#168: Paying attention to endings, the power of closing things well with Philip Atkinson

"Keep moving, keep learning, keep investing in your own development. Don't hang on to the value that you used to have that's no longer relevant, no longer fit for purpose."

Have you ever felt the seasons of your own life shifting, nudging you to find the courage to start anew? That's exactly what we're exploring on today's episode. When I sat down with Philip Atkinson, we talked about his unique journey. After 25 years in a big multinational, he walked away from the comfort and certainty, stepping into the unknown to build something entirely his own.

This is the bit I love, part of that journey Philip has written a great, however not just a book about leadership or change. His book, Bee Wise: 12 Leadership Lessons from a Busy Beehive, brings together his wisdom and observations from work experience with his love of bees, and specifically the rituals of bees. He weaves together what bees can teach us about teams, cycles, and closure. It's a brilliant read, with so many intriguing layers to the insights.

This is the perfect conversation if you want to activate your curious mind!

Highlights:
00:04 The power of letting go, lifelong learning, and personal development
06:01 Understanding emotional exits
10:53 Why Western cultures struggle with endings
13:02 Ceremonies, rituals & why we need to mark our endings
14:56 Projects or experiments? Why reframing failure helps us grow
16:37 How reward systems make closure difficult (and how to break out)
18:42 Why Philip combined his love of bees with leadership coaching
20:01 Building HiveLogic
22:45 Why seasons matter (for bees and personal reinvention)
24:00 Lessons from the beehive
34:30 Pay attention to endings. Close every meeting, project, and phase well.

Philip's Change Toolkit:
Soundtrack: "Don't Stop Me Now" – Queen
Book: Time to Think – Nancy Klein

One piece of advice:

"Pay attention to endings. If it's time to close something, close it well. Make sure that meetings close well. Make sure that projects close well. Make sure that career phases close well. And think about your head, your heart, and your body and where you are. Every single ending, make sure you've got enough time to close it well."

About Phillip Atkinson:

Philip is based in Alsace, France, and is the founder of hive-logic.com Coaching & Communications with offices in Basel, Switzerland, and London, UK. Philip is a leadership team expert and organisational coach.

As a beekeeper, Philip loves to spend the summer tending to and observing his precious bees and spending the winter learning, reading, and writing about them. Throughout the whole year, Philip supports leadership teams and leaders worldwide to grow and develop.

You can contact Philip by email on philip@hive-logic.com

Buy the book - https://beewisebook.com/

Work with Eleanor

Buy the Book - Another Door Opens; 5 steps for navigating change. Described as 'Game changing' 'Brilliant' 'A must read' 'The best book on change'.

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it's coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.

Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.

Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.

Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.

Join the Another Door Opens 5 Step Programme - a course and community to guide you through the messiness of change to find calm, joy and opportunity.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: www.another-door-opens.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk

"Life's been tough over the last couple of years not just for me, but economically, for a lot of businesses. If I can bring joy into business owners' lives and make them feel better about what they're doing, that's brilliant."

Ever wondered how to reopen doors (or even build brand new ones) after life throws you a curveball? This episode is all about finding the spark of joy, even in your darkest moments, and building communities that thrive on play, experimentation, and authentic connection.

I'm joined by brand strategist, author, and accidental entrepreneur Sapna Pieroux, who opens up about pausing her business after a breast cancer diagnosis, dealing with grief, rediscovering herself through play, and why "karaoke networking" (aka The NotWorkers) might be the future of business building.

Sapna shares how volunteering, creativity, and saying YES to the things that spark joy led her not just to restart, but to totally reinvent what community means in business.

Highlights:
00:05 Why play matters more than ever in business and life
04:05 Sapna's cancer journey and closing her business
05:28 Walking through grief and rediscovering herself
07:03 How coaching (and the search for joy) transformed her next steps
09:56 Volunteering, Borrow My Doggy, and finding joy in small moments
14:03 The birth of The NotWorkers, karaoke as business networking
16:33 Why the caliber of company beats perfect pitch
18:25 How play fast-tracks real relationships (and great business)
19:00 Personal brand vs. business brand, how Sapna evolved her business
28:06 Playfulness as a business advantage
31:31 Play, creativity, and mental health, why it works
37:04 Why your hobbies and passions matter for your brand
42:18 Practical tips: Getting visible when you're navigating change
49:03 Sapna's soundtrack for change (think: karaoke gems!)
50:25 The books that shaped Sapna's journey
52:43 The best advice for navigating change (and life) with joy

Sapna's Change Toolkit:
Soundtrack: "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tiffany, "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse, "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross, and anything joyful and karaoke-worthy!
Book: The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell
Bonus: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

One piece of advice:
"There is always a choice. Declutter fiercely and focus on what sparks joy, people, work, experiences. Success isn't just size or money, it's happiness with your choices."

