Global Gestalt
Leadership Conference

I met 5 individuals, we discussed some of the topics that was covered and one topic in particular that we spent some time on in the speed networking sessions is how can we lead the unlovable which my point was that – there is no one who is unlovable. The perception that they are unlovable is because of past experiences that said individual went through and this is how they guard themselves, mainly out of fear. We must be the change that we want to see in essence show love and kindness to the individuals and in time they will mirror the treatment they have been given in the same way they have mirrored the “unlovable” treatment.

I enjoyed the 5-minute break out session done by the Keynote speaker Jonno Hanafin as it allowed me to share perspectives with two other participants. The Keynote speaker spoke about leading with love and giving thoughtful feedback which is very important for the growth and development of each and every team member. It’s about knowing your people and doing the right thing.

The conference promoted and encouraged a culture of “Love” and is a key actionable behavior that should be adopted and practiced by all leaders. It is very applicable to our team and if embedded more into our culture, will result in a more collaborative and inclusive team. I connected with the sponsor Sagicor with the intention of exploring our option to offer insurances on the products that we will soon be selling on credit terms.

I really enjoyed the session. “Leading with love” is something I’ve experienced working with my two leaders. This session just reminded me of those sessions and further challenged my views and perceptions about Millennials and Gen Zs, in terms of our need to adapt to changes in behaviour and expectations in the work place. Instead of being resistant to change, we now need to embrace the change/revolution of the modern generation who insist on work-life balance, hybrid working from home arrangements and flexible working hours. Gone are the days of master and servant, and in order to lead people in the modern world we need to do this by genuinely caring about each other; not jumping to negative conclusions or having negative suspicion about each other. The new way forward is built upon trust, love, influence and inclusion.

The sessions that stood out most to me was from speaker Maxine Attong “Love you, Love you not” where she spoke about building love relationships. Some pointers she gave were: Give without expectation; demonstrate what you want to see and we need to love ourselves to love others.

Another session that caught my attention was from speaker Jonno Hanafin “What’s love got to do with it”. He mentioned that we need to remember that as leaders, we lead people with different backgrounds, baggage’s etc, therefore, we need to deal with them differently.

The content delivered was good it helped a lot with self management and the understanding that leadership is not for the faint at heart and leaders need to be what’s missing from an organization/department/team. The tips received are fitting at any organization. As Barbara Perkins topic said we cannot lead with a leaky cup, essentially we need to be emotionally and mentally stable to lead effectively.