tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54076451830999616202024-03-13T11:40:31.564+00:00Robert Ashton Unlimited!Robert's views on life the universe and social enterprise.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-89656397913446356692012-04-22T09:40:00.002+01:002012-04-22T09:42:46.260+01:00How's your self confidence?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NwZHwXuF5P8/T5O93H90vEI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/JxvavraREng/s1600/qatada0_2130785b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NwZHwXuF5P8/T5O93H90vEI/AAAAAAAAAQQ/JxvavraREng/s200/qatada0_2130785b.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
How's your self confidence? I bet it's not as robust as this guy's. You see we all live with self doubt. In fact a friend recently said; 'Robert, it's your self doubt and depression that makes you so good at what you do.'<br />
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And my self doubt is actually little more than a nervous edge that ensures I take nothing for granted. Working with a group last week, I had the very affirming opportunity to see how people respond to me. Once the penny drops they open up, reveal their challenges and we can start to explore solutions.<br />
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Large audiences are different. You see someone sharing a private joke at the back of the room and assume they're laughing at you. We all do that. I think it's what makes us work an audience and in my case, tailor each presentation to the group I'm talking to. And when the joke is shared later, you realise it wasn't about you at all. So why do we let self doubt screw us up?<br />
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How does the guy in the picture manage? Even the Prime Minister is saying nasty things about him. There's a massive campaign to get him out of the UK. His self confidence must be in tatters. Or is it?<br />
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My guess is that his commitment to his cause has over-ridden the basic human need to be liked. Being hated has somehow strengthened his resolve and so the more he is reviled, the more successful he feels. I'm sure it's a recognised psychological phenomenon. <br />
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So how can we get some of his self confidence, without becoming evil? I wonder if it's actually about having a personal mission. Something you really want to change in the world. Something that takes you above the day to day stuff that you can hold on to when the going gets tough. <br />
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Inevitably that mission will involve helping others. Not perhaps to 'martydom' but a more fulfilling life. Is mission the magic that can boost self confidence? Discuss!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-17722504247400749922012-01-02T09:04:00.002+00:002012-01-02T09:07:20.382+00:00Smoke gets in my eyes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IGQt9zfHF84/TwFuNVKgmpI/AAAAAAAAAPw/bhAzTCPA750/s1600/Ipswich_Crematorium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_362772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IGQt9zfHF84/TwFuNVKgmpI/AAAAAAAAAPw/bhAzTCPA750/s200/Ipswich_Crematorium_-_geograph.org.uk_-_362772.jpg" width="197" /></a></div>Had he not died 30yrs ago, today would have been my late father's 85th birthday. I often wonder why I remember his birthday so easily and my mother's simply passes each year unremembered. (She died two years earlier).<br />
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I guess it's the time of year. The melancholy that accompanies the dawning of a new year. The cold weather and a time when work takes second place to life, inevitably leads me to contemplate death.<br />
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My father was not a happy man. He struggled with his demons and as he grew older, the demons began to win. He'd shut himself away, play Bach sonatas on his piano and drink. I think at the end he was consuming at least a bottle of Bells whisky a day, but this did not seem to salve his pain.<br />
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Finally he had the death we all hope for. He got out of bed one morning, took five paces, had a heart attack and was dead when he hit the floor. A shock for him and a relief for me, my brother and sister.<br />
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As time passes, the memory of my parents inevitably fades. My helpful mother in law sometimes says; 'I wonder what your parents would make of your life now?' Rather than rekindle memories this simply reminds me of the distance I have travelled since they died.<br />
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I do benchmark the relationship I have with my kids with that I did not enjoy with my own parents. There is no comparison. We are all very different and thank goodness, far happier with each other. I have huge respect for my now adult children and all their achieve; I think that respect is mutual, although of course masked by the usual cheeky banter you get from your kids.<br />
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The photo, is of Ipswich Crematorium. It's where both parents and one grandparent were dispatched. I've never been there and doubt I ever will. I've always avoided committals and was not there when either parent slid from chapel to cremator. Perhaps that's why each new year I remember. Perhaps next time I go to a family funeral I need to let the smoke get in my eyes.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-39558472518057192962011-12-12T08:36:00.000+00:002011-12-12T08:36:38.621+00:00Out with the old and in with . . . . .<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QE2o4I1qncY/TuW5actqnEI/AAAAAAAAAPI/mAp5tHlrQhI/s1600/prozac_jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QE2o4I1qncY/TuW5actqnEI/AAAAAAAAAPI/mAp5tHlrQhI/s200/prozac_jpg.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Heck, I've not blogged for months - not here anyway. Let's change that right now. This 'Unlimited' blog has never been for the faint hearted. Or those that might be put off by the exposures and expositions it contains.<br />
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I'll be here at least weekly throughout 2012. so let's start today.<br />
<br />
