Four years ago I wrote a blog post about returning from researching some boarding schools in Canada for our son who had expressed an interest in taking a different path in his education journey. This summer he graduated from Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario. Three weeks ago he started his college career, studying economics at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, with his first semester actually being spent in Berlin, Germany. Yeah, I’m proud of him.
I am in New Orleans attending the American Rental Association trade show. I find it a great annual update on the latest in the rental industry, an opportunity to learn at the many seminars, and a time of networking with peers in the industry who face similar challenges. Yesterday the show opened with a keynote talk delivered by Peyton Manning, the Super Bowl-winning quarterback and five-time NFL MVP (and New Orleans native). He offered some insight into leadership qualities that reach across industries and even sports. Read on.
Photo from: http://www.athletize.com/peyton-manning-wallpaper/
Peyton observed that decision-making is the currency of a successful business leader, and that to help leaders make decisions they must have people around them who will give unqualified answers and critiques. Honest opinion from the team will help a leader implement the vision for the enterprise.
Always an outstanding event, Engage14, the luxury wedding summit, is even more of everything this year. I first attended an Engage conference in 2009 and it was a game changer for me. I met incredibly motivating people who would shape my entrepreneurial thinking over the next several years. 2014 is the first Engage conference held in Cayman for three years, and is an opportunity to learn from the superstars of the industry, to network with the forward thinking, and to brag on Cayman a bit.
Rather than verbatim reporting, my recap series will be short key takeaways of the speakers and events each day. Read on.
As a Rotarian for around 15 years and proud Past President of the Rotary Club of Grand Cayman I can tell you that I have heard many guest speakers. Most are are ok, some are even good. This past Thursday I was so fortunate to be there when Dr. Thomas Haggai, Chairman of IGA Global Supermarkets, spoke to our club. He would be in the rarefied company of great guest speakers at our club. His comments really resonated with me, and I think they will with you also. Read on.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/igausa/8703938461/in/set-72157633394634099/
Dr. Haggai is a well-respected speaker, and has lead IGA supermarkets on a global growth strategy over the almost 40 years he has been with the company. He keeps up a grueling travel schedule, and this trip to Cayman was to personally present the local owners of the IGA store here in Cayman with an award. The company honoured Woody Foster of Fosters IGA at a company event in the USA several weeks ago, but it is an important part of the culture of IGA to have the award also presented locally.
Rotary was the real beneficiary of his visit as he used the time allotted to him to share his thoughts on how to be successful in life… in three easy steps. They are:
The other day my wife had a coaching session with our business coaching company, Shirlaws Cayman. At the end of the session as papers were being gathered and coloured pens put away, Kristen, our coach, asked Christina to take a moment and jot down her ‘key learnings. Why is this so important? Read on.
Every day in business we participate in meetings. We pull out the requisite notepad, scribble away, then generally conclude the meeting with some tasks to be done before the next meeting. What is different about recording ‘key learnings’? I thought about this for a bit, and reflected on my own past reporting of key learnings after my coaching sessions. The list below is not exhaustive, by any means, but reflects my thinking on the value of recording ‘key learnings’.