Sustainable - Stefan’s Week-notes 22/09/2024
Inspired by the weeknotes of friends and coachees including John Fitzgerald, Steve Messer and Nour Sidawi - I thought I'd give it a go.
Inspired by the weeknotes of friends and coachees including John Fitzgerald, Steve Messer and Nour Sidawi - I thought I'd give it a go.
Here's a dive in to the happenings of the past week. I start with what i’ve been up to, to frame the week and then the successes.
It's easy to look into the dark rather than the light; isn't it?
Hope you enjoy it; comments, observations and thoughts welcome.
What have I been up to?
(Question inspired by @James_ Arthur_Cattell week notes). It's been a busy week.
Training rides - 224.8KM this week and 4 rides, 2 yoga sessions and a strength and conditioning session.
Coaching - inc. A Board Member, A Director of a Design Consultancy and A Digital Delivery Director
Meet up with the wonderful John Luckett who is co-writing my book “The journey of The Little Boat” which is gathering pace again; all 12 chapters drafted once and now we are re-visiting, in light of some feedback and our own growing resolve about its key messages
Donating two coaching sessions to the Isle of Wight Mountbatten Leadership Team. An independent charity which provides end of life care and bereavement support to anyone living on the Isle of Wight.
Donating a portrait of Mark Cavendish I created to the prize draw at this weekends final Wightlink Wight Mountain Time Trial on the Island. A pairs race, Dominique is riding it with her closest TT ‘Rival’ Charis. Good luck both x
On Thursday I met up with the fabulously talented friend and website designer Andrew Eberlin to finalise the launch of my website www.stefanpowell.co.uk and grab lunch and a spot of brutalist architecture photographing in Southampton.
Catch up with my cycling coach Joe Staunton of Ceyreste Performance to look at working together on a specialised nutrition plan for the year ahead and chat more swapping of our coaching Services.
A wonderful cook up (Mediterranean vegetable and humous flat breads) on Wednesday night with Jason and his partner Jess. Here you, ride out, cook up, chat and ride back - 1st class.
What's been good about this week?
There have been a number of highlights this week including launching this fabulous new website - see it here - created for me (and with me) by the fabulous Andrew Eberlin.
A fab endeavour; Andrew has been brilliant at getting ‘me onto the page’, encouraging me to bring my illustrations to the fore and get really clear and succinct in what I say about what I do and how I do it.
I’d love to hear your feedback and I’d love you to sign up to my monthly newsletter here too.
Another personal highlight this week has been receiving these two testimonials; the first from my cycling coach Joe Staunton of Ceyreste Performance which I mentioned above.
Joe works with GB level athletes and coaches senior leaders who cycle. He doesn’t suffer fools gladly and it has a delight to swap coaching services and to receive this recommendation on Linkedin.
The second testimonial came from Jon Baldwin of Nurtured Hospitality; a brilliant consultant working with businesses within the hospitality sector
I met Jon whilst mentoring on the digital marketing programme I co-deliver with @ben_whitaker and @mike_walker for Liverpool City Region on behalf of our great friend @Angela_Mcllelland. Jon has years of experience of developing business leaders within the challenging hospitality arena - he’s also years of experience of managing in that area and, like Joe, doesn’t suffer fools gladly.
I’m known for developing leaders and teams and growing my own businesses - and I am a firm believer and advocate of the ability of coaching to add value in almost any setting; these two testimonials, for me, continue to justify that belief.
What am I grateful for?
This week I am grateful that…
I am from Wolverhampton and for the experience, growing up there gave me. It’s’ the reason that this website is black and gold, the colours of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club and the reason for those colours, the city’s motto “out of the darkness cometh the light”.
A large part of my life has been about coming out of the dark and into the light.
As a youngster we were extremely poor, suffered racism and fought back against the bullies who picked on me for the clothes I wore, the weight I put on and the academic success I saw. I continue to enjoy working for the underdog and helping make the system better.
As a family, we faced into my dads redundancy, long term unemployment and re-birth as a saddle and bridle maker. Re-birth and turning my hand to most things has been the story of my life and the belief that if you commit, you can achieve almost anything.
As a youngster I sang and acted, confident and with assurance, and excelled in my studies - but slowly crumbled and curled up within myself as firstly fellow pupils attempted to pull me down for ‘being different’ and then teachers ‘silence me’ under the guise of ‘giving others a chance’. The latter came with no gentle preservation of my self worth, no way to channel my ability and no way to maintain my motivation. With that I withdrew and this has informed my desire to help other people understand themselves, find a narrative that works for them internally and externally and to succeed.
My parents always told me that if someone hits you, hit them back twice as hard and they always said that as long as I told the truth and acted with goodness in my heart, they would stand by me. I bring this to my work, supporting leaders to ‘stand up’ fore what they believe, and to the board, stakeholders and colleagues and to help their team ‘remain standing too’.
All of this created a camaraderie with my brothers and sister to stand boldly and walk into the fire, as the Powell’s, when needed and meant that I know what it is to create and foster a culture where people will walk over hot coals for one another.
Beyond this, Wolverhampton is a diverse community and my own family, full of religious and cultural diversity means I learned early on how it feels to be on the outside of the outside and what it takes to get on the inside where the values of my upbringing and of being of service to others is needed.
