I’ve started playing word bingo. I sit and I listen to the incredible speakers, mentors and coaches who we have the privilege to meet as part of the Marketing Academy, and in my mind I count how many times they say any of the following:
– legacy
– purpose
– vision
– relationships
– impact
– authenticity
– values
We’re told that if we can sort all of the above out then we’ll fly. That’s what it takes to be an extraordinary kind of leader. Top of our game. That’s it. Just that lot. Nothing major.
I sit there and I smile and I nod, begging the imposter in me to hang on in there. Everyone else is looking intent and confident so it can’t be impossible right?!* “Fake it until you make it” is the mantra that springs to mind.
*the most liberating realisation is that everyone is faking it too!
But they are BIG words. And authenticity is hard to fake.
So how do we do it?!
The break through moment came when I realised that the crux of it is really very simple: you have to KNOW WHAT YOU WANT and, as the brilliant Emma Harris says, “know you will have it.”
Emma, founder of the brand and people consultancy GLOW, is clear in her delivery – we need to start taking responsibility for our own choices, and that begins by understanding and accepting what it is that we want.
There are a number of quick and easy ways that you can start this process. One is to conduct an outcomes exercise. To do this you need ten minutes and a piece of paper. Pick a date in the future (it could be anything from six months to six years away), imagine yourself in that day, and under each of the following headings write down what you see for yourself on that day: work, home, money, health, relationship and growth.
The second method is to produce a vision board. Very Blue Peter I know, but go with it… start collecting images that represent the vision you have for your life. They might be short term; the finish line of the marathon you’re training for, or longer term; your dream home. Use these pictures as your screen saver, put them up on the wall, stick them to your fridge, what ever you do, keep them front of mind.
Emma’s belief is that by doing this we will help programme our minds into subconsciously working towards these goals. This idea of the power of our subconscious is a theme that runs through much of Richard Tyler’s work too. Richard, a ‘Chief Possibility Architect’ and author of Jolt – presents a performance map where he goes on to say that we have the skills but it is our thoughts that prevent us achieving extraordinary versions of ourselves. We need to shift our thinking, so that our thoughts become our reality.
Richard gives us this advice: start addressing the gaps between where you want to be (that’s on your piece of paper from the outcomes exercise already!) and where you are now. Don’t let it be the thinking that holds you back from achieving greatness. Start changing, 1% at a time, and dare to begin…
Of course, nobody is suggesting that this is all it takes. Knowing what you want is the base line of becoming an extraordinary kind of leader and it’s only the start of adapting the beliefs you have built up about yourself… but I’d hazard a guess that it is further along the road than many people have already gone.
And it’s certainly enough to make playing bingo slightly less terrifying!
@MissHatcher
