Each year, my work sponsor places on personal development programmes for men and women, and these called Navigator and Springboard respectively. They consist of four day long sessions at a location, away from work, spread over four months – and in 2002 between May and August I attended the Navigator. It was interesting, and thought-provoking, held at Wolfson College, Oxford, and involved a very nice three course lunch… ^__^
At the time though, perhaps because I did not get the revelatory, BIG change in myself that some of my friends who have done the Springboard course got in themselves, I was left with the impression that although it was interesting, and thought-provoking, it did little more than reaffirm in my mind things that I already knew or had worked out for myself.
This year though, Human Resources sent round and email to past particpants asking if we could talk with any prospective-participants for this years programme. I agreed to this, and today, I had a short chat with someone in Finance interested in going on it. I explained, in a bit more depth what Navigator involved, and what I got out of it, I explained more or less what I’ve outlined above (but in more detail that I shall spare you)…
Anyway, it was during this chat, that something quite unexpected happened to me: I realised how much of an emormous help Navigator had been to me, how much it has affected the way that I think, feel and behave. I’ve done things that I would have never have done before. I now feel able to speak out and say what I’m feeling/thinking, instead of shying a way into a corner and bottling it up. I’ve started this journal – I don’t think I could have been so open and written things here before then. I was in Tallinn last summer and saw the amber pendant wanted it, bought it and have worn it every day since (well apart from the days when I’m wearing the silver one from Edinburgh), and felt good about it – I certainly couldn’t have done that two, three years ago! I’m more open with my feelings, and I think I’m happier for it.
And all this realisation from five minutes talking with someone of whom I’ve never met, about a course that I was previously unsure of. I guess very often, you don’t realise how much something has affected you until you attempt to describe it to someone else. I felt so inspired by this that I felt I had to go there and then and talk with the training officer in HR how much I do value the course after all. I recommend it to anyone! ^__^
