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HR and diversity professionals.
Another level of coverage
In the whirlwind of press coverage we had around the launch of our Shared Parental Leave One Year On research report, I didn't actually have time to think about the bigger picture. From the Good Morning Britain sofa to Sky News and the BBC, we were everywhere - and it was amazing. We've done research in the past, but nothing has ever had that much attention.
These were some key stats: most men (63%) actually love the idea of SPL, money is one of the main obstacles (80%) but lots of women (55%) actually seemed miffed about the concept of their partners sharing any of their hard-earned time off! Quelle surprise you might say.
Luck or hard work?
The press frenzy got me thinking, though. Businesses are a bit like people: there are a few absolute geniuses out there who really do make a difference - the Googles and Apples of this world in business parlance. And then there are those that fall by the wayside - and no, there are no names to throw out there.
Most of us get up, work hard and do our best to earn an honest crust. Here's the thing though. If you do work hard and your ideas aren't totally moronic, then every so often you earn your right to a good slice of luck. That's life and it keeps repeating itself. A bit like the average golfer who keeps practicing - the more you practice, the luckier you get.
It's all paid off
It's taken us 15 years to build up this group. Every 3 or 4 years we get our slice of luck - tricking my brightest friend from law school, Amanda Coxen, into coming on board; convincing BUPA to effectively give us a great little childcare advisory business; and winning a totally random £50k prize from the almost defunct Card Protection Plan business (that famous seller of dodgy mortgage insurance).
My highlight of the whole experience was appearing on the sofa next to Jeremy Kyle and asking what his name was - clearly I'm too busy working to watch any daytime TV.
Ben Black
