I’VE often wondered what lasting skills a career in journalism provides you with.
Who says I’m not one for self reflection?
Most people probably, but anyway, let’s crack on.
The ability to write is certainly one skill – that’s not hard to work out – but what else?
Do I have any other skills or knowledge (I’m sure someone on Linkedin refers to them as “superpowers”, because it isn’t an arena where modesty thrives) gleaned from spending a large chunk of my working life in local and regional newspapers and digital media?
What I’ve worked out in recent years is that all this time in journalism gives you an innate ability to understand the media and to quickly grasp how the news agenda is shaped and in what direction stories that are part of it are headed.
Years of meeting and interviewing people of all ages and backgrounds also provides plenty of insight into judging character.
In today’s world where someone can create a whole new online persona and reputation and build and fund a business despite it being as flimsy as a house of cards, those skills are needed more than ever.
That’s why I’ve launched a new business called CalmStorm Advisory.
Alongside my business partner, Claire Holt, a highly experienced senior communications advisor who has worked at board level in Capgemini, Morrisons and Yorkshire Bank, we offer reputation management and advice to guide companies and individuals through the challenges of an increasingly complex world.
We have teamed up with two friends and journalist colleagues, former BBC broadcast journalist Simon Hare and national newspaper reporter Richard Alleyne to offer media, presentation and storytelling training.
And as the headlines demonstrate, in this world of digital news, the decline of the ‘mainstream media’ has not led to a dwindling number of negative stories involving individuals, businesses and public sector organisations.
I used to see it as, ‘new week, new crisis’, in recent years it is more like new day, new crisis.
We work with organisations and individuals to enhance and protect their reputations and provide them with the insight and knowledge to make the right decisions.
Claire, who is London-based, has been doing this for years and I’ve done it, both formally and informally for clients, contacts and friends for quite some time too.
Now is the right time to pool our skills and experience and launch CalmStorm.
As Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, said: “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”
Sometimes businesses and individuals find themselves in a maelstrom through no fault of their own.
The difference between what I am doing now and my time in journalism is that I will be working in the background rather than writing the headlines and news stories.
But I’m certain that the satisfaction of providing reassurance, advice, support and counsel to those who find themselves in the midst of challenging circumstances in which their reputation is on the line, will be even greater.
Crises come in all shapes and sizes and I’m confident that whatever the challenge faced, it can always be overcome.
But the best advice I can give is try and avert or avoid that crisis in the first place and taking the right advice can achieve that and help navigate through the increasingly choppy waters of today’s world.
Claire and I have complementary skills and share similar views on how to approach crisis and reputation management.
Where we differ is that she is a fanatical Leeds United fan and, despite her young sons growing up in the South East, has managed to make sure all three share her passion for the ‘Mighty Whites’.
All Leeds Aren’t We? Well definitely in her household.
Her sons have inherited their mother’s communication skills too.
After Derby County’s two defeats to Leeds last month, they kindly sent video messages via WhatsApp to inform me how useless my team were and ask why I bothered to support them.
Maturely, I rose above these petty insults.
Well, having a crisis with your business partner before you’ve even launched your business is probably not the kind of advice I’d give anyone.
HOSTING and organising events is another string to my bow and the next event I’m involved in is on Wednesday.
My role on the Campaign Board of children’s hospice Martin House sees me compere a breakfast event in Leeds for the charity, entitled Power of Partnerships.
With an impressive panel including Jon Hughes, managing director of Haribo UK, Will Linley former CEO and founder of property firm Linley and Simpson, Samantha Scott, COO of customer loyalty business Ello Group, we will be exploring the power of business charity partnerships.
As well as practical advice on building successful partnerships – something that is key in the modern business world – the breakfast event will also hear inspiring stories from Martin House from its chief medical officer Dr Michelle Hills and her colleague Rosie Mellor-Silvester.
Thanks to the generosity of hospitality group Arc Inspirations, we are holding the event at Banyan in City Square, Leeds from 8.30am to 10am on Wednesday, January 22nd.
I know there is already an impressive guest list, but there are still a few places available if you are interested in attending.
For more information and to register your place click here: https://www.martinhouse.org.uk/events/the-power-of-partnerships/
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IT was a real pleasure to catch up with Matt Copley, corporate finance partner at BDO this week and meet his colleague Gareth Singleton, the accountancy and business advisory firm’s managing partner for Yorkshire and the North East.
I bumped into Matt in Sous le Nez before Christmas and he kindly offered to introduce me to Gareth, who is responsible for the 180-strong team of audit, tax and advisory teams across the region.
He’s an engaging and likeable character who clearly wants to contribute to the region and make a difference in the role he took up in July last year.
But that doesn’t surprise me.
I’ve always found BDO to be full of personable and skillful individuals since it first launched an office in Leeds in the early 2000s led by the popular and talented Bill Holmes and Ian Beaumont.
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THIS time last week I was crunching through the snow in Harrogate with leading lights from the Yorkshire restructuring, financial, legal, property and business community.
We were attending the funeral of Tony Armitage, the popular insolvency practitioner, who died just before Christmas.
It is a good job most of the big wheels there have experience of driving to the Alps on skiing holidays as the service was held at St Wilfrid’s Church on Duchy Road in which was still covered in thick snow six days after in fell in Harrogate.
There are clearly some issues with the transition from a town council to the unitary authority of North Yorkshire Council.
But I don’t want to get involved in criticising another local authority given the flak I’ve given to Leeds City Council over the roadworks near the station and around the city centre.
Anyway, good news! Leeds City Council has announced that all the work to “improve” the railway station will be completed in March…next year.
I know a straight talker like Tony Armitage would have had a thing or two to say about it.
What I learned from the warm and funny eulogies at his funeral and chatting to some of his old friends at the Cedar Court Hotel after the service, were what a mischievious sense of humour Tony had.
The polite, bespectacled, well spoken accountant I knew was quite a character.
Whether it was setting the fire alarm off in the middle of night in a Lake District hotel or tying a rope around a tree and the axle of a car of a fellow drinker in the Windmill pub in Linton, Tony loved a prank.
His friend Nick told me that the most memorable example of Tony’s mischief came on a “bachelors’” coach trip to Blackpool.
They stopped outside the British Aerospace factory in Preston and while fellow passengers took refreshment, Tony attached his trusty length of rope to the back of the coach and then tied it to the factory fence.
“It was only when we were halfway to Blackpool that we realised we were dragging 200 foot of fencing behind the bus!” laughed Nick.
I’ve always said that we don’t have enough characters these days.
We need more, as long as I’m not the victim of their pranks.
Have a great weekend.