About

Hi, I'm Rob Lambert.

I'm a coach, consultant, communication trainer, storyteller and publisher.

Through my client work and my content creation I hope to help as many people as possible develop effective communication behaviours and skills; a superpower in the world of work.

Through my coaching, consulting and training, I help leaders and managers Release Business agility through effective communication. As such, I help them move smoothly and quickly towards their business goals AND create workplaces that enrich the lives of all who work in them.

And through the content on this site I share advice, research and insights into being an effective communicator.

Effective Communication

All of my work is grounded in communication and learning.

I often say that 99% of problems in business are due to ineffective communication.

To communicate effectively we must think critically, express our creativity, be curious, be truthful, be authentic, provide clarity, listen intently, study, be competent and have a clear purpose. I cover these topics and more.

If you'd like me to work with your organisation, I offer workshops, personal coaching and consulting.

If you'd like to develop your communication superpower, there is a wealth of content on this site.

There is the:

• Communication Super Power online course
• Zero To Keynote book
• Take A Day off book
• Articles
• Podcast
• Recommended reading
• Free resources too.

"All problems are interpersonal problems" - Alfred Adler

Cultivate

I named my company Cultivated Management because learning is fundamental to personal growth, business improvement and career advancement.

Cultivate - "improve by labour or study, devote one's attention to".

That could be learning how to communicate more effectively, or learning how to make the business better, or how to release business agility, or learning how to develop positive behaviours, or how to unleash creativity.

I really like this quote by Eric Hoffer:

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

Releasing Agility Model

A lot of my client and consulting work revolves around the "Releasing Agility" communication model.

It is not a prescriptive model, but instead is designed to look for communication improvement opportunities.

• It all starts with a clear painted picture of a bright future (storytelling, clarity, communicating to others)
• Identifying obstacles (truth, honesty, critical thinking, careful conversations, clarity)
• Then aligning people (clarity, personal communication, dealing with resistance, clarity over roles)
• Then moving into action (removing watermelon reporting, clarity over progress, communicating progress, building routines, having difficult conversations)
• And learning. Learning how to make the business better, ourselves better and improving everything we can about work (careful communication, clarity of purpose, dealing with resistance, leaning into failures)

Every single part of this requires clear, precise, accurate, careful, critical, creative and purposeful communication. That what I focus on with my client work and the content on this site.

You can find out more here.

Cultivated Management has been helping clients in telco, mobile, oil and gas, energy, professional services and finance for over 10 years now.

The founder, Rob Lambert, has held various roles including Vice President of HR, Vice President of Software Engineering (twice) and Interim CIO. He is also an award winning communication trainer, writer, Media Scientist and experienced consultant and coach.

Here's a few short snippets about me.

Short “About Rob” snippets

• 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)
• Vice President of Agility
• Interim CIO
• My HR Team was described as the ”least evil HR team ever” (A compliment I believe)
• CIPD Level 5 HR practitioner (no longer a paid member of CIPD)
• Blogger, podcaster, keynote presenter, writer
• Former newspaper editor and journalist
• Coach and trainer
• Author of several books on leadership, career management, management, agile and squirrels
• Husband and Father to three boys
• Media Scientist obsessed with mixed media storytelling – and fast cars

Values.

Creativity – creativity is a core value. I like to create, bring together seemingly disparate ideas and come up with new potential futures. If your company is exceptional, then creativity is essential to stand out. Why copy when you can create? If your company is exceptional, then you should be an exception...

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. Better futures rarely manifest without energy, joy and engagement

Appreciation of Excellence – there is excellence all around. We often just need to learn to see it – and then appreciate it. Or create it.

Do no Harm – the advice and support provided 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 – our advice is grounded in evidence.

Critical Thinking – I don't take theories and platitudes on face value. I apply a critical eye to get to the heart and essence.

Inclusivity – I am HR qualified and spent years as a VP in HR, I therefore blend a bias for action with a bias to cultivate great workplaces. My work should also be 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? What futures are more interesting? Curiosity ripples through all that I share and do.

Accuracy – I show you how I do my work, how I come to conclusions, how I research and how I form the ideas I share. I use data where data exists. I aim to be accurate in all that I share.

Cultivated Charity

I believe ALL organisations exist to serve the greater purpose of society. Mine is no different.

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 we donate 5% of all profit from 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% goes to a different charity each year.

• 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 (complete)
• 2022 – Naomi House (complete)
• 2023 – Become and Naomi House
• 2024 - TBD

Thank you for reading this far 😄