Starting a Diversity & Inclusion Committee

In a world where our uniqueness is celebrated, our identity is promoted and we interact with people from all over the world on a regular basis, in the work we do and the communities we live in, I was quick to jump at the opportunity to be part of Sedex’s new Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

As part of the company’s People and Culture Strategy, a new committee was being formed and it felt like an important conversation to be part of.

I have become more conscious (as I get older) of the multiple dynamics that I sit between. A British Asian, with all I know from education, sport and culture and yet a big part of my identity that sits in Hindusim and my Gujurati culture.

A father, to second-generation British Asian children, living in a more fragmented and multi-cultural community and trying to support and navigate them in search of their identity and beliefs.

A boy who grew up pre-internet and mobile phones, now working in marketing and tech spaces surrounded by digital natives.

Growing up in a world where boy meets girl and they have kids was expected to a time when identity itself has completely opened up.

Having studied International Business Marketing with peers from over 20 different countries in my year, I saw first-hand the importance of diversity and also the challenges that it brings. Over the last 10 years or so I’ve worked for global organisations, collaborating on projects with team members in different countries and timezones and being understanding of the nuances of the challenges they face has always been really eye-opening.

After 6 months of foundational training with The Centre For Inclusive Leadership, we set about forming plans for the committee. This in itself was really interesting as you can see that roles, positions and where the influencing power sits can impact the dynamic of your actions and also your outcomes.

Once we had our plans, we launched the programme with the support of D&I expert Leng Montgomery who promoted the value of a committee and also the importance of allyship for the success of any D&I programme.

We as a committee are keen to respond to the needs of the employees of the company. We conducted a company-wide Survey which received an extremely high response rate. Telling us that this is a need and appetite to explore, discuss and improve, all in the aim of ensuring people feel like they can bring their best selves to work, every day.

We established that even though we’re naturally diverse, inclusion is the big focus area. Supporting leaders, regional team members and those who are normally forgotten to be seen, heard and part of the combined journey we are on.

The survey gave us loads of data that when analysed showed us the trend of pain points. We created working groups, from across the business with the inclusion of our Exec and leadership team, to understand the problems raised, and suggest actions to improve and resolve the challenges.

we’re not at a really interesting phase with over 100 ideas for action, to prioritise what can be done in the short-term vs longer-term projects and who is best placed to drive these changes, D&I or the HR team.

I’m really excited to welcome new members, as we gear up for the action/implementation phase of the D&I programme and my continued exploration and personal development in this space.

My Mini MBA in Marketing Experience

The last 3 months have been full on, not only because of work; planning our first in-person event in Chicago, launching our Diversity & Inclusion Committee or life in general with a 3 and 5-year-old, but because I took on a Mini MBA in Marketing with Mark Ritson (through Marketing Week).

I took on the challenge because I wanted to see if what I've been doing for the last 18 years was right or not, to gain a foundation for current marketing thinking (and the complexity that now brings) and to obviously learn new things.

I had no idea how challenging, interesting, fascinating, annoying, rewarding, eye-opening, entertaining and connecting it would be for me. I met so many like-minded people over the three months as we helped each other understand the module, debate the direction of the case study or laugh about how painful we found the exam.

I would have been happy with a pass - It was always going to be added value being exposed to such great content.

Then when I submitted the exam I secretly hoped that I would get a B (apparently only the top 20% get As). The three intense weeks of building the marketing plan, sitting in the problem to find the answers, getting to my answer, sleeping on it and then completely changing my answer, made me feel I was considered in my rationale.

Then as I landed from Chicago and checked the app I saw that I got an A - I was and am still over the moon with that result. I decided to not do the exam in a group to reveal how much I get it and was willing to hear the harsh facts if it went the other way.

I will continue to be curious, continue to advocate for Marketing as a company's superpower and look forward to many more years in this space.

Where I find my inspiration

I N S P I R A T I O N

We all want to be inspired but are we allowing ourselves to be in the environments to be inspired? Or are we hoping it hits us like a lightning bolt?

Here's when I'm inspired, overtime I've realised that these are the places that work for me.

So now, on purpose:

+ I carve out time and curate what I listen to on my walks.
+ I actively seek out songs I've never heard in hope of a new feeling or perspective
+ I follow, sign up, message and speak to people I believe I can learn from
+ I have a Remarkable2 (digital note taker) on my bedside table to capture all my ideas as soon as I wake up
+ I find being with my thoughts, drawing in the steam on the window in the shower always generates new ideas
+ I didn't always like reading but now I know other people's words stimulate a response in my mind
+ I use my commutes to watch videos of those I find motivating

As a result, across my week I have more opportunities to be inspired!

What do you do to give yourself the best opportunity to be inspired?

#inspiration #ideas #environment #productivity #proactive #thoughts #whatdoyoudo #podcasts #walks #books

One year being Head of Community - here's what I've experienced

Today marks my one-year anniversary as Head of Community.

The role and challenge for the organisation were new, build a community with the growing global membership and provide real value to their organisations through peer-to-peer engagement.

Having been in core marketing roles for over seventeen years, this was also new for me. Sure, the skills of building a strategy, proposition and identity, spreading a message, creating content and bringing people together are the same but when looked at through a ‘community’ perspective, there is a layer of responsibility and expectation attached to it.

I’ve been fortunate over my last few roles to create something new; a project or campaign that starts with the seed of an idea and my task is to bring it to life. Having the ability to question everything, explore multiple avenues and watch your ideas grow, fail, and evolve is what makes the journey so rewarding.

Interestingly, this time my new title generated lots of curious conversations, from within my network and amongst others online who I’d never met before. Questions revolved around the ‘science’ behind building a community and the engagement tactics to make it work. There is something about ‘community’ that seems so natural and logical to us, and yet seems to be this unreachable goal for many organisations, as they realise the immense value of having a community amongst their customers/members but don’t know how to get there.

