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Inspire Club EP #16 - David Beeney
8 Plays4 years ago
In this episode we talk with David Beeney, Founder of Breaking the Silence.
As it is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK, David is the perfect guest to address the issues of workplace mental health.
As one of the leading voices on Mental Health in the workplace, David has had experience working in media and news publishing. During his time in work, he had been afraid to let his organisation know of his mental health struggles but now, with Breaking the Silence, David now works around the world to bring mental health and wellbeing strategies to organisations as well as helping to reduce the stigma of mental health at work.
In his chat with Ruth, David highlights the importance of learning more about your employees (talk about Stacey's dog!), why addressing mental health leads to improved business results and what song he is looking forward to playing at his wedding.
We hope you enjoy it.
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Transcript
Introduction to The Inspire Club Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to our podcast, The Inspire Club. I'm your host, Ruth Dants. You've hopefully heard me before if you've listened to any of our previous episodes. I share the duties of hosting The Inspire Club podcast with our team, Inspiring Workplaces. And we interview inspiring people from all over the world. And this is actually, as I always say, my favourite 30 minutes of my week, each week.
00:00:29
Speaker
For those of you that don't know who I am, I am the Managing Director of the Inspiring Workplaces Academy. I'm based in Sussex in the south of England in the UK and I'm also a mother to three very young and very noisy little boys. So if you do hear them, they are under another responsible adult in this house while I chat to our guest of today.
The Podcast's Inspirational Rule
00:00:51
Speaker
And also, if you have listened to any of our previous episodes of Inspire Club, you will know that just like in the 1990s classic Fight Club, we do have one rule. Our one rule is that each guest must share a story of a person that has inspired them along their way, putting positivity out into the world and also thanking someone who maybe had no idea that they had inspired someone else. It could be a past colleague, but it could come from anywhere outside of the world of work.
00:01:18
Speaker
Let me introduce you to today's guest then.
Guest Introduction: David Beanie
00:01:21
Speaker
As it's Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK, I couldn't think of a more perfect guest for Inspire Club today than the very one and only David Beanie, or as I call him, Beans means Hines.
00:01:36
Speaker
David worked in media for 36 years and at one stage he was the managing director of a daily newspaper. David and I often will chat about our experiences of working in news publishing. Yet also during these 36 years, and probably even longer if we challenged David on it, he didn't want to talk to any of his colleagues or his employer and to tell them that he was battling mental health problems.
00:02:03
Speaker
David believed it would damage his career, he was embarrassed and really scared of the potential consequences. Yet David is now using his experience of going through this, along with his incredible commercial background and his business knowledge to help organisations all over the world implement mental health and wellbeing strategies into their workplaces.
00:02:25
Speaker
And what I love the most, David's purpose and what gets him going every day or what I think does, is he has committed the rest of his working life to reducing the stigma of mental health in the workplace. David, we couldn't have a more apt guest for this week than you. So welcome, how are you?
00:02:43
Speaker
I'm very good, Ruth, and it's a real pleasure to be chatting to you today. And as you shared, you call me Beans. Let me share that I always call you Ruth. Let's dance. So let's get dancing, Ruth. We're going to have a jingle soon, aren't we? We sure are. OK, then, Beans. So on to the first question on the one and only rule of Inspire Club.
Inspirations from Sharon Randall
00:03:05
Speaker
Can you share with me a story of someone that has inspired you in the world of work and also tell me why they inspired you?
00:03:12
Speaker
I'm going to choose a lady called Sharon Randall, who was my managing director for the last 13 years when I had a proper job. Because when I reflect back, Sharon was brutal to work for in many ways. She was a brilliant sales leader, but she totally got engagement. I remember her coming up to me one day, Ruth, and saying to me, how's Sally's dog? And I started laughing. And I said, I didn't even know Sally had a dog. And Sharon didn't laugh at all. And she said,
00:03:42
Speaker
David, I'm really disappointed in you because Sally's dog's her life. Next time you see Sally, ask her about her dog. And do you know what? When I next saw Sally, I did that. And when I look back at my working relationship with Sally, she became a real advocate of mine, a fantastic employee. But it only really changed the day I said to Sally, how's your dog? Because at that point,
00:04:04
Speaker
She realized that I cared about as a human being. And after that day, she was always so much more emotionally engaged within the organization. So it's Sharon Rattle. She was my boss for 13 years. I am the godfather to her only child, so we're very close friends as well now. But no, she was an inspiration, a brilliant sales lead, but totally got the power of employee engagement. There you go.
00:04:30
Speaker
Wow, well thank you Sharon and I think there's like so many lessons we could all learn from Sally's dog, right? Like I also remember being taught that lesson from a boss of mine. He didn't tell me quite as explicitly as Sharon told you but he once shared with me that he had a little spreadsheet that he'd created of all the people in his team.
00:04:52
Speaker
And not just his direct line reports, but people that interacted with him on a regular basis, vendors, etc. And on this spreadsheet, and it was only a couple of columns, he had like their name, and then he wrote a few things about like their interests. And he shared it with me once.
00:05:08
Speaker
And I learned that one of the guys who was a real clear introvert, very shy, kept himself to himself on the team. He had pet snakes. And you just would never know this about him. And I had a real similar experience with you where, I mean, we could never really get him to talk to any of us. And I once sat with him and said, oh, I hear that you keep pet snakes. I don't know anything about snakes. But he started, it was his passion. So he started opening up about it.
00:05:37
Speaker
So learning that lesson around Sally's dog, we're going down a pet theme here, right? But I guess the lesson from Sharon, what I'm hearing from you is get to know people as humans. Yeah, Ruth, we used to have a three hour monthly sales meeting that was a very, very punchy meeting. And we always used to start with a non-work related check-in that took about half an hour. And one particular month, our three hour meeting got cut short to only an hour. So someone naturally said to Sharon,
00:06:06
Speaker
Look, we've got a packed agenda today. We've got so much to get through. We've only got an hour. Can we cut out the non-work-related check-in? And Sharon said, no way. I learned more about you lot in that half an hour than I do for the rest of the month. And she recognised that 30 minutes when we didn't even talk about work was her secret weapon to driving engagement. So, yes, Sharon Landl is my star of the day.
00:06:30
Speaker
Wow, Sharon, thank you. And David, thank you for sharing that. I think there's probably quite a lot of leaders listening to this right now that, or anyone really that could take some lessons from Sharon on engagement. That's amazing. David, I think I've touched on this already, but I'm actually not 100% sure I know it.
Purpose and Workplace Culture
00:06:48
Speaker
What is your, my why? What's your purpose? What drives you? I was about 40 years old and I was helping to facilitate a session
00:06:59
Speaker
around what is your purpose in life. And I sat with a group of people who had been given the task of talking about what their purpose is. And they all turned towards me and they said, David, let's start with you, because you're really easy to do. And I said, what do you mean by that? And they said, well, clearly your purpose in life is to make people feel better about themselves. And ever since that day, I've thought that is my purpose.
00:07:28
Speaker
So when I got the opportunity a few years ago to try and influence culture in the workplace, to try and make workplaces even greater places for people to work, I realized that it's about as close as I can get to fulfilling purpose every day. So the reason I get out of bed every day is because I just want people to feel better about themselves. And I know if employers treat people in the right way, they will do. So that's my why. That's why I do what I do.
00:07:56
Speaker
That's amazing to make people feel better about themselves. And amazing that someone just could already tell what your purpose was, like you display it, you use it. And I would 100% agree with that since the moment I've met you as well. What's the best experience you've ever had at work?
Proud Moment with the Royal Navy
00:08:16
Speaker
I'm lucky enough to say it's actually in the last year. I've got the pleasure at the moment of working with the Royal Navy in the UK.
00:08:25
Speaker
And my job with the Royal Navy is to help them to get rid of their macho culture, to make it easier for sailors to be honest about their true mental wellbeing. And I was having a session with some very senior military personnel about six months ago, when all of a sudden one of them felt inspired to talk about their challenges they've had with mental health that they'd never talked about ever before in their lives. And they never, ever thought they would do.
