Last night, we hosted Intelligent Lessons, the first in our Intelligent Series.The five speakers were incredible and our heartfelt thanks goes out to each and every one of them for taking the time to impart their wisdom for us. Following the speeches, we broke into groups for a few different rounds of discussion about ourselves, success and life more generally.

Here are some of the key take-outs:

What characteristics do you admire in your friends and colleagues?

Loyalty, Honesty, Passion, Drive, Ingenuity, Sense of humour, Generosity, Enthusiasm, Resilience, Kindness, Curiousity, Empathy, Understanding, Respect, Professionalism, Courage, Determination, Entrepreneurial spirit, Good communication skills, Risk-taking, Organisational skills, Follow through…

What is success?

Freedom, Happiness and Harmony, Contentment, Waking up with a sense of purpose, Balance, Financial flexibility, Achieving goals that you’ve set for yourself, Fulfilling the role that you’re doing, Finding meaning in your life, Work life balance…

What sort of characteristics do you think make someone successful?

Holding the vision and trusting the process, Self-acknowledgement, Drive and tenacity, Continual development, Gratitude, Empathy, Structure, Belief in oneself, Resilience, Dreams, Hard work and preparedness, Risk-taking, Being prepared to fail…

What common wisdom/saying/expression is oft heard within your industry?

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”
“Follow your passion”
“It’s about: People, people, people”
“Get the right people on the bus”
“Sell the benefits, not the features”
“Feel the fear and do it anyway”
“Run towards your fear”
“Is it making the boat go faster?”
“If it is to be, it is up to me”

The feedback we’re already receiving has been fabulous and we’re already looking forward to Intelligent Goals on February 12, 2014.

“Well done on creating a fabulous networking event – it was one of the best I’ve been to.” – Vicki

“Hi Christina,
I just wanted to thank you and team for running this very cool event, I’m looking forward to the next one! It was great to see common themes coming through the speakers even though they had independent material. I found it particularly validating when the lessons being learned are some that I have learnt myself, and live at any given time – particularly Logan’s lesson of making your own luck. And a quote I saved once comes to mind by Will Rogers “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll still get run over if you just sit there” and running with that theme, I think it doesn’t matter what direction you are moving in – so long as you are moving. The direction is always your future and you are moving toward it, and the task at hand is to enjoy the journey.
Love – Your Intelligent Guest” – Julie