Just two good things.....

I've recently been on a bit of a journey.  Both professionally and personally.  You see, I've been trying to develop my 'leadership skills'.  And I've found this quite a challenge....quite a challenge really knowing where to start.  But why?

• Because I never really thought of myself as a Leader before?  
• Because I realise that with leadership comes great responsibility?  
• Because I enjoy being an integral part of a team?  
• Because I respect the leadership capabilities of others around me?  
• Because I associate being a leader with having to have strong strategic thinking abilities?  

Well, these are questions I have asked myself when I've reflected on this challenge.  And do you know what I've realised?  I've realised it's actually a mixture of all of the above!  You see, I think I got a bit hung up on what it all meant and this made me question where to start and honestly, whether I had it in me at all.  All a bit overwhelming!  So where to begin then?  Well, I realised (with the help of a fair few people along the way!) that the best place to start was with me.  And for this I focused on two things:

• My perception of leadership
• Understanding what my leadership proposition is

My Perception of Leadership

So to begin with in my overwhelmed state, I think I lacked a bit of perspective.  OK, probably a lot of perspective lacking in all honesty.  In my mind at the beginning of this year, when I thought about developing my leadership skills, I equated it to learning how to be as strong as the likes of Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey.  Ridiculous right!?!!  Don't get me wrong, it is great to have goals to aspire to and role models to learn from.  But I was forgetting that I'd learned that for every project, long journey, big undertaking, it really does help to break it down into smaller more manageable chunks!  I needed a bitesize approach to leadership development.  

So, I went back to basics and took a look at what it meant to be a 'Leader'.  And what I realised was that for me personally, being a leader isn't about being the head of a large organisation, or being a multi-billionnaire.  For me, a leader can be anyone.  And it really is about being the best that you can be at what you do, inspiring others and having the Mojo required to look at what can be done better rather than just doing the same as has always been done.  For me a leader doesn't have to be amazing at everything themselves, but rather needs to build a network of people who all bring diverse skills.  It's about bringing the right skills together at the right time.  Phew!  It felt much better and a much more interesting and exciting opportunity once I'd figured out my perspective on things.

A book that helped me focus less on the title and more on the substance of leadership was this:

The Leader who has no Title can be found on Amazon here

Understanding my Leadership Proposition
So, once I'd figured out what being a leader meant to me, I then had to figure out what kind of leader I wanted to be.  For this I was very lucky to have had some very useful sessions at work.  I'd looked at psychometric testing to find out my preferred way of working; I'd uncovered my top 5 strengths; I'd taken a look at what made me proud/frustrated to uncover what floats my boat and I'd also looked at career highlights to understand where I get my energy from and operate at my peak.  It turned out I had a LOT of insight into me, my motivations and how I work at my best.  So, I just needed to focus in on what this all meant in a 'nutshell'.  In a session with the amazingly talented Sara at work (she's a L&D, coaching wonder!), she suggested that to uncover your leadership proposition, you need to identify just two good things.  Two good things that you bring to EVERYTHING you do.  Whether it be a team meeting, a children's party, a family BBQ, your day to day job (so in my case it could be an assessment day), what are the two things you bring to the party/table/mix?  

Now, the first one for me was really simple to define.  It is enthusiasm.  You see, I am enthusiastic about pretty much anything.  If someone I know is working on something I don't even understand, but it means something to them, then I LOVE it!  If I'm in a group working on a project, then I will be enthusiastic about the new ideas, all the things we accomplish.  To be honest, I can be enthusiastic even when things are not going to plan.  I will see a silver lining, I will enjoy the ride and I aim to let my enthusiasm encourage others to enjoy the ride too!  So, I was happy I'd figured out the first of my two good things.

And you know what, it wasn't just me who thought this.  When I looked back at feedback I'd had and thought about words friends had used to describe me, enthusiasm came up a LOT!  And I figured it surely was a good sign if others were recognising this as one of 'my things'.

The second one was a little harder to define.  For this, I spent some time with the wonderful Sara.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it.  I talked about tailoring the message for individuals.  I talked about wanting to see people develop.  I talked about helping people.  I talked about a lot.  Sara asked me to give some real life examples and mentioned I talked a lot about helping people and wanting to see them achieve their dreams.  So she asked, 'Could it be you help people fulfil their dreams?'  It did sound like what I loved the most.  It sounded like a great thing to bring to a party!  And so Sara encouraged me to have a think about it, take it away, try it on for size.  And she encouraged me to focus on these two things in everything I do.  And embrace them!  It's all too easy to recognise and celebrate the strengths in others, but somehow not always as easy to embrace your own.

