Take time to stop and think
Oct 22, 2020
Representing GB at the World Indoor Rowing Championships - with Sir Steve Redgrave
It’s a volatile world right now and it can be as beneficial to look back as it is to look forward. This blog post from 2019 highlighted mentoring and the importance of reflection. It’s just as true today.
It was as if I were two different people. I had been competing at an international level, pushing my body and mind to the limit, diligently training every day, and putting in the mindset work. And yet, at work I was an introvert, quiet around the table, barely noticed in a group with talent bubbling up inside me. That is what drove me to find a mentor.
I was working in a corporate environment, I was comfortable and cruising but knew that I wanted more, deserved more. I had just enrolled on a part-time MBA programme and started to see that I was smart. I found a great mentor - a former FTSE director and careers coach and it was as if I had been able to fuse the two parts of me together.
Over the two years Dean* held a mirror to me and to my ambitions, helping me to see my career achievements and skills and to build the confidence to challenge myself further. Being in the thick of the part-time distance MBA, a full-time job, a full-time life partner Dean helped to see that I needed to carve out some of that 110% for my own wellbeing. It is after all a marathon not a sprint.
Over the two years of working together, I benefited from Dean’s wisdom and patience and stretched into the confident professional I am today. Dean helped me to unlock my path, as an outsider with no interest other than my best interest, he helped me to find my own voice and to trust my gut. He did challenge me; you cannot grow without challenge.
Roll forward ten years and I am at the helm of a 7-figure business, having steered it through major transformation and created a national brand. Certainly, I am still quiet around the table, but now for hugely different reasons. Now, as the lead, I am self-assured; I am listening to the group of talented people I’ve surrounded myself with, challenging them and stretching them to be their very best and we are plotting our own path ahead.
Space for reflection and to tap into your own wisdom is essential for an effective leader. Having someone with you as a mentor or coach can lift you further towards excellence.
We want to lift leaders and entrepreneurs up into excellence, that’s why we publish these blogs and uplifting messages through Instagram. Look at your calendar now and carve out time once a fortnight to stop, no really stop, and think. If you can do more, do way more, but at least start there.
Consider whether a coach or mentor can help you and your company. We’d love that to be us, but care more about encouraging you to reach out. To be your best self and help others to shine around you.
You’ve got this.
Every week, we’ll be sending a new topic linked back to honing those billionaire mindset skills: big picture thinking, relentless laser focus, risk taking, leadership and exceptional decision making. If you want to explore and develop your skills in yourself or your team get in touch to book a discovery call.
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