Janet’s Contribution Acknowledged

Three times a year, the Global Integration team gets together.
As a virtual team of trainers living mostly out of suitcases, it’s important for a sense of community that not only are the operational and housekeeping issues addressed, but that we make time for both community and celebration. And our kick off meeting in 2012 was no exception.

At this year’s first meeting we celebrated the long service of one of our senior consultants, Janet Davis from the UK. (It was a ten year celebration, even though she’s been with us for twelve, but we had to run the celebrations in order of longevity. Our team has had little attrition over the years.)

Janet joined the company by accident, having responded to an advertisement in The Times.  CEO Kevan Hall already knew her as a great trainer, having worked with her at Mars. But she had taken time out as a ski instructor, enjoying life on the piste, and it was in that context that she had been reading the paper.

The rest, as they say, is history. Over the ensuing decade, Janet has had a huge influence on the way that Global Integration’s training was delivered, ditching the PowerPoint ‘Sage on a Stage’  in favour of the company’s current, more interactive style of training that keeps learners engaged and participative, valuing and making the most of the experience that is inevitably already in the room in any training or consultancy setting.

We think Janet is incredible. Over the years she has demonstrated that ‘good enough’ just isn’t!  We once ran a team event around horses. Janet insisted on taking lessons beforehand. Any really dysfunctional teams? Janet loves working with them, delivering fantastic results. The fact that she didn’t just don some skis on the piste, she took herself to a level where she was competent to teach, speaks volumes.

Nowhere does this show more than in her love of dance, in particular the Balboa.  She likes to keep her work and home life very separate, something that we’ll respect here (although if you’re chatting with her, do ask about the penguins – it’s a great ice breaker) but this line has been taken from a review of a dance event that Janet was due to appear at:

“…known for their lively and interactive style of teaching, encouraging people to learn for themselves and look at things from a new angle “

The qualities that we value her for are more than just for show at work!