IOD SCOTLAND WINTER 2022

Highlands & Islands
‘Take time out to enjoy the view’
John Murray,
Managing Director
of the Highland Food &
Drink Club, learnt some
key business and life
lessons while on a trip of
a lifetime to Nepal
Time is a commodity we often
overlook as being one of the most
precious in existence.
No more of it is being made, we
cannot buy or sell it, therefore it is
vital we spend it wisely.
I recently went to Everest Base
Camp – something I have wanted to
do for a while now. Taking this time
out to go and tick one of my life
boxes has been one of the best
experiences of my life to date.
We had a small group of six of us
from Scotland to join 10 others from
around the world to take on this
challenge together.
The trip was 17 days in total
including travel – the trek itself was
13 days. Eight days to get to Everest
Base Camp and five days to get
back to Lukla Airport.
To ensure I had a fully immersive
experience to enjoy the
views the people and
culture, I chose not to
touch my social media,
not to Google anything
and not look at my
emails for the entire trip.
I found this totally
liberating. In fact, since our
return I spend much less time on
them and have an ability to ignore
stuff I previously would get uptight
about.
Arriving in Kathmandu was an
experience in itself: with all the wild
moped riders and crazy ways
of crossing the road, it
was like playing a
game of chicken.
The people were very friendly and
there was no begging in sight
– something we cannot say about
many of our city centres.
Flying to Lukla was a fantastic
experience, too. Apparently it is one
of the most dangerous airports in
the world, yet we survived, and had
the experience of a lifetime.
I encourage you to take some time
out to pursue whatever it is that
helps you clear your head. You will
be refreshed, revived and have a
new perspective on life – and that is
always money/time well spent.
High praise for chartered director course as
David’s patient approach pays off
David Thomson, Chief
Executive at Shetland
Aerogenerators, has
recently completed his
IoD Charted Director
qualification following
several years of
committed development.
The Highland and Islands
Branch member says having
achieved the professional
development status, he thoroughly
enjoyed the experience, especially as
“each stage was different, and I met
lots of interesting people with very
different backgrounds to my own”.
“It was helpful for me that I
could stagger the progressive
stages and I preferred that
there was no pressure to jump
straight from one step to the
next.
“Due to my work and personal
circumstances I needed to take time
between stages, and it took me a
few years from starting the
certificate to gaining chartered
status,” he added.
Speaking of the course tutors and
the content, David says: “There are
too many tutors and teachers to list
but I’m grateful to the likes of
Janhavi, Deborah and others for
making the courses engaging.
“The content has remained useful,
and I still occasionally refer to my
notes from my certificate stage.”
In relation to the impact on his
senior role and leadership abilities
following the chartered director
status, David says, “I don’t require
the qualification for my role but I feel
I’ve improved having been through
the structured process to reinforce
my professional experience.”
WINTER 2022
05