Harried by the relentless, depthless demands of email, social media, Zoom, phone and Slack?
Here’s a great idea from author Daniel Pink, originating with statesman George Schultz – the Schultz Hour.
Pinkcast 4.07. This is how to carve out an hour a week to think big. | Daniel H. Pink
Image: Claudine Gossett Photography (via UChicago News)
Give your heart to the trade you have learnt, and draw refreshment from it. Let the rest of your days be spent as one who has wholeheartedly committed his all to the gods, and is thenceforth no man’s master or slave.
Marcus Aurelius (AD 120 – 180), Meditations (4.31)
…you are your contribution.
Sage advice on redundancy from Nicholas Bate.
Photo by Muhammad Raufan Yusup on Unsplash
This from chef Rick Stein’s Secret France.
In passing Stein remarks that in France, rather than asking “What do you do?”, people ask “What’s your métier?”—literally, what are you master of?
We should all aspire to be masters of our chosen profession.
I’m pretty sure it was episode 2: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b8sb .
The book’s here, but I suspect, it won’t help. Great recipes, though.
Image: BBC
Here’s an important question for sovereign professionals. Are you doing the important part or the hard part?
It may not be what you think:
Continue reading “Important versus hard – @ThisIsSeth”
Harvard Business Review has charted research data from the ADP Research Institute on employee engagement around the world. It’s quite comprehensive and throws up a couple of interesting data points for fans (or sceptics) of non-traditional working models.
The overall finding is that around the world only 16% of workers are “fully engaged”, which seems surprisingly low.
However, those who work remotely are more engaged than their office-bound colleagues.
And, gig workers (i.e. sovereign professionals) on full-time projects are more engaged than traditional “permanent employees”.
The full analysis (with country and sector analyses) is on HBR.org, here.
Photo by Clark Young on Unsplash
The Sunday Times has a profile and short interview with social philosopher Charles Handy. At 87, he has a new book out.
Handy foresaw and defined the concept of a portfolio career. His Shamrock Organisation predicted the world of outsourcing, the gig economy and B2B freelancing in the manner of the sovereign professional.
Continue reading “Charles Handy – sage of sovereign professionals”
Creative services show the biggest growth in two reports on the freelance and independent sector in the US and UK.
In the UK, Simply Business reports a 31% year-on-year growth in the number of freelancers. They note that:
Continue reading “Creatives lead the way in freelance growth”the real growth in this space is being driven by a wave of emerging lifestyle and creative businesses. This suggests that more people are attempting to turn their hobbies and passions into businesses.
Losing your job can be hard. For some, though, it’s the spur they need to start out on their own.
Here’s some interesting research from Harvard Business Review (Eliana Crosina of Babson College and Michael G. Pratt of the Carroll School of Management, Boston College). The researchers find that such job-seekers fall into two categories: Recreators and Repurposers:
Continue reading “Getting laid off. Starting again. @HarvardBiz”
Nicholas Bate is always worth a visit. His posts are pithy, grounding and insightful.
Here’s a selection from his recent Basics 7 series:
Continue reading “Leave your shelter with Nicholas Bate”1. Cook: chop, slice, kneed
2. Clear: garage, study, garden
…
6. Sit outside: fresh coffee, a view, un-focused thoughts.