Friday Footnote # 71

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.

West is Best

Yesterday was an amazing day as we had our first face-to-face graduation since the global pandemic began. We love graduations. They are a fantastic opportunity to hear from our delegates, hear about the changes they have made thanks to the programme, and the impact the programme has had on both them and their businesses. Graduations are real 'this is why we do what we do' days. And the delegates on Leading Growth 26 didn't let us down! 

The graduation took place at the beautiful Grove of Narberth Hotel in Pembrokeshire and delegates from organisations as varied as Platfform, Chwarae Teg, DWJ Wealth Management and Pembrokeshire Tourism were joined by their own guests, as well as Tori James, the first Welsh woman to climb Everest, who shared her amazingly inspirational story.

The love in the room was clear to see. The bond between delegates on our cohorts is always really strong and it was wonderful for the delegates to meet each other in real life, having completed the whole programme virtually. There were poems, tears, lots of laughs, and an amazing lunch. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for further insights from the graduation.

Congratulations to everyone who graduated. We had so much fun celebrating with you. You are all extraordinary leaders.

Our next graduation takes place next week, for one of our New Leaders programme, although this session will be virtual. Keep an eye out next week for more on the next graduation.

Inspiration

• Wales' Entrepreneurs key to economic recovery (Wales 247)
• Rebuilding relationships across teams in a hybrid workplace (Harvard Business Review)
• Do you work within NHS Wales, and looking to commercialise your innovation? (AGOR IP)
• Going back to the office? 6 tips to help you adjust (TED)
• Preventing busyness from becoming burnout (Harvard Business Review)

Changing thinking to change the world

The start of this week saw the Hillary Clinton Global Challenges Summit take place, led by Swansea University. The summit, which took place virtually, featured conversations on global healthcare, achieving carbon reduction targets, harnessing technology as a force for good, and promoting a more equal world.

Adam jumped in and out of the sessions over the 3 days, hearing Hillary Clinton and the Prime Minister of Iceland (amongst others) discuss COP26, a panel of guests (including Swansea University's own Professor Dave Worsley) discuss 'Towards Carbon Zero' and Hillary Clinton and other guests discuss how if we change the way we think about things, we might just change the world.

A jam-packed 3 days of amazing speakers, discussing hugely important issues. Adam just wishes he could have attended more.  

Become an extraordinary leader

Our leadership programmes that start before the end of March 2022 will be fully funded. We have 1 remaining fully-funded ILM Level 5 Leading Growth programme, starting in January 2022. You can find out more about our latest programmes on our courses page.

Missed previous #FridayFootnotes?

Diolch. Team ION