Three hundred eager Southlanders had the chance to eat, talk and connect with the former New Zealand director-general of health on Friday.
Sir Ashley Bloomfield was the invited guest speaker at the annual Eat Talk Connect (ETC) lunch held at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill and was piped into the hotel by a lone piper.
ETC is an annual event run in association with the ILT and Southland Business Chamber.
Each year it features a different keynote speaker, along with a three-course lunch,
Sir Ashley said his life had changed abruptly since the last time he was in the city.
"The last time I was in Invercargill was in March 2020, just as Covid was really kicking off — in fact, the weekend before lockdowns were announced. It was the national pipe band championships here.
"The reason I was here was because my boy was playing in a pipe band. So it was nice to hear the pipe band although it did coincide exactly with a time when I had to be on a cabinet meeting — so I was listening to the cabinet meeting in one ear, and listening to his band playing in the other ear ... I will have a vivid memory of that for the rest of my life."
His insights on resilience and leadership included four key values, which were kindness, trust, honesty and humility.
On the topic of leadership he referred to American civil rights activist Maya Angelou and her life mantra that "people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
"Resilience is about understanding and knowing your boundaries really well.
"Look after your emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Know when to step back before you step over the edge".
People travelled from near and far to hear him speak including employees from Downer in Dunedin.
One of the attendees, Nur Diana Binti Rozaini, travelled down because of Sir Ashley’s contribution to the country.
"To be honest when I heard that someone of his significance who helped the country would be here, I wanted to hear his thoughts, ideas and his values", she said.
