Episode 54 - OpEx with Marianne Rutz - Leaders in Service: The Route to Excellence

Over the past couple of weeks, we heard from Amazing Women, who’s bold statements included: 

 Amal Hassan: You have the Power within you! All you need is to activate that power
 Celine Chan: Keep the faith - always do the right thing! 
 Natallie Baron: In a world of constant change and uncertainty, where we can find certainty is within
 Paula Kennedy Garcia: Ambition is not a dirty word! Be unapologetically ambitious 
 Shannon Burch: There is a reason every human is unique - so you should bring that uniqueness
 Tugs Smith: To be superwoman is unattainable! We can only be our best selves. 

I am humbled to have spent roughly 6 hours in the company of these wonderful women! The feedback on these episodes has been simply amazing and the downloads just went up and up and up. I’m so glad to see that you enjoyed the discussions. 

Very early on, I was asked “what’s next?” 
Are you doing Leading Gents? 
Anything else in the pipeline? 
Would you do a conference? Well - I am not the one to blow my own trumpet…. In fact, my Imposter Syndrome caused me so many sleepless nights, so many unanswered questions… fear invading my thinking and doing. To the point where I engaged a personal coach in December 2020 - the wonderful Fiona Marshall (link to her LinkedIn profile in the show notes). Fiona worked with me through the EQ-i Leadership assessment. Some of the key findings in this report just blew my mind… I am an incredible achiever!
 People like and trust me! 
I am a realist - no fluff!
 I handle stress and crisis with a can-do attitude!

 Honestly - this would indicate…. Imposter - I have nothing to do with you! You are a liar! You make me think small, you make me feel timid, you make me want to hide. Well, no more! Yes - we are launching Leading Gents next week! An amazing lineup of some remarkable men in the contact centre industry. I promise you - these discussions are dynamite! Yes - I am holding a conference! On Friday, 16th of April 2021  you are invited to join me and my amazing PeerCircle Think Tank for 3 hours. Packed with the latest in Customer Experience, Recruitment, HR, Operations, Health and Wellbeing in the workplace. The speakers are top notch, with years of experience in their field! 

But not only that…. We are charging a small amount for this fabulous conference - all proceeds going to the wonderful Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre at Forth Valley Royal Hospital.  I was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer on 29 September 2015 -  just 3 days before my wedding! My family was flying in from Switzerland and Ireland that very day, when the consultant suggested I should get surgery straight away. As, if the cancer spread…. I would most likely not survive. That the carpet was pulled under our feet is an understatement! I remember my soon to be husband to turn white - which doesn’t happen often to a serving military man. And I remember saying - No way. ‘Humphry’, as I called my tumour, lived in my gut for who knows how long, he may as well live there for another week or two. We got married three days later, we only told close friends. Not any family members, we wanted them to enjoy the wedding. And I made a project plan (as you do!). You can listen to my cancer story in episodes 3 and 4 of the operational excellence show. I will put the link into the show notes.

 At the time, Maggie’s Centre at Forth Valley Royal Hospital was under construction. I couldn’t wait for it to be completed. But… it wasn’t meant to be; financial issues, the building company went bankrupt and so many of my fellow cancer travellers had to fend for themselves, with little to no support outside Macmillans - which was mainly clinical support. So for me it was a no brainer to become a donor to Maggie’s Forth Valley when I got back to work. Rutz Consulting supports the centre with a percentage of our annual profit as well as with workshops. It is my way of giving back and showing gratitude. I am alive - so many of my cancer traveller friends died. So - please do join the conference, bring your leadership team too! 
You can find out more on our website, rutzconsulting.com! Subscribing to the Newsletter will keep you in the loop! We are sharing the line-up of speakers soon, the topics we talk about and of course the fundraising efforts. The Think Tank is giving up their time for free and my team is also donating some of their work. Thank you Rutz’ Elfs! 
If you’d like to sponsor the conference, please get in touch. We would love to hear from you! Rutzconsulting.com https://www.maggies.org/our-centres/maggies-forth-valley/ Fiona Marshal - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-marshall-3514b88/ Episode 3  Going through a cancer trauma - and its impact! https://rutzconsulting.com/podcasts/the-c-word-in-the-contact-center-going-through-a-cancer-trauma-and-its-impact/ Episode 4 The C-Word in the contact centre world - I didn’t know you were so ill…. https://rutzconsulting.com/podcasts/the-c-word-in-the-contact-center-world-i-didnt-know-you-were-so-ill%e2%80%a8/