Last month at The CIPD North Staffs and South Cheshire AGM I was proud to receive the GEM award in June for my contribution to the Branch and with this in mind I wanted to share my thoughts on how I combine being a Branch volunteer with my work life.

So how did I get started? Well in what my grandma would refer to as a moment of not being backwards in coming forwards I approached Heather (our Branch Chair) about delivering an event on Inclusive Leadership and she agreed and one year later I am still here!

One reason has been about finding my tribe – getting to know my fellow Committee members has been a real joy and I am so grateful to be part of such a friendly and informed bunch. There is a genuine sense of wanting to do the right thing for our Branch members and I hope you all feel this when you come to our events.

My role very specifically involves pulling together the newsletter, capturing feedback on our events and posting on our Linked In page amongst anything else I manage to get myself involved in. With this in mind here are some top tips and reflections on what I have learned in my time as a volunteer:

·       Really think about what you want to do – I am a big believer in doing things that bring you joy and there are a multitude of roles you could get involved in. Choose carefully and use it as opportunity to share or enhance your skills. The sharing is particularly important – in the future I am going to be working on the newsletter with Hannah and that is a chance to pass on my skills and knowledge.

·       Play to your strengths – I work in L&D so naturally I have a skill in organising events and collating feedback. In addition, I also have worked in communications in the past so the newsletter sits naturally with that skills set. In addition,

·       both of these are activities I am passionate about which helps when thinking about how we can innovate what we do.

·       Be Realistic – This is about what you can do and what you can’t do. It’s easy to get swallowed up in everything that is going on. Really think about where you can add value and sometimes you won’t be able to attend or support every event – remember it’s okay to say so! In my day job I would be talking about non negotiables – figure out what these are and stick to them!

·       It’s Not a Solo Activity – As I have stressed above the Committee is a team and my role in the newsletter is to collate and curate rather than write the whole thing. Have a look at this newsletter and you will see it is made up of contributions all across the team. The key is to be organised and involve people in what you are doing.

·       Move On – There are two aspects to this for me. One is the need to continually innovate – anyone who knows me will know I am all about statistics and an evidence-based approach. Reflect and review and think about what’s working and what’s not and do more of the former. And the second is if it doesn’t work it’s okay – do something else. There is no shame in having tried!

·       Listen – to everything and everyone. What’s been done before, what are people talking about, what are the hot topics, what are the skills that everyone else in the Branch has? This is about being responsive to our Branch members and also helps you identify where you can add real value.

Hope that gives you a flavour – I can’t recommend it enough!

And of course, if you would like to volunteer at our Branch please don’t hesitate to get in touch via our socials below:
Linked In The CIPD Branch in North Staffs & South Cheshire: Overview | LinkedIn

Three weeks ago, I was happily doing some e-learning and then I stood up and rolled my ankle – next thing I am off to the local walk-in centre and a few hours later I had acquired a boot on my left foot, a walking frame with the ultimate outcome of a broken ankle.  For clarity I am not wanting to make a link between e-learning and broken bones – that might start a whole new debate in the learning space!

What this has meant is that I am now in a period of enforced rest and recuperation which on reflection has been a force for good and has led to lots of reading. One of the most interesting is Adjacent Learning. by @David Hayden and @Steve George which focuses on learning which takes place outside the workplace and how it can be applied in that context.

I think it is fair to say there has been a lot of learning in the last three weeks and here are a few highlights to share:

• How easily things become the new norm – I love baths, walking and going out and all three of these are pretty much off the table now. What has surprised me is the new normal of having to wash in a bowl, injecting myself once a day have become just the way things are and automatic reactions. I spend a lot of my working life talking about creating new habits and these for now are my new habits. With this in mind I am wondering how many habits I have stuck with rather than changing and reflecting as I have been going along.
• Persistence helps with acquiring skills – My newfound skills are mainly being able to hop on one leg and let me be clear I am not intending to be doing that on a regular basis although it could make for some interesting training sessions. However, I have got better at it – using what has been called ‘Usain the Frame’ mainly through trial and error and a determination to at least get to the kitchen. I like to think what I have lost in speed I at least make up for it in technique! If you know me well then you will be aware that my relationship to Excel spreadsheets is dysfunctional to say the least – so I am going to work on being persistent with learning how to use them more effectively.
• I am not always as clear as I thought I was – Given that a large proportion of my life is spent talking to people, explaining things I thought I was a shoo in when having to explain the mysteries of our dryer to my mum! However, what became clear in the conversation was how much I assumed and there is a clear lesson here for me when I get back to facilitation and learning delivery about checking the knowledge in the room.
• Proper rest is good for you – Okay so I fess up that I have always known this – the difference is that I haven’t been very good at practicing it. What I have noticed is how much clearer my intentions are now about what I am going to do in the future and who I am going to do it with. I often refer to the Marie Kondo and her idea of Sparking Joy and in the past few weeks I have started an inventory of what truly brings me joy from a work perspective with a few surprises – some things I thought I was truly interested in don’t seem that important anymore.
• The importance of kindness – Again this is one of those things that I have always thought was important but in the last few weeks it has truly come home to me. I have had many long chats with visitors who have brought cream teas, flowers, cake and best of all themselves to my door where we have chatted and laughed at my kitchen table – thank you! The meaningful gestures are what is important, and I will be doing more of that going forward.
• Having things to look forward to is crucial – There is still another three weeks to go followed by some rehab – however I have plans – there is still the 99 documentary to watch, some more reading, writing some training and I am planning lots of exciting things for when I am up and about again! Although I will be missing a trip to see Anton and Giovanni with my mum – I have booked her a surprise trip to see Anton in the new year instead, which I know she will love!

So, these are my starters for ten and some of these are pretty significant particularly the one about what I do and who I do it with – I can’t wait to see where the next 12 months takes me and who I get to meet on my journey there… In the meantime, here’s to much more adjacent learning!

When I think about women’s health, I think about all the thought processes which sit around this – how much it hurts, how embarrassing it is etc. So, with this in mind I thought I would share my experience of having my first mammogram.

But first a confession – I am notoriously bad at looking after myself – hospitals aren’t really my thing. The thought of stripping off in front of a complete stranger fills me with horror and probably the stranger too to be honest! It’s probably worth noting as well I didn’t tell anyone at work where I was going apart from my manager so to write this blog at all is way out of comfort zone!

However, this year at Strategi we are raising money for our charity Big Girl Pants as our lives have been touched by breast cancer and it seemed to be the best way to honour their experience was to get myself checked out.

So off I went to the glamour of the local Morrison’s car park where there is a mobile unit for Breast Screening. The first thing I want to say is how lovely and chatty everyone was – for me it was so helpful that there was a matter of factness about the whole thing i.e., “Pop in the cubicle and just take your top and bra off and we will be with you in a minute.” And if was a minute – the speed of the whole thing (I was in and out in less than 15 minutes) leaves you less time for worrying as by the time you have started it is all done.

When it came to the screening itself – the whole process was explained step by step and it didn’t feel that weird standing there with my top off and having my top half manipulated by a strange woman. Interestingly enough we chatted about one of my favourite topics Strictly – it’s surprising how distracting Krishnan Guru Murthy’s performances can be! I had two images taken on each breast. One is pretty straightforward – there is a bit of squeeze which felt like having your blood pressure taken and you have to hold your breath. The second involved sticking my bum out and standing at a weird angle – I’m glad that there isn’t a whole-body photograph of that! Again, there was a squeeze and a hold of breath and that was it – it was all done!

I appreciate that every women’s experience is different, and this is just mine. If this blog inspires you to do nothing else than please attend your appointment – it’s fifteen minutes and could save your life. And if you able please donate to Big Girls Pants it would make a difference to so many women’s experiences.

Thank you!

Recently I have been reflecting on my journey to where I am now, how I got here and where I am going next. I think it is very in line with a Squiggly Career!

However, it hasn’t always been a straight forward journey and it feels like it has
taken a long time for me to find my place in the world and truly understand what’s
important to me. This is not necessarily a bad thing as Andy Lancaster once beautifully put
it in a session I attended ‘Fracture lines might be the most precious part of
who we are’.

Anyone who knows me will be aware that I have had many jobs and worked in many
companies through a combination of running my own business and completing a
number of interim contracts – that has been incredibly valuable as it has exposed me
to a wide breadth of industries and opportunities. Who knew that I would become a
Share Point expert and design and develop an staff engagement survey? Saying yes
to everything (although that has not necessarily left me in a good place personally –
more about this below) has enabled me to learn and grow as I have gone along.

