Friday Footnote # 137

Each week we share loads of content amongst Team ION and with our network. Content that inspires us, which we find helpful, or just makes us smile. We thought we would start sharing these insights every Friday. Welcome to Friday Footnote.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Last Tuesday we were delighted to hold our 'Looking Back, Looking Forward' event in the Swansea University Great Hall. It was brilliant to celebrate 14 years of developing extraordinary leaders with so many former members of our team, industry and University partners, and of course our alumni. There were lots of hugs, laughter and plenty of reflection on peoples leadership journeys.

There are so many people to thank. Thank you to Helen Bowden for being an amazing MC; our speakers Ceri David Jones (Swansea University), Suzanne Parry Jones (ION leadership), Professor Louisa Huxtable-Thomas (Swansea University School of Management), Dr Gary Walpole (CEIC, and former ION Leadership team member), Gareth Davies (Swansea University School of Management), and representatvies from Swansea LINC, Swansea Employability Academy, Agor, and Executive Education at Swansea University. 

Thank you to our amazing alumni panelists - Rachael Flanagan, Shaun Welsh, Bhupinder Sidhu and Stephanie Griffiths - who shared their LEAD Wales / ION leadership journeys with those in attendance. A huge thanks to the current members of the ION Swansea team who worked so hard to pull the event together, including delivering activities on the day, and a big thank you to our Bangor colleagues for making the trip to celebrate with us.

And finally to all of our alumni, guests, and former team members who were able to join us yesterday. 

After the event, our events team had a well earned few days off, so keep an eye out next week for a write-up of the event, and check out our social media feeds for more photos from the day. 

Goodbye to members of our delivery team

We have been fortunate over the last 14 years to have received funding from WEFO/ESF. As this funding comes to an end, ION will be moving through a period of change. The project will continue to be supported by Swansea University and continue to support the leadership journey of the Welsh business community, but as we wind down operations at ION towers we must bid farewell to some of our team members.
 
It was a very sad day for Team ION last Friday as we said goodbye to Kim Talbot and Jane Baker, from our delivery team, and our Executive Coach, Shelly Evans.
 
Thank you so much for everything the 3 of you have done for the team, and our delegates, over the years. Best of luck on your next adventures, and thank you again for being an integral part of the ION leadership journey.

Talking Team Dynamics with Tokio Marine 

On Tuesday this week, we met with team leaders from Tokio Marine for their latest leadership masterclass. This weeks session discussd Team Dynamics, with the delegates looking at:

• how to develop effective teams to improve organisational performance
• understanding the motivational factors that affect performance
• highlight team strengths, blind-spots, and areas of development

The delegates will all get back together next week to discuss 'Resources for Reflection & Growth'. And then a few weeks later it will be graduation time, and plans are fully underway for a packed day of fun, presentations, and plenty of laughter.

If you are interested in finding out more about how we can work with you and your business to develop the people within your team or organisation, get in touch with Adam Fairbank on ionleadership@swansea.ac.uk. 

Inspiration

• How Coca Cola, Netflix and Amazon learn from failure (Harvard Business Review)
• How to blow your own horn, without embarrassment or apology (TED)
• Designing experiences that enable and sustain behaviour change (KaosPilot)
• Swansea ranks among UK's best institutions for spinouts (Swansea University)
• How Managers can make time for their own development (Harvard Business Review

CEIC Summer Conference 

Adam from our Swansea team spent Tuesday this week at the CEIC Wales Conference at the Cardiff City Stadium. 

It was massively inspiring to hear delegates from the cohorts share their real life projects - projects making a difference to businesses, people and communities in Wales, and contributing towards a circular future for Wales. Projects discussed included:

• Circularity of X-ray producing medical equipment
• Using AI Chatbots to shape 'green' specifications and tenders
• Embedding sustainability into organisational decision-making

It was also really interesting to hear Programme Director Dr Gary Walpole discuss the impact of the programme to date, Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales, led a collaborative session developing ideas to help deliver for future generations in Wales, and Gareth Browning from Cardiff Capital Region shared progress on developing a regional approach to challenge-led innovation.

Well done to Gary, Tony, and Jill (all former ION team members!) and everyone else in the CEIC team for a great day.

Become an extraordinary leader with ION

For over 11 years we have supported leaders at all levels to become extraordinary leaders. Whether you are just starting your leadership journey, or want to freshen up your skills and learn how best to implement the latest thinking, strategies and best practice into your business, we are here to help. 

Get in touch with Adam on ionleadership@swansea.ac.uk to arrange a chat to find out how we can work with you to develop extraordinary leaders in your organisation.

#FridayFootnote will be taking a short break next week, but we will be back in a few weeks time.  

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