Sharon Hedlund’s Post

🌍✈️ Carol Hriczov on How Travel Shapes Leadership ✈️🌍 Hello LinkedIn community, As a CEO who has had the privilege of traveling extensively, I've found that travel is more than just an escape from the daily grind - it's a profound teacher, especially in the context of leadership. Through my journeys, I've discovered the immense value of being exposed to diverse cultures and business environments. This has not only enriched my personal growth but has also been instrumental in shaping my leadership style. 🔹 Embracing Diversity: Traveling has taught me the importance of understanding and valuing different perspectives. In a globalized world, this ability to embrace diversity is crucial for any leader. 🔹 Adaptability and Resilience: Being in unfamiliar environments challenges you to adapt quickly, a skill that's directly transferable to the ever-evolving business world. It fosters a resilience that is invaluable in navigating corporate challenges. 🔹 Innovation from Global Insights: Each travel experience has offered unique insights into global markets and consumer behaviors, influencing our company’s strategies and driving innovation. 🔹 Enhanced Communication: Engaging with people from various backgrounds has refined my communication skills, making me a more empathetic and effective leader. 🔹 Broader Perspective: Travel has a way of broadening your horizons, literally and metaphorically. This expanded perspective is essential in making more inclusive and well-informed decisions. In conclusion, travel is not just about new destinations; it's about new perspectives. It's about bringing those learnings back to your team and organization, enriching your leadership journey and, in turn, the company's path. I encourage leaders at all levels to seek travel experiences - not just as a break but as a part of your leadership development. Safe travels and happy learning! #LeadershipDevelopment #TravelInspiration #GlobalPerspectives #CEOInsights #BusinessTravel Would love to hear your thoughts on how travel has influenced your professional journey. Share your experiences in the comments! 👇🌐✨

🌐 What It Takes to Be a True Leader in the Professional World of Travel? 🚀 Leadership in the travel industry goes beyond just managing tasks—it's about setting the standard, inspiring teams, and delivering exceptional experiences. In a field as dynamic as travel, true leadership requires a unique blend of qualities that go beyond the norm. 🛫 1️⃣ Empathy Over Authority: Leading with empathy creates stronger connections with both clients and team members. By understanding and valuing people’s perspectives, a leader fosters a collaborative environment where everyone feels heard and valued. 🫶 2️⃣ Adaptability and Foresight: The travel landscape is constantly evolving, from shifting regulations to emerging destinations. A true leader remains adaptable, anticipates changes, and adjusts strategies to navigate uncertainties effectively. 🔄 3️⃣ Vision Paired with Execution: Leaders in travel are both visionary and action-oriented. They don’t just set the direction; they actively participate in steering the ship, ensuring that ideas are executed with precision and purpose. 🌟 4️⃣ Empowering the Team: Great leaders recognize that success is a collective effort. They invest in their teams’ growth, foster a culture of continuous learning, and celebrate achievements. This empowerment leads to motivated teams that consistently deliver their best. 🤝 5️⃣ Passion That Drives Excellence: In an industry fueled by experiences, passion is non-negotiable. True leaders are those whose enthusiasm for travel shines through every decision, inspiring their teams and elevating their organizations. ❤️ Leadership in travel is about more than guiding a team—it's about creating a legacy of inspiration, resilience, and unwavering dedication to the journey. #LeadershipInTravel #TravelIndustry #Empowerment #VisionaryLeadership #PassionForTravel

Executives who engage in adventurous activities have a competitive edge.  Why?  Because adventure teaches us to handle uncertainty and manage risk—skills that directly translate to the corporate arena.  In my experience leading tours through the challenging terrains of Western Australia with Proudback, every unexpected obstacle becomes a lesson in quick decision-making, adaptability, and resilience. These are not just survival skills in the wild; they are essential competencies in business, where conditions change rapidly and stakes are high. Regularly stepping into adventurous settings forces leaders to exercise these skills in high-pressure environments, enhancing their ability to navigate through business uncertainties and innovate under pressure. So, fellow executives, consider this: integrating adventure into your routine might not just be about seeking thrills. It could be a strategic approach to refining your leadership qualities. Curious to see how adventure can shape your executive skills? Check out our latest adventures and consider joining us to experience these benefits first-hand: https://lnkd.in/g7kf8yqd 

