May 2023 - Schaffhausen & Zurich, Switzerland
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May was a turbulent month.
I briefly thought, "Great, I've missed out on all the flues, Covid, and these things this winter season ".
Then a few days later, a nasty sinusitis hit me.
I was down with an incredible headache, throat pain, and a heavily blocked nose.
Gratefully, my husband was at my side.
Philipp cooked and mentally supported me, sometimes watching a few hours of Kung Fu Panda in the evening.
These activities only worked when the pain in my head was not pulsing and all-encompassing.
The rest of the time, I slept.
Moment of Yuanfen
A few weeks earlier, I received a LinkedIn message.
Sara and I met at the House of Beautiful Business two years ago.
She was helping Isabel from Dätwyler to find a speaker for their annual management conference.
Two days later, an e-mail arrived in my inbox.
I've received the same request through the IDEO network. This request was truly meant to be.
For the one's out there who joined the journey of these Lea's Stories later:
Yuanfen (緣分) in Chinese translates into "Moments in time that are meant to be."
I called up Sandra, a dear colleague in our senior management, and upon a short discussion, we decided to offer Dätwyler a different kind of speaking engagement.
Instead of a keynote speech, a sharing session.
Instead of one speaker in the spotlight, a conversation of two.
Co-Creating inspirational stories
Thanks to Sandra's pre-work and heavy loads of Ibuprofen, I prepared for the speech during the days after the immediate sinusitis attack.
Inspired by the approach Sandra and I chose, I multiplied the inspirational conversation in two other settings.
I changed the approach in preparation for the Mtec Career Lunch with Heini and Anna.
And at the HR Summit, we talked about Academia collaboration again with Heini.
Co-Creating lasting memories
These shared moments in the spotlight were nerve-racking.
My pulse is naturally high when I speak in front of a bigger crowd.
My voice trembles in the first few minutes.
Sweat production increases.
Will the technical setup work?
Will the slides and printouts be ready?
Similar to an Improv Theatre show, I realized that a shared speaking engagement also has other potential pitfalls:
Making sure the changes of a speaker are smooth
Helping each other out during the flow
Adjusting the tone of the flow to the partner and to the audience's mood on that day
Thank you, Noel, Isabel, Isabel, and Dirk, as hosts of the speaking engagements, for your openness towards new formats of keynote speeches.
And thank you, Sandra, Heini, and Anna, for collaborating and the trust we had to put into this together.
Finally, thank you, Philipp, for nurturing me in these days of endless headaches.
I apologize for passing the germs to you too.
Through all illnesses, speaking engagements, mountain hikes, or yoga sessions.
Through all highs and lows of life, all cycles of nature, human moods, and economic waves.
Life is simply better together.