In my constant endeavour to support others with my learnings, I thought it may be valuable to highlight the top five things I’ve experienced over the last 12 months in this position:

1.     Community means something different to everyone

Even though the idea of a community is one of the oldest and most universal social models we all live in and understand, we all have a different idea of what a community is and therefore the expectations of what a community is are different. It didn’t take me long to realise this point; when I asked people ‘what does community mean to you?’ I got a different response every time. People shared that community for them is anything from where they live, their faith groups, the sports teams they support to the online social networks that they are part of. And each example seemed to have its own set of rules and expectations.

I started to see that a community may exist because of common interest but defined by how the people within that community interact, how they turn up to get something out of that interaction and as a result if you want to build a community then you need to define and spell out why your community exists and what it stands for on.

In all my exploration around structures, pillars, and stages that make a community successful, I found this one-page summary by Jeremy Connell-Waite, a great overview of all community components.

View fullsize

Click to expand

2.     Time zones and languages matter

It’s great when organisations have multiple offices around the world to support the diverse spread of their customers but it’s tough to run a global programme from a central location. This was one of our main challenges; how can we be ‘truly global’ with a small team and limited budget, as well as making all our members feel equal heard?

The first thing we did was make sure that we ran any online events twice in the day. Being London based we ran a morning 8 am session to cater for the Asia Pacific region and then a 3 pm session for EMEA and the Americas. This covered about 85% of our members.

We also identified that to be ‘truly global’ you need to be not only accessible at the right time but also in the right language. Where possible, in larger events, we hire interpreters to translate the content in Spanish or Mandarin (via Zoom channels) and more recently have had our local teams re-present the content in their own languages.

There is a broad assumption that the business language across the world is English and people will get by, but we’ve seen that these small adjustments have a big impact on members feeling included and that’s important for a community.

3.     Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come

I’ve had a few interesting conversations where peers have told me that they built a programme or a forum online and it has not succeeded, and the leadership team are baffled because they believed that just by investing and building a community alone means it runs itself.

Continual engagement is the key to building a community. Content is still king and when it comes to your community, we’ve found there are a plethora of ways you can get people to be involved:

Close communication: keep members aware of what’s coming up, what’s in it for them, what they need to prepare, where they can get key information, who they can contact etc.

Polls and surveys: tools like Slido enable great ‘moment-in-time’ feedback and discussion points and our regular surveys give members the place to tell us what they think. This gives you great data to build collateral from.

Opportunities to get involved: we ask members to tell us where their expertise is and where they would like to use them, e.g. ‘I’d like to speak on the topic of X’.

Input & feedback: Be open to allowing members to input into your strategy and plans, they’ll give you some great ideas. Once they have, make sure you feedback on the things you are going to do, aren’t going to do and by when.

Data points: at key points share your findings and analysis with not only your key stakeholders but back with the community, you’ll be surprised at how powerful these insights mean to them.

All of these different elements help in bringing people together, where they feel like they add and generate value and in turn, they come with you on your journey. 

4.     Be accountable - it’s a two-way relationship

In any organisation where you have large groups of members, it is easy to categorise them into stereotypes based on their location, industry, behaviours, size of business etc. It’s critical to do this to manage them, however in a community you can’t broad stroke participants.

Over time I’ve learnt that every member is different, and they have very real perspectives and bring something valuable to the community. Therefore, the goal, as the Airbnb founder Brian Chesky says ‘is to have 100 people who love me than 1,000,000 who ‘kinda’ like me’

You must build two-way relationships with members, hear what they have to say, their challenges and successes, and work together to meet both of your goals. As you would in any strong relationship, you need to be accountable for what you say you’re going to do and be open when things change.

We as a team have started to focus more on the richness and direct impact we are making than the reach and numbers that sound good, and what you’ll find is that because of this behaviour the numbers naturally increase good because you can showcase the value and others want to be part of that.  

5.     Community is the next wave of engagement - invest in it

I sometimes feel like I’m overstating the obvious when I talk about the power a community can have for any organisation, but if you’re a Simon Sinek fan like me, you’ll know that most organisations have gotten it wrong over the last thirty years because they are playing a finite game where they are answerable to their shareholders and not their customers.

The shift towards triple-bottom-line and purpose driven companies means the role of a community has a much bigger role to play. For huge brands, it’s easier (to some degree) because their loyalty and relationship are heavily linked to their consumer products. (I’ve just finished reading Shoe Dog by Nike founder Phil Knight – add it to your list - it’s fascinating). But for many other organisations, they’ll see the idea of having and building a community as nice-to-have.

In our short time running this programme we’ve seen our small but proactive community has evolved products and services, prioritised focuses for key business areas, has resolved critical member issues, has generated new business leads, created champions for our business and a platform for inclusion.

I now heavily advocate that community is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have and if you really want to benefit from a community programme you need to invest in it.

I’m really excited to continue this exploration on how to make a community as effective as possible, to finding more brilliant examples and having great conversations with peers trying to do something similar.

Always happy to connect and hear your thoughts, share ideas and discuss challenges. Just message me.

That month when Will Smith was my personal guru...

I spent a month with Will Smith, virtually, and he didn’t know it, but I learnt a lot….my key takeaways are here and the full story below. I wanted to share my thoughts and all the links in the hope someone else finds a nugget of wisdom that will help them, like they helped me.

So, in the one month that I was listening, watching, learning from Will Smith, what were my main takeaways?

• You build a wall one brick at a time – just focus on the next brick

• The best things in life are on the other side of fear (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0xijHHvN2I)

• Surround yourself with ‘ride or die’ people – they will make all the difference

• Everything will change, always – so plan for the next wave before it gets here

• Invest your time in knowing about others before you think about making a judgement on anyone

• Understand the responsibility of how you make people feel

• If you’re going to love – then do it whole-heartedly, everyone involved is better off as a result

• Say hello and goodbye like it’s your last time because for some people it may be the last time you actually see them

Here’s the full story…

I feel like Will Smith has always been in my life. When I think back to when I was growing up, The Fresh Prince is always on the TV in the background of my memories. There was a period when he always had a hit song out and then there was that onslaught of huge blockbuster hits every year between 1995 and 2008, one after the other. From Bad Boys, Independence day, Men In Black, I Am legend, The Pursuit of Happiness to Hancock, he was always on a screen nearby.

