'Meaning' is the new money

I believe we are in a period of massive change and generally people are looking for deeper meaning in their lives. With the global financial crisis and lack of trust in governments and corporations many people are hungry for something different and may have lost the connection to their deeper selves. After decades of pursuing riches, wealth seems less alluring and meaning has become the new money. Whilst I was researching this I came across a book by Dan Pink called 'A Whole New Mind' about how the 21st century is all about the Conceptual Age and the future of global business will belong to the right brain thinkers. The era of 'left brain' predominance of the logical, linear, computer based Information Age that it engendered are giving way to a new world of 'right brain' qualities that predominate which are inventiveness, empathy and meaning. The future belongs to those with a right brain mindset - creators, empathizers, pattern recognizers and 'meaning makers'. These people -  artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture thinkers will all reap the rewards of this new age. We need to maintain our left brain directed skills but now master six essential right brain directed skills. The six essential aptitudes on which professional success and personal fulfillment now depend are Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. Pink reckons that these six senses will increasingly guide our lives and shape our world.

The four historical major ages:

1.  Agricultural Age (farmers) 18th century - left brain domination

2.  Industrial Age (factory workers) 19th century - left brain domination

3.  Information Age (knowledge workers) 20th century - left brain domination

4.  Conceptual Age (creators and empathizers) 21st century - right brain skills now required

According to the latest research, IQ accounts for between 4 and 10 per cent of career success. However, IQ tests are based upon excessive left brain directed thinking. The qualities that are more important and tougher to quantify are imagination, joyfulness and social dexterity - right brain qualities. Pink says the most valued degree in business is now the Master of Fine Arts (MFA). The MFA is the new MBA.

Research also found that the most effective leaders were funny (ha ha, not peculiar) and these leaders had their charges laughing three times more often than their managerial counterparts. Interestingly in my 20's before I started my own business I only had 3 great bosses all called Ian and all hilarious and well loved - so I can testify to this!

I think this book is more relevant now than when it was first written just before the financial crisis. I'm even more delighted that the future belongs to skills that I embrace where creativity is key, but I do think if you can integrate the right brain and left brain qualities equally you'll go far!

Happy Conceptual Age!

'Leadership is about empathy.  It is about having the ability to relate and to connect with people for the purpose of inspiring and empowering their lives.'   -  Oprah Winfrey

Female style 2013

Happy New Year to everyone reading this and here's to a great 2013! Over the Christmas break I managed to catch up on articles that I had marked and wanted to read but hadn't as yet. As part of being a Bafta voter I get an on-line subscription to The Hollywood Reporter. It really is a terrific magazine even if you don't work in the business - it has many interesting articles to read. One that stood out for me was in the November 9th issue 2012 on 'Power dressing: The New Rules of Hollywood Female Style.' To sum up it was music to my ears and I'm sure to many other women as Hollywood seems to lead the way in fashion.

It appears power dressing for women has evolved and changed.  A woman no longer has to be a devil in Prada she's allowed to indulge in her femininity in a way power women never did before. Dresses and separates rule the day and night - dress like a girl because we already have our own power. Expressing your individuality is the order of the day. At one time all the women just dressed like the guys - now no longer - femininity is the way to go - pantsuits are out and dresses are in! Fashion can be an asset in today's entertainment business. Funny - I always thought it was in any business!

One thing I really applaud is that red carpets aren't for actresses anymore. Women film executives now turn-up in as many photos as the star's they represent. As the film awards season is underway.....check it out.

I've worn dresses for as long as I can remember - I think looking feminine is great - but what I'm pleased about is the psychology behind this change in dress code for women. They are choosing to show their femininity and softness and still remain powerful.  To me this is freedom from the shackles of power dressing - to dress as a woman and not to stifle your individuality or femininity.  As the Dalai Lama is reported to have said "The world will be saved by the western woman........" and I say she'll be wearing a frock in the process!

Can I recommend a book that's to be released on Jan 17th 2013 by author Steve Biddulph called 'Raising Girls'. A must read for girls and boys of all ages!

Images courtesy of 1. Larry Busacca/Getty Images North America), 2. Pinterest 3. Jane Fuller 4. Mirror.co.uk 5. The Weddingbox.com, 6. Atlantic Pacific blog

The Brand Personified

Donna Karan & Jane Fuller

Being a marketing girl I understood early on that your image is a tool. From the top of your head to the tips of your toes, whether you like it or not, you are revealing who you are – your brand – with your hair, teeth, complexion, hands, nails, feet, fitness, body shape, clothes. I also believe there is far too much emphasis on looks today – but what are you going to do – fight it?! I happen to enjoy the process. So I try not to step out of the door without looking my best – because if you look good, you feel good and that affects your confidence and point of attraction. Having worked in the glamorous and creative world of film and music video and working with many first class directors, music artists and actors, wardrobe, hair and make-up talent, has taught me many valuable lessons. My father had also been one of the original 'Mad Men' in marketing – in fact he was Peter Mead of ad agency Abbott Mead Vickers/BBDO’s first client – and my mother had modeled in Lucozade ads etc., in her day.  So I had naturally understood that image was important and that pride in yourself and the way you look does not convey or cover-up any deficiency. It’s smart to care and clothes are part of the deal.  Clothes reflect how you feel about yourself.  So much is communicated by what we wear.  I also think you learn about fashion, design, quality and style from great designers.

