Last month I had some work and life highlights as I left Australia for the first time in more than 2 years.
First stop was Charlotte, North Carolina, and working with the global team at Barings where I delivered a keynote and workshop for 90 leaders on how to Lead In. Being in a room with actual people, mixing it up with folk from all over the world, helping awesome humans think differently to expand their possibilities – that makes me happy!
Then I was given the huge honour of facilitating a leadership gathering on Necker Island for global women’s powerhouse Business Chicks. I was charged with ‘holding the space for transformation’ and it was five days of doing that – through the sessions I ran, the speaking I did, and attuning my essence and higher self to serving 35 women leaders this way.
Oh – and I got to spend a lot of time with Richard Branson – over breakfast each morning, and over dinner and drinks each evening.
He shared generously his thoughts on any knobbly business or global question. I was especially interested in his work with the Elders – a group of wise older people he formed with Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. I’m drawn to the commitment of harnessing a lifetime of wisdom and service and using it to guide the future of our planet. As I move through my 50s this really speaks to me.
And yes – I gave him my book Lead In and was thrilled to see him looking through it one breakfast. We spoke about mindsets and Branson really gets it – when you think about it, he embodies the life that is possible when we don’t let the old ways of doing things and limiting beliefs get in our way.
Then as a counter to this I left Necker Island for ten days in the north of England. Steve’s mum Wyn is dying, and he is her palliative carer. Wyn lies in her bed in the main room of her small cottage, and I watched my husband get up all through the night and be on hand to care for her through the day, and he does so with such love, and devotion. He has been in England now for 4 months and I miss him dreadfully, though I also love him even more if that is possible.
This newsletter is about leadership and ways to lead and live better. To do so in inextricably entwined with our whole life. A single month can hold so many different things. It’s important to acknowledge and celebrate the highlights and to allow our hearts to open and soften with the losses and difficulties.
I am happy to be back home, and I am changed as well. I truly levelled up my practice through all these experiences. I’m more confident and certain in the value of what I offer and the difference it makes to people. I’ve gained deeper perspective on what I bring to the world and the power of my contribution. I’m acutely conscious of the inevitably of life ending for us all, and how to live well with that knowledge.
It’s been a big time and it’s beautiful to be back.
Much love
Cathy
