I had just finished running a Chairing Skills course for a group of councillors for a north west local authority.  As I was packing up, one came to me and said: “you’re old, aren’t you?”

Well – no arguing with that – but the directness of the question did take me by surprise!  However, he went on to say:

“that’s what really added value today.  I thought the course was terrific; you clearly knew what you were talking about, and could reference years of experience – which gave me and my colleagues confidence in what you were saying.  28 year olds may have it from the book, but you have it from life”

So – an endorsement for age and experience!  So thank you!  (And I received a full 100% satisfaction on the feedback form against all the headings we use….).  From my experience (!), councillors can be a hard audience, so it’s really gratifying to get this feedback and endorsement from the whole group…