After 8yrs I'm finally off the pills. It's so convenient to pop one each morning to take the edge off the anxiety. I'd convinced myself that it was like adding 'Red X' to the petrol in my car; a little performance booster that did no harm and made the engine in my head run smoothly.<br />
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But surely if I'm to grow as a writer I need to feel more acutely. How can I truly observe and comment on the human condition if insulated from it? The pills had to go. Eight months of psychotherapy defragmented my thinking and took out all the damaged bits.<br />
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Next I discovered <a href="http://www.moodscope.com/" target="_blank">Moodscope</a>. This brilliant (and currently free to use) web service asks me 20 pertinent questions each morning. The results translate into a graph. That graph plots my mood. It's academically robust and so credible. What is incredible though is the way it works. Or does for me anyway. The questions force me to think, albeit fleetingly about my well-being. My graph became more stable as my mood levelled out.<br />
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Next step, off the pills and in my case some quite interesting side effects. These have now passed so what I am feeling at the moment is what I really am - who I really am and more. It's quite exciting. It will give my writing in 2012 a human dimension that has thus far been suppressed. Watch this space!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-74785116582554739392011-08-28T10:40:00.001+01:002011-08-28T10:41:53.247+01:00The end of the line, or the light at the end of a tunnel?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dTpi9Xw36ts/TloKDaE_7_I/AAAAAAAAAOY/OrK5_lPrzqQ/s1600/old-railway-buffer-thumb7018411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dTpi9Xw36ts/TloKDaE_7_I/AAAAAAAAAOY/OrK5_lPrzqQ/s200/old-railway-buffer-thumb7018411.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I'm very fond of my 87yr old uncle. We share a birthday and the prejudice and discrimination he has experienced in his life is one of the drivers of my own campaigning. He's gay, increasingly infirm but still up for a challenge.<br />
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Recently, he broke his hip and spent two weeks in hospital. Then, discharged before really ready he lasted a day at home before returning to the ward briefly, only to be discharged again. This time he was placed in an old folks home.<br />
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Dennis and I have often talked about old people's homes. His mother, my granny, died within days of being placed in one. It was not for her and so she opted out. I feared that history was about to be repeated. But, old folks homes have changed. What I found when I returned from holiday and visited Dennis surprised me.<br />
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He's in a new home operated by Runwood. I'd heard they were good and I now I know it. Spacious, modern, efficient and with really nice staff, the place was not quite as I'd imagined it. Yes there is the inevitable lounge with loud TV and a row of drooping, dribbling old ladies, but there's also a lot more.<br />
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I took in a portable TV and popped to Comet to get the digital box I needed. One of the care workers set it up for us, finding a SCART lead because I'd thought there was one in the box. They're going to spend time with him every day getting him confident on his feet and the plan is to have him home again within six weeks.<br />
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Like so many things, this was no where near as scary as I had imagined. Old folks homes don't have to be the end of the line. For some, they are the light at the end of a long dark tunnel!<br />
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Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-26452169280255375302011-07-19T08:56:00.003+01:002011-07-19T08:56:51.247+01:00Hello darkness my old friend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cmSifO_CqRI/TiU4m9J3RRI/AAAAAAAAAOA/wZvj2xcnZIc/s1600/darkness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cmSifO_CqRI/TiU4m9J3RRI/AAAAAAAAAOA/wZvj2xcnZIc/s200/darkness.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">I have been ‘out’ for years about the fact that I live with depression. In common with many professional creatives the enduring, varying tension between my perception and reality fuels my quest for answers. And increasingly, the work I do is all about finding the answers that have eluded other people. Folk in a fix are often too close to their personal and organisational challenges to see the wider context. I live in that wider context.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Depression however place demands upon those it inhabits. It’s vital to manage pace, space and focus on just one race. What do I mean?<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Pace is everything because exhaustion brings on self doubt, followed by the damp dark foggy cloak that takes you out of circulation. Mood swing bring highs that make me feel invincible. They are always followed by a fall into darkness.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Space is equally important. I live in the countryside surrounded by fields. My home phone number is a closely guarded secret, known only to immediate family. I can shut the door on my work phone, close the garden gate and isolate myself from the world. This means I’m not always accessible; tough!</div><div class="MsoNormal">And sticking to one race is also essential. It’s so easy to get distracted and flounder as a multitude of equally regarded goals seem to wriggle from my grasp. Focus is difficult, but not to focus means to fail.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Right now, with professional help, I’m five weeks without an encounter with the ‘black dog’ of depression. It’s never far away I know, but if I throw it the odd negative thought or lingering self doubt it seems content to leave me alone.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s strange to say, but when under control, it’s fine occasionally to say hello to the darkness. It is after all my old friend!</div>Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-69654478428297024162011-06-25T11:31:00.000+01:002011-06-25T11:31:05.501+01:00Oh no, I'm getting old<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kGVrYfVcitE/TgW24Wo_YSI/AAAAAAAAAN4/kWpAreEOMZw/s1600/business-baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kGVrYfVcitE/TgW24Wo_YSI/AAAAAAAAAN4/kWpAreEOMZw/s200/business-baby.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I flew to Glasgow on Thursday for a couple of meetings. One was with an innovative, enthusiastic and clearly very able social entrepreneur. He and I going to do some business together, as well as some campaigning which will be huge fun.<br />
