Ghost Lights from Thompson Harrison

Learning from the interface between documentary making and psychotherapy
Sally Angel (Angelica Films | Creative Director)
In this episode Sam Rockey is in conversation with Sally Angel, Creative Director of Angelica Films, psychotherapist, Emmy and BAFTA Award winning Documentary Film maker.
Sally shares why psychotherapy and documentary film making have much in common - namely how both are about seeking out the stories that need to be told. Sally shares her experience of working on her award winning documentaries including the Holocaust documentary 'Night Will Fall', the friendship documentary 'Nothing like a Dame' and the behind the scenes 'Inside the American Embassy'.
She discusses her process - a combination of curiousity, listening to people's stories and tuning in what is going on in the world. She shares her experience about seeking out powerful stories and how stories find you - finding the stories that 'grab you by the back of the neck.' Sally describes the yearning we have for stories - the epic and the intimate at the same time and describes herself as an emotional activist. Films evolve, they have their own way of going into the world - they will be received as they will be received.
The lesson for leaders? Listening to people in a deep way, seeking out the stories that are waiting to be told, not being attached to the outcome, honouring the individual and their generosity in sharing their own story. Sally leaves with leaders with some helpful tools including a 'Matrix of Trust'.
'In summary, story is probably the best way to get people's attention.' More information on Sally Angel and the work she does · Website · LinkedIn · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard

Learning from the interface between documentary making and psychotherapy
Sally Angel (Angelica Films | Creative Director)
In this episode Sam Rockey is in conversation with Sally Angel, Creative Director of Angelica Films, psychotherapist, Emmy and BAFTA Award winning Documentary Film maker.
Sally shares why psychotherapy and documentary film making have much in common - namely how both are about seeking out the stories that need to be told. Sally shares her experience of working on her award winning documentaries including the Holocaust documentary 'Night Will Fall', the friendship documentary 'Nothing like a Dame' and the behind the scenes 'Inside the American Embassy'.
She discusses her process - a combination of curiousity, listening to people's stories and tuning in what is going on in the world. She shares her experience about seeking out powerful stories and how stories find you - finding the stories that 'grab you by the back of the neck.' Sally describes the yearning we have for stories - the epic and the intimate at the same time and describes herself as an emotional activist. Films evolve, they have their own way of going into the world - they will be received as they will be received.
The lesson for leaders? Listening to people in a deep way, seeking out the stories that are waiting to be told, not being attached to the outcome, honouring the individual and their generosity in sharing their own story. Sally leaves with leaders with some helpful tools including a 'Matrix of Trust'.
'In summary, story is probably the best way to get people's attention.' More information on Sally Angel and the work she does

Robert sets a leadership thought experiment and discusses fear and love
Robert Rowland Smith, Philosopher, Author, Commentator and Consultant
Robert turns to philosophy to help leaders make sense of the experience with the pandemic. Robert talks about fear and love, the philosophical nature of uncertainty, the idea that the virus is a mirror to humanity. He wonders if this unthinkable state has connections with the notion of the sublime. Wordsworth's description of a mountain in the Lake District in The Prelude is both terrifying and full of beauty. Thus, the virus too - it has unleashed illness, death, personal and collective trauma but also beauty - birdsong in the streets, crystalline air, kindness.
During the pandemic, being asked the question, "how are you?" has taken on more meaning than in more settled times. In the course of a single self-isolated day, people run the whole gamut of the emoji board from fear to love - fear for our financial futures, love for the people we work with and our families who we worry about. Fear and love are traditionally opposed but seem to live side by side in the shadow of the virus. It is interesting how rarely words like love are spoken of in the normal course of corporate life. Learn more about Robert Rowland Smith · Website · LinkedIn · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard

Robert sets a leadership thought experiment and discusses fear and love
Robert Rowland Smith, Philosopher, Author, Commentator and Consultant
Robert turns to philosophy to help leaders make sense of the experience with the pandemic. Robert talks about fear and love, the philosophical nature of uncertainty, the idea that the virus is a mirror to humanity. He wonders if this unthinkable state has connections with the notion of the sublime. Wordsworth's description of a mountain in the Lake District in The Prelude is both terrifying and full of beauty. Thus, the virus too - it has unleashed illness, death, personal and collective trauma but also beauty - birdsong in the streets, crystalline air, kindness.
During the pandemic, being asked the question, "how are you?" has taken on more meaning than in more settled times. In the course of a single self-isolated day, people run the whole gamut of the emoji board from fear to love - fear for our financial futures, love for the people we work with and our families who we worry about. Fear and love are traditionally opposed but seem to live side by side in the shadow of the virus. It is interesting how rarely words like love are spoken of in the normal course of corporate life. Learn more about Robert Rowland Smith

Being human in a digital context
Robin Dunbar (Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology | Magdalen College, Oxford University)
In this first episode, Tracey Camilleri talks to Prof Robin Dunbar of "Dunbar number" * fame. He is Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Magdalen College, Oxford University. Robin brings his years of research and discovery about what make us human and how these insights can help leaders make better "human-shaped" decisions. The conversations ranges across topics from the importance of triggering the endorphin system - through mechanisms such as laughter - and its positive effect on productivity, to more pragmatic advice on how leaders can better facilitate virtual meetings and maintain the "musical flow" of conversation to arrive at more satisfaction and connection for their teams.
* Dunbar's number (150) is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships - relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. Learn more about Robin Dunbar · Website · LinkedIn · Solid Gold Podcasts #BeHeard

Being human in a digital context
Robin Dunbar (Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology | Magdalen College, Oxford University)
In this first episode, Tracey Camilleri talks to Prof Robin Dunbar of "Dunbar number" * fame. He is Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at Magdalen College, Oxford University. Robin brings his years of research and discovery about what make us human and how these insights can help leaders make better "human-shaped" decisions. The conversations ranges across topics from the importance of triggering the endorphin system - through mechanisms such as laughter - and its positive effect on productivity, to more pragmatic advice on how leaders can better facilitate virtual meetings and maintain the "musical flow" of conversation to arrive at more satisfaction and connection for their teams.
* Dunbar's number (150) is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships - relationships in which an individual knows who each person is and how each person relates to every other person. Learn more about Robin Dunbar