The Lockdown Lists

Shadowlands, CS Lewis

SAS Rogue Heroes

My mother, and Deborah James

The next decade of my life will be the best yet

Many!

1. Sleep on it
2. No one else cares about what you care about in the same way you do
3. Believe in yourself
4. Drink water when you wake up

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead”, Blaise Pascal

1. Gabriel’s Oboe – The Mission
2. Windmills of your Mind – Dusty Springfield
3. Nimrod – Elgar
4. The Winner Takes it All – Abba
5. Scheherazade – Rimsky-Korskov

Cecile: The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, Jean Dominique Baudy.

Xavier: The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology that Fuel Success and Performance at Work, Shawn Achor

Cecile: The Playlist, a Netflix series on Spotify’s founder.

Xavier: Breakpoint, a Netflix series on tennis.

Xavier: My wife. She has an amazing ability to connect with people with genuine empathy.

Cecile: Travelling to India with YPO! I am so excited to be able to discover new parts of the world after the pandemic.

Xavier: More virtual, less authentic – more work, more family time.

Cecile: “Keep looking forward.”

Xavier: “What would you do if you were not afraid” Zuckerberg to Sandberg – Lean in.

Cecile: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage” Anais Nin

Xavier: “Be your authentic self”

Cecile: 

• Autumn Leaves, Chet Baker
• My Funny Valentine, Miles Davis
• Power of love, Celine Dion
• On earth as it is in heaven, Ennio Morricone

Xavier: 

• The One, Taylor Swift
• Ready for it, Taylor Swift (yes I am a swfity! even more than my two girls.)
• 1901, Phoenix
• Everybody Dance Now, C+C factory (promise you will love hearing it again in your car on a Friday afternoon)
• Leia, I Muvrini (corsican music for a long road-trip)

Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature 

Rubbish! Although I saw ‘A Man Called Otto’ last night and loved it.

Muhammed Ali

The new normal is not drawn from a normal distribution.

Patience and practise pays off

Be the change you wish to see in the world

Daydream Believer, The Monkees

A Rainy Night in Soho, The Pogues

Cavalleria Rusticana, Mascgni

Reach, S Club 7

The Fields of Athenry, The Dubliners

The Four Agreements – I give it at least 8 times a year, my whole family have had to read it and all my mates. It is so simple and if we taught these in school, what a different world we would live in.

I love a good miniseries – Sopranos to Miss America. Right now I’m watching Michael Pollen ‘How to Change Your Mind’, and it’s working, I’m kinda obsessed by the potential of psychedelics – in the right hands.

My mother – long story. Basically the Sound of Music…

Waking up every morning EXCITED to see what we can make happen. It usually starts with a 7am F45 gym session with black coffee and keeps that upward energy trajectory from then on, running around London, or whatever city I am in.  A LOT of time talking to my computer.  Work Life Balance is something I have always queried.  What does it even mean?

We have a duty to be joyful.  We are the lucky ones.

If it was easy, everyone would do it. It is meant to be hard; get over it.

John Mayer – chill down time and never fails me

Queen – huge fan in my teens, anything from Freddie makes me happy

Disco Inferno – I love to dance and this is the best disco track ever

and whatever my sons tell me I like – they are the playlists of my best times.

Deep Work by Cal Newport (professionally) and The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer – (holistically).

My computer screen.

The thing I tell myself when I get overwhelmed is: “just do the next right thing.”

Anyone who’s overcome obstacles and odds. The human spirit and people’s ingenuity is awe-inspiring.

Freedom 90 – George Michael

I am here – Pink

My Shot – Hamilton Soundtrack

All of Handel’s Messiah

Last Dance – Donna Summer 

Not a book, a trip to Ecuador when I was 16 changed my life and made sustainability my mission.

According to Netflix: Cocomelon – I suspect my son has something to do with this.

My grandma’s words “just death is permanent, everything else you can change or do something with”

Professionally, Bob Collymore, my former CEO at Vodafone Kenya. An amazing leader and human being.

More of a mantra than a quote: Try your best to leave things a bit better than when you found them.

• The wheels on the bus
• Twinkle twinkle little star
• Itsy bitsy spider

… my son also curates my playlist

Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan

Schitts Creek; I just love the building of the characters and discovering what is important associated with having a good family and kind and caring relationships. Laughter and love are the most valuable assets you will ever have.

Anything to do with sport whether Sean Fitzpatrick, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus . The work ethic and using everything you have to make the most of a situation and deliver either as one or a team!

The one we are all on ‘life’ It’s a trip don’t waste any part, you only have one go of it!

The more I practice the luckier I get… Never take anything for granted. Work hard and achieve it!

• Pulp – Common People this reminds me of university and makes me smile!!!
• Jamiroquai – Space Cowboy
• Passenger – Let her go
• Bruno Mars – Count on me
• Cypress Hill – Insane in the Brain

I wish more people would list novels when asked questions like this. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey was wonderful and has had way more impact me than any business book.

In non fiction, I adored Humankind by Rutger Bregman. Thoughtful, convincing and makes you want to gift it to friends.

The answer to this for 25 weeks of the year is tennis. The squeaky floor hard court tennis of the second half of the year is a true delight and is a much more interesting strain of the sport.

Tony Blair achieved more than his critics will ever dream of accomplishing.

• Tove Stryke – YouYouYou
• Murkage Dave – I had a nice time but I won’t be back
• Rina Sawayama – This hell
• Calvin Harris & Busta Rhymes – Ready or Not
• Rex Orange County – Open a window

A Raisin in The Sun.  This play by Lorraine Hansberry was the first, by a Black woman, to be performed on Broadway (sometimes called the Great White Way).  The story of a family struggling internally and externally with change in the heat of the US Civil Rights era, is a universal narrative about upward mobility and progress.   What can we keep and what must we shed as we climb the ladder.  The more challenging question is can everyone make the climb with us.  Although revived and adapted many times for stage and screen, it is the written version that changed me for good.

YouTube. The endless stream of delight and surprise I receive is truly a joy. I recommend that you immediately find a clip of Stevie Wonder and Tom Jones singing a medley of hits. Rarely have a baritone and tenor made such sweet harmony.

My parents, who deliberately chose to raise their family in the turbulent yet changing American South.

Google Meeting and sneakers (aka trainers).

Get some sleep, a bit of exercise, some water, and a good friend or two.

As my religious father said “If you want your prayers answered, then get off your knees and hustle”.

• To groove: Chic / Nile Rodgers – I want your love (extended play version)
• For inspiration: Kirk Franklin arrangement – Joyful, Joyful
• To get me moving: Donna Summer – Last Dance
• To relax me: Burt Bacharach / Hal David – A House is Not a Home (sung by Dionne Warwck, Luther Vandross or The Carpenters)
• To remind me: Earth, Wind and Fire – September

Wild Justice by Wilbur Smith. The book I was reading in the holding room just before winning gold.

Gentleman Jack, BBC

My father, who died when I was in my teens, and Henry Cooper. Henry’s life philosophy has impacted all I have done since I won gold.

The same but different

You’re only as good as your worst day

Fun’s fun but works more fun, God is in the detail and you have to work to explore it.

• Buena Vista Social Club – Chan Chan
• Rodrigo y Gabriela – Electric Soul
• Amor Verdadero – Afro Cuban All Stars
• Oye Como Va – Tito Puente

Sapiens, and in fact all of Harari’s books.

He talks a lot about a collective belief in fictional realities, such as money, and it made me understand how people create narratives to justify their own actions, and get others to follow along with them, such as capitalism promoting hyper-consumption and supporting mass environmental destruction in the name of ‘progress’.

Making change towards a more sustainable future requires altering these narratives in order to reward ethical and sustainable behaviours as progress.

I’m about to start Stranger Things…

Jane Goodall – legendary.

Post A-Level Summer

Care deeply – but be selective about what you care about. You can’t solve everything, but can have a big impact on what you choose to care about.

“Rather than being overwhelmed by the complexity of the problem, fall in love with the creativity of the solution.” – Mary Heglar

• Vienna – Billy Joel
• Where is my Mind – Pixies
• Writer in the Dark – Lorde
• Babel – Mumford and Sons
• Beach baby – Bon Iver

A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Maid, a series on Netflix

My mother. She instilled the true essence of resilience in me.

My new normal post lockdown is getting used to less spontaneous travel.

Every problem has a solution.

 ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’ by Mahatma Gandhi

• Jai Jagdeesh – In Dreams
• Culture Club – Karma Chameleon
• Whitney Houston – Dance with Somebody
• Bob Dylan – Forever Young
• Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive

There is not one book, but for this year I will choose Ryan Holiday’s Courage is Calling

Steven Bartlett’s The Diary Of A CEO

My mum

Chilled

Tame your Fear by doing the thing that drives it over and over.

Think Big, Take Small Steps and Build the Future you Want 😊

• Seven Wonders – Fleetwood Mac
• Breathe – Blu Cathrall
• Nemesis – Benjamin Clementine
• Go Solo – Tom Rosenthal
• Fire – Gary Clark

I’m perpetually looking for the best Scandi thrillers…each new one manages to shock me for a little while.

I’m going to be honest here and admit I’m watching The Ultimatum on Netflix. I love some good reality TV to really unwind.

PensionBee’s customers inspire me to do more and be better. We regularly share customer stories in our weekly town hall.

I can do it in two words – Mummy CEO.

Be yourself and have fun in everything you do.

If it was easy someone else would already be doing it.

I love these new remixes that combine old school 90s hits with new takes, such as Dua Lipa’s Love Again. I have a few of those on repeat when I do my daily runs.

Elon Musk’s biography by Ashlee Vance. Taught me to stop being comfortable and take some risks.

Better Call Saul. Breaking Bad is my favourite show of all time.

In life generally, my parents and grandparents. Came from nothing, didn’t make any excuses, smiled and built great lives for themselves.

In business, Elon Musk. For continually rolling the dice with his own money for the benefit of humanity.

Living in the North, working half in London and half back where I grew up.

Delete your social media. Go outside.

Don’t take anything anyone says to you personally. Good or bad.

Massive hip-hop fan, so bingeing a few new albums right now:

1. Kendrick Lamar – N95
2. Kendrick Lamar – Rich spirit
3. Kendrick Lamar – Mother I sober
4. Pusha-T – Just so you remember
5. Malaa – Notorious 

Emotional Agility by Susan David

Collateral on Netflix

My Mum

There is never a normal. I try to embrace uncertainty and see where the world takes me.

Treat everyone you meet with respect.

The lockdown playlist that I do daily with 5 friends – the only criteria being you have to choose a song that brings you joy.

The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

Billions and Rasied by Wolves

My mother.

Too many meetings. Not enough exercise. General anxiety.

Do not worry about things you have no control over.Be a nice person.

• Be curious, not judgmental – Walt Whitman
• ‘Confidence is silent, insecurities are loud’  

• Touch – Big Wild
• The Last Goodbye – ODESZA
• Corps – Yseult
• Inner Light – Elderbrook and Bob Moses
• Cherry – Jungle

Two books have changed my life:

• A Whole New Mind: why right brainers will rule the future by Dan Pink
• Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor

When I was doing my research into Dyslexic Thinking skills these books both contributed to my lightbulb moment because they extol the virtues of “right-brained” thinking and its value in the future. ‘Right brained thinking’ is Dyslexic Thinking.

This is Us. It’s such a beautiful isight into family dynamics and their strengths, weaknesses and twists. And the way it switches between the past, current and future is a really moving tale of how the balance within families changes over time… and why its’ important to value each other, and every minute.

Probably Erin Brockovich the consumer, environment activist who. She is dyslexic and despite only being educated as a legal clark she built and won a case against the giant Pacific Gas and Electricity getting compensation for thousands of people.  I love seeing brave individuals taking on giants and winning…she believed in her cause, knew her end goal and just didn’t give up. It teaches us all that passion and purpose can win. It was made into a great movie too.

