Starts at the Top Podcast

Episode 27 - Tom Loosemore, Partner at Public Digital

We speak to Tom Loosemore, Partner at Public Digital and co-author of Digital Transformation At Scale.

Getting the right team in place for your digital transformation, and helping them work on the right things, can be the difference between success and failure. What can leaders do to build winning teams?

Tom Loosemore, Partner at Public Digital and co-author of Digital Transformation At Scale has a wealth of insights to share on building teams to do pioneering work in digital, from his experience as deputy director at Government Digital Service, Director of Digital Strategy at the Co-Operative Group, and digital strategy lead at OFCOM. Tom tells us what leaders need to do to help their organisations take their digital transformations to the next level, and how to tackle culture change at a time when many of your colleagues will be exhausted and craving stability. Tom is giving away a signed copy of his new book Digital Transformation at Scale and you could win a copy if you sign up for our newsletter.

Zoe and Paul share their round-up of the latest tech news, from what the new Beatles documentary can teach us about collaboration, and what the future of work will look like in 2022.

The interview with Tom Loosemore starts at 13:07

Notes and links -

Public Digital

Tom’s new book is Digital Transformation At Scale (updated 2nd edition)

We discussed:

What the Beatles documentary can teach us about collaboration (Huffington Post)
-For more on this topic, listen to our previous episode about what we can learn from musicians about collaboration
https://www.startsatthetop.co.uk/episodes/episode21-digital-leadership-music-innovation

US boss fires 900 employees over Zoom (BBC)

Instagram builds in new features to help teenagers reduce screentime (BBC)

What work will look like in 2022 (WIRED)

Annual Google search terms report (BBC)

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

Episode 26 - Joy Foster, Founder of TechPixies

Women represent 31% of the UK tech workforce and just 10% of its leadership roles. So what can we do to improve this?

Joy Foster, Founder of Techpixies is on a mission to help thousands of women upskill with social media so that they can return to work, change careers or start their own business. Since 2015 she and her colleagues have helped 5,000 women grow their tech skills. She joins us to discuss the unique qualities that women bring to working in technology and how to create a more inclusive workforce.

Paul and Zoe discuss the latest tech news, including a new film about microaggressions, and how ‘joyscrolling’ can help you find happiness online.

 

Notes and links -

Find out more about TechPixies here - Techpixies

We discussed:

Badlands’ short film about microaggressions

‘I sniffed out good news like a bloodhound’: how I broke my doomscrolling habit by Pandora Sykes for The Guardian

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

Episode 25 - Imran Ahmed, CEO of Center for Countering Digital Hate

What do leaders need to know about online harm? We speak to Imran Ahmed, founder and chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

Online hate speech in the UK and US has grown by 20% since the start of the pandemic. 48% of charity CEOs have experienced trolling. So what do leaders need to know about online harm and how to tackle it?

Imran Ahmed is an expert on this issue. As the founder and chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate he spends his days advising leaders and organisations from all over the world about it. Imran joins us to discuss how the environment on social media has changed, what new legislation in the UK and US means for social media platforms and what leaders need to do about online abuse to protect their organisations and themselves.

Imran tells us what all of this means for brands and reputation management in the digital age, and shares the practical tips that every leader needs to know.

Paul and Zoe chat through what we can learn from new remote working legislation from Portugal, and whether being in the office affects career progression.

The interview with Imran starts at the 16:00 minute point.

Notes and links -

Center for Countering Digital Hate

We discussed:

Portugal makes it illegal for your boss to text you after work

Women warned working from home harms their careers (BBC)

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

Episode 24 - Kenneth Foreman and Steven Foster of London Marathon Events

In this episode we chat to Kenneth Foreman, Head of Charity Partnerships and Steven Foster, Director of Transformation at London Marathon Events.

 

How does one of the world’s most famous face-to-face fundraising events take on technology? Following the success of their virtual event last year the London Marathon team decided to embrace hybrid. What do their learnings mean for the sector?

