Full day workshop reflections and testimonial.
Etched into the sandstone Michie Building of the University of Queensland, in Brisbane (as part of the very impressive Great Court) is the last line of the poem An Essay On Man: Epistle IV, Alexander Pope, a provocation of self-awareness, curiosity and exploration of knowledge acquisition:
“That Reason, Passion, answer one great aim;
That true Self-love and Social are the same;
That Virtue only makes our bliss below;
And all our knowledge is, Ourselves to know.”
An Essay On Man: Epistle IV, Alexander Pope
I was there to deliver a full days ‘purposeful storytelling’ workshop with the first year cohort of the Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership, providing the students with a learning adventure exploring the different approaches in the narrative form, with the aim of igniting a passion in the oratory plus leaving them with a bunch of approaches / experiences for future application:
“This is one of those cases where the “relationship” category here catastrophically breaks down. DK and I have done work together in many different contexts since we met in 2012 when we were both giving keynotes at the same conference. Since then, he’s brought me in to give workshops at BizDojo and a keynote and workshop at the Creative Leadership New Zealand 2018 Conference, I’ve been a participant in a couple of the TEDxWellington satellite events that he organised, and recently, we flew him over from Wellington to run a workshop for the Liveris Academy Scholars on presenting authentically.
The thing that jumps out at you about DK in all of these different settings is that he is a wonderful human being. Connection and collaboration are at the heart of everything that he does, and this animates all of his activities. The second thing is that he is a SUPERB assembler of talent. I am still friends with several of the awesome people that he pulled together for CLNZ18 – both because they’re awesome people, and also highly skilled. Finally, DK is an outstanding speaker himself. He has clearly thought through the issues around speaking at a very deep level.
The workshop that he gave for us in the Liveris Academy for Innovation & Leadership last month illustrated many of his skills. While working with a younger cohort than he normally does, DK was still able to work out how to meet them where they are at, and he designed and delivered a fantastic day for the students.
If you ever have a chance to collaborate with DK, I highly recommend taking advantage of it!”
Tim Kastelle, Professor and Director, Andrew N. Liveris Academy for Innovation and Leadership, Co-Founder The Intangible Labs, Innovation Guy
Huge thanks to Tim and Kate from the program in making this happen and for the opportunity plus the students for their attention, trust and wonderful participation.