Dancing With Wisdom

In our fourth conversation with Ken Wright, former Chief Operating Officer of Royal Mail, we explore what happens when a high-powered career ends—and why what comes next might matter more.In previous episodes, Ken shared his spiritual journey from Liverpool, the leadership principles that shaped his rise to one of the UK's most senior roles, and how he navigated one of the nation's most testing crises. Now, in this episode, he opens up about the decision to leave Royal Mail in 2001 and the unexpected paths God had waiting.Ken takes us into a season of reinvention: stepping back from the intensity of corporate life to pursue consulting work part-time, and being "grabbed with both hands" to serve on the leadership team of British Youth for Christ—a calling rooted in something he'd seen back in 1972 in the Upper Room, when teenagers encountered Jesus and were transformed. He also shares how a chance encounter with a fellow Everton supporter—a young theologian named Paul Blackham—led to the founding of Biblical Frameworks, a charity now documenting all 66 books of the Bible through accessible video study guides.But woven throughout is something deeper: a meditation on legacy, stewardship, and what it means to finish well. Ken reflects on "geriatric hedonism"—the cultural pull toward retirement as permanent holiday—and argues for something far more radical: that every season of life, right to the end, is an invitation to learn, serve, and grow. He talks about failure and how shame at eleven years old became fuel for a lifetime. He names his mentors and why truth-telling friendship matters more in your mid-70s than it did at thirty. And he offers a vision of adopted grandchildren, open homes, and the mysterious continuity between this life and the next.For anyone wondering what comes after achievement, or how to stay alive in your own life as you age, this conversation is an invitation to something most of culture doesn't dare to imagine.#legacy #faith #endingwell

In our third conversation with Ken Wright, former Chief Operating Officer of Royal Mail, we turn to something none of us can avoid: conflict.In previous episodes, Ken shared how God took him from a teenage conversion and the "upper room" of 1972 to one of the most senior leadership roles in the UK. In this episode, he takes us inside the 1996 national postal strike — a dispute that stopped the nation's post but not the mail piling up behind it, with businesses, hospital letters, and cheques caught in the backlog, and the media, politicians, unions, staff and board all watching. Ken describes it as being in a bunker in a war zone: 24/7, with communication as the only real weapon.But this conversation reaches far beyond Royal Mail. Ken argues that conflict itself is not the problem — the failure to resolve it is. He explains why so many Christians bury their heads in the sand, why big churches quietly avoid each other while small churches lose people out the back door, and why Jesus in Matthew 5 leaves no room for a trail of unresolved conflict.Along the way, Ken unpacks the ACAS arbitration that changed his view of mediation, the 24 hours he spent briefing 500 staff face to face rather than letting a message filter down, the discipline case where he dismissed a young man and then helped him find his next job, and the danger of dressing up a personality clash as a theological issue.Underneath it all is grace and truth — in that order. As Ken puts it, we usually get it backwards: a soft mind and a hard heart, when what we need is a hard mind and a soft heart. And the reason he keeps returning to grace is simple — he knows how much he himself has been forgiven.Whether you're leading an organisation, serving in a church, or navigating a fracture in your own family, this conversation offers hard-won wisdom on facing conflict rather than fleeing it. Blessed are the peacemakers.#RoyalMail#Prayer

In our second conversation with Ken Wright, former Chief Operating Officer of Royal Mail, we explore the timeless leadership principles that shaped both his remarkable career and his walk with Christ. In our first conversation, Ken shared how God led him from a teenage conversion to one of the most senior leadership roles in the UK, with responsiblity for 130,000 employees and a £5 billion budget. In this episode, Ken reflects on the lessons he learned along the way—from leading through change and crisis to developing people, making difficult decisions, and discovering why "the greatest leaders are servants first".Drawing on memorable stories from his years at Royal Mail, Ken explains why "people support what they help create," why leaders must communicate the "why" behind every decision, and why "facts are your friends—but intuition still has its place". He also shares memorable stories about an executive parking space that became an award for the "Employee of the Month", the postcard that kept hostage Terry Waite alive, and the difficult decision to dismiss an employee while still offering him hope for a better future.Inspired by the words of Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr., this conversation challenges the world's view of leadership. As Ken reminds us, "Everybody can be great because anybody can serve."Whether you lead a business, a church, a charity, a team, or simply want to have a greater influence on those around you, this conversation is full of practical wisdom, profound insights, and leadership lessons forged over a lifetime.

In this episode I sit down with Ken Wright for a warm, story-filled conversation about faith, leadership, and a career that took him from a working-class upbringing in Liverpool to the boardroom of Royal Mail.Ken shares how his mother's unexpected conversion at a Billy Graham event in 1966 planted a seed he initially dismissed—until a strange encounter with a spoof book on UFOs set him on a personal mission to disprove Christianity altogether. What followed was months of investigating the resurrection for himself, and a decision, as a university student, to give his life to Christ.Together, we explore how that decision led Ken into "the Upper Room"—a Liverpool youth revival that began as a two-week outreach and became a decade-long movement, drawing hundreds of teenagers, many from broken and abused backgrounds, into a transformed faith. We also trace his remarkable career: turning down promotions, swapping jobs against his boss's warnings, and rising—without ever applying—to become Chief Operating Officer of Royal Mail, all while keeping church and family as his first priority.In this episode, we discuss:•⁠ ⁠How a skeptical teenager's private mission to disprove Christianity led him to faith•⁠ ⁠The story of "the Upper Room" and a revival among Liverpool's most overlooked young people•⁠ ⁠Leading without hierarchy—and why servanthood, not status, defines real leadership•⁠ ⁠Choosing family and church over career advancement, even when it made no sense•⁠ ⁠Steering Royal Mail through a national strike and a record-breaking 25-hour negotiation•⁠ ⁠What it looks like to seek first the Kingdom of God in ordinary working lifeWe also reflect on the Upper Room's 40-year reunion—some who'd walked away from faith, others who became vicars and missionaries—and why the seeds planted decades ago are still bearing fruit today.Let me know your thoughts in the comments—where in your own life can you see God quietly preparing you for what's next?#DancingWithWisdom #KenWright #RoyalMail #ChristianLeadership #Faith #ServantLeadership #Revival

In this final conversation I sit down with Terry Virgo for a deeply honest and hope-filled discussion about revival, faith, and the future of the Church.After nearly 70 years of following Jesus, Terry shares wisdom from a lifetime of prayer, leadership, and longing to see God move in extraordinary ways. Together, we explore what it means to live with spiritual hunger, stand firm in truth, and remain expectant—even in a rapidly changing world.In this episode, we discuss:• What true revival really is (and isn’t)• Why prayer is more than a “shopping list”• The role of faith, hunger, and persistence• Encouragement for young leaders navigating today’s challenges• Staying grounded in biblical truth amid cultural pressure• Living with hope—both for revival and the return of JesusWe also reflect on signs of God moving around the world today, and why now may be a time to lean in—not pull back.This conversation is a call to pray boldly, believe deeply, and expect more from God.Let me know your thoughts in the comments—how can we live with greater expectation of what God will do in our lives and our increasingly unstable world?#DancingWithWisdom #TerryVirgo #Revival #Faith #Prayer #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualHunger