Onwards and Upwards

Onwards and Upwards

 Planes leaving trail over blue sky

Leafing through the business section of the Evening Standard, I catch sight of a familiar face.  Carolyn McCall and I have never met, however I do recognise her as the former chief executive of the Guardian Media Group.  Today, following a considerable career change, she is running EasyJet.  She has swapped broad sheets for narrow seats.  Quite a move!

Switches in jobs always interest me, especially between industries.  I’m often reminded of the excellent Richard Alderson’s site, Career Shifters, with the great motto that “life’s too short to be miserable at work”.  If they were ever keen, I would encourage them to advertise on the London tube.  You should have seen some of the faces on there this morning.  ‘Bulldog chewing a wasp’ doesn’t even come close.
Bulldog Pup
It must be that time of year.  I put a note out on Facebook today because I had been thinking about a couple of New Year’s resolutions.  Without boring you to tears, one of mine boiled down to practising what I preach, and making considerably more helpful introductions in 2011.  On the mighty (face)book, I offered to try to help anyone who was currently ‘buffing their CV’ and thinking about a change.  To be honest, I have been amazed by how many people have been in touch.  One American colleague wonders if I would consider a US to UK ‘translation’ for his wife.  I’m not entirely sure if he wants me to change ‘buff your CV’ to ‘polish your résumé’ or whether he is looking for a wife swap.

Speaking of alternative lifestyles, I caught up with my old friend John O’Sullivan the other day.  He is one of the brains behind Ten2Two, a brilliant concept which is all about flexible working.  I don’t think John will mind me telling you that he and the team had their brainwave whilst meeting some incredibly bright ‘new mums’.  These women had formidable professional track records.  They wanted a return to work, but not necessarily back to the rat race of nine-to-five. Something more local, more civilised.  More like ten ’til two.     

You can do a lot in four hours.  Just ask Tim Ferris.  The man who brought us the Four Hour Work Week  (a must read, by the way), returns just in time for those January resolutions.  That’s right fellow Ferrero Rocher fans, it’s the Four Hour Body!  Tim is back with a physical vengeance with his latest book, which has just gone to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.  Top of the list of things ‘you will learn’, says Tim, is “How to prevent fat gain while bingeing (Xmas, holidays, weekends)”.  The book is retailing at 27 dollars.  Which, as you know, is almost a couple of Ferrero Rocher Gift Boxes.

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