Why Showing Up Matters: How Attending the Right Events Helps You Influence Change Without Even Realising It
- Nene Sterling-LS
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read

Why Showing Up Matters: How Attending the Right Events Helps You Influence Change Without Even Realising It
Sometimes, you don’t know the impact you’re making until you’re in the room. Today, I attended an NHS event on Social Value and the 10-Year Health Plan. It was designed to share ideas on the procurement of NHS Services and their social value impact and outcomes, but it became something more—a reminder of how simply showing up at the right conversations can quietly shape the direction of policy and practice.
In one breakout session, we discussed procurement in a hospital community setting. The scenario focused on buying community-based remote monitoring kits and telehealth tools. These sound like technical decisions—budgets, suppliers, specifications—but they’re really about people.
When I mentioned integrating self-management support and health coaching into the procurement, the room shifted. It wasn’t just about the kit anymore—it was about empowerment, behaviour change, and long-term wellbeing. That’s the power of perspective. By contributing one idea grounded in community experience, you influence how others think about value—not just financial, but social.
That’s what these events offer: a space to connect policy to lived reality. You may not hold the pen that writes the policy, but your input informs it. The conversations you have, the examples you share, and the insights you raise can have a lasting impact on decisions made later.
So when something interests you—an event, a talk, a workshop—go. Listen, speak, and share what you know from your unique perspective. Because influence doesn’t always look like authority. Sometimes it’s the question you ask, the perspective you offer, or the way you help others see the human side of a system.
That’s how real change starts. Not in isolation, but in rooms full of people willing to show up, engage, and connect ideas with action.
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