Ft Listen To Lucy

You don't need to be a lawyer to know that strip club, summer intern and clumsy pass all up to trouble, says Lucy Kellaway.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Thinking about death generally encourages people to come up with dodgy philosophies about life, says Lucy Kellway. The best way of living is not to think of death at all  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, set a 'lousy' example by turning down a pay rise, says Lucy Kellaway. For a capitalist economy to work, we all need to believe that more money is a good thing.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Easily the most satisfying job I've done in two dozen years as a journalist was writing a series of articles describing the offices of famous chief executives. For a brief period, I was allowed to indulge my natural nosiness - and get paid for it.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nearly half of the chief executives of Britain's biggest companies have gained awards for their prowess in the field of sport, says Lucy Kellaway.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

To mark the retirement of Bill Gates, inventor of Windows, Lucy Kellaway decides to turn off her computer and Blackberry, and write and think with a fountain pen. Can she survive?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

One might think that the American purposeful complaint is better than pointless bellyaching, but in fact both can prove to be highly enjoyable.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I have been out collecting a botanical array of dangerous workplace blooms, words that can spoil our day, our week - or our career.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

I am running a competition in which a chief executive has to woo his customers with a letter. My finalists are Vikram Pandit and Johnnie Boden.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Being in love is like being on drugs. Do we let people who are off their heads on cocaine make important decisions? Of course not.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The only answer to the growing problem of worker unhappiness is to stop trying to find a solution and get on with what you do.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Even though in offices 1968 did not happen until about 1988, the ideas of the 1960s still affect how we behave and think at work.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In truth we don't have the foggiest idea what life would be like if women ran the show. So far we have only isolated, untypical examples.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Win-win? Instead of pretending that everything is a win, the good leader needs to get better about wining and losing  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It isn't easy to keep a person happy in a job that is poorly paid and involves much wiping of bottoms. Managing a nanny is management at its most extreme.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Knowing the difference between personal fiscal prudence and being a spendthrift is one thing. But being able to keep a tight rein on your personal spending is quite another.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

'Your call is important to us'... Lucy Kellaway provides a rot analysis of business talk, looking at phrases that mean the opposite of what they pretend to mean.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It is wrong to see doodling as something to do when bored. Instead, it is what we do when we are forced to listen to someone else.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

E-mail is much derided for interrupting our day's work, but it is as nothing when compared to the noisy, intrusive, brutal phone.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The National Trust gave its 5,000 employees a leap day holiday - but they had to spend time making their own homes more environmentally friendly. Should companies force us to be charitable?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.