On a daily basis, I read on LinkedIn near Herculean career transformations, and many lessons learned … but why keep it just to LinkedIn?
I have always made it part of my career to give back. Even in my early years in Australia, I joined the Rotary Club of Sydney as a way to give back and help out those less fortunate than myself, as well as those young leaders looking to get ahead.
There are many ways to give back – you can mentor young leaders, even having a cup of coffee to share ideas can be beneficial. I’ve done a range of things, from holding a live Skype chat to schools around the world, literally bringing my insights into the classroom, and I’ve also spoken at Universities.
More recently, I joined the Speakers for Schools program. Founded by journalist Robert Peston, they co-ordinate free school talks that share unique insights, spark inspiration and create exciting conversations for students with big questions for individuals who have come to be a leader in their field or industry.
You can watch a full replay of my talk to 6th form Students at Ruislip High in late 2017 below.
So here’s a challenge. Instead of writing about how wonderful your career has been, take a few hours out of your schedule each month and give back for real, in a tangible way.
After my most recent talk at Wilmington Grammar School as part of the Speakers for Schools program, one student contacted me and shared the following observations:
“I saw how your presentation inspired a lot of my classmates to take action and do something a bit different using social media. I think one of the biggest factors in their change of mindset was the fact that you told the story of your career and how doing something out of the ordinary gave you great opportunities and got you to where you are now. I think they saw that as real evidence of success and believed it was possible to follow in your footsteps, whereas another speaker may have just told them the story of somebody else’s success and it may not have seemed quite as believable.”
I firmly believe that someone out there is waiting to have their life changed by your insights.