I was invited by Harvey Nichols to ‘An Evening with Donna Karan’ and met the fabulous designer in person. She was interviewed by the stylish and influential Paula Reed who has just been appointed group fashion director at Harvey Nichols from Grazia magazine. The fashion show was great and proved Donna Karan’s clothes are timeless, sexy and elegant - I have been a fan for many years and will continue to be – she just gets how women want to look and feel.

Donna Karan

Donna Karan

Jane Fuller

I was also invited to the Valentino fashion evening SS/2013 at Harrods penthouse with my friend Olivia. We had such fun and the clothes as always were superb. Clothes are part of the deal when looking good – have fun with them!

Talking of superb brands I had a business meeting at Little House in Mayfair last week with the savvy Lesley Everett. Little House is one of the latest sibling clubs in the Soho House group – Nick Jones seems to be on brand with every new opening – its well worth a visit.

Jeremy King and Chris Corbin seem to get it right with each new opening too. Their latest restaurant Colbert in Sloane Square is now my new local – I love it!

Have you noticed with all these successful brands that we know the face behind the name? They have a personality. Even with the big corporates now - it's the one's who have got the personality that are going to succeed. It's not good enough to have that great brand with the chief exec. sitting in his glass office all day - they have to get out and show their personality. People feel they need to know the face behind the corporate name or designer. People buy people.

I think this is why Sir Stuart Rose and Sir Terry Leahy are greatly missed don't you?

‘Give the girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world’  -  Bette Midler

Words that Burn

This week I've been researching and writing 2 speeches and a separate article for a business magazine. I visited the London Library  in St. James Square SW1 and I'm considering becoming a member - it truly is a brilliant and inspiring library. I've always found that if something is troubling me and I write it down I can bring order to the situation and I am able to look at the it more rationally. The power of words....... My blog this week is about the power of words.  I was invited by Lord Saatchi to his Friends and Family opening night of his late wife Josephine Hart's Poetry Week at the Arts Theatre. Over five nights the work of some of the world's greatest poets were celebrated and brought alive with the help of Josephine's words and the poems themselves, read aloud by some of the finest actors. This first night were poems by TS Eliot read by Edward Fox and Harriet Walter. The evening was a real treat.  There was a fantastic audience of family and friends too from Edna O'Brien, Bob Geldorf, Sir Simon Jenkins, Sabrina Guinness, Lord Gowrie, etc etc. I have The Josephine Hart Poetry App on my iPad which I highly recommend too. However there is nothing quite like seeing poetry performed at this level.

St James Theatre Bully Boy

Last Wednesday (October 10th) was World Mental Health Day and I was invited to the charity performance of the play 'Bully Boy' at the St James Theatre in collaboration with Combat Stress. There was a lively Q&A session afterwards with the play's writer Sandi Toksvig, the cast - Anthony Andrews and Joshua Miles, director Patrick Sandford and Commodore Andrew Cameron who is the Chief Executive of Combat Stress.

The play is about a young squaddie in Iraq who is court-marshalled for his role in the death of an 8 year old Arab boy, it's a question of class and rank when his defending officer is a Falklands War veteran. Anthony Andrews is brilliant as the war veteran and Joshua Miles as the young squaddie - his first play - is just excellent. I have never seen a play with a continuous standing ovation before - it is seriously a must see. The energy, the stress the emotion all powerfully portrayed. The Q&A were good too and then we had drinks with everyone afterwards downstairs in the studio bar.

The play highlights a very neglected area of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) soldiers returning from war with little help for them to integrate back into society. So as Sandi said its either The Priory or prison. The soldiers need our support and understanding - that's where Combat Stress comes in but they have had cuts implemented............Sandi's script is very powerful.

My guest was Hugh Lillingston, a Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP and Hypnosis and a teacher of Huna who is one of the practitioners of the warrior programme a charity which has helped many ex-soldiers get their lives back on track. I met Hugh and his wife Catherine through Tracy Worcester.

