Voices For The Future - an introduction
Let me tell you a bit about my writing career and what's coming next on Substack.
Do you remember when something inside you just clicked, when curiosity turned into conviction? For me, it was March 2006, in an air-conditioned office near Dubai Airport. I had been working at ITP Publishing for about six months as a sub-editor. It was a job I really enjoyed: checking copy, laying out pages and sourcing images appealed to my creative side; importantly, it had been my route in the industry and helped me to understand language and readability.
But in that editorial meeting, my world was about to change. I remember the editor asking who would like to travel to Kuwait and write a supplement on the construction industry. At the time, we were a small team, perhaps five including reporters and editors. It was probably a project for one of my colleagues. But I put my hand up. I wanted to branch out. I knew it was time.
In April, I flew to Kuwait City and spent four days in the country. I interviewed heads of construction businesses, visited projects, and watched the sunset from the top of the Crowne Plaza hotel. I held my notebook and recording device close; the heat of the pavements burned through my shoes; the temperature was pushing 50 degrees. I also remember seeing war-damaged buildings and realising I was only a few miles from border with Iraq.
I returned to Dubai with conviction, ready to write, and put together a series of features and interviews from my time away. I didn’t consider what kind of writer I might be, but the process of producing 1,500 words felt natural. Something had clicked. The editorial feedback was good, the guidance to improve was particularly good. A door had been opened for me, and I had run through it. Over the next 18 months, I became part of the writing team.
Since then, my writing has taken me from the deserts of the Middle East to the dark skies of Moscow and the Côte D'Azur. I have reported on business and finance; interviewed government ministers and leaders of companies. But I have also spent a week reporting on a bike race, been inside military facilities and on board a helicopter. It’s been varied and it’s been fun.
In recent years, through Story Publishing, I have been ghost writing for business leaders; supporting them with opinion pieces, reports and industry features. This has worked well, and I also enjoy it. But last year, I noticed that something was missing; something that started in Kuwait, but has been lost along the way: long-form storytelling.
Now, I’m launching a series of features called Voices For The Future.
Why? Because we live in a world where economic and political power sits in the hands of a few and the locus of control is becoming even narrower. But we also have access to more information and to more people than ever before; we are more aware of the difference we can make, and the stories we can share to effect change.
Leaders are often described as individuals with strong convictions willing to stand on stages and gain followers. But the reality of galvanising others is far more nuanced. Concepts including soft power and quiet leadership have become part of the story in recent years, and good leadership is more collective, more balanced, and more thoughtful than at any point in history.
To deal with the complex problems we face, it’s clear that new forms of leadership will have to emerge into mainstream consciousness; ones which harness collective action, personal transformation, and radical compassion; ones which offer new perspectives and practical ideas for the road ahead.
In Voices For The Future, I’ll talk to writers, psychologists, monks, academics, business leaders and others who challenge convention, offering an alternative perspective for the benefit of humanity and the wider world. They are leaders in their own right, but they might not put it on their business card. All of them will leave you in a better place.
My aim is to share their stories and ideas in the hope they will inspire you to consider your own journey in a changing world.
I finished the first piece last week and it is just under 2,500 words. What started back in 2006 has always been there – the joy of writing stories – but now it’s time to run through another door.