In Boeblingen

This week I have been in Boeblingen, Germany.  A small town outside of Stuttgart, it is home to Mercedes Benz and the German headquartes of HP.  I've been here facilitating a class called HP Software Manager MILEstones along with a friend from Australia and some newly met colleagues from the US.  The class is about developing great managers and is structured and delivered quite differently from more traditional manager training.  It's very interactive and includes sessions on innovation and storytelling as well as some of the more expected topics on leading your team.  This was our Phase 2 of facilitator training and according to our coaches we stepped up and delivered at a Phase 3 level, which was great feedback to get.  I really enjoyed spending time with the guys from Peak Teams, observing and learning new tips on how to be a great facilitator.   We also had great feedback from the majority German audience, who happily for us had excellent English and a good sense of humour.

  

The journey here was via Helsinki with Finnair.  When I boarded the plane in Singapore wearing a polo short, nobody mentioned that the transfer to my Stuttgart flight would be outdoors.  In the snow. At minus 6 degrees.  I did have another shirt in my carry on bag, but my winter clothes were all packed under the plane.  It was very cold and by the time James and I boarded, my shirt was white.

  

We basically spent the entire week here indoors at the hotel we were staying at. I did get out for a walk to the older part of Boeblingen on Sunday afternoon when I arrived.   Today we are heading in to Stuttgart to see what's there.  I'm actually staying here for another week, to have meetings with my US and European counterparts.  It's a long time to be away from home but made sense to take advantage of me already being here.

 

 

For Queen and Country

We've been doing our patriotic duty this week.  Tuesday night was our first game of mixed netball, playing for the AHC Rough Diamonds (Australian High Commission), complete with green-and-gold cheer squad.  I'm afraid we were soundly trounced by the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce team but it was fun and I finally scored the only goal for our team after many missed attempts.  What was particularly tough were the 15 minute quarters in the Singapore heat and being brought to the realisation that my body is not as young as I think it is.  I finished the game with a bruise on my hip, a graze on my arm and a sprained foot.

Last night we again did the tough yards for Australia, attending the AustCham Australia Day Ball.  As a staff member, Lucinda began the day at 9am doing setup, then organised the paparazzi line to greet the guests, spent the evening ensuring the band were looked after in between a bit of dancing and we finally got home a little after 3am.  It was a fun night and Lucinda looked gorgeous in her dress.  The girls had sleep overs and this afternoon is recovery time for everyone!