Issue No.45: Thinking Differently
Final Issue of 2024... Time for a Re-think!
Thinking Differently
I said last week that I was going to write about high performance practices but I have decided to change this from the content I had planned.
I have had a couple of opportunities in the last week to “think differently”, and as a high performance principle is continuous improvement, I want to share these thoughts.
The initial opportunity was as a result of the Goldman Sachs 10K Small Business Course I completed in 2019. As an Alumni of the programme, last Wednesday I attended Goldman Sachs HQ in London to hear from three thought provoking speakers.
We started the morning with Sir Anthony Seldon and a fundamental question: What is the humanity in your company?
This really struck a cord when you consider the rate and adoption of technology. Technology can do the repetitive tasks but we need to be thinking differently about how we then develop human intelligence.
We need to continue to develop and stress ourselves mentally. It is only when we challenge ourselves and go through difficulties that we come to better answers.
Life is at its best when we live in the depths of humanity developing relationships, passion and stimulating environments. This can be achieved by creating space, stepping back from the daily operations and spending time seeing the bigger picture.
The second speaker was Dr Eliza Filby who delivered a fantastic speech explaining the flow of money through society and some key insights relevant to business:
Baby Boomers are the wealthiest generation who are redefining "old age", as well as being the fastest growing demographic on social media.
People under 30 are not motivated solely by money and will have multiple careers throughout their lifetime.
Conscious effort needs to occur to foster human skills in younger generations, including eye contact, sense of fun and empathy.
There is huge benefit in creating intergenerational workforces and including reverse mentoring in business.
The final speaker was Dame Sarah Storey and the key takeaways from her hugely impressive sporting journey included:
The value of a team when aiming to achieve your ambitions
How honest conversations are important to remove being put on a pedestal
Set backs will occur but what is important is being able to accept the situation quickly
Preparation is so important to expose you to difficulties and challenges
Focus on your performance, not comparing to others
Aim to get better every day, changing one variable at a time, to aggregate the marginal gains
Humility that you can always learn more
The second opportunity this week was attending a Mental Fitness Live event hosted by Maya Raichoora.
Like many of you, my career has been heavily focussed on physical health and performance. However the mind-body connection is real, powerful and an area of performance that needs attention.
How would I summarise the event? A room full of inquisitive energy and visualisation practices to stretch your performance.
I’m going to share some words from the evening that ended with a 13 minute visualisation exercise - Probably the longest I have ever sat still for!
Thoughts are the language of the mind; emotions are the language of the body
The more hysterical the emotion, the more historical the emotion
Emotions are energy in motion
Emotions are data, not the directive
Reflect and then refine
Performance is relative
Nothing changes if nothing changes
So tell me, does any of this content make you think differently? As Einstein said, Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
This Issue is the last of 2024!
These weekly posts, alongside podcasts, reflection, investments, learnings, new roles and a business exit, have solidified my purpose, to empower leaders and teams to reach their full performance potential.
Building on my values of curiosity, collaboration, ambition and optimism, I will be bringing you updated content in 2025.
My entrepreneurial spirit will underpin the content and through a thought provoking approach, I want to challenge traditional practices.
As the saying goes, your network is your net worth and so by joining forces with innovative industry leaders, I want to craft a collaborative space where knowledge meets opportunity. This will also involve broadcasting the voices of human performance, sharing stories that matter and insights that make a difference.
Thank you for reading, listening, commenting and responding throughout this year - it is greatly appreciated. See you in 2025!
As always, if you enjoyed this content then feel free to share widely. If you have any questions or thoughts then I am always open to conversations and opportunities.
Nic x
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