Every year we get invited to a large room for 7 hours where we have to listen to a collection of senior partners give us speeches that presumably are intended to inform, motivate and inspire us into action.
In the 30 years I've been in my particular firm, every single one of those hours has managed to pull that off.
Never been uninspired, nor demotivated, nor only partially informed - and by the end of such a super day, whatever there was that might have been useful has never been immediately forgotten. Even if It's probably in an email anyway.
Honest. Would I lie?
But in other firms I hear it's different. And surely their leaders must know this. Many are just not inspiring people. And manifestly not good speakers. So this is a colossal waste of time. It's like no one has ever asked before they booked the event 'would anyone be worse off if this day didn't happen?'
I believe that in 'those other firms', they don't seem to realise that having the confidence to speak to a large group of people is not an end in itself. I mean dogs have the confidence to bark, but we don't force everyone to listen to that for 7 hours.
Strategy man has found a way to cope. Hopefully if you're ever caught up in this type of thing, Strategy man's advice will help get you through it.
The boldness statements above are word-for-word what one firm said to its people one year. So I've heard. Couldn't possibly comment on my own firm.
As is the meaningless banner headline 'Tomorrow is Today', which it isn't.
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