Brick Walls - How to Conquer Them

During my career, I have been confronted by a brick wall built right across my path on many occasions. Sometimes that brick wall was built, just for my personal defilement. Sometimes it was constructed to deter a business entering a market or approaching a static sector with miniopolies. On occasion, the wall had been there for many years, impenetrable, strong and proud of its threat to progress. When I entered the National Health Service at 16 years old to work in the salaries and wages department as a Clerical Officer I was promised promotion to a Higher Clerical officer after six months. I was delighted. Sure enough after six months I was called to the bosses office and given my promotion which included a salary hike, a desk by the window and arms (but no wheels) on my chair. After another nine months, I was tasked by my supervisor to take on a new role with additional responsibility and workload. After a few months, I was informed by one of the smokers clubs that I should ask for the promotion to Executive Clerical Officer because the previous person who did the job carried that grade. My request was rebuffed with absolute horror by my supervisor. She told me in no uncertain terms I could not be considered for the next promotion until I had completed two years in the lower grade. When I sought to challenge this by explaining that I was doing the higher grade job, I was introduced to a massive brick wall which was covered in moss and had been in place for centuries. I was warned not to rock the boat and sure enough 15 months later I was promoted to Executive Clerical Officer and given wheels on my chair. My promotion was not linked to competence but merely a reward for time served. My balding, paunched, greasy boss put his arm around my shoulder at my inauguration meeting to give me a pep talk, “Newey I see no reason why, if you keep your head down, you should not end up in my chair by the time you are 55 years old like I did.” He smiled, patted me on the back having given me his inspirational tip. I resigned the same day.

Some walls are substantive but all walls can be viewed as absolutely indisputably unbeatable.  Whilst others will view the same wall as a mere milestone to their inevitable success. 

Over the years I have had the chance to watch how different leaders approach brick walls and I thought these observations may be useful to you if you are looking at a huge brick wall at the moment;

• Check if the brick wall is real or imagined. I have sat alongside the CEO of companies to be told a customer will not let them change a product, delivery arrangement, deadline, payment terms or design and that this lack of flexibility will cost the business ￡1000s. On enquiry, I am amazed to be told that “well no, we have not asked them but we know they will not agree to this change”. After a 5 minute call to the customer, we discover we can easily scale the wall thanks to the goodwill of the customer.
• Look for evidence of previous escapees. Search for hidden tunnels, rope ladders and buried maps. Someone has usually been confronted by this wall before and some, like all fearful prisons, will have had prisoners who escaped. Learn from those who have gone before you and succeeded. Don't listen to those who have gone before you and failed and are seeking to convince you that you can only fail in your attempt. Listen rather to the wisdom of Neil Armstrong, Hedy Lamarr, Nelson Mandela, Anne Frank, Alexander Fleming, Oprah Winfrey, Barrack Obama, Ellen DeGeneres, Stevie Wonder and my wife Samantha Newey.
• Check what is meant when you are told your path is blocked by a wall. Is it the Berlin Wall (strong, sturdy but only built to be breached in one night on 9th November 1989). Or Hadrian's Wall which I recently visited and spent two days looking for, only to find it is now mostly a meadow and green grassy banks. This one-time Roman fortress is now a place where sheep graze. The Great Wall of China, upon visiting it in 2012 to find most sections are in disrepair and unable to repel hungry Mongolians. Even Mr Trump seems to suggest his Wall may actually be more of a fence.
• Check for cracks, weak points, design faults and flaws in the foundations. Without the aid of a solicitor I have worked my way through contracts to find many flaws, openings and opportunities to have a fair discussion about an impasse. Occasionally there will even be a hidden door, designed to stay hidden but there also to provide an escape route in the most desperate of times.`
• Look for other people who are seeking to vault the same wall as you. The magnificent women of Dagenham, the Dinner Ladies of Birmingham City Council and the women golfers of many a male-only member run golf club. 
• Check the height, width and breadth of the presenting wall. Sometimes the higher they build them the quicker they fall. Then pick the right tools; ladders, drills, dynamite, tunnelling moles, drones, hot air balloons and pole vaults. Each tool used on the right wall will bring you success. So stand back, undertake a proper review, select your tool and get to work.
• Check the map, is this really the only way to get to my destination goal? When I was in the NHS I knew I could not achieve my goal of financial independence and freedom by staying in that role until I was 55 years old. Nothing was going to change the wall in the foreseeable future so I decided to achieve my goal by resigning and investing and opening a restaurant with my savings instead at 22 years old. Check your map, look for alternative routes to your goal and remember it is the goal achievement you seek not necessarily to conquer that wall. 
• Rarely are walls scaled alone. More often than not you need a team, some support, resources, training, fitness, back-up and a plan A, Plan B and maybe even a plan C. So get out there and rabble rouse, build your base, ask for help, shine a light on awfulness, be the voice above the noise of complacency, be strong, take advice from your heroes, pick yourself back up each time you are knocked down, never accept defeat, look for the sacrifice and make it. 
• Walls are used by weak people who don’t want to debate the issue, so demand debate and lead it. Walls are used by bullies to shield the prize for themselves, so call out the bullies, the monopolies and the daily abuse of power. Walls are built by crooks, shine a light on the issue and good people will stand alongside you. 

The toughest walls to move past are those which we put in place ourselves. They are the walls of self-fear, lack of self-esteem, ignorance and we build them high and strong when our energies are low and when we are beaten. These walls have many self-justifying labels; “I will never pass my exams, driving test, no one wants to be my friend, I will never get that job, it's ok for you, some day I’ll, if only, it's not fair, I just can’t seem to loose this weight, they never promote people who look like me, I am too old to get that job, I want my own business but, I did not even do anything wrong, its the governments fault, they are making a fortune by not doing anything and my boss is an idiot”. These walls will require every ounce of all the tactics above. They can appear insurmountable, they are self-limiting and they multiply when left unaddressed. We reduce ourselves and our lives to mediocrity when we learn to live on benefits, accept a teachers criticism, when we are crushed by a bosses opinion of our work, partners leaving words and a child's teenage rant. These walls have bricks of guilt, the mortar of many abuses and coping stones of statutory authorities and red tape. No one ever removes these walls for you, these walls always require self-demolition, you have to wake up one day and acknowledge you are not beaten yet, you have to hear the voices in your head of the heroes who tried when they were told there was no hope of success. It starts by standing up tall and recognising it is only us who seeks to prevent our success and it can only be us who leads the challenge to overcome this wall. This is the starting point for all great achievements.

Now, there is not a wall that has been built which can keep you down, which you can not scale, there is not a wall too high, too long or too strong that cannot be weakened by your resolve. Wake up today and raise your head and follow the path of others determinedly towards that wall and remove it from the blockage it is to the future you deserve.

Roy Newey ?2016