I was buzzing after that meeting.  I felt so lucky to be encouraged to celebrate what I bring.  And thanks to Sara's enthusiasm for my two things, I felt like I could genuinely embrace them.  I did try the second one on for size and made a decision on this one.  I decided to tailor my second one to the audience.  You see, I recognise that there are some people I would be more than happy telling, 'I help people fulfil their dreams'.  Other people, not so much!  And not because I don't think it's a great thing to do.  But more because I don't think they'll respond as well to that description as they would perhaps another.  So, I have an alternative version, 'I help people be who they want to be'.  This one is for my more logical / fact driven friends.  Those for whom the word 'dream' may turn them straight off!  And I can't help them fulfil their dreams if I turn them off now can I!?!! ;-)

The Results

I'm still very much at the start of my journey.  But now, thanks to a different perspective, this is looking like quite an exciting journey to me.  I have found myself reminding myself to remember the two good things quite a lot too.  Recently I was running an induction course for new starters and was going to facilitate solo for the first time.  I was a little nervous as it's a mandatory course and some of the material I'm not as familiar with delivering.  However, I reminded myself to go in with enthusiasm and focus on helping new starters be who they want to be (successful Associates in the main).  I played around with the course delivery (thanks again to Sara for encouraging me to do this) to give new starters the best opportunity to network (one of the biggest helping hands in such a network driven business).  And I made sure the environment was relaxed, fun and a great environment for learning.  I was mindful that the new Associates would have an open forum with a senior leader from our business and I wanted to make sure they felt relaxed enough to ask any question they had - which would in turn give them an opportunity to see how truly non heirarchical our business truly is by the openness of response I knew they'd get.  I put together a playlist for my Ipod, I dug out some fun ice-breaker exercises.  I took my two good things and my Mojo and had a ball.  

And you know what?  The feedback from that day was the best I'd ever had delivering that course.  The opportunity to network was called out as a highlight for some, the music in the background a positive for others.  The openness of our CFO Dawn was a massive success and key learnings a lot of people noted at the end of the day was how much they would take this to heart and embrace the autonomous way of working we have.  I'd asked the associates to sign a 'thank you' card to Dawn if they wanted to, to capture the feedback for her (again, we're a big feedback culture!).  And the comments were amazing, really lovely.  And Dawn let me know she was really touched.  She also sent a note to the Amanda, who heads up HR to let her know I'd done a great job facilitating the group and made her feel her time was really well spent attending the course.  

Mission accomplished!

And you know what, I may not be the next Richard Branson or Steve Jobs, but I do make a pretty good me.

For anyone who is interested in learning more about their strengths, I would highly recommend strengths finder. To find out more about it on Amazon, click on the book below:

My friend Lou also puts very beautifully her journey in embracing her strengths in her blog.  Want to be encouraged to embrace your unique offering?  Then feel free to check out her post, 'You are incomparable baby' here

The value of tickling your funny bone....

A friend of mine posted an video on facebook this weekend and it had me chuckling and chuckling over my breakfast cereal.  Apparently it's become a global sensation thanks to the speed at which social media can allow people to share things that tickle their funny bones!  I'm not surprised either - it really tickled me!

The video shows a 'gas station' prank in which a guy filling up his tank is offered a free tank of gas in return for singing a bit of karaoke - in the middle of the gas station and live on TV.  And whereas some people would let self consciousness, being in too much of a rush, not liking karaoke (any number of reasons) prevent them from taking up the opportunity for free gas, he LAPS it up.  And not only that, his performance is pretty darn funny and contagious.  His wife decides she wants in on the action too - and boy does he look happy to provide backing singing to her performance too.  Call it a fix if you will - but I don't ruddy care.  I love that fact that lots and lots of people have been drawn to share this link.  For me it shows me a few things:

• If you take opportunities, you never know the reward you might get
• If you enjoy living in the moment, the chances are it will encourage those around you to do the same
• It's bloomin nice to have a giggle over your cornflakes in the morning (I was in a fab mood as a result - much to the new dog Snoop's confusion!)
• It's good to share the things that make you laugh with others.  Who doesn't want to set their friends and loved ones up to have a giggle.

So, for those of you who want a little funny bone tickle and haven't already seen this, check out the gas station karaoke for yourselves.  

Living on the freeeeeee gassss!!  

Hope you enjoyed it!

A fine weekend to fall in love....

This bank holiday weekend has been an absolute beauty.  Lots of fun has been had with family and friends and I'm sat on the sofa writing this post with a big smile on my face!

