered to write?'

'I think we are living in a renaissance of the book... AI is changing how we are looking at trusted knowledge.' getAbstract is one of the leading corporate learning platforms, and it's based on books. The founders met with a lot of resistance from publishers in the early days, but their vision of making the knowledge in books discoverable and actionable quickly became reality. One reason was the brilliance of the team of abstracters creating summaries of the books, and in this episode we talk about how AI is changing the landscape and what that might mean for this most human of industries.  I talk to getAbstract cofounder Thomas Bergan, VP and global Head of Rights Arnhild Walz-Rasilier, and Practical Inspiration author Julie Smith, who took home the Readers' Choice gong. But it quickly becomes clear I'm never going to make it as a roving reporter.... 

"As she was coached during a 15-minutes conversation, she put down each of those worries and at the end of it she was standing there in her full potential and I was like, wow, that's amazing. I want to learn how to do that." If there's a foundational text of executive coaching it's Coaching for Performance by Sir John Whitmore, first published in 1992. Sadly John died in  2017 and so Tiffany Gaskell, who co-founded Performance Consultants with John and worked with him on the 5th edition in 2017, became the driving force behind the new, post-pandemic 6th edition.  She talks to me about the power of coaching, its evolution since 1992, and how it has become so foundational for organizational and personal growth. We also explore the link between coaching and writing, and how embracing coaching principles can help you fulfil your full potential as a writer. And we're all here for that, right?

'Nice is about telling people what they want to hear. Kind is about telling people what they need to hear.' Graham Allcott's back on the podcast and all is well with the world once again. This time he's talking about the transformative power of kindness in the workplace. Many assume that leaders need to belong to Team Screw-Them-All-And-Be-Evil to come out on top, but Graham demonstrates that being kind (which is NOT the same as being 'nice') is is a smart move if you want to be successful too. There's a deeply personal story behind this which particularly resonated with me: Graham's own experience of the way his son's additional needs create a 'vessel for kindness' all around him. We talk about salted caramel, 'badass' kindness, how leading a course leads to writing a book, why two authors means twice the work, and how this is definitely the last book he'll write.* We also talk about what writing does for us - we write what we need to read - and why delegating it to AI is a poor strategy. Writers write. This is a conversation that will make you think, and which I hope will inspire you to be a little kinder, in life and work. *I for one do not believe this.

'The majority of people think their life would be better if they were more creative, but they don't know how.' There are lots of books on creativity out there, but surprisingly few at its intersection with everyday business, what Sue Unerman and Kathryn Jacob call 'pragmatic creativity'. So they developed a series of practical techniques and structured approaches for fostering creativity in every business situation, organized metaphorically by the seasons of the year. This is the third book they've written together, so I ask them about the secret of a happy, productive 'writing marriage', and also the role of their agent, Clare, as encourager, giver of advice and accountabliity partner. It's a fascinating insight into the role of collaboration in creativity, and the interplay between structure and adaptability.  If you're committed to fostering innovation and inclusivity in your own professional and creative life, this one's for you.

'We're on the edge of really very exciting things, but also tremendous risks at the same time.' Whether you're an AI enthusiast or it fills you with existential terror, this conversation will challenge your perspectives and elevate your understanding of our increasingly super-smart world. Futurist Patrick Dixon has been predicting AI for 25 years, and now he works with the world's largest corporations and governments, helping them explore the profound implications of artificial intelligence across all sectors from medicine to marketing to global security. This is not comfortable listening. We peer into the chasm (did you know that in a recent study, half of AI researchers perceive a 5% risk of AI leading to human extinction?). But Patrick remains an optimist, albeit a worried one, and hopefully you'll feel the same way at the end.  One great cause for hope is his insistence on the importance of authenticity in writing, the irreplaceable human connection that readers seek; AI-generated content cannot replicate human passion. A thought-provoking conversation that merges foresight with practical wisdom.

'We have this image of a reader being someone who's giving time and attention to our words... but online that doesn't happen.' Anna Faherty found out the hard way that there were no books to help her teach a course on 'digital storytelling' - so she had to write her own. And if you're trying to write a business book then much of what she tackles in it - writing for busy readers, structuring ideas, adding in details and taking out fluff - is relevant for you too.  Even if you're not writing a book, you'll learn a huge amount from this conversation about capturing and keeping attention online, and why AI stories are not the way forward for anyone who cares about social justice.  There's also a super-practical post-it tip and an extended discussion about Gregory Peck and leopards. You're welcome.