The very first rap I knew off-by-heart was Boom! Shake the Room. I remember being sat in the back of my dad's royal blue Volvo, on some family trip, and my mum being amazed at my unknown rapping ability.

Yo back up now and give a brother room
The fuse is lit and I'm about to go boom!
Mercy mercy, mercy me
My life is a cage but on stage I'm free
Hyped up, psyched up, ready for wilin'
Standing in a crowd of girls like an island…

The thing I loved about Will Smith the most was the way he made me feel. Oozing positivity, an upbeat attitude, and that infectious smile. I found it fascinating how he always managed to make you smile and feel happy.

A couple of years ago, when he realised that to maintain his title as the ‘biggest entertainer of all time’, he’d need to connect where people consume content and started his own YouTube channel. He proactively created new content where I felt a stronger sense of connection to him, his attitudes, and his discipline. I saw how he constantly pushed himself to try something different, or ridiculous. He showed another side, a human side to his stardom.

In Dec 2021, I came across the interview he did on Jay Shetty’s ‘On Purpose’ podcast. (You can watch/listen to it here - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDYMizH73cc / https://open.spotify.com/episode/1A3sjeBKf5qHjQ1VQgJO3t).

In this interview he shared many aspects of his life and I gained so many insights into his commitment to his family, the way in which his family proactively spent a year studying each religion to be able to have a real understanding of others and perspectives on love and relationships. Even within the depths of this conversation he manged to make me laugh, the way in which Will describes how the story of Arjun from the Bhagavad Gita moved him (around 1 hours 13mins into the interview) and his articulation of that moment made me think, wouldn’t it be incredible if my inner voice sounded like Will Smith, and if my outlook was a bit more like his!

Soon after, I saw YouTube were promoting his new series ‘Best Shape of my Life’, where he battles the physical and mental challenges of getting to a place that would make him feel confident, after ‘letting himself go’ during the pandemic, at the same time as writing his autobiography Will. (You can watch it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9WDEFtSU_M&list=PLtb5OOwnB8RoCzJz57R0jrCUzYF6Yunw9). I was glued to the series, to see the turmoil and drama, as well as juggling so many plates and going through this real journey of emotions, made me feel a real connection to this superstar, or as my boys call him, The Genie.

One lunchtime, my wife and I, watched him describe the overwhelming feeling when you first see your child. The weight of the world on your shoulders and the commitments you make to them and yourself in those moments. I looked over at my wife and we were both in floods of tears, having both been transported back to that hospital room in 2016, when we had the same interaction with our first son. Will had reminded us of those commitments.

It was a no-brainer that when my brother asked what book I wanted for Christmas, I immediately sent him the link to Will. Will Smith’s autobiography. (You can buy it here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Will-Smith/dp/1529124158/ref=sr_1_1?crid=4NNJKTV6PYEA&keywords=will&qid=1644875649&sprefix=will+%2Caps%2C68&sr=8-1).

Over the Christmas break Disney Plus has a series called ‘Welcome to Earth’ hosted by…you guessed it, Will Smith. (https://disneyplusoriginals.disney.com/show/welcome-to-earth). It sees him traverse the Earth confronting his fears in the most beautiful places on our planet. I was hooked, not only by the fantastic cinematography but his storytelling. It was a reminder of power of the place in which we all live and the importance of appreciation for life.

January hit, the kids were back to school, I had committed to a ‘no phones upstairs’ routine and I was ready to dive into my new book. In one week, I completed it (which is unheard of for me!). I couldn’t put it down, I was excited to get into bed to read the next chapter, to learn more, to find other words of wisdom. I’ve since heard many other reflect on this book, that this multi-billion-dollar movie star, arguably the best and first to do many things, had the same challenges and problems as I do. The dynamics of his life, the choices he had to make were relatable to me and my life. The learnings and reflections felt profound to me and have made a significant impact on my life.

Ok so I didn’t personally hang out with Will Smith for a month, but I was immersed in so many aspects of his work, life and experiences that it led me to share my thoughts. He set out with the intention to help others with his stories in his book and he definitely hit his goal by reaching me, and I’m a little better off because of it.

Want a coach...? Have mine!

On a monthly basis, someone asks me 'how did you find your coach?' and every time a sinking feeling washes over me. I want to be able to give them some solid guidance on where and how to find a coach that they can trust. Someone that makes you feel confident that the exercises they'll give you will create positive and lasting change in their life, just like the one I have.

But the reality is, I didn't find my coach, he found me. And I know there are others who have had the same experience and it's almost impossible to replicate.

So, I was thinking about it... You can have mine....

Don't worry, I'm definitely not giving him up but I am willing to share the best kept secret in my life - my coach.

Everyone has a different idea of what having a coach means and there are many types of coaches. Some perceive it similar to a mentor for your career, helping you learn through their experiences and others think it's like a therapist, who is there to help you work through your challenges and mistakes of the past. The actual definition of a coach is more along the lines of being non-directive, where they empower you to identify all aspects of yourself to unlock your fullest potential.

My coaching relationship started over seven years ago, when a leadership coach, brought in at a previous company to upskill senior management, opened my mind to so many areas from controlling your inner voice, how to deal with difficult stakeholders and the importance of leading by example. From that course we 'clicked' and now he has evolved into my life coach. Now before you stop reading, thinking I'm some sort of hippie for having a life coach... Hear me out...

The world of business, careers, home life, flexi working and being your 'authentic' self in everything you do, is becoming more and more blended than any other time in recent history. Our careers are more and more 'squiggly' (www.AmazingIf.com), our responsibilities (especially as a son, manager, modern husband, employee, supportive friend, colleague, mentor and young father) are more varied than the generations before us.

