Taking the Positives

I have read many times that one should take the positives out of a situation and move on, but a few events in the past few days have brought that maxim into sharper focus for me. Last Thursday I treated my good friend Shaz Nawaz to a day out at Trent Bridge,...

Are We Good Enough?

Last week I met a lady in the course of my work who really made me think. This lady works in children’s mental health, and she introduced me to the concept of the ‘Good Enough Parent’. (There is a link to another interesting article behind the blue...

Role Models

Now that we have returned to work after the late summer Bank Holiday here in the U.K. and the schools, colleges and universities will be gearing up for the new educational year, I was wondering how much importance is given these days to the idea of providing young...

Inspiring People – 3

For my third piece on inspirational people I have chosen the most inspiring person I ever worked with in my entire career. His name is Christopher Garnett, and he was the Chief Executive of the railway company GNER in the 1990s and early 2000s. He went on to be...

Inspiring People – 2

There weren’t many inspirational people in my early life, as I have written before. Most of the people who influenced me when I was growing up were negative role models; judgemental, sour, religious people who derived pleasure from catching people doing the...

How Do You React to Bad News?

In 1979, when I was 23, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. I had been to the doctor’s twice, and the doctor had sent me away with medication. Eventually, my girlfriend insisted that we were going to the hospital to see what was wrong with me. i will never...