If you enjoy a sporting analogy, then imagine that you are the boxer in the ring taking hits and throwing punches or, in the corporate world, probably still taking metaphorical hits and small wins each day. The boxer always has their corner person; it is their support system during the fight - the one who is there to give tactical advice or administer the ice to cool the blood.
Now, I am going to assume that it’s unlikely you will have rubbed Vaseline on your face to limit the cuts before a work presentation (however, if you have ever done that then please let me know how it went). But my question to you is this: who are your corner people?
We need these people in our lives as they help keep us on the path. They might watch from afar as we start to wander off the path but quickly step in at the sight of us being too wobbly or when we’ve taken too many hits.
The best type of corner person (or corner people) tends to have the following characteristics and contribution to your life:
They want the best for you – not what is best for them that you can provide - but genuinely care about your happiness and wellbeing. You’ll recognise this corner person by them saying “what do you want?” or “how can I support you in this?”. They tend to bring things back to what is important in your life, to you, and this is the litmus test for them. For this, my friend Sophie always asks the deeper questions and sits in the vulnerable moments to explore them with me.
They push you back out into the ring – it’s because they see you have more to give and believe in you. This can often happen when you are given a new project or put forward for solving a work problem that no one else has solved. So even when you aren’t 100% certain you can go another round, they know you are capable of it. I’ve experienced this with my 3 past leaders and it has always been worth it.
They remind you that you can do it – unlike the hilarious Rob Schneider character in Happy Gilmore who yells out “you can do it” at every swing, this corner person will go into the detail of when you’ve overcome challenges or adversity in the past and succeeded. My father did this recently after I took on a new project and it was like looking up a mountain without seeing any way to climb it. He reminded me about chunking it down and compared it to my past experiences, which cleared my mindset to reframe the project in a whole new light.
They call you out on your stuff – like when you make excuses or you might be trying to crowd source an opinion which aligns with your own bias. The corner person will tell you straight up what they think, in boxing they might ‘throw in the towel’ as a way to signal to the exhausted boxer and referee that it’s time to stop the fight. To me this is my dear friend Abby, I can always rely on her for absolute honesty and to see the whole situation for what it is.
They celebrate your success – much like a strong boxing corner person, these corner people will celebrate the big and little moments. New job, project milestone, improving a relationship with a colleague, all those growth moments – big and small. For this I turn to my Champagne Girls, a group that started when we all thought there was never a “good enough” reason to celebrate ourselves. The lesson is that there is always a good reason to recognise just how far you have come.
I have more corner people than those I’ve mentioned here and it’s a crew of wonderful people in my personal and professional networks. So now, over to you… who is in your corner-crew? Have you told them lately how much they mean to you?
Thanks for reading. Please feel free reach out to share who your corner people are and why, I’d love to hear how you show gratitude to these people. If you are interested in more ways to Think Ascend, please subscribe to my mailing list. No spam, just regular inbox gifts to keep you ascending.