Whenever I'd be in a coaching conversation, the things that were going on at home would be impacting my work and my work priorities would make juggling home life challenging. Over time it was only natural that to help me reach my full potential, my coach would need to look at all the connected elements of my life and how they balance (or in my case - how they don't).

So, what characteristics does my coach have that I think you'd benefit from:

Building a human connection... We are nearly 30 years apart in age, we live very different lives, yet we are friends. We connected on a human level with mutual respect, genuine care for each other's well-being and well-wishers of each other’s ambitions. I didn't realise how important this was until I had a disheartening experience with a couple of business coaches where the whole thing felt very 'transactional'. I know there will be those that say you shouldn't have that kind of relationship with your coach and I challenge you on that, only because I'm so much richer for having that extra layer of consideration.

My coach has been through some stuff...I love a story and boy-oh-boy has he got some, from being in the army, to being a minister, to being a father, grandfather, coaching some of the biggest CEOs in tech, there's not a scenario that I come across that he can't support me on. Through things that were my biggest accomplishments to some horrifying tragedies in my life, he's able to relate, guide and share his lived experiences with me. Having a coach that can relate to you is incredibly powerful and it's not something that someone learns, it's something that you align on and connect with.

Trusting their process...The great thing about having someone who cares about you is that when they ask you to undertake exercises that makes you look deep within your soul, questions your very identity or takes you into unknown territories, you have complete confidence that it's for your benefit. My coach pushes me from the deep things about my purpose, values, identity, leadership qualities to the very small stuff, the words I say, the 'ums' in my sentences, my eye contact and much more.

We're refining and improving the big and the small, all towards a version of me that is the most considered and refined that it can be.

And why does that matter?

For me it's because I want to really inspire, motivate and support others. I've realised over time I have the ability to do that and therefore I know I can only really do that when I have balance in my own life and I'm in that state of 'flow'.

Let me give you a practical example of when my coach stepped in. We were broken into recently and it felt like a huge violation of our lives. I kicked into the 'fixer' mode of sorting out the broken door, insurance, upgrading security systems, trying to restore the positive, happy environment in our house. A week after it had happened, on the way back home from dropping my youngest son off to nursery, I felt this wave of emotion come over me. I hadn't processed the incident on an emotional level.

I normally would call one of my close friends and they would re-assure me, they would tell me the practical things to consider and work through. Instead I called my coach. He empathised, shared his own experiences, referenced the emotions I was going through, then offered me a lesson. To embrace the emotional side, find a pocket in my day to be angry, to not be 'ok' but do it alone, in my own time. That 15 min chat changed my day. I went home, calm, understanding of what was happening and would happen to me emotionally and I was able to dial in to a meeting and turn up for my team. He's not my therapist, he's not just my career coach, he sees how one side is connected to the other and together we navigate whatever challenges come by.

Being championed...My coach makes me believe that I can do things beyond my own belief.... Not in a toxic positivity kind of way, in a way that says, look at what you have, look at what you can do and imagine what that could look like if you focused. My wife knows when I've come of a call with my coach, I'm alive, buzzing, creating, inspiring, dancing. My coach doesn't just teach me or gives me guidance, he gives me energy. From resetting my mind daily through my affirmations or by just reminding me of what to be grateful for and the things that make me so tremendously unique. If you're not getting that from your coach then please have a hard think about your relationship. Every interaction with my coach makes me feel like I've grown and I'm boosted.

So why this and why this now?

Well, I see all the posts, podcasts, blogs, videos about 'finding a coach for you' and I realised I was being selfish. If feel like I have a duty to share my experience with you and if you find yourself in a place where you're exploring/asking questions then this could be the moment a bit of coaching could truly transform your life in the way it has mine.

Oh yea nearly forgot his name is Mike Coote, or Mike 'Awesome' Coote as he still is in my phone. Happy to connect my connections, happy for you to go direct, but whatever you do, if you're in the slightest bit curious, reach out and take the first step into what could be an instrumental chapter in your life...I'm living proof of that and I'll happily chew your ear of telling you all my magical moments.

Starting Something New

This week I 'celebrated' my 3 month anniversary at Sedex.

I've previously talked about the importance of recognising milestones that you invest in and work towards as much as those that come around by default e.g birthdays.

For context, earlier this year I left a company that I had been at for 6 years, where I had grown so much, professionally and personally.

Last year, as campaigns came to an end, the pandemic hit and teams got restructured, anxiety for the future drove me to try and figure out what I want to do with my enhanced experience and updated skill set. Truthfully, I was feeling a bit lost and after some career coaching (which I would highly recommend BTW), I built a new path, that essentially led me to Sedex.

On reflection, the journey to this role was smooth in comparison to previous roles, however, it was clouded by doubt. Should I leave in the middle of a pandemic? The kids are still young, what happens if this doesn't work out? There's more to risk and I'm going to be responsible for a lot more than ever. Should I just play it safe, stay and deal with the frustrations of being unhappy professionally or take the leap and see where it goes?

Over the last 18 months, in my mentoring capacity, I've heard a trend in conversations I'm having with peers who have been feeling the same, so at this early milestone, whilst it's fresh, I wanted to share some of my thoughts, having taken a leap of faith, in the hope to inspire others on the fence to consider.

So how has it been?

Starting virtually was harder than I imagined it would be - I felt a bit lost, and at times a bit isolated. It felt like nothing had changed, as I was in the same home office logging on to a different laptop. You do have to make a deliberate effort to get to know people, to put in short calls with new team members to close that gap of being virtual. Over time the feeling of being new and being lost faded. Hopefully, for some, this will change in the near future but some companies will still have starting virtually as an option.

Commuting again, being back in the city, meeting new people, a new office, a new route all left me feeling extremely overwhelmed at first. I would come home and be completely shattered. Going back to an office, even a few times a week is going to take some getting used to, my advice is to be conscious that it's going to take some time to get used to the sensory overload and be kind to yourself by taking pockets of time to take it all in.

