My dad has piles of giant dusty blue scrapbooks, they are crammed full of photos taped inside of us on various steam trains, old British red buses, and watching English football matches.
When I go back home to England I love looking through those albums. One the saddest lost arts due to technology is the decline of physical family photo albums. I occasionally create photo books for special events, but it occurred to me on my last VALuable insights of 2018 I’d provide a virtual photo album of some of my clients and my work in 2018.
1. The most dramatic conference room: LA Lakers
I ran a Thoughtfully Ruthless session for Allison Howard, VP of Corporate Partnerships at LA Lakers, in their spectacular conference room with gigantic floor to ceiling windows overlooking their training court. Allison brought her team together at the perfect time, during the final days of preseason as everyone was preparing for the arrival of LeBron James.
2. Amazon Executive John Phillips magically creating more time for his team
I worked with John at Starbucks and now he leads a global team at Amazon. Right before holiday peak he made the wise choice to bring his worldwide leadership team together to unlock capacity for Amazon’s distribution business.
3. Retreat for Belkin’s Global IT Division
CIO Lance Ralls knew his team around the world needed to galvanize to increase the impact technology has on the brilliant products Belkin produces. During our event many new ideas were created that would increase profit, and the team identified ways to save hours of time.
4. Working with the Microsoft Teams and Skype organization
MIcrosoft has brilliant technology to increase productivity yet still knows to invest in their executives if they are to continue on their rapid innovation journey. I worked with GM of Skype and Microsoft Teams, Lori Wright, to identify new innovative ideas for the marketing team to increase their productivity and impact.
5. Featured in Alumni magazine
Last year I went back to school and returned to speak at my former college, the University of Wolverhampton Crystal Lecture. This year they featured me in their alumni magazine.
6. Genoa Healthcare executives at Terranea
If you ever need a destination resort for your next executive event I highly recommend Terranea Resort. Set on a former SeaWorld location, the views of the ocean, food, and service is spectacular. I worked with executives from Genoa Healthcare on two workshops; Being Thoughtfully Ruthless, and Influencing and Communicating with your Board for Maximum Impact.
7. Donating Thoughtfully Ruthless to the Westridge Class of 2018
I wrote Thoughtfully Ruthless with executives in mind, so when an 18 year old senior at Westridge School for Girls read it and said she found it valuable, I decided to donate a copy to her whole graduating class. Copies got included in a care package in October.
8. An alternative to fluffy team building
I have spoken at 24 of Gartner’s Evanta Executive summits and if you know my work, you know I have strong objections to fluffy pointless team building. Prior to Seattle’s CMO Executive summit, the remarkable chef and entrepreneur Tom Douglas provided us with a memorable cooking lesson, the perfect way to bring together executives without uncomfortable futile activities.
9. Harvest Summit
I continue on the board of Harvest Summit, now in our third year. Our invite only field trip in Sonoma is the perfect place for executives to burst out of their usual circles of friends and explore the possibilities when unexpected pairings occur.
This is just a glimpse into some of my travels and work with my clients over the last twelve months. Other confidential projects have included unlocking rapid growth by working with executives on product roadmaps, digital transformation, creating innovation jump-starters, advising boards, and private executive advisory work.
I’d love to hear what is on your horizon for 2019 and beyond. Email me or text me and we can set up a call or meeting so I can hear more and provide you with some ideas that will help you rapidly grow and innovate.
Now, I’ll get back to creating some more photo books…
Happy New Year!
Val
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