Thank you, thank you, thank you….

Life has been a bit of a roller coaster lately.  Married in December, promotion at work to Head of Business Airline Marketing at Manchester Airport in January plus many fab mentoring sessions to name a few!

It has been hectic and at times really tough but once again The Marketing Academy has helped me enormously to get through this experience.  I would like to share my eight top tips from 2011 as well as thanking some truly amazing people who have helped me get through the last few months.  You have been instrumental to my learning so thank you!

1.  Take responsibility.

A refreshing reminder from Sally Cowdry at O2 via Penny Ferguson’s Programmes for Life course.  It is always up to you as an individual to take ownership!  A personal and frank reminder.  Sally, thank you so much for your patience and understanding in our session, you deserve a medal!

2. Do less things well.  Simplify and don’t make things difficult.  Track everything.

I love the simplicity of this.  The world is getting quicker but we have a choice to respond.   A great reminder from Deborah Dolce at TK Maxx.  A very useful piece of advice especially in a new role.

3. Enjoy the experience of a new role.  Embrace the different parts of the journey that this brings and be kind to yourself.

Personally, a tough one for me to crack but great advice from my coach, Dr Ruth Smith.  As always, I come out of our sessions with so many great things.

4.  Always trust your instinct.  Go with your gut and stick to it.

A great reminder from Debbie Klein at Engine.

5. You can’t solve everything in twelve months but you can make a good start.  Talk to ask many people as you can, find patterns and identify one big wave of change.

Thanks to Charmaine Eggberry from Nokia. Sometimes it does feel a little ‘information overload’ in a new role but it’s about processing that information to take out the best bits to make decisions.

6. Ask the question, with all that we have, what can’t we achieve?

I love the mentality and positivity of this from Syl Saller, Diageo.

7. You learn nothing from success.  You need to make mistakes.

A really tough one for me to crack but I absolutely agree.  You definitely learn from mistakes and you never forget or make the same mistake twice.  Thanks Doug Richards from School 4 Startups.

8. Invest in you – force yourself and make the time.

A great piece of advice from Joe Clift at Lloyds Banking Group.  It’s about reviewing achievements, finding that time to reflect and making time for your personal life.  It’s about not forgetting that work life balance and those relationships that are so important.  Another tough one for me to crack.

To my husband, Jonny, you are my rock, thanks for putting up with me the last few months!!

I hope you find these tips useful in your own way.