“Stigma killed my friend” says Geoff McDonald movingly “why wasn’t he able to talk?”
Geoff is a former Global Head of HR at Unilever. He now heads up the mental health charity, Minds@Work, devoting his time and energy to changing the narrative around how we discuss mental health in the workplace.
“Organisations are non-entities, people are organisations”.
Dr Aravind Srinivasan, Aravind Eye Care System
However much we like to imagine we’re in control of Connect, we know what happens in the room (garden, tent, field, amphitheatre) and what plays out in each of our minds as we walk away cannot be planned.
Here’s a glimpse into the wonderful couple of days we had down on the farm at Sheepdrove for our last event of Connect 2017, Reconnect. It sure was HOT HOT HOT but what a beautiful setting! Some great photos of our fantastic Connect 2017 members along with our fabulous speakers.
After two discussion-filled days on Leading Change at Sheepdrove we reflect on where leaders choose to begin in the face of big, difficult or complex change and what these start points tell us about the longer journey
“Get the start right, the right point of entry, that’s how you get a conversation going, that’s how you walk toward people.”
Rob Burnet, CEO & Founder, Well Told Story
In June we were back at Sheepdrove for our final Connect event of 2016. The weather may not have smiled on us, but our fascinating conversations about organisational and behaviour change made up for that.
Here are some photos of our last two Connect events of 2015 – the Leadership Masterclass at the beautiful House of St Barnabas and Reconnect 3 at the fantastic Westminster Boating Base overlooking the Thames. A great couple of days …
Roy Disney once said “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are”.
We’re sad to say it’s our last event of Connect 2014 – but what a day it was! We looked back over our Connect year together, thought about our future beyond Connect and discussed how to keep ourselves resilient when the going gets tough.
Reconnect 3, the final event for the Wavelength Connect 2014 Members. And what an event it was! The theme of the day was Resilience. As the Members get ready to fly the Connect Nest and head out into the big wide world putting everything they have learned into practise, they will certainly need it!
Unilever is on a journey, you could even say a leap of faith, to make the world a better place. This talk by Geoff McDonald, Global VP HR – Marketing, Communications, Sustainability & Water at Unilever, makes us believe the world, despite the environmental and social challenges it faces, will be OK.
The 19th Century author and humourist Mark Twain once said that “the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Little did he know then that his simple but painfully exposing challenge would force some of Britain’s top leaders to contemplate the meaning of their lives, the importance of their work and the human values that drive them.
