On the 29th of October we held the Graduation event for our 2019 Waterway Management Twinning Program participants. Our morning was spent together reflecting on the program and what it has meant to everyone involved. We shared our insights and experiences using the ‘what happened’, ‘so what’ and ‘what next?’ reflection prompts. Some of the answers you can see in the photos below, with a range of approaches taken by participants to share their findings:
Useful link: Simon Sinek’s Starting with your why
What is captured on these pages are words that express not only the skills and capacities developed over the program, but also the pleasure and gratitude of having time to spend on a work related project with a different set of guiding principles. Rather than pressing deadlines, constant distraction and ‘busyness’, the mentoring program encouarges people to take time to listen to each other, meet and chat regularly, and most importantly, put personal needs and desires at the forefront of the relationship.
In the afternoon we were joined by others keen to hear the stories from each of our mentoring partnerships about what they had achieved over their time together. It was a great session that included a game show (!), and I found myself feeling a mix of pride, joy and satisfaction that mentoring had yet again worked its magic. Sarah put together this lovely montage of photos in a short film that captures the graduation event.
So back to how I started this story with my ‘Why’ – the Waterway Management Twinning Program is all about valuing people, relationships and networks. This is because we know that investing in people is just as important as the places they care about. My why is about enabling this to happen because I truly believe that:
“We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”
– Sir Winston Churchill
Our Graduation for 2019 reinvigorated my why and confirmed the value to be found in empowering and supporting others in their endeavours.
Thank you to everyone involved in the Waterway Management Twinning Program – our management team of Jan, Adam, Jane, Peter and Simone, and of course, our fabulous participants. It has been a great year, and over the coming months we will share the stories from each of our mentoring partnerships about what they have achieved together.
Janice has put together this lovely film that provides an overview of the year.
And some lovely words from Marnie that confirms why the mentoring program matters to us.
“Just a quick email to say a big thank you for your enthusiasm in delivering the program that is Twinnings. I really feel like I gained so much that will encourage me to step outside my comfort zone a little more often, and what a great bunch of people I have met along the way.”
– Marnie Ellis
We are delighted that the program will run again in 2020 and all our places are taken. If you are interested in getting involved in 2021 you can submit an Expression of Interest here ?