“Fear is a reaction; Courage is a choice.”
This quote has stayed with me for many years, and it’s challenged me more and more as each day goes by. I’ve used it regularly with people I know, and those who’ve sought my guidance and advice. But only recently have I faced the mirror and really accepted I have not lived the courage I have challenged others about. Until now.
In March 2020, I was in Melbourne for five days at a National Community Cricket conference representing Cricket NSW. The conference culminated in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Final at the MCG. It was one of the greatest sporting events I have attended, and I’ve been fortunate to attend some great events. Many contributed to its magnificent success, including the talented players on the field, the organising committee, volunteer and professional cricket organisations, various government officials, major venues, volunteers, too many to mention really.
But for those within Community Cricket across Australia, who for years before had been for the most part facing heavy head winds working with local associations and clubs trying to drive girls and female cricket and participation in the community, for us, this was a watershed moment. Being part of the 86,174 spectators watching Australia celebrate our victory was a memory and feeling that will never fade. It was a victory for us as much as anyone, and strangely, although we didn’t know it at the time, a magnificent full stop on life as we knew it.
It was also the days when COVID hit Australia and all our lives would never be the same again. The next day when I bid farewell to my colleagues from around Australia and boarded a flight back to Newcastle, it would be the last time I was to work with others in person for months, as working from home became a ‘thing’ for most of us immediately thereafter.
Over the next few months everything changed. Our norms in life were fluid. Anxiety and fear over the unknown and what laid ahead became real. Work didn’t become a distraction from our personal lives, it drove into the heart of them, into the heart of our homes in the form a laptop, with all members of the family, young and old, exhausting home Wi-Fi bandwidths, fridge stocks and toilet paper. But something also started to change within me. After most of my working life driving the F3 or M1 (depending on the era) from Newcastle to Sydney, or the Central Coast, I realised that my family were growing up, and I missed them. I also found the safety and fulfilment I needed in being around them all the time!
It was also a period of deep concern and care for my work family. The Cricket NSW Community Cricket team had 86 people going into the pandemic, and we watched over the next few weeks as all other states within cricket, and the majority of other codes and workplaces starting shedding staff. Community development staff across sport are often first out the door. That shook our foundations and heightened insecurity was rife amongst many. Dealing with personal challenges, still servicing a confused and desperate NSW cricket community deep in local cricket finals and worrying about your own job security is not a good combination for anyone. Despite that, through genuine care for, and constant clear communication to our people about our path forward, the team performed superbly, and continued to lay the foundations of future success and growth in the following months ahead, for themselves and those whom they serve.
I was immensely proud of each and every one of my team. But for me, I could sense I needed a change. The uncertainty faced by the world, the country, our organisation, my family, and I, strangely made clear what was important to me? Some say, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone? Well, what about if there is more than what you’ve lost, no matter how important what you’ve lost is?
As more and more sporting organisations began collaborating about COVID solutions, seeking leadership, clarity, and the right way out of this pandemic (if there is such a thing), we all started engaging with many more people across our industry whom we may have never met. I started seeing, learning, and leading more people than ever and my personal purpose began to materialise within myself.
Fortunately, during 2019, the Cricket NSW Leadership Team had just commenced a leadership program and my purpose “To act, lead and guide others to feel safe, valued and supported to fulfil their potential” formed and soon became my northern star. In many ways, it became an obsession, and remains so.
So much so, that by early 2021 several circumstances started a motion that led me to moving on from a role I loved dearly and announcing my departure from Cricket NSW.
Courage became a choice.
Since then, I’ve spent the best part of 2021 reflecting, planning, and working with a range of people and organisations, publicly and privately, as I have chosen to find my own way to fulfil my purpose, and others’ potential.
I’ve always had great respect and admiration for those who start a business, but fear has been my reaction. Courage is now the choice I am making, and I look forward to seeing what it brings, so I have started a business!
So, what do I do?
I help sporting organisations grow participation and results through building purpose led teams.
Over 20 years in sport has led me along many wonderful, challenging and highly successful paths and so I’d like to share with others keen to do the same.
If you want to drive performance within your team, if you seek collective success for those you work with and for, and if you want a purpose led team that nails results over and over again, I can help you.
I am already open for business and working with some great people and organisations, and if you are ready to grow and increase your personal or organisational performance, I am here for you.
Join me in choosing courage over fear.
For more information and to make contact with me, head to www.spyrdz.com.au