Christine MacJouvelet

The book Hope-filled engagement was purchased for me by my daughter who attended a professional development day with Gray Poenell. She raved about the day and was filled with the hope that the way of thinking and operating to help young people with thinking about their lives and futures could create dramatically improved opportunities and outcomes. I read the book and wondered how and why we managed to get into the position where we coach and encourage people to look as if they are the best in their field and develop inflated expressions of their skills and talents. Looking at the various 1st nation people's culture they would not be so boastful or put themselves above others and that it would be an unnatural fit for them to portray themselves in this way. It also points out that it is a very hard sell to push to members of our community who are disadvantaged in some ways or disconnected from society to try and sell how good they are and what a great catch they would be to an employer. Gray encourages us to look at likes and dislikes to connect to so we can understand ourselves. We can look at what people in our community value or would pay for these likes. For example, if you like walking some people will pay money for you to walk. Such as Dog walking, leaflet delivery, or many other jobs that entail walking. If you work in HR, Education, or with disengaged people this is a must-read. It is also a great read for anyone interested in human behaviour and psychology.