Linking Education and Business

Yesterday I hosted a conference at Merill Lynch in London. Founded by Patrick Philpott an 18 year old entrepreneur, SKILL London was an excellent event to encourage young people about the skills needed for the world of work. Speakers at the event included Katie Ledger, Andy Lopata, Simon Woodruffe of Yo Sushi/ Dragon’s Den and yours truly. There was also a panel of entrepreneurs judging student creativity including Tim Millard-Shephard, Annika Bosanquet, Oli Barrett and Julie Meyer. The focus was clearly on getting students to really think about how to foster entrepreneurial thinking and action.

I had a great conversation with some attendees from the sponsoring law firms after the event. We waxed lyrical about the neccesity for a link between business and education. Maybe a placing of teachers in the world of work. I agree that their agencies like Education Business Partnerships serve a fantastic role in making students aware of what employers want but I think there should be more of a hands on approach with regard to teachers. Ironically today I delivered a public speaking workshop to a group of grammar school teachers in South London. One of the teachers had the same sentiment that I did that bridge for linking needs to improve.

Schools do ensure a lot of students pass exams but how many really understand about preparing them properly for the world of work if they are not exposed to these environments?

Politically Speaking: Race and Politics

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of bumping into the Deputy Mayor for Young People. Ray Lewis pictured here with Boris Johnson (for those Stateside Boris is the New Mayor of London) is one formidable brother who is one person I trust to deal with a lot of issues facing our young black men. Feisty, honourable or as friend would say, straight no chaser. An ordained priest, former prison governor and founder of EYLA he is the kind of man who can really make a difference about dealing with wayward youth in London.

His appointment through a curve ball to many opponents who had accused Boris Johnson of being racist. It is amazing how this simple appointment could trigger so much thought around race and politics. It is also remarkable how a few friends have mentioned they would love to see me in politics. Apparently I transcend race!

My second point is about Obama in the US elections. Although he has tried to suppress it race is central to how many Americans will decide.

If not why the upset about Rev Jeremiah Wright and the association?
Why is the campaign trying to suppress reports like this?
How come Obama has won 90% of black votes yet lost out on white working class votes?
Calling a reporter “sweetie”?
And what’s with the t-shirt (see below).

Obama is going to have to face up to it sooner or later. Race is key in politics. The debate has to be addressed. Not allowing political correctness or the other extreme of bigotry to take hold, it is high time Americans spoke openly about this. I still dont think America is ready for a black president and outside of the hype I would be very suprised if he made it their, alive anyway. If he does make it whilst he is not an Al Sharpton, he needs to realise it that race is not going to go away?

Robin Williams at TED

Awesome. My video of the week

SHINE 2008

This weekend I was privileged to facilitate at and be part of SHINE 2008. Billed as an unconference for social entrepreneurs the aim of the event was to engage as many social entrepreneurs as possible in an environment that was open and not too formal.

The venue was at the Bargehouse, OXO Tower Wharf in Waterloo in what looked like an old warehouse over four floors. Peeling paint, some rooms without windows gave a rustic ambience to the whole setting. Fairtrade Coffee and tea for sale, the Unlimited Garden, the HUB with their straw packed chairs and Greenworks with their furniture for sale also added a real sense of charm and intention for this social enterprise conference.

My job was to bring some energy and focus to the start of each day. I hope I did the organisers proud but to be honest most of the energy was already existant in the attendees who took to the conference like a duck to water!!???

Some highlights for me included
- How to Get Money From Rich People
- Developing Your Brand
- The Hero’s Journey
- Energisers from the Kaos Pilots

I also got the opportunity to coach a number of people with regards to growing their business and developed some great business leads and potential future partnerships. There is definitely a buzz amongst social entrepreneurs and more and more people are getting over the issues of making a profit especially when they realise how such profit can be reinvested to grow and perpetuate their cause.

The SHINE unconference was also a fantastic opportunity to network and connect with a lot of people I have met online but not yet face to face. Massive kudos goes out Jess from Germination and the input from the teams at Unltd, School for Social Entrepreneurs and NESTA amongst others.
I am looking forward to next year already.

Oddica Rocks Babbee

OK to the folks over at Oddica, you rock man.
My package came through the post yesterday and wow…what quality.
Here are some pics (I got some funny ones with the badges but they private!!).
My account is open and I am ready to roll for some new ones.

Now howse that for the behaviour of a 39 year old man!!!

Absolute Kaos

Forget Batman and Robin, the dangerous duo are Ben and Dave! Yeah Baby.
Having sat down and spoken briefly about an energetic group of business students called the Kaos Pilots from the Netherlands Ben Keene and I decided to fulfill on a promise and visit them. What a trip it was! (No. Not that kind of trip!)

On the business side we had a fabulous day directing a workshop. From “check in” to “check out” it was quite an intense day were we shared our expertise and energy and in turn learned from these energetic and creative students/entrepreneurial minds. On the play side we ate dinner on a Peter Lindes boat, danced our socks off to hip hop and house music, nearly got thrown out of a boat, climbed to the top of an abandoned building (see pic above), ate burgers, wondered what the heck that was on Ragnar’s teeth, saw some interesting photos and soaked in the beauty of Amsterdam.

It was a great time of bonding with Ben (do you like our hip hop pose) as well which definitely left me with moments of clarity about how I am taking my main business forward. He has a more detailed review of it here.
Awesome. Looking forward to touching base with the pilots again soon in London and in the not too distant future.

Politically Speaking: Boris is new Mayor

So here I am in Rotterdam and I have found out that Boris Johnson is the new mayor of London.
I am no longer a Londoner so couldn’t vote anyway but it’s interesting to see how close this race was. So what is Boris going to do? How can he make an impact on London?
Will be interesting to watch.

Something for Nothing

I am a professional speaker. For those who don’t know what that means is that I get paid to speak.
Why do I get paid?
I get paid because I have spent a heck of a lot of time researching, writing and learning from my life experiences.
Why do people ask for me to speak?
They ask for me because they believe that I can inspire people and have either already heard me or they have been referred by others who have heard me speak.
Do I think I am a great speaker?
Well yeah, or I wouldn’t do it. If I was just good then why would I charge but yeah I think it is a gift and as such charge for my service.

So that being the case why do people phone my office, knowing I am a professional speaker and expect me to travel around the country or abroad for nothing? OK there are some instances where for the love of what I do I will travel and build relationships and partnerships with people for the future but that is when I chose to do it, rather than having someone expect me to do it for free. Speaking is a major part of my business model. For corporates, conferences and business days I do charge in the thousands. For education and non profits I charge much less but hey that is it. So just for the record and so I can link it to any one who makes the mistake of thinking I am going to travel and do what I do best for free, the answer is no. Something for Nothing does not make a great business model.

Thank you for listening.

Video of the Week: Facebloke

Majora Carter Rocks!

OK so I am a fan, but watch this video. This is a lady who knows activism. You rock.