BuildForceblog comes this month from our Chief Exec Angela Forbes MBE:
“I am loving a particular video at the moment. It lasts all of 23-seconds and it is the best thing I have seen in ages. It is an endearing combination of endurance, focus, strength, and determination. It shows the human spirit at its best, capturing life for so many of us in just one clip. A little 6-year-old, on the far side wearing a yellow t-shirt, bouncing on a yellow space hopper is racing ahead and living his best life……..until he crashes headfirst. You will feel his pain. Then you will be impressed when he gets up and tries again. Indefatigable. 14-seconds in you are pleased for the wee soul giving it his all, and by 18-seconds every part of you is rooting and willing him on.
The feelings it conjures captures the very essence of our role as a senior leader; a line manager; a mentor; a buddy; a colleague; a human being. The emotion and willing you feel for that child, call it religious/ spiritual/ maternal, is within all of us. Please do not lose it!. We are at our most powerful when we positively influence, support and encourage others. So, lets use our superpower; lets support those who have fallen. Cheer them on as they try. And if needs be, get on your own space hopper and show them how it is done. You do not know who is watching and the impact you may have on them. As Churchill reflected “…… I just watch what they do. Behaviour never lies.” So, bounce and bounce like you mean it!
On the theme of watching ones baby with pride (yes he’s mine), I had the privilege of watching some of your babies with great pride, as they prepared for their Commission, when I attended the Commandants Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst during the summer, also my first visit to Sandhurst. WOW! What a splendid, world class display it was. As cadets from every background stood shoulder to shoulder, the incarnation of leadership and service; with families united in their patriotism and pride. I could not help but wonder, when do they stop being your baby? And is the hardest feat and test really for the parents watching, who need to let go and embrace the new leader in front of them, trusting the newly-ingrained maturity, humility, integrity and resilience will see them through when they fall off their space hopper (and will they still bring their washings home?!).
Finally, we are fresh off the back of the BuildForceInsightDay in Manchester, hosted by STRABAG UK. I do hope those who attended feel like they stepped out of the fog and into clarity. Those job titles on the flyers are now possibilities. You are not someone who is leaving the Armed Forces, but someone who is coming into construction. Esprit de corps never leaves you; you are part of something far greater that I as a civilian will ever understand, but you are doing what you are designed to do: enter a new mission. And BuildForce and I, are your biggest cheerleaders.”
Best, Angela