Finding my hashtags

(Originally published October 2017)

The attitudes and behaviours I experienced yesterday at the WomenEd unconeferenc resonated massively with me. This is why.

I attended my first #WomenEd unconference in Sheffield yesterday — slightly nervous as I walked through the door. I don’t currently work within the education sector. Most of my career has been within digital and I’ve recently started to write about ‘being agile’ and staying healthy. I’m a relatively quiet, inward looking person so there was an additional concern that the day would be attended by people I couldn’t relate to — who would expect conversations I didn’t want to have.

Within minutes of arriving I was welcomed and learnt I’d made the right choice to go (thank you those I spoke to first including Kay Fuller).

WomenEd is this:

The Agile Manifesto’s values which I frequently refer to in my life and work are:

Why did I enjoy my day with WomenEd and how did it resonant with me?

1. I heard about #10%braver, boldness and contemplation. Hannah Tyreman shared techniques she uses to ‘crush her gremlins’ and encourage self-compassion. Being agile is about improving yourself and others via small incremental improvements — with regular pauses to reflect and adapt.
2. I discussed traditional and newer ideas about what it means to lead and how to encourage others to work for change. Being agile encourages a servant-master view of leadership and strives to create the right conditions for self-organising teams.
3. I attended a workshop with Carly Waterman exploring why emotional investment is good and how feeling before doing can be effective for many people (including me). Being agile is about understanding what motivates yourself and others — providing a trusting and supportive environment. (I may be stretching the manifesto here and I’ll reflect on agile and emotions another time).
4. I heard women talk about their experiences of sexism and nepotism. Their experiences align with #womenintech too. I still can’t believe I’d not come across #genderedcheese until yesterday though.
5. I shared experiences of challenging times and negative emotions. We chatted through how they can be used to create better opportunities for me and others. Finding and staying in the right environments (or sitting at the right tables) is certainly important for my #mentalhealth.

The day was open, emotional, brave, professional and clearly working towards wanting to deliver the best possible quality learning for pupils and students -with many themes which will be relevant to everyone at home and at work.

Thank you to everyone I spoke to at WomenEd and for coming to Sheffield. Particular thanks to Angela Brown as I was part of this group and fully agree: