Friday High Five – the news this week

This message comes to you at the end of what has been one of the busiest and most exhilarating weeks since I became editor of theBusinessDesk.com in the North West.

At so many different moments this week I’ve been confronted by what good leadership looks like.

Our Rainmakers conference on Wednesday was a great success. We partnered in that event with a group of really supportive and thoughtful businesses that demonstrate an appetite for change, growth and energy.

All of the speakers on all of the panels, and in all of the breakout rooms, pushed the true values of honesty and courage. 

We played the fairly flat Spring statement at lunchtime, which said very little. 

The Government is supposedly serious about a commitment to growth, but there’s something a bit off in the language and tone, as well as the action.

You contrast that with Andy Burnham’s barnstorming opening to the Rainmakers conference where he felt the pulse of the room and delivered not only a rallying call, but a genuine acknowledgement that the minds in the room are focused on a better, wealthier future.

I’m also a Governor of a Sixth Form College and we’ve been interviewing for a new Principal this week. The two impressive candidates both spoke about how young people in this setting are surrounded by so much negativity in their lives, and that their place of learning needs to be a place of joy.

It’s similar to how the Mayor sees Greater Manchester in a darker world these days. I had the honour of being the designated journalist chairing his ‘meet the public’ Question Time event on Wednesday, where he eyeballs his public, from all walks of life, and listens to their questions. 

Then, at our Leadership Awards on Thursday we saw an impressive parade of inspirational leaders demonstrating that same sense of optimism. Not just the winners, but our charity champion Joseph Adams, who ran ten 10km runs in ten days, in ten cities to raise money for disabled sports projects in the North West. Think Hardest Geezer meets Race Across the World!

That boundless energy can power us to do ever greater things.

Have a great weekend.