“It’s a journey.”
“We’re on a journey.”
“What a journey.”
It’s a sort of must say, de rigueur, must say it phrase nowadays.
On those reality shows, you hear…
“My journey has been fantastic and I don’t want to get off.”
“This is just the start and I’ll be back – you haven’t heard the last of me.”
“My journey is just beginning.”
Well, spot the link. The Aviva journey – are we on one or what?
And for me, I’m on that journey and it’s certainly been a dusty, tiring, inspiring and motivating couple of weeks and I’m only on the first lap.
And I’ve heard…
“The journey we’re on”
“This is the start of our journey”
“What a journey.”
“I don’t want to come on any silly old journey.” “I’m in a cul de sac.”
(no I didn’t hear those two – made them up!)
So why all these journeys?
Well, I’ve been trailing the country and have talked to nearly 2,000 leaders about Aviva. The whys, the whats, the how comes, the risks, the opportunities, the promises we want to make. Not just me around the country, but about 20 senior executives/leaders here putting our hearts and souls into helping over 4,000 leaders make sense of their own “journey” (see that word has gone into the psyche of the language – bet you say it).
10 years ago the “journey” was something you did in the car with the kids; a flask and a bag of boiled sweets. Now if you say “I’m on a journey”, everyone would automatically think you’re reappraising your position in life!
So 20 of us in Life/Group/Insurance – UK, around the country, 4,000 leaders in theatres, sharing our story about why/what/expectations/provocations, the opportunities and asking our leaders to think about their role in this. Building Aviva into the organisation we’ve always wanted it to be, 300 years old and time to get ready for another 300.
And how do I feel apart from knackered?
Well, I am a perfectionist (you’d never know from my random words – but I am) and yeah, not everything was spot on, not every insight hit the mark, not every story resonated, not everyone jumped up in mock delight, but underneath, at the heart, it worked. Yes, it worked – sometimes well, sometimes brilliantly.
The stories in the main resonated. They weren’t navel gazing. The promises we wanted to make struck a chord; the leaders we talked with were reflective, the questions/the comments were honest and invigorating, the effort we put in was intense and the glow we got back was bright.
The journey for me so far has been 13 years since I joined, 9 years since CGNU. It started for the leaders in the audience maybe today, or last week, or last month, or last year, but their journey has started all in preparation for 1st June and beyond.
Sounds like a cliché? Well it’s not.
Here it comes – this month we’re putting our seat belts on!
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