EDITION 861
22 MARCH 2021

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 at 10am. Please share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

1. How to avoid making bad decisions. We are all human, which means we are not immune from making bad decisions every once in a while. Although we cannot go back in time and change our choice, a big part of success is to avoid failure. Here are five reasons why we make bad decisions: READ MORE

2. Record number of vaccines administered. The number of daily Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the UK has hit a record high for a third consecutive day. A total of 844,285 combined first and second doses were given on Saturday, up from 711,157 on Friday. On Twitter, Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked "everyone involved". BBC

3. Most bosses back mandatory jabs. More than half of managers in the UK (58%) support the right to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for staff before they can return to work. And 43% of our readers said office access should be restricted for those who refused to be vaccinated on non-medical grounds. However, lawyers warn mandatory policies would be difficult and discriminatory under current workplace legislation. The poll found larger companies were more open to flexible working, aligning with hybrid working policies being introduced in UK firms. The Financial Times

4. EU proposes travel pass. The European Commission has proposed a Covid-19 travel pass to restart travel across member states. The “Digital Green Certificates” will act as proof of vaccination, negative tests or recovery from the virus and will be free of charge. A growing number of airlines, organisations and governments are preparing for an expected summer travel surge by trying out travel credentials in order to help passengers navigate differing international requirements. British Airways and Ryanair are offering to store vaccination information to make the travel experience more efficient. BBC

5. What leadership should look like now. The pandemic and ensuing financial crisis have put both government and business leaders to the test, shining a bright spotlight on their successes and failures. The test has made certain leadership traits more important than ever. For instance, excellent leadership in trying times has always shown humility, even though getting to that position has often required the opposite. Curiosity is another major trait that successful leaders need going forward. Leaders should be able to identify the gap between what they know and what they need to know. LEARN MORE

6. Fears of new Covid wave. A surge in Covid cases across Europe threatens a new wave in Britain, the government fears. An increase in infections is forcing some regions on the continent back into lockdown. Ministers fear there will be a rise in cases here within weeks because rises in cases in France, Italy, Spain and Germany have foreshadowed similar trends in Britain several times during the crisis. Metro

7. Poll finds mental health impact. Most Britons say their mental health has suffered from the lockdown but most also believe the Covid pandemic has made them more resilient and more able to cope with future crises. A wide-ranging poll of 1,500 Britons also found that 60% believe the worst is behind us with only 19% fearing worse to come. Meanwhile, 47% agreed that community spirit had improved in their neighbourhoods. Daily Mail

8. Finland still the happiest country. Not even the pandemic could bring Finland down. For the fourth year in a row, the country beat all others in the World Happiness Report, per data from the Gallup World Poll. Despite the pandemic, top-performing countries were similar to last year, which a contributor to the report attributes to solidarity in seeing "COVID-19 as a common, outside threat affecting everybody." The report takes into account GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom and perceptions of corruption. The United States moved up from 18th to 14th place, while the United Kingdom dropped from 13th to 18th. CNN

9. Embrace learning in a career pivot. While many in 2020 may have gone through a career pivot during the pandemic, 2021 could prove another big year for radical professional reinvention. If you're craving a change of pace and feeling stuck, bored and unmotivated, you should adopt an always-developing student mindset. A pivot should be an intentional shift in a new direction that doesn't necessarily require new skills but an ability to "repackage" them. Embracing a life-long-learning ethos will help to quell fear and to view careers as a journey and not a final destination. LEARN MORE 

10. The bottom line. The Royal Family spends £2.5m on energy every year at ten residences, according to the price comparison site uSwitch. Buckingham Palace is the most-costly at an annual £1.1m, followed by Windsor Castle [£393,523] and Kensington Palace [£260,446]. Daily Express