When Gifty Enright connected with me on LinkedIn I was immediately intrigued!
The unusual first name combined with the Irish surname was the first thing that grabbed my attention and then it was her short description of herself:
Keynote Speaker | Women’s Leadership & Workplace Wellbeing Expert | Author of Octopus on a Treadmill | Coach | NED | TEDx | Mother
Octopus on a Treadmill I thought!!
Assuming this woman had a lot of interesting things to say of course I invited her onto my podcast.
I really didn’t know what and who to expect and when she appeared on the Zoom call, as well as the formidable woman I was expecting I discovered a very warm, funny person.
We had a really great chat about her life and career and how she came about writing her book, ‘Octopus on a Treadmill’.
She told me that as a young woman growing up in Ghana she dreamt of having lots of shoes, big cupboards, and the trappings of success, so she moved to London to fulfil her dream. The Ghana she described to me sounds like a fantastic fun place and I did wonder why she never returned to live there permanently.
She quickly discovered that she missed that strong sense of community that she enjoyed in Ghana, but she dug deep and carved out a very successful career and life for herself in London complete with a family.
After a number of years with lots of hard work and career success this career mum hit a “Burnout” wall that she knew could not be solved with the medication that was being prescribed to her. While she was talking specifically about mums I think this happens to so many of us, and between a mix of the enticing corporate ladder and too much ambition, it can end up squeezing the life out of you.
As an avid reader who was determined to get better, she did lots of deep research to try to find a sustainable solution to her life situation and she found this through a mix of Western Science, Indian Philosophy and African Wisdom. She started to apply what she learnt and after just three months she was on the road to recovery and hasn’t looked back since.
She wrote the book to share what she learned so that other busy career mums (I think we should all read it) who are constantly juggling don’t hit the same burnout wall that she did.
As well as being an author, she became a public speaker and a coach and she doesn’t care so much about those shoes anymore!
I also learnt that her husband is from Kiskeam in County Cork and she loves to holiday in Ballyheigue in Kerry.
We also had a big chat about working from home and the huge difference that this flexibility can make in people’s lives.
It’s just a very simple question to ask of us, ordinary citizens of the world.
We watch the news every day and learn about even more dead men, women and children in Gaza and while it is terrible, awful and horrific we feel powerless.
We watch the news every day and learn about even more dead men, women and children in Ukraine and while it is terrible, awful and horrific we feel powerless.
We watch the news every day and learn about even more dead men, women and children in (just add a another war torn location) and while it is terrible, awful and horrific we feel powerless.
The locations keep changing, and because of someone’s agenda somewhere, rooted in religion, hatred, ideology, power or greed the net result is the same – innocent people lose their lives or their limbs, and at a time when we seemingly have carefully constructed international institutions to protect against these things from happening, they are meaningless.
Not only is this terrible, awful and horrific news part of our everyday digest, we have accepted that we are powerless and there is nothing we can do.
Many of us continue to get upset at the news of even more deaths and many of us just can’t bear to watch anymore so we consciously stop reading, looking and listening and get on with our own lives because after all, there a limit to how much of this we can consume without drowning in darkness.
Some are extremely vocal on social media calling out the horrors and many of us stop because we don’t want to come across as a broken record, we want to enter the US for holiday or work, or we just believe that it is utterly pointless.
Some take to the streets in protest, and most of us look on and wonder why bother because it is too much effort, we are too busy, we don’t care enough or we just honestly believe that these efforts are utterly pointless because nothing seems to make a difference.
Maybe this is true and we can’t make any difference, but maybe that’s not the case and we absolutely can but we just haven’t quite figured out what it takes to make that change happen.
So, a genuine question – is there anything that we can do (that will make a difference)?
Recently I have had the pleasure of meeting (virtually!) and doing some business with a very wise man, Kevin Fahey.
Each and every time we would have a chat he would leave me with some pearls of wisdom and when I learnt that this positive, always pushing forward, optimistic businessman was 75 I just had to ask him to come on my podcast.
