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…