From the President
The festive season is suddenly upon us and it is in full swing. The lead up to the end of the year has kept our Board busy planning and executing events. November kicked off our first face-to-face gathering after a long while with a twilight event at the Prince, which included our AGM. Our guest speaker, Craig Harper, reminded us that high-performers are generally willing to get uncomfortable, so I challenge you all to reflect on whether you are getting out of your comfort zone. Craig also challenged us to reflect on why we do what we do if we haven’t defined what success means to us. It’s quite a philosophical question to grapple with, and for me, the answer typically changes from year to year. I will be attempting to answer this again at the start of the new year.
For those of you who are not familiar with my namesake, the celebrated Greek philosopher Socrates, he had this famous quote, “know thyself”. His statement meant that we must choose a good life for ourselves through self-reflection and self-awareness. We must process and understand the knowledge we learn through life and from others and then reflect on it. We obtain this knowledge through experience and careful reflection. Hence, knowing one’s self is a lifelong mission.
The Board also organised for one of our past speakers, Joe Pane, to talk about getting back to business and life, in general, after this last lockdown and delved into our emotional fitness. If you did not catch this virtual event, I would encourage you to watch the recording. (Please check out our new Virtual Learning Event Library page.)
I hope you have already booked for our EO Christmas Lunch at the Carousel, which promises to be one of our best events for the year with some special surprises thrown in. It’s a great way to catch up with all our members and share some of your stories of 2021. I have always loved the energy in the room that only EO members can generate, and I am sure this event will not disappoint. I would also encourage you to be on the lookout for our Chapter retreat invitation, which is taking place from the 25th to the 27th of February 2022.
Our Board participated recently in a strategic planning retreat where we focussed on establishing what the next 3 years for our Chapter will look like. We have dived deeply into a number of topics, including sustainable growth, how we can better understand our members’ expectations and reasons for joining EO, and how we can genuinely assist in effecting transformational growth in the lives of our members. We will continue to keep you updated on the development of the 3-year plan. The Board also sought to provide some clarity on our position with respect to the COVID-19 vaccination, which is outlined in this newsletter. If you have any further queries, I encourage you all to either approach one of the Board members directly or raise it with your moderator who can discuss it with the forum Chair. On that note, I wish you all a great month in the lead up to the end of the year, and I look forward to speaking with many of you at our next function.
Warmest regards,
Socrates Capouleas
President 2021/2022, EO Melbourne