00:08:55
Speaker
And what it created was an I'm Spartacus moment where suddenly other senior military personnel were keen to put their hand up and say, can I share my mental health story too? And to have the privilege of working with such senior military leaders in an incredibly macho culture and to get them talking about their battles with anxiety and depression and PTSD and so on was so humbling and I felt
00:09:23
Speaker
you know, this is what this is all about for me. And so that was my proudest moment so far from a workplace point of view, I would imagine.
00:09:32
Speaker
Well, I'm not surprised. I'm like, you must have gone into that thinking this is going to be a hard nut to crack. Like literally, right? Like, am I going to get, am I going to get such a deep rooted culture of we hide our feelings. We're macho. You know, we're here to do a job. Am I going to get them to open up? That's amazing. Amazing. I don't deny you and you're spot on.
00:09:55
Speaker
the first time I started work with them, I thought, will they respect me because I've never been in the military myself? And, you know, people like me sometimes struggle to connect with people who work in the military. So, yeah, hence I was even more proud of creating that sort of safe space in that room that day that people felt they could talk that openly about things. So, yeah, without doubt, my favorite moment so far.
00:10:24
Speaker
Wow, I thought you were going to tell me that in that ship that day, you did it in a room. What do you think is a major workplace priority right now?
Wellbeing as a Business Strategy
00:10:38
Speaker
I think the, and you can probably guess what I'm going to say here, but it is to make wellbeing a strategic priority. I still get very task-focused leaders saying to me, David, I get all this wellbeing stuff.
00:10:51
Speaker
but surely we have to put the needs of the business first. And I always say back, well, the only way to put the needs of the business first is to put your wellbeing conversations and your wellbeing priorities right up front in the business, because then you're almost guaranteed to look after the needs of the business. And I get that some very task-focused leaders still find that difficult to get their heads around. But without doubt, Ruth, and I know you see this every day,
00:11:20
Speaker
where senior leaders are making sort of well-being, where they're trying to inspire their workforces. They are the ones who are achieving great results even during a pandemic. So yeah, you probably guessed what I was going to say there, but senior leaders have got to make well-being one of their strategic priorities and recognize it's not a fluffy subject. It's not HR's latest thing that's going to go away in the next 12 months.
00:11:49
Speaker
to be replaced by something else. If you wanna get the best out of your people, if you want to optimize the potential of your business, you have to have wellbeing as a strategic priority, without a doubt. You're absolutely right, David, and you're absolutely right that the organizations that are seeing the successes are the ones that are putting wellbeing at the forefront. They're not seeing it as fluffy, they're seeing it as an absolute business imperative. You're absolutely right. You're also right that I expected you to say that.
00:12:18
Speaker
But I don't think I've interviewed a podcast guest recently that hasn't said that. And they work in all different walks of life and fields and industries and all over the world that hasn't said that to me. In fact, I recently interviewed Mike Adams from an organization called Purple, who
00:12:41
Speaker
He is passionate about supporting organisations in employing and seeing the potential and the commercial potential of people that have disabilities. I expected him to say there's a huge untapped market in the disabled market. And he actually said mental wellbeing is a workplace priority right now. And nothing like the last year and a half now has shown us that even more so that it's such an important priority.
00:13:10
Speaker
What's the best piece of advice anyone's ever given you? Was it Sharon or was it someone else?
Advice on Authenticity
00:13:15
Speaker
No, it was somebody else. Very early in my career, I was on a train the trainer course. And on the final day, we all had to deliver a 30 minute training session to our peers. And I was last on that day. And I remember all day feeling quite anxious about it. And it finally came to my half an hour. And I delivered what I thought was a pretty good training session.
00:13:40
Speaker
And the guy taking the course in front of all my peers said to me, David, I am really, really disappointed in you. He said, do you know why I put you on last? And I said, Nope. He said, I put you on last because it's been a long day and I thought you'd make us all smile. I thought you'd make us all laugh. He said, I thought you'd be really engaging and entertaining because that's, that's what you are. And he said, but you know what today you've been really boring.
00:14:09
Speaker
He said, technically, yeah, you got it okay. He said, but promise me, you will never, ever, ever again deliver anything where you're not being you. For God's sake, David, always be yourself. And I've literally taken that on board. Ever since that day, I've always thought, just do what you want to do. If you want to give out tins of baked beans, give out tins of baked beans. If you want to show a plastic frog in all your presentations, do that.
00:14:37
Speaker
If you want to get your bouncy balls out, do it. Don't worry about what other people are thinking. Just be you. So that's probably the best advice I ever got, Ruth.
00:14:48
Speaker
Yeah, and that is incredible. I remember doing a, I think it was a four day residential train the trainer course early on in my career as well. I always remember it being abbreviated TTT and that's never ever left me. I remember doing it and actually such also really incredible course being given that advice to be you don't be the second you feel like you're training or presenting or interviewing or whatever, whenever you step into a different type of role, I guess.
00:15:18
Speaker
we have this kind of tendency to turn into robots and to lose like who we are as humans and that is evident and clearly it was evident to your trainer that day. Just be you. Just do you. Just do you. Love doing you and people will love you. Not everybody will but people will love you. Amazing piece of advice. Just be you.
00:15:41
Speaker
David, I know it's been a real challenging year, personally, no doubt professionally, for you, for me, for everyone. And with that has come additional layers of stress and unpredicted stress, I guess, as well. Yet you do always seem to me
00:16:02
Speaker
you, you always seem upbeat and optimistic and happy. How do you do it or what do you do to combat stress?
Pandemic Stress Realization
00:16:13
Speaker
The fact that you always see that shows how easy it is sometimes to hide what's really going on. I realised just before last Christmas, Ruth, that I was starting to feel really mentally drained, absolutely exhausted. And I actually had a fear that I might make myself ill because I'm overdoing it.
00:16:32
Speaker
And I remember thinking how embarrassing as a wellbeing consultant if I become ill because I'm not looking after myself. Now I managed to get myself across the line at Christmas, but then over the Christmas period, I used it as a time to reflect about why do I feel so flat? Why do I feel so low? And I realized to bring this to life for everyone, there's probably four key things I do in life to unwind, to relax, to vent the frustrations of life.
00:17:01
Speaker
And those four things were, I play squash once or twice a week, but the leisure centers have been closed. I like to watch my beloved Watford Football Club, the football grounds have been closed. I like to go down the pub and have a few beers and a nice meal, and the pubs have been shut. And I like to go to my holiday home in Bulgaria, but I haven't been there for 18 months. And I realized that all the things that I normally do have been cut off from me. And I was replacing that with work, work, work, work, work.
00:17:30
Speaker
It's not sustainable. We've all got to get that balance right and realize the things that we do in life to really relax and find our happy places in. So for me, it's not just one thing. It's a number of things that I do to keep this smile genuine and to keep my energy levels up. But during a pandemic, it's very easy to cut off that supply, which is why I think people have really got to reflect at the moment and realize
00:18:00
Speaker
What do you do to give you energy? And if it's being cut off, take it serious, because I was exhausted at the end of last year, and I'm never gonna let myself ever get like that again in my life, I promise you.
00:18:16
Speaker
Amazing, thank you so much for sharing that. I think it's so easy for us to not recognise it, particularly people who are like, well, I'm not travelling anywhere, I'm not commuting, I'm not flying around the world, I'm not in groups of 100 people, and I'm not doing all of those things yet. Why am I so exhausted and I haven't even left my front door?
00:18:36
Speaker
But actually, you're so right. For someone like me who is naturally an extrovert, I get my energy from being around other people. I get my energy from networking and travelling and experiencing different things and therefore it's incredibly draining.
00:18:53
Speaker
being locked inside your own home for some people that can be the opposite but yeah listening and understanding yourself and then working out while coming what me and my husband have done a lot this year is work out what's a compromise we can't go to a pub but can we create a pub at home or we can't go to a cinema but maybe if we move the sofa a little bit closer to the television we can create you know how do you how do you create those experiences and do that thank you for sharing that
00:19:22
Speaker
What do you think, thinking about leadership? You touched on this at the beginning, that important role that leaders have to play. What do you think is the most important quality in a leader?
