During one of my mentor session, one of my little girls came into the room I was in and she was unwell. I was very apologetic to my mentor while I left the call to tend to her. I was so embarrassed the meeting was interrupted and felt bad I was wasting the mentor precious time. When I came back, she told me to “never apologise for being a mum.” That my children were my number one priority and no one should ever apologise for being a parent. I have taken that mantra with me and whenever I have to run off to attend an assembly or have had one of my girls interrupt a call, I don’t apologise but proudly and loudly make a point that it is ok to be a parent and to prioritise things that are important to me outside of work.

Eagerly embarking on The Marketing Academy with two young children in tow set the tone for many of my meaningful conversations with my mentors. At a time, when life was full but sleep was not, I opened each of my conversations with my mentors with the same question – What daily rituals or habits do you follow to show up to be the best version of yourself everyday? Here are some valuable takeaways:

Prioritise your own wellbeing to achieve high levels of productivity. Find what works for you – meditating, gratitude journals, exercise.

Review your calendar for the day and think about what behaviours and actions are required of you. Use one word for each meeting that sums up that expectation and provides you with focus – Are you there to brainstorm, debate or just listen?

Reset before each meeting and take responsibility for your own energy. This ensures you arrive in a neutral state to meet the next person.

Treat your career like a sprint, not a marathon. Reframing your career in this way creates a sense of lightness and creative energy that can be sustained.

Frankly I feel there is no greater gift than having a network of people you can talk to and learn from. Boy does the Marketing Academy give you this in spades. The number of “ah ha” moments are too many to write but for some rapid fire top tips you just can’t go wrong with these. And if you feel like you’re going off-piste I encourage you to go there – that’s where the magic is.

Firstly, have your own “Board of Directors”, for all the career people out there run yourself like a company and find your people, your tribe that can keep you accountable and on track. Having your close, trusted network to consult with, problem solve together, get inspired by, let out your frustrations, get advice on your life and give you the confidence to take the next step is just so powerful.

Have a “to be list”, not a “to do list” – be intentional. Think small and show up. Look at your day or even the next meeting and ask yourself how you want to be. Then be kind to yourself, we never get it right all the time but acknowledge it and accept you know how to be better next time.

Don’t confuse humility with being apologetic. For all you Brene Brown fans out there I simply love her definition of humility and now no longer subscribe to the dictionary definition being “the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance”. NO. Brene and her researchers describe humility as “an openness to new learning with a balanced and accurate assessment of our contributions, including our strengths, imperfections and opportunities for growth” – Essentially turn up to get it right, not be right. How good is that! And how powerful, if we all adopted that attitude in the workplace and in life we sure would be productive… and slightly more harmonious.

Never run from a job – run to one.

There are so many things to be grateful for when you’re part of The Marketing Academy. One of
them is the access and connections you build from their mentor group. There is one thing I found in
common from the mentors I connected with – their humility. You can be forgiven for feeling slightly
intimidated by their achievements, experience and their know-how. Yet you quickly discover their
devotion to pay it forward and how invested they are in passing on the wisdom they’ve picked up
along the way. Here are a couple of my favs.

1. Set up a learning agenda – When it comes to finding that airtime and looking beyond the
horizon of your day-to-day responsibilities, a learning agenda helps devote focus time. It
creates an intentional agenda to go deep on a particular topic and support a key remit of
yours. The mentor re-quoted “give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend the first
four hours sharpening my axe”.

2. Breathing techniques during a stressful situation – Yep, you can even learn a thing or two
on breathing techniques. One mentor had training from someone who was ex-military
around breathing techniques to help handle stress. Breathing in for 5 seconds, hold for 5,
out for 5 as though it’s a long sigh can trick your mind and body into thinking it’s more
relaxed. Very effective in keeping your cool and your wits about you.

My worldview was that leadership required a linear, formulaic approach. At our first Marketing Academy Bootcamp the talk from Rezilium CEO Kamal Sarma hit home. He said, “What’s gotten you to where you are, won’t get you to where you want to go.” That’s the S-Curve of Leadership. Growth happens when you shake up your approach. I asked each of my mentors what set them on their path to hypergrowth.

1. Inject your brand into every conversation and increase the amount of time that people see you using that strength. This is your superpower. Superpowers can be found in unlikely places.
2. Invest time at the start creating your vision. Two of my mentors highlighted the importance of crafting your story in simple language. They take a blank piece of paper (yes away from the screen) and dot point the fundamentals of the story. Spend the rest of your time socialising this story, not in creating endless PowerPoint decks.
3. Be a leader worth following, like Sir Ernest Shackleton. This polar explorer kept his crew alive in the most challenging conditions due to his understanding of purpose, goals and routines. His first Antarctic mission was a failure; however, his team had such a great belief in his leadership, that many signed up for a second expedition.

Their responses have helped me create my own leadership legacy.

One of my mentors shared that the way she moves past her “imposter” is through knowledge. She spends time researching and reading in advance of any meeting so she has questions and a view point ready to share. This helps her feel confident to speak up and ensure her voice is heard. A simple but very easy trick to battling your inner imposter.