Jessica Pryce-Jones

Blogger, Brainstormer, Change agent, Concerned citizen, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Foodie, Idea generator, Parent, Startup

I founded and am Chair of iOpener, an international consultancy that helps organisations achieve their strategic and commercial goals by maximising the performance, productivity and happiness of business-critical employees. The reason I am Chair is that I love being in a room with senior executives who have tough challenges, need external support and critical thinking. It’s not just the break-throughs that matter in this work; it’s also getting the nitty-gritty right. That can come from asking the stupid question which may be easier for an outsider. Or it can come from doing something unexpected and changing direction completely. And that means a clear process, great communication and deep trust all of which I strive to develop. My clients include multinationals in creative, education, health, manufacturing, publishing and engineering industries as well as the public and not-for-profit sectors. And my style is warm, energetic, fast-paced and supportive yet challenging when necessary. My background is in financial services hence my need for numbers. With two publications under my belt, ‘Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital For Success’ (2010) and ‘Meetings and Workshops for Dummies’ (2014), I have a fellowship from Keble College, Oxford to write my third, ‘Positive Leadership’. Finally, I am an advisor to The Art Room, a charity that helps troubled children before they are excluded from school, the RNLI and Hospice UK.

Maximizing happiness at work, coaching senior teams, mentoring young start-ups, helping young women, learning, witting my next book (Taking The Bull Out Of Leadershit) and finding an NED position!

We all have much more choice, control and power than we think and the dnergy of the collective is enormous. But as individuals we need to remember that difficult things make us feel good, easy things don't. So what difficult thing might you be going to do today, tomorrow and in 2011?

Happiness@work

The minute I heard about TED I wanted to join in. And I'm thrilled that this year I finally get to be here: I'm so looking forward to the TED experience and community. And I believe It's not my story but ours to create and enjoy.

Spottting spelling mistakes and making them too.