Living our values
Oct 31, 2023
Hello, and welcome to the second Growth Pod Update!
Firstly, thank you all for the wonderful feedback i had on my first newsletter - it’s something that I’ve been putting off for so long - again, that mental block of putting myself out there! So having positive feedback meant the world to me!
I’ve been reflecting again over the last couple of weeks on why I struggle to put myself out there. It’s easy to put it down to fear - fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of looking (or sounding) ridiculous. For me, I think it’s just something that in the corporate world I never had to do. I’ve never had to promote myself and my work - I was far more focused on the execution, rather than the sales. And I find myself far more heads down on client content, planning events, thinking up new tools and templates and forget that I have to actually tell people what I’m up to. It’s not a fear thing - I’m bizarrely calm that what I am saying might not resonate with everyone, that my workshops and services aren’t going to appeal to all. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s more of a process thing - I need to get better at reaching out and connecting and sharing what I’m up to, and build it into my weekly cadence, much like my meeting preparation and content creation until it becomes a habit, and something I naturally do more of!
And one of the ways I’m doing this is by embedding it in my values. Yes you read that right - my values.
One of the most important exercises I’ve ever done is to understand what my values are and find a way to articulate them. I’ve done it as part of a leadership development course, and again when I left the corporate world and was wondering what to do. I always thought values were a bit “trite”- overused by organizations to engage with staff at a base level, but not that powerful because they were so rarely lived (you know - they get put up everywhere, a big song and dance made about them, everybody has to memorise them…but there’s no measurement of how everyone is living them). So they become less meaningful, just part of the corporate cool aid!
But it was articulating my values that was instrumental in leaving the corporate world and setting up the Growth Pod? Why because once i articulated them, i realised that i wasn’t living them, and that not living them was going to lead me to burnout and misery. So I left the corporate world, and the Growth Pod was born so that i could really deliver on them. And what are they?
- Enjoyment
- Impact
- Personal Development
- Connection
- Creativity
- Self Care
I know that I am at my most satisfied when my little grey cells are whirring away on a client challenge, that I enjoy myself most when I’m brainstorming and when I feel like i am making a difference. When I’m learning about new industries, topics and the wider world. When i get to be creative and colourful. When i look after myself and those around me. And when I connect with others. I know my business will thrive if I live these values - they differentiate me from other consultants out there. People feel them when I work with them - they feel the energy that comes with me enjoying what I do, and from supporting them.
However, I’ve realised that up until now I’ve not been fully living my connection value. I thought it was more important for me to show up on social media than to communicate and connect in person. And in trying to do that, I set myself back so far. I am so much more professionally successful when I get out there and connect with people in person, or over email / zoom. Every week I check back in with myself and how successful I’ve been living my values - and up until now, connection was probably a 6/10. Now I’m setting myself reminders to reach out and connect in more ways, including this newsletter!
Setting your values is so important, but it takes space, reflection and prompting to get there. And just setting them isn’t enough - you need to be able to articulate what they mean to you personally. You need to find ways to live them each and every day, and to measure your success, and to build on them. If you can do this you’ll find that each day is so much more satisfying and meaningful - the true route to happiness.
If you are interested in setting your values then I’m holding a workshop TONIGHT, 5th October 2023 - part of our Bites and Breakthrough series (and yes, I could have lived my connection value better this week and sent out my newsletter on time - and given everyone more warning!).
In Bites and Breakthroughs, every couple of weeks we are going to look into an essential part of your business strategy - starting with values. Places are limited to 10, and the workshop is followed by an intimate networking dinner at Lowe - again MORE connection!
If you are interested then you can sign up here: https://www.growth-pod.com/offers/NoSs6bdt/checkout
I’ve also decided that i want to give you all as much value and have as much impact as possible through these newsletters - so each edition I’m going to share a tool, template or insight that I think can help you in your business growth.
This week it’s my Action planning template - helping you to take action when you are overwhelmed with a huge to do list.
This tool helps you list out everything you need to do, prioritise, and then act on the key items. It even reminds you to celebrate the small wins - making you even more likely to get stuff done.
To download for FREE use the code, Newsletter23
Click here to access the resource
I hope you find it helpful. And if you have feedback please send it over to [email protected], it’s always welcome good or less good!
Finally our upcoming events for this month
05.10.23 - Bites and Breakthrough Workshop - Values Matter
10.10.23 - Growth Huddle - Advise, Action and Accountability
23.10.23 - #IamRemarkable - FREE workshop to learn the skill of self promotion
24.10.23 - Growth Huddle - Advise, Action and Accountability
25.10.23 - Group Coaching - Last cohort of 2023 starts this week!
31.10.23 - Growth Huddle - Advise, Action and Accountability
That’s all for this week!
Sophie