So what have some of the challenges I have faced?

Well a lot of them are to do with me personally and my approach to work…

Willingness to get involved – which is always a good thing however it can
leave me feeling stretched a bit thin. Driven by a ‘Constantly Curious’ gene I
am always interested in what is going on around me even if it is not in my
professional space. Learning to say no means I can do my best work and
excel at what I do – which is also incredibly important to me.

Being a perfectionist – Thomas Curran has an incredibly useful Ted Talk on
this which I do tend to revisit periodically. Doing my best work to me means
producing L&D that wows and impacts practically on people and often I will
work long and hard in order to make sure it does so. The lesson here is not to
overthink it and trust my judgement more – I have been in the L&D game long
enough to know what will work and have plenty of tips and tricks up my sleeve
so why not use them? It is not always about reinventing the wheel.

Imposter Syndrome – If you have been following my Linked In profile you’ll
know I have been recording podcasts, speaking at events – both of which are
long held ambitions. What took me so long? Well – I always thought that the
people who did these things were of a different breed – articulate, well read
and commanding the respect of the room at ease. It turns out that they are
just like me – passionate about the topic and happy to share and debate. I
don’t know everything about the topics I speak on and I definitely pick those I
do have a clear perspective on i.e. leadership, mental health, Evidence Based
Learning and Inclusion. Doing the latter gives me the confidence to go and do
these things.

Being a nice person – Here is another one of those things which sounds great
so let me explain myself. I haven’t always pushed myself forward enough – I think certainly earlier in my career I thought that good things would happen if I
just worked hard. However, recently (and I mean very recently!) I have
discovered that it’s good to ask and if people say no be okay with it. I have
appeared on podcasts and this came about with me saying in a
conversation ‘You should have me on your podcast’. As we say in the North
this is being ‘Not backwards in coming forwards!’ This is a work in progress
and I am getting better at this as an approach and will do with more practice!

It’s okay that everyone doesn’t get on with me – If I had a choice I live in a
world where everyone got on and was as enthusiastic about L&D as I am. So
that’s all good because that is how it is right? Ah – not so much. I am
passionate about what I do and use to take it personally when people were
not as enthusiastic. In addition I think I can be quite divisive as I have very
firm views about L&D and how it can be delivered – this is one of my most
strongly held beliefs and one I hold onto more than any other in the
workplace. The place I am coming to is that – that’s okay and I won’t fit
everywhere and people won’t always want to go on that journey with me. As I
once heard a Senior Leader in a business say ‘It’s not personal – it’s
business.”

Being a little bit weird and wonderful – This is something I pride myself on –
being a little bit different from the norm, addicted to crisps with a range of
conversational topics from Man Utd, F1, Strictly to Dancing on Ice. I’m not a
good socializer – often found hiding under the table or not being anywhere
near the table in the first place! In the past I would have made various
excuses now I am just more upfront about it and guess what it turns out that
people are okay with it! It is a much more honest approach.

It is worth saying that’s it not always about me (I’m an only child so that concept is a
bit alien to me but let’s go with it!) Finding your fit and your tribe is so important –
who are the people who truly add value to your life and ask what organisation can do
that for you too? So here’s some of my additional life lessons to finish up

Don’t be afraid to walk away if it’s not working – this is for organisations,
relationships, friendships. Sometimes it will never work, sometimes you can
compromise – however if it’s not true to who you are that is going to take up a
lot of emotional energy which you could be deploying on something you are
passionate about.

Work out what’s important to you – I think this takes time and some
experience. For my it is variety, a great relationship with my clients, freedom to
do my best work and the topics mentioned about

Ask Great Questions – and lots of them! Never be afraid to say you don’t
know or need clarification. It makes life much more clearer and easier to
navigate. There are no prizes for guessing…

Find Your Safe Spaces – earlier on I talked about ditching what’s not
important to you well here keep safe those who are important. The people
who you can bounce anything off, tell anything too, who will give you sound advice and sense check you. These people (thank you Grace and Jess) keep me sane and help me work out my path through life.

Be Curious – Why not? If you are not enthusiastic no one else will be! Over
the past few years I have pursued topics like happiness because I was
curious and this has added to my knowledge and as an additional
bonus has added to my bank of knowledge.

As a caveat I do want to add that this is my life and yours will be very different. It is
important to find your own way in all this. So let’s finish on one of my favourite
quotes ‘Be yourself – everyone else is taken’ (Oscar Wilde – that 3 years at
University studying English Literature never leaves you!) Be fabulous and be you!

My interest in women’s history started after reading ‘The Weaker Vessel’ by Antonia Fraser – in her introduction she talks about asking a historian why no one writes about women in the 1600s with the answer being ‘There weren’t any!’

This started me on a path of discovery which eventually led me much closer to home to Manchester, in particular Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Christabel and Sylvia who set up the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) with the motto “Deeds Not Words.” This group ‘The Daily Mail’ christened ‘The Suffragettes’.

So what is it about this group that has inspired me so much?

• “Deeds Not Words” – in itself is inspirational. To me it speaks to the very core of who I am and the way I approach my work. I am all about letting my work speak for me and quite often in meetings I can be quiet whilst I reflect and think. In addition, for me it is important that the deeds are meaningful and make a difference – one of my favourite sayings is ‘Do stuff that matters’.
• Expect the Unexpected – One of the reasons the Suffragettes campaign was so impactful was that their methods were unexpected particularly at a time when women were closely associated with the ‘home and hearth’ Whilst I think everyone will be relieved to hear I am not breaking windows, heckling and chaining myself to railings I do like to think about the art of the possible. The key question for me is always what could we do to make it the best it can be. And that leads directly to my next point…
• Courage Calls to Courage Everywhere – This is from Millicent Fawcett who founded the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies in 1987 (pre the WSPU). To do things differently – we have to be courageous and have a strong belief in ourselves to take that critical first step. Whether that be suggesting a new initiative or trying something different I’m always happy to give it a go.
• A Movement Started in The Home – The Suffragette movement was started around a dining table which you can still see at The Pankhurst Centre in Manchester today. In the pandamic and beyond many of us have been doing extraordinary things from home including my fab colleagues at Strategi Solutions. Sometimes all we need is a spark of an idea to get started and some of my best come when making tea or washing up.
• Having Clear Objectives – There was one clear objective for the Suffragettes and that was for women to have the vote. Anyone who has worked with me will know that if I have something to do I always have lots of questions which help me to establish where activities sit within my objectives so I have clarity about what I need to achieve and by when. 
• Thinking Longer Term – Emmeline Pankhurst died shortly before women were given full voting rights however she was still campaigning to become an MP in the weeks beforehand. Sometimes it is not about us –  it is about what comes after us. A lot of my roles have been fixed term and in those I have focused on developing Leadership programmes designed to  run and exist without me. I am always sad to see them go  but proud that they continue to support leaders to be the best that they can be. 

Some of you know I am emotionally connected to Manchester and often I will go and visit Emmeline’s statue in St Peter’s Square and I am not the only one. It is important we remember the work of all the women who have come before us to enable us to be the women we are today. Let’s do ‘Deeds Not Words’

This is a slightly different post to the ones I normally do and is more of a share of some thoughts based on my experience of activities to undertake in the first 100 days of a new role.

Outside of my day job I help people prepare for interviews and this has come out of that work in the last couple of years. Although it is based on a L&D role I think it will chime with all kinds of roles – so I hope you find it useful…

Essentially when you start a new job there are five things which you want to do which are

1. Get to know your stakeholders
2. Get to know the organisation
3. Understand what they have in place already (even if the role is new it is likely that there will be pockets of practice around)
4. Look for opportunities to get involved and add value
5. Formulate a plan of what you are going to do in priority order based on your discussions with stakeholders.

Essentially what you are trying to do is a huge data gathering exercise to inform your plans. I suspect that what they might be looking for is someone who is focused on supporting the business to achieve their goals as this is very much the school of thought for L&D at the moment. 

Build a structured word document which captures all your notes together along the lines of

• Challenges
• Current L&D Practice
• Expectations
• Potential Opportunities

This will make it easier to build your action plan at the end of the process. 

Getting to Know your Stakeholders

The purpose of this is to build some relationships in the business and also to understand some of their challenges and their expectations from you. 

I would also suggest that the first key meetings you have are with your boss and senior leadership as these will give you a good steer for your other meetings.

Some key questions that you would ask along the lines of

• Tell me about yourself and your role in the organisation
• What are some of the challenges you face?
• Describe for me some of the L&D activity in the business – what happens at the moment? What would you like to see less or more of?
• What do you think the role I am here to do is about? (This also gives you a chance from the off to clear up any misunderstandings)
• How best can I add value to what you do?

