And it can truly be a stroke of genius to cut through noise.
I had the great pleasure this evening of sitting in the crowd of on an entrepreneurial pitching competition called PitchFest, which is the culmination of an entrepreneur accelerator program called Key Person of Influence. It was a wonderful place to be sitting, especially having attended the previous two PitchFests with completely different perspectives. My first attendance was in preparation for pitching myself while I was on the accelerator program, and the second occasion was when I was on the stage myself, going through the preliminary rounds and happily scoring a top ten finish in the final event.
As I sat in the crowd looking at the esteemed judging panel of successful entrepreneurs (one none other than Ian Elliot – now a chairman of multiple bluechip companies, integral to the success of iconic advertising agency George Patterson, and author the book ’Stop bitching, start pitching’ which I studied at university!), I was reminded of the power of perspective. Sitting in the audience is so easy. Being on the stage is not so easy. Being on the stage is the culmination of hours of refining your pitch – a piece which encapsulates the clarity of what you do, for who, why, and what you need. If I apply this same thinking to those who sit outside businesses, advising business from the outside can at times be easy. Being on the business journey, or on the stage of your own business, is not always so easy, something I can appreciate having two businesses and two babies of my own (and only working 100 days each year). It was humbling to remind myself of these perspectives.
Last week though, I received probably the greatest piece of perspective flipping about the business journey which felt like a complete stroke of genius in the space of about three seconds. It instantly cut through a lot of noise, and allowed me to let go of a lot of stagnant energy I was unnecessarily holding on to – both of which were holding me back.
It happened while I was sharing with my best friend the intimate details of the last six months on my business journey, including the challenges, time wastage, glass ceilings, and other wobbles I’d had along the ride. This is not something I divulge often. For many people I love dearly, it’s not of much interest to them, so it is rare for me to share my business stories in my personal networks. But there are some people who bridge that gap, and love both the personal and business side as much as I do – it’s part of their DNA, and part of what makes us best mates. Last week I had one such conversation about some of the consulting work I did last year, and the ups and downs of this work. I learnt a lot, and was reminded a lot about the business journey of others, on this consulting gig. I not only learnt about the project, the business, the team, and their needs, but also about the different applications of leadership, collaboration, responsibility, and most importantly, I was reminded about some of the basics of high performance environments and the opportunities they create. I also learnt a lot about myself, and some of my self limiting beliefs and things which were holding me back. It was an incredible gig, and gee it was a hard slog at times.
This learning was not a way I would have intended to set about on my path, and in some ways it was a distraction from what I was doing in other areas of my businesses, but I felt compelled to explore it.
The most valuable piece thought, and the bit that stands out for me though, is the bit where my best mate, who knows me through and through, had a completely different perspective to most other people I come across on a daily basis, and it completely flipped my thinking and made me instantly very grateful. When I told her the story of the last six months, and the opportunities that arose and how these eventuated, and the challenges I faced and how I dealt with those (to varying degrees of success), she said to me – ‘wow, I wish I had the chance to go through those challenges and have those learnings from the last six months’. It was the complete opposite of what countless people say to me, along the lines of that sounds too hard, I don’t know why you bother, it’s a lot of hours, you put a lot of pressure on yourself, etcetera etcetera. This simple perspective flip completely changed my view, and allowed me to let go, and grow, immediately, and immensely.
Sometimes it’s very easy to not see the perspective on the other side of the coin. It’s easy not to see or appreciate things from a different point of view.
One of the reasons I’m good at what I do, and why I help people grow the things which are most precious them – their business and their baby – is that I can help them achieve that perspective. It’s the coolest thing to do with people. Once they have the perspective, the clarity, and the implementation plan to go with it, they just fly – and that’s awesome. I’ve been on that stage, but sometimes I too breeze over the all important step to a place where I can take that perspective, which is why I have my support crews in place too. I help people challenge their perspective, and often help them curate together concepts which allow them to take a refreshed perspective, built on tried and tested foundations, to help them grow – both personally and professionally.
Rx
