Welcome to the fourth High5 Friday, a brief look back at this week and 5 things and people, that caught my eye and made me feel upbeat and want to share with you. There is so much negativity in the world, I thought this might resonate with others and who knows, you may be one of the people I mention in a future edition.
1. Sharing your knowledge costs you nothing but your time
How good a feeling is it when you share some of your knowledge and experience and it helps others. David Wheeler does just that on a regular basis. David is the Senior Learning and Development Business Partner at OCS Group UK.
Via his LinkedIn profile, David shares some great hints, tips and comments to get you thinking about your own personal development, leadership and teamwork. Keep up the great work David.
2. Raising awareness of sexual abuse
Whether you have been a victim of sexual abuse or know someone who has, or indeed lead someone in your team that is a victim, having expert advice, training and support is important. Lorna Markillie and her colleague, through their company L&D Training do just that. They provide education and training on how companies support their employees if they have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment, FGM, consent, and more. They can also provide guidance and help with policies and procedures, supporting organisations with short term and long term goals. A much needed service, bearing in mind that recent statistics show that 1 in 5 women and 1 in 6 men have experienced sexual assault.
3. From little acorns
3 years ago, David Bewick, a project management expert, based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne had a dream to create an event with the aim of looking at the world of business and project management. Thought leaders sharing their knowledge and experience on topics that are important today, whilst holding to the values of affordability, inclusivity and fun! So, an event that everyone was invited to, everyone could afford and where everyone will learn something and be entertained! Last year, the event sold out with over 300 people attending. This year’s event takes place at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland on Wednesday 22nd November, with prices starting at less than £5. Having spoken at the inaugural event, I wholeheartedly recommend attending if you are in the North East. More details can be found here.
4. Giving back to communities
Sometimes, I am amazed at the energy, time and commitment that some people have and Julia Robertson-Avenell is one of those people. Julia has been an Administrator and PA for over 20 years within the sales industry supporting sales teams and directors across the UK and currently works for Hays Recruitment. During her career, Julia has received a number of awards and more recently was shortlisted in 4 categories of the London PA Awards!!
In addition, due to her passion for development, training and mentoring, Julia Co-Founded NESS – The Essex PA Network with Karen Glenn.
However, if work and supporting other PAs isn’t enough, on Saturdays, Julia is a Voluntary Sales Manager for the Hamelin Trust, which supports individuals with disabilities and their carers.
It tires me out sometimes just reading about Julia’s week!
5. Six degrees of separation
This week I booked a flight and hotel for a holiday in 2018 via British Airways. Unfortunately, due to it not being a straight-forward booking, I couldn’t complete it by myself online, so ended up speaking to Kate (surname not given due to BA policy) at the British Airways Customer Contact Centre in Warrington.
Kate provided excellent service to me in a friendly, professional manner, adding in thoughts and ideas for me to consider, based on her experience of visiting the same destination. Her customer service WOWed me. I complete the online feedback form to show my appreciation however wanted to get a message to her personally.
So, I thought about the fact that they say we are only 6 links from everyone in the world, so I thought I would give it a try and shared my message of thanks to Kate via various social media channels, asking if people would share it, if they thought they could get the message to her.
I was amazed when one of my contacts, Kathy Soulsby, a VA who runs Personally Virtual, replied to me, saying that she had done it via one of her contacts Anthony Hall, who is a Customer Proposition Manager at British Airways.
Thanks to Kate for the great customer experience and Kathy and Anthony for their help. Just shows what you can do with a little help from your friends.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed these stories and if you missed reading the previous posts, here are links to:
Wishing you continued success and happiness in both work and life.
Yours behaviourally, Nick
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