Never lock away lessons learned

Sharing what works is more important than ever….

Let’s talk about ‘thought leadership’.

I know, I know… buzzwordy, right?

Scroll LinkedIn for five minutes these days and you’re met with a real barrage of it. Everyone’s leading and everyone’s got thoughts that simply MUST be shared.

But if everyone’s shouting, where’s the real leadership in that?

I don’t know. But I do know that at ASEL, insights aren’t trophies to hoard or bragging rights to wave over others. We’re all about looping others in to our insights and discoveries. For us… lessons learned should be lessons shared.

That’s how we grow stronger as a sector.

Why we’re planning an event

Turns out we’ve got some thoughts of our own to share.

But we won’t do it in cryptic, bitesize chunks or through engagement-bait posts. We’ll do it in a room with a bunch of people who ought to hear it.

So we’re putting plans in place to host an event around anti-social behaviour and youth violence at a very high-profile venue in London. Keep your eyes peeled for an official date and further details.

Why are we doing this? Well, because too often in security, knowledge gets stuck in echo chambers. To me, that’s like the opposite of thought leadership. Some of the biggest security in the world keep their discoveries and wins to themselves.

While we recognise that businesses are competitive, we don’t want this sort of insular mindset. We want open dialogue and challenge. The kinds of conversations where someone says, “Hang on…that strategy won’t tackle X, Y, and Z”. Then the real debate begins.

I can’t help but feel that you don’t ‘win’ against another company. You ‘win’ against yourself – by getting sharper, smarter, and better prepared than you have been in the past.

Slight golf detour here. Bear with me. It’d hardly be one of my articles if I didn’t spend at least a few moments on teeing-off or digging divots.

I’m into the final of my local ladies’ golf tournament. As defending champion, I should feel pretty confident heading in, but the truth is I’ll be up against one of my closest friends and… well, she’ll probably wipe the floor with me. And that’s absolutely fine.

One – it’ll be a joy to play a round with her. It always is.

And two – every round of golf teaches me something. Playing with women who are more technically accomplished than me means I’ve always got something to fine-tune or take away from a match, even if I’m having a torrid time while I’m out there.

It’s give and take, too. I was playing on an unfamiliar course a little while back and I was able to share a little trick to help them out of a sticky chip-shot situation.

You learn, you share. And everyone’s game improves. That’s the aim of this event we’re planning.

What we’re striving for

Imagine a Retail Risk event, but then scale it down. That’s the sort of thing we’re striving for here, but with a more focalised agenda that’s taking shape nicely. The rough plan is:

• To present details on ASEL’s strategy on ASB and youth violence
• Present case studies from leading retailers
• Invite partners to share their expertise on changes to youth conduct
• Panel sessions and round tables – again, sort of like the Retail Risk setup, but with a sharper focus on youth issues

We’ve had events like this before. Previous sessions have delved into facial recognition technology and violence against retail staff. Each presentation is truly fascinating, but what really brings the room to life is the fresh perspectives and unexpected ideas. Stuff that surfaces when industry professionals and SMEs really get into the weeds of an issue as big as ASB.
That’s the real ‘thought leadership’. Not polished LinkedIn posts. Not self-congratulation. But honest dialogue that makes us all better.

We can’t wait to share more about this event in the coming months, and there will be more info about how you can nab a spot. But for us, the point isn’t just filling seats… it’s showing that ASEL is at the forefront of industry thinking and, more importantly, willing to share it.

Rosie Barron

Account Director