Dr Rob and the (ex) popstar/celebrity - part 3

I'm in the middle of filming Pete's PA, this series with Pete Burns, ex-Dead or Alive lead singer. And I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Pete Burns is actually such a lovely guy. He comes across on television as such a mean, critical, bitchy person. But that's only his on-screen persona. In real life, he can be smutty and picky. But he can be genuine, friendly, and vulnerable too - oh, and great fun too.

I won't say too much, because that would feel like a betrayal of how honest and unguarded he has been with him. But it was quite unexpected to discover that the real Pete is nothing like the on-screen Pete. But to me it does illustrate that you should never believe what you see on television. Even reality television is not always a true reflection of reality! Bear that in mind the next time you watch a reality show!

Dr Rob and the (ex) popstar/celebrity - part 2

The 10 contestants for the job of Pete's PA moved into a house together in north London yesterday.

The contestants were terrrrribly excited and there was lots of squealing as the girls all picked the bedrooms they wanted. It was interesting to watch as some of the smarter girls are already picking their 'best friends' - i.e. other contestants that they think are strong competition and so they want to keep them close. You know what they say: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!

It's too early for me to have any favourites yet. But there are immediately already a few who are trying to hard and starting to get on my nerves!

Dr Rob and the (ex) pop star/celebrity

Well, I'm going to be back on television. After doing Jade's PA last year, I've been invited back by Living TV to do a new series: Pete's PA.

The 'Pete' in question is Pete Burns, ex-frontman for 80s pop band Dead or Alive, and now fully-fledged celebrity. The media love to loathe him, but I think he's a bit of a sweetie.

I was a bit apprehensive about doing the series because Pete has a bit of a reputation for being foul-mouthed and unpleasant. But you never can trust what you read in the papers, so I thought I'd at least go meet him.

To cut a long story short, he's actually quite likeable. (Sorry if I'm shattering any media-created delusions about him). So I've signed up for a few months of PA madness. Basically, he currently uses his live-in partner as a PA. But they're getting married soon so Pete wants a proper PA to take over the duties.

Anyway, I'm filming the new series over the summer, so will report back occasionally...

The show must go on

I had an email from a contact who said that the TV programme I was a panel member on (Jade's PA) may get resurrected in the coming year - although with a new celebrity. Of course it would have to be a celebrity who is known to UK audiences, but any seriously A List celebrities aren't going to want to get involved with a programme for a relatively minor cable channel like Living TV here in the UK. Unfortunately, the producers are looking to run the show somewhere more glamorous like Los Angeles. And so I probably won't get to get involved!

And while I'm on the topic of poor Jade, she seems to be having a terrible time of things at the moment. Apparently, as a result of some of her actions and what she's been saying in the current series of Celebrity Big Brother, she has been dropped as a spokesperson for the anti-bullying charity she used to represent! Poor girl.

I don't think she is an intentional bully. When I worked with her, the impression I got was that she's just a headstrong girl who speaks her mind. She doesn't intend to cause distress (but can, and does). And I guess that one of the problems with bullying is that many (or perhaps even most) bullies do not bully intentionally - they simply lack self-awareness about how hurtful their comments and actions can be. Perhaps there's a small lesson there for dear Jade?

Size matters: The ballad of Tom and Katie

As the world of celebrity gossip is buzzing with news of the marriage of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, I thought I'd take my own spin on the whole affair.

Tom Cruise is 5 feet 7 inches tall. Katie Holmes is reported as being somewhere between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 9. Amazing then, isn't it, that Tom looks a good few inches taller than Katie in their wedding photo isn't it?

Now, I'm not the first person to have commented on it. But from a psychological perspective, there's good evidence that taller people generally do better in work and their private lives. So taller people tend to earn more than their shorter counterparts. Taller men also tend to get more dates than shorter men.

From the point of Darwinian psychology, women look for taller mates (it's a sign of stronger genes and therefore healthier babies). Other men tend to give way to taller men too (like the strong lion in a pride).

So what does that have to do with the world of work? There's not a lot anyone can do about their height, is there?

Well, yes actually. And I apologise if you are a woman reader, as the research points to the importance of height in men rather than women. If, as a man, you are very much shorter than normal, you could always consider putting lifts in your shoes. Anecdotally at least, men who put lifts in their shoes see their confidence spiral upwards.

Perhaps more practically though, it points to the importance of posture. If you look around your workplace, you'll probably notice that some of your colleagues have great posture while others have terrible posture. Bad posture can cost you more than 2 inches in height. Literally, stooping over could subconsciously affect your colleagues and boss and cost you to get overlooked for a promotion or pay rise!