Authenticity in Leadership
00:19:35
Speaker
From what I've observed in the last year, the word authenticity springs to mind. I hear some leaders talking about the importance of their people, talking about the importance of well-being. I just sense they're not being authentic.
00:19:52
Speaker
They've been on a, on a course and they realize the right things to say, but they don't provide their people with any real evidence or any noticeable changes in their own behavior. And I think when you see leaders are being authentic, it makes a huge difference. So I'm going to choose the word authentic today as what I think is an essential key skill for any leader in 2021.
00:20:21
Speaker
be authentic. Thank you. I completely agree with you as well on that. You see these leaders have read an article or they've been on a course or they've told they've got to talk about wellbeing, but then they're not displaying it themselves.
00:20:36
Speaker
being humble and being humane and being authentic. Those three characteristics of a leader have come up in everything we've been doing from our Inspire-A-Thon to podcasts to content to workshops. They continue to keep coming up as things that we need to see more out of leaders.
00:20:54
Speaker
admitting when they don't know the answers and admitting when they make mistakes and telling everyone that they're having a bad day or that they're not feeling well or that they've got unwell children or being human but being authentic with it as well. Is there anyone in the world that you'd like to swap jobs with right now, even if it was only for tomorrow?
Dream Job Swap
00:21:15
Speaker
Can I apologise in advance that this may only really relate to people in the UK?
00:21:20
Speaker
But in the UK, we've just finished watching a brilliant TV program called Line of Duty that I think had 15 million people watching the final episode on Sunday just gone. If I could be anyone for a day, I'd be the producers of Line of Duty. I would go back and I'd rewrite the final episode because it was pants. They've really let the nation down. So I know that won't relate to everyone globally.
00:21:46
Speaker
But I'm sure you've all watched a brilliant film or a brilliant series on Netflix. And right at the end, it disappoints you. Well, trust me, this program Line of Duty really let us all down at the end on Sunday. So if I could be anyone for a day, I'd be the producer of that program. I'd rewrite the final episode. I send out an apology to 15 million people. And then I'd move on quickly and go back to doing what I do every day because I quite enjoy that too.
00:22:14
Speaker
Oh, that sounds like a good to-do list for Friday for you. So I've watched all the previous series of Line of Duty, but I'm very much a binge watcher. So I was like, I'm not going to watch this series. I'm going to wait until it is done and then I'm going to watch it all in one go. Not all in one go, right? Because I have three little children, but me and my husband will dedicate a couple of evenings to watching it all.
00:22:38
Speaker
And then I saw all of this uproar all over social and everything about the last episode was pants, as she said. And now I don't even want to watch it, but I don't want anyone to tell me what happens, but I don't even want to watch it. So I feel like I'm not incentivized to watch that now. I'll have to stick with mine. Despite what I said, it's still a brilliant series and I'm sure now they've set it up nicely for the next one.
00:23:03
Speaker
I'd still watch it. You would? Is there anything at the moment that you're learning or is there anything that you've learnt recently?
Continuous Learning and Admiration
00:23:13
Speaker
What have I learnt recently? I know it's a corny phrase but every day is a school day and I work with so many amazing people in so many diverse organisations that I guess I'm learning every day.
00:23:30
Speaker
What I've learned today is, again, how amazing you are. I don't know how you do it. I don't know how you're a managing director for Inspiring Workplaces Academy. You're bringing up three young children. You say I'm always smiling and full of beans. Well, you're always smiling and full of energy as well. And I think that you're amazing. And I'm learning again today what an awesome human being Ruth dances.
00:23:57
Speaker
So I know that's very corny and people can't see your face at the moment, but I can. And you're, you're looking very embarrassed. I don't care. I actually don't care how embarrassed you look at the moment. I think you're awesome.
00:24:10
Speaker
Oh beans, you are making me blush for everyone that can't see right now. Oh, you're so kind. Um, but I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to change this up a little bit now while I'm blushing. I, I think I know you, but let's see. Um, this is your quick fire round. If you were a teacher, what would you teach? Kindness from a very young age, everybody manages CEO five year olds.
