Time to step up the game

Had a great chat yesterday which lead to an invitation to speak at a workshop in a couple of weeks, and with a possibility of speaking at a bigger event in September. Yes! I won't lie. This has been an ambition of mine for some while. And it's also why I started blogging. I'll make it clear from the outset. This isn't about making money, this is about me talking.

There's a lot happening in the world, and a lot of people voicing an opinion on all and sundry. I don't think L&D is being best represented in the big bad world. There's far too many safe players who will tell you best practise looks like this, and the growing skills of L&D means x, and how we need to be more strategic in our delivery, and how businesses need to take L&D more seriously. That's what we're griping about in our profession? Are you kidding me?

There's very few people out there whose voice I respect and will listen to. Some in particular are Lee Sears, Gene Johnson, Peter Butler and Nick Shackleton-Jones. There are very many other speakers, but they are saying nothing of consequence. Same old same old. Sorry Perry Timms, even you're not that interesting. I like you, you engage an audience brilliantly and yYour work with the Big Lottery Fund is pretty great, but you're not describing or talking about anything which we haven't already seen, or aren't trying to achieve ourselves. This doesn't mean you don't add value, I just don't see you're actually pushing any agenda.

L&D is a veritable power force of change. I do, will, and foresee my role in the business I am currently in - and every business I will be in, as being one that I get to the heart of and create the L&D culture it deserves. And the only way this will happen is by being an internal consultant who gets at the heart of the business. External consultants serve a purpose, but have a very different perspective to what a business needs. My belief is, and hopefully comes through in all I do, that L&D doesn't rest with one person. L&D's role is to facilitate learning in whatever way is best.

I have a big hope that I do get asked for more speaking opportunities. Having 1 now, and a possible other later in the year is a great affirmation for me that I'm saying something which resonates with others. So, my focus has been given purpose. One other main activity I'm hoping to get sorted within a fairly short space of time is moving this blog to a proper platform. You'll have heard me ask questions about this in recent weeks, and I still have more to think about. So, I'm planning on making things happen for me. I'm quite clear about what I want to do, my road to getting there is proving to be interesting and exciting.