The only sounds are the waves lapping against the side of the hull and occasional distant hum of an outboard motor. The hatches are open and the lightest of breezes fills Aretha with the scent of the nearby pine trees. Jani and Pete are both on deck reading whilst I sit at the saloon table writing.

Four men are sitting in the cockpit. One man declares if he catches another fish he will be completely unbearable. Another man dryly comments that he already is unbearable. The undulating seas off the Oregon coast are filled with laughter from all four.

It's time to build to build a new team and head off on a fresh ocean adventure.

Imagine a perfect Californian afternoon. Blue skies, steady breeze keeping the temperature down and Spanish music playing as I’m sitting in the Seahorse restaurant catching up on emails on their wifi network.

There’s a great saying that you get the life of the 5 people you spend most time with.

Notice what exactly?

What do you notice when you stop and pause for a moment?

I’m talking about that thing where the world is trying to give you a message but you’re just not hearing it.

I'm a little humbled to be the cover story for Professional Marketing Forum Magazine (PM Forum). My blog this week is simply my article they have run this month on the importance of teamwork in the face of adversity. Here it is.....

So I’ve been busy working with one company over the past few weeks. The topics have been around Vision, Mission and Values.

For years when I was working in Corporate World, this area was always a little bit of a mystery to me. It was always lots of words. Often crammed in on some matrix structure onto one page to get as much detail in as possible with lots of explanations.

Got a moment?

Listen to this great reminder to slow down and enjoy the important things in life read by my talented school friend Pete.

It took me most of the weekend to get my head around what I experienced last Thursday.

I felt very privileged to be invited as a special guest on a day organised by the Good Lab and Newco and compered by Oli Barrett MBE) where the Innovation Leaders from the UK’s 10 largest charities were treated to an amazing day long safari of experiences.

As I find myself getting increasingly involved with speaking gigs, projects, non exec roles and consulting projects, I’m having to be increasingly careful with my time.