00:24:34
Speaker
The acts of kindness make you feel good about yourself, but they help other people.
Teaching Kindness Early
00:24:40
Speaker
They drive engagement, they drive sales, they create a lot of love in the world. I get kindness as one of the key things that we teach in life.
00:24:49
Speaker
there you go kindness wow see my eldest son he's four no he's not he turned five two days ago um and i'm having that conversation with him a lot at the moment about now be kind be kind to that person include that person be kind i don't know when at some point between the ages of zero and far now five he is either unlearned kindness or or developed habits to be unkind in the playground or with other children
00:25:18
Speaker
But it's definitely something that, yeah, I'm noticing quite early on. I thought I'd brought him up to be kind, but quite early on he's stepping out of those boundaries already. Yes, brilliant. Are you an early bird, David? Or are you a night owl? I'm so much an early bird.
00:25:36
Speaker
I've always been a morning person. I'm rubbish at the other end of the day, but I'm a complete early bird. Same as me. What about music? What song?
Meaningful Song: "Lady" by Kenny Rogers
00:25:48
Speaker
If you need to put a song on to really fire you up to get you productive or to really change your mood, what song would it be? This one will sound a bit corny, but I've been trying to get married for the last year and I'm still not married. And our first dance song,
00:26:05
Speaker
I've forgotten the name of the singer. It's called Lady, and he's a country and western singer. And he sadly died in the last couple of years. And I can't think of his name. But the song is Lady, and it's my first dance song. I'll kick myself when you say his name. I can't believe I've forgotten it. Who is it?
00:26:33
Speaker
I'm just giggling it now. So the song's called Lady. It's such a well-known singer across the globe. Had huge albums across the world for years. Is it Kenny Miller? Oh, let's have a look. Let's have a look. I can't find this. There'll be people listening right now going, come on, come on. I know, I know.
00:27:00
Speaker
And it's called Lady. I just can't find. Kenny Rogers? Kenny Rogers. Of course it's Kenny Rogers. I think Kenny Miller was a footballer for Scotland. Kenny Rogers. Of course it's Kenny Rogers. When I hear that song start Lady, which he sings, it sends shivers down my spine.
00:27:18
Speaker
And in July of this year, I'm finally marrying the love of my life. And that's why that song means so much to me at the moment. If that comes on the radio, I just, I love it. Oh, amazing. I'm gonna have a listen to this as soon as we get off this call. What's the, is there anything funny happened to you recently that's clean that you can share? It's just about clean. I think I mentioned earlier on that I play squash. Well, I was playing squash recently,
00:27:47
Speaker
And I was only just warming up, but I'd been on the court about five minutes when I realized I'd forgotten to put my shorts on. I was wearing quite a long sports top and I did have blue underpants on, but I'd forgotten to put my shorts on. And this will sound even worse, but I was playing a lady as well. Fortunately, because my top was quite long and she was probably being quite polite, she claimed she hadn't noticed, but I had to run back to the changing rooms to put my shorts on.
00:28:17
Speaker
So that was quite funny. That's very funny. Oh, that's funny. I've actually just taken that as a little snippet, as a quote for this. That is so funny, David. Thank you, Ruth. Oh, that's so funny. I don't know how you... You did say we could edit this, didn't you? Yeah. Right, you and your fiance, or anyone else that lives in the house with you, how good are you? Who does more? How good are you around the house?
00:28:45
Speaker
Oh, Lisa's amazing around the house. I'm great at washing up. I'm okay at hoovering. I'm really good at making beds. I'm good at keeping the house tidy, but do I really clean? Probably not. I make the house look like it's all tidy and lovely, but do I really get under the surfaces? And I'll also let the laundry bin pile up. I'm not very good at putting washing in the machine. So yeah, that's the area I let myself down.
00:29:16
Speaker
Oh, my twin one-year-olds are obsessed with the washing machine. I'm sure they're going to unlearn that habit at some point as well. Have you got a favourite film? Probably a very common one. Shawshank Redemption, I think, is an amazing film. I also love Midnight Express. But as a man, I'm a bit embarrassed to say this one. But if ever I wanted to just I could watch this film again and again, it would always lift my spirits. And I am a bit of a romantic.
