Beyond the Best there is a Better!

School mottos are a funny thing – they provide an opportunity for discussion, debate and criticism and yet we’re often able to recall them years later.  Mine has stayed with me all these years and ironically means more now with the ‘wisdom’ of experience than it did with the ‘innocence’ of youth. 

At some level this is paradoxical - if you have delivered your best, how can you say there is a better?  But of course there is - we build on the shoulders of our predecessors, our previous experiences and develop new ideas and dreams from them.

It also describes a key element in my approach to life – it’s an ongoing adventure where I learn new things, how to do something better, more effectively, more efficiently or more thoroughly in order to achieve more enjoyment.

Personal development, literature, leadership and coaching programmes abound where we can identify our strengths, values and life purpose.  Recently, I really enjoyed learning via a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), on The Secret Power of Brands.   Evidence suggests that brand led organisations are more successful.  Can we therefore extrapolate that people operating from their ‘purpose’ or ‘Why’ are more successful?  Simon Sinek’s ‘Ted Talk’ is a fabulous account of the power of identifying and operating from WHY.

 

I believe that people are empowered when they look their best.  We don’t enjoy what we don’t know how to do.  For me, being able to take control of one area of my life by understanding what to wear to look my best, was a revelation - and it’s an ongoing journey.  The visible transformation I underwent in the early days has evolved, developed and been improved on! 
 

I recently had the opportunity to revisit my old university, sharing my experience of finding jobs and recruiting with the current students. 

One of them asked

‘When did you know what you wanted to do?’

‘I still don’t!’ I replied laughingly. 

However, I do know that I want to make a difference to people, inspiring, challenging and leading them to make the most of themselves, so that they discover what’s important to them and step into their own power and ability to deliver on it. 

As in life, things evolve.  My old school has a new lease of life after bringing together the best of three schools and I consider my life a 'work in progress’.  I’m loving the journey of exploring and enabling others to explore where ‘beyond the best... the better leads'!