Getting to Know the Organisation

I think this can be done at the same time as getting to know your stakeholders as in some cases these are meetings which could be combined i.e. heads of the different departments. 

There are a few things that I think you will need to understand here including

• The strategy and goals of the organisation – where are they going and how can you support this
• The values of the organisation – particularly from a leadership point of view as this will drive the direction of the leadership development
• What each department does and how they link together – I think there is a couple of ways you could do this 

1. Spend time in each part of the organisation (maybe ½ a day) to see what it actually feels like. This will enable you to see the ‘real’ organisation and spend time with people at the coal face. It will also be interesting to see from their perspective what L&D feels like for them and what they would like to see. 
2. Meet with the Heads of Department (and ask the questions as outlined above)

My personal feel is that the first one is better – I would suggest you meet with the Heads of Department anyway and then ask to spend time in the department as this will demonstrate proactiveness and an interest to be involved. 

You could also ask to attend team meetings – part of this process is getting your face out there and making connections so the more people you can meet in the organisation the better it is. 

Understand what they have in place already

In the structured document I mentioned above where you are collating your notes I would almost have a section which lists all the things in the job description so you can make notes against these. 

As well as the information you will gather in your meetings I think there will probably be information on drives and files somewhere so some of this will be about finding where this is, having a good read and asking some questions. Some things which may be useful

• If they are using external providers for leadership training/apprenticeship having a chat with them
• What evaluation data do they have and what is it telling you?
• You could talk to people who have experienced any L&D interventions – what did it feel like for them, how has it impacted on their performance at work?

Look for opportunities to be involved and add value

Organisations are usually looking for someone who can hit the ground running so this is really about looking at anything you can be involved in which sits in your remit and demonstrating your value. For example this could be

• Attending meetings i.e. apprenticeships
• Delivering a coaching/training session

Anything which you can do which demonstrates your skills in the early days is beneficial as it will enhance your credibility. 

Formulating a Plan for Action

This should come I think approximately around the 10 week mark and it really is based on what has come out of your research. In your presentation I think it is fine to say you won’t know what this is as it is based on whatever comes out of your discussions. 

Whatever your plan looks like I think it should be 

• Identified as having a priority order
• Be specific in nature – detailing the different elements of each task
• Have clear timelines (this will help you identify whether you are on track and will also help your manager as well)

It should also be signed off by the senior management team.

So these are my thoughts I would be interested in hearing others around this…

This time last year I was thinking hard about all things mental health and one thought kept cropping up again and again – which was all about keeping a gratitude log. So I thought I would give it a try and these are my reflections on the year and what I have learned.

Firstly – there were some rules (well not rules as such – more guidelines anyone who knows me will know I love a process!)

I set out to:

• Complete it last thing at night on a Google Doc on my phone – I figured that the benefits of  completing the log would outweigh a little bit of blue screen last thing at night
• Highlight three things in the day that I was grateful for and if there were more that was great
• Note down anything that I was particularly looking forward to the following day – this was a great idea suggested by my learned friend Sarah Kivlin This was a fab suggestion as it meant the focus wasn’t always on the past but also on the future as well
• Not beat myself up if I didn’t complete everyday – I also didn’t try to retrospectively complete it. If I didn’t I didn’t and that was okay.

In the main I stuck to this and more often that not there was an entry everyday as it became part of my night time routine 

So what have I learned?

In the main the learning has been about what is important to me and the revelation has been that it is not always what I thought it was! Before undertaking this I would have said that work was my all consuming passion and whilst that remained – there was plenty of other stuff that balanced this out as you can see below