'I'm going to tell you how you should be doing it, but it's up to you to do it. But I'm going to dress it up in a way where the message might land 15 minutes later when you're on the bus going to town. And you're like, Oh, that's what he meant.' It takes courage, tact and humour to point out to a leader not only that there might be an issue with their organization's culture, but that the issue might be them. And that's as true when you're writing a book as when you're in the room with the person. Luckily, Colin D. Ellis has all three, and in this frankly hilarious conversation he takes us under the hood to show us how he tells difficult truths in an easy-to-read way,  We also talk about crediting the music you listen to as well as the books you read as you write, the joy of the Venn diagram, and why being Liverpudlian is a superpower.  Pin your ears back.       

'It's that little extra something that makes the ordinary into extraordinary and the impossible into the why not?' When her son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 10, it was what former head of trading and executive coach Alina Addison calls her 'butterfly moment'. While she accepted the diagnosis, she says, she didn't accept the prognosis, which was bleak. Instead she dedicated herself to discovering how to harness these extraordinary aspects of neurodiversity into something powerfully positive. The result was a deep understanding of the superpower that is audacity: caring plus courage plus non-conformity. And that's as relevant to leaders as it is to parents of neurodiverse children.  In this deeply personal conversation Alina shares with me how she interwove her personal story with her professional expertise, and developed a style of writing based on talking. We also touch on how audacity plus wine can equal a hotel in Transylvania... 

In a world that celebrates speed and working smart, adopting AI solutions and smashing simple success metrics, it can feel not just challenging but unhelpful to diverge from received wisdom.  But if we're going to create anything of real value - in business, in writing, even in sport - we need to be ready to take the less-traveled path. Because that makes all the difference.  In this Best Bits episode, hear from:  Henry Mintzberg on cherishing anomolies;  Maureen Dunne on why neurodivergence is so essential for organizations;  Sol Rashidi on resisting easy answers when it comes to implementing AI projects;  Cath Bishop on thinking more thoughtfully about success, in sport and life;  Rob  Hatch on find what works for YOU and doubling down on it; Hasan Kubba on the lean approach to writing a business book;  Dougal Shaw on responding to feedback and changing paths;  David B. Horne on rising to the challenge to 'think bigger';  Michelle Glogovac on the imporatance of asking the questions noone else is asking.  My hope is that when you spot a chance to take a more interesting path this week, you'll find the courage to see where it takes you... 

David B. Horne, creative accountant and author of the award-winning Add Then Multiply: How small businesses can think like big businesses and achieve exponential growth, has a multidimensional perspective on the Business Book Awards as entrant, finalist, winner and now judge. He also knows a thing or two about the power of books for business growth. In this week's episode, we discuss how books serve as a permanent record of knowledge, helping businesses learn, grow, and establish credibility. As well as attracting the right clients, they can also help you ‘consciously uncouple' from clients that no longer align with your goals. And did you realise that writing a book - a journey of personal and professional development - can also count towards your CPD hours? A classic EBBC blend of practical tips and inspiration. Get the kettle on.

Our definition of success has led us to a place that's actually constrained us from exploring what we're capable of. We're not getting the innovation or the collaboration that we want. We need to think about things differently.' If you're enthralled by the drama of the Paris Olympics, here's a thoughtful take on what you might be missing if you're focused primarily on the medals table. World Champion rower Cath Bishop has competed at three Olympic games. When she won silver in 2004, the pain of missing out on gold led to a decades-long reexamination of the idea of success, across sport, education, politics and business.  As an international conflict negotiator and a leadership coach, as well as an advisor to several sporting bodies, she now makes the case for a richer, more human, more sustainable vision of what it means to win well - what she describes as the Long Win.  This conversation will change how you watch the Olympics, how you think about your business, and perhaps even what you value in life. 

'It's an unfair advantage to have a platform, it massively helps, don't get me wrong. But it's totally possible to do it without one.' When Hasan Kubba and Ash Ali got together to write 'The Unfair Advantage: How you already have what it takes to succeed', they assumed they'd self-publish. They even put up a 'lean' version of the book on KDP. But as it turned out they had publishers fighting over it (sensibly, as it went on to be named Business Book of the Year), and Hasan has gone on to help other authors achieve the same feat.  While having a big following certainly helps in the battle for publishers' attention, Hasan argues that it's possible to get a book deal with a major traditional publisher without it. It's not unlike securing funding for a start-up, which is the other area in which he is an expert.  Discover the vital elements you need in place and the process to follow to get yourself and your book concept in front of agents and publishers with the best chance of success, with lessons for ALL kinds of content creation. 

'Embrace AI, but also make sure that you evolve as an individual and you understand the art of the possible while still staying grounded in the art of the practical.' Implementing AI in your business isn't easy, but NOT implementing it could be disastrous. Sol Rashidi is a former C-suite executive turned AI consultant who knows more than most about the real-world challenges and opportunities in AI deployment. She's been in the field since 2011, developing enterprise-grade applications that integrate AI into business processes effectively, and now she's written a book to help leaders avoid the pitfalls and reap the benefits. But how do you write a book on such a fast-moving technology? You write it FAST, and you keep it focused on principles, not specific tech tools. Sol reveals how she managed to write her book in two and a half months (or 26 years, depending on which way you look at it...), and how she learned to love the challenge of marketing.  AI can be an augmenter and accelerator in your business, and this episode can do the same for your writing. 

Henry Mintzberg is quite simply a legend, and my personal business thinking hero. When I was studying his writings for my MBA I could only have dreamed that one day I'd be chatting about writing to him on my podcast - and sometimes when dreams come true, the reality is even better than you dared imagine. Along with the nuances of management theory and social change, he revealed insights into his own remarkable writing process. And these elements aren't as different as you might think: his insistence on the non-linear nature of writing and the importance of 'cherishing anomalies' reflects his disciplined yet emergent and above all human approach to strategy.  Despite the fact that he has so many successful books to his name, Henry Mintzberg is suprisingly wide and creative in his use of other forms of content, such as video, in his mission to make complex ideas accessible. I particularly love the 'Irene question': what can YOU do to drive social change - within your personal life, community, business, government, even on a global scale? It's a profound inquiry that challenges us to consider our own role in shaping a better world. This conversation felt like an uplifting, enlightening, mind-expanding gift: I hope you feel that way too. 

Journalism is changing, which means journalists have to change too. And a great example of this is the way that BBC reporter Dougal Shaw has reinvented his own role from pure video journalism, transforming what started as corridor conversations with business leaders who happened to be visiting the BBC into a high-profile series that runs on rolling news channels, on social media, in radio and podcast formats, and now as a book. It's a story of intrapreneurship, which is fitting for a series that draws out lessons in both entrepreneurship and corporate leadership from visionary leaders who are often willing to be more vulnerable away from the finance and figures that are the focus of their more traditional BBC interviews. From the power of storytelling to the psychology of interviewing, there's lots of great stuff here for business book writers, and there's pure gold from Dougal's own experience of breaking down the book into writable parts and discovering the interconnections and patterns in the material.  Not only CEO secrets, but journalistic and writing secrets too. You're welcome. 

'This is the moment to embrace authentic neurodiversity inclusion as a core organizational value. It isn't the whole solution to anything, but it is part of the solution to nearly everything.' As we hurtle towards the workplace of the future, where human and machine intelligence will interplay in ways we can't yet fully imagine, one thing is clear: standard modes of thinking are becoming less valuable to organizations as algorithms become ever more efficient at replicating them. Nonlinear thinking, hyper focus, intuitive leaps and the ability to tolerate social discomfort and resist groupthink - attributes that have until now been under-valued and under-employed - will become more valuable as complements to AI. And that means that neurodivergent people will become ever more valuable within organizations. That's the argument of Dr Maureen Dunne, cognitive scientist, neurodiversity expert and member of the neurodiversity community herself, and it's also the topic of her new book. As well as making this case, she also shares her own neurodivergent approach to writing: an interdisciplinary, visuospatial 'conceptual synaethesia'. A rich and extraordinary conversation, at every level.