Walk before you can run... if like me you've been at a company for more than a couple of years, you will likely have a strong sense of rhythm; you know how to get things done, you know who to go to, and your timelines for doing tasks are quite streamlined. As I transitioned to a new company, I didn't really factor in that I would need to learn a new business, get to know, and build relationships with new people in order to perform at the capacity that I know I can. I stumbled, took on too much, expected a lot of people I only just met, and that made the first few weeks really tough for myself. Just be mindful that you're new and you have the grace to learn and be curious.

There are natural emotional peeks and troughs in starting something new and one thing that really helped me is speaking about it. My wife is always a good soundboard and I have a handful of close friends and mentors who I'd periodically call on a walk if I was having a wobble. They would either reduce the mountain that I thought I was climbing, into something more managable or remind me of my core strengths. Every conversation helped, even if it was just to get out my own head for a little while.

In summary, any change comes with uncomfortable moments and it really does get better. In just 3 short months I've progressed with my projects, I've started to build some strong connections, the commute is getting easier and I'm really excited about what the future holds for me at Sedex.

As famously said, the grass is greener where you water it, so wherever you put your efforts you'll flourish!

Looking forward to sharing future updates with you and if you're ever near St Paul's let me know, there's a few coffee places I want to try out.

Career Conversations with Charlie Fey

In 2020, I went through some coaching, with career coach Charlie Fey, at a point where I was really confused about which direction to go in with my career.

I learnt so much from the coaching and had such a positive experience (as well as landing my next role) that I felt I wanted to share some of the key tips and first-hand case-studies with my network.

Simply it's an attempt to help others or at least start a conversation for those who may find themselves in a similar position in such tough times.

Below you’ll find the 4 areas we discussed:

Part 1 - How to effectively job search in the current market Part 2 - The value of a Career Coach

Part 3 - How to prepare well for an interview Part 4 - How to nail an interview in a Covid-19 world

Podcast: Implement #20 – Pritesh Chauhan on Video Marketing & Storytelling

At the end of last year I was invited to do my first podcast with Badis Khalfallah and the Implement. podcast.

It was a really interesting exercise to go through and Badis was such as joy to speak with.

I'm loving what the Implement. podcast covers for Marketing professionals and really glad to be part of the community.

In this episode, we talked about what makes a great video campaign and video storytelling.

We talked about the massive transition in video production,

We talked about how to learn video marketing and best practices.

For this 20th episode, I had the chance to chat with Pritesh Chauhan. Pritesh is a Creative Marketing Strategist and Storyteller. [DISCLAIMER: When recorded, Pritesh was Senior Marketing Manager at GSMA, a trade organization representing the interests of mobile operators worldwide. So we mention his work at GSMA :)].

For this 20th episode, I had the chance to chat with Pritesh Chauhan. Pritesh is a Creative Marketing Strategist and Storyteller.

[DISCLAIMER: When recorded, Pritesh was Senior Marketing Manager at GSMA, a trade organization representing the interests of mobile operators worldwide. So we mention his work at GSMA :)].

In this episode, we talked about what makes a great video campaign and video storytelling.

We talked about the massive transition in video production

We talked about how to learn video marketing and best practices.

Pritesh is a storyteller and strategic content creator with a passion for helping people and businesses tell their stories.

For over the last fifteen years, he has been in the business-to-business world across various industries, building marketing divisions, defining brands, delivering impactful events, creating dynamic content, producing engaging video, and developing an integrated environment that blends traditional marketing with experiential, digital and social.

For the last 6 years, Pritesh has been working on promoting the impact connectivity and the mobile industry is having on the world.

He has built and delivered campaigns, teams, and events that have span the globe, generating content that has reached millions online.

Pritesh also works hard on maintaining a work-life balance. With his young family, they are always planning or going on the next adventure, seeing as much of the world as possible, watching the latest Disney masterpiece, or getting covered in paint, play-doh, or glitter.

GSMA Wrap Up!

I joined the GSMA in 2015 and had no idea what an incredible journey I was about to go on.

Through various campaigns and events, I got to tell some great stories, impact some change, travel around the world and meet some amazing people.

It was challenging at times and I’ve definitely grown and learnt much about myself .

This video encapsulates some of the key moments from my time at the GSMA.

My Case For Change Journey - The 7 things I learnt from #CaseForChange

2017…during an intense and enthralling Mobile World Congress in Barcelona I was set a challenge. ‘We want to shine a light on the amazing impact mobile operators are having around the world and shift the narrative through video and social media’. I was simply asked ‘We want to do something like ‘Around The Mobile World in 80 Days’ and need to figure out if it will work…what do you think?’

Campaign showreel - discover the campaign that was Case For Change

The importance of connectivity may seem obvious in the current circumstances, with mobile becoming everything to every one of us in lockdown, but remember this was four years ago. When we didn’t really think about these things and the reputation of the mobile industry was surprisingly poor.

Over the course of three months, through learning about audiences, researching initiatives, brainstorming with creative agencies, building strategies and thinking about how to leverage all the tools and platforms available to us, Case For Change was born. 

2020…Three years on, this global awareness campaign, aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has travelled to over 40 countries and told 60 stories of transformative change thanks to mobile connectivity. (You can see them all at www.caseforchange.com). The content from this campaign has reached over 320 million people and the 35 films created have been viewed over 40 million times.

With campaign launches at huge events, time zone and language barriers, logistical and production challenges at every turn and a constantly evolving campaign, the team has had quite the adventure. Learning so much about so many facets within a modern marketing environment, witnessing first hand people’s everyday reality and meeting some of the most incredible people around the world, working with them and hearing their stories.

