I was recently asked what were the key lessons I have learned since starting Surge Ahead, almost 8 years ago and it got me thinking. My business is all about learning, and growth and so perhaps this subject was blog worthy! These lessons are in no particular order, really, each one was equally valuable to me!
Lesson number 1 – Find your tribe!
#Collaborationovercompetition is the mantra of an amazing group that I am proud to be an Ambassador for – the Talk HR Club, run by the fabulous Mandy Withers and her able assistant Em Hunter.
I met Mandy back in lockdown. I was at a bit of a crossroads at the time. I had started Surge Ahead 4 years previously and was working exclusively within the hospitality space.
Covid put paid to that, and along with millions of other hospitality professionals, I furloughed myself. I took stock and explored my options. Step in Mandy, who was a beacon of light and fountain of knowledge and in all honesty a bit of a Fairy Godmother at a low point for me.
No (wo)man is an island and being in business on my own, despite working with some great clients, I did miss the camaraderie of a team. Back to Mandy and the Talk HR Club. Mandy has created a fabulous group of people professionals, handpicked by Mandy herself, because they all share one thing. They are true collaborators. People, all in the same space, HR, L&D, Coaching, but not a hint of competition. A group of people that lift each other up, help, guide, support and share. Whether that is ‘How do I calculate a zero hours holiday entitlement’ to ‘Can anyone recommend a HRIS for a company with 40 employees’ to ‘Can anyone support with a large training project’
Working as a small business owner can be lonely at times, but knowing there is an army of Talk HR clubbers in your corner, who understand the challenges, and truly understand the wins, big and small, makes such a difference. Talk HR Club give you that team back. Finding your tribe is so important.
Lesson number 2 – Find your niche
My niche had always been hospitality, but Covid taught me having all my eggs in one basket was not sensible and it was time rethink my niche. I knew that businesses that try to be all things to all people often failed, so maybe providing HR, recruitment and L&D support to one sector was not the answer and I needed to niche down further in terms of activity but broaden the sectors I worked with. After all, people are people wherever they work!
At the same time amidst the pandemic, it was with Mandy’s mentoring that I realised I had fallen out of love with HR and that my main passion was L&D and DiSC development. Since focusing my business in this area and dedicating time and effort into designing L&D programmes, I am working with many great clients in L&D. Maybe in finding my true niche, I accidently manifested this!
Lesson number 3 – Find your Why
Another crucial thing I did was to dig deep and reconnect with my values, the things that made me want to work for myself in the first place. For most of us, those reasons start out as wanting more flexibility in the way we work, to make our own decisions, a desire to work with people whose values align with our own. All those things drive us, but what I learnt early on in business is that to be successful, we have to really connect to our Why.
Simon Sinek’s book Start with why really helped me to understand this, if you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it, not just for those in business, but there are some great life lessons in it. After a lot of thinking and reflecting on what is important to me, I really got to the bottom of what my business was all about, and what was driving me. Surge Ahead’s ‘EMPIRE’ values were born.
Decisions are so much easier now that I have defined my core values. If something doesn’t align – it isn’t for me.
Lesson number 4 – Find your lane (and stay in it)
I have learnt that it’s a big world out there and there is more than enough work for all of us, so competing with people is not necessary. There is also a lot of noise! LinkedIn is full of stories of how busy people are and all the fantastic work they are doing. It can be easy to go down a rabbit hole of worrying that others are more successful/busier/happier etc than you! I tend to read it, take a lot with a pinch of salt and be happy for the ones that I know are genuine. If in doubt, scroll on with a smile!
The key thing is to focus on making your product/service as good as it can be. Stay in your lane and just do you. Don’t be swayed by what anyone else is doing. What makes you, you, is your uniqueness, your experience, personality and knowledge, Don’t dilute that by running with the crowd.
Lesson number 5 – Find that imposter syndrome (and lock her in a dark cupboard)
There really is no place for imposter syndrome as easy as that is to say and as hard as it sometimes is to recognise. Everyone suffers from it at some stage in life. Feelings of not being good enough. The thing I try to do, is go back to my why and recall all the organisations and employees I have helped over the years. I reflect on my achievements and recognise that I have had very few failures. I remind myself that I am dedicated, committed, hardworking, professional and driven to succeed and make a difference. Imposter syndrome is usually a sign I am out of my comfort zone. I remind myself that this is where growth happens and that I need to pull up my big girl pants and get on with it.
I have learnt many more lessons in the past 8 years but these are the main ones. It’s funny how things sometimes come full circle. I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason, and after niching more into L&D I still do some work in recruitment and have added the provision of outplacement support to my arsenal! The difference is these days I am much better at saying no.
❌ No if a potential new clients values do not match with my own.
❌ No if I really don’t have time for more work.
❌ No if a particular project could be done better by someone other than me.
I guess all those things come with experience and confidence and belief in your core values.