Kevin is the CEO and Founder of Peer to Peer coaching company, Essence of Leadership.
Kevin came from a family farm, he went into the Irish clothing manufacturing industry and after a board room battle he found himself at home, unemployed.
Never a man to stand still Kevin started off a successful training company and was once labelled a Positive Psychopath by one of his clients. Like so many other businesses the recession that followed the Celtic Tiger crash, had him once again wondering where the next few bob was going to come from.
He talks about very dark days and struggling at times to lift himself from the bed in the morning, but he did, one foot at a time.
Kevin reinvented himself, and with all of his collective wisdom and experience he remodelled his business following the simple principle that often the wisdom that we are searching for actually sits within us. He explains why and how peer to peer coaching is so powerful, in particular for business owners and senior managers.
As I have been very recently grappling with a big birthday number, we also chatted about ageism and moving into “wisdom” and based on his energy and drive I think I am just a young fella still!
Kevin talks so much sense and I hope you can take the time to listen to our chat – you will be better for it, I promise.
Greg
The Win Happy podcast is available on all podcast Apps and on Spotify.
My podcast, a real passion of mine, has been a really brilliant vehicle that helps me to meet some very unusual people.
I often get asked, where do you find such unusual guests?
Sometimes it might be someone that I meet somewhere, sometimes it will be someone that I end up interacting with online and the very odd it will be a podcast booking agent who wants you to have their client on the show.
With me, the main criteria is that I find them really interesting, and I get a sense that they are choosing to Win Happy or they might be helping others to do just that.
On my most recent podcast I chatted to a really nice guy, Bob Grant, a clinically trained relationship expert and founder of Relationship Headquarters. He had reached out to me directly via email because the theme of the podcast resonated with him.
I love that and when I saw what he did I thought brilliant, you are definitely a perfect Win Happy guest!
For over 20 years Bob from Atlanta, Georgia, has been helping successful women to find lasting relationships with men through his very unusual programmes.
What a perfect job to have I thought, and then I wondered how difficult could that be?!!
It turns out it is quite the challenge…
Bob chats about the unique challenges that these successful women have, and how his programmes help them to overcome these challenges and fulfil their dreams.
Men and women are very different, and a woman’s “success” can cause a particular set of circumstances because of the roles we are normally programmed to have in our relationships.
I loved our conversation and I did my best with Bob to try and imagine being that woman !
I just received this correspondence from one of those software services that I am signed up for about a change in their terms and conditions.
The change is to do with renewal of software services each year.
The payment for the service happens annually and as a matter of course (if you have been careful when you signed up for the service and passed over your credit card details) you should receive an email alerting you to the fact that the service is up for renewal AND if you so choose you can renew.
This prompts the questions:
Did I use the service?
Did it do what it was supposed to?
Do I still have that need?
Is it worth the renewal fee?
Do I renew?
I’m sure this is a crucial moment for that service provider, a time when many users may ask these simple questions and make the decision to continue or possibly terminate the service.
A confident service provider should have no issue at this time and be quite content that those customers who are getting value for their money will happily renew.
A service provider that isn’t confident in the value of their service might instead not give people the option of renewing with a nice friendly email and instead prefer an auto renewal payment system.
They might even change their terms and conditions and issue a notice like the one I just received:
Dear Greg,
We’re writing you to inform you that our terms and conditions have changed. The main change for you is that as of August 29th, manual renewal will not be available anymore. That does not change anything for your current subscription; you are currently still on a manual renewal plan.
What this means for your next renewal:
You will need to manually renew your subscription once more on your next renewal date. After that, your renewal will be automatic, and you will be able to use Yoast’s powerful SEO features without any interruptions. Please pay attention to the renewal emails and follow the instructions. Plus, you’ll receive a 10% discount on your next renewal.
Check the new Terms of Service here to see what else has changed.
Thank you for being a valuable member of the Yoast community. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our support team (simply by replying to this email).
