The very lovely Fiona McBride wrote about her PLN and challenged me to do the same, so here goes…

I’ve kept this quite generic and avoided niche areas of interest to me, so I’ve omitted strengths, strengths-based leadership, resilience, coaching, faith, and charity PLN stuff. I love learning so I consume a lot of content. I tend to treat this a bit like reading a newspaper or magazine where I’ll look at the headlines, ignore some things, skim-read some, save some for later, and digest some in detail. I love learning alongside other people (some of whom are like-minded, some not) and I really value the people in my PLN.

Videos:

• TED talks (although I think the overall quality isn’t what it used to be)
• RSA Videos, including RSA Animates (I’m a fellow of the RSA and I love what they do)
• The DO Lectures (often quirky, always inspiring and I really want to go)
• Authors at Google (with some really brilliant talks)

Podcasts:

• See this list I curated of my 20 favourite podcasts (which, arrogantly, includes mine!)

Blogs:

• Gemma Dale (@HR_Gem)
• Sukh Pabial (@sukhpabial)
• Steven Toft (@FlipchartRick)
• Michael Carty (@MJCarty)
• David Goddin (@ChangeContinuum)
• Neil Morrison (@NeilMorrison)
• Julie Drybrough (@fuchsia_blue)
• Jo Stephenson (@Jo_Coaches)
• Helen Tracey (@HRpotential)

Magazines/Journals:

• Harvard Business Review
• Fast Company
• People Management
• The HR Director
• Greater Manchester Business Week

Twitter:

• I’m busy, so I struggle to get onto Twitter in the daytime but I make use of a great app called Nuzzel which alerts me if a few of the people I follow are sharing something and it is great at surfacing things I might otherwise miss.
• I follow the same hashtags as Fiona and I’m a big fan of the Connecting HR tweetups (including Connecting HR Manchester) where twitter connections turn into real-life friends.
• I think Twitter is fabulous, not because of the app/technology but because of the great people/community.

People:

• I catch up with Jon Bartlett (@projectlibero) on the phone and chat openly and honestly about all sorts (including him challenging me about whether I’m working too hard, which I usually am)
• I meet Alastair Swindlehurst (@HRTinker) for a healthy (ahem) breakfast and chat about all sorts
• I wish I shared an office with David Goddin.
• Or Tim Scott HR.
• Paul Duxbury (@PaulDuxbury) is somebody who I have only spent a couple of hours with but inspires me both on Twitter and Linkedin.
• Lots of people (like Gary Cookson, Kandy Woodfield, David D’Souza, Niall Gavin, Peter Cheese, Helen Bevan, Paul Taylor, Phil Willcox, Inji Duducu, Phil Jones, Lawrence Jones, Michelle Parry-Slater, David Jackson, Andrew Jacobs, Perry Timms) help me think (and probably don’t realise it).
• I work with great people like Kev Wyke, Bev Holden, Kate Hargreaves, Rachel Dunscombe, and Sandy Lindsay and I’m all the better for it. I learn lots from the people I’m collaborating with and my clients.
• I’m chuffed to know people like Fiona McBride, Gemma Dale, Damiana Casile, Ryan Cheyne, Julie Drybrough, Fiona McBride, Simon Heath, Doug Shaw, Kez Smith, Vicki Jackson, Dawn Smedley, Phil Marsland, Ailsa Suttie, Laura Codling, Andy Lancaster, Mark Gilroy, Bina Briggs, Helen Amery, Rachel Burnham (in addition to loads of lovely people mentioned elsewhere in this blog post).
• I’m heading to Kampala (Uganda) in September 2016 to work alongside a group of stars: Alice Cowell, Amy Littlefair, Donna Hewiston, Helena Hounslow, Hils Willcox, Kate Griffiths-Lambeth, Katrina Collier, Lisa Leighton, and Sophie Tothill. They are all amazing (and this is what we’ll be doing).
• I’m a big fan of having Strategic Lattes to spend some quality time with a diverse set of people. My last few Strategic Lattes have been with Stuart Eglin, Sarah-Jane Lennie, Gemma Dale, Nicola Pike. All have been a fantastic use of time.
• I know I’ve missed loads of great people off the list and this is is now way a comprehensive overview of my PLN, it is simply a snapshot of what is front of mind for me this week.

I have a constant thirst for knowledge and I need other people to help me make sense of it and apply it. I’m delighted to have an amazing PLN that really helps me thrive.  So, that’s my PLN (or at least the bits of it that spring to mind). I’m going to nominate David Goddin to share his PLN, if he’s up for it.

Update: David Goddin was up for it, and here is a great blog post in which he reflects on his PLN and he passed the baton onto Huw Sayer who wrote about his PLN and a great blog post by David D’Souza.