Celebrating the successes and wins of all my delegates over the years.
Over the coming weeks and months, "Unlocking Leadership Excellence" will be your guide through the labyrinth of leadership, offering insights, anecdotes, and actionable tips that merge the art of leading with having fun. We'll dive into all sorts of subjects gleaned from my content archives as well as share the anecdotes and stories collected over the years. This series will not be published in any particular order, but I will rather talk to various subjects that I have taught on Leadership. I will be writing this in pretty much the way and tone I speak, and with the raw honesty I shared with my workshop attendees (who I often refer to as my people or my team!) If I offend anyone through this tone, style, language, or in any other way, my apologies, but it’s not intentional, its Kimspeak!
My journey started through a meeting with an incredible amazing woman, who was a Disney trainer, and who trained me. In this person I found the best facilitator / mentor / friend, and I will dedicate a blog to her during the series. I worked with Franklin Covey, held their licence in Zambia for a few years, and had the honour to be a facilitator during one of the Mr Franklin R Covey’s interventions in Cape Town SA. Along with this accreditation there were many others, and I often found myself travelling abroad to practice my own Kaizen.
During the years I have spent as a facilitator / coach or whatever you call us folk, I had the opportunity to develop and share knowledge with so many people from so many walks of life, in such diverse industries, and at many different stages of their careers. I met the most amazing individuals and was blessed to get to know each of my participants if only for a couple of days. These are the folk who inspired me to continue with my journey day after back-to-back “eight hour” day of “workshopping” on heels! (Yes I was that short girl who made a lot of noise). Whilst conference room set ups ranged from a one-window container (filled with 15 miners and no aircon in the sweltering heat), in a mine in the Congo Basin (that is a blog of its own) to lavish 5 star conference facilities one thing is for sure - my delegates and I had fun, we were passionate, and we all learnt something every day. It was “HAPPY DAYS!” (Some of my people will know that Kimspeak phrase)
To this day I don’t know where I got the energy from, but one thing I was fastidious about was that the energy level in my workshops had to remain high, and by the first tea/coffee break I had to know all my delegate’s name. (A valuable insight that my mentor taught me). oh, and to never miss one of my sons' sports events. Try teaching report writing skills in a fun interesting energetic way? Well, we did have fun, even if we had to dance with mops to raise the level of energy, we did it. Sessions were interactive, and each delegate was recognised, and took part wherever possible. That way they felt involved, important, and valued, and heyho there are the first few tips on “developing a leadership value proposition”, commonly referred to in "Kimspeak" as the LVP.
I would go home to my family after workshopping, to be asked if there was something wrong with me because I was so quiet. “Guys! I have just spent 8 hours talking non-stop! I am fine” was my answer, for them it was relief! Quiet reigned. And I was living my dream job!
I have decided to start this series because I want to remember the successes and celebrate them for both myself and more importantly for each person who came through one of my workshops. From the team leader who today is CEO of a multinational company, from the call centre agent who now heads up a CR department in a Global Telecoms company, and from the bank teller who is on the EXCO of an international bank (yes you know who you are and there are many many of you) I celebrate your successes and through the blogs, and look back on the days we all applauded the wins in class. For those of you reading this, I would love to interview you, in that you may share some of your Leadership tips to our future leaders! (pop me an email)
My career in this field never ends, always brings a smile to my face, excites me no end, and has evolved many times. I still learn everyday and whilst I am not actively “workshopping on heels” I have the honour of coaching and mentoring folk on a one-to-one basis.
And today, as it has been for eons, Leadership is a value proposition to be developed throughout one’s life. Not only in your professional life but also in your personal life.
Keep on Keeping on!