Alexandra Cadiz (CallisonRTKL) Joined Global Shapers: Generation 2015. She was a ‘Workflow Captain’ of the workflow The GS Show. This means that she had the lead in creating and organizing the event in which the Global Shapers connected with the Arcadis Global Leadership Forum participants (Top 150 senior leaders) on October 6 in Rotterdam. Find the aftermovie of this event here.
Read more about her experiences during the face-to-face program below.
We all had a little trouble waking up Wednesday October 7, the morning after the Global Shapers an Arcadis Global Leadership Forum (AGLF) event. I for one, had no voice left. I had given every ounce of my energy to planning and executing the event in which the Global Shapers and AGLF participants connected. I completely lost my voice and barely made it out of bed for our final closing session. And all I had to drink that night was water, I swear!
But in my hazy brain state on the last morning of Global Shapers, I was acutely aware of how much I was going to miss this. For five days I had been surrounded by 97 other inspiring, dedicated, hardworking and just really fun individuals who gave me immense energy every day. The kind of confidence and motivation I felt during Global Shapers was something just short of magic. On Tuesday night when we blew away the AGLF with our show I think they really did feel some magic in the room.
This was no piece of cake, however. In order to pull off such a huge event in three short days, we not only had to hustle hard, but had to work together, compromise and get everyone behind one overarching concept that would define the message we wanted to send to the AGLF – “The Golden Journey”. Man, was it a challenge. I have to admit there were a few times I felt totally overwhelmed, but when it all came together in the end I couldn’t have been more proud.
The biggest things I took away from this experience, was the importance of honesty and purpose. Without clarity of purpose – the WHY behind what we were doing, and without being honest with ourselves, each other and the AGLF, I don’t think we could have put on an event filled with as much inspiration and energy as we did.
Now I’m back at my office in Seattle with my Global Shapers group photo sitting next to the tissue box on my desk (I’m still recovering…slowly). To start the ripple effect here at CallisonRTKL Seattle, I want to take the bits of gold I’ve learned along our “Golden Journey” and share it with my team and office. I will be giving a presentation about what happened at Global Shapers 2015 and sitting down with some of our leadership to discuss what we can do to boost engagement in CallisonRTKL Seattle.
Even though I lost my voice and all my energy, I left Rotterdam having found 97 new friends, a whole lot of inspiration, and a little bit of gold.
Alexandra Cadiz, Global Shaper: Generation 2015 (CallisonRTKL)