So, what have the hubby and I been up to?

We started the bank holiday with a chilled out Friday and then Johnny went off for an epic 11.5 mile walk in advance of his Ben Nevis charity walk in June for Alzheimers.  The three boys went off early at 7am and ended up rewarding themselves with a full English breakfast! 

We then checked out our local dog rescue site, as we've been thinking about offering a dog a new home but needed to find the right dog to fit our lifestyle.  We were nervously excited to see there was a possible match, so we headed straight out to meet him.

And boy, did I fall in love!  He was beautiful!  He's a beagle that has obviously been very well loved (or fed!) but not well walked.  He is double the weight he should be and is quite low energy as a result.  He needs someone who will build up his walks slowly and support his new diet regime.  Well, this seemed just perfect to us.  Both Johnny and I want an incentive to exercise more and as I would love to see the transformation in him!  I'll be honest, I would be more than happy if I shifted a few pounds myself too!  

We decided to sleep on the decision (to make sure we weren't just getting over excited!) and spent that evening out celebrating my father in law's birthday talking to Clive, his lovely girlfriend Pat & my parents about it.  They of course, let us know all the downsides (a parent's job is never done!) but seemed to agree that he was the perfect match for us.

So, on Sunday, we decided to go on a dog route recce and headed off in the morning for a 3.5 mile walk.  We explored out the back of our house and my god, it was beautiful!  Poor Johnny was trying to set the pace for us as we only had an hour, but I couldn't resist taking a few cheeky snaps.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

The walk really made us realise how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful area and have all of this just beyond our back garden!  I also clocked that our route took us past one of our fave local pubs, which is dog friendly.  Great excuse to go for a walk and then sit in a pub garden in the summer, or all cosy by the fire in the winter! 

After our walk, we got showered and dressed in record time to make sure we got to the dog rescue right at opening time.  We didn't want to risk anyone else getting there first.  We also took my sister Siobhan with us too.  She LOVES dogs and was super excited.  She also kindly offered to move into ours to look after him whilst we're on holiday.  Which is in just over a weeks' time.  I know, not the most well planned timing to bring home a new dog, but the rescue home said he's so laid back, he probably wouldn't mind.  Also, better to get the holiday out of the way before he gets too upset with us leaving him (and vice versa).  Luckily Siobhan is super excited about this prospect - and considering we booked to be away for her birthday, I'm glad we've made that up to her!  (Although secretly worried he'll love her so much that by the time we get back, he'll not be interested in welcoming us home!).

So, thankfully, Johnny fell in love too!  They had a play and a run together whilst Siobhan and I waited with baited breath to see whether he'd say yes.  And he did!  So we headed off to a BBQ at our friend Bec and Alex's (and their beautiful 7 month old son Max) and celebrated in style.  Thankfully the rescue centre conducted a home visit today and they agreed that we could adopt him.  Very happy!  We were right in the midst of a bank holiday BBQ at ours (we had parents, friends, a friends' dog and a baby Max all chilling out in the garden - thankfully our friends' dog Mojo was showing how chilled our garden is, thanks Mojo!).

So, here it is.  We are going to be responsible adults and first time dog owners.  The rescue centre don't know what our gorgeous dog's name is, so we're going to call him Snoop (Snoopy was a beagle and I like the idea of him having his own song!)

So, here he is....our beautiful Snoop.  It should take 6-9 months for him to lose the weight, so I will be sure to post some before / after pics!!

A video captures a thousand words....

So, I just stumbled across an old Twitter account that I had from a couple of years ago and found the links to two videos I'd not watched for a while....

The first was the highlights video from mine and Johnny boy's wedding (it'll be three years this August).  I've been listening to the Temper Trap song (Sweet Disposition) in my car a lot recently.  It's the perfect song for a sunny day with the sunroof open.  Also been using it as a background song in training courses at work too. It always puts me in the BEST mood and makes me smile - purely because it reminds me of the best day of my life where the love was through the roof!

To take a look, click here

The second was our first dance mash up video, which makes me cry with laughter.  We chose Dynamite by Taio Cruz, purely because it reminded us of Honeymoon.  I have some hilarious footage of Johnny dancing along to it on a Cool Running Catamaran Cruise in Barbados (which I won't share to protect his honour!!) and this sparked the song choice.

Thanks to Ben Marlow at Kissing Gate videos for the creativity on this one, so glad we've got this to remind us of the fun of that day!

The video can be found here

Glitz, gladrags and a photo booth....

