‘Journeying’ is one word close to my heart. It was very present at the time we decided to relocate to another continent 2 years ago. As I look back on October and the last 10 months of the year I surely consider 2019 to be a year of journeying, more in mindset than in distance. 

Here are three really fundamental lessons from last month which have continued to change my mindset:

Uncovering the journey

Most of my work energy last month was focused on supporting a team of analysts in transition. The journey for us as a team is by no means done. Yet what a luxury it is to look at something with a fresh perspective and uncover where we should go next, doing away with past assumptions to shape the future. We adopted the narrative of moving house, which requires throwing away some stuff (old assumptions and less important tasks), packing the essentials (being clear on the core contribution) and buying new things as you move into the new space (enhancing what you do to make it better and sharper). It is hard work to challenge the way things are done but it’s also the real work to get better. 

Journeying with the most important person 

Speaking of getting better, I finished reading ‘This is Marketing’ by Seth Godin. I recommend the book to anyone, especially those who need to sell what they or their organisation is better at (And who doesn’t?). Several parts of the book stood out for me, one of which is the concluding narrative. It suggests that first and foremost the most important person to market to is yourself. It’s pretty fundamental but often forgotten that people do read through our lack of confidence and conviction. To this extent it is critical to shape a strong personal narrative first and foremost. 

Taking others on the journey

The real journey does not happen until the conviction is externalised and a small group of people start following. One movie I watched last month, whilst travelling back to Europe, was Moneyball. The movie has been around for some time. A key lesson from the movie is not so much the new, data-driven approach adopted to build a winning team with far less budget than the competition. Rather it is the fact that this novel approach only started to bear fruit when the protagonists took the time to share their vision and bring the rest of the team on the same page.

So this is how I journeyed last month, first by supporting a team in transition to uncover the journey, then to market it to myself and, finally the ongoing endeavour of getting everyone else on the same page.