My next event was a dinner with the entrepreneur, Luke Johnson (Risk Capital Partners) at CSFI (Centre for Study of Financial Innovation) - a financial think-tank in London and New York. I've been asked to produce a TV Channel for Entrepreneurs - so it seems in the same week appropriate that I go to a dinner with one of the UK's most high profile entrepreneurs. Luke was great despite us exhausting him with questions - he answered all of them - no complaints - mind you the food was delicious so I think that may have helped sustain us all.

"Poetry is thoughts that breathe and words that burn" - Thomas Gray.

The Healing Power of Nature

My blog this week is about how nature and our physical and visual surroundings can deeply affect us. One of my daily treats is to exercise for @ 30mins in Kensington Gardens. It happens to be a 4 minute walk from my house and it is one of the joys of living in this area. The beautiful trees and gardens, the lake, the cute dogs, bumping into neighbours, the wild flower area to encourage bees etc., the sunshine, the rain, the seasons! It's nature in all its glory - I love it - as well as the exercise giving me a feel good factor, I find nature spiritually enriching. As it is often said "its the simple things in life". Nina Simone got it right with her song 'Feelin'  Good' - listen to those words. It is a well known fact that appreciating and getting close to nature is good for us - but our physical surroundings at home and work do affect us too. I love having a beautiful home to come back to - the orchids, the fire, the cosy sofas - that's why I love to make properties look great! A visual feel good factor.  Very important to our spirit and soul. It's proven that a lovely office has a huge impact on the way staff perform too. None of that hot desking either!  Give everyone their own nest not to procrastinate but to make them feel happy.......that's one of the reasons why I started my own business. Flowers grow in the sunshine.

Talking of visual feasts I was invited last Monday to a Harvard Business School evening at Kensington Palace. It's 5 minutes from my house so we just walked there. Kensington Palace has been newly transformed by a 2 year (much needed!) £12 million refurbishment undertaken by Historic Royal Palaces. The evening was about the challenges and triumphs and the planning and realisation of the project.  We arrived to a champagne reception by the Kings Stairway - a wonderful backdrop - then sat in the magnificent King's Gallery for the discussion and then drinks were served in the King's Drawing Room and Cupola Room. It really was an interesting evening - I love history brought to life and leaving the Palace on a dark moonlit night was very filmic - you felt you were in the deepest darkest Dorset countryside but High Street Ken was 2 minutes away!

My next visual feast was seeing Mike Newells film adaptation of Charles Dickens classic 'Great Expectations' at the Mayfair Hotel. It really is one of the best cinemas to view a movie by the way. The film is well worth seeing and looks wonderful. The DOP (director of photography) is John Mathieson who I have worked with on commercials - it looks stunning. Fantastic cast and Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch is brilliant.

My third visual feast was having lunch in the brasserie at the St. James Theatre (SJT). Le grand fromage of SJT very kindly bought me and a business associate - Caroline Garnham of Family BHive network - lunch. The food was not only a visual feast but tasted delicious too. Now you may think I'm biased but the brasserie is well worth a visit on its own, but great to have an early supper there before seeing a theatre production - and they do prosecco by the glass!

My fourth visual feast was a week-end in the country - heaven, heaven, heaven. It really looked like my favourite poem by John Keats 'Ode to Autumn' - season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.......the photos were taken on one of our walks - soothing eh?

National Poetry Day was 4th October 2012

Luck

I mentioned last week that I was going to talk about 'luck'.  I landed on my feet at an early age in my career. Many people have asked me since how did you manage that? I just expected to. I didn't realise at the time that I attracted my own luck by expectation in my thoughts. I knew if I worked hard and found the area I wanted to be in - in my case TV producing - I was in the right place at the right time, but in retrospect I realise that luck, whether good or bad is actually manifested by the way we think. I just naturally thought the best! So expect the best! Talking of best - I went to see the film 'Untouchable' which has just opened in London but has broken box office records around the world. A French comedy based on a true story about the friendship that develops between a wealthy quadriplegic and his unlikely caretaker. I laughed, I cried - its great! Omar Sy as the black Muslin ex-con caretaker is fantastic - watch his dance sequence! I've been playing Earth Wind & Fire on my iPhone ever since. It's a must see. Perfect timing too just as the Paralympics are changing perceptions about disability - impeccable Mr. Weinstein!

I also went to see the documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel at Bafta this week. Researched and produced by her granddaughter-in-law. I have been a fan of DV for as long as I can remember - one of the great doyennes of the fashion industry who demanded the best of life. Courageous, dramatic, determined and funny - well worth seeing.

Don't you think London seems to be rocking at the moment despite the global woes? It really is one of the best cities to live. We really are lucky to have such amazing entrepreneurs and designers who want to live here too. I went to the London Design Festival party at the V&A Museum - what a turn out and in such glorious surroundings. Thank you London!