Exploring the world outside my normal routine really fuels my leadership growth. Each adventure, whether hitting the road or just stepping out of my comfort zone, gives me a fresh boost of energy and inspiration. Immersing myself in new surroundings makes me more adaptable. Navigating unfamiliar situations like figuring out foreign road signs or overcoming language barriers forces me to be resilient and solution-oriented. And that mindset directly applies to tackling leadership challenges back home. But it's not just about adapting to the unfamiliar. When I engage with people from different cultures and backgrounds, it opens my eyes in incredible ways. It makes me more understanding, patient, and accepting of contrasting perspectives. These experiences make me a better communicator and leader of diverse teams. Most importantly, traveling gives me chances to pause and reflect. I find clarity and fresh ideas in those quiet moments away from the daily grind. That's when I get inspired with new strategies to uphold back on the leadership front. #AnkitAgrawalZB #AnkitAgrawal #LeadershipGrowth #TravelAndLearn #ExploreAndInspire #Adaptability #Resilience #CulturalAwareness #LeadershipDevelopment

Climbing Mountains After Time Off:  Finding Joy in the Ascent After some well-deserved vacation time, a bout with COVID, and another block of vacation, returning to work felt like facing the Alps, the Himalayas, the Pyrenees, and the Andes all at once. You know the feeling, right? That overwhelming mountain of tasks waiting for you? But as daunting as it was, beneath the surface, there was also this bubbling excitement.  A sense of anticipation to dive back in.  🔆 To reconnect with my clients,  🔆 to witness that spark in their eyes when they recognize valuable aspects and 🔆 are able to implement these aspects into the realistic exercises. Last week, I had the opportunity to facilitate a three-day group coaching session regarding a new leadership style. Observing how participants came in with  ✅ their open attitude (otherwise they would not have registered for the workshop) ✅ their initial mindsets and  ✅ then watching those mindsets shift, slowly but surely,...  ✅ the ability to observe their colleagues and give them valuable feedback regarding the new way of leading. It was truly inspiring. The transformation in how they approached leadership and business development, all while empowering their groups and teams, was nothing short of remarkable. By the end of those three days, to me, the mountains didn’t seem so tall anymore. The overwhelming feeling had dissipated, replaced by a renewed passion for my work.  I am genuinely excited to work with my clients again, ready to help them climb their own mountains. What about you? How do you navigate that first big climb after time off? #Leadership #MindsetShift #Empowerment #BusinessDevelopment #CoachingJourney #BackToWork

My Learnings from Hiking Tour de Mont Blanc: 170 km, 10,000m Elevation in 10 Days. Leadership lessons can be found in the most unexpected places. Here are my six key takeaways of natural leadership: 🎒Go Light Just as in leadership, carry only what is essential. Streamline strategies and clear communication lighten the load and improve agility. Don’t skimp on essentials like water. You’ll be amazed at how efficient and empowered you can feel. ⚡️Be Flexible Weather changes, and so do market conditions. A leader knows when to adapt plans for safety and success. Flexibility and strategic thinking are crucial navigating unexpected challenges. 🎯Stick to Your Own Path In a crowded market, it’s easy to get distracted by others’ routes. Authentic leadership requires following your own vision and strategy. Trust your GPS and avoid the pitfalls of following others blindly. You might not get where you want to be. 🤝Friends are Everywhere Networking is a vital leadership skill. Sharing common passions creates strong bonds. Whether on a mountain trail or in a business environment, take the time to connect, learn, and grow with others. These relationships can lead to valuable insights and future collaborations. 💪🏻Great Views Require Effort Achieving remarkable outcomes involves hard work and perseverance. The climb may be tough, but the rewards – both in leadership and hiking – are worth the effort. 💭Never Stop Dreaming: Visionary leadership involves dreaming big and setting long-term goals. In 2015, I hiked the GR5 trail and glimpsed the Tour de Mont Blanc. This year, that dream became a reality. Never stop setting ambitious goals and working towards them with determination and passion. Leadership is not just about reaching the summit. It’s about the journey, the people you meet, and the lessons you learn along the way. What are your experiences?

"Any time I think about results, typically, I don't get the result I want. When I stay in my process and do the things I can do well, I succeed." - Wyndham Clarke, 2023 US Open Champion. Wyndham is an incredibly talented golfer who had been struggling with form and consistency. It was only after working with a mental skills coach that he was able to tap into and maximise his talent. Often we focus most of our time and resources on structure (strategy) and skills and neglect the mental game. Developing our mental toughness to cope with stress, pressure, challenges and opportunities is an essential life skill. Whether you are a sportsperson, in sales, a surgeon, a musician, an actor, a leader, or a parent, the mental game can make the difference between realised potential and success or frustration and failure. This clip is from the brilliant Netflix series, Full Swing 😀Hello, I'm Anthony, I'm a Mental Performance & Leadership coach.  I help senior leaders & athletes optimise performance & well-being through personalised insights into mindset, leadership & team dynamics in 90 days or less.   Get in contact to see if working together might make sense. A 10min call is usually enough for us to decide whether a longer scoping meeting is worth the time. #performancecoach #mentalskills #mentaltoughness

