About Time - with Chris Nichols

I first met Charlie Calkin a few years back working on a project together, and I was simply bowled over by how good she is. Charlie is one of the leading UK practitioners in restorative justice, and restorative practice more generally. Her work is in demand more and more in organisational settings, and in social and political and policy circles, and I can’t think of much that’s more important than this. It’s a wonderful, rich and timely conversation. I do hope you enjoy it, and enjoy this connection to Charlie and her work.

I came across Professor Sarah Williams through social media, when she posted a comment about her aspiration that the international strategy of BNU (Buckingham New University) would be a decolonial one, setting it apart from many traditional university international strategies.  This fascinated me, and I immediately asked Sarah to come on the podcast to say more about this. It was a fascinating topic too - but we didn’t limit ourselves to that one theme. In the end we explored Sarah’s personal story, how she became an academic in the first place, and how she moved into leadership roles.This episode will be of interest to anyone with a keen eye on what universities are doing to create difference, from the past and from each other. It’s also a great one for folks interested in how people grow into leadership roles and continue to learn once they’re in them.I really enjoyed meeting Sarah, and I hope you do too.

I only recently met Professor Laura Peters. We met when I heard about her move to West Dean, and knew I had to invite Laura onto the series because of the unique nature of West Dean and her role there. I fully confess my bias here - I think West Dean is terrific, does such amazing work in arts and conservation, and is a stunning beautiful place as well. So when I had the chance to talk to Laura I was delighted.It’s a lovely episode, featuring the story of West Dean, but also Laura’s personal story as a senior academic leader, what shapes her leadership and how she came to lead in the way she does. She also shares insights into making a move from one top role to another, which will be of interest to leaders on the move anywhere.I was thrilled to do this one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I worked with Dr Margaret Gearty on the wonderful MSc in Sustainability and Responsibility when it moved from Bath to Ashridge, and I have respected and loved her work on “learning histories” ever since. This is a terrific episode, tracing Margaret’s personal journey from being one of the very few women designing micro-processors in Silicon Valley in the boom years, to becoming an action researcher in ecology and organisations, to becoming a poet and more. It’s personal, gentle and full of insights - and Margaret generously mentions many of her current and past inspirations and has provided links to her writings where you can follow up as deeply as you wish.  Delightful stuff, I do hope you enjoy it.

I’ve known Miles Cherry for a long time. He’s the founder of React, Acting for Business, and I started working with Miles and his team of actors during my Ashridge time, as much as 25 years back.Working with these actors has been transformational for me - seeing the power of rehearsing conversations first hand, and also the visceral experience of people facing their fears and learning to overcome them and flourish.  In this podcast Miles tells his own story, of being an actor and discovering the impact of role play in leadership development. It’s a tremendous story full of leadership and entrepreneurial insight. Wonderful stuff, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.Link to the React website: www.react.co.uk

Derek Walker has a job he loves and a role that is as rare as it is vital and radical. He’s the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, with the role of holding to account the entirety of the Welsh government in its responsibilities to consider the interests of future generations. I first met Derek at Anthropy 2025 at the Eden Project, and knew that he’d be a fascinating guest on About Time - after all, he has taken on one of the most long term thinking roles anywhere.This is a terrific conversation with someone passionate about the role they do and the importance of doing it well for a future much bigger than himself. I hope you enjoy it.Here’s a link to the webpage of the Office of the Future Generations Commissioner: https://futuregenerations.wales/

I’ve know Beccy Speight since her time at the National Trust. Since then she’s been CEO of The Woodland Trust and now leads the RSPB - one of the largest nature focused charities in Europe. Beccy is a leader who lives and breathes her passion for the work she does. This episode explores how she came into the role, and how she leads this astonishing organisation, which has a far broader portfolio of work than many of us will realise. It’s a fascinating conversation with a prominent leader of a major charity. I hope you enjoy it.There are so many links between this episode and others in this series including the Rob Sexton one, the Sue Pritchard one, and the Future Fit episode with Giles Hutchins, and many more. Link to RSPB Video on YouTube: Returnhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl8QdQ9ZaBT65tF1yOmbMBQ

I’ve rarely worked with Peter Reason, but his work has been hugely influential on me and my life. As one of the pioneers of participatory methods of inquiry, in organisational life and elsewhere, Peter was a co-founder of the Bath MSc that I later co-led at Ashridge, and also of the doctoral action research centre there.Since retiring from Bath, Peter has focused on writing. He has made long and remote voyages in his small yacht, inquiring into his relationship with the more than human world, and currently focuses his work on conversations with rivers, asking what it is to meet rivers and other bodies of water as sentient beings. This is a lovely and wide ranging conversation, digging deep into Peter’s life, work and inspirations. Peter generously shares his writings via his webpage, to which there is a link below. I hope you enjoy this episode.The writing is available at peterreason.net

I first met Abbot Christopher during the pandemic when he asked me to facilitate a conversation for a group of monks. It turned out to be one of those wonderful and rich experiences that become woven into the fabric of our lives. I have since worked with several communities of monks, and have gained huge respect for the Brothers and their life and work. Abbot Christopher is the inspiration behind the BBC series The Monastery, now 20 years ago. The community invited 5 laymen to experience 40 days of monastics life. It was a wonderful experiment and a great programme. Abbot Christopher also wrote the book, Finding Sanctuary. I think he, his work, and the Rule of Benedict has a lot to say about many issues in modern organisational life, and in society more widely. I loved having this conversation and I hope you find it fruitful. 

I’m thrilled to release this episode of About Time with Narendra Laljani. Narendra was a continuous influence during my years at Ashridge. It’s fair to say I learned the practice of strategy on many places, but I learned the teaching of strategy from Narendra. He was also the first person I knew to take a professional doctorate - his work on developing strategic leaders remains a powerful contribution to the work of growing top level strategic capability. This episode reflects the influences on Narendra’s work, and its impact and importance today. I do hope you enjoy it as much as as I did.