I’m beginning to plan my speaking session at next week’s World of Learning – and feeling very privileged to be talking at such an event. It’s making me think very carefully about what I have to say on how people can achieve their Personal Best both in the workplace and outside of work.
What I have to say is based on 25 years experience and practice in coaching, culture change and leadership development but with the twist of a sprinkling of new knowledge from the world of neuroscience, mindsets and mental health. I feel passionate about helping everyone, not just leaders, thrive in what we are calling a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world.
The futurologists are telling us that by 2030 80% of jobs won’t exist (that’s 800 million jobs gone!). The advances in Artificial Intelligence mean that visiting a GP surgery will be a thing of the past, just as visiting the bank is pretty much gone now, surgeons will be replaced by robots and don’t get me started on driverless cars.
Will we need managers in organisations? I don’t think so. We will need strong leaders throughout organisations and the skill set that will be prized will be creativity, a growth mindset, a collaborative approach and high levels of emotional intelligence. But are we truly preparing our children, communities and our workforce for this “brave new world” – where resilience is the key skill necessary to thrive?
The stakes are high if we don’t get this right we will be storing up stress and fragility for the future! We need preventative measures that people are ready and willing to adopt. This seems to be particularly pertinent as we’re in Mental Health Awareness week. I feel blessed doing the job I love and being stretched by the WOL assignment next week (releasing endorphins), working with some amazing clients and the best team (oxytocin), and spending today cogitating on my walk along a beautiful beach (dopamines and seratonin).
Thinking about this talk has certainly focused my mind to practice what I preach! Come and say hello if you are attending World of Learning 16/17 October 2018.