Warm regards,
Bla bla bla …
Why are they offering a 10% discount on the next renewal?
“Auto renewal” is quite simply a goldmine for these service providers – it is easy money to be extracted from customers when you remove that opportunity for them to actually think about what they are paying for and make a decision about renewing.
If you do opt to stay with that service provider do you protect yourself by setting a calendar appointment in your diary to remind yourself that renewal date is coming and then if you choose you need to log in to cancel the account to avoid automatic charge? – that is a lot of hard, inconvenient work. Worth a one off 10% discount?
Instead of being delighted with my 10% discount “special offer” all I want to do is cancel my subscription!!
“Klopp has made me a better person” he said to us over a pint. You don’t hear guys talking like that, but he was right.
At the beginning of this year I bought two very overpriced tickets on one of those websites for the last Liverpool FC home match of the season against Wolves for my son and I. Not the worst birthday present for him I thought!
At the time Liverpool were top of the tree and maybe just maybe we might witness a historic premiership win?
Since then a premiership win was impossible after an awful run of matches in April and the occasion instead became a farewell to Jurgen Klopp. Like every Liverpool fan we were heartbroken to hear that he was leaving.
The occasion was amazing , the love for Klopp in the city is so huge and in truth the actual match was a sideshow.
The crowd worked through the usual repertoire of songs during the game but kept on coming back to the anthem for the manager “We’re so glad that Jurgen is a red, we’re so glad and this is what he said ….”
At 87 mins every man woman and child in each corner of the stadium stood up and sang that song, over and over, louder and louder for at least 10 mins until the final whistle.
The podium was moved into the centre of the pitch, the full squad formed a guard of honour while all exiting players and coaches were given a huge send off, and then there was Klopp.
The kind words were said, he gave a perfect rousing speech, he ran to each section of the crowd giving his signature fist pumps and before we knew it it was all over and we were making our way out of the stadium.
An hour later a few of us thirsty souls were enjoying a pint downtown having a post mortem about Jurgen. One of the guys with us, a Liverpudlian ,Adam said a really profound thing.
“Jurgen has made me a better person”
Wow, isn’t that huge I thought and I agree with him 100%, but why?
I’ve been thinking about this ever since and Jurgen has taught us an awful lot about being better people.
Doubters to Believers
The very first day he told us to have the right attitude when you approach anything, including your football team. Support and don’t judge!
Never give up
Until the very last minute you need to keep on trying and when you do anything can happen. He asked us to do this and we saw the result of this on countless occasions,
Enjoy the occasion
He told us continuously that there are lots of things that are a lot more important than football but football was to be enjoyed. Find your escapes, whatever they may be.
Positive attitude
No matter what you do, with the right attitude you can achieve anything. Even when the odds were stacked against this team you can prevail. We all need to remember that, whatever we do.
Every minute countsand never give up
He scolded fans for leaving the stadium early when things didn’t seem to be going well. Supporting the team until the very end paid dividends on so many occasions. If we show belief and encouragement then people will respond accordingly.
Humour and a smile
Every interview and press conference (nearly all!) were conducted with a smile and lots of humour. That huge beaming smile of his was infectious and his use of humour followed with that big hearty laugh got people on his side.
Hugs !!
While some people don’t like hugs Jurgen clearly wasn’t too bothered by that. Big heartfelt hugs are good, show people the love if you mean it!!
Hard Work
You achieve nothing without hard work and preparation – Klopp always spoke about the importance of a tough training camp at the beginning of the season to prepare the team properly. You won’t achieve anything without this!
Friendship and Family
Throughout his time at Liverpool he always made a big deal about the spirit of the team and the importance of team bonding. Every player used speak about the unique spirit at the club, the special bond between everyone, how families were looked after and the difference that makes. I want to work in that environment.
Celebrate the wins
The pure joy of winning was always evident with him. At times he was childlike with his celebrations. Instead of being cool and calm he punched the air, ponded his chest. It’s good to celebrate – show what it means to you.
