Madeleine Albright famously said ‘There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.’
Perhaps there is a special place in hell for those who don’t help others… no matter the gender.
When asked why Andrew Banks was a Shark on Channel Ten’s Shark Tank Australia he said “People are curious to know how self-made people (like the Sharks) did it. Perhaps being part of this program will inspire others to be the best version of themselves”.
We can learn from the success of others, in fact, for that reason, Layne Beachley, seven times world champion surfer (an unbroken world record), spoke powerfully to the team at RedBalloon recently about her journey – and her passion for not just inspiring people – but supporting them on his or her own road to success.
Layne said – “Imagine what it feels like to be unbeatable, to be able to focus single-mindedly on success, in the face of adversity.” She continued “There is much that the business community can learn from how a world champion prepares, creates a team and lives for success.”
“Sure my world records have my name on them – but they have given me an incredible privilege of being able to influence and inspire others – and make the world a slightly better place. They demonstrate what it takes to be unbeatable, and that it is possible. This is what I do now, I speak, run workshops and give people a road map for success.”
“I believe that it is so much easier to show people – that’s why as part of my programs I often get participants on a surfboard – out of their comfort zone… but once they see what is possible they can have a real shift in the way they see their own life, business or circumstance.”
Now I know this first hand because I was part of one of Layne’s program some years ago… and she got me into the surf (which is well out of my natural habitat) which I wrote about here.
Both Layne and I are now mentors as part of the BSchool learning program, we both are speakers… but Layne has taken this one step further by developing a workshop too.
“I was lucky, ” she says, and then corrects herself “I suppose I made my own luck by doing the work, as they say, luck shows up for those who work for it… it is one of the things I share to the award recipients from Aim For The Stars too. “However, work for work’s sake is not the answer – it is focusing the right energy on the right things that will bring results”.
Great to have reconnected with Layne – thank you for the inspiration. More information on her programs can be found here.
This post was first published on my LinkedIn page: 16th August 2016.
