We are delighted to be hosting former TV news presenter Jill Brown on our final talk of 2010. Jill will be sharing with us her wisdom & insight into managing the Media and how the media works. Jill spent six years working on STV’s news programme, ‘Scotland Today,’ as well as the social affairs, health and lifestyle series, ‘Scottish Action.’ She has also done some freelance reporting for the BBC’s ‘Radio Cafe,’ as well as producing documentaries. Jill spent two years managing PR for a Scottish charity and now runs Jill Brown Media, working with a range of clients who aim to change society for the better.

The media is undoubtedly a powerful force in society today and with so many voices vying for attention, how do you make sure you are heard? How can you get your story on the news agenda? Jill will also advise on how you push good news, as well as some tips for dealing with the bad.

During these recessionary times we are facing prayer, perseverance and perspective are key. This verse from the bible came to me as I was preparing today’s e mail and thinking about how to live out my convictions and beliefs in the workplace, especially when difficult decisions require to be made.

2 Peter 1 5:8 for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

So no matter what decisions we have to make let’s do it with the right motive and above all with love & kindness.

Our BiG Networking lunch in October will help unpack this. You will have the opportunity to participate in a practical exercise and complete your own Leadership Personality Profiling Questionaire, taking about 5 minutes. We will then look at the 4 key leadership styles identified in the questionaire, relating them both to ourselves and people we manage bringing fresh wisdom & insight.

This event will be fun and relaxing and you will also have a chance to network over a cold buffet lunch with the usual seating format at tables.

Remember if you lead yourself you are already a leader! If we want our leadership to last, we must pay attention to 4 crucial elements: “character, perspective, courage and favour” (John C Maxwell).

We do look forward to hearing from you and do hope you can join us on Tuesday 5th October 2010, please note booking is essential for catering purposes.

Event Report (by Jack Quinn)

Gayle Cattanach brought to our October meeting an encouraging and stimulating talk that as always with her warm smile and big heart brought reassurance to those who participated. Personality profiling is not new but there was something fresh about the practical tool Gayle gave us at our lunchtime meeting. It was simple to do, didn’t take long to complete and was surprisingly accurate when we started to make comparisons amongst ourselves.

What I particularly liked was the affirmation that there was no wrong answer (what does that say about me??). Similarly there was a time element to this profiling exercise in that doing it once does not mean we are locked into the particular profile that emerged. Gayle reminded us that at different stages in our lives a different emphasis in our personality may develop.

Gayle’s talk was so practical that it needed to be engaged with at the time to get the best benefit from it. Although I have attached the link to her presentation you may want to participate in the profiling exercise itself. Gayle has agreed to offer this to anyone who feels this could be of help to them or a group within their work place. This is in line with our desire as BiG Trustees to bring practical help and support to all who work in the workplace whenever or wherever we can. A number of people who could not be present have asked for further input from Gayle. If you would like to participate then please do get in touch by emailing Gayle at gayle@businessinglasgow.net.

Leadership Personality Profiling

The session will be full of practical hints and tips to help you live out and consider faith at work.

Download audio file (Ruth-Walker-Talk-BiG-7-Sept.mp3)
Download

Event Report
Ruth began her talk with energy and enthusiasm as it was a topic which lay very close to her heart. It was clearly a very personal view of her attitude to work as a committed Christian. Ruth has held a clear conviction since being ‘liberated’ by a stimulating address delivered by Mark Greene, Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity that our work can be vocational too. In Ruth’s view there is no Sacred-Secular divide.

The frontline as Ruth calls it could be, your work, homelife, leisuretime, even your church community if you have one! Ruth shared with us twenty things (PDF, 100 kb) she has learned about being a Christian in the workplace, (inspired by Alicia Morga when at Consorte Media) thirteen of them intensely practical as Ruth always endeavours to be. At the heart of what Ruth had to say was a key quote from the Bible:

Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:17)

Ruth went on to describe that the first phrase of that Bible verse sums up how much our work is of interest to God “Whatever you do,” which was pretty all encompassing! It was clear from Ruth’s talk that in her mind there is no divide between what is important to God in our lives. Basically all of our life. Since we spend 1700 hours a year with work colleagues here is a key opportunity to show and demonstrate the love of Christ to them in everything we do.

Following on from the recent survey exploring connections between work and spirituality, one of the key words that repeatedly came up was “busy”.

What about an opportunity to find a quiet space in the busyness of life and work, just to be? Sounds good doesn’t it? Interested?

Do email Gayle if you would like a slot.

Our week of prayer, starting on Sunday 16 May will cover 168 one hour prayer slots, split:

84 @ the Prayer Room, Renfield St Stephens, Glasgow 8 a.m -10 p.m
84 @ home slots or wherever you are at 10 p.m – 8 a.m

I very much look forward to hearing from you.

David is about to release a book called Relationships made Easy: How to get on with people we need to get on with…and stay friends with everyone else, and he will be talking to us about all that he has learned about relationships and connecting with other people as he has journeyed through life.

David works with organisations of all kinds and he’ll share some great insights into avoiding mistakes with other people and connecting successfully with them instead.