Hi, my name is Rob and welcome to Cultivated Management
– Advice and ideas on cultivating great workplaces, nurturing effective employees and releasing business agility – through the super power of effective communication.
Your trusted guide to cultivating great workplaces and releasing business agility.
Hi and welcome to Cultivated Management.
My name is Rob Lambert and I passionately believe in cultivating great places to work that nurture talented and effective employees, whilst releasing business agility.
I believe that developing the superpower of effective communication is one of the greatest things we can do to build workplaces that enrich the lives of all who work in them.
I share ideas and advice about speaking effectively, writing clearly, thinking critically and expressing your creativity through effective communication.
Effective communication requires diversity, critical thinking, truth, authenticity, clarity and purpose. It’s also a powerful lever to pull to Release Business Agility.
I have been a VP of software engineering, a VP of HR (CIPD qualified), Head of Communication and VP of agile looking after large teams and big budgets. I am a Media Scientist by training, education and qualification.
I now consult with companies to help them Release Business Agility through effective communication, creativity and critical thinking – combined with high value HR initiatives.
The newsletter
I have published a weekly newsletter for around 5 years now. In the last year I have expanded the newsletter to include three weekly emails (you can choose which ones you’d like to receive)
- The weekly Cultivated Management newsletter – all about developing the super power of effective communication to enhance your career, cultivate amazing workplaces and release business agility.
- Here’s an idea worth playing with is a short audio show published on a Sunday. They are around 1-5 minutes in length where I share a short idea that I believe is worth playing with.
- A Cultivated Life (which maps to my YouTube channel) is all about being a “creative soul in a corporate role”. I share things I’ve made (that are work related), why I created them and sometimes, how I created them. It’s a place where I hope to inspire other creative souls in corporate roles to keep their creative dream alive and balance this tension with work.
- As an example, I have a new book coming out supported with a series of posters/artwork. I will share these here.
- I also have a new series called Meeting Notes in which I create various pieces of art related to work ideas.
- I also have a couple of photo essays, and ideas on how to weave creativity into your work.
Once you subscribe you can manage which of the three emails you receive. All, or none, or a mix. Subscription box over on the side of this page.
Philosophy
The Cultivated Management Philosophy is based on a few core beliefs:
- Business agility belongs to managers.
- 99% of problems in business are due to poor communication.
- Creativity is essential for human happiness and should be baked into all we do in our workplaces.
- A business should enrich and enhance the lives of all who work in it.
- The culture of an organisation is nothing more than group habit: it’s the everyday behaviours
- Our management and leadership will never be more than us as a person.
- Critical thinking is a much needed skill in business.
Develop effective communication skills and learn how to Release Business Agility straight from my HR and Leadership playbooks.
Discover helpful content
I am always learning and I share what I know in the following ways:
- Monday : The “cultivated retreat” podcast – Season 1.
- Tuesday : New videos to the YouTube channel/blog
- Wednesday : The weekly “Cultivated” newsletter
- Friday : A Cultivated Life newsletter – coming soon! If you’re a creative soul in a corporate role, this is the place for you
- Saturday : Updates to my Personal Knowledge Management System (for subscribers only)
- Sunday : Weekly audio show called “Here’s an idea worth playing with” which is available to newsletter subscribers.
Other stuff
- My award winning in-person communication workshop is now available online in a self paced format.
- I also have books and more in the store.
- I also co-host a podcast about the power good analogue stationery can unleash on the Stationery Freaks podcast.
- I am also available to consult with your company to “Release Agility” – through effective management and high value HR initiatives coupled with clarity of communication.
The best place to learn about all of this and more is by signing up to the newsletter.
Short “About Rob” snippets
Rob Lambert is the owner of Cultivated Management Ltd.
- Built a “frighteningly agile” team named “UK top start-ups to watch in 2017”.
- Built a team voted “Best companies to work for 3 years running”.
- Took the team (DevOps) from Investment to successful sale
- Vice President of HR
- Vice President of Engineering (twice)
- VP of Agile
- HR Team was described as the ”least evil HR team ever” (A compliment I think)
- CIPD Qualified HR practitioner
- Blogger, podcaster, keynote presenter, writer
- Former Editor and journalist at a local newspaper
- Coach and trainer
- Author of several books on leadership, career management, management, agile and squirrels
- Husband and Father to three boys
- Obsessed with mixed media storytelling – and fast cars – oh yes, and basketball
Thanks
Rob..
The YouTube Channel
Check out the YouTube channel? I’m still learning how to make better videos – I hope you enjoy the videos and join me on our journey.
Develop your Super Power in the world of work
Excellent communication skills will set you apart at work. They’re also transferable between industries. They’re also behaviours that we can learn.
I run an award winning in-person Communication Workshop – and it’s now online!
I teach the science of communication, the art of body language, how to write well and how to project confidence and assertiveness. We also cover why appearance sometimes matter and how to listen well – after all, listening is the greatest compliment. Find out more and enrol below.
Mission.
We spend around 90,000 hours of our lives at work. My mission is to help you make the most of these hours, have a career and body of work you are proud of and to cultivate great workplaces.
Values.
The values that I aspire to with Cultivated Management …
Creativity – the topics of work, management, leadership etc can be dull. Very dull. But there are creative ways to solve problems, communicate about these topics and design our careers. No point in being boring if there’s a creative way to move ahead.
Humour and Playfulness – tied to the above – there’s fun to be had. After all, if we’re not having fun with it – we should be done with it.
Appreciation of Excellence – there is excellence all around. We often just need to learn to see it – and then appreciate it.
Do no Harm – the advice and support I provide through Cultivated Management should lead to no harm if you implement it. There’s some shady advice out there from people who are simply spouting theory – my advice is grounded in evidence.
Critical Thinking – I am not one to take theories on face value. I apply a critical eye to that which we often call normal in work. This can result in content that may jar with your thinking – but I back it all up through research and experience
Inclusivity – I am HR qualified and spent years as a VP in HR – I am therefore keen to ensure my work is accessible and relevant to a diverse audience. I make content for people from all walks of life – everyone.
Curiosity – at the heart of all I do is curiosity. Is there a better way to do something? How does this thing work? How can we get better? Curiosity ripples through all that I share and do.
Accuracy – I show you how I do my work, how I come to my conclusions and how I form these ideas I share. I use data where data exists. I aim to be accurate in all that I share.
Check out the store
Posters, books, free stuff, big guides, little guides, funny stuff, serious stuff – all designed to help you cultivated great workplaces.
Stationery Freaks Podcast
I co-host a podcast about stationery! Yes, the potential that good analogue stationery can bring to our lives.
We wax lyrical about the potential – and how to unleash it – with stationery. Sounds odd but we started this as a ramble chat and quickly realised there were plenty of freaks like us out there!
Photography
Photography has long been a passion of mine, as such I am practicing each and every day to be a better photographer; to tell better stories through photos; and to learn how choosing what to focus on bleeds into my world as a manager, leader and consultant. I even did a video about how the art of photography is the art of leadership.
If photography interests you, I share my photos over on Insta.
Cultivated Charity
I believe ALL organisations exist to serve the greater purpose of society.
I believe very strongly that every person (and animal) has the right to the best quality of life they can, even if that life may be short.
That’s why I donate 5% of all revenue from my products and affiliate links to charity.
2.5% always goes to Naomi House – a hospice in Winchester for life limited children and their parents.
The other 2.5% sometimes goes to a different charity each year, or I donate this to Naomi House.
- 2015 – Unicef (complete)
- 2016 – Pencils of Promise (complete)
- 2017 – Saving Linnea (complete)
- 2018 – WWF (complete)
- 2019 – Naomi House (complete) – Full 5% this year.
- 2020 – British Heart Foundation (complete)
- 2021 – Shelter Box
- 2022 – Naomi House
- 2023 – Naomi House
Join the community
Join me on Instagram
I don’t do much social media anymore, but I do like a little Insta every so often.