Last week, Laura (Adams), Chair of Caplor Horizons, Ian and Lorna, had the privilege of meeting with Charles (Handy), renowned social philosopher, pictured below. As a prolific writer and social commentator, amongst the many conversations we had, we asked him about his reflections on our work over the last 10 years, as he has been an advisor of ours since the beginning of our journey.
Charles said that it was the stories that were the most important part. He asked us to share our favourite stories, and he in turn shared his. His was the story of working with us with Aids Alliance India in 2019. During the session, Charles was on the ‘hot seat’ and invited group members to sit on the seat in turn and ask him any questions they wanted. The energy in the room was electrifying, as you can see in the pictures, as one by one he answered their questions. There were around 20 participants in all!
Laura also told the story of working with The Jaipur Rugs Foundation, India, on a strategic impact report. This involved talking to a range of people across the organisation, including the women who wove the rugs, based in rural villages across Jaipur. Pictured below is Laura, talking with women weavers on the impact of their work on their family and their community.
What inspired Laura was not only the difference this made to the livelihoods of families, but the way that a more secure working life raised the confidence of the women in their own creative ideas. Laura said 'it was as though their natural talent was let loose as worries about the stability of their work reduced and they had greater opportunity to follow their creative imaginations. The resulting unique rug designs were truly inspiring'.
Another significant insight Charles said about our work was: ‘Our work gives other people confidence, as we believe in them’. We hope we can continue to give confidence as we move into our second decade of work at Caplor Horizons. For links for previous conversations we have had with Charles, please click here, here and here.
‘Making sense of confidence’. Clive (Hyland) and Victoria (Hall) recently produced a podcast, as part of a series, on Neuroscience and Humans at work. Please click here to listen. In this episode, they explore the elusive nature of confidence, dissecting its roots in memory and the impact of past experiences on present-day confidence levels. They discuss strategies for overcoming under confidence, emphasising the importance of understanding and challenging negative self-talk. They also examine the role of emotions in performance, offering insights into building genuine confidence through deliberate practice and self-awareness.
Coming soon… we are currently finalising our impact report over the last 10 years called A Decade of Transformative Journeys. We have identified and documented seven journeys of transformation, and we are excited to share it with you in the coming weeks.
Changemaker of the month
Quote from Tahir Shah: ‘Stories are the communal currency of humanity’.
Best wishes
Lorna, Rosie, Kemal and Ian