We’re supposed to be having a slow patch. Inevitably, it’s not working out that way. I know this is a me problem; I’m terrible at not being busy.

We skipped back to London for a meeting with a team we’ve been working with closely for a year. It’s kind of mad that we’ve worked closely, pretty much daily, and delivered some seriously good work, and we’ve only met once. Jon hadn’t met them face to face at all before. It was over too quickly and I’m annoyed I didn’t get time to chat to everyone properly.

Ours is a relationship business. And I think we’re pretty good at that; our clients frequently hire us multiple times, and recommend us to others. I was delighted to get a lovely email this week from a client who said we were the best external team she’d ever worked with.

But relationships end. And they should. I joke that as an external consultant your only real metric is that people still hire you. But while that’s true on a macro level, on a project and client one your real goal is to make yourself redundant. We’re there to help teams build the capability to do this stuff themselves. We help build teams work out what they need, to put processes and teams in place, to develop strategy and to make decisions. But that should all be structured so that in the medium and certainly longer term that happens without us.

We’re really proud that we worked intensively with one team over the last four months to deliver an intranet. A whole intranet, end to end, config and content. Not bad going eh? I’m equally proud that they’d like our support in the future – but on a much more limited basis of just a few days a month. That’s exactly how it should be. Consultancy should build strength, not dependency.

(But yeah this is why I don’t work in sales)

Consuming

👩🏻‍💻 Internetting
Bits of digital lint from my browser’s belly-button

• I got around to reading this year’s Edelman Trust Barometer. Late enough that everyone had already written much better summaries than I could possibly do. But one finding paints a stark picture that I thought relevant in my line of work: trust is eroding across the board. But there’s nuance.
  • 👩🏻‍🦳 Trust in Leaders: Employees still trust their CEOs more than government or media—but this trust is conditional. Leaders earn it by being transparent, addressing societal challenges, and prioritising people over profits. Trust grows when actions and values align, especially in tough times
  • 👨‍🏭 Trust in Employees: Ordinary employees remain trusted ambassadors. Their authenticity makes them credible voices, both internally and externally. Amplifying their stories builds trust and strengthens organisational culture
  • 💡 The Role of Internal Comms: Internal communicators are key to bridging the gap between leadership and employees. This means:
    • Helping leaders articulate and live their values
    • Highlighting and amplifying employee voices to build authenticity
    • Fostering genuine two-way communication in a world drowning in (often shitty/badly written/badly targeted) messaging
  • When trust flows across all levels, employees become the organisation’s strongest advocates—credibility that’s more valuable than ever.

🎬 Watching

I watched The Substance, a thought-provoking and occasionally gross film that left a lasting impression. And not just because I hadn’t clocked it was a horror until I started watching.

It tackles the challenges of aging with raw honesty, which struck a personal chord for me, a middle aged and increasingly haggard woman.

The film’s portrayal of vulnerability and resilience felt painfully intimate at times, mirroring my own reflections on growing older and frequently not liking what I see in the mirror. Its muted cinematography, haunting soundtrack, subtle performances and visual horror left me reflecting long after I was planning to be asleep that night.

It’s not an easy watch. On balance I’d recommend. But go with a friend.

🎧 Listening

• After the US election I couldn’t face the news. Two months on I still can’t. I asked people on BlueSky for suggestions of podcasts I can listen to that allow me to not engage at all with news or current affairs – and they came up trumps (I probably need to retire that phrase for the next four years).
• Off the back of that I’ve started listening to A History Of Rock Music In 500 Songs. Which should keep me in non-news content for a solid year.
• I also caught Lydia Lunch in Utrecht playing an interpretation of post-punk band Suicide. It was… a thing. A thing I’m not going to do again.

🧳 Travelling

I cancelled plans to travel this week and already feel better for it. But I made plans for a real adventure next month. Can’t wait.

Connections

I met with the team from LumApps in Paris at the start of the week, to talk about intranet and digital workplace geekery, and discuss a potential collaboration (more on that soon!)

On Thursday I had a super early coffee with Swoop Analytics‘ Cai Kjaer and Nicolle Scott. Despite the 7.30am meeting time – for which I only have myself to blame, since it was my idea – we were all bursting with energy and ideas. Walked away with a new idea to follow up on. Love that.

Coverage

A rant about HRT vs those tiny bags you can take though airport security prompted me to write a blog post that, if I’m honest, I’ve mentally had written for a decade on the gender politics of hand luggage.

Differing expectations for professional dress based on gender and age mean it’s not easy for women to go hand luggage only – and dudes who brag about travelling for months with a single backpack need to have a bit more empathy.