Solidarity
When asked about tricky situations such as vaccinations of players he never gave a medical opinion but instead he spoke about the importance of solidarity, being in it together.
The Team includes everyone
Before huge matches when “we” were up against it he would say at the press conferences before the game that the team is everyone and we need “everyone” to be in top from. He would mention the fans, the ball boys and the hot dog seller. What a life lesson!
Kindness
Whether it was a kid in a hospital, an invalid, a retiree, anyone – you could see the genuine kindness and warmth he showed them all. He did the most wonderful interviews with these people and you could see how much it meant. We can all be kinder.
His team
He always took responsibility for poor results and never criticised a player, ever. There were some huge games when awful individual mistakes cost us. He never blamed the player.
Departing players
I have never heard of a disagreement or a bad word towards a departing player or a member of his backroom staff. I’m sure there were disagreements but he never spoke about them after, and if anything was said it was always kind.
Bounce back
When we lost big finals or big matches he always saw the positive and used these disappointing occasions as fuel for going again. On one occasion after losing a Champions League Final he was seen singing with fans in pub after!
Humility
From the first very press conference he told us he wasn’t a special one, but an ordinary one. He never brags and he always gives praise and credit to everyone else. That never changed over the years.
Motivator
Even in the last moments of that farewell speech to us he started to sing the name of the incoming manager and he told us how special we were and the power that we bring to every match.
He knew it was the end of his time but he wanted to leave us feeling that we had every reason for feeling good about ourselves.
I’ve always contended that Jurgen Klopp could lead any organisation, any country, we need more of him.
Adam was right. If we take on board Klopp’s attitude, his kindness, his approach, his positivity, his smile, his love and his humanity then we will be better people.
Danke Jurgen for the football and the life advice!
A good buddy of mine and fellow Dublin ChamberCouncil member is Catherine Moroney. who also happens to be the Head of Business Banking with AIB,
I grabbed her recently for an episode of the Fuzion Win Happy podcast – I’ve been intrigued by her as she is very lovely and has clearly risen to the top of the career tree in AIB, as she holds down one of the most senior roles at the bank (how can you be so “nice” and still successful? – a fantastic role model).
How exactly did this family woman rise to the top, what was her magic?
I discovered a very interesting background as this self declared “cone head” shared stories about Paddy, her dad, about her early days growing up in Dublin, part time work in a hospital for patients with long term illness and switching from studying Archaeology in college to a job in banking!!
I pushed her hard about what it was like personally and professionally working in the bank throughout the highs of the Celtic Tiger and the colossal crash, we chatted about how the bank is handling diversity, how it is helping customers prepare for the uncertainty of Brexit and the challenge of introducing technology and not losing that connection with customers in the process.
Catherine also shares a very personal, life changing story that will shake you to your core – I’m not sure how I would cope with what she had to deal with.
If things weren’t bad before, they became even worse this week for An Garda Síochána when it was revealed that an “incorrect” sexual abuse file was held against Maurice McCabe by Tusla, the family and child protection agency.
Everyone in the media is being extra careful to avoid stating the obvious conclusions as they risk getting into trouble legally. However, they have published the various statements by those parties involved and reported the facts as they came to light and they keep probing and probing for the truth in this sinister mess to reveal itself fully.
Incidents like this demonstrate once again why we need professional, intelligent journalism to bring us the truth as we can’t rely solely on social media to deliver this. Social media is fantastic as it gives us a powerful voice to demonstrate our dissatisfaction as loudly as we feel is appropriate.
We heard the statement by the Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan, the leader of the organisation who has claimed that she know nothing of the sexual abuse shenanigans with the whistleblower, Maurice McCabe.
Tusla in the meantime have issued their own statement claiming that their file against Maurice McCabe with the atrocious false claims against him were a ‘clerical error‘.
The comical little addition to the Tusla story was that their official apology to Maurice McCabe was sent to the wrong address!
The public are no fools and the generally held, unsurprising conclusion about this story is that senior members of the Gardaí who were unhappy with their whistle blowing colleague tried to smear his reputation in the worst possible way to punish him and protect themselves.
