Fast Track Impact

In this episode, Mark discusses how leaders that want to facilitate impact need to cultivate bridging expertise to bridge ideas and networks, bringing people and solutions together to make a difference.

Read the blog version of today's episode here

In the episode Mark refers to an earlier episode on working with conspiracy theorists, which you can listen to here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-deal-more-effectively-conspiracy-theorists-on/id1095867924?i=1000457169707

Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark discusses how leaders need to have a deep understanding of their impact, to be authentic and therefore be able to connect empathically with their teams, drawing people to impact.

Read the blog version of today's episode here 

Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In this episode, Mark looks at a range of leadership models and discusses the sort of leadership needed to drive impact, drawing on his new book, Impact Culture. He presents a new leadership model, empathic leadership, based on purpose, bridging expertise and service, and discusses the tools and approaches of an empathic leader, and how this can inspire impact.

Read the blog version of today's episode here

Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

This week, Mark interviews Dr Ged Hall about an innovative rolling 3 month programme for researchers to build skills and community around impact, giving them permission, accountability and support to achieve impacts that align with their values, whether or not they are valued by funders or governments. The programme arose as a direct response to the perception that the impact culture at University of Leeds had been shaped too much by the Research Excellence Framework. It uses peer to peer support and tutor input to embed an approach to impact that is heavily influenced by Theory of Change tools. This approach is built on, institutionally, as academic Schools are supported to develop ‘bottom-up’ impact outcomes and strategies that aim to deliver those outcomes.

Join Mark and Ged for a training session on the 25th of April to learn more about what University of Leeds is doing in this space, and find out more from the Impact Culture book about how to motivate researchers to engage with impact on their own terms: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-motivate-researchers-to-engage-with-impact-on-their-own-terms-tickets-233494066037

Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture. 

Following his Reading Group appearance earlier this month, I'm interviewing Professor Jonathan Grant about his new book, The New Power University. He argues argues that universities must embrace “new power” values that focus on participation, networked governance and transparency, to put social responsibility at the core of the academic mission. I ask him how he tried to put what he wrote into practice when he was a Vice Principle at Kings College London, and discuss some of his more controversial ideas, including the idea that blue-skies research should be deprioritised, universities should take strong stances on controversial issues and celebrity researchers should give up tenure so early career researchers can get long-term positions.

Get your copy of The New Power University now.

Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.

Impact Culture is available now, as a hardback, e-book and audio book: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/books. Find out more about the book and join free training and discussion groups at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

Next episodes

• Leadership blogs
• Chapters on imposter syndrome etc

In the fourth and final episode that includes an audio chapter from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark discusses how to build capacity for impact, including the leadership and skills needed, as well as a discussion of the role that impact strategies can play, based on his recent pre-print with accompanying blog and database which you can read here: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactstrategies.

Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.

Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In the third of four episodes that include audio chapters from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark discusses the importance of working strategically to foster relationships with institutional and disciplinary networks as well as stakeholders. In the introduction, he describes a new stakeholder analysis tool. The chapter that follows considers the role of trust, different types of connection, social norms and power in the generation of impact, before considering a number of actions, including building boundary organisations and fostering a more compassionate culture in your workplace.

Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.

Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

In the second of four episodes that include audio chapters from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark discusses some of the literature on purpose, and how researchers derive meaning from their work. In the introduction, he discusses the role of mentors versus coaches in academia, and the chapter that follows focuses on practical ideas that can help researchers prioritise and spend more time on impact.

Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.

Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.

My new book, Impact Culture, is released on 25th March, and this is your opportunity to join the launch team and get involved in the impact culture community of practice, which launches today!

Get involved in the impact culture community

Today I'm launching a new website for anyone who wants to improve their research culture and put impact at the heart of what they do. It includes:

• A programme of free training events and discussion groups run by members of the impact community. The first event is on impact monitoring and evaluation on 28th February and already has over 300 people booked, so book now to avoid disappointment. Our second event is a more intimate reading group with Jonathan Grant on his new book, The New Power University, on 14th March
• Sign up for a new JISCMail impact culture email discussion group to keep the discussion going between events
• Free content from the book - over 90% is available open access via the website, including an impact culture toolkit where I've collected together all the most practical and transformative ideas from the book

Go and have a look around: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture

Join the launch team and get a pre-publication copy of the book

I would also like to invite you to join the launch team for the new book, which includes a signed pre-launch copy of the book with free postage and packing anywhere in the world and a place at the launch event, which will run as an online Reading Group.

Your responsibilities as a member of the launch team will be to:

1. Attend the launch event having read as much of the book as possible, so you are ready to discuss it with others;
2. Write a short review of the book on Amazon (whether you love it or hate it), to help others decide if they want to read it too. To do this, you will be asked to buy a free Kindle version of the book the week before launch, so your review is for a verified purchase; and
3. Help promote the book to your colleagues or networks (if you like it!).

In return for this, you get:

• An exclusive signed copy of the book (this is the only way you will ever be able to get a signed copy)
• Get your copy up to a month before the book goes on sale to the rest of the world
• Free postage and packing anywhere in the world (all other customers will have to pay this)
• An exclusive place at the launch event (everyone else will have to tune in via YouTube and won't be able to interact with the author or other participants)
• Free audio, PDF and Kindle version of the book

Please only buy a ticket if you are able to join the launch event and can commit to writing a review. Places are limited to 100.

Download a sample of Part 1 of the book before you commit to joining the launch team.

Or listen to my podcast where I previewed the audiobook version of one chapter last week, and will be previewing three more chapters of the following weeks. 

If you like what you read/hear, then you can join the launch team here.

In the first of four episodes that include audio chapters from his new book, Impact Culture, Mark introduces the first of four components of a healthy impact culture: rigorous, ethical and action-oriented research. In the introduction, he discusses some of the common ethical traps researchers inadvertently fall into when attempting to generate impact from their research. In the chapter that follows, he uses the poet John Keats' creative process to explain how researchers can generate original ideas that can solve real-world problems, and the episode concludes with practical ideas to transform your research so it can underpin impact.

Follow Mark at @fasttrackimpact and @profmarkreed or on LinkedIn.

Impact Culture is released as a paperback, e-book and audio book on 25th March 2022. Find out more at: https://www.fasttrackimpact.com/impactculture.