Here are a few things that I’ve learnt along the way:

1. Mobile is more than you think…

In the research phases, as we searched for the most transformative impact stories to showcase, the team and I checked every corner of the world for different types of applications. We must have reviewed over 400 different initiatives. Through this process I learnt about so many uses of mobile connectivity that would surprise me, impress me or sometimes just blow my mind. Occasionally, it was the innovation but most times it was the simple unique use of technology which had the biggest impact and was the most impressive.

The list below is by no means extensive as to where mobile connectivity is impacting but it covers some of the main themes from #CaseForChange:

• Mobile money services helping those with little income to access fundamental services

• Connecting the unconnected in the most rural parts of the world

• Digital training skills for women and children

• Education platforms for children in refugee camps and with disabilities

• Digital birth registration services giving the next generation an identity

• Supporting HIV patients with effective medical supplies visibility

• Monitoring the impact of climate change through sensors

• Cleaner energy and water solutions for millions through innovative connected devices

• Analysing bee behaviour to preserve our food chain

• Providing invaluable infrastructure post natural disasters

• Monitoring sea life and forests to protect animals, nature and humans

• Teaching new languages both for new countries and for new digital skills

• Inspiring young talent to follow their dreams in ICT

• Connecting the blind and prosthetic limb users with more options through technology

• Using drones to save those in distress

• Supporting farmers to track and nurture their animals and crops

As technology and innovation continues, it will be amazing to see the next phase of how connectivity will shape our lives, especially in the realm of 5G, Internet of Things, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.

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2. Everyone is different

I was fortunate to grow up around people from different places around the world, I studied International Business management and the GSMA is an extremely diverse company internally and externally. So I was pretty exposed to some cultural differences going into this project but nothing prepared me for my own journey with each story.

When working in different countries, rather than just visiting the tourist sites, I learnt that people conduct business differently, some like face-to-face only whereas some prefer a WhatsApp message. The way to engage with those in schools, refugee camps, hospitals, governments all follow different protocols and the only real way that we were able to navigate it was though the help of local teams who could share the right way of doing things. We didn’t want to offend anyone or cross any lines and when you’re digging into people’s lives it’s an easy thing to get wrong. Layer that then with corporate politics, brand and tone differences and you start realising that everything and everyone one is completely different, all with completely different stories. 

The things that actually fascinated me the most was the realisation that of the 3 billion smart phones in the world no two phones are the same. The apps on that device, the layout, background, case, music, images – everything is so unique it really is the equivalent of your digital thumb-print.

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3. Everyone is the same

Having said that, one perspective you get from working on a global project and traveling to different pockets of our globe is a sense of universal humanity. Wherever you go, people are fundamentally positive, good and are happy to go out of their way to help others. We as people smile the same way, love the same way, support others on their endeavors in the same way, regardless of language or background.

There were times when we were sat in a Tanzanian refugee camp or in a field in rural Sri-Lanka and families invited us in for tea seeing how long we’d been out filming, or we’ve been sat with teenagers who have had some troubled experiences but a joke and a smile about something trivial, regardless of our inability to communicate, making us all burst into crazy laughter.

On numerous occasions we found ourselves in sticky situations, the worst was having one of the production teams escorted out of a Pakistani village with a police escort for fear of their safety, but at every intersection it’s people who went out of their way to support us and they did it at a personal cost and with a smile on their face. It’s given me a stronger sense of hope for the world we live in and the future that we’ll leave for our children.

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4. The art of listening in storytelling

The focus on this campaign was to present how connectivity is transforming lives. To be able to do this we had to find a method of extracting compelling stories. With every scenario being different, sometimes we weren’t able to pre-interview or cultural barriers meant digging too deep on a video conference call wasn’t appropriate.

We built a simple framework to support a good documentary structure, ‘problem, solution, impact’. We built an extensive questionnaire, used existing material and the internet gave us the meat that we applied to each production. We were able to lay a strong foundation before each production but the magic (as any producer/director will tell you) is in the moment.

Every time we filmed someone face-to-face we found layers and depth in their story which made the story come to life. One of the directors taught me a simple trick, when you’ve asked all your questions, pause (but really pause, like those uncomfortable pauses) and then ask ‘is there anything else you’d like to add or say?’ and leave space for a response. Then listen and give them the space to share.  Almost every time they responded with something extremely powerful, which we always included.

My lesson here is to ask ‘what else?’ more, listen and leave room for the magic.

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5. Drones can add an amazing perspective.

A film using the drone footage from #CaseForChange productions

Drone footage is still one of my favourite things to work with. Storytelling is all about perspective and being able to shift perspective from wide views to something more focused, adds layers not only to the design of our films but the way people think about the story their watching.

We opened some of the films with some incredible clips and what I saw was a shift in perspective makes people sit up and watch but they don’t realise they are doing it. Because it’s so pleasing to the eye with lakes, mountains, forests, or cityscapes you feel like you have this birds eye view, like out of an airplane and it’s almost impossible to ignore it.

Drone footage gives you real sense of scale with huge wide shots to smaller intimate spaces. I collated some of the best, most breath-taking shots in this video. This is a personal favourite because I also was able to fly drones in many different locations.

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6. The power of paid media

Within most organisations there are varying opinions around spending marketing budget on social media posts. Some see it as wasted money and others deem a social campaign pointless if you don’t have a paid media strategy involved.

We ran strategies across YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Tencent and Weibo, over the course of many months in all major markets across the world. We used big and small agencies and our in-house team supported by a healthy budget.

Here are main takeaways that I implement now in campaigns:

Ask critical questions early:

- Define what content outputs you want and if social is included then create a plan for it.

- Why are you using social? Awareness, lead generation, drive to website, engagements?

- Where are your target audience? What platforms do they use?

- Define what success is, then identify if you can do with organically or you will need spend.

 We had no community to build on, so everything we did was awareness to build one and to get critical information in-front of our target audience, predominately the next-generation of change makers – Millennials.

Putting the same amount of budget for the same post in different regions doesn’t work. You need to identify how costly each market is and bespoke how much you spend per post. Optimise as you go, social media teams are getting so much better at reviewing post performance, tweaking copy, re-defining audience demographics through a live campaign that you can learn what is working and shift strategy in the middle of a running campaign. This is a smart move, rather than just letting something run and hoping it does well.

