SYKE’s Post

DREAM BIG : Rowing Your Boat…Gently Down the Stream. Why Rowing 🚣 > Knowing 🤔 I think we make a pretty great team! Almost 40 years separate our life experiences, however no years separate us from the value of each’s presence in the era in which we both exist and live on this earth. God certainly has HIS beautiful ways of bringing people into our path who share a common mission, vision, faith, of life experience - at JUST the right time and in ways you might least expect. In my consulting practice I speak often about the value of “talking about my generation” to those who identify with “other generations” and for those from identity groups older and younger than us- to “talk about their generation” to us. We learn to communicate across the eras in which age has consequently but unintentionally divided us. Take in consideration my constant internal battle with stage fright that I have has since playing the piano competitively since I was 10 years old that still exists and the value of seeing someone like a 25 year old sit next to you at age 62 and watch him handle a live TV interview with the ease and grace that he did. He is a superstar man, musician, husband, father, son, friend, influencer, encourager and artist….already! He is in all meaning of the words that have been assigned to him as the “Hip Hop Picasso”! When you think of the song “Row Your Boat” - which has become a theme song to my life and career over the years- we are reminded that life is to be experienced in a way that guides us “gently down the stream”, to be done “merrily”, and the end result to experience “life as but a dream”. “Rowing” is a progressive and exciting action towards a future goal. “Knowing” is a stable and stagnate action that keeps us in the present with no forward movement. Rowing > Knowing We have to widen the lens 🤓 through which we see the world 🌎 Widening the lens = broader perspective What I have realized in my few years I have experienced life in my 60’s - is there are a lot of people who “row your boat” in life over many decades. I now ask others to consider the value of having people ranging in age from 1- 100 in YOUR boat. The yield is broader perspective, new learning, new thinking new ways to row, new ways to grow. Life is so much better when experienced in this way, value mission and belief. Thank you Tony Wavy and for your friendship and for making it “cool” to sit next to someone that is four decades ahead of you in the game of life - but someone that sees you as the future of the musical and artistic community in Lexington…. but also…. for re-energizing the way I see the world now and have experienced life in the past year since our life paths crossed!

Will It Make the Boat Go Faster Ben Hunt-Davis was part of an underachieving rowing team They hadn’t won anything in years Then they set the utterly crazy goal of winning an Olympic gold medal in just two years They trained and trained and continuously refined the team's strategy They questioned every action by asking ‘will this make the boat go faster?’ If it didn't make the boat go faster - they wouldn't do it This question focused their actions onto stuff improving their performance and eliminated the random shiny-new-object-distractions Gradually their results improved Their crazy-as goal started to seem almost real And on September 25th 2000, Ben and his crew won gold at the men’s eight rowing event in the Sydney Olympics They were the first British crew to have won this event since 1912 Ben Hunt-Davis got his dream career is now a motivational speaker and a performance coach and he’s written a book based on his story and the lessons he learned from it The book is called ‘Will It Make the Boat Go Faster? Olympic-winning strategies for everyday success’ You’ve decided you want a mid-career change so you’ve ‘picked your boat’ which means you’ve got your number one priority With your number one priority defined - like Ben and his team - you can filter every decision by asking ‘will it make the boat go faster?’ Or in your case ‘will it get me my new career?’ A brand spanking new set of job recommendations lands in your inbox and you can walk into any one of them – you know the company and you know the job and you can do it in your sleep Does clicking on one of these easy-to-get-jobs ‘get me my new career?’ Hell to the no Does clicking on your dream job and then scrambling like crazy to figure out how to make your skills match the job description ‘get me my new career?’ Hell yeah Does clicking on your dream job and then scrambling like crazy to figure out how to write your achievements so they scream out for the hiring manager to meet you ‘get me my new career?’ Hell yeah And you don’t have to spend years figuring out how to do this on your own Skip the queue and sail past the velvet rope by booking a 15-minute session with me and I’ll show you how to make it happen Your life is not a dress rehearsal Live Long and Prosper #careersuccess #careerchange #interviewsuccess

