Colleagues came together for our two-day Leadership Event this week.

The event - at Acre Mills - had a Game Show theme on Day 1 and welcoming guests, Helen Barker urged the room to have fun. "It is about leadership but it is about fun," she said. 

She said leadership was important in the changing landscape within the NHS and we have to be on our front foot rather than reacting to situations.

"We have to do what's right for us, and what's right for our patients and what's right for the public."

In the past the conference has focussed on annual planning. This year, we were aiming to harness all the creativity shown at last year's event. We also wanted to highlight the Talent Management recipe card in The Cupboard  - our new digital people strategy - which was launched earlier this year.

Motivational Speaker Kev House from the Art of Brilliance came along. Kev, who started his career teaching in primary schools, asked people to imagine a world where every human was the best version of themselves. He explained it's not about having more money, or making things easier - as this is unlikely to change in the NHS. 

He said: "You'll hear people saying "I'll be happy when I've paid my mortgage" or "I'll be happy when it's the weekend" . So he challenged people to think of three simple things they could change to make a difference.

Sponsorship paid for the food and audio equipment hire - so thanks to Interserve, Henry Boot and Bevan Britton.

We asked Chief Operating Officer, Helen Barker, for more:

What are these days all about/aimed at?

These are an opportunity to bring together leaders at all levels of the organisation to learn together, work together and find solutions to complex issues together that improves care for our patients and staff.

They used to be called Planning days – what’s the difference?

Having launched our Cupboard and our ‘One Culture of Care’ we wanted to spend some time with colleagues equipping them with the tools and techniques to make these a reality and spend some time on identifying solutions to those complex issues as identified by staff. This is about ensuring we have a solid foundation of leadership on which to plan hence the name change.

Who’s invited?

It’s a real cross-section of leaders from across CHFT from all four clinical divisions and corporate colleagues. There are clinical and non-clinical colleagues from across the Trust and we will be hearing from some of our Star Award winners showing that leadership is about who you are and not a title.