This week is Mental Health Awareness Week: a week designed to raise awareness of mental health, and how our employee experience at work can impact upon it… both for better and for worse.
Category: Personal development
I spent part of yesterday delivering one of my favourite training courses we offer via the Benefex University: CPD and Personal Development.
For me, taking ownership of my self-development is always something which has come naturally, perhaps because of my background training as an actor, where ownership of one’s own personal development is essential in order to progress. In the cut-throat world of professional theatre, there are no line managers, annual appraisals, or KPIs. Actors are taught from their first day of training to seek out every opportunity to upskill. After all, if you don’t do it, no one else is going to be doing it for you.
Search for literature and guidance on how to be a great manager, and you will be spoilt for choice. If you’ve ever gone to look for advice on how to be a great employee though… you might find it’s a very different story.
We’ve all met them, haven’t we? Those lucky b*stards who, when asked what they do, turn around and smugly announce “Oh, I’m a [job title]. I absolutely love my job.” And, for any of us who dread the Monday morning alarm call and spend every working hour wishing the week away, our reaction will be mixed with disbelief and envy. How can anyone love going to work?
Yesterday I was privileged to attend the Benefex Winter Forum, in the jaw dropping surroundings of the Ham Yard Hotel. Over the course of the day we were treated to an array of expert speakers presenting to us on a wide range of topics. The day provided me with an opportunity not only to learn about a number of different HR trends happening in the industry right now, but also to really appreciate the very impressive presentation skills displayed right across the panel of presenters.
In my blog post, 10 Things We Should All Do More of In 2017, I wrote about good reasons to feel the fear and do something anyway. Without a doubt, the most game changing (in a positive way!) moments of my career to date have been when I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone and done something outside of the norm. If you want to deliver something remarkable, you need be prepared to do something remarkable to get there.