The biggest thing I learnt was to test your content with small budgets then amplify. Our smaller agency partner introduced me to a great model of micro-budgeting for posts. You spend £25 on a post in a market, you get a profile of the sort of people that engage with that post based on the algorithms, you can try other posts with different thumb-stopping content in the first 3-5 seconds and once you identify how your target audience is engaging you can put a lot more money behind a more targeted approach meaning your content is reaching the people you want it to. This in turn will drive your conversion through the roof.

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7. Good content keeps on giving

The final thing that I saw first-hand is how far good content can go. Organisations spend a lot of money on short corporate videos and once it’s served its purpose it’s done. This campaign showed me that capturing content, having a multi-channel approach meant we found ourselves sat on essentially a library of footage that then kept on giving.

We have been able to re-edit and re-purpose all the footage time and time again for different relevant videos in other parts of the business, under a completely new skin for a different audience and as b-roll in other corporate and social films. The extra investment in time and money initially will give you at least four times returns in the long run.

Content is and will always be king and with the right approach can be amazing.

 This campaign was cool on so many levels and these powerful stories will always stay with me. Seeing first-hand how connectivity is defining our world for good gave me a personal sense of pride to be in this industry and also opened my eyes to so many new things.

As everyone knows, our current situation is concerning to say the least, but I am excited to see how we move forward and how technology advances in my lifetime.

Spoken-word Poetry

I’m a big fan of spoken-word poetry, once described as ‘written words that demand to be said out loud.’

Over the years I’ve written various pieces but never performed them or ‘said them out loud'.

Inspired by Hamilton and the genius that is Lin-Manuel Miranda, during lockdown two in 2020 I tasked myself to try and create and perform a piece.

Here it is….

‘People say’ is about the ease at which we are led by ‘society’ and the fear of ‘what people will say’. It’s my journey to drill down into that fear and realise that that fear is distracting and has no value in our lives.

In a world where the impositions of others shift and mould our lives this piece talks about the importance of being you, focusing on the present and not listening to what other people have to say.

Tanzania - #CaseForChange

A LinkedIn blog post for the #CaseForChange Tanzania film I produced in one of the worlds biggest refugee camps.

This film had so many amazing human impact stories that we unraveled in the the interviews that we created (for the first time) individual biographies for the students. See additional films below some images from the trip,

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At the end of January I was really fortunate to be able to go to Nyarugusu, Tanzania and film in one of the biggest refugee camps in the world.

I spent a few days visiting families and children who had such tough stories to tell about their lives but also shared their hopes and dreams with us. A simple installation of a digital classroom has transformed the education for a whole generation there. When I first came across the Vodafone Instant Network Schools programme I knew it was a story we had to share on the campaign.

#CaseForChange has given us so many insights into the amazing work that the mobile industry is delivering everyday in creating better futures for millions of people. With thanks to many colleagues and partners in making this film possible I'll never forget those moments sitting in small huts listening to heartbreaking stories followed by unbelievable belief that education will be the lifeline to overcome immense adversity.

I'm really proud to share this video with the world.

Please watch it, share it and tell me what you think.

#caseforchange #vodafone #refugees #digital #classroom #betterfuture #tanzania #educationforall #sdg

Individual Biographies

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The Next Level of Experience

When it comes to events and one-to-one engagement, marketers are continuously looking for the next best way to connect with people and get their key messages across. Presentations turned into demos and over the last few years the increase of touchscreens and virtual reality (VR) headsets have enabled people get closer to the action.

Having been to various exhibitions across the world over the last few years, the level of innovation and use of technology to engage with attendees continues to impress me. Huge ultra high-definition screens, interactive spaces, dancing water features, compelling creatives and 4D roller-coaster rides are giving people overwhelming impressive moments.

Over the last couple of years I have been working on projects involving VR headsets and 360 cameras. The technology and associated software is getting better with each iteration. The days of low-resolution, rough footage where you can see the stitches and need your imagination to fill in the gaps are behind us. The Samsung 360 Gear alone has made it possible for small film makers to capture live footage and put people into any environment. There still needs to be a level of skill to reduce the visibility of the tripod and matching the seems up but that's more for the trained eye than Joe Public.

So you've now got the ability to create great 360 content that you can put in a headset and have someone completely immersed in your videos and messages. Walking the halls of these events I began to realise that lots of money was being spent on creating compelling content but as the price of headsets came down they started popping up on every other stand. Which one do I stop and engage with? The next challenge for events marketers became evident - how do you get people inside your headset?

And what about those that won't put a headset on? Well this is challenge that was posed to me in the run up to Mobile World Congress 2018. One part of the event is specifically targeted at government ministers, executives from the mobile industry, policy makers and many more VIPs. This group of people are not in the habit of putting on headsets, there are security risks and the worry of loosing face or being made to look foolish.

I reached out to some of my creative peers and found out how others were approaching this challenge. I was guided towards 360 immersive experiences. These are dome like structures where large groups of people can be completely immersed into a journey. With the use of 360 video you can transport people to parts of the world they have never been to, tell some extremely powerful stories by placing them in the heart of the issue and subtly demand their attention for a short period of time. It's almost impossible to take your eyes of the screen as you feel like you're in the space.

We built a team of people to focus on the creative story, the production and the logistics and created the story we wanted to tell, briefed out the visuals, filmed in remote parts of Pakistan and a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. We added voice overs and graphics to the early drafts and created a journey that groups of people could experience together.

This last point is the difference. Putting someone in a headset gives them an individual experience, they witness it and don't really vocalise their feelings once it's done. When you put people together and take them through a shared experience you get the ability to connect and discuss moments they capture or the way it made them feel. Regardless of what is going on in the outside world you all collectively escape to another world and witness something you weren't expecting. Having people who can drive change and make a difference 'feel' something over hearing or seeing something is a powerful marketing tool and I hope to witness more of it over the coming years.

