The Working Parent Podcast

Today we are talking to Lee Clements who is Head of Sustainable Investment Solutions at FTSE Russell, a part of London Stock Exchange Group. Three years ago Lee reduced his working week to 3 ½ days to have the time to provide help for his daughter, who is severely disabled, and to support his own mental health. In this episode we talk to Lee about his path to a part time role, the challenges associated with it such as work creep and scheduling stress, and the benefits for him and the business. Lee encourages honest and adult conversations with line managers and colleagues and has advice on how to lose the stigma associated with part time work. Lee is on the 2021 Timewise Power List which celebrates senior, successful part-time employees and organisations,  with an innovative approach to flexible working.

Today we are talking to Sara Tate who is responsible for delivering sustainable and profitable growth as CEO at creative agency TBWA. Sara was hired into the role on a 4 day week so that she could spend more time with her young family. Under her leadership, the agency is thriving, with media billings up 9% to £226m. Sara is on the 2021 Timewise Power List which celebrates senior, successful part-time employees and organisations,  with an innovative approach to flexible working. In this episode we talk about how Sara landed a part time role in the first place and how she makes it work for her and the team. She has terrific advice for others who are currently working part time or aspiring to do so.  Cindy Gallup https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindygallop/ Timewise Power Awards https://timewise.co.uk/power-list/ WACL Resources and research on flexible working https://wacl.info/flexible-first-campaign/why-flexiblefirst/ Sara Tate LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraktate/ Twitter https://twitter.com/saraktate Sara’s Rebuilders Podcast focussed on helping people rebuild after challenges: Podcast the-rebuilders.simplecast.com Twitter https://twitter.com/RebuildersThe

Jackee Holder is the author of five non-fiction titles: Soul Purpose: Self-Affirming Rituals, Meditations and Creative Exercises to Revive Your Spirit - 1999 Be Your Own Best Life Coach: Take charge and live the life you always wanted - 2008 49 Ways to Write Yourself Well: The Science and Wisdom of Writing and Journaling - 2013 Writing with Fabulous Trees: A Writing Map for Parks, Gardens, and Other Green Spaces - 2016 The Write Prescription: Paper and Pen Cures & Remedies for Mind, Body & Spirit - 2021 With "Writing with Fabulous Trees", she brings together the restorative benefits of nature, eco-psychology, eco-geography and self-reflection through twelve tree-inspired journal and creative writing prompts. She has published a collection of creative writing e-books and creative resources which are available as free downloads on her website. Jackee’s professional background is as a leadership coach and coach trainer. She works corporately, in the NHS with senior leaders and BAME nurses and midwives. This work is supported with a groundbreaking practice of facilitating creative writing and journal writing workshops including online events for writers and creatives nationally and internationally.

Ruth  Ashby is a Global Talent Partner at Vodafone. She is an Occupational  Psychologist who has held senior roles in Media, Consultancy and  Financial Services.   Stuart served for seven years as a Royal Marine Commando before establishing Fieldworks Gym in Hackney.  Stu and Ruth met whilst at university in Manchester, they now live in Hackney with their two girls,  aged 6 and 3.

The BeingDads website where you can access past editions of David’s blog and also sign up for a weekly email drop is here: https://www.beingdads.com/ David and Kerri discussed the amount of time it takes to get back into a task that requires focus when we are interrupted or switch tasks. Here is a link to the seminal study https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/chi08-mark.pdf and this is an interview with one of the authors of the study https://www.fastcompany.com/944128/worker-interrupted-cost-task-switching. The answer is 23 minutes and 15 seconds although of course it is more nuanced than that and depends on the task and the person and various other factors. It is only one example of multiple studies on this phenomenon which finds that there is no such thing as multi-tasking. Instead, we switch between tasks and when these tasks are ones requiring lots of attention and focus it costs us time. David mentioned a quote by Victor Frankl and this book: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/man-s-search-for-meaning-the-classic-tribute-to-hope-from-the-holocaust-9781844132393/9781844132393

