The Craic

Existentialism:

"A philosophical theory or approach which emphasises the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will."

My interpretation of existentialism is that we all spend our lives sat inside our skulls and staring out at the world through our eye sockets - mostly terrified by what we see.

Staring at the world - a scary place.

Dentistry could be described as a microcosm of that philosophy - staring in a patient's mouth, and internally terrified at the responsibility for fulfilling the patient's expectations.

The Business of Dentistry another microcosm - staring at bank statements, management accounts, contracts, CVs, protocols, treatment plans and scans, frequently terrified at the prospect of getting it all wrong or drowning along the way.

Taking 30 people to Northern Ireland for 4 days of work and play wasn't a commercial venture for me - we subcontracted all of the organisation to the team at the L.S. Browne Center - and I didn't make a penny out of the conference - I never wanted to.

Work - a morning of coaching from me another morning on innovation in digital dentistry from James Hamill.

Play - dinner at the hotel, a trip to The Boatyard Distillery, dinner at The Firehouse, dancing until after midnight, cold water Lough swimming at dawn (brrrrr....), ordering 27 pints of Guinness at Blakes of the Hollow, an amazing dinner and more dancing! The only disappointment was missing an Ireland victory.

Community:

"A group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

The condition of sharing or having certain attitudes and interests in common."

Witnessing the forming and storming of our community over the last few days has been remarkable - and a reminder that we all need to spend less time in our silos and more time sharing our terrors, because once shared, they diminish.

The Extreme Business Client Conference ended my 14-day road trip with a bang.

The craic was superb.

We will be here again at this time next year - with a new itinerary but with the same objectives:

Coaching : Community : Confidence

Thank you to the clients and their partners who made the trip such a joy.

Thank you Sonya and the team at LSB for exceeding my expectations.