EDITION 756
11 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 evaluate your relationships. The best way to begin building authentic relationships is to map out your current relationships. This involves sitting down with a piece of paper and creating a map of each person with whom you have a working relationship. Do a quick assessment of those relationships by asking yourself three sets of questions about each person. [MORE]
    
2. Women’s professional gains come with a concerning side effect. The more women occupy C-suite roles, the less people are concerned about other elements of gender inequality at all levels, including the persistently stubborn gender pay gap, according to research from London Business School. What’s going on? The presence of women in highly visible positions of leadership convinced study participants that women had access to equal opportunities. And that belief strengthens the assumption that differences in pay are due to individual choices, rather than issues like systemic bias. LinkedIn
    
3. Teachers replace cleaners as school cuts get deeper. Teachers are being forced to perform cleaning duties after cleaning staff were dismissed due to cuts. Essential funds are being raised by parent donations and “charity” non-uniform days, and schools have set up Amazon wish lists and crowd-funding pages “so parents can buy such luxuries as pencils, glue sticks, rulers etc,” according to one institution in the east of England. The Guardian.
    
4. London’s skyline will gain a record 76 tall buildings this year. Industry forum New London Architecture reports 541 tall towers, more than 20 storeys high, are planned or under construction, up from 510 in 2017. London presently has 360 tall buildings, the tallest of which is the Shard, the largest building in Europe at 310 metres. While the sky may be the limit in London, UK construction activity slumped into contraction last month amid Brexit uncertainty. Daily Mail
    
5. Ambulance times where you live. A BBC investigation has found that critically injured patients in rural areas are at risk because of the time it takes ambulances to reach them. They're meant to arrive within an average of six to eight minutes, but some communities have faced waits of more than 20 minutes. The BBC has put together a postcode/map search so you can find out how services in your area are doing. [MORE]
    
6. A third of UK billionaires are tax exiles. A third of British billionaires are living overseas to avoid paying taxes, “after an exodus over the past decade”. A new report points out that many of the tycoons have bankrolled UK political parties from overseas. There are now 6,800 Britons running a total of 12,000 UK firms from tax havens, costing the Exchequer billions each year. The Times
    
7. Learn a new language while watching TV. The study of modern languages in schools is in steep decline, but a free online tool designed to help people learn them by watching TV shows on Netflix has gained 30,000 users in three weeks. Language Learning With Netflix, a Google Chrome extension, shows foreign language programmes with subtitles in both English and the original language, and pauses to let viewers take in the words. Netflix already has shows in 26 languages and is increasing its non-English selection. Lonely Planet
    
8. Health benefit of plants. While it may seem obvious that surrounding yourself with gorgeous greenery is good for you, there are also some very specific benefits to be had. Many of our homes contain VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds), gases that can come from carpets, furniture, paint, candles or fires. A study by NASA concluded that 87 per cent of air toxins are removed by house plants every 24 hours. What more reason do you need to start filling your home with living marvels? Good Florist Guide
    
9. Who was the richest person of all time? Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, according to the 2019 Forbes billionaires' list released last week. With an estimated fortune of $131bn (£99bn) he is the wealthiest man in modern history. But he is by no means the richest person of all time. That title belongs to Mansa Musa (1280-1337, king of the Mali empire) whose wealth was incomprehensible. His generous handouts wrecked an entire country's economy. BBC
    
10. The bottom line. British MPs were awarded an above-inflation pay rise that was almost twice that offered to their staff. The 2.7% increase will take their basic salary from £77,379pa to £79,468pa. Daily Express