Connect with Sapna:

Connect with Sapna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sapnapieroux/

Thinking about rebranding? First your Brand Performance Score https://letsgetvisiblequiz.scoreapp.com/

Join the free VIP Waitlist for BrandVisions.AI launching soon: https://waitlist.brandvision.app/

Join The NotWorkers Waitlist https://forms.gle/AoS2GZH8wHpsK2WCA

Work with Eleanor:

Buy the Book - Another Door Opens; 5 steps for navigating change. Described as 'Game changing' 'Brilliant' 'A must read' 'The best book on change'.

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it's coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.

Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.

Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.

Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.

Join the Another Door Opens 5 Step Programme - a course and community to guide you through the mess of change to find calm, joy and opportunity.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: www.another-door-opens.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk

"Be brave enough to say yes even if it wasn't in your niche or part of 'the plan'. That's what keeps you moving forward before you're ready for that next door to open."

Ever wrestled with the idea of turning down your "dream job"?

This episode is exploring the tricky decisions we have to make in moments of change and how to solve leadership problems that are really just life problems in disguise.

I'm joined by Katie Best, a leadership expert, author, and consultant who shares her personal closing door moment: letting go of her dream role in the creative industries to invest fully in building her own business.

Katie shares her story about 'the chase', 'the pivot', and 'the messy', and the reality of starting a consultancy from scratch including how simply saying "yes" can unlock unexpected opportunities.

Highlights:

00:22 Katie's "dream job" offer and why she walked away
06:02 Chasing the dream and what happens when you achieve it
10:00 Saying no for work-life balance and owning your choices
13:09 The serendipity that launched her consultancy

15:59 How she landed her first clients
17:49 Why being open (not stubborn about niche) builds runway for your business
23:45 Building her book: The 10 Toughest Leadership Problems (which are really life problems)
26:31 The number one issue leaders face - self-management and personal effectiveness
29:50 "Decidophobia", and why not deciding is still a decision
33:29 Why leaders should explain their decisions and show their thinking
35:50 Katie's SOLVE framework for problem solving.

Katie's Change Toolkit

Soundtrack: "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N" by Noah and the Whale
Book: Make Time by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky

One piece of advice: "Pause and do the research. Don't rush to a solution, take time to dig into the feelings, understand what's really going on, and embrace the messiness of change."

More about Katie

Dr Katie Best is the founder and director of Katie Best Associates, a leadership development consultancy that works with executives, senior leaders and business owners at companies including KPMG, EY, Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Verizon,Oxfam, the NHS and many others. In addition, she is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, where she heads the MBA Essentials executive education programme, and a visiting research fellow at King's College London.

In her book, The Ten Toughest Leadership Problems and How to Solve Them, Katie works through ten of the trickiest and most common leadership challenges: avoiding burn-out, making good decisions, increasing influence, working through cultural issues, improving employee performance, engaging staff, managing teams, implementing strategy, leading change and handling the reality of hybrid working.

Website: katiebest.com

LinkedIn: DrKatie Best

Work with Eleanor

Buy the Book - Another Door Opens; 5 steps for navigating change. Described as 'Game changing' 'Brilliant' 'A must read' 'The best book on change'.

Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it's coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training.

Work with Eleanor 121 as your coach, when you are starting something new, to develop the idea, to create the idea, to get it launched.

Book in a Change Mastery for a team session - when your team is navigating change.

Book in a 90 minute workshop - to think through change at work.

Join the Another Door Opens 5 Step Programme - a course and community to guide you through the mess of change to find calm, joy and opportunity.

Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/

Website: www.another-door-opens.com

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk