Curiosity rather than superiority

Last week’s article, ‘Resilience is the Only Response’ asked the questions, “What places, locations and environments get you energised and aligned to your values? What small step can you take to build your resilience?”

There was an insightful response from award-winning recruiter Chris Sale:

“The engineering-based definition is also helpful: "the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity". Vitally important and of course linked to the vulnerability to the adverse event in the first place. Both can be enhanced, but lack of resilience is not failure. Sometimes thing do overwhelm.”

This really got me thinking about the future and what would be most valuable would be to take advantage of the significant opportunities that are presented in the payments industry and eco-system. In addition, there was a sudden realisation that there are only effectively SEVEN working weeks pre-Christmas in 2022!

Given the volatile, uncertain predictions for the UK economy, one of the key skills necessary for a successful career is?opportunity creation - the ability to identify, initiate, ask for and convert those that are often hidden in plain sight. It is your own responsibility (not your employer’s), to take opportunity creation and adapting seriously. This will enable you to achieve your career goals, regardless of economic uncertainty.

During half-term I always enjoy spending deeper family time together. This week my son was thrilled with two hours of walking which ended up seeing a Millstone, ?“Dad, this is not a short walk!”.

There was a magnificent tree and we tried to guess its age – according to the sign, it had taken nearly 300 years to grow from a small sapling.

Over the weekend, my wife and I accompanied our daughter around her potential university options. I love supporting anyone to realise their dreams; I genuinely feel positive energy when I partner with my clients and they achieve a promotion, career-defining move, pay rise, their dream job or even move country!

When it’s your own daughter, it feels an honour to be on that journey of dreams. She is passionate about being an elite sports coach; she knew from a very young age what her destiny was going to be and she first started coaching aged 12. Seeing the facilities and stunning campus at one university I could see why she wanted to attend, yet competition for places will be very fierce.

Over lunch, we started planning what happens if she does not get the grades she needs. I asked her to play the game in life called WLT - ‘which led to’. You may not get precisely what you want, but if it led to something better, then your life and career is moving forward. At this point my wife recalled a hot summer’s day when I was trying to promote my book at a bookstore in Reading. It was 30 degrees outside, and I did not sell a single book. What did happen that day was an introduction who suggested I connect with one of his colleagues in London. That led to a single sale of 300 books…

It struck me how many people see a knock-back and think that means ‘stop’. One thing I know is that opportunities, referrals, and introductions, even the most stellar or gilt-edge ones, all come with a sign:

“Plenty of hard work required”.

These opportunities are like acorns - they take time to be nurtured.

I have a clear belief: in any new relationship or introduction, it is not the other person’s responsibility to build trust or add value first - that is on me.

I have to go first, humans are built to be sceptical of strangers and have a high filter on whom they allow to come close. That is why social proof is so important as a tool of influence in the process of building trust.

Leading all of these conversations and interactions with a sense of curiosity rather than superiority is a human and winning start. Increasing your appetite for identifying, asking, and going first with relationships makes a disproportionate difference to your results and outcomes.

I always enjoy a clear night sky in London, as it reminds me of the ‘acres of diamonds’ of opportunity right on our very doorstep.

?“The ability to learn faster than your competitors may be the only sustainable competitive advantage.”?Arie de Geus

“Comparison is the thief of all joy.” Teddy Roosevelt

These two quotes sum up the optimal approach to creating more opportunities as we sunset on 2022 and enter 2023. Embrace learning to stay relevant and compare yourself to how you were yesterday; are you getting more aligned to your true North? After all, this is all you can control.

So, my challenge to you this week is:

·???????How do you overcome comparing yourself to others?

·???????And how do learn faster to create greater opportunity?

As a bit of fun before I take a short break next week due to business travel, I would like to ask you:

Which six guests would you invite to your ultimate dinner party and why? I would like to learn as much as possible from the evening so my choices are:

·???????Poet and writer Maya Angelou – she raises our confidence to conceive and believe in the human race collectively.

·???????Former Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga – his ability to see beyond current issues with competition and raise sights on doing well by doing good.

·???????Leader of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – his vision, design and leadership to transform a country in just a few decades into an global economic hub.

·???????Singer, songwriter, and actress, Lady Gaga – her ability to show up in the world as fully ‘her’. The party could get started with one of her tunes!

·???????Thought-provoking author Malcolm Gladwell – who would analyse and synthesise the conversation.

·???????Welsh rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards – who would bring his humility in the face of greatness.

If I was allowed a seventh it would be award-winning Irish chef Richard Corrigan, to make sure all the guests are well fed with stunning food!

Our purpose at Accelerated Career Results is to transform leaders’ mindset, confidence, and results. For them to achieve their potential through the power of life-enhancing connections, shared experiences, and collaborative learnings. We achieve this by unlocking the ‘latent ability’ within talented individuals and teams. Our focus is on the Payments, Open Banking and FINTECH industry.

We are passionate about enabling women to be appropriately rewarded for the value they add and have created the “Impactful Negotiations for Women” program.

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