We were delighted to chat with Kenneth Foreman , Head of Charity Partnerships and Steven Foster Director of Transformation at London Marathon Events to find out more about how they tackled this challenge, and what this means for how charities can approach hybrid fundraising. This episode is a must-listen for any fundraisers or charity professionals who may be running low on energy as we enter the final mile of a tough year. Kenneth and Steven tell us how they were buoyed up by the extraordinary creativity and innovation they’ve seen fundraisers demonstrate during the pandemic, and have great advice for how to draw on these skills, and what this means for your wider digital transformation.

Zoe and Paul discuss the carbon footprint of remote work including some worrying stats which will make you rethink scheduling another Zoom call.

Notes and links -

We discussed:

RIBA’s tech carbon impact Wiki

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

 

Episode 23 - Raj Burman and Nowar Rahmouni of Techfugees

How technology can support refugees

We speak to Raj Burman (CEO) and Nowar Rahmouni (social media community builder and writer) of Techfugees.

Every 10 seconds someone becomes a refugee. 82.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced by the end of 2020. This is forecast to grow to 1 billion people due to climate change over the next 3 decades. So how can technology help?

During the recent refugee crisis in Afghanistan we came across Techfugees, a nonprofit who develop technology “for and with” displaced people. Raj Burman (CEO) and Nowar Rahmouni (social media community builder and writer) discuss how refugees have many skills, including resilience, entrepreneurship and the ability to adapt to change quickly. It’s those personal qualities which mean they have much to offer the world of digital. And if you’re wondering how your leadership style needs to evolve with so much around us all in flux, Techfugees’ decentralised model with ‘servant leadership’ at its heart indicates what the nonprofit of the future may look like.

Paul and Zoe discuss how their use of social media has changed in the light of more revelations about big tech and have a question for you about the environmental impact of hybrid working.

Notes and links -

We discussed:

• Facebook article from Charity Digital

• Guardian article on Facebook whistleblowing

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Syren Studios

Image credit: Syren Studios

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

Episode 22 - Ursula Dolton, Chief Technology Officer at the British Heart Foundation

And we’re back! For the first episode of our new season we were delighted to talk to Ursula Dolton, Chief Technology Officer at the British Heart Foundation. We discussed a question that we’ve heard a lot from leaders: how can we make truly data-informed decisions? Ursula told us how she is driving the processes, culture change and new ways of leading needed to make this happen at her charity. And with so many organisations now dependent on technology, Ursula also shares her experiences on how to create strong partnerships with suppliers where you focus on achieving goals together, underpinned by shared values. 

Zoe and Paul round up the latest tech news, including how organisations are getting on with hybrid working, why the government want us all to head back to the office and what the whistleblowing story means for your relationship with Facebook. Spoiler: it’s complicated.

Notes and links -

We discussed:

• CITY AM article on what government are saying about working from home

• BBC article on hybrid working

• The Facebook whistleblowing story: key excerpts in The Guardian

• 5 experts on the future of Facebook (also in The Guardian)

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

Episode 21 - R. Michael Hendrix, co-author of Two Beats Ahead

In our author special we meet R.Michael Hendrix, co-author of Two Beats Ahead.

For our season finale, Paul and Zoe discuss the books that will help you reset over the summer. Top of our list was Two Beats Ahead by Panos Panay and R. Michael Hendrix, a fascinating read about what we can learn from musicians, ranging from Beyonce to Pharrell Williams and David Bowie, about creativity and innovation. Yet it’s also a book about leadership and how to bring teams together to do incredible things. There is so much in this book that represents the modus operandi that leaders need to forge fresh ideas and embed new ways of working in volatile times. We’re giving away a copy of the book so listen out for the details of how to win in the episode!

Zoe and Paul also review what’s been on their summer reading list so far, including A World Without Email by Cal Newport, The Reset: Ideas to Change How We Work and Live by Elizabeth Uviebinene, How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro.

In addition, Zoe discusses what the findings from The Charity Digital Skills Report mean for the charity sector.

