Leading with grace
I attended a Network Central luncheon event yesterday hosted by Kim McGuinness. Kim established the Business Women’s Breakfast series in 2004 which has since expanded into a range of networking events that cover all manner of topics. It was not so much the official agenda of the day I’ll remember from the day, but rather Kim’s grace under fire when things didn’t go quite to plan.
The audience who had invested significant time and money to attend the working luncheon were at a loss when the guest speaker went into melt down, but not Kim. She held the audience beautifully as she relayed anecdotes of “emos” and the younger generations, and the implications for employers if we don’t build a strong sense of community within and beyond our workplaces. Kim’s focus on children as our future employees was a take I had not considered before.
The audience was captured by Kim’s stories as she led us through a series of anecdotes that were filled with emotion, sincerity and challenge. A wonderful case of emotion at work at its finest.
Congratulations Kim on building a fantastic network and for mastering sphinxx leadership.
October 16th, 2007 at 20:44:50
Kim is indeed a class-act - someone who walks her talk but also follows the ageless principle of serve others before yourself. She has been running the breakfasts for several years now. She has excellent speakers, runs the event with clarity and vision, but also with humility. Kim does not big-note herself and is resourceful - as evidenced by your post.
I know Kim from the breakfasts and through her kindness but these comments are given objectively based on my attendance at the breakfasts. One thing Kim does amazingly well is to take the time and trouble to learn your name! (tell us how you do it Kim!). A true pro.