A world without standardised tests, where everyone (young and old) is valued for their individual strengths, not measured and compared to outdated norms.

Lean into your superpowers and delegate your kryptonite. When you do what you’re good at you love what you do, and your challenges will be someone else superpower. This is essential for dyslexics but great for any team.

 “Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it” Roald Dahl 

• Life on Mars – David Bowie
• Our House – Crosby Stills and Nash 
• This Feeling – Alabama Shakes
• Time Machines – Edward Knocks
• Empire State of Mind – JayZ and Alicia Keys

The Art of Happiness, and The Power Of Now

• My Octopus Teacher
• Inventing Anna
• 14 Peaks
• The Social Dilemma

A mix of people, I believe it is hard to have all in one person… my parents, friends, my niece, Mandela, my team even my adopted dog Luna inspires me. I have learned in life to surround myself with diverse group of people who contribute into my life helping become a better version of myself. It is the mix of skills, ideas, cultural, emotional and intellectual intelligence which inspire me.

Dance to the rhythm of life with curiosity and surrender with an open heart and mind, listening to my intuition.

Focus on what you DO have, observing, trusting and letting go and remember the NO you already have it go for the YES in life in order to make things happen you need to move. Be an explorer and dancer in life.

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” – Wayne Dyer

• My way – Frank Sinatra
• Danit – Lunita
• Shallow – Lady Gaga
• If you want to sing out, sing out – Cat Stevens
• Only time – Enya
  

On care for our Common Home – Pope Francis, Laudato Si’

David Attenborough’s Green Planet

My mother, because she loved so fully for 95 years and sprinkled happy dust on everyone she met.

Live less globally and more locally.

Get a sense of the infinitude of Love that is a resource for more patience, forgiveness, gratitude, generosity and kindness for others and for all life.

To work things out in a conflict, understand there is not one truth, find what you have in common, and don’t make judgements.

The artist Cosmo Sheldrake

Waste by Tristram Stuart

Ted Lasso – so heartwarming and funny. Never judge a book by its cover.

In work – Paul Polman. Making change from within and being brave to go against those around him.

A better balanced me.

·

Listen to your gut. The best decisions you will make in life are not made on facts.

Don’t hold on to things too tightly.

• There will be time – Mumford & Sons & Baaba Maal
• Gamble for a Rose – King Charles
• Alaska – Maggie Rodgers
• If I should fall behind – Dusty Springsteen
• Guiding Light – Mumford & Sons

The road less travelled by M. Scott Peck

After Life by Ricky Gervais on Netflix

Marcus Rashford

Angry at the state of populist politics, but also trying to be more content with life.

Have a good laugh at least once per day

Keep learning & re-inventing yourself

A mix of sombre and needing to lift my mood:

• Cold – Elton John and Dua Lipa
• Anything Abba
• It’s a Sin – Years & Years (also an amazing series)
• Don’t let the sun go down on me – George Michael & Elton John
• You raise me up – Josh Groban

Factfulness, it made me look at change-making from a brand new lens and re-energized me to address it with a new perspective. Also, Sapiens, it helped me learn so much about why we are the way we are, life started to make sense!

Mahabharata, one of the two epics of India. It is replete with lessons of life.

Everyone inspires me, especially my family. But, Steve Jobs & Indra Nooyi have been two people I’ve looked upto for as long as I can remember. Steve Jobs’ once said – “Musicians play their instruments, I play the orchestra.” This was a defining moment for me as leader. Indra Nooyi is an incredible leader and female role model, especially for young Indians, and a true force of inspiration. 

Learning to live in the present. 

Fail fast & fail quickly to build your resilience, strive to persevere and learn quickly and learn more. I believe that everyone has a 1% chance of success in life, especially when you set out to be different and do differently. If you do 1000 things, you’ll succeed 10 times but if you do 100 things, you’ll succeed only once. Doing more will also help you fail fast and learn quickly.

Your capabilities lie beyond your capacity to believe in them. 

• Unstoppable – Sia
• Believer – Imagine Dragons
• Willow – Taylor Swift
• Leaving on a Jet Plane – cover by the Macaroons Project
• What a Wonderful World – cover by Renee Dominique

The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato

Succession on HBO

My 9 year old son, Samuel. Seeing him (and his younger brother, Aidan) grow up is like watching your own memories flash before your eyes whilst being able to help design and shape the outcome this time around.

New normal is back to the commute and enjoying the physical and mental separation between home and work.

 “You get what you measure”

Build a network of collaborators, be kind to them and ask for help every once in a while.

• Under Pressure – Queen
• Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
• Boomerang – Imagine Dragons
• Hello – Erato
• Don’t Take the Money – Bleachers

The Bible! That also happens to be the only book I have ever read cover to cover.

I don’t watch TV, as usually I don’t have enough spare time, but if I do, I usually have it in the background when I am working on my laptop. Generally, I love any Jurassic Park movie, or anything to do with Planet of the Apes!

My son. He taught me that there is another level of communication that is beyond words. 

Working with business attire above my waist and casual attire below it! 😊

Discover what your hidden talent is in life, and use it to do something that gives you happiness.

“If you lead with purpose, people will follow, and profit will come.”

I love this question because I have an extremely eclectic taste in music

• Thomas Otten – Ombra Ma Fui
• Era – Don’t go away
• Andrea Bocelli – If Only (Ft. Dua Lipa)
• Ten Sharp – You
• Carpenters – Top of the World

I loved On the Black Hill when I was younger.

Just watched 14 Peaks on Netflix which was pretty impressive.

Too many to list but Florence Nightingale and Betsi Cadwaladar were woman that were well ahead of their time in achievements and aspirations.

12 hours of video calls…

Where the mind goes the body follows 

 Prepare to be Marmite!

• Beneath Your Beautiful, Labrinth
• All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor
• Mellt, Meinir Gwilym
• Brace, Sara Bareilles
• Kings & Queens, Ava Max

‘Let the record Show – A Political History of ACT UP New York 1987-1993’ Sarah Schulman

Eastenders.

Amy Winehouse; a creative, hilarious, Jewish powerhouse

Ha! I never want to be normal, old or new.

‘Willem Arondeus: ‘Homosexuals Are Not Cowards’

Speak your truth to power, always.

• KOFFEE – Lockdown
• Celeste – Hear My Voice
• Mungo’s Hifi – Mungo’s Hi Fi x Gardna & Catching Cairo – Back In The Dayz
• Charles Aznavour – You’ve Got To Learn
• Lauryn Hill – Tell Him

We don’t really have ONE book, everyday life can change something depending on what you are experiencing.

We don’t have much time to watch a movie as our like is back to normal, means working… but if so, then an action movie where the bad guys get caught

Nelson Mandela, we lived 13 years in South Africa…

It’s not really new but I think to be healthy is one of God’s best gifts.

Have a good time and enjoy every single day.

The soundtracks for Gladiator and Bel Canto  

My Brother Jack, an Australian novel I read in my early teens about an Oz WW1 vet and the difficulties of normal life. My grandfather came back from the Somme and never discussed it, so this was my first idea of the awful impact of war and of WW1 on Oz in particular.

Just finished season 2 of the french series, Lupin, and Call my Agent. Loved the latter.

More ‘what’ is my inspiration: I love being inspired by others. Every week I get to interact with so many inspiring people. Just this week at an event with Bernard looney, CEO, BP and hearing how BP are dealing with climate and sustainability.

Zoom

Treat others as you’d expect to be treated yourself and talk with everyone as equals.

Nothing cerebral about this random and quite eclectic list…

• Look on the bright side of life – Monty Python
• Hotel California – Eagles
• Maybe memories of summer youth – Just Like It
• What a wonderful world – Lois Armstrong
• Stairway to heaven – Led Zeppelin
• Finally a crooner, anything Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra singing together in the 60’s

When I was twelve I remember imbibing Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, the nineteenth century feminist call to arms in which a powerless woman gains agency and learns to make her own moral choices. The story has been replayed numerous times in other novels, such as Rebecca.

Such was its impact on me that I used Jane Eyre as a motif in my new novel Widowland, which is itself about a woman in an authoritarian, oppressive society whose job is to censor the classics of English literature for subversive portrayals of women. Through Jane Eyre, my heroine gains agency and learns to see for herself.

I’m having a Le Carré binge, rewatching The Night Manager, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (both Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman) and Smiley’s People.

He’d laugh to hear this, but probably my late husband, Philip Kerr, for his formidable work ethic, his sense of humour and his aggressive Scottish refusal to acknowledge setbacks.

Outwardly the same; same writing desk looking out at the same trees, but inwardly transformed in the way I perceive and question both my own assumptions and those of society around me…

Say yes. Make connections. Go out even when you don’t feel like it. Serendipity shapes lives and life is short so maximise your opportunities.

So many! But if I can single out two, they would be…

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when? – Rabbi Hillel

And William Blake’s manifesto ‘I must create a system or be enslaved by another man’s’

• Rachmaninov symphony number 2 Op. 27 III Adagio
• I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free – Nina Simone
• Mozart Serenade for Winds No. 10 in B-Flat Major K361 ‘Gran Partita’ III Adagio
• They Don’t Know – Kirsty MacColl
• Bach the Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 Prelude C major BWV 846

It was Emma by Jane Austen because I was not a reader when I was growing up and well into my teens, but this was the novel that turned me, at 18, and became a gateway to reading as a voluntarily, desperately-loved pursuit – and decided my career too I suppose.

About five minutes into the first episode of the new season of Succession, I realised I remembered absolutely nothing about the previous two, so I have gone back to the beginning.

Hopefully, by the time I’m done, the whole season will have dropped, sparing me the diabolical wait between episodes they’ve decided we have to endure, like it’s 1995.

Hilary Mantel, for what she has been able to achieve as a writer, despite suffering with extreme illness all her life, what supreme endurance it must have taken. That she has managed to write at all in the face of such challenge is inspiring; that she could write like that.

Being alone can’t be a condition for writing as it always was for me before because, lockdown first, and now this new way of Covid-living means I am seldom on my own anymore.

Although it goes against advice – that it’s important to resolve the small, everyday grievances in our nearest relationships, marriages, friendships, siblingships, by talking about them and expressing our feelings – I honestly think, sometimes? Just bottle it up. Bottlers get such bad press, but if the conflict really is a minor one, I think containing your feelings and just waiting for the thing to pass, which they do, is an act of immense generosity, which requires the kind of self-possession and character that should be applauded.

“Be that as it may.” Like so many people, I have always found letting go of my failures difficult and forgiving myself for them nearly impossible but I always thought it was prerequisite to moving on. A year or two ago I decided to stop trying at self-forgiveness and just exist alongside my failures. To work around them but saying, I failed in these ways but, be that as it may, I am going to proceed.

I did have a playlist called Forced Positivity, inadvertently folk/country in theme, which I made myself listen to when I was feeling quite the opposite: 

• Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton
• The Dog Days are Over by Florence + The Machine
• I am a Rock, by Paul Simon
• The Road by Emmy Lou Harris
• Wonder by Natalie Merchant

In the Footsteps of Scott by Roger Mear and Robert Swan. I wrote about the impact it had on me here: http://scottexpedition.com/blog/ripples-circles/all

Right now I’m in a remote corner of the NW Scottish Highlands (with no TV) so I’m watching the clouds rolling over the Foinaven Ridge.

I quite enjoyed Vigil on BBC iPlayer recently though, and I watched Adam Curtis’s Bitter Lake recently, which was profoundly thought-provoking…

We’re currently staying with John Ridgway and his family up in Scotland (he’s 83 now). Working for him as a teenager was a seminal period in my life – he rowed across the Atlantic with Chay Blythe in 1966, and sailed the yacht that’s outside the window here now no less than four times. It was his energy, courage and fierce determination that inspired me then, although these days I can’t help thinking that his wife Marie Christine is the really impressive one…

Less travel, more Zoom, lucky to live in the countryside!

Work hard and be nice to people.

