Do you remember your favourite teacher at school? Mine was called Mrs Fury. I’ve just googled her and found a Facebook entry on an old staff photo where someone’s commented, “A fierce and funny teacher who was there when I needed her most!” That’s exactly how I would describe her too. She got me into drama and writing sketches for the school show and all sorts of things.
The people we spend 39 weeks a year with have a huge influence on what we end up like as a person, and what we do for a career. Here I am writing for a living for instance. She is also one of the reasons that I can stand up and talk in front of people, although sometimes I could do with a pep-talk from her beforehand.
The reason I can approach anyone at a networking event, hand outstretched and start talking is because of a female boss I had when I first moved to Leeds. Roll on a few more years, and I now work at an organisation where ALL of the senior leadership team are female. All of them! How often does that happen? It’s something that we talk about in business; how do we get more women in the board room… Well, ours is full!
Sounds like I’m shaping up to an International Women’s Day post here. Sort of. What I’m trying to say, in my usual roundabout way, is that the people (in my case mostly women) who help shape your lives are important, and I wonder if we thank them or support them enough to manage the load of lifting others.
Next Tuesday, we’re inviting educators in to visit Lighthouse Futures Trust. We know they get asked by parents, carers and guardians constantly about the next step for young people and we want to give them some of the answers, make things a bit easier for them. And there’ll be cake. So, if you’re an educator helping young people with an EHCP their post-16 choices, then we’d love you to come along. Email us or leave a comment below if you’d like to come.