Q&A@beBee with Graham Edwards

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With Q&A@beBee, I ask some of the most interesting people on this network 7 questions. The result, unedited, is the most fascinating answers. Q&A@beBee is an ongoing series that gives us the opportunity to hear and learn from, and be inspired by, some of the most successful people, as they speak for themselves! 

Today we hear from Graham🐝 Edwards.

1. What motivates you to get up in the morning?

This is one of those questions with an answer that may ebb and flow depending on the stage of your life — for me my motivation to get up in the morning is that there is still so much life to live and so much possibility. And that life is truly a blessing so it is important to get up and get into it.

2. How do you spend the first hour of your day?

This is actually a tough question for me because I’m not very much of a morning person and like to stay in bed as long as possible, and then rush to get into the day — when the alarm does go off, sadly I reach for my gadget and check the key indicators of the day: news, weather, emails, social media feeds, and the market… this tends to set the tone for the day. Recently though, after reading the book Trust Your Senses by Deb🐝 Lange, Brand Ambassador @beBee, I find myself setting the alarm a little earlier and practicing some of the sensing techniques she outlines; I definitely find myself more refreshed to start the day — something I’m still working on.

3. What are you passionate about?

Learning, understanding and discovery.

4. What is the most practical advice you can offer someone in business?

I actually have three pieces of practical advice if you are in business (particularly if you are new to it) —
1) If your boss (or any leader) asks if there are any questions — ask one (or two). It is important to be part of the conversation. It is also important to ask from a place of curiosity and understanding, opposed to asking for asking’s sake.
2) If your boss asks for volunteers to do something it is important to get involved so volunteer.
3) Understand your numbers and metrics. Business is an objective, quantitative endeavor.

5. If you had the opportunity to ask a great mind any question, what would it be?

Have we reached the tipping point for the human race and now heading towards a demise of our own making?

6. Name a book that changed your life.

In the 60’s and 70’s there were a series of books called the “How and Why Wonder book” which explored the topic at hand — my first one was on dinosaurs. These books opened my eyes to science (particularly biology) and lead to a curiosity that eventually took me into the biotechnology sector.

7. Share a quote that inspired you.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." — Teddy Roosevelt

Links to past interviews:

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-ali-anani

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-javier-bebee

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-deb-helfrich

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-ian-weinberg

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-netta-virtanen

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-brigette-hyacinth

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-david-b-grinberg

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-john-white

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-renee-cormier

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-gert-scholtz 

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-michele-williams

https://www.bebee.com/producer/@sara-jacobovici/q-a-bebee-with-lance-scoular