I thoroughly enjoyed rereading Emily Wilson’s landmark translation of The Odyssey during a recent holiday in Croatia. It felt appropriate as were just up the coast from Odysseus’s home island of Ithaca. It got me thinking about the story templates Christopher Booker...
In leading his team to victory against Mexico on Sunday, England captain Harry Kane left everything out on the pitch. Including, it seemed, his voice. He squeaked his way through a post-match interview, much to his embarrassment and the pundits’ delight. What had...
A major report on the future of work foresees a growing role for social and emotional skills in global banking and investment. As everyone in the sector builds out their AI infrastructure, great soft skills – our specialism at MSB Executive – will be even more of a...
According to a major report published last week, our failure to include soft skills training in the secondary school curriculum is a significant contributor to the record levels of worklessness among young Brits. We take this seriously at MSB Executive. Over the...
I was chatting with a prospective client, a sustainable investment policy lead, about some presentation coaching I might do with him. I asked him what portion of his presenting happens online versus in-person. His answer – around 70% – is pretty typical. Online vs....
Another client I was working with recently asked me for a ’10-second reset’. ‘Something strange happens at online meetings,’ he said. ‘I get incredibly restless in my chair. I feel trapped and I want to escape. My concentration wanders all over the place. It’s almost...
Another client I was working with recently asked me for a ’10-second reset’. ‘Something strange happens at online meetings,’ he said. ‘I get incredibly restless in my chair. I feel trapped and I want to escape. My concentration wanders all over the place. It’s almost...
At very short notice I was asked to give a short speech on AI at a networking event, after the scheduled speaker had to pull out. With little time to put something together, I decided to ask an AI agent to write a draft for me. In the office, we usually choose Claude...
The Arrival of ChatGPT-4 The release of ChatGPT-4 in March 2023 marked the moment when AI shifted from a futuristic idea to an everyday tool. Less like a gadget and more like a partner, ChatGPT and other AI Agents (such as Gemini and Copilot) seemed able to reason,...
I have just come off stage after a three-week run at the Hope Theatre in Islington. The show was a success, with great reviews and feedback. Was it perfect every night? No! Was it perfect any night? Actually, no! It’s live performance. Something usually goes a bit...
When we talk to clients about communicating with impact, body language is a key building block. This starts with authoritative posture and getting rid of unnecessary tension. Once we've worked on these, we ask if there are any questions—and almost always, someone...
We work with our clients on questioning skills for various scenarios, including interviews, panels and fact-finding conversations. One of our top pieces of advice is to ask a single question at a time. This takes discipline. It is surprising how prevalent stacked...
