26/05/2011 by Ann.

Last night my friend Liz treated me to an audience with Rob Lowe who was discussing his new book ‘Stories I only tell my friends’.

The venue up in London was packed with women and a few brave men! I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this Hollywood actor, but I was in for a number of surprises:

Liz and I were talking when I glanced across the room and saw a man who looked remarkably like Rob Lowe, but I was imagining there would be a grand entrance and how wrong was I? The auditorium fell silent as people realised it was him:  he walked onto the stage, beamed at the audience and seemed remarkably relaxed.

For the next ninety minutes he spoke about his book and answered questions. He was so down to earth and had the ability to seemingly look the entire audience in the eye, individually. He was funny, self-effacing and highly entertaining. He was also extremely polite.

At the end Liz and I were standing by the stage when he suddenly turned and walked past us. I was completely flabbergasted by how handsome he still is. Liz even managed to say something to him and he gave us a fabulous smile.

It is really easy to have pre-conceived ideas about people, and especially those in the public eye,  but it can also be a very pleasant surprise when they perhaps contradict your first impressions.

It got me wondering how aware we are of the impressions we make on people?

Ann

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24/05/2011 by Ann.

The UK is awash with the debate on privacy laws following a number of super injunctions, preventing famous actors, footballers and businessmen from having details of their private lives (affairs) published by newspapers.

However it seems that Twitter users have spilled the beans and most of the world outside the UK has known the identity of the high profile footballer who is trying to sue Twitter and, after his name was mentioned in the house of commons he is now front page news.

It prompts the question: Can you present one image for your work and have a private life that conflicts with it?

How congruent is that?

When you are starting out in business, getting people to KTL (Know, Trust and Like) you is extremely important. If you are to promote yourself as being an honest and trustworthy person, your clients are not going to be impressed if you suddenly end up in court for deliberately avoiding paying your tax.

How would your clients/customers feel if you took out an injunction which prevented them knowing this information?

Would you wish to work with someone who was hiding information from you?

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