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He sent me a text to say he'd be easy to spot as he was wearing a pink shirt. I still didn't spot him and had to ring him so that I could pick him out of the rather small crowd.<br />
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When we met I realised why I'd overlooked him in the airport arrivals hall. He's 25 and I was looking for someone twice that age! Over the next few hours I came to realise that youth was no barrier to this guy's considerable success. Over time however, I had clearly acquired a perception that to be successful you need to be middle aged. I'd assumed I was dealing with someone nearer my own age. Why did I feel that way? It rather pisses me off to find I have developed an ageist prejudice.<br />
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So, for the record - I now fully understand that you can be successful at any age. Mt next challenge is to appreciate that if people the same age as my kids can be very successful entrepreneurs, then clearly my kids are no longer kids but fully functioning adults. Yes, I knew this, but somehow . . . . . . . . well you know what I mean . . . doh!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-73766384495602666542011-06-18T07:52:00.002+01:002011-06-18T07:54:27.037+01:00Strut your stuff or peck someone's eyes out?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FJuV6glb7qA/TfxIlg7PkhI/AAAAAAAAANw/ndzNKjaENW8/s1600/peacock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FJuV6glb7qA/TfxIlg7PkhI/AAAAAAAAANw/ndzNKjaENW8/s200/peacock.jpg" width="157" /></a></div>I find 'society events' rather annoying. Most of the people are nice, the wine welcomed and the canapes fill a gap, but there's something superficial about all the air kisses and polite smalltalk that leaves me cold.<br />
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Last night, Belinda and I were at yet another of these evening receptions. To be fair I had some very useful business conversations and caught up with some people I like and respect, but the evening had its moments.<br />
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However had I not gone, I'd not have experienced one of the most outrageous examples of what I'll call lily pad hopping. One particular old frog, a well known local PR grabbed me for what I initially thought was going to be an interesting conversation about a stage performance we'd both recently seen in Cambridge.<br />
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However, mid conversation she spotted someone she considered more worthwhile approaching. She simply walked away leaving me in mid-sentence.Clearly she'd made a quick assessment and decided that the other people were far more useful to her. I detest the superficial way people like this treat others. By only talking to who you consider to be the most useful person within grasp at any one time, you prove to the world that you don't actually care about people - just what they can do for you.<br />
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Ironically and unbeknown to her, I spend a considerable amount each month with an excellent London PR agency. They take me seriously and deliver astounding results. They don't take me or anyone else for granted.<br />
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How can we expect our Big Society to help the vulnerable up the social ladder when there are people already on the ladder willing to put people down to further their own upward progress? Perhaps life at the bottom is better after all!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-68506175660050684162011-06-11T11:18:00.000+01:002011-06-11T11:18:38.799+01:00Would you accept cash in a car park from a Serbian car dealer?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vr0rmFY9I6Q/TfM-uwlqMmI/AAAAAAAAANg/GSJ_0DhJKZA/s1600/DSC_0012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vr0rmFY9I6Q/TfM-uwlqMmI/AAAAAAAAANg/GSJ_0DhJKZA/s200/DSC_0012.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Well, I've just sold my 4x4 to a lady with a Serbian accent, who is buying it for a friend called Vlad. Deposit paid by credit card and the balance will be handed over in used tenners tomorrow.<br />
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My wife's response to the announcement that tomorrow we're driving two cars to a railway station to handover surprised me. 'It's probably drug money,' she said, 'or the proceeds from human trafficking.<br />
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My 'due dilligence' suggest otherwise. The buyer's Facebook profile shows a smiling middle aged lady holding a much loved dog. Surely a drug dealer would have a more sinister profile picture - perhaps something moody, with urban graffiti in the background and certainly dark glasses.<br />
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The deposit was paid via my website, which means I have the guys name, address, phone number and email address. Google reveals him to be a trustee of a Greek Orthodox religious charity so perhaps not a man likely to be shipping teenagers over the North Sea to satisfy the sexual desires of London's coke fuelled city traders.<br />
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Am I naive, or do dodgy people carefully craft respectable online personas to trick people like me? If we all thought that, then nobody would trust anyone. Surely the default for us all is to be honest, trustworthy and decent. Tell me I'm right - please!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-86015063273818830352011-05-30T09:01:00.001+01:002011-05-30T09:01:50.197+01:00An outbreak of third sector cannibalism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PIfETU7Y_-E/TeNJmqb5lPI/AAAAAAAAANY/uMJOduC5ggY/s1600/wpapua_spear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PIfETU7Y_-E/TeNJmqb5lPI/AAAAAAAAANY/uMJOduC5ggY/s200/wpapua_spear.jpg" width="128" /></a></div><br />
