A Munich dominated instalment this week.

Saturday 19th January, 2019.

Went out last night. Got in at 4am. Slept on the sofa. Spent the day in the doghouse.

Munich tomorrow.

Sunday 20th January, 2019.

I’m writing this whilst enjoying a coffee in Terminal One at Manchester Airport. It’s quite busy as both Liverpool and Manchester United (the two biggest clubs in English football, just in case you’ve never heard of them) were at home yesterday so many of their supporters from Scandinavia, Ireland etc.. are making their way back to the countries they live in.

My flight to Munich is slightly delayed so, all being well, the two sets of rival supporters will embark on a quick ‘punch up’ to keep me entertained while I wait.

As always at the beginning of these kinds of trips my anxiety levels are high. It’s not a long flight though and I’m looking forward to seeing Munich so I’m sure all will be ok.

Occasionally life provides a small payback as recompense for basically being rubbish most of the time. Today that’s taken the form of nobody being in the middle seat of my row on the flight to Munich. This is essentially the economy travellers version of a lottery win.

I can also recommend the cheese sandwich provided by Lufthansa. A tasty snack to complement the above the clouds travel.

The alternative was a chicken sandwich but I can’t review that as even I’m not unhinged enough to have chosen this over something with cheese in it.

The photograph below is of the ticket machine which services the Munich metro system.

Not only do its screens display information in English but it actually talks to you in the mother tongue as well. I consider this machine to be the first friend I’ve made in Germany.

As he didn’t tell me his name I’ve decided to call him Jürgen. It’ll be easier to regale future dinner party guests with anecdotes about the adventures Jürgen and I had together in Munich rather than referring to him simply as ‘ticket machine’.

Arrived at the hotel. I’m honoured to be sharing accommodation with the legendary Dougal from Magic Roundabout.

Went Bavarian for dinner tonight. A place called Augustiner-Braustuben if you’re ever in Munich. It had the feel of a Beer Keller kind of joint. I ate this .

Monday 21st January, 2019.

It occurred to me at some point in the early hours that, although the main reason for me being in Munich is work, I’m not actually allowed to write too much about that.

Under the terms of the contract I’m not able to name the company I’m working for in Germany. I’m strictly forbidden from taking photographs of their offices and I can’t mention the names of any of their employees on my social media accounts.

What I can say is that I’m here to deliver some training on communication skills. I’ll be facilitating workshops on eight modules aligned to the main subject area.

The workshop subjects are as follows:

• Expectation Management
• Writing for Impact
• Influence and Persuasion
• Presentation Skills
• Effective Communication
• Delivering Tough Messages
• Negotiation Skills
• Personal Resilience

The main reason for mentioning this is that I’m available to hire at very unreasonable rates should you know of any individual or organisation that might benefit from my services in any area of professional or personal development.

I have, on occasion, been known to be not terrible at this kind of thing.

Check out my LinkedIn profile through the link below for more information on me and my proper job:

Phill Slater Consulting.

Evening stroll and another traditional restaurant for dinner. I could get used to this travel blogging business.

Tuesday 22nd January, 2019.

Lift to the office this morning with the head honcho at the company I’m not allowed to mention. Breakfast was spent mulling over which of my three ‘small talk’ openers I should go with once I installed myself in the passenger seat:

1. The weather.
2. The weather.
3. The weather.

Fully exploited all that Munich has to offer this evening by spending the night alone in my hotel room. I ventured out only to purchase nourishment from the supermarket across the road.

My ‘balanced’ meal consisted of a bag of crisps, a packet of cheese slices and a kit-kat.

Wednesday 23rd January, 2019.

After a few hard days developing German people it was nice to be taken out for a meal by the Client.

Just four females and myself chowing down on an assortment of shared starters and a giant bowl of pasta.

The Italian manager seemed impressed by the male:female ratio at my table. I felt like telling him that he should see me on a Saturday night in the Strafford Arms, on Wakefield high street, but I decided against it.

Brexit came up, as it usually does when I’m in this type of company. I did my best to offer a balanced view of what was behind the result of the referendum.

For some reason I do want to help our European friends understand, even if I remain clueless.

The evening ended on a high note when I got back to the hotel room. I’d forgotten that I’d saved a cheese slice so very much enjoyed savouring its unique plasticky based taste before turning in.

Thursday 24th January, 2019.

Ace stuff that the office in Munich has:

• They allow dogs to roam the corridors.
• Desks that you stand up at rather than sit down.
• Technology that works.
• Nice people.

At the Airport waiting for my flight. I wonder if I could get away with claiming an hour in one of these on expenses.

Time for home. Auf wiedersehen Munich.

Friday 25th January, 2019.

Worked for another Client in Bradford today. It’s the culmination of a Leadership Development programme I’ve been involved with over the past nine months or so.

It’s been a long week so I wasn’t exactly relishing the trip but it was a fantastic experience.

The delegates on this programme are my kind of people and they blew me away with their passion, courage and capability as they delivered presentations aligned to the business improvement projects they’d been working on since the beginning of the programme.

This work was picked up through an ex colleague. She runs a training company with her husband they have the relationship with this particular Client. I have them to thank for giving me just what I needed at a time when, for a few reasons, I really needed it.

Sometimes in life we all need a helping hand and they certainly gave me that. I’ll be eternally grateful for their kindness.

Thanks for reading. Next week it will be mostly North Carolina..

If you missed last weeks instalment you can catch up by clicking the link below.

My Journey from here to there (12th Jan-18th Jan 2019)

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