EDITION 808
9 MARCH 2020

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 handle your peer becoming your boss. Dealing with a peer-turned-boss can be challenging and especially stressful if you do not agree on critical aspects such as performance evaluation. Here’s some tips: 1. Trust your skills and competencies. Your career will not be judged by your colleague’s progress. 2. Handle the relationship gracefully and communicate to the manager that you’re committed to build a team where you both succeed. 3. Know that if your previous performance ratings were good, a poor rating now will also reflect badly on the new manager’s skills. Read more tips HERE >>.

2.  As the world marks IWD, the UK falls short. As the world marked International Women’s Day on Sunday, the hashtag #eachforequal was trending online. But when it comes to women in the UK in 2020, how equal are things? According to the Office for National Statistics, women are paid £380,000 on average over their lifetimes compared with £643,000 for men. According to Sporting Intelligence, players in the FA Women's Super League are paid an average of £26,752 a year while Premier League stars earn an average of £2.64 million. However, women are now better represented than ever with the proportion of female MPs in the House of Commons at 34% - 220 out of 650 - which is an all-time high. Editor

3.  The PM reveals his five favourite women. Boris Johnson has revealed the five women who have inspired him the most throughout his lifetime. Speaking in a revealing interview to mark International Women's Day on Sunday 8 March, the Prime Minister praised the women who shaped him into the leader he has become today. In order of importance, they are Malala Yousafzai [Nobel Prize winner], Yvonne Williams [his grandmother], Boudicca [queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe], Munira Mirza [Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street] and Kate Bush [singer-songwriter]. This short film features my top five: WATCH >>

4.  Poll shows that the UK is still divided over European Union. The country is still divided over the decision to leave the European Union, according to a new poll. Some 46 per cent said they would like to re-join the EU, against 54 per cent who believe the UK should not return. Some 63 per cent of 18-24-year-olds want a return to Europe, but 69 per cent of over-65s want to stay out. The Independent

5.  Advice for your younger self. If you could travel back in time and give your younger self some advice, what would you say? A third of adults consider this question at least once a week, according to a study. In 2018, Oprah Winfrey told British Vogue her message would be "relax, stop being afraid". My advice would be to look beyond the traditional career path by broadening your education and exploring other passions. What advice would you give to your younger self? Please share your thoughts with us. CONTACT >>

6.  Young BAME workers in unstable jobs. Young people from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are more likely to be in unstable employment than their white peers, new research shows. Young BAME individuals in England are 47% more likely to be on zero-hours contracts, according to the report from the Carnegie Trust, UCL's Centre for Longitudinal Studies and Operation Black Vote. The report comes after a recent study revealed that around a third of FTSE 100 firms have no ethnic minority board members. BBC

7.  Is this the end of the office? Despite the rapid rise in the amount of people working remotely – up 173% since 2005 according to Global Workplace Analytics – it is still a minority of employees who do it, with only 10% of people working from home in Europe. Research shows the benefits of remote working include improved staff retention, greater efficiency for firms and employees, lower commuting costs and lower stress levels. Now, with the spread of coronavirus pushing companies to hold meetings, interviews and get day-to-day work done remotely, people could find they change their ways for good. The Independent

8.  The end of the handshake. People around the world are rethinking their daily habits at work and at home to reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus, with the age-old handshake greeting taking a hit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was publicly rebuffed by her own interior minister who declined to shake her hand. England’s cricket team will swap handshakes for fist bumps when it meets for the World Test Championship in Sri Lanka, with the NBA offering similar guidance to players. Alternative forms of greeting such as foot-tapping and bumping elbows have been touted across social media. The Guardian

9.  Was James Bond named after a London bus? James Bond is known for being the smoothest, most iconic fictional agent of all time. But was the character named after a London bus? In the 1950s, Ian Fleming moved from London to Kent, around the time his concept of Bond was coming together. He would often travel back to London by a bus from either Dover or Canterbury. The number of this bus route was, of course, 007. However, perhaps a more plausible reason is that Bond's number - 007 - was assigned by Fleming in reference to one of British naval intelligence's key achievements of World War I: the breaking of the German diplomatic code. Editor

10. The bottom line. The six main cast members of Friends are expected to be paid £2.5m each for appearing in a one-off special of the wildly popular 1990s sitcom. The episode will appear on the new HBO Max streaming service, which paid $425m for the rights to the show’s back catalogue. Variety Magazine