That’s it from us for Season 3. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you in the autumn for Season 4!

Episode 20 - Nicolas Bonard, CEO of Montreux Jazz Festival Media Ventures

This summer you may be heading to a music festival. It says a lot about the times we’re in now, that you are as likely to have that experience in a field full of strangers as you are watching performances from the comfort of your sofa with your family. But what does that mean for the business model of festivals? And what role should digital play in the festival goer’s experience?

Nicolas Bonard, CEO of Montreux Jazz Festival Media Ventures, was brought in to help answer those very questions. He tells us how he and his team are using digital to reinvent the festival experience, revisiting why they exist, what their proposition is and how to diversify their offering.

If you run any kind of annual event, or if your organisation needs to reach young people, or you’re planning to reinvent what you do, Nicolas has lots of great advice for you.

Zoe and Paul also share the latest tech news, including how the debate between working from home or the office is getting heated and why GPs may be prescribing data generated music playlists rather than pills in the future.

 

Notes and links -

Montreux Jazz Festival

How tech could help create music prescriptions- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/technology-57328798

BBC article on how Bumble is mandating a paid week off to combat burnout https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57562230

No It Doesn’t Need to Be A Zoom (article from WIRED)

CITY AM article Deloitte tells start they can work from home forever

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Beth Donkin and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

Episode 19 - Stuart Murphy, CEO of English National Opera

How a national institution took on digital disruption

When Stuart Murphy sent his team home as lockdown was announced in March 2020, he didn’t know what lay ahead. Yet he was determined to keep his colleagues connected at a time of crisis and to help ENO continue to do what makes it unique: creating groundbreaking work. Digital was vital to their survival.

What follows is the story of how a national institution began to reinvent itself by embracing digital. From changing the way his organisation communicated, to building his own peer support network and responding to Black Lives Matter, Stuart tells us how ENO not only survived but thrived during a year of change and upheaval. Stuart has an inspiring story to tell which will resonate with anyone struggling to reconcile the tension between tradition and innovation in their organisation.

Paul and Zoe also discuss the latest tech news, from whether banning out of hours email can help with wellbeing to how dating apps could help the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

 

Notes and links -

The ENO

The ENO’s reduced price ticket scheme for under 35s

Should employees have the right to disconnect?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57314814

Can dating apps support the vaccine rollout? Article from Wired

 

Please follow us on Twitter @startsatthetop1

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Beth Donkin and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music

 

Episode 18 - Danny Attias, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Anthony Nolan

Digital turf wars: who should lead your digital transformation?

We’ve all seen the meme about COVID-19 leading your digital transformation. But who should really lead it- should it be your digital, IT, or finance lead, or even your CEO?

There couldn’t be a better person to answer this question than Danny Attias, Chief Digital & Information Officer at Anthony Nolan and No 1 CIO in the UK. Danny tells us who should- and shouldn’t- lead the charge on digital disruption. We also chat through how to create a fail-fast culture, Danny’s top tips on how to build a diverse tech team, and why trust is the secret ingredient of organisational change.

Zoe and Paul round up the latest tech news, including The Charity Digital Skills Report survey launch, why you shouldn’t troll your staff with the promise of a bonus (thanks West Midlands Trains), Twitter’s touted premium service and new research into the emotional nuance of emojis.

(Apologies for the audio issues in the intro and outro - the joys of recording over Zoom!)

 

Notes and links -

 

The 2021 Charity Digital Skills Report https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/charitydigital2021 

West Midland’s phishing email https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/11/west-midlands-trains-sends-staff-phishing-email-promising-bonus.html 

Twitter plots premium service https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/17/twitter-mulling-paid-service-called-twitter-blue-finds-researcher

The Alan Turing Institute research into emojis https://www.turing.ac.uk/blog/emoji-are-even-more-language-previously-thought

Please follow us on Twitter @startsatthetop1

Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com

And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!

Editing and production from Beth Donkin and Paul Thomas

Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music