One of the highlights of the challenging summer months here at Installation was collaborating and interacting with some of our industry’s leading lights as we put together the first ever Pro AV Power 20 rankings list.
During a lockdown period in which hope and motivation were in short supply globally, we were able to find an enormous amount of inspiration from the stories and perspectives shared by our class of 2020, who gave their time to open up about their careers and the people who have inspired them along their own personal and professional paths.
You can view and/or download the ebook here:
In setting up this new initiative, we wanted to create a brand new platform that showcases the incredible talent and leadership that makes up our AV community, and who are busy driving this industry forward to pioneering new frontiers.
In many ways its essence isn’t about power at all, but influence. I believe the perspectives and experiences shared in these pages translate that with some accuracy.
What they also do is inspire. I have been bowled over by how inspirational and life-affirming a process this has been, to gain deeply personal insights into how leaders lead, and how thinkers think, and how they then act on those informed judgements to drive change. And just how much change has been driven by these individuals is remarkable.
Empathy and compassion are two other dominant themes in this book. That tells us that those entrusted with the responsibility for the future health of our marketplace hold in the highest regard the wellbeing, development, and empowerment of their colleagues and people. And with equal regard do they hold the inspiration of others in informing the professionals they have become.
What a refreshing outlook this is. And it is this sort of outlook, and these sorts of leaders, with which our community can help to bring about the changes that all of us understand have to be made. As we progress forward in a world pockmarked by pandemic evil, we need to hold to account the imbalances in our professional world, and accelerate what we do about them. We need to build on the amazing work already undertaken, but draw that in from the periphery to become a mainstream cause so that we truly become as diverse a community as those we serve.
And we must also become more comfortable with telling our story to the world. This pandemic has laid bare many home truths of extremic good and bad, but what it should also be teaching the world is that AV has been the bridge that has helped bring society together, and keep businesses in operation. The new normality of flexible workplaces and remote workforces positions our industry at the heart of the matter; the very forefront of change. As one of our list put it, AV should be as recognised a term as IT. This is our chance to be a visible pioneer in a new revolution, and we should seize it with all we have.
