Blog

Young people today

As fires rage and looting runs on around the country it’s timely to remember that far less than 1% of young people are involved so over 99% are peaceful and many are a positive influence on the world.

So I’m doubly proud to post my daughter’s blog on her experience in Manvi, Southern India where she was working with the Dalit community (the Untouchables) for the past month. These are people who truly have nothing and their young people are disadvantaged in a way most in this country couldn’t begin to imagine.

The young people on this trip and many thousands like them are living their personal brand and showing leadership qualities from an early age. Something to remember as we watch those scenes of violence around the UK.

Here’s what Guenna has to say:

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Take My Breath Away – Customer Service

I’m a bit of a DIY fan so I like nothing better at the weekend than trekking round the local DIY store gazing longingly at the latest power tools and wishing I could persuade someone to buy one for me. These days I like to shop at B&Q rather than some of the other big stores. Why? Because they give excellent Customer Service.

For me that means taking time to listen to the customer, understand what they’re saying and then go the extra mile to help meet their needs. That’s true whether it’s a DIY store, a financial services company or an airline.

Which brings me to a sad tale of atrocious customer service. Virgin Atlantic recently lost my luggage on a flight to Newark. An all too regular occurrence apparently – according to a recent survey by LV they lose about 1 in 8 bags!

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Bridging the Gender Gap – One woman’s story

I was having lunch with friends recently. Elizabeth is a successful woman engineer in her late sixties. She has run her own company for many years, having worked for the MoD, Ferranti and other big engineering companies.

We got to talking about the work we do at Aspire Leadership with women in general and engineers in particular. Elizabeth and I have never seen quite eye to eye on this subject so it was a lively discussion.

The way any individual woman tackles her journey through the engineering field varies. Some steadily challenge the status quo, some quietly establish a reputation and others confidently blaze a trail. There are many different paths and who’s to say which is best for any individual?

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