Mindset matters! While traveling home from the International Maxwell Leadership Conference last weekend, we encountered significant flight delays and problems. Accordingly, we missed our flight and had to deal with the frustration of finding an alternate way home and getting a hotel for another night. However, during this experience I was reminded of a speech given by Deion Sanders the previous day. He spoke on the importance of mindset and not letting a situation ruin your day. He said it's okay to have bad moments but don't let those moments turn into bad days. Prior to making the commitment to grow in my personal development by joining Maxwell Leadership and starting a leadership and professional development company, I likely would not have had the proper mindset to see the travel delay for what it was...a moment. It is important to surround ourselves with like-minded people who share our values and who make us want to be better just by being associated with them. Mindset matters!

This week, I completed a 9-day hike around Mont Blanc. This unique experience, "Road to Mastery: Tour du Mont Blanc," was created by Sjoerd Nijland, who invited us, the Stumbling Sloths, to follow this challenging natural and leadership trail. Together with Biplab Subedi, Ivan Duchateau, Sandip Subedi and Tijm Wolters, we walked over 180 km in the mountains and engaged in dozens of activities that helped us become better agile leaders. Here are 10 key leadership lessons I've learned on this journey. - 🕺 AGE IS NOT A LIMIT. The oldest can handle steep climbs with ease, and the youngest can lead the whole group confidently.     - 🫴 TRUE LEADERS ARE WHERE THEY'RE NEEDED MOST. They support from behind, even carrying the weight of those who struggle, and take risks at the front, like crossing a fast stream first to show it’s safe, encouraging others to follow.     - 💭 SEEK TO UNDERSTAND OTHERS. As professionals, we can have different views on some things. To resolve disagreements, strive to understand and even strengthen your opponent's position. This fosters clarity and compromise, and they might try to understand you in return.     - ➕ "AND" TRUMPS "BUT". The first one constructs and enhances, whereas the latter often destroys and limits. Instead of choosing between breakfast or dinner on a long hike, ask, "How can we have both?"     - 🔁 EMBRACE FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTATION. Don't plan far ahead, as many things change rapidly: the weather, energy levels, and the state of blisters on your feet. Such planning increases anxiety and creates ungrounded expectations. Instead, be open, briefly reflect on the journey at the end of each day, and agree on your next day’s plan with the information at hand     - 💪 PUSH BEYOND YOUR LIMITS. When you feel exhausted, you're often only at 40% of your potential. Try to push beyond your perceived limits to grow.     - 🦥 CONSISTENCY AND DEDICATION BRING RESULTS. Even if you are self-ironic and think of yourself as a stumbling sloth, you can get very far. Stay committed to your goals, keep taking small steps consistently, be open to asking for help, and support your fellow sloths whenever needed.     - ⛰️ APPRECIATE BOTH PROGRESS AND FUTURE GOALS. If you climb the mountain, don't forget to look in both directions: celebrate the view from the altitude you have already reached and get inspired by the new heights ahead of you.     - 🤫 FOCUSED SILENCE IS RICHER THAN CHAOTIC NOISE. Walking silently, you can hear many nuances in the environment around you and, even more clearly, your own internal voice.     - 🛝 KEEP A YOUTHFUL SPIRIT. Even the hike on a rainy day can be enjoyable when filled with singing and playing together A friend of mine once told me that to discover the true purpose of life, one needs to master awareness. I believe this journey was about that: gaining a clearer understanding of the essence of a true leader, a human, and myself. PS. Love you, sloths. #leadership #agile #teamspirit #tmb #r2m 

I am currently unpacking the last decade of my professional life. This process feels like an honest way to support the path that I am on now. Looking back allows me to reconnect with memories and experiences that have passed; people, and places that have given this chapter so much meaning. In retrospect, I am gaining new perspectives which were less evident while I was working. How did I show up for other people? How did I identify with work and grow as a leader? How did I put language on my intuition, identify opportunities, and express my vision? There have been numerous lessons throughout the time of working in-between different cultures, communicating with several stakeholders, and supporting the growth of the company. Endurance, (self)-leadership, and versatility have been crucial and I recognize how my background as a competitive athlete provided me with a range of valuable experiences and perspectives. By mapping them out, I get to know myself and the work I want to do in the future.