Thank you Wolves and my parents; facing into your fire brought a determination to succeed and a way of leaning into stuff which helps bring a boldness and drive to the change arena which good people often ‘hide away’ or ‘hide away from’. This has led to some spectacular changes in the lives of those I coach and some monumental shifts that have been worked up for as long as 3 years with some clients.
What could have gone better?
This week I could have taken it a little easier on the training front and fuelled more effectively; three hard rides at the start of the week and a strength and conditioning workout which left my legs shaking and my glutes screaming every time I’ve sat down or walked up and down stairs since has not been ideal 🤣
But as I said above, out of the darkness cometh the light as this week has served as a reminder of:
What my body can do if pushed - this will be useful for next years ultra endurance race calendar.
The need to pace yourself both in each ride and across rides in order to have enough energy and mental resilience to complete the work and ride into the next one.
The need to time box time for eating and to prepare food for those meal times and the rides themselves.
The fact that you cannot circumvent the above, or sufficient sleep and rest either, if you want to perform at the highest level more than once.
Why even coaches, athletes and some of the best leaders in the world have coaches - we all need someone to support and challenge us to ensure that we don’t over use our strengths so that they become weaknesses.
Perhaps it’s a useful allegory for myself and an underpinning wisdom for much of the work I do with leaders, who will need 3, 5 and maybe even 7 years to deliver the full change they seek. We can all be tempted by the immediate; but chase it too quickly and without sufficient support and sustenance at your peril.
What am I reading?
Andrew Eberlin & Wyndham Court - Southampton
This week I’m going to highlight two pieces of reading; one I have completed and one I intend to.
Firstly, I read some fabulous writing about Brutalist architechture ahead of my visit to Southampton with Andrew Eberlin.
Andrew is a mine of information on all things ‘beautiful’ and whilst I know that Brutalist architecture isn't everyone’s cup of tea - his photography and love of so much of it has been an inspiration for me to find out more.
As one who always wanted to own a posh Georgian Town House as a kid in Wolves, I used to think of brutalist architecture as soul-less; but as I’ve got older and experienced living in beautiful, but poorly functioning homes, I’ve begun to feel that function is more beautiful than form and that the purpose and construction of a building more important than how it looks.
This quote sums up what I love about brutalist architecture:
“The philosophy behind Brutalist architecture is rooted in the belief that architectural design should prioritize functionality, honesty, and social purpose,” Bittoni explains. The style is often associated with socialist utopian ideas, which were regularly promoted by the buildings' architects”.
You can read the full piece here
I would love to see your pictures of any brutalist architecture near you - email them to stefan@stefanpowell.co.uk and I’ll make sure to share them with Andrew.
The second piece, is one which I intend to read.
David Attenborough’s “A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future” was reviewed beautifully by Ipsos CPO Kerri O’Neill on Linkedin.
She is “…reading widely on the topic of sustainability to shape …(her)… own mind on how CPOs and HR can lead and link ESG and sustainability better into their organisation’s strategies”.
You can watch her video review here.
I have my second hand copy on its way (think reduce, reuse and recycle) and can’t wait to read it.
What am I wishing for?
I am wishing that one of my coaching clients meetings with their boss and their board of directors, about the need for an attitudinal shift to change, goes well.
In this weeks session, we explored their mindset and the attitudinal shift they sought. We talked about the drivers, motivations and values of their peers and how to explore these with trust and in open conversation and we discussed my clients own blindspots on this topic.
We also explored what would be needed to lean into a courageous conversation and I’ll share a 7 step “how to’ on it in the coming weeks.
It’s Sunday, I have the kids, what are we up to today?
It’s Sunday AM and we’re having a gentle start today, hopefully followed by a walk along Bonchurch Beach.
After a gentle pause for proper Sunday lunch; we’ll make our way for a cuppa with Dominique and find out how her 9AM Time Trial went.
We’d be there, but teenagers and 9AM starts on a Sunday to watch some TT in the rain isn’t a battle we need.
She’s ok with it - but i’ll be with her in spirit - trust me.
A Last Word
The word I would like to leave you with today is "sustainability" meaning “the ability to be maintained”.
Sustainability is a far reaching concept; as important for an individual, be they a corporate leader, an elite athlete or an activist for change, as it is for our world. For me it’s a call to action for life and everything connected with it.
Something I believe expresses the breadth of ‘it’ and its complexity are the 17 world Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all United Nations members in 2015.
Created with the aim of "peace and prosperity for people and the planet..." – while tackling climate change and working to preserve oceans and forests you can read more here.
My purpose…
If you’re wanting to know what great things I help people lead - you could do a lot worse than to start with these:
My final question of this week?
It’s the question I ask everyone I meet, in some form.
What great things are you leading, or wanting to lead, and hows it going?
Have a great Sunday and Love to you all
I am…
An executive coach who specialises in helping good people lead great things.
Good people care about others, our planet and beauty. Great things are changes for the betterment of society and all that lives within an around it.
It sounds big and fun - it is.
I'm also an endurance racing cyclist and a go. getter.
You can read more about me and what I do; how I work here