I guess it had to happen. With funding cuts and the change in emphasis from 'gimme a grant' to 'how can I help you', cannibalism was perhaps to be expected. However rather than the nice friendly mergers I was expecting, folk are fighting dirty. It's a shame.<br />
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To avoid compromising what is actually quite a delicate situation, I'll not name names; however if you can guess who I'm talking about feel free to tweet - as we now know - even super-injunctions can't stop that!<br />
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So to the story. Imagine two young men, let's call them Less and Able. They've moved around the sector for years, working together at least twice. Able is very good at his job, gentle and passionate about making a difference. Less is not quite so bright and struggles to to settle down - deep down he means well, but somehow, never quite has the credibility of Able.<br />
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Like the similarly named Biblical brothers, tension grew and Less had an idea. He accused Able of using information gained at a previous employer in his current job. He did this by 'tipping off' the former employer with whom ironically both had worked and arguable Less had abused more!<br />
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Rather than tell Less to piss off, the former employer stormed into the new employers offices demanding retribution. Ironic again as the two organisations work closely together with the aggressor in this case being the one with the most to lose - the supplier.<br />
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Able is now under investigation and I suspect, looking for another job. Less is hoping he'll go so he can feel more secure.<br />
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The trouble is that when people and organisations fight each other everyone loses. Less will become far less popular once word gets out that he's tried to 'eat' Able. The two employers are in a no win argument from which nothing good can come. And this is the so called caring sector, there to help the weak and vulnerable in society get along. What would you do if you found yourself caught up in a situation like this?Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-52093746589328452822011-02-01T08:29:00.003+00:002011-02-01T08:34:37.479+00:00Do you say it like it is or as people want to hear it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TUfAmrKm7AI/AAAAAAAAAMk/0j4VilY0phA/s1600/reference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TUfAmrKm7AI/AAAAAAAAAMk/0j4VilY0phA/s200/reference.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I was asked by a friend to provide a character reference this week. The guy has become tired of running his own business and decided to apply for a management job instead. The job is in a sector he has empathy with but as he told me; <i>' I’m not fooling myself into thinking I’m going to get it, or that I’m even qualified to do the job but it interests me and I thought I've got nothing to lose in giving it a bash.'</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">So was I right to refuse to provide a reference? It seemed to me that he was more interested in leaving where he was than in demonstrating, even to me, why he was the perfect man for the job he's after. Furthermore, knowing the person who is retiring and creating the vacancy, I just can't see my friend being happy moving into the empty seat. It involves too much bureaucracy!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Needless to say he's now quoting Mark Twain at me and accusing me of not being supportive in his time of need. My suggestion that he would do better to conquer his business challenges than run away and get a job touched a nerve. I'm probably now off his Christmas card list. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What he doesn't know is that over the past 21 years of self employment and running my own businesses, I too have had the urge to run away on perhaps three occasions. I too have filled in application forms for jobs, not because I want them, but because the pain of self employment, right then, was becoming too much. For me, filling in the form was usually enough; I threw them in the bin rather than post them and felt better for the flirtation with change.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I know many people who have fled from the pain of their current situation rather than face and conquer it. In every case, they have come to regret the move. Some have even turned the clock back and gone back, others could not and became stuck and very unhappy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, would you have lied and written a glowing reference or would you have refused, explained why and recognised the subsequent rejection as the price you have to pay for being honest?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div>Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-17109013031581755362011-01-26T08:43:00.000+00:002011-01-26T08:43:01.840+00:00A case of mistaken identity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TT_cjjEtiQI/AAAAAAAAAMg/H08P8os18mA/s1600/old-people.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TT_cjjEtiQI/AAAAAAAAAMg/H08P8os18mA/s200/old-people.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I went to an Awards event last night. It was organised by a professional institute and so most people were wearing grey. Most also had grey hair and many were far older than even I am.<br />
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I saw someone I thought I recognised. He was sitting on his own reading the Awards booklet. From the top of his head, he looked very like a guy I know called John. John is someone with whom I enjoy lively banter whenever we meet, usually at events like this one.<br />
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I kicked his foot by way of jovial introduction and said something like; 'hi, what brings you here.' The papers fell into his lap and the guy looked straight into my face. I then realised it was not John at all. I glanced down at his name badge. It said Brigadier; it said OBE and listed lots of other letters too. John on the other hand would only have letters after his name if he saved enough coupons from cereal packets.<br />
