Are you:
1. Driven, hardworking, passionate and determined to make a success of your work?
2. People-centred, wanting to be the best boss, creating a great place to work?
3. Want to change the world for the better?
These are three things all my coaching clients have in common.
Incredible people huh? (You can see why I love my job).
See any dark sides to this potent mix of objectives?
I didn’t until it was nearly too late.
In 2017 I took on a huge new role, heading up Sub-Saharan Africa for an Australian travel company.
Already based in Kenya, managing a team as economist for the British government, the practical transition was straightforward.
But the mind games….overnight I went from Diplomat to Company Director (x4), public to private sector, a team of 20 to 200.
Imposter syndrome? Yes, in spades.
Determination to succeed and prove to everyone, especially me, that I would excel, in turning ailing businesses to profitable ones, and create more positive impact on poverty and inequality than in my UK Aid job…? Yes, on steroids.
A need to be accepted as the new boss, to be liked, trusted, consulted, and part of the family? Yes, naturally.
Any of this sound familiar?
What happens when you are trying to turn four businesses around, have an open door for 200 people, learn a new industry, keep your customers happy, and use your business as a force for good?
Burnout. Well almost.
It was very lonely at the top of the organisation. And my social life shrank. Diplomatic friends moved on, family was miles away, my boss was in Australia, peers scattered the globe.
“You don’t like yourself very much do you” asked the accounts assistant one morning, when I came straight into the office from an overnight work flight. Apparently I looked like crap.
So I got support. Swallowed my pride and asked for help.
I partnered with a local coach, who’d funnily enough, worked and studied in Australia.
She got me. She supported me. She listened to me. She challenged me. She called me out. She asked the tough questions. She championed me. Celebrated me. Had my back.
And I led better. Performed better. Slept better.
My current coach, six years on, asked me in this week’s session: “if you could go back, and do it again, would you”?
My stomach dropped. “No. Not without support. From the start”.
If I’d have known then, what I came to learn from taking on those companies, I’m not sure I’d have taken on that role.
But I’m glad I did. That learning curve was incredible for growth and put me on the trajectory I am now on.
I spent three years being that good leader. One that performs at a high level, expects it of their people, provides incredible value through their products and services, and invests the profits back into my people, the planet and local community.
And now I'm in the ear of those good leaders.
“What would Mehalah do?” is something my clients repetitively tell me they find themselves asking in tricky leadership situations.
And I’m so proud and humbled to be of support to them, and their missions, even when I’m not there.
If you know you'd benefit from more support, here's three things to consider:
Help yourself; yes you can never do enough on something you're so passionate about...and... there's time, you don't need to do all the things now, and your people are more independent and resilient than you think.
Join a peer group; there will be others in your position that can constructively and positively discuss challenges and opportunities, find your local business or leadership network, or set up your own.
Get a professional coach or mentor; you can't beat creating time and space for 1:1 help with the individual goals, opportunities and challenges you are facing. A little targeted support can go a very long way. And feels REALLY good.
If this has resonated with you, and you’d love someone in your corner, who gets you. Supporting, celebrating, challenging and championing you to be the good leader you’d love to be, get in touch, we should talk.
Mehalah Beckett is a coach, consultant and trusted advisor passionate about people, the planet and empowering others to inspire positive change. She coaches purpose-driven leaders to impossible goals, hosts Masterminds for hungry entrepreneurs and guides businesses through B-Corp. What can I help you achieve over the next year?