I had my first tattoo this year, aged 43, on the inside of my left wrist. ‘Panta Rhei’ which translates literally as ‘everything flows’ and is an aphorism both Plato and Heraclitus referred to. To me it’s a reminder that nothing is forever, and that everything – even the things we perceive as constants – are always changing. Plato said “Nothing ever is, everything is becoming… all things are in motion like streams… all things are passing, and nothing abides”. 

I also love ‘It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.’ — Telamon of Arcadia, mercenary of the fifth century B.C.

The Long Journey Home – Catching Flies

Escape Artist – Zoe Keating

August 10 – Khruangbin

All I Know – Rahzel

Culverhouse – Wardown

(I have a pretty rogue taste in music – it’s either for working to, or for working out to…)

Astrid Lindgren, The brothers Lionheart (as a child) 

Eckhard Tolle, The Power of Now (as an adult)

I am not watching anything at the moment

Jane Goodall, because her work and never-ending passion shows that long-term focus has a value, both for the outcome of the work but also for the individual and for the society at large. 

My new normal is that many others see my old normal as normal, as I already before the pandemic spent a lot of time home with my son.

The finest thing you can give to another person is time and attention – think about that as often as you can

“I have time because there is so much I don’t need to do”

The show must go on – Queen

Bed of roses – John bon Jovi

Military March, Marche Militaire – Franz Schubert

Con Te Partirò – Andrea Bocelli

Lose my mind – Myra Granberg

Mindful of Race, Ruth King

A YouTube video on Traditional Ecological Practices for Fire.

Rowen White, an Indigenous seed steward and farmer.

I am surrounded by the devastation of a landscape and community burned by wildfire, juxtaposed with the beauty and resilience of wildflowers and hummingbirds and resprouting trees.

It’s the everyday moments that matter. Practice being present here and now.

“Love and justice are not two. Without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters.”

― angel Kyodo williams

• Switch Lanes – Tkay Maidza
• Grew Inside the Water – Mimi Gilbert
• Howl – The Bones of J.R. Jones
• U Know What’s Up – Donell Jones
• La Vida Es Un Carnaval – Celia Cruz

An American Websters dictionary. In 1943 I was given this as prize as an 8 year in a running race. I found the name Reebok in this dictionary in 1960.

Sport, I’m currently following the F1 season.

Winston Churchill.

Get your vaccine and wear your mask.

Trust your gut instincts.

Just keep going.

I am not that into music so I don’t have playlists, but my playlist would be a mixture of Benny Goodman and ABBA. 

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Dave Chapelle. Closer! 

My great-grandfather

Try a Swimrun!

“At the end of our exploring we come back to the beginning and know the place for the very first time”

• I can Change – John Legend
• Barefooting – Robert Parker
• A change is gonna come – Sam Cook
• Changes – Tupac
• Everything must change – Nina Simone

The Trouble with Donovan Croft by Bernard Ashley. I read this book as a child and I still remember the wonderful emotions it sparked in me. It’s about a black child who is fostered by a white family. It is a book about pain and redemption and spoke deeply to me about the need to listen and consider other points of view.

Better Call Saul on Netflix. The Breaking Bad prequel is a joy.

Professionally, Roger Alton, the former editor of The Observer who taught me that journalism is about the reader, the audience – it’s not about you.

Personally, my partner and my children.

“Listen more.”

“Engage with the quietest person in the room.”

 “Friends and I have fun along the way” (from Keep on Moving by Soul II Soul)

• Freedom Suite Young Disciples
• Do Nothing The Specials
• Keep on Moving Soul II Soul
• Lane Boy twenty one pilots
• Symphony No. 2 in E Minor Sergei Rachmaninov

The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi.

David Bowie did the soundtrack to the BBC four part adaptation. I love how Kureishi’s novels always have such a strong musical narrative running through them. The main character, Karim, is a queer mixed race kid from South London – a true inbetweener, belonging nowhere. I read it around the same age he is in the novel. It woke me up and made me laugh and see myself in a whole new light. I always picture Ab Fab’s Edina Monsoon being one of the wanna-be mystics beguiled by Karim’s dad posturing as the Buddha of Suburbia.

Pose. It’s pure queer excellence (even if it does go full Glee in season 3). It’s not just Mother Electra’s corrosive tongue and legendary reads, the sickening beauty, ball room scenes and Mother Bianca’s perfect exemplification of chosen family. The trans narrative has always been either erased, miss told or weaponised – Pose reclaims that and sets the bar in a new place. More than that, for me, it’s edified the tenet that joy is an act of resistance. We owe so much of our culture – our freedom of expression, our music, our fashion to ball culture and to the trans, black, brown and latinx homeless queers that created it.

For me inspiration is always in unexpected places. There’s a lot to be said for The Butterfly Effect and how one small interaction can pivot you in a different direction if you pay attention. I’m creating a piece of music with a group of young refugees to welcome Little Amal, a giant puppet of a 9 year old Syrian refugee to Folkestone, Kent (where I live). Most of them are here without their parents – and arrived with nothing but themselves. To be stripped back to that place and still achieve incredible things, to be able to laugh, reclaim joy, keep going and find chosen family reminded me a lot of Ball Room culture.

Since having had Covid, I found myself feeling lucky and alive with a new, very strange sense of calm – and bizarrely, despite only having about 60% of the energy I used to, I’m able to focus it on what really matters to me like never before.

Normalise changing your mind. That and that anger is initiatory, not transformative. But I think best of all – try using a teaspoon instead of a knife to peel ginger. You’ll never look back. Oh, and the secret to a good curry is to cook the garlic, onion and ginger for at least 45 minutes before you do anything else…

Joy is an act of resistance.

• Jon Hopkins – Feel Life First
• Guy Sigsworth – Prayer Wheels
• Another Sky – Was I Unkind?
• Prince – I Would Die 4 U
• Tina Turner – Addicted to Love (Live in Rio 1988, you have to watch it for the full effect)

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. I read it 15 years ago and it made me weep uncontrollably. I’ve since been too scared to read it again in case it fails to live up to the first time.

I’ve just finished The Last Dance which is the Netflix documentary about Michael Jordan. The person I’m most fascinated by is Phil Jackson, the coach.

I’m generally only inspired by people I know, so I’m going to say the Chair of our company. She’s the leader I’d like to be one day: resilient, compassionate, level-headed, human.

I spent most of my adult life caring for my mother, one way or another, and she died three weeks ago, so my new normal is not having to worry about her anymore. It’s liberating, but also feels like something’s missing all the time.

My father always told me that I should try to learn a little about everything so that I could ask intelligent questions and hold up my end of the conversation whether I was sitting next to a king or a street sweeper at a dinner party. A rather broad spectrum – which I’ve never had occasion to test –  but it’s served me well.

Try to learn a little about everything.

• Monte Cara – Cesaria Evora
• Vienna – Ben Platt
• Make it rain – Ed Sheeran
• Emoji of a wave – John Mayer
• I’ll take care of you – Beth Hart

Wilbert: The World Atlas

Bob: I’d say the Bible, even if I’m not at all a religious person. As a child in a Catholic school those stories really provoked my interest in geography, history, and ancient societies. I developed at a really young age a mental map of the middle east, Egypt and all the realm of the Roman empire, and I got a big curiosity to visit these places. It was the beginning of my travel bug and an interest in history and anthropology which never left me.

Wilbert: The sloths in my garden

Bob: Very random but I’m re-watching MERU, a 2015 documentary film chronicling the first ascent of the “Shark’s Fin” route on Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas. I love the nature and scenography, the mountains are totally another landscape, might as well be the moon. And of course I love the ambition, focus, maybe we can even say madness of these climbers.

Wilbert: Mother Nature

Bob: Well I would say Wilbert, who is my partner. He had a big influence on me especially when I began working in fashion in Europe. He was already a successful creative director with a big team but I saw how in the creative process he was always very collaborative and generous. There were certain situations I observed him actually working with quite a large talent / experience gap between himself and others at the table, be it with some young designers or even a group of marketing people, and Wilbert always treated everyone’s opinions as welcome, valid, encouraging others to get their ideas out. Wilbert’s approach is gentle and respectful and that makes others comfortable and confident, elevates them to really expose themselves and take chances. It’s a great way to work if you enjoy mixing design and travel as much as we do.

Wilbert: Spend as much time as I can outside in nature.

Bob: I’m actually a very solitary person especially in my working approach, I like to be totally alone and surrounded by silence. The last year and a half probably enabled me to take that to a bit of an extreme and I’ll need to dial it back somewhat in the near future.

Wilbert: Live for the now. 

Bob: Take action. Doing things can be far less burdensome than thinking about doing them.

Wilbert: If every religion and theology were replaced by glorification of the value of respecting others, we’d surely have a happier world.

Bob: Gratitude is underrated. Never let a day go by that you don’t actively and consciously remember the good things in your life.

Wilbert: 

• Ay mariposa – Pedro luis Ferrer (from soundtrack of Before Night Falls)
• Here comes the sun – Nina Simone 
• Sylvia – Arthur Verocai 
• Rio Amazonas – Dori Caymmi 
• Les fleur – 4Hero, Carina Andersson

Bob: Too much time alone during the pandemic let me go down so many youtube music rabbit holes! I turned up hundreds of live versions of some songs I love, here’s a few.

• Ladders – Mac Miller with Jon Batiste & Stay Human (The Late Show 2018)
• Transcendence – Carlos Santana with Greg Walker on vocals (or Soul Sacrifice performed at Woodstock, this one is a tie)
• Train in Vain – The Clash (Lewisham Odeon 1980)
• We the People – A Tribe Called Quest (Saturday Night Live 2016)
• City of Ruins – Bruce Springsteen (World Trade Centre benefit concert 2001)
• Save It For Later, cover of the English Beat – Pete Townshend and The Deep End (2010)
• Never My Love, cover of the Association – The Fifth Dimension (MDA Telethon 1971)
• Stevie Wonder and Tom Jones medley – This is Tom Jones TV show, 1969

Winning in the Second Half by Marjorie Barton

Vigil

Margaret Thatcher

Less time in London, more time at home, less time travelling, more time to relax given work fills old travel time.

Say hello to everyone, particularly people you don’t know

Trust your gut.

• Lux Arumque
• 49^th Parallel
• Concerto Antica Cantilena
• Rachmaninoff’s 2nd piano concerto
• At Sea

Sonu: As an entrepreneur running a business, two books have been instrumental in the way I manage and how our organization has evolved: “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, and “Hostage at the Table” by George Kohlrieser. George, qualified in psychology and joined the New York Police Department (NYPD) as a Hostage Negotiator. He was taken hostage five times during his career. He then retired from the NYPD and started a second life as a Management Thinker and Business School teacher. He has been on the faculty of IMD for many years. His book is a fantastic insight into leadership, the importance of creating bonds, dealing with grief and creating new attachments, as well as about secure base leadership.

Sonu: We have seen some amazing documentaries recently such as “My Octopus Teacher”, “The Little Big Farm”, and David Attenborough’s “A Life on our Planet”. Whilst Eva and I love series, we find them a bit painful as one becomes addicted and it is always a challenge to find the time. 

Sonu: My father was a big inspiration for me. Eva continues to be one.

Sonu: The new normal has involved considerably less travel. For the first 10 to 15 years after leaving university, a fortnight would not go by without a plane journey somewhere. Pre-pandemic, the longest I spent in any one location was six weeks. During the lockdown, I was barefoot for 15 months. Eva and I returned to the Maldives on the 24th of March, four days before the borders closed. For one reason or another, my planned trips were continuously canceled until my visit this summer in June to Sweden.

Whilst I miss traveling, it is clear that my new normal will involve less, with more achieved on Zoom. I still see myself traveling about five to six times a year, but this would be about a third of what I did in the past. I found a fantastic routine here in the Maldives where we are and found that I manage to have so much more time to do things that I have always wanted to, but have never been able to find the time to.