Weekday morning rant When I got into the GB Rowing team, I got a large number of messages congratulating me. I do not say this to brag, or to be unappreciative. But it was a hollow feeling. My career to get into the team was long. With that, there were plenty of times I could have quit. And before getting into the team, I was very close to quitting. If I had chosen to quit, say a few months before getting in, I would have still done the hardest part - the training required to get there. If I had quit, I would have not gotten the congratulations from many friends and relatives. Does that mean that what I did prior was not an achievement? From that experience, I learned that if you want to be fulfilled, it is you that has to recognise what you have been through. Only YOU will understand truly how hard your journey has been and only YOU will get validation from that achievement. Now, onto why this is often overlooked: “Performance sport is different” “This new generation are snowflakes” “If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen” Say one of those to me and be prepared for an infinitely long rant coming your way. The biggest misunderstanding I see in performance sports is that pressure, toxic culture, and blame are necessary for performance sports. Coaches think they need to make an athlete feel like their spot in a crew or performances are never good enough - that way they will never be content and then they will always train hard. This comes from a culture that is pervasive in all sports: Sport is competitive, we need to compete all of the time, we always have to be the best etc. It is also coupled with a misunderstanding of what motivates athletes. These bad coaches often view it like: “What motivated me” “If I felt secure in a position, then I wouldn't train hard, therefore, I need to make them feel insecure” Well guess what Coach, the way you see it is not the way 99% of Rowers see it. Now, the biggest problem with this is that… It can sometimes work. I have been a victim of it, and I know countless other Rowers that have been as well. Throw enough sh1t on the wall and it is bound to stick right? Now we have a lethal combo: Toxic Coaches using a method that is outdated and makes people hate the sport + some results = bulletproof argument that what they are doing is right. Rant paused (thanks in part in LinkedIn's 3,000 character limit for posts). Tomorrow I'll take a positive tone and suggest an antidote to outdated toxicity. #rowing

The metaphor of the rowing boat. 🚣 In the middle of our session Kyle came up with this image of the rowing boat when we discussed the importance of having ALL of your inner parts agreeing with the vision. We talked about discipline and how it can help temporarily, but in the end what you want to attain is full unadulterated motivation and inspiration in every action you take. Inner conflict is like having someone on the rowing boat who will row backward, sabotaging the general effort. Discipline is taking away the paddle from their hands. Strong discipline is tightening their hands 🙌 Harmony comes when this reluctant part aligns and agrees with the general direction of the whole boat. 🚤 For that, this part needs to feel important. They need to be heard and accepted. How do you solve inner conflicts and get your whole inner « team » to row in the same direction? 🧭

Sports has always been an important part of my life. I feel that I have learned a lot of valuable life lessons through competing on the playing field. Tennis, volleyball, soccer, softball, you name it and I’ve done it, except for sailing. You see, I married a sailor (not the Popeye type but one who has a passion for sailing), and those genes were passed along to my children. When I tell you my knowledge of the sport is basic, what I mean is that I’m pretty darn good at finding the right outfits to buy my kids so that they can compete, and I must say I look pretty professional in my gear, but ask me about sails or lines (I didn’t call them ropes!) and I will defer to those who know much more than I do. But what I do understand are the life lessons that are very specific to the sport of sailing and that relate so perfectly to #leadership and #relationshipmanagement. Here are my top 3: 1. Wind changes constantly. Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes its non-existent. These are external factors you can not control. Sailors have to adjust their sails in order to make forward progress. Some days they have to lower their sails until the wind comes up. The ablity to adjust is key to success. 2. When sailing, every person on the boat has a job. This job can change based on conditions, the journey (for pleasure or a race) or how many people are on the boat. Having clear roles prevents confusion. Having people who know how to do others roles as well as their own is an advantage, especially when conditions get tough (and somehow in sailing they always do). 3. Communication is key. Not everyone has the same perspective based on where they sit on the boat. Telling others what to watch out for and what you see from where you sit gives someone else perspective they may not be privy to. Respect for this perspective is key. Below is a picture of my daughter sailing. I can’t tell you if she is in first or last place in this shot, if she is communicating like a champ or not. What I can tell you is that she is learning life lessons with every sail…oh and I can also tell you that she is rocking her hot pink Rooster top :-)

EMBRACE THE DISCOMFORT Last week I attempted sculling (Olympic rowing) for the first time in my life. I did this in front of many people and I was quite nervous. My biggest fear was making a fool of myself trying to just get in the boat. This is how many people feel when it comes to Presenting and Public Speaking. The evolution of my state of mind as I embarked on my new endeavour was: 1. Avoid complete humiliation 2. Rudimentarily be proficient at a new skill 3. Middling pride at not tipping the boat 4. Pleasant surprise at propelling said boat in a reasonably straight line 5. Conscious effort at ascertaining the technique in rowing efficiently 6. Affirmation that I was achieving some success 7. Actual satisfaction of some genuine proficiency 8. Exhaustion but determined to try again after some clear success All these stages happened in fairly short order. The key takeaway is that doing something outside our comfort zone can be daunting but, ultimately satisfying. Getting through steps 1 and 2 above are often the biggest barriers but with a little perseverance and tenacity, "success" is readily attainable. I'll never be an elite sculler but I know the next time I do it, with some coaching, I'll be so much more confident and my progress will be hastened as a result of that confidence.

