Welcome to the second 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.       Keep positive

At some point in our lives, whether it is in our personal or work life, as quoted in the film, Forrest Gump, “Shit Happens”.  It’s the way in which we deal with it that makes the difference.  Rachel Mossakowski is one of life’s positive people.  Rachel, who lives in Austin, Texas was made redundant over 3 months ago and even after numerous rejections, she still remains totally positive and upbeat, as I’ve read in her posts on LinkedIn.  Rachel’s got some great administrative skills and experience and I am sure that soon an organisation will benefit from them.

2.       Persevere with your vision

Back in 2011 Ian McAllister, Steve Wake and Chris Field had a simple idea…. an event that was inclusive, affordable but above all else a celebration of Project Management. They wanted to show the lighter side of Project Management, maybe even enjoy the day…both educate and entertain and thus Synergy was born. One of the things that makes Synergy special is that it is almost entirely organised by volunteers and over the years this amazing team have played host to an incredible array of guests / speakers including HRH Princess Anne, Lord Digby Jones, Ken Livingstone and many more, including myself.  Attendance regularly hits the 700 mark annually now.

So, if you are looking for a way to recognise your phenomenal project management team you could do a lot worse than take them along to Synergy 2017.  This year, Synergy takes place on the 2nd November at City Hall, Westminster, London.  More details here

3.       Shine a light on others

Shelagh Donnelly, who is based in Vancouver, Canada runs Exceptional EA, dedicated to helping and supporting those in the administrative profession.  As well as regular hints, tips and articles, Shelagh regular features admins from around the globe in her feature Real Careers which not only shines a light on them but in doing so helps other admins learn and develop.  This week, the spotlight was on Claire Grace, a virtual executive assistant, based in the UK.

4.       Support others in achieving their goals

In 2010, on the island of Rhodes, 150 energetic young people gathered to attend the first Rhodes Youth Forum. They came from 34 different countries to listen to reports and to talk about issues in the world’s social develop­ment.  As the result of the Rhodes Youth Forum a new initiative to create an organization that could continue to support the activities of the youth on the ongoing basis was launched. This new international youth movement was officially founded in 2010 in Prague and named Youth Time International

The name of the movement, “Youth Time”, refers to the years of the youth as the happiest and most active period of life. Young people should use it properly in order to do their best for their own future and the future of older and younger generations.

Last month, I was honoured to deliver a keynote conference presentation on collaboration and then a masterclass on leading and developing high-performance teams at the 2017 Summer School, held in Beijing, China and attended by over 120 young leaders and entrepreneurs from over 28 countries from around the globe.

Youth Time’s President is Julia Kinash and she is supported by Leigh Woods and his colleagues who project manage the conferences and other events held.  Hopefully, the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs will be better equipped to not make the mistakes that some past generations have.

5.       Set yourself goals

Recently, I was invited to speak at a Diversity & Inclusion event at which I met Alex Clarke, who is on the Graduate Scheme at Post Office Limited.  Alex is 24 and has diplegic Cerebral Palsy.  However, this has not held Alex back in his goal to be a ski racer and represent Great Britain.

Here is a video clip of Alex telling his story at the conference, Alex Clarke, my story so far

And here is one of Alex’s latest blogs about his journey, which has some photos of him skiing. A change of path.

I hope that these stories inspire you as much as they have me and if you missed reading the first edition, here is a link to it High5 #1.

Wishing you continued success and happiness in both work and life.

Yours behaviourally, Nick

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