ACEVO’s digital leadership festival is back this year from 2-4 November. The full programme is available on the website and in this blog series, you will get to know our speakers a little bit better.
Alix Bedford, risk relationship consultant, Zurich Municipal
At #ACEVOFest21, Alix will build on the themes from Zurich’s Future of Work whitepaper, look at the key areas and challenges organisations should be considering to prepare for the future of work and also talk about how Zurich are empowering employees in a changing social and digital environment.
What makes you hopeful?
I am a naturally optimistic person, which is not always usual for a risk professional I think. We always have an opportunity to influence the future as it hasn’t happened yet so that future can bring change or achievements and be better than now. We are more resilient, more innovative and more purposeful than we realise and when this meets kindness, compassion and a desire to improve the collective good, a brighter future is the result.
What do you know now that you didn’t know at the beginning of 2020?
I have learnt two key things since the beginning of 2020 – how vital my personal and professional networks are to my success and my wellbeing, I need people much more and in different ways than I realised, and how important finding quiet time on my own is to my resilience, my energy comes from within so I need time to generate it.
What message you’d like to send to yourself to read a year from now?
As things normalise, don’t compromise on what you know really matters.
Can you recommend: a book, a series/film, or a podcast?
With working on screen so much over the past 18 months I am trying to avoid too much screen time in the evenings so have reverted to re-reading old favourites such as Katherine by Anya Seton, from my favourite escapist genre of historical fiction and The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov which is a satirical story in which the devil visits Moscow and the most brilliant book I’ve ever read.
Did you incorporate a new habit in your day to day routine in the past 18 months that you can share with us?
Actually, having run my life by routine and schedule I have found a freedom in going with the flow a lot more and prioritising what needs to be prioritised in the moment.
What do you miss the most from working at the office and what you love the most from working remotely?
I do miss the energy of a face to face collaboration meeting or a face to face conference. Teams is great for imparting information but it can only get you so far. I love feeling closer and more involved in the lives of my children that working remotely enable – that is something I absolutely will not compromise on again.
What’s your favourite thing to do for your own wellbeing?
I am lucky enough to live in the countryside so walking up the hill behind my house through fields and woods until reaching the top and taking in the view allows me to completely reset.
