It was another reengineering, another restructuring, another ‘maximising the talent pool’, another cycle of redundancies, another programme of ‘forward vision and present values’. This one was the biggest for three years. 300 people would be leaving across all parts of the company : support functions, line managers, every level of the hierarchy.

It has been a little while since you may have heard from me in print as an arts career case study in Building A Portfolio Career and I am delighted to have this opportunity to give you an update on how being a portfolio professional prevails as my modus operandi.

Remember that old game of beetle, when you roll the dice to see which body piece you can add? If I recall correctly, the head needed two antennae, (including ears!) and a mouth. Funny how, in our lives of communication, we reverse the proportions! Some years ago, I was playing a different high-stakes game in a business takeover……

The diary said it was always going to be a busy day with a tight schedule….. like many portfolio days! But this was a special Portfolio day. I was going to meet the far-sighted man who first defined ‘portfolio life’; the man whose books had helped me to take that career leap, and now inspired me to write a ‘how to’ book for fellow portfolio travellers.