Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Professionals encouraged to recover, reflect and reset with help from Kriss Akabusi at inaugural cHeRries conference

Kriss Akabusi.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Can Nguyen/Shutterstock (9101992g)
Kriss Akabusi. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Can Nguyen/Shutterstock (9101992g)

The story of a British Olympian’s long road to athletics stardom both motivated and inspired the north-east’s human resources professionals at the first cHeRries conference.

Kriss Akabusi was keynote speaker at the free virtual networking and exhibition event specially arranged for those working in human resource, training and recruitment.

Over three sessions yesterday, businessmen and women were asked to recover, reflect and reset after a challenging 2020.

And leading the final of those sessions, the 62-year-old athlete-turned-motivational speaker, used the story of his children’s home upbringing, troublesome education and eventual “salvation” in the British Army as examples of multiple “resets” that took place in his life before his athletics career.

“Our lives are very different and yet our motives are the same,” he said.

“As I tell my story, we will look at the intersections or my life and your life and how, when you reflect, we have actually reset our lives on many occasions.”

“I had to be enough”

His first such reset came when his mother decided he should use his UK birthright to gain a British education while she returned home to Nigeria.

His second came when he landed in a children’s home and came to the stark realisation he had to make his own path in life.

He said: “I realised mummy wasn’t coming. I had to be enough. There’s no chariots coming from out of nowhere for me or for you.”

His next reset came age 16 when he left school and his home, and joined the British Army.

Kriss Akabusi addresses the virtual cHeRries conference.

“That’s the time I reset my mind to make the most of myself,” he added.

“I took the new name Kriss and, for me, the Army was transformational.

“I went from being the school class joker to fighting to be the British Army champion.”

He credited his sergeant, Ian MacKenzie, for seeing his potential, coaching, nurturing him and providing for him a sudden “sense of pride and purpose”.

Five years on, he was an Olympic medalist with the Team GB Olympic relay team.

Using that experience to inspire professionals, he added: “The past is for reference, not for residence. It’s alluring to hold on to the past and the old ways of doing stuff.

“You know how to be that person in the past but we, as human resources professionals, must take the best elements of the past and reconfigure them in the here and now for our preferred and better future.”

Time to recover and reflect

Earlier in the day, the panel focused on how companies are innovating and adapting to give more focus to flexible and collaborative remote working both during and after lockdown.

Lee Ann Panglea, head of CIPD Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “If 2020 has taught us anything it’s that the way we work, how we focus on our people and support their wellbeing, and innovate and adapt, can change for the better. This pandemic is a catalyst for that change.”

The second panel, looking at reflection, focused on wellbeing and mental health.

Fiona Lindsay, left, and Louise Jenkins-Lang of personal and professional development firm Lindsay & Lang.<br />Photo: KATH FLANNERY

Panelist Louise Jenkins-Lang, one of the directors of Lindsay and Lang, added: “We’ve had to be reactive to the pandemic and reflection is key to moving forward.

“It’s really important that we develop resilience not only personally but within our organisation.”

Attendees also witnessed the unveiling of this year’s finalists for the 13th annual cHeRries awards which take place virtually on Thursday, March 4, at 6pm.

The cHeRries Awards