57
The passion
for events
always said that if you have to
go to work every day then why
not do something you love. Or as
Confucius put it: “Choose a job
you love and you will never have
to work a day in your life.”
Like many people working in
the events industry, I love the
variety of my day and the
satisfaction of delivering events
that surpass expectations. But I
had to make a decision to cut
back on event management to ensure the rest of the team
maintained standards for our
clients. I was worried that
transitioning towards a business
owner over an eventprof would
curtail my passion for work. So, it
wasn’t long until I came across this
quote by Maya Angelou: “Success
is liking yourself, liking what you do
and liking how you do it.”
That’s when I decided to work on
three things to keep my passion for
work alive - prioritising my
wellbeing, understanding more
about being a business owner and
committing to professional
development to add the skills of a
successful managing director to
my expertise as an events
manager. I don’t know how you’re
doing with your New Year’s
resolutions now we’ve hit February,
but it’s not too late to set yourself
some goals for 2020 and start
some habits that will help you
leaders. And, by God, are they
as relevant to our sector as
anywhere!
Here we go: you need to be
an Horizon Scanner (what’s
going on ‘out there,’ not just
tomorrow, but in 20 years, and
beyond); Action Taker (if you
keep waiting until you have all
the data you’ll never do
anything); Problem Solver
(companies pay handsomely for
those who can identify the
problem and take away the
pain; People Value Creator
(self-explanatory, I hope);
Influencer (read Caldini’s Six
Weapons of Influence and see
how you score); Network
Connecter (it’s not who you know but what you do with who you
know), Ethical Data Sustainer (you
need to think much bigger than
GDPR), Sense Maker (In your thirst
for knowledge, be sure not to
drown in all the information) and
Self Investor (We had 2019 as the
year of mental wellbeing, but
leaders also need to invest in their
own self-development and
upskilling).
All that makes great sense, but
trying to deal with the wealth of
data, the plethora of initiatives, the
tension between conflicting
demands and the growing shadow
of governance and compliance
puts a constant pressure on the
busy executive. Finding time to be
a leader amongst all that can be
quite the challenge. Scheduling
some time for ‘happiness’ might
be just what you need. It comes
back to the old adage of learning to
work on, not just in your business.
Of course, finding the time might
be hard, but it’s the hardest things
that are often the most rewarding.
I’ll vouch for that. After a couple of
very busy years I managed to
Jennifer Davidson, founder
and MD of Sleek Events,
explains how she managed to
transition from eventprof to
business owner
When I started Sleek Events I
was still ostensibly a
self-employed event
professional with a placement
student as my first employee.
With the help of a little black
book of trusted suppliers and
freelancers, the company grew
quickly along with our
reputation. A few years later, my
little black book looks a bit
dog-eared but my passion for
events hasn’t diminished. I’ve
Because
I’m happy…
Richard John channels his
inner Pharrell Williams
I’m not going to mention that B
word this month. Let’s face it,
we’re all a bit worn down by
three years of those antics.
Instead I thought I’d talk
about being a happy leader.
Sadly, this doesn’t involve me
telling you all some great jokes,
but I read a splendid piece by
Sian Harrington, founder of HR
specialist The People Space,
that struck a chord. Harrington
quoted Gartner’s report stating:
“…just 9% of HR heads agreed
their organisation is prepared
for the future of work”. That’s
bleak news, which is why her
company came up with the
snappy ‘HAPPINESS’ acronym,
to define the skills of future
www.conference-news.co.uk
Think Tank
achieve them.
There’s one
thing I should add: I make time to
still enjoy the thrill of an event. I
muck in when we’re really busy,
whether that’s at the registration
desk of a conference or taking
down a stand at the end of an
exhibition. Don’t deprive yourself
of your first love, but do develop
new passions along the way to
keep you feeling fulfilled.
squeeze in a month of
semi-isolation over the Christmas
break, holed up in the Dordogne
with some very fine wines,
working on projects that had been
gnawing away for a while. And in
the space and silence of the
French countryside amazing
things happened. Rest assured,
dear reader, you’ll be hearing
much more about them.
Yes, of course, that word I’m
not mentioning is going to be on
our mind for some time to come,
and some companies might think
about putting plans on hold.
Not me, as Steve Jobs wrote:
“the best way to predict the future
is to invent it.”