Coach Barrow

Yesterday was a 4:45am alarm call in Manchester, a 7:05 train to Euston, a full day of IDH meetings and the evening in conversation with a London dentist who is interested in joining our Private Division.

I arrived at the Watford Hilton after 10.00pm last night feeling very happy with the day but understandably tired.

Normally that would be a soak in the bath and lights out - but I became utterly engrossed in Alan Yentob’s profile of sculptor Richard Serra, who is currently exhibiting at the Gagosian Gallery in London’s West End. Click here for details.

I checked on BBC i-player this morning and couldn’t see the programme (Imagine) as a download - but if I were you I’d keep and eye out for it.

A simply fascinating look inside the mind of one of the world’s leading artists - and a gripping explanation of the background to his life’s work and each of his creations.

Actually - lets start with the rave. About the new HD Flip Video - fantastic micro-technology and an upgrade on one of the biggest selling “I need it for work - honest” blokes gizmos of 2008 - I love my Flip and I’m now deep in early-adopter envy.

Click here to see the beautifully designed web site and product.

You have missed my birthday but it’s nearly Christmas.

OK - rant - are you ready?

Its about Windows and Vista and the 3 hours of my life that evaporated in the last 24.

So, before you reach for the keyboard.

Yes - I know - I need a Mac.

I’m saving up for a Macbook Pro 15″, ever since I drooled in the Apple store Manchester and Wired magazine confirmed it’s “cool”-ness.

Though I have spiritually gone over to the Mac side, I have to save up and not just go out and swipe a card.

Even I have been thinking more carefully about money after those nasty Americans buggered up the world economy (Gordon Brown says so).

I arrived at Old Thorn Golf and Country Club at 9.30pm last night - so deep in the Hampshire countryside that there wasn’t a single street light at any point on the compass.

The two cars I parked alongside were a clue that occupancy was at a seasonal low - I felt rather insecure at the thought of solitary residence in the hotel block (Jack Nicholson - axe - “here’s Johnny!”).

Settling down to check my emails on the free wifi (!) I opened Outlook to discover that my calendar from 1st December onwards has disappeared - just gone - blank - nothing - nada.

As I watched in confused horror, my auto-sync then proceeded to wipe my Google calendar clean as well.

Now the good news - two items of good news that should be a lesson to all of you:

1. My calendar syncs with my 3G iphone using Mobileme - and a quick check of my iphone reveals the appointments still there - so I quickly switch off iphone sync. Moral - more than one back-up;
2. My IT guru Kimberly Black lives in California and so its about 2.00pm in the afternoon when I call her and we spend an hour on the phone looking at various recovery options. Moral - build a global championship support team.

I have already mentioned to you that I have hired a top-class virtual assistant to organise me.

She is Phillippa Goodwin and her web site is http://www.essentialpa.co.uk/

Phillippa arrived in Falmouth at 9.30am yesterday for our first day together – and left 6 hours later with about 80% of my “stuff” to deal with.

I’ve got to tell you that I caught the train to Truro last night to meet Annie from work and see the Bond movie – feeling liberated, supported and optimistic to an extent that I cannot recall for some time!

The moral is to get yourself supported – and what with the arrival or Phillippa, working with my personal coach (Michael Myerscough), continuing to benefit from the IT skills of Kimberly Black and generally getting myself organised and healthier – its having a transformational effect.

Bravo to The Coolhunter and Tor Myhren for this advert which has appeared all over New York.

It demonstrates how a picture CAN paint a thousand words:

Click here.

After my usual 5.00am start in the West End yesterday, I was feeling very pleased with myself as I checked out of my hotel at 7.45am with emails all answered and ready for a busy day of meetings.

The main body of the day was invested in a team meeting that genuinely moved a business forward and, again, I emerged feeling extremely pleased with myself at 5.00pm - and on to an early dinner at Cafe Caldesi  with my good friend Dr. James Goolnik, just to catch up on what we have both been doing in the last month.

My plan was to leave the West End at 7-ish and drive over to Ealing - there to pick up my friend Michel Neray who is in the the UK for the annual conference of The Professional Speakers Association - he’s a speaker in Birmingham.

I haven’t seen Michel since I last visited Toronto over a year ago - so this would be a chance to catch up in my car as I transported him to The Forest Of Arden Hotel, on my way to Manchester.

It took me an hour to drive the 10 miles from Goodge Street to Ealing - ridiculous traffic and a constant repetition of my mantra - “this is why I live in Cornwall” - but the prospect of a good conversation with Mr. Essential Message was motivation enough.

So imagine my confusion (and their’s) when I knocked on the door of a private residence and asked for Michel - to be greeted by looks of confusion and incredulity - and no Michel in sight.

Why?

Delayed flight? Accident? Incorrect address?

A phone call to Annie reveals the simple explanation…..

I hadn’t read the instructions.

He arrives in a week from now.

Michel is sitting in his office in Toronto as I’m banging on a stranger’s door in west London.

Duh.

Oh well - a few embarrasing conversations later I found myself back on the road, facing a solitary drive back to my apartment - oh - and at 11.15pm last night I was stationary on the M6 in Cheshire with three lanes of traffic, waiting to be channelled down to one lane and accommodate overnight roadworks.

I tell you - when you’ve been up since 5, pulled that double shift, made quite a fool of yourself and find a traffic jam after 11.00pm at night - that’s when you question your professional lifestyle.

Anyways - another 5 o’clock start this morning and a busy day of meetings at IDH ahead - I’m looking forward to it - but not as much as I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning.