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'Hello, my name is Robert and I thought you were somebody else.' I said, slightly embarrassed. 'Oh that's OK he said, my name is Barry.' Unusually for me, I did not turn this serendipitous meeting into an opportunity. I must be losing my networking touch!<br />
<br />
Bu why is it that the older people get, the more alike they look?Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-74723662687402122942011-01-20T10:06:00.000+00:002011-01-20T10:06:34.406+00:00Could someone please introduce me to reality?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TTgEWLiS6nI/AAAAAAAAAMY/CPyYvEOWI7M/s1600/AteMyCrayons_kld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TTgEWLiS6nI/AAAAAAAAAMY/CPyYvEOWI7M/s200/AteMyCrayons_kld.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Did you have a kaleidoscope as a child? You know, one of those tubes you peer into and twist to create startling, symmetrical patterns like the one here on your left.I did and spent hours looking through it, distorting things.<br />
<br />
At times, life seems like that to me. In fact right now, two weeks into 2011 it feels very much that reality is being blurred into a series of confusing patterns. Is it the same for you too?<br />
<br />
Perhaps I've had too many consecutive days of meeting bureaucrats, each recoiling from the dramatic change they face and have no influence over. Perhaps it's also because I've decided to stop working at the weekend and so am spending more time outside in my garden, on my tractor and generally connected with the natural cycle of seasons, climate and nature.<br />
<br />
The landscape, bleak at this time of year, is bleak because it is this time of year. Leafless trees, sodden soil and frost browned grass. The other landscape is also very bleak right now. Job losses, budget cuts, tough decisions and inequalities - but are both equally real or is one an economic construct? Can we change the economy? We certainly can't change the climate - well not much.<br />
<br />
and on a personal, micro-scale, just as one week 2011 seems filled with opportunity, so the next week it can look really gloomy? Now here I can make a difference . . . . . .so will focus there!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-6806466813111193602010-12-05T11:07:00.001+00:002010-12-05T11:11:00.705+00:00Back to the future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TPttzlfI-jI/AAAAAAAAAMI/UcwZe-fSf_o/s1600/muffin_mule52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="189" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TPttzlfI-jI/AAAAAAAAAMI/UcwZe-fSf_o/s200/muffin_mule52.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The viral campaign on Facebook this weekend has been very, very successful. Although not started by the NSPCC it has their endorsement and is boosting public awareness of their cause.<br />
<br />
People have been encouraged, by peer pressure, to change their Facebook profile picture to a cartoon character from their childhood. This wonderfully nostalgic exercise forces you to remember your own happy, innocent days when life was simple and for most people safe.<br />
<br />
The campaign reminds those fortunate enough to have a happy childhood that for some kids, life is far from pleasant. By encouraging us all to reflect on our own early years, we are reminded of the importance of investing in an organisation that helps those for whom childhood memories will not be so happy.<br />
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I have a foot in both camps on this one. My very early years were happy I seem to remember, but as my childhood progressed things changed. Years of psychotherapy have helped me see that the deterioration of my father's mental health, together with my mother's inability to cope or courage to seek help, created the stultifying family environment from which I eventually emerged.<br />
<br />
By coincidence, I saw the film 'Good Will Hunting' last night. It tells the story of a bright kid who chooses not to do well, to get even with his abusive foster parents long gone. Turning point in the film is the moment where his therapist keeps repeating the phrase; 'it's not your fault.' This repeated approbation does the trick and the film moves on to a happy ending.<br />
<br />
Which brings me to Muffin the mule. My earliest TV memory, from those happy days of blissful innocence when life was easy and my story had only recently begun.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-21993837923388398112010-11-28T14:25:00.000+00:002010-11-28T14:25:50.563+00:00Never ask a man in a flat cap for a cappuccino<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TPJiJURtLLI/AAAAAAAAAMA/G1EHe2nNW3U/s1600/RB2060TheBigBondFlatCap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="141" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TPJiJURtLLI/AAAAAAAAAMA/G1EHe2nNW3U/s200/RB2060TheBigBondFlatCap.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I was taken out for lunch on Friday. The pub we went to was what some would call traditional and others would call retro. The place mats, paper napkins and lack of an open fire reminded me of the 'moderrnised' pubs I'd frequent 35 years ago.<br />
<br />
Here you'd eat beef pie, treacle tart and drink beer, beer or perhaps just for a change, more beer. Soft drinks were for girls and coffee something you drank at home - and then only the instant variety.<br />
<br />
The landlord wore a flat cap. Nothing wrong with that either I guess, perhaps he's sensitive about his baldness or simply making some kind of fashion statement. The food was hot and filling and a coffee seemed like a good idea. Asking for a cappuccino however prompted the kind of look you'd expect to get if you asked where the First Class compartment was on a Blackpool tram.<br />
<br />
The man in a cap clearly knew what cappuccino was, but could not think why I'd be asking for it in his pub. We had 'nice' cups of filter coffee instead. He had a point I suppose and his pub was packed with people munching pies and enjoying jam rolypoly with custard.<br />
<br />
