Oct 3, 2019
I have known James Briscoe for many years, and I am delighted
he joined me for this episode. We recorded this episode at the
height of summer, and it turned into an amazing fun chat with a
friend; which I am certain brings value and joy to you as you
listen along.
At time of recording, James is sitting in a cafe at the
seaside, so apologies for the occasional dog bark and some wind
noises. He manages to split his time between London and Dorset with
focus on work or the family respectively. After studying tropical
medicine, he ended up in media, predominately on the agency side;
he later was a founding member of Unique Digital which was sold to
Syzygy and Syzygy was sold to WPP, at that time at a size of
several hundred people.
Since then he has focused on investing in a few companies.
Having a portfolio career, he tries to keep both a helicopter view
and a hands on approach at the same time; he follows the rule to
only work with people who are the best in their field, and he
enjoys working with. It’s thinking about the opportunity rather
than the money.
James defines success as being a balance between long days
working in London and then being able to connect with nature,
exercise and spending time with family and friends.
One of his ambitions is to do more deep work, and being able
to take time to think, reflect and decompress. We discuss how a 4
day week is good for people, and work being result driven, rather
than measured by time spent in the office. The workplace and how
you communicate with people has changed, and I mention my example
of having had most of my recent discussions and interviews via the
phone and internet rather than face to face.
Similar to other guests, James speaks about visualising the
outcome of meetings, incantation (the word I couldn’t pronounce :-)
), and actually preparing properly for meetings which makes them
more successful. He also suggests that meeting people is still key
to business, particularly in, but not exclusive, the digital and
media industry.
We further discuss remote team working, common purpose of
teams, selling techniques, trust, Emotional Intelligence
(EQ), changing dynamics for media lunches and industry culture;
further we discuss the increased use of technology, virtual
reality, productivity principles, emails, meditation, sleep
and exercise. Also, the amount of information we produce and how we
filter through them, which takes time to digest. In summary a great
discussion about the industry, life and beyond.
His biggest life learning is to have fun and laugh along the
way; it is about supporting people and be kind, without any
expectations of any benefits for oneself. Look after yourself, your
mental, emotional and physical health. Find your why in life!
If you would like to get in touch with James please feel free
to reach out to him via LinkedIn.
This podcast is hosted by Volker Ballueder (Ballueder Partners), an executive
and productivity coach and growth consultant. Volker also wrote a
book on productivity and life improvement #BeBetter.
He just launched his new book Principles
for Success, based on the interviews on this podcast.
If you are interested in being coached by Volker Ballueder or
you are interested in discussing mindfulness trainings or
consulting work, please reach out to him via email (volker@ballueder.com).