So stand up tall. Think of a piece of string lifting your head up toward the ceiling at all times.

Or. You could always get lifts!

Being recognised

One of the side effects of being on television at the moment (albeit on a minor satellite channel) is that I'm getting recognised and approached a fair amount by people who have seen me on their televisions. I don't seek it out (after all, fame doesn't get you anything unless you're mega famous) but it comes to me nonetheless.

Quite a lot of the time, people recognise me but don't know my name. Or they recognise the face but don't even know where they know me from. So I've had random strangers ask me if I'm from Bristol and drink in the same bar as they do (the answer was no, of course)!

And people are much more likely to approach me in the evening. Perhaps it's the effect of having had a few drinks - alcohol releasing them from any inhibitions they might have had. But I get random strangers chatting to me a lot more on a Friday and Saturday evening than in the rest of the week put together!

Another observation is that London people are far too used to seeing proper celebrities and stars to get bothered about someone like me (as an aside, I've seen people including comedian Ricky Gervais and major actors such as Ralph Fiennes and Sir Ian McKellan in London). So a supermarket girl in London didn't even blink an eyelid after recognising me and asking if I was on the telly. Whereas a perfume spraying girl in a department store in Birmingham asked me if I was from the telly and got all excited and started leaping around when I said yes. But I guess they have fewer genuine celebrities in Birmingham so get more excited even when Z-listers such as myself crop up!

Dr Rob on TV

The press onslaught continues and - thankfully - the reviews of preview copies of the first episode of the TV show I've been involved in have been pretty positive so far.

I'm sure that some of the critics will be sharpening their knives once the first episode has been broadcast. But I'm familiar with how they work. Their job is to be incisive and critical. If they love everything, no one will want to read their columns. So it's their job to hate some stuff. And programmes such as ours that are mainstream and popular (as opposed to being arty, high-brow or ) are bound to raise the hackles of critics.

I think the press photo is pretty funny. There's Jade posing in the middle - the consummate media professional. There's me on the left, laughing at Jade. And Hollywood PA Heather Howard is too caught up in taking notes in preparation for interviewing the first candidates to even notice that the press photographer is in the room!

Oh, and if you have difficulty making out the small print of the pages from TV guides that I've uploaded, then hover your cursor over them and click them. It should enlarge them.

And don't forget - 10pm, Monday 9th October - that's just a handful of days' time!!

Anyway, if anyone out there does get to watch the programme, leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Good and bad comments welcome!

The business psychologist and the Big Brother celebrity (a rejoinder)

Okay, so I thought I wouldn't be writing any more about Jade's PA, the TV programme I've been helping to present. But I couldn't resist.

Like a little boy with a new toy, I just got all excited and couldn't help myself!

The press onslaught launching the programme has started - and here's one of the print posters for it. The idea is that the prospective candidates who want to work for Jade are so desperate to work for her that they're willing to blow each other up, shoot each other, maim and generally stab each other in the back to get what they want.

The programme starts next Monday 9th October at 10pm on Living TV. Plug, plug, plug!

The business psychologist and the Big Brother celebrity (part the last)

Well, my involvement in filming the TV show has now finished.

We held the big finale at a nightclub in Leicester Square just a couple of nights ago. It was a glitzy affair with the two remaining candidates for the job as Jade's PA having to organise two separate charity parties to raise money for Scope and the NSPCC.

Both parties were fantastic and both raised thousands for charity. We, the judges, were duly impressed.

But there could only be one winner. And we had a really difficult decision to make. In fact Jade had become so attached to the two candidates that she found it incredibly emotional. We had to break it down into the skills and character traits that Jade was looking for and see which of the two candidates excelled at each skill or trait. I can tell you that we had a very heated argument and a few tears when it came to making a decision.

But, eventually, we came to a decision. When Jade announced the winner, we were of course happy that she had found her perfect assistant. But we were also a bit dejected that we had to crush the dreams of someone who we had also thought was almost perfect.

Anyway, apparently the trailer promos for the programme have started running on Living TV - so look out for them. Again, a reminder: the programme (Jade's PA) starts on Monday 9th October at 10pm!

The business psychologist and the Big Brother celebrity (part 5)

Filming continues for the Living TV programme that I'm involved in. And last night we went off to the theatre to see a production of The Vegemite Tales.

We're down to the final three candidates vying for the role as Jade Goody's PA. Each was set a different challenge. And one of them was tasked with getting Jade onto the West End stage.

Of course Jade has no theatrical experience, so it required more than a bit of blagging influence and persuasion on the part of the candidate to persuade the show's producers to let Jade onto their stage (even if it was to perform for just 30 seconds).

