Before I started writing this blog I thought I knew exactly how it would turn out. I had the structure planned out in my head and a page full of notes. As a thinker I thought I knew every detail, word for word, can you sense there is a BUT coming up here? I don’t always find it easy to stray off piste with anything, but to my surprise this is exactly where I ended up, and you know what? It isn’t all that bad!

Since writing my last personal blog in December 2011 a lot has changed for both SK Chase and me personally. Sitting thinking about the journey I have been on (along with the rest of the team) over the past 14 months it actually makes me feel quite emotional. We have seen team members come and go, roles change, an engagement, a birth and a marriage to name a few milestones, the one constant has been our love for SK Chase and each other.

So what is it all about?

I wrote my last blog in 2011 about my intent, which is to grow.

So what is intent and why am I now writing about it again if I have already covered this before?

In its most literal form Intent is: “Something that is intended; an aim or purpose.”

For me my intent serves as my guide, whether it be knowingly or unknowingly the universe keeps me on track with my intent by presenting me with different situations in life.  Often when I am in a situation where I feel challenged or uncomfortable I now ask myself:

“What is the universe trying to teach me here?”

For me, being in a reflective state of mind, I can now realise how much I have grown since my last blog, and how much those around me have also grown.

One of the biggest realisations I had recently was that my intent to grow is not just limited to me, it is something that I can fulfil by helping others to grow, by passing on my knowledge and experience and also by giving them the space to be able to grow of their own accord. This is something that has been born out of being given the opportunity at SK Chase to be in a position whereby I can continually learn and develop, no matter what role I am in. However, I have also realised that my actions have the ability to stop others growth, and this is something that I need to be aware of when carrying out the smallest of actions as a function manager and team member.

So what is the key learning?

Particularly in my role as Finance Manager I have often found myself in a situation where I tell myself I have given away responsibility for a task within the function, however, whether it be down to fear, or me not fully letting go, I have found myself stepping back in without being invited. By doing this, not only am I preventing my own growth, by not letting go of old tasks for new, but I am also hindering other peoples growth, by continually preventing them from taking and feeling the full responsibility. So whenever I feel the urge to step back in, much like Heather mentioned in a previous blog, I need to ask myself “what would trust do next?”, it is never the person I am questioning, it is always myself.

In December I found myself out of the business for three weeks, due to me being away on holiday. In the lead up to my holiday I started to feel a fear of going cold turkey when it came to SK Chase. What if something came up which couldn’t be answered in my absence or had not been queried before and nobody knew how to respond?

Coming back to work after my holiday I realised that by me literally not being around it had allowed my team mates in Finance to take full responsibility for the Finance tasks in my absence, and they did an amazing job. This gave me a real confidence in that I was ready for the next phase in my role, I just hadn’t allowed myself to see this before I went away.

We have had several functionality workshops over the last three months and our discussions have focused on the next phase. Looking back at my career so far with SK Chase I realised the potential I still have to fulfil and also how I can help others to grow whilst I realise my own personal and professional goals. Most importantly I need to anchor back to my intent, and think of the impact that my actions have on others ability to grow.

In the words of Ice Cube, I need to check myself before I wreck myself y’all! 🙂