The Origins of the Llama...

The wisdom shared by those generations that come before us is recorded in order to ensure that the knowledge can be passed along from generation to generation. We see this in museums, cave paintings, archives, biographies and so many other sources.

But have you ever thought about how you will ensure that the life lessons and stories told by your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles and mentors in life, will be passed on to your children and their children for years to come? At best, they may emerge a diluted version of random memory snippets used in passing conversation - often a long way from the lesson and impact they first had.

I recently lost my beloved father to Covid. He passed quickly, in a matter of days before the world welcomed the end of 2020. In my feeble attempt to come to terms with the overwhelming grief, combined with the gaping hole in my heart, I spoke to a dear friend about the relationship I had with my dad, about how he had a wise word and the best advice for any situation, but particularly business and more specifically, the people you engage with in business. Selfishly, I can't imagine facing another decision point in my life without his counsel, or an achievement without his celebration. My friend reminded me of how lucky I have been to have this mentor in my life for 47 years. The advice he gave was to share this wisdom. As a leader in my organisation, I realised in that moment this is something I have been doing all my life. By taking the knowledge attained while studying a degree in Psychology and combining that with the fundamental life lessons from my dad, these snippets of wisdom had become my ultimate toolbox for life.

I have never been much of a writer, communicating more from a place of passion than one of finesse. I also happen to love llamas. I have a colleague who refers to my manner of straightforward, no-nonsense communication as "llama-speak". It goes without saying that anything I write here will follow the same approach. Llamaspeak is about sharing the snippets of wisdom that my dad passed onto me, about opening this toolbox for life in the hope that one day the impact of his lifelong teaching will be more than just my immediate influence, but will somehow be used to ignite change in our business and personal relationships. One of the greatest gifts I can give my children as they go out into the world is the ability to navigate life, relationships and work with strength, courage and kindness. This toolbox is my way of helping them do just that. I hope it can help you too.

Robyn