Sonu: I love two sayings from Einstein: “One must be prepared to give up who one is in order to become who one will” and “When one stops learning, one starts dying”

Sonu: My personal quote for life based on having encountered many crises during my career is:

“In one aspect, humans and organizations are like coastlines. It is the storms that shape and define us. Often, it is our response to these storms that leads to our future success.”

Sonu:

• “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson  
• “We Are The Champions” by Queen  
• “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor  
• “Touch Me in the Morning” by Diana Ross (It is such an upbeat song)  
• “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins  

Maggie: As a young 20-something, way back in the day:), a book that set me on a trajectory for the way I wanted to live was Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. It was inspirational and spiritual and gave me a roadmap for a life of meditation, mindfulness, compassion, and acceptance.

Hannah: The Bible and “Love Does” by Bob Goff

Maggie: Ted Lasso on Netflix. This is an absolutely heart-warming comedy! Ted heads to the U.K. to manage a struggling London fútbol team in the topflight of English fùtbol without having any previous experience. His character is EXACTLY the kind of joy, honesty, and humanity we all need in this intensely difficult time where we’ve had to be disconnected. Being a global fútbol fan and former player (and voting member of FC Barcelona, yes, my heart was broken over Messi), it is so funny to see this American man try to lead this team. I’ve been to many Premier League games myself and they are amongst the most intense extraordinary fans, and it is just comical to watch Ted win the hearts of the team, the fans, and beyond.

Hannah: The Serpent, on Netflix, and The Chosen, available free online.

Maggie: My hubby Hector is my best friend and a great inspirer. He pushes me to value myself, to work hard, and to strive to grow. He protects and loves people really well. He is candid when I need to get up and put one foot in front of the other but embraces me when I need it.

Hannah: I am inspired by the women in my life—all dealing with their own challenges, heartbreak, and joy. They have taught me to get up again every time I fall.

Maggie: My Dad recently passed away and I feel the compassion I’ve grown from this grief is a new and better side of me. Throughout COVID lockdown, and some long COVID issues myself, I kept thinking how life is so precious and I want to live my best version of life now, not wait for some day in the future. Hector and I moved half of the year to Barcelona to run on the beach and enjoy long Spanish lunches and siestas. We jump back to the USA to pick up the speed and to see family. I feel so grateful for taking the chance and just “making it happen” as my Dad would have said. I truly work remotely, and gratefully, it works for my life.

Hannah: My new normal isn’t necessarily slower (at all) but it’s a lot more deliberate than it was pre-pandemic. I just try to waste less time doing things that aren’t additive or deplete my energy. I can’t believe how much time I used to spend in the car driving to business meetings and lunches! Now I am more careful what I say yes to because my business and my family need me, and I want to be more present for the important moments.

Maggie: Don’t forget love and forgiveness. Never forget your true inheritance: you are loved. An open heart is the most fearless heart. To live is to see awe in each other every day. To taste love is our function. Follow the compass of your heart. Love will always blaze its own pathway. When we love, we are using the greatest power in the World. Remember that gratitude is a healing sustainer. Life Rocks. You should play your Song.

Forgiveness is everything. Forgiveness is a process that is constant, it is a muscle and must be “worked on” every day, it must be exercised. It is the grail for a blissful Life. Forgive again, and again, and again. Forgive the desire to really despise the idea of even forgiving. Watch the sharp edges wash away. And watch this forgiveness give rise to Unalterable Love. Otherwise, lack of forgiveness is a slow demise.

Hannah: Don’t strive for an easy life, devoid of problems. Life inherently is full of challenges. When we embrace that, it takes a lot of the pressure off. The book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck,” by Mark Manson is must-read.

Maggie: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  (Mahatma Gandhi)

I’ve heard many people scoff at the phrase “be the change” as if it is unobtainable. I didn’t and still don’t see it that way. We have the opportunity to change this world every day. Changing the world is possible and easy for all of us—it means you follow your bliss by giving your greatest strengths to the world moment by moment. When you do this, others do everything in their power to help you succeed because they are magnetically drawn to you. This means you inspire everyone you know to do the same, as they want this same feeling for themselves. Then they create their own paths and draw people to them. All of this equates to affecting countless people who are just like us. We change the world together. Trusting this vision has framed my life with transformative and positive power. There is a famine of encouragement and hope in this world right now. I truly believe peace comes through purpose.

Hannah: “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family” (Mother Theresa)

Maggie

• Dare to Live – Vivere, Andrea Bocelli + Laura Pausini
• Rayando El Sol – Maná, Pablo Alborán
• The Blessing – Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Elevation Worship
• Africa – Toto (was my Dad’s favorite)
• My Shot – from Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda

Hannah:

• I Like It Like That – Pete Rodriguez
• Can’t Hold Us – Macklamore & Ryan Lewis
• Bambeléo – Gipsy Kings
• The Stable Song – Gregory Alan Isakov
• No One But You – Elevation Worship

Robin: To the Ends of the Earth by Ranulf Fiennes. It gave me a thirst for travel and adventure.

Judy: The book that changed my life is from many years ago when I was a student in Oxford and it is called The Prophet by Kahil Gibran. It provides timeless spiritual wisdom on a range of subjects.

Robin: I don’t watch a lot of TV but I loved Line of Duty earlier this year.

Judy: I have had it recorded for ages, but the 2016 adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace with, amongst others in it, Lily James and Ade Edmonson.

Robin: Nick Jones – he is a very close friend. We worked together for years and has challenged plenty of conventional wisdom in hospitality.

Judy: From a design point of view it’s Ilse Crawford whose work I first came across at Soho House’s Babbington House when she was their first Interior Designer. I loved how she didn’t follow tried and tested ideas, and so, for me it was refreshing in her approach of mixing modern and classical.

Robin: I am trying to make time for the important things in life and trying not to sweat the small stuff.

Judy: I will continue to work from home as much as I can.

Robin: The harder you work the luckier you get

Judy: Hold your council

Robin: Success has many fathers, but failure is always an orphan

Judy: Do as you would be done by

Robin: A bunch of melancholy love songs! 

• If I Should fall Behind – Bruce Springsteen
• Blind Girl – Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa
• Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
• Old Love – Eric Clapton
• Forget About Georgia – Lukas Nelson

Judy: My tracks are

• Silly Games – Janet Kay
• No No No – Dawn Penn
• So Far Away – Dire Straits
• Under Pressure – David Bowie and Queen
• Logical – Supertramp

Philippa Perry’s ‘The book I wished my parents had read’

It made me think about the importance of the language you use with your loved ones – personally what I use with my two kids, but also my mother. It also alerted me to the generational legacy in parenting: how you were parented underlines how you yourself will parent.

Lupin on Netflix, and Mare of Easttown. Lupin is pure escapism while Mare of East Town is possibly the most depressing thing I’ve seen in a long time. Post-pandemic I think we all want a bit of escapism rather than drab and grim!

My dad, who was the right mix of creative and practical. He was an artist, a stay at home dad, an entrepreneur, a film extra, and a script writer. He tried everything and never had reason to say ‘if only…’ 

Navigating the pram and the shopping trolley in my hallway – I gave birth to a pandemic baby and my mother is temporarily living with us. It’s multi-generational chaos.

Turn your passion into someone else’s need.

“If your great grand parents wouldn’t recognise it, you probably shouldn’t eat it”

There have been a lot of baby discos in our house during lockdown, and I also spent this time learning the ukulele…

• ‘Knees up mother brown’ and yellow submarine’ both get my one year old daughter twerking
• David Bowie’s Rebel, rebel is my son’s favourite song
• I’ve been dancing like Morecambe and Wise to their song ‘Bring Me Sunshine’ on the dark days, and dancing to Dua Lipa for some cardio

All of them

Not much. I watch a lot of movies but manage to miss most TV, except some news programmes.

My father, and my wife, the musician Anna Phoebe 

New normal is reading more, travelling less, swimming more and walking or cycling more by the sea

You have to believe you can actually change things for yourself. You need to have people around you who think it is possible to live a better life than the one you’re living in. Being a change maker is a mindset.

Just do it

1. Raymond Carlos Nakai – he is an amazing Navajo flute player and I met him in Navajo lands where he was taking some ‘western’ ie traditional scientists through sacred ground and gave an impromptu concert on a red rock ridge as ‘expiation’ to the spirits of his ancestors.

2. Nova Lima – they are an Afro-Peruvian band. “Machete” from the album Afro, although almost anything from that album is great. They make me think not just of the Andes, but also about time I spent filming the burning of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. I traveled up beyond Porto Velho towards the Peruvian border, and it was one of the best experiences I have ever had – we even saw river dolphins. It was slightly marred by a heavily armed gang burning the rainforest and threatening to kill us…

3. Bob Dylan – almost anything but Tangled up in Blue sums up the transient nature of moving around the US (a kind of lyrical Nomadland). I used to listen to endless Dylan on long trips, Arizona was always my favourite state

4. Anna Phoebe – my wife, and anything from the new album Sea Souls 

5. The Braes of Balquhidder (pron. ‘Balwhidder) – it’s also known as Go Lassie Go / Wild Mountain Thyme and is a poem written by Robert Tannahill, a contemporary of Robert Burns. It’s a gorgeous tune with the cheerful subject of a boy asking girl for a date, but somehow really mournful. It makes me think of the North West Highlands

6. I’m tempted to add a final choice of So What by Miles Davis because I always enjoy listening to jazz

The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

The US Open! We are such big tennis fans, it’s always exciting when the Grand Slams are on.

My mother, she was my moral compass and taught me to how to live with courage and conviction.

Everything is solvable!

Prioritise your sleep, it will give you super powers!

Be the one to ignite the spark.

Head and Heart – Joel Corry
Never Seen the Rain – Tones and I
Juice – Lizzo
Love On Top – Beyonce
Tum Jo Mil Gaye ho – Mhd Raffi

• The Clock of the Long Now by Stewart Brand
• The left hand of darkness Ursula Le Guin

“The complete futility of knowing the correct answer to the wrong question”

K-dramas on Netflix, particularly Kingdom

Esther Dyson

“Focusing on problems is fine because that’s how you make solutions. But focusing on good things requires optimism, and that’s a rarer skill in life.”

Why would I only have 5 if I’m in lockdown? Is the internet broken?!

Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince

Nothing – I rarely watch TV

Boston’s Norman Knight – one of America’s greatest businessmen and philanthropists

Racing to find opportunities to take advantage of everyone else’s new normal.

Follow your heart and not your head.

My Coat of Arms’ motto – “Do well. Do good”

• Segovia – Castles of Spain
• Ry Cooder – How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?
• Clapton – Get Ready
• Pink Floyd – Breathe
• Finzi – Exeunt omnes (By Footpath and Stile)

The Handmaid’s Tale

I find inspiration in lots of different things – in small wins and in big successes. From a personal perspective, I am always inspired by Jackie Henry, my mentor. Jackie is the new People and Purpose Managing Partner at Deloitte and we’ve worked together for years. She gave me my first full-time D&I role many years ago. Her work is always human-centered and driven, and always gives results.

My new normal is different. It’s more relaxed and more laid back – less chaotic. My partner and I recently bought our first home, moving from London to Kent and it has been a wonderful experience to now spend time making a house our own home after years of renting.

Be realistic with expectations of yourself. We so often hold ourselves so high that we feel disappointed even when we should feel proud. I’ve been guilty of this in the past. Give yourself some breathing room to grow, and celebrate small as well as big wins, remembering that there’s no time limit on success.

Always consider everything outside of your own bubble.

• Death Is Not Defeat – Architects
• I’m Crazy But You Like That – Ashley Price
• Friday – Riton, Nightcrawlers, Mufase & Hypeman, Dopamine
• Papercut – Linkin Park
• Block Out The Noise – Jonny Craig

Night by Elie Wiesel 

The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski (BBC, 1974)

Robert Brewer Young

Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and showing extra kindness: we’re all mentally hurt by the past year.

