Latest news with #WatershipDown
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Freedom: The Secret Sauce For High Performance Leadership
Rabbits in cage 'Leadership is a journey…you never arrive,' says Duke Energy CEO Lynn Goode. She spotlights the demand for adaptability, resilience, and growth for those in charge. Bookend her sentiment with Albert Einstein's quote, 'For everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labor in freedom' and you have the essence of leading in today's wild world of work. High performance is spawned and nurtured in a milieu of freedom. Let's explore a parable. A maverick band of rabbits, threatened by the spread of industrial construction near their home, start on a journey in search of a better world. This is the backstory for Richard Adams's 1972 best-selling book, Watership Down, the story of their long odyssey complete with extreme danger, delightful fun, contemporary parallels and powerful lessons. At one point in the story the band of rabbits encounter caged rabbits on a small farm. The wandering pack needs more females for their new society and there are two females and two males inside the small cage. They extend a heartfelt invitation to all (does and bucks) to join them on their wild journey. 'Do you ever come out?' asks the leader, Hazel, puzzled by the caged rabbits' docile nature. 'Yes, sometimes,' one of the nervous rabbits declares. 'The little boy takes us out and puts us in a pen on the grass.' Opening the cage door, Hazel works hard to convince the four to abandon their confined dwelling and join his band. As he spins his saga of adventure and liberation, the caged rabbits resist with concerns for their security. 'Besides,' one laments, 'the nice little boy always comes to feed us and keeps us away from the big dog.' As they continue their 'freedom versus security' discussion, Hazel comes to a powerful realization: 'Although they welcomed his visit because it brought a little excitement and change to their monotonous life, it was not within their capacity to take a decision and act on it. They did not know how to make up their minds. To him and his companions, sensing and acting were second nature, but these rabbits had never had to act to save their lives or even to find a meal.' Today's Work World We live in a brain-based economy, not a brawn-based one. In such a work world, employees thrive with more autonomy, more affirmation, and a sense of ownership in the goals of the unit. They want professional growth not necessarily upward mobility. They want to make a difference. They desire elbow room to innovate and experiment without snoopervision. Winning leaders are those who demonstrate trust and respect while trumpeting challenge and cause. They invite, inspire, instruct, unburden, and then get out of the way. Hazel provides a prototype of a leader excelling in the wild. His band of renegades is deeply committed to their mission and the members enjoy working together to overcome obstacles. They operate more as a partnership—a confederation of equals with different skills and talents but a shared calling and a collective zeal to see it through. Below are four tenets from Watership Down for leading in the wild today. Digital compass. It was not easy to enlist a few rabbits to trust Fiver's nightmare vision of the impending destruction of their home while ignoring the naysaying 'Great Rabbit' and risk an unfamiliar journey. It required a compelling sense of purpose. At the end of the book, the band of rabbits learns that Fiver's vision came true--bulldozers destroyed the warren the band had abandoned. Today's workers value a cause, not just a course. They learn the capacity to make wise decisions when propelled by a noble mission. They require a clear sense of the why, not just the what or how. Each evening before the rabbits went to sleep, a story was shared. Adams' book devoted a full chapter to each story. Filled with promise and courage, the stories enlisted as well as encouraged. They yielded hope and courage. Great leaders are storytellers. Stories are more than just tall tales or campfire yarns. They include discussions of the enterprise in the future tense. They are visions of what can be, not just what is. They are captivating dreams, not just concrete plans. In a complex, unpredictable and volatile competitive work world, stories of promise instill conviction, nurture confidence, and bolster resilience. 'The storyteller sets the vision, values, and agenda of an entire generation that is to come.' wrote Apple founder Steve Jobs. Diverse team Wise leaders know that today success in the future will not come from incremental improvement but rather through disruptive innovation. Surviving organizations have squeezed most of the waste and inefficiencies from their operations. Playing to win requires divergent perspectives, risk-taking confidence, and the bold embrace of change. That means a culture filled with a sense of adventure and an open reception of different perspectives. Diversity is more than 'does and bucks;' it is an attitude of continual learning and passionate curiosity--the engines of breakthroughs. Malcolm Forbes labeled such talent blending, 'the art of thinking independently together.' From abandoned warren to a new home, leadership among the rabbits influenced and inspired their collective success. While Hazel was the 'appointed' chief, leadership was communal--coming from the rabbit best able to deal with the challenge or situation. Hazel believed in the goodness of everyone and nurtured each to be a fellow leader. He respected the astute instincts of Fiver, the runt of the warren. Leadership in the wild is an adaptable and helpful force, not a role. Since it is shared power, it is trusted power. It nurtures rather than controls, mentors instead of commands. It is freedom in action. A wise coach once said: 'My responsibility is getting all my players playing for the name on the front of the jersey not the one on the back.' Leadership today is about achieving an honorable collective purpose while building a better society. In the end, Hazel and his band of rabbits were successful, not for their victorious house hunting, but for their virtuous community-building fueled by a freedom fighting leader. 'Freedom,' wrote Moshe Dayan, 'is the oxygen of the soul.'
BBC News
16-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sheffield: Animator Arthur Humberstone celebrated in exhibition
A new exhibition has opened celebrating artist and animator Arthur Humberstone, whose work featured in films including Watership Down, Animal Farm, and the retrospective, on show at Sheffield Hallam University's Post Hall gallery, has been put together by third-year graphic design material has been provided by his twin sons, and fellow graduates of the university, Nigel and Klive free event will be open to the public until 5 April. Arthur Humberstone was born in Derbyshire in 1912. He died in 1999 at the age of trained at the Gaumont British Animation studio, before working on Animal Farm at the Halas and Batchelor career spanned 45 years, working across feature films, animated series, and TV adverts. Nigel's favourite part of the exhibition is a recreation of the animation desk his father used while working from home."We remember the smell of wood shavings from his pencils and the graphite. It's one of those smells that lingers, but every time we smell it, we're reminded of his work," he was always keen on home screenings of his work, Nigel added, but his two sons were not always so keen to watch them."We were teenagers, like 16 or 17, when Watership Down came out - we were more interested in punk music than bunnies!" "It's in retrospect we've really appreciated the depth and the broad range of his work." Klive, on the other hand, is drawn to a series of drawings that Arthur sent their mum while they were drawings are early sketches of the horse character, Boxer, from Animal Farm, and are annotated with short notes explaining how they would be played in sequence to make the character move."These wouldn't exist today unless they were sent - he was proud of what he was doing," said university said the exhibition is not only intended to showcase Arthur's work, but also reflects the history of animation.A 1944 "model sheet" for Animaland character Ginger Nutt is covered in annotations for future artists that would work on the cartoon includes meticulous details like "you cannot see her triceps" and "her skin stretches over her scapula from just above her elbow". Klive said his dad was a "lovely family man", but was happiest at his animation desk."He always used to have time for us, but it was always 'his little studio' he used to go to."Nigel explains: "There's diary entries and letters he wrote to our mum, always apologising he couldn't meet up and had deadlines to meet - he got very engrossed in his work."The pair said it "makes sense" to have his work on display, rather than being kept in storage boxes as it had been previously."The greatest thing is we get to share it with everyone, and they get to see it," said Nigel. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds or catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Three Orange County students advance to Scripps National Spelling Bee in D.C.
Three Orange County master spellers stood under golden confetti, trophies in hand, on Monday as their proud parents applauded, and they reveled in the news they had won spots in the national spelling bee this spring in Washington D.C. 'This is probably the happiest I've ever been in my entire 11 years on this earth,' said Diego Gallegos, 11, a student at Lakemont Elementary School. Diego, Louis Avetis, a 12-year-old from Discovery Middle School, and Aiden Westover, a 14-year-old from Odyssey Middle School, were the top three finishers in the Orange County Public Schools spelling bee, which featured 25 spellers who'd advanced from competitions at their schools. The bee lasted eight rounds, with students correctly spelling words such as 'kanji,' a Japanese form of writing, and ended when a student misspelled 'rebarbative', an adjective meaning repellant or irritating. That left Diego, Louis and Aiden. The Foundation for Orange County Schools sponsored the competition and, as a 'platinum sponsor' of the national bee, can send three winners to Washington. So the competition then ended and confetti fell on the three remaining competitors. The three will travel to D.C. in May to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The national bee is a televised event that last year featured 245 spellers from across the country. The winner receives a $50,000 prize from Scripps. Diego said he enjoyed reading and was working his way through 'Watership Down', a 1972 novel by Richard Adams. Reading helps him learn words and how to spell them, he said. This year's competition was only Diego's second year competing in spelling bees — he was eliminated in the school-wide round last year. Louis said he was 'excited' to have made it so far in the competition, and couldn't wait to explore D.C. Aiden said he's never been to D.C. before and hopes to see the White House during his trip this spring. He wished the spelling competition Monday had gone on longer. 'I kind of hoped I could go on a little bit further and see if I can get first place,' he said.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Three Orange County students advance to Scripps National Spelling Bee in D.C.
Three Orange County master spellers stood under golden confetti, trophies in hand, on Monday as their proud parents applauded, and they reveled in the news they had won spots in the national spelling bee this spring in Washington D.C. 'This is probably the happiest I've ever been in my entire 11 years on this earth,' said Diego Gallegos, 11, a student at Lakemont Elementary School. Diego, Louis Avetis, a 12-year-old from Discovery Middle School, and Aiden Westover, a 14-year-old from Odyssey Middle School, were the top three finishers in the Orange County Public Schools spelling bee, which featured 25 spellers who'd advanced from competitions at their schools. The bee lasted eight rounds, with students correctly spelling words such as 'kanji,' a Japanese form of writing, and ended when a student misspelled 'rebarbative', an adjective meaning repellant or irritating. That left Diego, Louis and Aiden. The Foundation for Orange County Schools sponsored the competition and, as a 'platinum sponsor' of the national bee, can send three winners to Washington. So the competition then ended and confetti fell on the three remaining competitors. The three will travel to D.C. in May to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The national bee is a televised event that last year featured 245 spellers from across the country. The winner receives a $50,000 prize from Scripps. Diego said he enjoyed reading and was working his way through 'Watership Down', a 1972 novel by Richard Adams. Reading helps him learn words and how to spell them, he said. This year's competition was only Diego's second year competing in spelling bees — he was eliminated in the school-wide round last year. Louis said he was 'excited' to have made it so far in the competition, and couldn't wait to explore D.C. Aiden said he's never been to D.C. before and hopes to see the White House during his trip this spring. He wished the spelling competition Monday had gone on longer. 'I kind of hoped I could go on a little bit further and see if I can get first place,' he said.
The Guardian
28-02-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Jennifer Gosse obituary
My beloved aunt, Jennifer Gosse, who has died aged 92, taught English at Downe House school in Berkshire for more than 30 years. She was an inspirational teacher, fondly remembered by generations of pupils until her retirement in 1991. She lived in Cold Ash, the village close to the school, and in later years shared a house with her friend and fellow teacher, Mary Bellhouse, who wrote about Chinese language and history. After Mary's death in 2017, Jennifer continued to live in their house, which adjoined the Hermitage woods, supported by her neighbours and friends, enjoying the birds and wildlife at every opportunity. Jennifer was born in London, into the distinguished Gosse family. She was the daughter of Philip Gosse, a naturalist and author of several books on piracy, and his second wife, Irene Harmsworth (nee Hawkshaw). Philip was the son of Sir Edmund Gosse, author of the memoir Father and Son, and the grandson of the Victorian naturalist Philip Henry Gosse. Jennifer's aunt was the painter and etcher Sylvia Gosse, and her great-aunt was Laura Epps, also a painter, who was married to Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, whose work can be seen at Tate Britain. Her parents moved to West Sussex, to a house situated below Chanctonbury Ring in the South Downs, where Jennifer spent her childhood, together with her older half-sister, Hazel, the daughter of her mother's first marriage, who had suffered from polio at the age of five. Jennifer's parents divorced when she was very young and she was brought up by her father and a nanny. She acquired a love for the countryside and all living creatures from an early age. Asked whether she liked reading, she replied that it was like breathing. From 1943 Jennifer attended Downe House as a pupil. She left the school in 1950, but, after studying at Newnham College, Cambridge, eventually returned as a teacher of English in 1960. She later served as head of English, and for a while as deputy headteacher. She took great delight in her pupils' achievements. She was warm-hearted and erudite, seeing the good in almost everyone she met. Perhaps the last book she read, with enormous enthusiasm, was the biography of Richard Adams, the author of Watership Down, which was set in the Berkshire countryside that she loved so much. She is survived by four half-nephews, John, Stephen, Tom and Richard, and me.