How daft am I?

Sorry Michel - you’ll be on the train next week.

It suddenly dawned on me yesterday that, since making my career change on 1st August this year, I have almost sub-consciously been going through a process of personal re-organisation that has focused on delegation and support.

A series of separate decisions have joined together to make a big difference:

1. Back on with the running shoes and 5 days a week of aerobic exercise = peace, well-being and time to think (as well as a tightening of flabby muscle);
2. Appointment of a new virtual personal assistant to handle my busy “off-stage” life = less clutter and more time to rest when I finish work;
3. Back into personal coaching with Michael Myerscough = the fellowship of an impartial sounding board and the benefit of his wisdom;
4. A massive investment in personal organisation at my Falmouth desk - paperwork, finances and all that jazz = that lovely feeling when the job you have been putting off for ages is done;
5. A great big trip to the dump with 2 years of accumulated paper and files and brochures = an uncluttered cellar;
6. An enormous effort to improve my financial self-organisation = deeper, sounder sleeping;
7. A decision to eliminate some of my more destructive and irritating bad habits (with Michael’s help) = making myself more attractive to be around;
8. Some good conversations with people I trust, respect, like and love to resolve tolerations = well, just = good conversations!

A couple of services caught my eye in the latest issues of Wired magazine:

• I have downloaded a free trial of GoToMeeting and intend to use this quick and simple service to hold meetings on-line and also share documents in real time. 

Its early days but the service looks very easy to use, compared to some of the more cumbersome webinar systems I have tried over the years.

I’m especially interested in using the service to talk through spreadsheets with clients and practices on-line. By accessing the service, not only can we chat by typing or speak using VoIP but I can also recreate my desktop on the guests computer screens (up to 11 in a meeting) and open any of my own files to make alterations. I see this as extremely useful when monitoring productivity, analysing KPI’s and also when explaining the basis of practice valuations.

A nice way of avoiding unnecessary travel in these days of high costs in energy and time.

I’ll be trialing the system over the next month and will keep you posted.

• I wish I could tell you that I had started using Hulu but its only available in the USA - what a fantastic service - and surely the future of in-hone entertainment? 

If you are interested, there’s a good article on the development of this service here.

After this morning’s blog post on stock markets and economies and an early meeting, I jumped back into super-car for a 300-mile drive back to Cornwall.

Quite often, I have the ability to drive long distances without entertainment - just reflecting on my personal and professional life.

I prefer silence when I drive and when I jog, so that I can commune with my environment and myself.

Its fun taking phone calls though (yes - hands free) and catching up with friends, family and colleagues.

Occasionally I will listen to some CD’s, although I have to say that my relationship with music has never been a central part of my life.

In the mornings I will head for Radio 4, especially for The Today Programme but also to listen to the mid-morning shows which are often interesting and informative - I especially like Women’s Hour because its just plain intelligent without being anything-ist.

However…….

This morning at 11.00am I had to suffer 30 minutes of interviews with former employees of Lehman Brothers bemoaning the demise of their firm, their careers and their savings - and the collapse of Wall Street.

Shortly afterwards, at noon, I endured a further 35 minutes of interviews with UK small business owners and employees, telling tales of woe - bankrupt businesses, unhelpful bank managers, lost jobs, failed suppliers, repossessed houses, tightened belts.

By the end of this lot I was ready to buy a mangy dog and start selling The Big Issue.

Eventually I just gave up and switched on Linkin Park’s latest album and lost myself in a head-banging rush down the A30 to clear my system.

It seems the media will not be satisfied until we are all totally convinced of Armageddon - and I’ve genuinely had enough of it.

I’m just going to get on with my job and my life and, like my mate Ashley Latter, refuse to take part.

Attitudes are contagious - both positive and negative - and I’m going to follow the lead of my friend Michael Bungay Stanier and infect people around me with the possibility virus.

My morning coffee in Exeter Services was served by Ivana. She achieved what I thought was the impossible.

She served me a cappucino with chocolate sprinkle without making eye contact at any time during the transaction. Remarkable.

I walked over to the manager and asked permission to give some direct feedback.

He agreed that she made me feel the most unwelcome person in the place - and thanked me for my comments.

Moving to later in the day, sometimes you just make the wrong decision.

The right decision was to drive from Falmouth to Warrington (a steady 5.5 hours) and then catch the train to Edinburgh (3.5 hours to rest and work).

The wrong decision was to buy a standard class return ticket. £212.00 first class, £64.00 standard class - I couldn’t resist the saving.

I take my seat opposite a frail old lady who is on her way to Lancaster - she makes me quite welcome as I establish my “office”.

Then the train stops at Preston - and we are invaded by over 20 Scots, all on their way home from a trip to Blackpool, complete with silly hats, puppet dalmations and cans full of cider.

Their expectation was that seats would be reserved for them - but there are no seat reservations in our carriage.

They are BIG, their baggage has nowhere to go - and neither do they.

What happens next is a demonstration that Darwin was only right about the evolution of certain species.

I hasten to add that I’m not having a go at the Scottish - I’m sure this behaviour would be played out elsewhere in the UK.

The flip video captures the confusion on the face of my travelling companion and the mounting tension in the carriage.

I switched off before it got worse - and moved to another carriage.

First rule of martial arts - walk away.

First rule of travelling life - buy first class.

The following video lasts 1 minute 30 seconds and contains bad language and scenes of impending violence - its also quite funny after the event.