I don’t have one; I need one.

“We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are.” 

• Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major
• The Beatles – Tomorrow Never Knows
• Nitin Sawhney – Nadia
• Talking Heads – Naive Melody 
• Vince Guaraldi – A Charlie Brown Christmas 

The book that most inspired me as a young adult was Herman Hesse’s The Glass Bead Game. This is pretty ironic as it has virtually no female characters! But when I spent a year recently as a Visiting Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, a community of extraordinarily intelligent and interesting people devoting themselves to the life of the intellect, I realised I was experiencing the privilege of living out The Glass Bead Game in real life.

I’ve recently finished the extraordinary BBC adaptation of Bleak House, first made in 2005, with a brilliant cast, including Anna Maxwell Martin, Carey Mulligan and Gillian Anderson. It doesn’t put a foot wrong. Luckily, the BBC has put it back on iPlayer, for those of us who missed it first time round.

Elizabeth I, who blazed her way through the prejudices of her time to become one of the best monarchs this country has ever seen.

Sitting at my laptop in my study, and occasionally gazing out of the window at the chaffinches, goldcrests, greenfinches, tits and – if I’m very lucky – great spotted woodpeckers pecking at the bird feeders strategically placed outside.

One thing leads to another. In other words, each time you meet someone new, they may open up an opportunity or introduce you to someone else, which could send your life down a different path. But you have to put yourself out there to allow this to happen.

“I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King, and of a King of England too!” – Elizabeth I

• Strange Fruit – Nina Simone
• ‘Round Midnight – Ella Fitzgerald, from her Fine and Mellow album
• Third movement of Schumann Piano Quartet No 2 in E-flat Major, Andante cantabile
• Lacrymosa from Mozart Requiem
• Good Times – Nile Rodgers and Chic (to get me dancing)

Bury The Chains by Adam Hochschild – a book about how slavery was abolished here in the UK

I’ve been watching Schitt’s Creek and, like most of us, Line of Duty.

Sir Bob Geldof

I have basically become a zookeeper for all my partner Emma’s new animals.

To make things happen, you have to make things!

You can’t be happier than happy.

• Husavik from the Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga soundtrack
• My Own Soul’s Warning – The Killers
• Don’t Go To Strangers – Paul Weller & Amy Winehouse
• Bound 2 – Kanye West
• Ode To The Mets – The Strokes

 Who Says You Can’t? You Do – Daniel Chidiac

Sweet Magnolias on Netflix

Zion, my son.

Finding peace in the reality that some things are just out of my control.

Don’t let someone’s perception of you become your reality.

 Live, Love, Laugh

• Lenu – Buju
• Just a Cloud Away – Pharrell Williams
• Homecoming – Kanye West
• Memories – Maroon 5
• Assurance – David O

Ted Simon – Jupiter’s Travels

I loved The Queen’s Gambit

Barry Sheene

I have to say nothing much has changed.

If you say you’re going to do something then do it.  You’ll be much happier.

• Mr Ritter – Stereophonics
• Ghost Town – The Specials
• Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones
• Virtual Insanity – Jamiroquai
• Boot Money – Tony Joe White

The Lonely Sea and the Sky by Sir Francis Chichester

Drive to Survive – the behind the scenes look by Netflix about F1. Gripping stuff.

My father, who sadly died in an accident with me in 1995.

My days now are now about all about efficiency. It seems possible to keep fit, have the necessary internal and external meetings and keep the troops at home happy, but this is twined with a huge desire to return to the best bits of normality.

Be half full. They are the best folk to be around.

You only live once, but once is enough if done with the right gusto.

• Have You Ever Seen the Rain – Credence Clearwater
• To Love Somebody – Bee Gees
• La Grange – ZZ Top
• The Emperor – Beethoven
• Stay With Me – The Faces

The Dream of the Cosmos by Anne Baring

I don’t have a TV and I watch films like Our Souls at Night a film with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda; For Sama a documentary about the suffering of Syrian citizens under bombardment.

Nelson Mandela. When I listened to him at a meeting of The Elders, when he started speaking I got goosebumps, and when he finished speaking 25 minutes later I still had goosebumps. It took me a long time to realise that what I was receiving was the full force of the energy of this man’s integrity.

What will change for me is cutting air travel to max one European trip per year, continuing to work from home and conduct meetings via Zoom, and to devote all my energy to sharing ways in which people can change the world by using the skills of the Mighty Heart.

Lean in, pick it up and wrestle with it, make life out of it, and be grateful.

Develop a regular practice self awareness and self reflection.

The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr and Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber

Unorthodox, for the third time.

Etty Hillesum. She was in her 20s working in a Jewish work camp and wrestled through all the degradation around her to be LOVE to those who were struggling. Her love even enabled her to recognise the humanity of the Nazi soldiers and she wrote about needing to pray for one of them. Such an astonishing woman. She lived with love and joy even to her last place; Auschwitz where she died at the age of 29.

Paying attention to the undulations and saying yes to the abundance of it all.

Lean in, pick it up and wrestle with it, make life out of it, and be grateful.

My Sandhurst Colour Sergeant bellowing: “Do the right thing, not the easy thing”, is one that I’ve found hard to shake off, especially as a parent. But the nuns I lived with used to say: “There are no shoulds and oughts in the Kingdom of God”, and my favourite, “Nothing is wasted in God’s economy.”

Who’s Yellen Now by Dessa; Sister by K.Flay;  Over the Hills by the Band and Bugles of The Rifles; Mozart’s House by Clean Bandit and, finally, this: https://open.spotify.com/album/35CNyoexp8Zy2xUchxazlu?highlight=spotify:track:7x1WulsQC3wgxveCaJJH0P 

Every book I read! I am reading War Doctor by David Nott at the moment, which is a life-changing book about a trauma surgeon who for 20 years has volunteered to fly out to disaster zones and conflict areas to treat people suffering from trauma. He also trains local doctors so they have the skills to treat the appalling injuries that war inflicts upon its victims. What an extraordinary man.

Line of Duty. It seems corruption can be hidden out of view in the most unexpected of high places.

Sir Nicky Winton who saved my life and the lives of 668 other children fleeing Nazism.

I have a brisk walk every morning followed by a cup of decent coffee. In the few gaps I have in my working day I think longingly about hill walking.

Believe in yourself and your ability to change things for the better.

“No one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.” – Warsan Shire

Smetana’s Vltava, anything by John Coltrane, Beethoven’s Third Ode to Joy, Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind, Danny Boy

The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

Call My Agent and Line of Duty

My mother, because of her resilience.

New normal means very seldom wearing a whole suit, no regular train/ Bakerloo line journeys to the Coutts HQ at 440 Strand, and regular online bridge.

Do not equate applause with success.

“Life is not a rehearsal.”

• Fats Waller – Ain’t Misbehavin
• Bach – Goldberg Variations
• The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset
• Mozart – B minor mass
• Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Summertime

Henry Steele Commager – The American Mind.  Through this I first saw how the history of ideas influenced everything from architecture to painting to law to literature to economic – the best intro to American intellectual history.

Schitt’s Creek

Henry Ford or Thomas Edison. Visionaries who built the future. I’m interested in genius… these guys fit. Ford, like Elon Musk, Jobs, Bezos and Juan Tripp, built out enormous companies to give life to their visions.

My new normal is much like my old normal but with a mask, and happily less and less so. Have lived a lot of the last few months in Florida, maybe that’s my new normal — go to where it’s normal.

Your first job is never your first job. In fact, your current job is your real first job.

“If you want to stay in it for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognise and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the sceptical mentality is at least as important as any armour of principle.” – Christopher Hitchens

• Don’t Worry – Autograf
• Gymnopedies – Eric Satie
• St James Infirmary – Louis Armstrong
• Fuare’s Requiem, especially In Paradisum
• C’est La Luna – Lou Prima

Many books have had an impact on me in different parts of my life journey. The ones that stick out are:

1. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. I read it nearly 30 years ago but I still remember the vivid descriptions and writing of the story of Indian Independence and subsequent partition from Pakistan as told through the eyes of Saleem Sinai, the main protagonist. It captured my imagination and had me gripped for days. It’s a book that I re-read every few years and it never fails to move me. I think this is my all-time favourite book.

2. Becoming by Michelle Obama, which I read during the lockdown and was moved by her honesty and integrity of her life story. It’s well written and such a poignant account of her early childhood and also about her time in the White House. I actually heard her narrate it on audible and one felt that she was sharing her life with you personally.

3. I read a lot of business books but two are constantly on my bedside table as I re-read them frequently. The first is The Armchair Economist by Steven Landsburg which explains how economics can be summarised into ‘people respond to incentives’ and then goes on to show how economists propose policy and prove that successful policies are those where incentives are aligned. It looks at all aspects of interventions from employment policies to trade, transport, and everything in between. It was such an eye-opener for me who is not an economist and helped me understand the world of policymaking. The other is by the British Economist, Tim Harford also titled The Undercover Economist, which looks at the world of economics from a micro perspective and everyday decisions. The two books are complementary and look at world issues from slightly different issues.

Like everyone else in lockdown, I binged on Netflix box sets. I generally don’t have time to watch much TV but I caught up on all the ones everyone has been talking about for ages. House of Cards, Designated Survivor, The Crown, Homeland, Queen’s Gambit etc. I am currently re-watching the first series of The Sopranos and about to re-watch the early series of Peaky Blinders, in advance of the new series being shown later this year.

I have been lucky enough to have met so many inspirational men and women and I look to many of the women I have met for inspiration. These include Dorothy Hodgkins, the only British female Nobel Laureate, Helen Sharman, the astronaut, Baroness Daphne Park, an SoE spy, Dame Stephanie Shirley, Margaret Thatcher, Shirley Williams, and many others. Closer to home, my inspiration for many years was my boss at Legal & General. Her name is Margaret Smith and she inspired me to give ‘everything a go’. She is such a visionary and was one of the early pioneering women in technology, having started her career at The Woolwich tasked with developing the first cash machines (ATMs). She was always willing to swim against the tide and back crazy ideas and the people who had them, in the then very staid and old-fashioned and male-dominated world of UK insurance. She backed me with my idea, way back in 1995, of launching a website to service customers and supported me throughout. We became pioneers as this was the first personal finance website launched in Europe!  I thoroughly enjoyed my time working with her and have kept in touch ever since. Every time we meet, her first question is always ‘what new and exciting thing are you working on now?

It seems like the old normal, just working from home a lot more and seeing fewer people in person.

Apologies to Nike for borrowing their tagline but I really do live by the ‘Just Do It’ tagline. It’s something I ‘preach’ to every incoming NEF+ cohort. It is such a powerful line but it does take courage, resilience, self-belief, confidence, and an ability to bounce back after failure – I admire all those people who just do it.

I have several but the one I use is a combination of other people’s quotes. It is: “Everyone has the right to play but you have to choose to play and once you do, give it everything you’ve got.”

I haven’t really been listening to music as most of my free time has been listening to audiobooks or on Netflix! I only ever listen to music when in my car and the radio is generally tuned in to Magic FM. No particular track comes to mind.

Identity by Francis Fukuyama – it didn’t change my life but has helped me to understand some of the undercurrents that are shaping politics and society.

Rotten – a documentary series on Netflix about the global food industry

People who get in and on in work. The workplace can be a vector for social mobility, perhaps the most potent and powerful one of all.

Balance and progress.

Embrace insecurity, it’s key to performance and drive.

“Nothing is ever as good or as bad as the first reports of excited men [or women].” – William Slim

• Short Change Hero – The Heavy
• Permanent Holiday – Mike Love
• This Too Shall Pass – Jamestown Revival
• Motherland – Natalie Merchant 
• Rapper’s Delight – The Sugar Hill Gang

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Too Close

My Dad.

“Try not to see anyone else as players in the drama of your own life and remember that they are all the stars of their own stories.”

To thine own self be true.