Of course the problem is mine not his. I prefer not to be reminded of the 1970s and in particular the pubs I visited in that era. One thing is certain though; I'm going to avoid any place where the guy behind the bar is wearing a flat cap!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-13240188656396038082010-11-16T08:04:00.000+00:002010-11-16T08:04:02.095+00:00Be careful what you wish for<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TOI4MNKla9I/AAAAAAAAAL4/XVrir903I7I/s1600/Vortex.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TOI4MNKla9I/AAAAAAAAAL4/XVrir903I7I/s200/Vortex.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I've always liked being busy, but right now opportunities seem to be leaping out at me from every corner. It's good to be recognised for the work I do. Better to be in demand by those willing to pay for what my expertise can deliver them. But being busy can have its down sides too. Not enough quality time for me, to re-charge, refresh and re-connect.<br />
<br />
This week for example, my planned 'quiet day' with two meetings and time to enjoy the moment has been sacrificed to accept an invitation to a London event. No ordinary event, it's a Big Society workshop for senior civil servants and I'm told one or two Ministers of State. It's a unique opportunity to share my views with people able to shape policy and I hope, be swayed slightly in their thinking by the experiences I'll be sharing within them from my work at the 'Big Society' coalface. And yes, I'll learn from them too.<br />
<br />
But the fact remains that my week now feels as if it's accelerating out of control. Much of this is of course perception and panic, whilst the reality means time to think and write on trains and for a couple of hours on Thursday morning in my favourite London hotel.<br />
<br />
Being busy forces you to prioritise, to make time for the projects you're committed to completing. It also forces you to tread that fine line between saying yes to everything and sacrificing your sense of self and sanity, and being selective to protect what matters to the inner self.<br />
<br />
It's a difficult path to tread and mot one foreseen when setting ambitious career goals.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-25557634169617128912010-10-11T06:51:00.000+01:002010-10-11T06:51:02.835+01:00Teddy Bear's Picnic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TLKj9WEuwwI/AAAAAAAAALw/dhhi5F1-hqI/s1600/teddy-bear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TLKj9WEuwwI/AAAAAAAAALw/dhhi5F1-hqI/s200/teddy-bear.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I got talking with Jill last night at the <a href="http://www.wafflehouse.co.uk/norwich.html#/Home">Waffle House in Norwich</a>. She's a fascinating old lady who has been a scientific researcher and College lecturer in her time. Now she's retired and gets involved in things - mental health is a shared interest.<br />
<br />
Sunday evenings she usually visits the Waffle House, a long established and rather good place to prepare yourself for the week ahead. We too go there on Sunday's after a visit to the cinema.<br />
<br />
Jill usually has a large teddy with her when she goes out for dinner. She lives alone and the teddy is her companion. Last night she was alone. It seems the owner of the place at suggested tactfully that she leave the teddy at home. 'It creates the wrong image' he'd gently told her. Reluctantly she'd complied and now eats alone.<br />
<br />
It seems though that I'm the ninth customer to ask her where her teddy bear is. So that's one restaurant owner worrying that it's not giving the right impression and nine customers asking what's happened to the bear. I think they should invite her to bring her bear next time and give her a free meal as well. There's nothing wrong with eccentricity - it should be celebrated, not suppressed.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-78904084663894784002010-09-27T08:57:00.000+01:002010-09-27T08:57:10.759+01:00A happy coincidence - or was it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TKBOKvg-hDI/AAAAAAAAALs/qvlA_P7GcdY/s1600/Oftimecity_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TKBOKvg-hDI/AAAAAAAAALs/qvlA_P7GcdY/s200/Oftimecity_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We visited HMV yesterday as we'd been given some vouchers and thought we'd check out the sale CDs and DVDs. I secretly hoped to find a copy of<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6BAoo8hmlU"> 'Of Time and the City',</a> a wonderful film about Liverpool by Terence Davies. When we saw the film at the cinema, I was as moved as my wife was bored. It's really strange how films get to different people in different ways. My search for the DVD was therefore rather covert. I didn't want it discovered until we reached the till.<br />
<br />
Alas, no DVD in HMV but guess what? It was broadcast on BBC4 last night and so I was able to record it. I'm not sure by what coincidence I thought about the film in HMV and decided to search for it. I did not then know it was being broadcast later the same day. Is it coincidence or premonition? Who knows . . . Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-74324289205417406522010-09-16T08:13:00.000+01:002010-09-16T08:13:49.621+01:00Is this what reputation is all about?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TJHCkAf9YzI/AAAAAAAAALQ/ZPWVORDVx60/s1600/Mitcham_Swingers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TJHCkAf9YzI/AAAAAAAAALQ/ZPWVORDVx60/s200/Mitcham_Swingers.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I met very modest but inspirational entrepreneur <a href="http://www.eaglehousegroup.co.uk/goto/page/home_,1434">Paul Conrathe</a> <strong style="font-weight: normal;">yesterday. He was one of the UK's leading lawyers representing children with special educational needs and then he opened a school. Now he has a very successful group of schools, one of which I visited as part of a current consultancy project.</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TJHDPacwhRI/AAAAAAAAALg/VVfg4RSzIe0/s1600/Checklist+2+-+1mb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TJHDPacwhRI/AAAAAAAAALg/VVfg4RSzIe0/s200/Checklist+2+-+1mb.jpg" width="133" /></a><strong style="font-weight: normal;">When we met he told me how when he decided to open his first school, he bought a really good book. Six years later it's still on the shelf above his desk. He told me how nice it was to finally meet the author; yes that book was one I had written!</strong><br />
<strong style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</strong><br />
<strong style="font-weight: normal;">It is so easy to underestimate one's own reputation. Here for me then was a real illustration that for many people starting and growing successful enterprises, my books really do make a difference.I like hearing from people I have helped to succeed without even meeting them!</strong><br />
