How do you know how tall you are?

“If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” - T.S. Eliot

Last month, I said goodbye (well, not so much goodbye, more see you later) to The Brain Tumour Charity. There’s no way to capture three years of growth in a LinkedIn post; I’ll simply say that I met some incredibly passionate, kind, fun and hardworking colleagues and friends at The Brain Tumour Charity. It was a privilege, and truly humbling, to stand alongside a community whose lives have been devastated by this brutal disease and to have played a small role in their mission, to defeat brain tumours.

It was over two years ago (and 100km in the Sahara...) that I accepted the role, with this unapologetically ambitious charity. Coming from the arts and a hamster wheel of temporary contracts, I was adapting to an entirely new way of working, new responsibilities, in a totally different sector and all whilst working fully remotely from Head Office (pre-pandemic and before Zoom quizzes and drinks were a thing). Not to mention that it was a new role for them too, with no blueprint or handover notes for me on starting. It was a somewhat daunting (albeit exciting) move to say the least, and I’m immeasurably glad I took it.

We so often avoid getting in over our head. It's uncomfortable. We're not sure how we'll fare. We don't want to fail. We don't want find out how small we are.

We’ve had two years of adapting and flexing to constant change, yet so many of us are on the move. Taking the next step. Being brave enough to suck at something new.

Maybe it is in getting over our head that we learn that we'll fare just fine; we might even excel; we might realise we’re quite tall after all.

Either way, we won't know unless we're willing to go there.

I have recently taken the plunge once more, taking up a new post at the Eric Liddell Centre. I’ve had a brilliant first few weeks and I’m delighted to be leading their Fundraising Team as we navigate beyond the pandemic, out of survival mode to grow our fundraising and income once more. Not just to celebrate realising new and ambitious targets, though I’m sure we will, but because I know what that money can, and will, help to achieve, through the extraordinary services the Centre delivers for people living with dementia and their carers - bringing people together as part of a community where no one feels lonely or isolated.

But in meantime, I wanted to say thank you, to the incredible team at The Brain Tumour Charity, for helping me grow a little taller.