The urge to collaborate!

On October 31st I’m delighted to be speaking at the Communicate YOU Virtual Summit organized by LinkedIn aficionado Jennifer Corcoran. I met Jennifer this year, soon after she moved down to Devon from London and was busy settling into more rural surroundings. 

Enjoying a coffee overlooking Exeter castle, we discussed the possibility of an online summit – I was immediately attracted to the novelty and potential of this idea. Jennifer is a fast and shrewd worker and before the week was over, she’d pulled together an inspiring group of Devon businesswomen and shaped this germ of an idea into a clear proposal.

A few weeks later we all met in the new Grow Coffee House in Exeter to create our theme, get to know each other and our individual areas of expertise. It’s a wonderful thing when strangers can meet and co-create! A couple of (excellent!) coffees later, after we’d explored authenticity, voice, visibility, leadership and communication, the theme Communicate YOU emerged as a clear winner. We were off!

You can read all the details and register for our Communicate YOU Virtual Summit here.

The speakers

 So What’s driving this?

You might be wondering WHY offer a free event, create a value-packed session, invest time and commitment for no immediate reward? For me, it was a no-brainer and as a solo business owner I was eager to work with a group of creative collaborators. Although I didn’t put it into words at the time, I knew this was exactly what I needed.

On reflection, I can identify 8 clear reasons why I wanted to be involved:

1. Purpose & Permission Slips

I’m committed to inspiring others to create a life that really works for them. This is at the heart of my career change work and I love seeing the transformation in my clients as they realize they have the power to make the changes they are seeking.

It’s wonderful to see the penny drop – building a life on their own terms, that aligns who they are with what they do – really is possible. It reminds me of handing out permission slips. This online summit is a way of reaching more people and therefore handing out more permission slips to explore!

2.  Activate Values – and then use them

When I identified my own highest values - creativity, freedom, love, authenticity and vitality – everything became clearer. And when I started to make decisions based from this vital knowledge, I felt my whole life connect and make sense. This is something I love to share with my coaching clients and when I see them make future career choices that align with their values, I know they are on their best track and putting their talents to great use. 

 I believe this empowering knowledge of personal values is vital to a balanced and aligned life and in my session I’m focusing on exactly how we can all access and act on this knowledge. 

Authenticity in particular is very important to me. If I can’t be myself, speak openly, honestly and act on what matters most to me, I can’t be fulfilled. I’ve made some huge changes in my life to honour my values and I want to share that with a wider audience.

3. Collaboration

Working as a sole business owner can be a lonely experience. Don’t get me wrong, I have wonderful clients who inspire me and I love meeting people at business and networking events.  On a daily basis I have the brilliant freedom to shape my day, my business strategy, the tactics to reach my goals – all without recourse to a manager, colleagues and organizational targets. For me, this is gold dust!

But having said this, I also prize the magic that happens when like minded people sit together to work on a project they really care about. Communicate YOU has provided a beautiful opportunity to work with professionals I respect, to see them in action, share time and energy on a really worthwhile project. I find collaboration on these terms hugely energizing and a great way of extending my business knowledge. I’m learning from my fellow speakers at the same time as we come together to provide learning for our summit audience. 

4. Amplification

When ideas from different perspectives come together in the right conditions, the result expands tenfold. As a group we represent expertise in PR, Marketing, LinkedIn, Design, Leadership and Career Change. Within each specialist area we have many years of experience and bring this to the topic Communicate YOU. 

The cross-fertilisation is rich for each of us and I will be a similar catalyst for everyone who joins us. Ideas grow, develop and take on new life when they rub shoulders with different perspectives and know-how.

5. Mutual Support

Alongside the opportunity to learn from each other’s knowledge, there is also the attraction of sharing, liking, commenting and encouraging each other’s efforts to market and bring this summit to the world. Behind the scenes as well as out there in social media land, there has been an incredibly atmosphere of support and mutual endeavour. I know these relationships will last beyond the 31st October and by stretching ourselves to this new mode of delivery (only one of us has delivered on a virtual summit before), we’ll take this shared experience into future projects and connections. Relationships in business matter!

6. Excitement

There’s also the fun and energy that happens when a project offers the opportunity to be creative. It’s exciting to see what we’re building together and I’m full of anticipation to welcome our virtual audience – and to build relationships with them too. I know new opportunities will come from this project and that is also a source of excitement for each of us.

7. Reach and visibility – the business case

With my business head firmly screwed on my shoulders, I can see just how much extra reach we are each achieving by collaborating on this project. I’ve received many new connection requests, discovered new shared interests and have reached many more potential clients. By becoming more visible, I hope we can each reach someone new who needs to hear our message. Whether immediately, or in the future, our audience will learn something, start to believe in a fresh possibility, and make vital changes they are seeking. Business will follow, but so will change.

8. Offering opportunities

Each of us will speak on what Communicate YOU means to us and from our professional standpoint. By sharing our own take on Communicating YOU, we’ll spark new ideas in our delegates and actions will follow. Many of these will be invisible to us, but that doesn’t deny the impact and importance of how one idea starts a train of thought, action, reaction and transformation that all good learning allows.

After the Event

Now the event is over - and huge thanks to everyone who joined us live or listened to the replays, I have some great news!

If you’d like to listen to all the sessions again, you can do so via this charity page.

Here’s a reminder of of our sessions:

• How to Raise your Personal Brand on LinkedIn by Jennifer Corcoran

• Thought Leadership: Stepping out of the Shadows by Ellen Carroll

• Communicating YOU Starts with your Why by Angela Rimmer

• Communicate YOU in your Career Choices by Becky Kilsby (listen below)

• Communicate your Brand Effectively by Jess Cook

• How to be a Better Boss by Aline Foster.

And to watch my session, just click the link below. I’d love to know what you find most useful and if you have any questions, please leave your comments below this blog to use the Contact page.

While the Summit Offers are no longer available, if you’d like to explore whether a Values Discovery package is right for you, take a look here and contact me to set up a free initial Discovery Call.

My Session: Communicate YOU in Your Career Choices

In this session I’ll show you how by Communicating YOU in your career choices you can create a more purposeful and fulfilling working life. 

Highlights:

·     Identifying your highest values

·     How these can be used to make confident and aligned career and life choices

·     How your values can boost your engagement at work – right now

·     Success stories of aligned career changes

Far too many professionals are dissatisfied with their careers and feel disengaged at work. By gaining clarity on your personal values, you will be able to understand one important measure for your own career success and how you can take action today to create greater fulfillment.