Teaching them to be awesome

During my career when I took a step back from day to day agency life to manage the Institute of Promotional Marketing, I was lucky enough to be in contact with the IPM's 30 Under 30 group. A hand picked selection of marketing's finest who we had the privilege of coaching.

As part of their year with the IPM, we put together sessions covering teaching, learning and inspiration. The particular session I recall vividly was around management, pitching and procurement with the amazing Jill Lorimer, Jenny Plant and Paul Morrissey. The sessions were about planning, confidence and structure. One of the areas we did explore was around the anxiety of performance and pressure to achieve, be 'always on'. The one which left the most impression was the session on email management (their request), with Victoria Walsh who had been my right hand for many years and now teaches business readiness at Kingston Business School. Victoria asked this group 'why don't you just delete every email in your inbox?'. Cue visible and palpable distress from the assembled marketers in the room. It left me thinking about how we deal with those moments of goal setting and what 'good' looks like when we consider our own happiness.

Digging deeper into what we could link with this group, I've shared many TEDx talks and two of my favourites are from Simon Sinek and Shawn Achor.

Shawn Achor is my go to TEDx talk when I need a 10 minute pick me up - to remind me on dark days that I have much to be grateful for and still much to do in life.

Shawn gives an important lesson in his talk that I keep reminding myself on. The picture above is from my youngest daughter's desk many years ago. At the time she was 11 years old (she's now all grown up) and with a big sister who was about to hop off to university after a long, hard working gap year, (she's even more grown up now) I suspect this was big sis influencing her little sis with a 'pick me' up. With summer exams just completed for many students everywhere, I'm reminded of Shawn's view on education about escaping the cult of the average and made me think back to this picture and the quiet conversations my eldest had with her sister to give her confidence. Mindful that his view is based on the US, his opinion still holds of true of a lot of education.

If we only ever teach to the average, we will remain so.

The world is made up of so many types of people, personalities, learning styles, types, expressions, finding a way to leave this behind is tricky. Belief that you could be more is powerful and focuses the mind. You may be forgiven for thinking that this 11 year old was structured, organised and super efficient. She wasn't and is still wonderfully chaotic and creative. But at that time she needed a proper goal that inspired her so she could achieve to move past the dread of exams... you know the feeling... the fear of sitting in front of an exam paper and your mind goes blank. Arrgh!

Let's face it, when you're 11 its definitely easier. She really wanted to wake up the next day to find she's been Luna Lovegood all along and go to Hogwarts.

Having that focus is about success but surely its more about how happy this makes you?

I know a lot of super successful, very unhappy people. I'd much rather preach the happiness advantage you can have when you set goals that you can achieve. From personal experience, we have all been taught to reach for the next stage and the next stage, without enjoying the moment of happiness that comes from reaching a cherished, longed for place.

So my point is simple. Happiness should come before success - because she's right, we're not here to be average, we're here to be awesome and how awesome would it be if we were all just a little happier?

Views are my own and inspired by family, the incredible people I work with and have the privilege to represent everyday.