• The small things are as impactful as the big – Sometimes it was the little things that had occurred during the day that were important, for example using the egg poacher for the first time. For the record I love Eggs Benedict and have never been able to master poached eggs so this little gadget has brought a lot of joy into my life 
• Creating space for myself is crucial – I usually describe my life as chaotic and there is usually quite a lot going on both in and outside of work. With this in mind it was noticeable to see many entries which referred to only having one or no meetings and having a day to myself. One of my areas to focus on for the future is to create this space as it enables me to be more thoughtful and balanced in my approach
• Lewis Hamilton and Man Utd are significant features – Now that‘s a combination you never thought you would see together. Sport is quite an interactive feature in my house and I do spend a lot of time coaching from the sofa (although the impact of it on Man Utd seems to have been fairly limited – Good Luck Erik!) However, it wasn’t always about winning, being able to watch and enjoy was just as important. At this point I feel obliged to give a shout out to my husband’s team Port Vale who will be playing at Wembley this weekend in the play off final – they have also contributed a fair amount of joy as well!
• Making the most of my free time – On my Twitter bio I describe myself as being constantly curious and I love going to new and old places and learning more about them. This includes wandering around gardens and enjoying plants which have names I can never hope to learn. Thanks RHS Bridgewater for all the labels they are really helpful! Also the sheer variety of activities – going to the theater, visiting stately homes, going to art exhibitions, gardens and much much more! 
• Interaction was a frequent highlight – As someone who openly describes herself as being “Extraverted for pay” (apologies as I have stolen this from somewhere) and an introvert – it has come as a surprise to me the number of times I have referenced interactions in my log. I feel that I have had some really powerful conversations over the last year and have really valued the opportunity to be myself with people I feel comfortable with
• I love a bit of learning! – Okay this one shouldn’t come as a massive surprise – I work in Learning and Development! However, keeping up with the theme of being constantly curious I love to learn new things or facts – it helps me better at my job but also I enjoy talking these over with new people. In addition I also love a share and have made some fab contacts at these sessions. 
• Out of Sync TV – There are certain shows that I never miss i.e. Bake Off, Sewing Bee, Gogglebox – however by the time I have watched them you will have all talked it out as I tend to Sky Plus everything and then watch later. I still have TV on there to watch from 2 years ago – I am getting around to it! 
• Making a difference is a huge motivator – Both in and outside of work. There are frequent references to workshops I have run, coaching or 1:1’s. Outside in my family I am known as the travel agent as I love a bit of organization and planning – tickets for the front row of Anton du Beke – then I am your woman! I also like a little bit of a surprise – for example my 73 year old mum will be feeding giraffes this year at Whipsnade Zoo this year – so please don’t tell!
• Close relationships are fundamental – My closest relationships are important to me and not compromising those is critical. I fess up to not always being great at this and this is a future focus for me as well.
• Sleep didn’t become any easier – I am not a natural sleeper at night – although for some reason my ability to nap during the day is legendary! One of my original motivators was to try and stop my brain whizzing around at night and to help me sleep – this hasn’t changed so I guess there is still work to do here. 

I guess the big question is will I continue? The answer is an overwhelming yes and I will continue to reflect back once a year. In writing this blog I feel I have been able to reflect and refocus on somethings that will help me in the future. So I will see you in a year’s time with more reflection and thoughts on my year…

On International Women’s Day this year I would like to celebrate someone from my local area who inspires me – meet Carol Shanahan Chair and Co-Owner of Port Vale Football Club.

Carol and her husband Kevin bought Port Vale in 2019 and reflecting on the past three years there has been such a lot of positive activity which has brought the club back to the fans.

So what is it about Carol that I find so inspirational?

• Has sight of the bigger picture – During lockdown the English Football League had a meeting to decide whether to halt the league as it was originally was or to try and play the matches – tricky given the COVID 19 situation at the time. At the time Vale were sitting just outside the play off positions and taking this decision meant that they missed out on possible promotion. As Carol put it she was shaking when she came away from the meeting but voted in a way that she felt was best for League 2 overall. 
• Considered decision making – When John Askey was sacked as manager there was,  as there is always is in football a clamour to name the next manager. However, rather than making a quick and potentially wrong decision there was a clear intention to put a structure in place and recruit the best person for the job. Resulting in a Director of Football and a manager who had demonstrated his promotion winning credentials.
• Focus on the Community – Football has always had close links to the community an it is fair to say that this link had been weakened before Carol came to the club. In 2021 Port Vale was named the Your Move Community Club of the Year for mobilising the community and delivering 300, 000 meals. Carol herself was also recently awarded an OBE for services to the community and in the last week food has been provided to a local Polish restaurant who were sending supplies to Ukraine. Putting the club at the heart of the community and engaging with supporters of all ages including the Golden Valiants club has re energised the supporter base as demonstrated by frequent stories in our local paper of queues for tickets and record shirt sales.
• Making the most of every opportunity – Football is ultimately a business and there is clear evidence that maximising the opportunities that are available is a key part of the strategy whether it be Robbie Williams supporting the kit launch and performing at Vale park or the FA Cup tie away at Man City where Vale took the 2nd highest away following that season. I know that Tom Pope will long be remembered for that goal…
• Accessibility – One of my favourite things about my Twitter feed is the pictures that are shared by @OfficialPVFC of Carol with the media team, signing Christmas cards and the occasional canal walk. It is clear that she is the beating heart of the club and happy to meet and greet supporters – best of all everybody is always smiling in these pictures so it is clear that everybody is having a good time!
• Empathy – In the last few weeks the current manager Darrell Clarke has been on bereavement leave. The club has issued a brief statement and asked for privacy for the family and I would like to extend my condolences to Darrell and his family and as the shirts the Vale players have worn have said “Thinking of you Gaffer” Quietly and without fuss arrangements have been put in place to give Darrell the space he needs at this difficult time whilst continuing the work he has started. 

