Sand, Sea, & Santa Hats

Me again, hi!?

I hope you’ve had a wonderful festive period, and you’re galloping into the new year with the enthusiasm of my doggos at Sennen Beach in Cornwall last weekend (but less messy)!

Showering the sand off them afterwards was a real treat! Although it wasn’t as bad as my son, who decided to wade knee deep into the sea, fall over, fill his welly boots with sea water, and soak himself through to the pants. Thankfully, he smiled through the ordeal, and the weather was unseasonably warm!

We spent the Christmas weekend with my mum down in Penzance filling our lungs with fresh air and our bellies with mince pies (not the dogs)!

It did us the world of good to get away, get some exercise, and have some quality family time.

Although it seems like ages ago now, I want to thank everyone who attended the LinkedIn Christmas Party. It was the most incredible night. The Green Room in London’s Southbank were wonderful, and a huge thanks to?Ebony Tobin ?of?Vivid Minds Events ?who made the whole evening simply stunning. The personalised cocktail toppers that a few people nearly choked on, were a particularly lovely touch (sorry).

It was so wonderful to be with so many people I had only previously chatted to online. There was singing, dancing, hugging, and a whole lot of drinking and photo taking!

If you missed out, don’t despair. Put 3rd June in Manchester in your diary and keep your eyes peeled for more details and tickets going on sale in the new year! It’s going to be bigger and even better!

A few weeks before Christmas, I offered (for my own childish amusement) to add Christmas hats to anyone’s profile photo for free. As expected, it became crazy popular and I was soon inundated and unable to keep up. Thankfully, some magical Canva fairies stepped in to assist me, so a huge thanks to Alice Lyons , Militza Rosaria and Grant Ashington for supporting this endeavour.?

Amazingly, following the post, one of the Santa hat recipients donated ￡50 to Make A Wish Foundation , who help make dreams come true for terminally ill children. John Stone said he wanted to pay the kindness forward for the hat. His post about it gained some traction and attracted a new corporate sponsor for MAW, and my subsequent post about THAT, resulted in an additional ￡600 being raised for MAW, more Santa hats appearing all over LinkedIn, and someone paying forward ￡500 of mental health support as well!?

Never doubt the ripples of kindness one small act can have. You may not see them, but I promise?they're there.

On a different note, I had the absolute honour of appearing on Andrew Macaskill's The Executive Career Jump podcast this month. It was a fascinating chat, and one I truly enjoyed. Andrew is an inspirational leader on LinkedIn, on a mission to end career-based misery. You may have seen his smiling face on the LinkedIn TV adverts recently. He’s having so much positive impact on the community which obviously resonates hugely with me.

LinkedIn are rolling out a new feature on people’s profiles, where you can click a bell in the top right corner of a profile (just below the banner) and receive notifications when they post new content. If you can’t see this, you haven’t got the feature yet, but keep your eyes peeled and make sure you ring my bell when it appears ???

This feature isn’t just useful for keeping up with my witty repartee (but you obviously should...); use it to keep tabs on your ideal clients and regularly support their content with thoughtful comments to stay front of their minds!?

Here are two post ideas for next week:

1. Think of a short sentence that describes what you want to achieve in 2022. For example, mine is “Driven by Joy”. Everything I do, I come back to that one phrase. Does it bring me joy? Is it going to bring me joy eventually? If not, I don’t do it. Think of something similar to define your next year goals and share with your network. Ask your network: What theirs is.?
2. There’s a quote that goes “Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticise others” by Roy T. Bennett, and I love it. Discuss in a post or a short video how you are currently working on yourself. Are you learning yoga, having therapy, or taking a course to further your career? Tell us what you’re doing to self-improve at the moment.?Ask your network: What self-improvement they're pursuing.

Don't forget to follow my?Instagram for more tips to improve how you use your favourite networking platform!

As you all know, community is absolutely crucial to what I have achieved on LinkedIn, and promoting and supporting other businesses is the cornerstone of the success I continue to have. A rising tide lifts all ships, and I don’t believe succeeding alone ever brings happiness. With that in mind, I want to celebrate two business owners who have supported me in recent times, and who I cannot recommend highly enough for being exceptionally good at what they do, kind, genuine, and a pleasure to work with. Here are this month’s top follows:

Chris Douglas, Cobra Financial Solutions

Chris became a client of mine recently after a coaching session and profile makeover, and we instantly became friends. His values and ethos when it comes to taking care of his clients really resonated with me. He looks a lot more intimidating than he is (as evidenced by his love of a small, fluffy white dog). Some of the stories he told me on our various calls filled my heart at the kindness he displayed. Debt recovery is an industry with a harsh reputation, but I quickly learned that it takes calm, rational, reasonable, and extremely patient people to deal with these situations, and there are none better than Chris’s team for this. They recover debts of ￡1k+ for individuals and businesses internationally, and he has a cute dog (which is always a selling point for me).

Lucienne Shakir (MED), The Collective of Extraordinary Women

Lucienne is a BADASS female warrior. A beautiful soul, a dynamic mind, a devoted mother, and has the kindest of hearts. I absolutely adore the fire she has in her belly for empowering and supporting women to take up more space, be confidently their true selves in business as well as their personal lives. She is a women’s business coach like no other. A true powerhouse to have on your side. You cannot leave a conversation with Lucienne without feeling motivated and inspired, and I am SO excited to see where 2022 takes her business.?I want to be like her when I grow up.

You’ll also be happy to hear that from next week, one of my favourite humans, the gorgeous Luke Manton , will be back on my team, managing my inbox (not a euphemism) and generally helping me to cope with life (he’s got his work cut out for him).?

And yes, we do look suspiciously alike in this photo. No, we are not related (or dating).

And that’s it from me until next year. Whatever you’re doing to celebrate, I hope you have the BEST TIME. Have a tequila shot for me, and I look forward to seeing what 2022 brings us all (hopefully it’ll be less pandemic-y).?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Oh, and don't forget, you can also check out my free LinkedIn resources here and all my helpful LinkedIn products and training on leaturner.co.uk .?

Okay, that's everything!