<strong style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</strong><br />
<strong style="font-weight: normal;">Find out more about Paul's work <a href="http://www.eaglehousegroup.co.uk/goto/page/home_,1434">here. </a></strong><br />
<strong style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</strong>Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-79605391954550565792010-08-29T14:55:00.000+01:002010-08-29T14:55:36.721+01:00Spending a penny and finding a conundrumYou walk into the toilets in a posh restaurant and spot a coin on the floor, close to a toilet. Clearly it fell out of someone's trousers when they pulled them down (or up). The floor is dry and there's no one else around to see what you do.<br />
<br />
You can choose to pocket the coin or leave it where it is. We all have our price and for me, faced with this conundrum last night thought long and hard before deciding what to do. In fact I decided that for me to pick up a coin in a toilet it had to be either a one or two pound coin. 50p or below and I'd leave it where it was.<br />
<br />
It was a one pound coin and right now it is in my pocket.<br />
<br />
What's your price? What's a coin got to be worth for you to pick it up and once in your pocket, what would you do with it?Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-31647742228585207492010-08-26T18:58:00.000+01:002010-08-26T18:58:50.953+01:00The paradox of amibtionI was 55 at the weekend and inevitably spent time reflecting on my life thus far.<br />
<br />
When I was 30 I'd been selling for five years and had already started to climb the career ladder. I thought I was invincible and for me success was easily measured by where my company Sierra sat in the range. At 33 I got a bright red two litre GLS - I'd reached the top of the company list and changed companies to get more.<br />
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The new firm indulged me with an identical GLS and a slightly higher salary. I thought I was worth more and lacked the wisdom to understand why the talent so obvious to me wasn't universally recognised by my bosses.<br />
<br />
Now I'm 55, I have gained much of the wisdom I then lacked. I probably also have the commercial skills to command the high salary I then saw as my right. The trouble is, that I'm no longer ambitious in a material way. I'm more interested in the positive impact I can have than the money I can earn.<br />
<br />
I suspect the world today remains full of young men with more ambition than ability. It's up to us who have long since grown up to help them reconcile what they can do with what that might give them. Then they might mature faster than we did and actually achieve more!Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-86854681873090033642010-08-13T18:26:00.001+01:002010-08-13T18:27:18.530+01:00Past, present, future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TGWAMxRfB3I/AAAAAAAAAKU/XY7VgJSRTT8/s1600/belsey-bridge-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TGWAMxRfB3I/AAAAAAAAAKU/XY7VgJSRTT8/s200/belsey-bridge-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I visited the excellent<a href="http://www.cct.org.uk/smartweb/belsey-bridge/introduction"> Belsey Bridge Conference Centre</a> today. Brilliant people, wonderful setting and facilities and prices that make it the perfect setting for the social enterprise residentials I'd like to run next year. <br />
<br />
However I've always known the place by another name - All Hallows School. It's where my kid sister was sent by from the age of seven for reasons I'd rather not discuss. Actually Boarding School was good for her I think but it meant that she and I never really knew each other (I'm 9yrs older). Sadly we've not met or spoken for around 25yrs.<br />
<br />
The school was very St Trinians in architecture and I'm sure in many other ways too. Last time I was there was in October 1980 when in a state of shock, I drove my distraught father there to break the news of our mother's sudden death. All that for me is now ancient history, but the conference centre, despite it's high tech gear, new decor and furniture is still essentially the school I last visited on that emotionally turbulent day.<br />
<br />
The school library still contains old school books and one room had a display cabinet of old school trophies and cups. Both caused me to gulp, as did the whole visit. In fact I parked on the verge for ten minutes when the place came into view, to stop my heart racing before turning into the drive.<br />
<br />
How amazing that after 30 years, a place can have such an effect on me. I now know I have to run a programme there if only to deal with the strong feelings visiting the place has evoked. I cannot wait 30yrs before I return . . no wayRobert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-52372550624206776502010-07-25T09:51:00.002+01:002010-07-25T09:51:51.534+01:00Big Society - Big Opportunity<meta content="text/html; charset=utf-8" http-equiv="Content-Type"></meta><meta content="Word.Document" name="ProgId"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Generator"></meta><meta content="Microsoft Word 11" name="Originator"></meta><link href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CADMINI%7E1%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml" rel="File-List"></link><style>
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</style> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">I've just written the text below for the organiser of an event I'm speaking at in September. He said it 'sounds fabulous' which set me thinking. There's so much bullsh*t and hot air being spouted about Big Society yet so few actually getting off their backsides to be amongst the first to rise to the challenge?<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">Am I unusual? Surely not: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">The words </span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">How to create your own reality behind the rhetoric</span><u1:p></u1:p></i></b><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">Robert Ashton believes that social enterprise is about attitude and action.<u1:p></u1:p> He says you need attitude to make a difference in a financially sustainable</span><u1:p></u1:p></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">way. He also believes in action, describing Big Society as 'an open door<u1:p></u1:p> through which the brave must step to create the world they want to see.'</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">Right now he's working with three communities seeking to do just that. A<u1:p></u1:p> village seeking to regenerate their community, creating jobs and improving<u1:p></u1:p> local services; a community determined to create a new community hospital<u1:p></u1:p> that can never be taken away and a school not willing to sit back and accept<u1:p></u1:p> hat the end of BSF means the end of their hopes for a new school in 2012</span></i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;">Robert is also an author, his 12th book, 'How to be a Social Entrepreneur'<u1:p></u1:p> is published in October and can be pre-ordered at this event.</span></i><u1:p></u1:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-47513073832001431822010-07-07T09:28:00.000+01:002010-07-07T09:28:38.383+01:00Why do we so readily miss the obvious?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TDQ5adJXS0I/AAAAAAAAAKE/G4q836q0MPQ/s1600/beer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/TDQ5adJXS0I/AAAAAAAAAKE/G4q836q0MPQ/s200/beer.jpg" width="138" /></a></div>I ran a social enterprise 'netwalk' yesterday and made the mistake of leading the group last a village pub. Or at least I tried to lead the group past a pub. They unanimously decided it was time for a beer break and went in.<br />
<br />
We asked the landlord what made his rural business successful? We were hoping for some useful tips we could take away and apply to our own businesses. He did not let us down. After much thought he smiled and said just one word: 'customers'.<br />
<br />
He knew that pleasing customers was what made them keep coming back for more. Nothing complicated in that. Nothing challenging, just good old plain common sense.<br />
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Why then, do we worry about Business Link being disbanded. The answer perhaps is to stop complicating business and return to the basics. Satisfy your customers and you stay in business. Ignore them or fail to listen and adapt and no amount of clever consultancy will save you.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-36963685054972753472010-06-24T08:16:00.000+01:002010-06-24T08:16:15.613+01:00Fast or slow - which is best?<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Tomorrow is the copy deadline for my next book. I have 15,000 words left to write and am covering 3,000 words a day. I have a sneaky feeling that this pace delivers a better book than the Utopian 'chapter a week' rate we set out to do but never start soon enough.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I book written slowly, intertwined with everyday life and work is a book where you can't quite remember what was in Chapter 3 by the time to start writing Chapter 6. That can be very embarrassing as case studies you'd like to use and decide to use, are in your mind because you've used them already. Points get made twice and favourite phrases pop up with startling regularity.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
Right now though, I'm doing it my preferred way. The book is my entire life, dominating every waking moment and every section builds on those it follows in a logical and structured way. I feel that only by achieving this level of intimacy and total focus as I write the book, can I even aspire to a close connection with my readers who will be buying the book in November.</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">All authors run over their deadline - maybe it's for a good reason. I'll argue that books are better for being written this way. Do you agree?</span>Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5407645183099961620.post-85496776134997200122010-05-15T09:36:00.001+01:002010-05-15T09:36:54.543+01:00Village SOS - Save our Sanity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/S-5Z-Xfg5eI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/trHAqDjJwzA/s1600/sos_logo_col.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xAqfDyRAS_k/S-5Z-Xfg5eI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/trHAqDjJwzA/s200/sos_logo_col.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Well, six months of hard work as village champion for West Norfolk village <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">Hilgay</span> did not result in a £400k grant for the village, a £30k fee for me and a 50min BBC One documentary for us all early next year.<br />
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It has however been a learning experience I'd not have missed for anything. To work with a great bunch of individuals from a small community, all determined to see things get better was been a humbling experience. It has also been incredibly frustrating. My June column in 'New Start' magazine will offer my top five tips for dealing with difficult people who simply cannot see that <span class="goog-spellcheck-word">funders</span> have their own agendas, rules and expectations. Self belief is not enough; you have to convince others.<br />
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Throughout the process I was in touch with several other village champions. It was clear all along that we were going to have to be different to stand out from a very well organised crowd. The strength of our project was its simplicity and scalability. It did not regrettably offer a nice building on which could be fixed a shiny Big Lottery plaque.<br />
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Setting aside me innate mercenary focus on income and a desire to appear on mainstream TV - the project is I think destined to be funded in other ways. From the village's point of view, this means regeneration at a more realistic pace. For me, it means less income but actually a more scalable, achievable process I might help other communities through. Not everyone can attract big funding from the Big Lottery. For most I suspect a more modest gradual series of changes are going to be better suited.<br />
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As ever I am looking for the opportunity. Now the Lottery hopes have vanished, the real opportunity is actually becoming clearer.Robert Ashtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03059062536336817472noreply@blogger.com0