I am guessing that Carol would want to thank everyone behind the scenes at Vale for all their hard work that made all of this happen – so THANK YOU! However, in my day job I know that leadership comes from the top so thank you Carol for bringing the club back to the community and if I may let me speak for fans everywhere to say we are “Glad All Over” you decided to buy the club! (If you support the Vale you will know what I mean…)

P.S. Those of you who know me will be aware that my footballing heart belongs elsewhere (sorry Carol!) but they will always be my second team – inevitable when I am married to a season ticket holding Port Vale fan!

Over a week ago I posted on Linked with a reshare of a post by Corporate Rebels which had the image below on it

So far (and for anyone who knows me it won’t surprise you that I know this!) This has had 

• 16 comments
• 110 reactions
• 8,509 views

Which by some way is my highest ever viewed post on Linked In which led me to the question Why this post?

It was clear from the comments that this was a post which clearly resonated with others and indeed the reason for my reshare was that I had definitely worked with people  in both categories and have felt the pain of working with those who focused on self promotion. 

There was also an emotional response to this post – it evoked something in people and took them to a time either past or current when they had been in this space. Indeed there was a sense of a connected felt experience, maybe a chance to join a tribe or an expression of a feeling that had been repressed inside – these are my best guesses. 

Why did it evoke such a reaction? For me work is an integral part of who I am – the way I approach my work is important to me as is what I achieve. I have always been at my best inspired by doing meaningful work where I can bring my skills and abilities to the fore. I have an emotional connection to L&D – I am passionate and interested in it and can often be found topping up my knowledge outside of work in all kinds of ways. My friends and family are used to me on days out taking photos and saying ‘That will be good for our Slack Channel’ or ‘I can use that in a presentation’.

However, I am not always the best at selling myself whilst in a role – conversely I appear to be able to do it outside of a role having held a number of fixed term contracts so I do love a good interview. In the role I am with Emmeline Pankhurst and I focus on ‘Deeds Not Words’ preferring to let my activities and outputs do the talking for me. Potentially this is because by nature I am an introvert and recharge with time for myself – nothing makes me happier than being curled up with a good book and a coffee. This recharging gives me the energy to do my role – facilitate workshops, coaching, talking to people etc. 

I came across the term ‘Hidden Labour’ at the end of last year (apologies as I can’t remember from where) and it refers to the thinking part of work – not always seen but as important as the outputs. For me ‘Hidden Labour’ is a thought process – I love a knotty problem and thinking things through which writing this blog usually helps with. For example I spent a large part of last year thinking about happiness which resulted in my I Just Want to Feel blog.

Do I need to shout about my achievements more? Sometimes – although I know when others do it frequently it can grind my gears. I  am trying to – although Helen Bailey Award Winning Leadership Development Consultant is never going to sit comfortably with me – although tis true!

Maybe there is a lesson here for L&D generally as well – recently I have been thinking a lot about Evidence Based L&D and in particular Kevin M Yates assertion that L&D people who like to analyse data are like unicorns – rare. If we are as a function going to shout about our achievements then for me it should be focused on measurable achievements, solid facts – some substance rather than style. Although a little bit of style always helps get the message across.

Given that many of the people I interact with on Linked In are L&D/HR Professionals, maybe that contributed to the reaction, who knows? As always thanks for reading and let’s make a commitment to shout about the things that we are really good at and to paraphrase Pink Floyd ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamonds!’