And how much time are you providing, arranging, relating or teaching as a parent? In this episode, we speak to the wonderful Jen Rolfe about the highs and lows of her own parenting journey. What are the stand out moments – the highs and the lows, and what has really helped. Often as practitioners in this field, there is the myth that we can do it perfectly – Jen’s talk in a humble, entertaining and very real peek into her world where parenting and positive psychology collide. For more information on Julie Morgenstern's work that Jen mentions visit https://www.juliemorgenstern.com/time-to-parent and for more information on Jen visit http://www.practicallypositive.com/

Carl Honoré is the bestselling author, broadcaster, keynote speaker and leader of the Slow Movement. He firmly believes that living in fast forward significantly damages our health, happiness, relationships and productivity.  In this podcast Carl talks about how we might harness the slowness that the pandemic has forced on us and use it for the better in our future lives. Link to Carl's TED Talk In Praise of Slowness Links to the studies in which Carl mentions the benefits of slow in the workplace. Read these and then discuss it at work: https://hbr.org/2010/05/need-speed-slow-down https://hbr.org/2020/03/slow-down-to-make-better-decisions-in-a-crisis https://www.economist.com/briefing/2015/12/05/the-creed-of-speed Here is a link to the trailer for Frantic Family Rescue which Carl filmed in Australia. It might make you cringe but also we might all recognise a little of ourselves in this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7dxXzfy0ro&feature=emb_logo For more information on Carl:  www.carlhonore.info

In this delightful podcast Dr Aric Sigman explains  why boredom needs an image makeover. Boredom is a constructive part of  the childhood experience, vital for our children’s mental health,  creativity and future success. All too often we  feel  obliged to ‘cure’ our children’s boredom or make every second count in  the weekly schedule, but we need to make space for boredom and help our  children develop the ability to withstand a  lack of novelty and stimulation. What they mustn’t learn, Aric says, is  the solution to boredom comes outside of themselves - buy this, play  that, smoke this, eat that. Instead they need to develop strategies to  solve their inner boredom and they need time  to practice this.  In our always on, too much choice,  electronic media  world Aric provides useful strategies for parents to bring boredom  back. He does not leave adults out of the equation either. We too are  increasingly in need of stimulation and addicted  to novelty! What might we be modelling to our children? Dr Aric Sigman (http://www.aricsigman.com/index.html ) is a health education lecturer and has delivered numerous talks for The Parent Company (www.theparentcompany.co.uk) on screen  time/dependence, alcohol, ‘soft’ drugs & vaping, preventing mental  health problems, body image, and understanding boys, sex and  relationships topics. He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary  Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood, co-author of 3 of its latest reports on mental health in childhood. He publishes medical papers on health and development subjects and  is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Associate Fellow of the  British Psychological Society, and a Chartered Scientist awarded by the  Science Council. He is the author of five books (http://www.aricsigman.com/books.html)  on health and development-related topics, including Getting Physical, which won The Times Educational Supplement’s Information Book Award. Here is a link to the survey with the quote from a very wise dad on page 19 https://www.suittiestroller.com/dad-survey-report

In this episode we look at the powerful, portable and purposeful resource that we all have available in our own pockets - our strengths. I explore the true value of our strengths with strengths guru Sally Bibb. Sally is director of engaging minds, a strengths consultancy, an award winning author and keynote speaker. She is also a dear friend - we met through  a shared  delight of David Whyte’s poetry and she remains an inspirational person in my life. I thoroughly recommend Sally’s two books on strengths - The Strengths Book and The Strengths Workbook as practical reflective guides to discover your own strengths. Sally shares stories, tips and lots of inspiration. https://engagingminds.co.uk/the-strengths-book-discover-how-fulfilled-work-life-sally-bibb-2017/ Also check out Sally’s podcast The Lockdown Diaries for inspiring human stories around the world. It is amazing! I hope you enjoy.

There is so much to consider about us returning to our offices. How, when, if, where and why! One things for sure this will be a transition not an event and our lockdown experiences and stories will be such a huge part of transitioning back. Dr Harriett Shortt is a Associate Professor, author, consultant, speaker and working mother. She is fascinating. Listen in as she shares with us some of her thinking around this transition and how I try to describe dropping the stone metaphor on audio (not my finest moment!)  we hope you enjoy!