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”

• Esja by Hania Rani
• It’s Quiet Up Town (Hamilton)
• The Room Where It Happens (Hamilton)
• No Body, No Crime by Taylor Swift (feat. Haim)
• You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks 

I just watched Intelligent Trees which I highly recommend. I’ve been watching a lot of nature documentaries and then I’ve been enjoying Grace and Frankie as it reminds me of my dearest pal Allee Willis who was a good friend of Lily Tomlin’s also. Allee sadly passed away at the end of 2019. So I find that show very comforting. 

Mother Nature. In the words of William Blake: “Nature is imagination itself.” 

I am not a big fan of normal!

Intention is everything 

“As you start traveling down that road of life, remember this: There are never enough comfort stops. The places you’re going to are never on the map. And once you get that map out, you won’t be able to re-fold it no matter how smart you are. So forget the map, roll down the windows, and whenever you can pull over and have a picnic with a pig.” – Kermit

• Germ Free Adolescent by X-Ray Spex
• Freedom of Speech by Devo 
• Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks 
• Tramp by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas  
• Connection by The Rolling Stones 

My favourite series of books are the Philip Pullman His Dark Materials trilogy as I adore the main character of Lyra and her extraordinary bravery, but I think the book that has possibly had the most impact on my life is Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan, that I first read many years ago and it just helps me keep life in perspective – it’s all about the journey. Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness is also something that has had significant impact on how I think, especially being so immersed in the HIV epidemic and working in a wide range of low and middle income countries. It shines such a lens on how and why we think of the world and how we can be far more optimistic than the newspaper headlines would ever suggest. It’s a fantastic book.

The Crown – third series. I am not a great television watcher, but I have really enjoyed this series. I absolutely adore Princess Margaret in the first two series.

In all honesty its probably my grandmother, who played an enormous role in my childhood life. She taught me how it felt to be loved unconditionally and how to return that love. She also taught me that the only person you ever have to sleep with your entire life is yourself, so make sure you like who you are and can always sleep comfortably with yourself.

I think my life has been even more hectic in lockdown! With the exception of not travelling any more, life at BioSure has continued to race ahead.

Remember to breathe!

A very wise friend said to me: “It will be alright ion the end and if it’s not alright, it’s not the end.”

Pete Tong and the Heritage Orchestra is my go to playlist, but one of my all time favourites is Lou Reed Perfect Day  

Most recently Caroline Criado Perez Invisible Women had a huge impact on me. Still today women are missing from clinical trials data, get misdiagnosed and have poorer health outcomes. In March I chaired a conference on women’s health inequalities and will lead a year long report into improving global health outcomes for women with Public Policy Projects.

I think I’ve finished all of Netflix. I loved The Queen’s Gambit, Lupin and Seaspiracy

My Dad. He was working as a cardiologist in Soweto when I was born and scheduled a national rheumatic fever conference for the very day I was due (my mother was not amused). On the actual day I was born – two weeks early – he made national headlines speaking out about the pay of black doctors and overcrowding in the hospital. He went on to have a long and distinguished career in the UK as NHS cardiologist. All while being a kind and good father and teaching me so much of what I needed for life. He is still my first call.

Simplified – materially and mentally – I decluttered over lockdown which has been great but I’m definitely ready for a very messy night out.

Every relationship that matters – personal and professional – is based on trust. Do not break that trust, it is incredibly difficult to restore. Instead work each and every day to strengthen it.

“Never let the urgent crowd out the important” – Leo McGarry from The West Wing

Leonard Cohen – Dance Me to the End of Love

Master KG & Nomcebo – Jersusalema

Beyonce – Freedom

Peter Liesewetter – Tango Pathetique (Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Mischa Maisky)

From Copland, Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson: The World Feels Dusty – Barbara Bonney & Andre Previn

The book that changed my approached to business – Good to Great by Jim Collins

Adam Curtis’ Can’t Get You Out of My Head on iPlayer, 

My twin sister who I lost when we were teenagers. I guess I’m living my life for both of us.

Groundhog day! Focusing on small steps to achieve business strategy, enjoying being in the kids’ world & exercise.

Focus on what you can control and don’t waste time and energy on what you can’t.

“Life’s too short to waste it, make the most of the time you have.”

They’re all songs that remind me of travelling:

Sometimes – James

Clint Eastwood – Gorillaz

Hopeless Wonderer – Mumford and Sons

Get Lucky – Daft Punk

Nevermind – Leonard cohen

There have been so many pivotal books in my life that have set me off on so many exciting paths that I can’t simply give you one book. I’m going to share three: While it’s not a fun read, Sweet Poison by David Gillespie really did change my life in so many ways. At the time (around 10 years ago) I had no idea how addictive sugar was, and that its secreted in so much of the food we eat. It made me totally rethink sugar, which lead me to not only change my own diet, but also changed the way I thought about everything. I removed it from the vodka we were producing, I spent a few years teaching bartenders about it and eventually, I started to explore the weird and wonderful world of flavour.

I then stumbled across the Dorito Effect by Mark Schatzker which blew my mind and made me want to celebrate the power of nature through all-natural flavour. That journey led me to Ben Branson of Seedlip who shared one of his favourite books, Biomimicry by Janine Benyus with me (which I stole for a while!) I then spent a few years banging on about nature, before Ben offered me an outlet for all my passions, which is how Æcorn was born.

Books really can change your life! But, I would say that if you ever find yourself sat next to me at a dinner party, please don’t ask me about sugar, flavour or nature. I can very quickly get nerdy and boring!

Nothing. I have officially completed Netflix.

In all seriousness, I am trying to watch less TV and read more.

In a previous life, way before I came to the drinks industry I was studying law and I wanted to be a barrister, so Ruth Bader Ginsburg has always had a special place in my heart. She was the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. She was the second woman to sit on the United States’ Supreme Court. She had an almost superhuman capacity for work throughout her life, famously supporting her husband who was battling cancer while they were both at Harvard Law School, taking notes for him, bringing up their first child while also holding down a post on the Harvard Law School. She was a fierce defender of women’s rights, LGBT causes and racial equality. She was an trailblazer, an icon and not only a force to be reckoned with at the bar, but also in the gym, continuing to train with her PT well into her final years. When I’m battling imposter syndrome, I often think of her quote ‘”Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.”

My dog is wondering when he’s going to get some alone time.

“Say yes and figure out how to do it later.”

So often we say no to great opportunities because we’re not sure we’ve got the right experience, or enough experience. I’m not sure who gave me this tip, but it has served me well. I’ve appeared on countless terrifying TV shows, jumped into exciting job opportunities and embarked upon a long distance relationship despite everyone saying they never work out (we’ve been married seven years and counting). Getting out of our own way is often the best way.

“We forgot how to know when we learned how to please.”

As a recovering people-pleaser, this quote by Glennon Doyle really stopped me in my tracks. It’s impossible to truly know the right path to take, or decision to make when you’re trying to keep everyone happy but yourself.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun – Cyndi Lauper

You’ve Got the Love – Frankie Knuckles remix (although I love the Candi Staton original and Florence cover too!)

Lizzo – Tempo

Taylor Swift – Lover

Grandma’s Hands – Bill Withers

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

One Strange Rock on Netflix 

Rachel Carson, the biologist who bravely started the environmental movement with her book Silent Spring.

My new normal is prioritising time with my family and living life as if each day could be the last. I strive to make every minute special, to be grateful for what I have and to consciously and consistently develop my relationship with this amazing planet we share. 

Grow. Whether you are developing yourself or nursing a houseplant – progression is immensely satisfying.

Anthony Beevor – Stalingrad

Small Axe

Paul Lindley. He showed me that there is another way to run a company and he believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.

Working from home more, being more present for myself and my family.

Work out what truly gives you deep fulfilment at work.

• Teardrop – Massive Attack
• Release the Pressure – Leftfield
• Resolve – Audien
• Can’t Hold Us – Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis
• You Got the Love – The Source ft. Candi Staton (New Voyager Mix)
• Younger – Seinabo Sey (Kygo Mix)

There are really two; my favourite Long Walk to Freedom is the most inspirational book about leadership, values and resilience, and caused me to think deeply about impact and making a difference. The other How Things Work: The Universal Encyclopaedia of Machines, was a great source of answers in my 20s for my curious nature and interest in solving problems.

I loved The Queen’s Gambit, just finished Lupin and next up Call My Agent.

Most of all Nelson Mandela, who set a global standard for determination, humility, peace and reconciliation. However I am frequently inspired by words and actions of the next generation, most recently Amanda Gorman at the inauguration of President Biden; ‘The Hill We Climb’ – it says it all. But watch out in U.K. for Gabrielle Matthews and other young #iwill ambassadors for youth social action.

That has not arrived yet; my ‘transition normal’ is a lot of Zoom, more exercise, love of family at great distances, and enthusiasm to really build back better – yes we can.

Make a list of 50 things you really want to do. Writing each wish down is the first step towards their achievement.

“It is not whether you get knocked down. It is whether you get back up.” – Vince Lombardi

This for me was the hardest question by far – I love listening to music!

• Living in a Ghost Town – The Rolling Stones
• Wonderful Tonight, Eric Clapton (1991 Live Royal Albert Hall, 21 Nights)
• Blinding Lights – The Weeknd 
• Skin Deep – Buddy Guy
• Purple Rain – Eric Clapton, Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019
• I’d Rather Go Blind – Beth Hart

The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin

Past videos of the great jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette

My dad because it was what he didn’t say that was important

My ‘new normal’ is letting my senses breath and allow them to guide the decisions I make.

Listen to yourself.

Listening is the backbone to everything we do in life.

• Battle Cry by Evelyn Glennie and Michael Brauer
• Switch by Michael Levine
• Speigel im Spiegel by Arvo Part
• Goldberg Variations by J. S. Bach
• Dream by John Cage

I have been changed by the sum total of all the books I’ve read, the experiences I’ve had, the people I’ve met – so, no one book in particular.

McDonald & Dodds. At the end of a busy week, it’s a bit of comfort TV. I love the geometric beauty of Bath, and I can identify with Dodds.

Saint Cecilia – the patron saint of musicians, who (according to W. H. Auden) ‘appears and inspires’. She doesn’t always come calling when I’d like her to

The same as the old normal, minus the global travel when I’m conducting; composers work in isolation anyway, so we’re used to it.

Try not to waste time, but if you do, waste it enjoyably.

Try to leave something good behind you.

1. J. S. Bach: Complete Sacred Cantatas (Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki).

This 55-CD box set has been my constant companion since the pandemic began. An inexhaustible treasure house.

2. R. Vaughan Williams: Symphony no. 5

Written as World War II raged, this inspirational symphony pointed towards a world of peace and light. The London Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle performed it at the the 2020 Proms, and few eyes can have been dry as they heard it.

3. The King’s Singers and George Shearing: Get Happy

One of my favourite King’s Singers albums, they teamed up with my late friend Sir George Shearing, probably the greatest jazz pianist of his generation, for an album that is guaranteed to make the world seem a more cheerful place. I love to play it while I help my other half cook dinner.

4. Rodgers and Hammerstein: Oklahoma (1955 film version recording)

I haven’t needed to play this: the eternally captivating songs from this most optimistic of R & H musicals are always bouncing around in my head somewhere. Like the Vaughan Williams symphony, Oklahoma was written during World War II and gave American audiences a sense of the country, and the world, they were fighting for and looking forward to when the war was over.

5. Britten, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (available on the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra website).

An extraordinary recording of this was made by my good friends the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra during last year’s lockdown. It was pieced together with huge skill and patience, instrument by instrument, by the orchestra’s vice-chairman Matt Knight, from individual recordings made by all the musicians in their own homes. The ‘conductor’ was Alexander Shelley, the rising-star son of my old school friend Howard Shelley. I don’t know how they all did it, but it’s a masterly performance of an orchestral classic. It stands as a symbol of what our fantastic musicians can achieve in the face of impossible circumstances.