So, this week our team got the amazing opportunity to go to the glitzy Recruiter Magazine awards!  It was a FANTASTIC night!  It was a fab chance to get glammed up and spend some time celebrating successes with the team and let our hair down!

Why I was so excited...

We made the shortlist for 4 awards as a team which made me so proud - especially since I've been subscribing to the magazine since starting my career in recruitment in 2005.  Considering I stumbled into a career in recruitment, it feels amazing to be a contender for an award!!  I especially love this as it's testament to how positive it is to choose a career path based on what you love, what you're good at and what you stand for.  For me personally, I joined recruitment as it largely enabled me to make a difference to people's lives (I've lost count over how many excited people I've heard whooping because they've landed a role they really wanted!). 

My personal mission when it comes to recruitment is to ensure that I give every person I work with the best opportunity I can to showcase their skills and give them meaningful feedback regardless of outcome to enable them to develop.  So pleased to see where my career has taken me.  

Why this evening was great for the team....

We've got a fab team, who are all really conscientious, so it was fab that we got the chance to let our hair down, down tools early and take a trip up to London on a sunny day to party at the very swanky Grosvenor Hotel.  We met in a pub round the corner and it was fab seeing everyone all glammed up, looking amazing!  (especially as I think each and every one of us must've asked at least one person what they were wearing beforehand - it's a tough decision!)

We're with the Mizza....

The icing on the cake was that our Manager, aka The Mizza, was shortlisted for best in house recruiter of the year!  She'd kept it all a secret from us, but little did she know that we all already knew!!  We were all so proud of her and pleased as punch to share it with her.  She's such a recruitment guru and has shaped our team into what is is today.  She also has put a real emphasis on enabling us to play to our strengths, work collaboratively and gives us real freedom and belief that she backs us 100%.  So, given how much she backs us, it was lovely for us to show how proud we are as a team of her (often managers don't get nearly as much positive feedback from their team as they give their team!).  We  often joke that we're going to get 'We're with the Mizza' t-shirts made up to wear when we're out at Recruiter events, as we're all so chuffed we work with Emma - she's a big player in the recruitment industry.  Think she'll be glad we decided against it at a black tie event!

The evening was super fun, we all had such a giggle and it was so good to spend some time away from the busy day jobs and just focus purely on having a good time.  There was lots of whooping, plenty of giggles, fist pumping (Chris' signature move) and all in all a good time had by all.  We were also really chuffed to be joined by our HR Director who made sure our glasses never went empty and Sophie from our Associate support team, who bless her had a full day of meetings booked in for the next day!

How did the evening pan out....

Well, we didn't win any of the awards this year, but do you know what?  It was fantastic to be shortlisted!  Considering how new our team are, it is fab to see how much we've accomplished together and I personally am really looking forward to seeing what else is to come (and determined that next year, we will win an award!).

Here are a few pics from the night....

Here's some of the email conversation the next day which captured the team's thoughts!

Me:

Had a fab time last night!  Was such fun – thanks Emma for giving me my first taste of awards glitz!  Thanks also to Rachel for making sure we all got home safely and for Amanda for making sure my wine glass was literally full to the brim all night!

I’m not sure we will have made it into the Recruiter magazine (and given the level of tipsy, I’m kind of glad in retrospect!).  However, Recruiter Awards have retweeted one of our tweets from the night!  #semifamous

 Hope everyone is keeping hydrated today! 

Emma:

Hi Team

What a fabulous night - I have a video of us all on the dance floor which will share when I can recharge my phone as its soooooo funny. Hope you are all feeling better than me today! I know we didn’t win but we did so well to get nominated for four awards in our first proper year as a team together and its an amazing achievement and a testament to everyone's hard work.

Well done I am so proud of you all and it was great to party together and celebrate our journey last night

Me:

Aw, thanks Emma!  It was fabulous and am so proud to work for the BEST recruitment team! (trophy or no trophy, we all know it’s true!).

 OMG, dance floor footage, that will be hilarious!!!

 Helen:

Such a fun night!!!! So lucky to be part of such a great team.

 Not sure about the dancing footage, its making me cringe just thinking about it...................................for some reason after a few drinks I think I’m the greatest dancer ever.............. gawd 

Chris:

Oh my god, that video will be hillare! J  Well played everyone on a great evening! What a team…definitely the best, surely! 

Shereen:

Best night out I’ve had in a long time – great company and fab team – roll on our next outing....... !!! 

So, how does the photo booth come in???

We were all delighted that there was the London cab photo booth (with props!) that we got to cram into.  Here are a few of the snapshots!!