00:29:46
Speaker
I do love Mamma Mia, you know. I find it such an uplifting film. I find it good fun and I can watch it again and again. A bit like Dirty Dancing. Another one that I admit as a guy. I enjoy it. Yeah, it's fine. There's no gender biases on these films. You just recognise a good film there, Beans. But I bet you get people on here who are really cool with their music and their choice of films and here's me going Mamma Mia.
00:30:13
Speaker
and a song by a guy called Kenny. I couldn't even remember his name. I don't know what's cool and what's not. I'm very uncool. Is this something you've done and you would never do again, except for turning up onto the squash court in just your underpants? I'd never go on a TV quiz show again. I went on catchphrase in the UK in front of 11 million people about 25 years ago. And I was the worst person ever in the entire
00:30:41
Speaker
history of this particular quiz show. And I completely embarrassed myself. So I'd never go on a TV quiz show again. I'd love to dig out that episode. What's the best place in the world you've ever visited? My happy place is in Bulgaria. I'm very lucky to have a home there. And when I go there, it's the one place I truly relax.
00:31:03
Speaker
Bulgaria is a bit Marmite. People either love it or hate it, but I absolutely love it. I love the food, I love the people, I love the weather, and I can't wait to get back there again soon. Oh, hopefully soon.
Nomination for Future Guest
00:31:14
Speaker
And this is my last question for you, and this is a staple one because this is what helps form all future episodes of Inspire Club. Who would you like to nominate to be a guest on the Inspire Club podcast? I would like to nominate
00:31:30
Speaker
the CEO of a business called Vanarama called Andy Alderson. He's the CEO of a very successful business called Vanarama. And he did what I think is the most inspirational thing I've seen happen in the last year in terms of employee engagement and inspiring his people. Now, bearing in mind, Ruth, he employs a lot of young people and his business is very salesy. It's very much sell, sell, sell.
00:31:58
Speaker
Andy did a video last April or May that he sent out to all of his staff. And he also put it on LinkedIn and it went a little bit like this. It went, hi, everyone. At the moment, I don't care about sales. He said, what I care about is you and your wellbeing and your family's wellbeing. He said, my priority over the coming months is going to be to make sure we've still got a great business at the end of this pandemic that we're all still really proud to work for.
00:32:28
Speaker
And he said, I'm going to say it again now. At the moment, I don't care about sales. Well, guess what? Sales went up. His people were so inspired by the authenticity of his messaging. They wanted to work even harder for the organization. Does Andy care about sales? Of course he cares about sales. He's put his entire life into building his business. Was he authentic when he said he didn't care about sales? Yes, he was.
00:32:56
Speaker
And that was recognized by his people. And I think he'd make a brilliant podcast interview because he just gets everything that I believe about how to get the best out of people. But he's running a great business at the same time. He's not a big softie. He just is so into his people. He's a great businessman too. And I think he'd make a great guest of your podcast. There you go.
00:33:21
Speaker
Oh, amazing. David, I've learnt so much from you in the last 30 minutes. And the key things that just stood out is this piece around get to know your people, be authentic with your people, the results will follow. And you've shared so many amazing examples of that. So anyone listening today, get to know your people, get to know Sally's dog, be authentic with them and watch the results come in.
00:33:48
Speaker
And find out if people have got a pet snake. And find out if they've got a pet snake. Just find out about people. Just get to know people. We're people. We're not robots. We have lives and backgrounds and interesting things about us and challenges and lives and everything else.
00:34:04
Speaker
Thank you for making me blush. Thank you so much for being a guest. And as I said, couldn't think of a more apt guest for Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK than someone who spends his life now dedicating to reducing that stigma around mental health in the workplace. David, you've been amazing.
00:34:23
Speaker
and for anyone that has any suggestions for future guests we're going to get in contact with Andy from Vanarama and just keep listening, keep stay tuned and again thank you, thank you David. Thank you Ruth, real pleasure, take care. Bye.