(a) Access to audiobooks (b) Gandhi by Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph.

Satajit Ray’s classic Apu trilogy, The Battle of Algiers, Selma, Amazing Grace, The Grapes of Wrath, and much more!

Mohandas Gandhi. He showed the world how to overturn all injustices by giving everyone the life power of being a giver.

Totally engaged! Spotting new ideas and design connections, including how-to’s, many times each day. Enjoying Ashoka’s extraordinary global community of the world’s best social (in it for the good of all!) entrepreneurs working together to ensure that everyone has the power to give – each one so powerful and so powerfully good. The mechanics aren’t that important.

A healthy, happy, good life comes from giving; and the greatest gift is that of giving the power to give.

“There is no better deal than to work for the welfare of the whole world.” – Ashoka, Sixth Rock Edict (third century BCE).

A sampling includes Si Khan’s Crossing the Border, movement music from Amazing Grace through Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Indian classical, especially Ali Akbar Khan, classical (all), and classic rock.

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

Our Planet and The Adventures of Merlin

My mother. She respects and appreciates the slightest thing, which may be overlooked or underestimated by others, such as and especially her role as a mother and a housewife.

The new normal is… not-so-normal. But hey, what’s normal anyway?

Think of it as if you’re going to make a history – everyone has their own pace and path, but those who give up will never make one. How do you want to be remembered?

Mulya Sesarengan / For the welfare of all

• Until the Last Moment by Yanni
• Gunung Salahutu by Jaya Suprana
• The Cello Song by The Piano Guys
• Saint Honesty by Sara Bareilles
• The Joke by Brandi Carlile

Eco Barons by Edward Humes. It recounts how successful businesspeople have used their wealth or platforms to drive positive environmental action.

I don’t watch much TV at all, but have just been utterly absorbed by The Queens Gambit.

I would have to say my Dad, who is a pretty unique and inspiring person!

Busy.

Never, ever, ever, ever give up.

Expect nothing; work hard; celebrate.

This Must Be The Place (Talking Heads), Praise You (Fatboy Slim), Zamilou (Bu Kolthoum), Living In A Ghost Town (The Rolling Stones), You’ve Got The Love (Florence + The Machine)

Body and Soul by Anita Roddick is a truly fantastic read for anyone looking to get under the skin of an ethical-by-design business. Anita didn’t build the Body Shop with some self-conscious concept of ‘sustainability as a competitive advantage’ she simply built a business she was passionate about and proud of, one step at a time and it’s wonderful to be taken on that journey. In this book, she talks about the way they evolved the business to protect, educate and empower their workers and she reflects on the moment that she realised The Body Shop had enough influence to make meaningful change above and beyond the beauty products in her shop. 

My TV comfort food is Parks and Recreation, it’s my favourite show of all time and Lil Sebastian never fails to pick me up when I’m low. 

I’ve also recently been devouring that new Channel 4 show It’s A Sin. It follows an eclectic group of friends growing up in London in the 80s. The show is a bizarre collision of youthful joy and complete sadness as we watch the gay community being ravaged by aids and alienated by the mainstream. It’s an important story that’s rarely told and I’m loving the show! 

Rose Marcario CEO of Patagonia. She has reimagined capitalism, through a lens of kindness, civic-engagement and compassion and she brought it to life through Patagonia.

As the founder of an ‘ethical advertising’ company, I’m often torn between our mission to harness advertising as a force for good, and the fundamental truth that consumption is bad for our planet. Advertising ethically is complicated, some would even argue impossible, but then I’m sure people also said it’d be impossible for Patagonia to become a billion-dollar company whilst actively telling people “Don’t Buy This Jacket.” Rose is an activist who’s earned respect and influence within our ruthlessly corporate society, and I would be so honoured to hear about her journey.

Which pair of leggings has the fewest stains on? 

I have no authority to tell people how to live, but personally, I try to listen more than I speak, say yes more than I say no and sleep as much as humanly possible. 

• Alabama Shakes – Sound and Colour 
• Vulfpeck – 1612   
• Janelle Monae – Pynk 
• Sinkane – How we be  
• Dolly Parton – The Grass is Blue 

Books are my life. Impossible to name one that did all the heavy lifting. I loved Kipling’s Just So stories as a child.

Unbelievable on Netflix. What crime really means for women.

My brother and sister, 11 and 13 years older than me, were my biggest influence

Much like my old normal; when you’re very disabled, you tend to stay at home and be fairly invisible

Do a lot of dancing.

“It’s the hope I can’t stand”

There have been many books and authors that have had a profound effect on me, most notably and recently The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

I have a strong sense of justice and I was inspired to study law because of the injustices I saw unfolding around the world at that time.

The rule of law – which has come into focus in recent weeks because of clauses in the government’s Internal Market Bill, which break international law – has an impact on citizens and their right to self-determination, is important to me. 

The Law Society’s role as a guardian of the rule of law, means we have an important responsibility to ensure access to justice is available to all. 

I am inspired in a myriad of ways by Mahatma Gandhi – a great lawyer who inspired civil rights movements across the world.

He also demonstrated what forgiveness looks like – he walked with faith and not by sight. In addition, the man who took a long walk to freedom, Nelson Mandela, to the man who had a dream, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, to the lady who saw beauty in everyone, Mother Teresa. We are all benefactors of their work.

“You’re on mute!”

Every door is open if you PUSH, Persevere Until Something Happens.

Hope- Faith Evans and Twista

Have a Little Faith – Nicky Thomas

Heal It – This was sent to me at the height of the pandemic and I couldn’t listen to it without crying.

Giant – Calvin Harris ft Rag n Bone Man. This has been my ringtone since I was elected as deputy Vice President of the Law Society.

Three Little Birds – Bob Marley.

The Diary of Anne Frank

Billions

My dad and his two brothers. Work ethic, honourable – I could go on and on…

Watching sport on TV between Zoom calls

Just be nice to everyone

Beethoven – Eroica Symphony; Puccini – Madame Butterfly; Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony; Mahler – Ruckert Lieder; Barbara Cooke And Samuel Ramey – Singing If I Loved You From Carousel; Brahms Intermezzi For Solo Piano

Colleen: How Europe underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney

Valerie: It’s hard to point to one specific book. Stuart Hall’s work had a profound impact on me including ‘Policing the Crisis’ and ‘Resistance through Rituals’. Toni Morrison’s work, particularly ‘Beloved’, and Angela Davis’s ‘Women, Race and Class’.

Colleen: Brigerton and Tolkein

Valerie: Lupin

Colleen: They are all connected: My parents and those of windrush generation of course my sister

Valerie: My parents – for being incredible role models, for teaching me about the importance of understanding where one has come from, for instilling curiosity, for hating injustice and believing in equality, for nurturing talent, and for being real. They understood the importance of family and community. They knew how to share, to be generous and enjoy life.

Colleen: My new NOW revolves around the use of technology to keep in touch with my entire family, work colleagues and friends – my garden, cooking and Netflix.

Valerie: Hours spent on and watching a small screen.

Colleen: Always remember you are, same as any, better than many, inferior to none.

Valerie: Know yourself and remember to laugh.

Colleen: “Education is not a guarantee of wealth but it is against abject poverty”, Michael Amos

Colleen: Gregory Abbott, Shake you Down; Lionel Ritchie, Once twice three times a lady; Sounds of Blackness, Optimistic; Bob Marley, War; Candy, Cameo; Pump me Up, Krosfyah

Valerie: Sam Cooke, A Change is Gonna Come; Angelique Kidjo, Mama Africa; Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On / Inner City Blues; David Rudder, Bahia Girl; Anita Baker, You Bring me Joy

Richard: The Bible

Daniel: I’m listening to more podcasts. One that I highly recommend is ‘Have you heard George’s podcast?’, it’s a brilliantly articulated blend of musical storytelling and important social commentary.

Richard: Lupin.

Daniel: It would be impossible for me to choose between Valerie and Colleen Amos so I have to include them both! Colleen has been instrumental in helping to realise the potential of a generation of young Londoners who may not have had the confidence or support to pursue further education. Valerie’s achievements on the world stage speak for themselves yet she remains so personable and always willing to offer advice to the leaders of tomorrow. Both inspirational in their own right.

Richard: Myself, constantly finding ways to make light of dim situations.

Daniel: My new normal is settling a daily target of 10 000 steps a day, achieving around 300 but still rewarding myself!

Richard: Nothing is normal.

Daniel: Stay curious and never stop trying to learn.

Richard: Work at what you can change for the better.

Daniel: Be the change that you wish to see in the world.

Richard: Variety is the spice of life!

Daniel: Labi Siffre, So Strong; Donny Hataway, Love, Love, Love; Bill Withers, I Can’t Write Left-Handed; Nao, Make it Out Alive; Anderson Paak, Lockdown

Richard: Rick Ross, Santorini Grece; Andre Bocelli, Caruso; WizKid, Essence; Maria McKee, Show Me Heaven; Malaika, Destiny

I suppose my very first was Great Expectations – which I got as a Christmas present when I was four! When I was finally old enough to read it, the twist made my head reel. I saw the power of story-telling right there

We’ve just finished Series 3 of the brilliant French series Call My Agent – deliriously silly and joyous. Also The Undoing which was like a a HBO/ Sky thriller with big stars. Incredibly daft.

I’d have to say Alan Bennett and Nigel Kneale. Between those two extraordinary talents lies my field of interest! Bennett has a beautiful ability to combine laughs and melancholy and uncanny eye for the absurdities of ordinary life. Kneale was a true visionary. A man who ‘could see round corners’. His speculative science fiction is just extraordinary. Yet he was also deeply rooted in the ordinary.

Mustn’t grumble

Never lose sight of your horizons. It’s important to move on, grow, develop. But it’s also good to know where you’ve come from and to keep looking back to it.

“Whatever it takes to have a nice day”

‘Chandelier’ – Sia

‘Golden’ Harry Styles

‘Real Groove’ – Kylie

‘Into each life some rain must fall’- Ella Fitzgerald and there Ink Spots.

‘Carol Symphony’- Victor Hely-Hutchinson

Like many gay men of a certain age, a copy A Boy’s Own Story by Edmund White round its way into my hands just when I most needed it. 

Harlots

Tom Robinson – I was a huge fan as a teenager, having been blown away by Glad To be Gay as a fourteen year old. It was the first time I’d heard the message that maybe it was OK that I was gay. Tom was the first gay role model who I could see myself reflected in and I’ve been lucky enough to have become firm friends with him and his family as an adult. 

My new normal is remembering that I have a husband and home life and getting to indulge my inner homebody.

Don’t let a fear of failure stop you acting: I’d rather fail than live with the knowledge that I hadn’t tried, for fear.

“And in the end, the love you take , is equal to the love you make” (The Beatles)

Tom Robinson – Glad to Be Gay; Gilbert O’Sullivan – Alone Again (Naturally);  Joni Mitchell – Carey; Paul McCartney – Summers Day Song; Tone’s and I’s – Dance Monkey

The Elephant’s Child from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. My mother used to read this to me. She was an actress and read so beautifully. She would come to my brother and me at night and for 20 minutes she read to us, somehow becoming the animals in the story. It’s one of those wonderful stories, very funny and full of musical language. I used to love it, it made me giggle. It was the first story I ever loved and began my life with a love of stories.

I’ve been trying to watch uplifting things and the film Sunshine on Leith has comforted us through several evenings. A film that grows out of its music – music and songs by the Proclaimers – it is the story of the homecoming to Leith and Edinburgh of two Scottish soldiers during the war in Afghanistan. The hopes and expectations are high. They have survived. All will be well. But fortune and love are as fickle .

You’ll Never Walk Alone – Gerry & The Pacemakers

(I’m Gonna Be) 500 Miles – The Proclaimers

Days – Kirsty McColl

Farewell to Stromness – Peter Maxwell Davies

Handle Me With Care – The Travelling Wilburys

Loving my isolation, rather than endlessly finding reason to escape it.