Below is a 2D version of the 360 experience for you to watch - you may not get the full impact but you'll get the jist. Make sure you have a look around to catch all the different parts of the story.

Below are some reactions from those who had been in the immersive experience.

SRI LANKA - #CaseForChange

Here is a blog I wrote around my experience when producing the Sri Lanka #CaseForChange film. Below are some images from my Instagram Stories feed that I used to real-time update my team (and family) whilst on this adventure.

#CaseForChange: Mobile service is bringing traditional farming into the 21st Century across Sri Lanka

With 80% of Sri Lankans living in rural areas, farming is the way of life for most. Traditional farming methods are passed down from generation to generation and the use of technology is still a novelty for those outside of the city. Many hard hours are spent in the vast green fields, harvesting mainly rice in the paddy fields, as well as sweetcorn, chilies and bananas.

As their only source of income, the sale of these crops are not only critical for the next harvest but also the livelihoods of their families; ensuring there’s enough to eat and making sure their children get an education. One bad yield will not only affect that farmer, but will have a knock on effect for the wider community.

I joined popular Sri Lankan TV presenter, Chatura Alwis and his talented production team, on a trip to the Southern Province of Sri Lanka, to see how a simple automated voice service is transforming farming methods, for the #CaseForChange campaign.

In 2015, Dialog launched a ground-breaking service for farmers called Govi Mithuru. For only one rupee a day this service provides customised and timely advice to farmers regarding land preparation, cultivation, crop protection, harvest and improved family nutrition.

We learned that ‘super-users’ send messages everyday with information from their farms and with the use of GPS data, Dialog can then help farmers by sending the right Information at the right time for each farmer’s needs, correctly tailored for their crop, location and stage of cultivation. Registered users receive information related to each registered crop as a voice message to their mobile phones.

It wasn’t until we spoke to some of the farmers did we realise how significant this service is. Pests and diseases are the biggest threats to farmers and catching them late can cost them their entire field of crops. As soon as they received a voice message informing them that a neighbouring farm has pests they can then immediately go and check their crops and spray pesticides if required.

Before Govi Miithuru, this information would come from agents who would visit the farms, but this was limited to working hours and weekdays, now farmers can receive this information 24/7.

This service is having a huge impact on lives and communities here, but it was interesting to learn that exposure to quicker routes to making money such as rickshaw driving was reducing the number of next generation of farmers. They didn’t want to work long, hard hours in the heat, waiting for months for crops and having to deal with pests etc.

By giving this industry the chance to evolve into the 21st century with the use of mobile and the knowledge they can obtain from it, the next generation of farmers are more likely to continue their family heritage and will do so in a more informed and efficient way.

Govi Mithuru is a great example of how mobile operators and connectivity can really make a better future for citizens.

Hear more stories like this and show your support by following and sharing our YouTube channel and visit our website to watch the latest stories and learn more about our stories and participating mobile operators.

Dedicated to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and connecting everyone and everything to a better future, mobile operators are transforming millions of people’s lives. To tell these stories of human impact, the #CaseForChange is packed with the latest tech and travelling around the world. Launched at MWC Americas in September 2017 and culminating at Mobile World Congress 2018 in February, the journey will cross 17 countries and cover over 130,000km to capture 19 of the most powerful stories of human change, all backed by mobile.

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Dreaming Big at the GSMA

We all strive to make a difference in our work and in early 2016, I found myself at a fork in my career. On one hand, a brand that everyone wants to work for, but I was told that there would be limited scope for me to work creatively. On the other, the GSMA, an organisation I hadn’t heard of, but which promised to give me opportunities to be bold and have real ownership over my work.

It was confusing… so many unknowns, yet the more I learnt about the GSMA, the more it excited me: a global presence, Mobile World Congress, interesting mobile related programmes, cool offices which would create an inspiring working environment, and a large dose of passion in everyone I met. I trusted my gut and allowed myself to believe in their vision and use my skills to add real value.

‘We want to tell the amazing stories of how mobile connectivity is transforming the lives of people around the world…’

It’s not every day you get given the opportunity to make a real difference and it’s rarer that a company has the platform to deliver on such a mission. When Mats Granryd, GSMA Director General, addressed the United Nations General Assembly in September 2016, presenting the mobile industry’s commitment to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), I felt part of something valuable, something that will change lives and something that I can contribute to.

That something is the GSMA’s Case For Change campaign. It was born out of the need to showcase powerful initiatives delivered by mobile operators, shift perceptions and drive those that can really make a difference – institutions, policy makers and, critically, millennials – to use their voices and take action in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

I was buzzing… our exploration started to show us incredible initiatives from every corner of the world, featuring robots, schools in the rainforest, lifesaving apps, support for refugees, wearables for the blind and much more where connectivity was the lifeline for so many. These inspiring initiatives encouraged me to dream big and embrace big, audacious goals. Nothing was off limits, the essence of collaboration on this campaign was using the huge whiteboard walls in our meeting rooms to brainstorm ideas and being confident that when two minds come together, we would generate ideas we would never have dreamed up on our own.

This multifaceted campaign would require me to open my ‘skills toolbox’ and call on every aspect of my marketing experience to date: strategic planning, creative vision, storytelling, team management, partner engagement, social media amplification, video production and much, much more.

My development since I joined the GSMA has also reinforced what my strengths in marketing are and I’ve been given numerous chances to develop a passion for story-telling and video creation. This means that when I come to work every day, I want to create compelling content for social platforms and lead a team which can take on anything.

From the beginning of my time at the GSMA, the exposure, input and support from the whole leadership team has driven me and the teams I work with to deliver world-class campaigns. Each project drives us to dream bigger, make bolder steps and own the choices we make. The reassurance of being surrounded by subject matter experts and the environment of respect and collaboration enables us all to move at pace, fail fast and reach our goals.