'We can't really understand what failure teaches us until we achieve success after failure. So it's the success actually, that is more instructive.' If you're navigating business or personal growth challenges, this episode could be a game-changer. Rob Hatch challenges the widely accepted narrative that failure is our greatest teacher. Instead, he argues, the most useful lessons come from our successes. Instead of studying what to avoid, let's try to better understand what to repeat. If you're curious about the underlying forces that drive success, or if repeated advice about learning from failures doesn't resonate with you, this fresh perspectives on 'learning from success', together with his simple, practical ideas for how to start, might be just what you need.

At this risk of going a bit meta, this is a brilliant conversation podcast about how brilliant podcast conversations are… Michelle Glogovac is an author and host of the My Simplified Life podcast, and a frequent guest on other podcasts. She's passionate about the special, intimate connection that podcasts create between authors and their readers, and the triple win of a good conversation: great content for the host, great marketing for the guest, great insights for the listener. If you're sitting there waiting to be asked to be a guest on a podcast, then that stops today: discover exactly how to pitch yourself effectively to your perfect podcast host. And if you're thinking about hosting a podcast of your own, then this is just pure gold.

‘That last pillar before you go make your decision: is it ethical? What's the effect it's going to have? The feedback I've got from a lot of people was, oh, I never really thought about that.' While ethics has become more talked-about in business, it might not be something you've considered as a factor in your business writing. But you should. In this Best Bits episode, I draw together insights from a wide range of recent guests that show how the moral position you take – in work and life – informs your writing, and the impact that has on both your reader and yourself. Nothing heavy and duty-bound here, just a joyful, thoughtful exploration of how we can write and work in a way that benefits the world, those around us, and ourselves. Hear from: Corey Keyes on the opposite of languishing; Alison Taylor on why business ethics matter to all of us; David McQueen on being braver about decision-making; Lucy Adams on why HR is about allowing people to flourish rather than being responsible for them doing so; David Roche on the obligations we have to our leaders; Louise Brogan on taking an ethical, human approach to social media; Meredith Norwich on why publishing is an industry full of principled people.

‘So they go, “Hang on, I've got to look confident… I have to have all the answers,” which is the worst place to come from.' Becoming a first-time CEO is a lonely experience, and David Roche (who's got that particular t-shirt himself) believes every new CEO should be assigned a coach and mentor, because if we expect our leaders to have all the answers, we're setting them - and ourselves - up for failure in a complex, fast-moving, uncertain world.  David has been involved in the book trade for many years, but that didn't insulate him from the hard work of authorship, including the paranoia of wondering if his draft was ‘good enough'…  Merging the personal with the professional, and storytelling with business strategy, this is an episode that offers coaching insights and writing wisdom – and which will be particularly interesting if you're aiming for or already seated in the CEO's chair, or writing for those sitting in it. 

'We basically treated legal compliance as a proxy for ethics, which has never really been a particularly good fit.' I think we can all agree the world is ready for some fresh perspectives on the ethical obligations of the business world: Alison Taylor is here to provide them.  All too often there are stark differences between company statements and their day-to-day actions, as they perform the delicate dance between ethical decisions and turning a profit. Alison questions long-standing business beliefs, including the assumption that compliance is a proxy for ethical behaviour, proposing a new approach that accounts for companies' internal systems and also their role within broader society.  She also reveals how she went about writing her book 'Higher Ground', including how she workshopped her thoughts in the classroom and sparked dialogues online as a sounding board. Insightful, challenging, practical and energising - classic Extraordinary Business Book Club stuff.

"Do what you can in the circumstances you are given right now. And don't wait for the systems in the world around you to change in order to get some life into your life." Most of us are only too familiar with 'languishing' - the opposite of flourishing. It was when Adam Grant wrote his famous 2021 New York Times article that we all recognised it as the defining post-pandemic emotion, and it continues to dominate discussions of wellbeing. Grant's article credited research by Dr. Corey Keyes, a distinguished professor emeritus and a leading voice in the study of mental health and human flourishing. In this week's conversation, Corey explains the personal and professional reasons why he's spent his career advocating for a more proactive approach to fostering mental health — and the profound implications of translating a lifetime of research into a book that can change lives. This extraordinary conversation will reshape how you think about mental health, not just in business, but in every facet of life.