Clare, my wife, who first encouraged me to write, and still does. 

Robert Louis Stevenson, the storyteller, novelist, poet, traveller, the writer I most want to emulate. The silence of children wrapped up entirely in a story as they listen or read.

Always look on the bright side of it.

Homer’s Odyssey as translated and re-worked by Nikos Kazantzakis.

The end of normal – and of any interest in reviving it.

A young anonymous woman whom I only glimpsed at during a mass picket outside Greece’s parliament in 2011. The picketers’ aim was to obstruct parliamentarians from entering the House to vote in favour of catastrophic austerity. An angry pro-government deputy, pushing past her with the help of riot police, asked her aggressively: “Who do you think you are telling me what to do?” She calmly responded with another question: “Who do I need to be?”

Virtuous deeds are done for the hell of it – and they feel divine as a result.

No one particular book, I wouldn’t say any book changed my life, but if really had to choose one, it would be my A-Level textbook on North America, that got me interested in the real world, and economics of the US, and travelling also. If I could answer a bit more laterally, the answer would have to be the Manchester Football Pink, which was published in my youth every Saturday night within 2 hours of matches finishing, and I couldn’t wait to get it and digest it thoroughly. My father even used to post it to me when I first moved to New York in 1985, so it was still going then. I think it ceased in the late 1980’s.

Queen’s Gambit, it is fantastic. Also watching the Steve McQueen five-parter on BBC1 on Sundays, but not quite sure about that! And I watched the whole of the Sopranos, finally, which I love, it is like a combination of Coronation Street and the Godfather!

I don’t have five lockdown tracks, in terms of new ones, I love listening to Paul Gambacino every Saturday, pick of the pops, running through the charts, for some reason, he has especially homed in on 1979 which is the year I met my wife at Surrey when I started my PHD, as well as my last year at Sheffield, and was especially memorable for music, therefore. That said, I love Dua Lipa’s new song, Levitated, and the group lockdown song, “Times Like These”, I really like that, although it does make me a bit teary.

In many ways, I have no new normal, much of what I do is the same as before, as I often work from “home”. But I make sure even more than before, I do quite a lot of outdoor exercise.

Not sure I have one in particular, but amongst most of the contenders, they all have something to do with Manchester United, any of, Sir Alex Ferguson, Dennis Law, George Best. Perhaps my secondary school geography teacher, John Doughty, who taught me the interest I developed in geography and indirectly, economics. I might be odd, but I don’t find any particular political figures as especially inspirational, although I thought it was quite cool when the US elected Obama. I have had the pleasure of meeting a number of presidents, prime ministers and leaders of other countries, past and present, and my usual reaction, is what on earth motivated them to become a national leader? In terms of economists, none either, although I do have fond memories of Rudy Dornbusch, who as well as being a great theoretician about international economics, seemed quite good fun, and didn’t take himself overly seriously.

I have two. Firstly, as with my House of Lords motto, “always try your best”, and secondly, saying no to something is often the best answer to a request, so long as it is courteous.

The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer

I am writing what I hope may become a Netflix Series, which is a huge adventure.

Don’t Hold Back by Bob Moses

I Asked by Snarky Puppy with Becca and Vasen

Have Love Will Travel by the Sonics

195lbs by Nightmares on Wax

Liquid by Robert Koch.

Simple soulful sense making in my home life and my work life alike.

If you ever think “People don’t really get me” or they think I am something other than I am, then show them more who you really are. Always align the interior and exterior.

Thinking in Time, Neustadt and May

I very seldom turn the TV on.

Moody Blues – Talking out of Turn

Avenged Sevenfold – Almost Easy

Linkin Park – In the End

Puddle of Mudd – She Hates Me

Seether – Fake It.

I don’t get on planes anymore. I love that

My mom – see Best Tip for Life below

From my mom – Persevere. Never complain. Never give up. Shut up and march

Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth. I have also co-written a book, Poles Apart which is due for release in June 2021.

I’m about to start watching the latest series of The Crown and can’t wait. Other lockdown highlights have included the Norwegian/ French collaboration, Occupied and Will Ferrell’s Eurovision film.

Wham – Careless Whisper

Disturbed – The Sound of Silence

Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground

Crazy World of Arthur Brown – Fire

Tori Amos –Cornflake Girl

“Another night in is it?”

I don’t really believe in role models. If you put people on a pedestal, all they do is fall off.

No one, and I mean no one, should have more control over how you feel than you do.

100 Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read this in my late teens and knew I had to explore South America. It led me to spend a year in Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia, to study South American literature at university and I still feel a draw to that part of the world.

Lots and lots of nature, rewilding programmes, David Attenborough’s Witness statement, The Biggest Little Farm and as a family we love Ed Stafford’s First Man Out.

Feel Like I do – Disclosure Al Green – just a really cool toe tapping remix of the great Al Green that I’ve only recently discovered

Lonely – Dim Zach – disco-y vibe that’s actually really uplifting despite its lockdown title

Blinding Lights – The Weeknd – it’s just so damn catchy

Greentea Peng – Hum Man – thought-provoking lyrics for the times we live in

Wish I Didn’t Miss You – Angie Stone classic for all my friends!

Changing plans continuously!

Celebrate the highs and know you’ll always get through the lows.

Away by Jane Urquhart. After ten years this book still haunts me in the best possible way.

The Haunting of Blyth Mansion. It is loosely based on The Turning of the Screw and made me read Henry James again.

I Want To Break Free – Queen

La Traviata (The Drinking Song) Verdi,

Survivor – Destiny’s Child

The Bare Necessities – Jungle Book

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow – Fleetwood Mac

Una Furtiva Lacrima – Pavarotti.

Work, eat, repeat (to distract myself from craving human interaction and energy).

Mum – need I say more?

Instinct is queen.

Not any particular book. Have drawn inspiration from different books at different times.

Beethoven, symphony no 5.

Have a listen to the Change Makers Lockdown Playlist.

The pandemic has given us a chance to change the direction of the world from total annihilation to creating a new civilization of sharing and caring, and making the planet perpetually safe.

Nelson Mandela. For his commitment to people, rising above race, tribe, political affiliation. Holding on to love for people despite extreme political and physical risks.

Imagine the world you want to be in, and go for it, defying everything that tries to stop you.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, published in 1992 – it foresaw the internet and the metaverse, provided the name for the Raft which was the first website I ever built for the label where I worked, Virgin Records in 1994 and which resulted eventually in me moving to LA in 1998 at the height of the first dot com boom.

Take Four by the Juju Orchestra from their album Bosa Nova is not a Crime

Kokoro by Fatoumata Diaware from her album Fenfo (something to say)

Guaglione by Mario Marini from his album I Grandi Successi Orginali

Our Day Will Come by Waldeck from their album Ballroom Stories

I Feel Love by Hector Zazou, Barbara Eramo, and Stefano Saletti from their album Oriental Night Fever.

My new normal is Zoom, peppered with walks and yoga, and web surfing holiday porn.

Haruki Mirakami – because his novels render the magic of life’s mysteries into a readable prose  that seems so logical and obvious that the extraordinary dimensions into which his imagination reaches seem entirely plausible and sensible. I only wish I could read his work in Japanese and understand it even more fully.

Never work on things that are boring, always have fun and when a tough choice comes – prioritise your instincts – they won’t lead you astray.

Virgina Woolf – A Room of One’s Own. Aside from the delicious writing, it succinctly voiced everything I had felt about being a woman. I was just sad that it was about 100 years old and still relevant.

Interviews with Oprah. It’s easy to forget in a world of self help gurus and motivational quotes on Instagram that she is the OG influencer.

Why Don’t You – Cleo Sol

Good Life – Inner City

Freedom ’90 – George Michael

Let Forever Be – Chemical Brothers

Binz – Solange.

Extreme productivity and extreme mooching.

Oprah.

Set your intention, know your values.

Virgina Woolf – A Room of One’s Own

The Little Drummer Girl

My working day starts and ends later now because we are trying to avoid peak travel in the studio.

Fear is not an option.

Sitopia by Carolyn Steel

Portrait of a Lady on Fire – although it’s the first film I’ve watched in months!

Soon You’ll Get better – Taylor Swift

I Have Nothing – Whitney Houston

Motherland – Natalie Merchant

Love – Lana del Rey

Me and Julio – Paul Simon

More fit yet strangely more fat… How does that work?!

My best friends – for different reasons.

Sometimes you only know where you’re going when you’ve got there – be open to the ride.

The Medici Effect

The Playbook

I See Gold, Good Lovelies

My Shot, Hamilton Soundtrack

Everything is Not Awesome, Lego 2 Movie

Viva la Vida, Coldplay

Turina

Enjoying our home and deepening our roots in our community.

Always grow towards the sun.

Tribes – Seth Godin.

The Social Dilemma.

Lianne La Havas – Bittersweet

Gregory Porter – Probably Me

Billie Eilish – My Future

H.E.R. play “Going” (Interlude) – from Tiny Desk

Dua Lipa – Be The One

Is more efficient than ever, every minute of the day I am driving things forward.

At the moment Thomasina Miers, the bravery she has shown having to shut down some of her restaurants has been phenomenal. To bringing in sustainability to the heart of her menu – she’s all-round brilliant!

An iPad on which the Zwift digital cycling app is running – which inevitably spurs my competitive instincts into high gear as I peddle my road bike, with the rear wheel removed so that it is on a Wahoo trainer that works with the app.

Our children and their spouses – and, now, their children!  Our kids have made their own way in the world, despite endless moves while they were growing up.

One word – Zoom.  You can run but not hide from Zoom, and each day is full of sessions on it.  Beyond that,  more dinners at home in a row than ever in our 46 years of marriage – and, thankfully, custody of the family dog (our son’s, but usually with our daughter while he finishes a JD/MBA), with whom I enjoy multiple long walks each day in our hilly Arlington neighbourhood while doing calls.

Life is a competitive endeavor, embrace that reality and compete – not just to be best overall, but the best you can be, including the best team player you can be.

Winston Churchill’s My Early Life, which convinced me that having adventures, some of them on battlefields, was the way I wanted to fulfil myself. I didn’t grow out of that until I was 36, after the Falklands War.

Call My Agent for the third time.

Sinatra’s Come Fly With Me

Charles Trenet’s La Mer

Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road

Prokofiev’s music for the ball scene in the ballet of Romeo & Juliet

The duet towards the end of the First Act of Traviata.

It’s the same as my old normal in that I read and write all day and every day, with a bit of gardening, swimming and dog-walking in between, except that this year we’ve so far cancelled holidays in Sicily, South Africa, Malaysia, Scotland and now France.

The first Duke of Wellington’s retrospective: ‘I always did the business of the day on the day’. Never procrastinate.

Homecoming by Yaa Gyasi

I don’t watch much TV (more of a podcast fan) but an avid Newsnight viewer

What’s Going on, Marvin Gaye

Don’t Rush, Young T & Bugsey

Psycho, Dave; Black, Dave;

Ja Ara E, Beyonce

Own It, Stormzy.

Screen fatigue, being in lockdown in Africa and team members I’ve never met

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

I May Destroy You

Black Parade – Beyonce

Megatron – Nicki Minaj

Non Stop – Drake

Mood 4Eva – Beyonce

A God Like You – Kirk Franklin

My new normal is an attempt to find balance on an ever-changing, totally unpredictable and unstable foundation. For someone who likes stability and planning both at work and at home, this has many challenges.

My family inspires me to be the best version of myself that I can be.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Leading by Sir Alex Ferguson.

SWAT

What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye

Keep Your Head Up – 2Pac

Ye – Burna Boy

Aben Wo Aha – Daddy Lumba

Go Crazy – Chris Brown.

Taking time to appreciate what is around me but striving for scale up and a new narrative.

See the change in confidence about life, when people are inspired.

“The dream is free, the hustle is sold separately.”