Even worse in this sorry saga, Tusla were obviously happy to play ball with their Garda acquaintances.
This stinks to high heaven and leaves all of us with two awful conclusions:
We cannot trust An Garda Síochána and we cannot trust Tusla.
When you consider the crucial role that both of these state bodies are paid to provide, ‘trust‘ is not a negotiable, nice to have attribute. Trust is everything.
What next?
To begin the long road of rebuilding trust in both organisations there can be no more fluffing about and decisive action and clear communication is required.
Our strong advice to those in charge would be to get ahead of the story, remove all doubts and demonstrate in no uncertain way how important regaining trust is.
This is the time for An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny or Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald to take decisive action and remove Nóirín O’Sullivan from her role and get the investigation started immediately.
This is the time for Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone to demand a 100% honest statement from the CEO of Tusla, Fred McBride as to what actually happened. If this is as farcical as the ‘clerical error’ statement, he should also be removed from his role.
The reputation of these two state organisations is not negotiable – start demonstrating it.
I woke up this Sunday morning in good enough form.
I had remembered the tweet by Ken Sweeney of RTE last night about a documentary he had produced about one of my favourite bands, The Blue Nile. He was due to be interviewed by Dave Fanning at 9am this morning so I tuned in.
Very cleverly the documentary (which you can listen to on Sound Cloud) is called “In Search of The Blue Nile“. This captures the curiosity that most fans would have about this ‘cult’ band from Glasgow who produced just four deep thinking, emotionally, brilliant albums in their 20 year existence that connect with everyone who has been lucky to spend time with their special music.
Ken went to Glasgow to interview band members Paul Buchanan and PJ Moore, which takes the listener deep into the songs and where the band were physically and emotionally at each juncture. Listening to the gorgeous Scottish accents of these musical geniuses meant that all of my Blue Nile albums were taken out from my dusty CD racks and I pressed play.
Music has the power to take you back to special moments, it brings you on an emotional journey and today I was suddenly having the very best day ever – singing the songs, reflecting on the stories and messages behind the lyrics, playing my invisible guitar while I peeled the spuds!
What a simple thing..My Blue Nile albums and so much more of the music that I have needs to be played more often.
Make a playlist today that makes you smile and listen to it as often as you can!
Wow, the young crew discovered a new nightclub, a place like no other with the coolest music and an even cooler crowd.
Word got out and suddenly it was heaving with people but the buzz was still fantastic. It was the place to be, the place to be seen.
The crowd started to get more mainstream, older and older and that sense of exclusivity started to disappear and the nightclub seemed to change things a little to keep everyone happy. You spotted your mums friends there and now the DJ was playing eighties music and even more of the older crew were coming.
A new nightclub opens that was just as cool as the last one when it opened first so the young crew start going there instead. First it’s the very cool crew and then their buddies. They have it to themselves for a while, having the best time ever and then mums sister appears …..Nooooooo!!!
It’s time to find another nightclub that is cool and exclusive and novel.
The first nightclub starts to copy what the newer clubs were doing because they want the cool crowd back and eventually they decide to buy the new cool one because it’s the easiest and quickest way to get that crowd back.
Facebook was cool and new but the parents and even the grandparents joined up.
The cool crew went to the Twitter club and in time the old fogies followed them and it was time to move again.
The photo loving cool gang went to the Instagram club and hung out but things started to change when the Facebook chain bought them so we moved on again.
Now Snapchat is the place to be seen at, we’re having fun posting photos and videos and telling stories but here come mums buddies and all of the business types who will end up changing it.
The Facebook chain want us back so they have added an extension to Club Instagram and have painted it exactly the same as Club Snapchat and are playing the same tunes.
The young guns always want a cool place of their own and they always will. Maybe we should follow them but it’s also just as important to have a local where everybody knows your name.
I’m off to Club Twitter, the music is cool and the staff are friendly.
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 