But eventually Jade made her acting debut on the West End stage last night - and I have to admit that she wasn't half bad!

The business psychologist and the Big Brother celebrity (part 4)

Yes, the work is still continuing on the TV show I've been filming for Living TV.

In fact I'm just waiting for a car to pick me up to drive me up to the house where the remaining candidates are staying. We started with ten, and over the course of weeks, we have whittled them down to three. I can't say too much about the challenges we have used to weed the weak from the strong, but they are spectacular and difficult!

Just a couple of days ago, I attended the press launch for Living TV's autumn/winter 2006-7 schedule. The head of the channel, Claudia Rosencrantz presented the line up of programmes including for our TV programme, so we got to see a few clips of the first episode for the first time. Again, I can't reveal too much - but it does look funny. So set your video or Sky+ box for Living TV on 9th October at 10pm!

The business psychologist and the Big Brother celebrity (part 3)

Well, the work continues on the television show that I'm filming. If you haven't guessed, that's me in the photo on the left. Jade Goody in the middle. And Hollywood PA Heather H. Howard on the right.

The task at hand is for us to find a personal assistant for Jade. So a couple of weeks ago, the three of us sat through an interminable number of panel interviews. Literally hundreds and hundreds of candidates passed our way. Many of them were instantly forgettable. Some were just obviously trying their luck to get on television for their 15 seconds of fame.

But from the hundreds of candidates, we've chosen 10 candidates - one of whom will eventually get the coveted job as personal assistant to Jade. The 10 candidates have moved into a secret location in North London to live together for 3 weeks. And over the three weeks, Jade, Heather and I will be setting them a number of challenges to sort the strong from the weak. We want to find someone who has great organisation skills, who is proactive and anticipates needs. We want a personal assistant who has the interpersonal skills to negotiate with tough people ranging from pesky paparazzi to other stars in the showbiz firmament. We want someone who can work with Jade - who admits herself that she can be temperamental and difficult with people when she's in the wrong mood.

It's a tough call, but we'll find the right person.

In fact, we set the first challenge yesterday. And already one person has been eliminated...

Oh, one of the big bosses from Living TV was there yesterday with us on the set. And apparently the show is going to air on their channel on 9th or 10th October. So set your video recorders!

The business psychologist and the Big Brother celebrity

Well I had dinner with ex-Big Brother celebrity star Jade Goody the other night. The production company threw a dinner for the team to get to know each other. Jade's actually really lovely. OK, she doesn't have much knowledge of what's going on in the wider world (so some people are going to call her stupid and thick). But she is sooo talkative and full of energy and funny and endearing! Oh, that photo's a bit blurry because I took it with the camera on my phone.

Anyway, the idea of this new TV programme to find a PA for Jade is that we're going to interview several hundred candidates today and tomorrow. I'm part of a three-person panel, and the third member of the panel is ex-Hollywood PA and author, Heather H. Howard. Heather has worked for big names ranging from Steven Spielberg and Jeff Goldblum to Tom Cruise! She had some fantastic stories to tell over dinner the other night - from the time she had to buy sex aids for one of her bosses to having to arrange an exorcism for another! Anyway, she's a great addition to our interview panel as she's had lots of experience of working as a top PA to celebrities.

We will find the right PA for Jade!

What can Paris Hilton and Jade Goody teach us about work!?

Would you believe that heiress Paris Hilton is launching her debut single in July? And surely you would have thought someone was joking when reality TV star Jade Goody launched her own fragrance onto the market?

But these are no jokes; no one is laughing - except perhaps Paris and Jade, all the way to the bank.

Even though you'd be hard pressed to say that they are good role models for anyone, they do at least illustrate an important point about how to achieve success at work: Being visible and having a Profile counts.

In the world of work, we all know people who are incredibly good at their jobs - but who haven't been promoted. Perhaps it's because they don't play the political game or because they would rather let their achievements speak for themselves rather than talking them up. And we all know people who aren't that good at their jobs, but they're good at talking about themselves, saying the right things, being visible - and unfortunately it seems to be this latter crowd that often gets the promotions, the sexy projects, the kudos and glory.

Arguably, you could say that Paris Hilton has no real talents other than the fact that she turns up to the opening of an envelope and is never knowingly over-dressed. And Jade Goody has no talents as a singer or dancer or actor or comic - she's known simply for being a self-publicist. But simply having a Profile has done both of these celebrities a world of good.

The same goes for the world of work too. It doesn't matter how good you are unless people know it. Being seen to be good at your job and having your contributions recognised by the right people - that's the important lesson in getting ahead. It's not fair; it's not right. But, hey, that's the way the organisational cookie crumbles.