Leadership, Resilience, and Celebration…
Conference season is well underway, and last week I had the pleasure of attending the annual Resilient Leaders Elements (RLE) Consultants Conference at Bradford upon Avon. This took place in the inspiringly beautiful West Barn, part of the magnificent Tithe Barn complex, just a walk along the river from the train station, which was in itself a lovely journey out of London with the mist gradually rising over the fields. Taking these opportunities for rest, renewal and re-energising is important as we work with leaders in this ‘Age of Disruption’, of permacrisis and polycrisis, to find a way to lead with resilience and hope.
As RLE consultants, both the RLE model of leadership and the excellent ‘coach in your pocket’ tool (the Resilient Leaders Development Programme or RLDP) are central to our leadership development programmes. The main principles are that everyone is a leader, that it takes time and effort to develop our leadership, and that we should look at both who we are and what we do to develop successfully.
It was great to connect and re-connect with colleagues from across the country, and indeed the world. Time spent sharing ideas around the programmes we deliver, how we deliver them and why they have the impact they do is always valuable, inspiring and motivating. The entire community is generous with each other, based on a philosophy of abundance, and collaboration together. The communities of practice are stimulating and supportive. They are agents of collaborative projects with clients, and it was great to see Steven Garrod in person again, a long-time Bright Lead collaborator in the video-games space, and to have the opportunity to celebrate the successes we have together. There was also plenty of stimulating challenge to our thinking and practice, encouraging us to think and behave creatively, robustly and with versatility. Stories were told of how businesses developed clarity of direction over time, of growing awareness and decisions taken, which inspired us to think about our own leadership presence. Theses stories were powerful motivators, aiding our connection through discussions of challenges overcome and resilience developed.
We also celebrated together, and were encouraged to take the time to find opportunities to celebrate how far we had come individually and collectively, as well as looking forward and planning for the future.
Leaders need to connect, to find their supportive communities, to be collaborative, to embrace challenge and celebrate their progress with their team and tribe. This will sustain us to be the best we can be for those we lead.
Reflection:
What has resonated with you?
What do you and your community do to connect, collaborate, challenge and celebrate?