Don’t sit back in ennui

Much benevolence of the passive order, may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain on oneself

I’m currently sifting through my reams of notes from the NMBS Conference in order that our report in the July issue gives a proper flavour of what was said, by whom to those who couldn’t make it.

Over the years, I’ve seen a gazillion motivational speaker, inspirational leadership gurus, some of whom have experience of this industry, many others who clearly don’t. All of them have something to say that should resonate with some of their audience, if not all of it.

Some of these people really are inspiring and their talks will stay with you for a very long time. Others are interesting at the time, and you might remember their names or an image from the slide show, but that’s about it. I won’t be so rude as to name those in the second category (mainly because in many cases I can’t, which tells you something), but there are a good few in the first. Baroness Dame Tanni-Grey Thompson is one, Alastair Campbell, one of the best conference speakers I’ve ever seen is another. As is Robert Tansey, the TeamSky cycling chappie from the NMBS event in Tenerife, and Michael Caulfield is the only person whose presentation I have listened to again on the plane home, just for the pleasure of hearing it again.

Whether the presentations from this year’s event will stay with me as long, only time will tell, but there was a lot that resonated. Steve Collinge of Insight Retail group had a simple message: there are threats and opportunities out there don’t just  sit there and let stuff just happen to you, make sure that you are the one causing the happenings, and if knock backs or problems happen, then be in a position to act upon them, rather than sitting back and accepting it. Is that paragraph there simply so I can use the headline above? Maybe. Probably. Yes.

There were definitely some things that resonated with me on a personal level from both former footballer Paul McVeigh, about believing you can achieve something, and being motivated to achieve by others’ belief in you – that rang very true, and Adrian Webster about stepping out from one’s comfort zone.

However, the best quote about teamwork and motivation that I have heard in the past week or so came not from any of the paid speakers, or the industry gurus, but from a 20 year-old footballer from Birmingham. “Jude Bellingham is made up of some amazing people. It’s not just me who turns up, able to play football and enjoy it like I do. It’s because I have such a great support network, family, friends, teammates here and in Madrid. I’m so fortunate. The football’s the easy part.”

What a guy. He might have been media-coached to within an inch of his young life, but he makes it look so natural, and that’s as much of a talent as what he can do with his feet and, on Sunday, his head.