make more friends

at the conference(s). Will keep in touch with some of them.

For lunch. Enjoyable chat, mutual support. Must make more of an effort to retain ties with people.

Promised to find some info she needs – must do as she helped me with a lot of info for one of my first jobs in the consultancy.

Being an introvert (though if you saw me teach you would notsay that) I hold back from people. The friends I have are quite carefully selected and the friendship usually evolves because we have done some work together – and then after a long period. That’s what happened with GeM – she was one of my staff members whom I valued highly. We became close after a series of work traumas that we faced together. The same with Virgo Boss lady -we worked well together but became friends after we hadboth left the NGO that she ran. Unfortunately my dire experience at THAT PLACE has made me more suspicious of people and I will not be opening up anytime soon.

I am far too insular, picky, fussy.

I have now made a conscious decision to seek out friends who can ‘stretch’ me.

I plan to find at least 3 friends from the Gibs ImagiNation programme, istead of standing back and watching.

First attempt: I will ask Lee Elliot if we can meet for coffee. (African-American lady – achieving her dream in RSA in youth development projects. Very outspoken, articulate, driven, challenging.)