About Me
Me and corporates
I’ve always thought that I’m not a corporate man. I don’t dress like one, I don’t speak like one, and I don’t think like one. I‘ve always preferred being myself rather than trying to fit into an organisational culture, and be something that I’m not.
My only experience of being directly employed by a corporate was when GE bought my electronics company, and I worked for them for three years. I learnt a lot and met some lovely people, but it wasn’t for me.
And then in 2009 my marketing agency won a big corporate client, and since then the majority of my work has been with large global companies, including those opposite.
I’ve always thought that I’m not a corporate man. I don’t dress like one, I don’t speak like one, and I don’t think like one. I‘ve always preferred being myself rather than trying to fit into an organisational culture, and be something that I’m not.
My only experience of being directly employed by a corporate was when GE bought my electronics company, and I worked for them for three years. I learnt a lot and met some lovely people, but it wasn’t for me.
And then in 2009 my marketing agency won a big corporate client, and since then the majority of my work has been with large global companies, including those opposite.
Me and hierarchy
I have recently come to realise that rather than not being a corporate man, it’s more accurate to say that I’m not a hierarchy man. Because hierarchy, like the one opposite from 1917, tends to:
Stifle innovation
Slow down decision-making
Treat people as resources
Promote people beyond their level of competence
Feed individuals’ sense of shame
Reward narcissistic behaviours
Self-Organising, on the other hand, encourages innovation, and helps people get things done – in a way that leaves them feeling happier and healthier.
I have recently come to realise that rather than not being a corporate man, it’s more accurate to say that I’m not a hierarchy man. Because hierarchy, like the one opposite from 1917, tends to:
Stifle innovation
Slow down decision-making
Treat people as resources
Promote people beyond their level of competence
Feed individuals’ sense of shame
Reward narcissistic behaviours
Self-Organising, on the other hand, encourages innovation, and helps people get things done – in a way that leaves them feeling happier and healthier.
Me and my four start-ups
Music
An award-winning Soho-based audio production company that made radio and TV commercials for all the leading London advertising agencies.
Electronics
An electronics manufacturing company that was at the forefront of producing miniature CCTV cameras.
Marketing
A marketing and brand agency focusing on website development, coming out of the dot com boom.
Change
This company – As it is – which began life as a change consultancy.
Big companies often aspire to have small-company attributes like being innovative, entrepreneurial, adaptive and fast to transform in the face of change. I can help you with this.
Me and personal growth
My journey of personal transformation began in my 20s when I first began seeing a therapist. In my 30s, I began to explore Buddhism, trained as a counsellor, and founded a men’s group. I also established a charity providing low-cost counselling in Oxford (The Listening Centre), which I returned to in my 40s, serving as Chair of Trustees and then CEO for 15 years.
I believe the journey of personal transformation is one of the hardest endeavours that a human can undertake. Transformation requires the individual to face their trauma – or more specifically, the way their historic responses to trauma are alive and active in the here and now.
I relate to the Tarot card of The Hermit. It often appears in readings when I need to step back and reflect on my life, delve into my inner world, and gain a greater understanding of myself. The one opposite is from the late 17th century Tarot de Marseille deck.
My journey of personal transformation began in my 20s when I first began seeing a therapist. In my 30s, I began to explore Buddhism, trained as a counsellor, and founded a men’s group. I also established a charity providing low-cost counselling in Oxford (The Listening Centre), which I returned to in my 40s, serving as Chair of Trustees and then CEO for 15 years.
I believe the journey of personal transformation is one of the hardest endeavours that a human can undertake. Transformation requires the individual to face their trauma – or more specifically, the way their historic responses to trauma are alive and active in the here and now.
I relate to the Tarot card of The Hermit. It often appears in readings when I need to step back and reflect on my life, delve into my inner world, and gain a greater understanding of myself. The one opposite is from the late 17th century Tarot de Marseille deck.
Me and trauma
I grew up in an environment where it wasn't safe to express all of who I was, because doing this was met with shaming responses from people around me. I quickly learned to dim my light to avoid triggering these responses. This fear of shining and showing up as my true self has persisted into adulthood.
Janina Fisher’s workbook (opposite) has helped crystallise the learnings I've gained over many years of personal work, while giving me simple tools that I can apply in my everyday life.
When we deal with psychological trauma as a child, we have only a child’s resources to draw on. We suppress feelings that we’ve learnt are unacceptable to those around us, and engage in patterns of thinking and behaving that enable us to survive, but which do not equip us for the complex realities of adult life.
I've learnt that, as a grown man, I have the inner resources and external support I need. I can recognise when I'm triggered, understand what is happening as a body memory, and remain present with the uncomfortable feelings.
I now want to share what I've learnt with others and help create workplaces where grandiosity and shame do not need to play out, and people can feel acceptable exactly as they are.
You can buy Janina Fisher's book here.
I grew up in an environment where it wasn't safe to express all of who I was, because doing this was met with shaming responses from people around me. I quickly learned to dim my light to avoid triggering these responses. This fear of shining and showing up as my true self has persisted into adulthood.
Janina Fisher’s workbook (opposite) has helped crystallise the learnings I've gained over many years of personal work, while giving me simple tools that I can apply in my everyday life.
When we deal with psychological trauma as a child, we have only a child’s resources to draw on. We suppress feelings that we’ve learnt are unacceptable to those around us, and engage in patterns of thinking and behaving that enable us to survive, but which do not equip us for the complex realities of adult life.
I've learnt that, as a grown man, I have the inner resources and external support I need. I can recognise when I'm triggered, understand what is happening as a body memory, and remain present with the uncomfortable feelings.
I now want to share what I've learnt with others and help create workplaces where grandiosity and shame do not need to play out, and people can feel acceptable exactly as they are.
You can buy Janina Fisher's book here.