Practice what you preach! A couple of years ago, although I wasn’t the strongest, I was an able swimmer. After having an incident in a public swimming pool, I completely lost my confidence in the water. This has meant that I have spent a number of holidays stood at the pool side instead of enjoying the water with my family. Last year my when my 8 year old daughter tried to teach me how to swim, although I wasn’t able to gather the courage to try, I realised it was time to do something about it. I often talk to my clients about getting out of their comfort zone in order to grow and I realised that I needed to apply the same concept here instead of consuming myself in fear. Last week I started 1-2-1 swimming lessons and this week at my second lesson I was able to swim a full length unaided once again. Although I’m still apprehensive I feel so much more comfortable and so much better knowing that I will fulfill the promise I made to my daughter last year that I would swim with her on our next holiday. Whilst I still have a few lessons to go to feel fully confident, I believe I will get there. Whether it is a job, a career path or a personal task, when you believe you can, you are already half way there - the rest is about consistency and effort. It’s all about getting focussed on the solution as opposed to the blockage. #mindset #selfbelief #growth

I don’t have any plans to execute an Ironman distance race but I have completed 3 including the worlds toughest in Hawaii. I then got on a plane and traveled across the county to present to my peers getting involved in a local ballot insitiave on transportaion. That was the City of Phoenix’s prop 104 that infused 31.5 billion dollars in infrastructure to help make our community more accessible for all. I was tired, my body including my face was burnt and lips were swollen and I could hardly walk but I knew the pain was temporary but sharing the success to inspire others was well worth it and would have a lasting impact. There are so many parallel’s to being a great endurance athlete and a top manager. You have to have mental toughness for both and it can get extremely lonely and at times. You may question your why and doubt yourself but you don’t lose sight or forget your WHY! Bottom line, you have to make really tough choices and you have to keep the goals front and center. I still go to bed early and get up early and make my training a top priority. My morning work outs always give me the best clarity and time to work though any obstacle I am facing. I work though so many tough problems and find solutions to get results. One of my favorite quotes from this article, “Executives are continuously faced with difficult and significant challenges. Making tough calls on strategy and objectives, addressing poor performance, and resolving conflicts tests a person's mental and physical stamina. And while executives can turn to peers and coaches for aid and advice, they are often alone in confronting these matters. Having the confidence and clarity to act decisively takes mental fortitude.” The sign in races that always brings a smile to my face is, “Never F#c* with someone who swims 2.4 miles, bikes 112 and finishes it off with a marathon for fun.” https://lnkd.in/gVSZdZXN

Over the last 24 months our son and us as a family have been getting further and further into the swimming world which is totally new to me and wasn’t sure what to expect. He absolutely loves swimming and it seems to be a real happy place for him (long may that continue) He is doing well at it and improving all the time but it’s also teaching him some amazing transferable skills for later life wherever that takes him. Will list some of the main ones below.. Working hard and dedication - 5 hours a week (currently) sometimes unsociable hours (Friday evenings / Saturday mornings). Work / life is hard and unenjoyable sometimes but sometimes you have to do things you don't particular want to or enjoy to get results. Resilience - there are always people faster, 7 people always lose a swimming race and you don’t always get a pb. Reacting to this positively and learning is really important. Hitting targets - improving PBs, aiming and hitting various qualification times as they come up, working towards a goal. Performing under pressure - performing in front of a full swimming pool (hundreds of swimmers / spectators / officials ) at 13 can only be a good think for having to talk to / present to / teach larger groups. Teamwork - I presumed swimming was an individual sport but the teamwork in relays / cheering in team galas / supporting at training has been unexpected and brilliant to see. Breaking down problems - Improving small parts to make the whole better - starts, turns, underwaters, streamline, technique, nutrition, sleep etc etc. Through life and work always good to break down problems. Last but not least… Being coachable - taking on feedback and putting this into practice all through life is really important. 

It's official. I am a legend. I'm sure my children would disagree but Strava doesn't lie. This time last year I could barely run there and back to see how far it is (as my Mum would say) but 2024 has seen me training for a triathlon. I set this goal for myself knowing it would be a huge challenge. I hate running. I hate swimming. And I hate cycling. So what better challenge to set than competing in a triathlon that incorpoates all 3 things?! Total madness I know. But between long Sunday runs and tough pyramid sessions my efforts seem to be reaping some reward, at least according to Strava! It is not without some background work, I identified the triathlon I wanted to compete in and engaged a fantastic coach. With her as my partner in this adventure I have a structured training programme for all 3 disciplines all working towards my end goal. I am steadily progressing towards milestones. Tracking provides accountability while planning prepares me psychologically and physically and setting stretching targets improves my performance. Success is taking time and dedication but with my coach's expert support, I know I will get there. As a small business owner, my work mirrors this approach. I begin with understanding clients' unique objectives. Then it's time to plan, laying out achievable targets that work towards and support their vision. Regular check-ins keep us on track and navigating any challenges together fosters a deep understanding and the relationship of trust that I value so highly with my customers. Anything is attainable. My Strava legend status is proof of that! You can turn the right mindset, discipline and commitment towards legendary success in any field. Sometimes you just need the right partner. #smallbusinesssupport #partnership #smallbusinessownerlife