I was invited to a business presentation and formal dinner by the recruitment consultant who previously took me to the RAC Club. This event was held at 'the Cavalry & Guards Club' on Piccadilly - again very much along the lines of an old fashion gentleman's club. Fab building and loads of artwork of soldiers, horses, battles etc.
Initially my colleague and I managed to get misdirected and ended up at a book launch for the first hour...an error which was a bit of a farce as it was bewildering and amusing in equal measure...I have no idea who on earth I was talking to, but whoever they were, they were interesting company and didn't seem to mind us gatecrashers quaffing their drinks.
In the end however, we found the correct location. The guest speaker was Stuart Tootal DSO OBE who'd led our Troops in Afghanistan before resigning on principle at the lack of basic equipment. Very interesting chap who conducted a presentation around military versus corporate leadership and the associated issues. It wasn't your usual management theory, but far more practical, dare I say it, common sense approaches, which he's successfully put into place in a corporate environment. You can easily see why he commanded so much respect but what I really liked about him was he wasn't arrogant, genuinely appears to believe in empowerment, and obviously has stacks of integrity....major bit that's missing from most people in senior positions from what I see.
Following the talk there was an 'open floor'. I'm always slightly intimidated by the fact that I've not got a military background, and feel like I'm the token female but couldn't help contributing the the ensuing debate and really enjoyed the evening which was rounded up by a very nice dinner.
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