On Friday the books finally arrived at my and Lane4's door. Exciting times. The formal launch is on Tuesday night at the Lane4 Client Conference.
It's been a pretty wild ride so far, and when the dust settles I'll look to recount some of the highs, lows and amusing moments along the way. There have certainly been a few!
In the interim, you can click here to get a little more info on the book....
Britain and the Olympic Games
It’s been a few days now since our Client Conference, ‘From Fragile to Agile’ on Armistice Day, 11th November. It was our fifth year, and our client feedback is suggesting it was our best yet.
We try to schedule the day in such a way as to offer our clients the chance to design their own day. What continues to amaze me year-after-year is the sheer variety in the individual schedules which people select. Even clients who I think know personally very well!
For example, I was part of a session on the subject of the parallels between the London 1948 and 2012 Games with Rob Clarke, the Head of HR Operations from London Organising Committee for Olympic and Paralympic Games. Rob and I spoke at the same time as our clients from CRH shared their approach to investing in leadership development in a building products sector in the eye of the economic storm, and Mark Richardson with Greg Searle (both from Lane4) talking from personal experience about maintaining self belief under times of intense personal pressure and media scrutiny. It would be hard to find a more varied set of subjects, even for Lane4!
This blend also relates to how we position Lane4’s offer in the market-place. We aim to offer a hybrid of a world class leadership development consultancy (CRH). Our approach is driven from personal insight and experience (Mark and Greg) coupled with cutting edge research which marries both our understanding of elite performance in sport and business (Rob and I).
Interestingly when choosing their day, our clients spread themselves almost exactly evenly between the three sessions. No one area of our positioning or approach is more important than the other. We have the priviledge of working with a brand which sits at the intersection of these areas. It’s really gratifying to know our clients really valued the day. Roll on 2010!
I am researching a session for our forthcoming Client Conference at the moment on the London 1948 Olympic Games. It has been fascinating to learn how the Olympic Games provided such a major source of social, psychological and economic healing to war-torn Britain.
Fast forward to the IOC's decision this evening to select Rio as the home of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. There is no doubt that Rio's objective of using the Games as a lever for not just a growth economy, but a growth continent struck a chord. If 2016 achieves quite as much for Brazil as 1948 achieved for Britain, the 2016 Organising Committee will have achieved their objective.
All in all, I have to admit that I am disappointed on behalf of Chicago. That's sport I guess. Given that Britain will be handing Brazil the Olympic flag, let's hope they return the favour with the FIFA World Cup!
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