EDITION 758
25 MARCH 2019

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. This newsletter is sent to 50,000+ subscribers each Monday. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I'd be very grateful if you did.

1. How to foster a sense of purpose. We all want to find meaning in what we do. As a leader, you can help your team foster this inner sense of purpose by asking them a few simple questions: [MORE]
    
2. Document reveals 'critical three months' after no-deal. A secret document from the Cabinet Office has warned there would be a “critical three-month phase” if Britain crashed out of the EU without a deal, during which the whole planning operation could be overwhelmed. There is growing concern about the chaos that could be sparked by a no deal with shortages of everything from medicines to fresh food and toilet paper. The Guardian
    
3. Just 23% of new parents say it’s financially worthwhile to go back to work. A survey of 4,000 UK adults found that 60% of millennials delayed having a child, on average for 2.5 years, in anticipation of childcare costs. Parents believe they need a household income of £55,000 - rising to £73,000 in Greater London - in order to comfortably cover the cost of childcare. Daily Express
    
4. Employment in Britain is at its highest level since records began in 1971. The Office of National Statistics has revealed that 32.7m people were in work between November and January, 76.1% of the UK's working population. Unemployment fell by 35,000 in the same period. Average weekly earnings – excluding bonuses – were up 3.4%. The data was released ten minutes early, at 9.20 am instead of 9.30 am, Yahoo Finance UK reported, leading to criticism from some analysts. BBC
    
5. Breast cancer deaths falling faster in UK than Europe. The rate of deaths from breast cancer is dropping faster in the UK than in any other of the six most populous countries in Europe, new figures show. The rate of death from the disease has fallen by 17.7% since 2010-2014 thanks to improved screening, earlier diagnosis and better treatment, according to an Italian study. Germany saw the next greatest equivalent reduction, at 12.5%, followed by France (12.1%), Spain (11.3%) and Italy (9.7%), while Poland recorded a 6.1% rise. The Times
    
6. Sales of self-help books rise 20% in a year. Stressed Britons are increasingly resorting to self-help books in a bid to cope with their daily lives. More than three million of the books were sold last year – an increase of 20 per cent from 2017. The sales boom means self-improvement and popular psychology is one of the fastest-growing genres in the publishing world. Daily Mail
    
7. London most expensive place to rent in Europe. London is the most expensive place to rent in Europe. and the fourth most expensive in the world, according to a new report. The study compared the average cost per month of a three-bedroom home in 279 cities, with London - at £5,187 -coming out on top. European cities are seeing huge rental growth as Brexit bites, notes the report, with Paris seeing a £107-per-month boost as businesses relocate to the French capital. Daily Telegraph
    
8. MPs expenses claims have soared since 2009 scandal. MPs are claiming 22% more in taxpayer-funded expenses than they did in 2009 when a scandal erupted over the issue. The Sunday Times found that the total claimed by MPs has risen by more than a fifth to £116m. Britain’s wealthiest MP, the Conservative Richard Benyon, submitted parliamentary expenses for a £6.80 lavatory seat from Wilko in August 2017.
    
9. England's final cigarette will be smoked by 2050. The last cigarette to be smoked in England will be in Derby by 2050, researchers have predicted. Their report claims that if the current decline in smoking continues, then today’s 7.4m smokers will reduce to zero in 30 years. They say Bristol will become the first city to quit by having no smokers after 2024, followed by York and Wokingham. Metro
    
10. The bottom line. In the past month, 17% of Britons have had a dream about sex, 13% have dreamt they are on holiday, 12% about being chased, 7% about winning the lottery and 4% about being naked in public. The “i” Newspaper