Every person has unique gifts, abilities, purposes, preferences and has had a life and working journey that holds valuable stories inside them. These stories, whether they be victories and high points, or challenges, suffering and low points, help make us who we are, and what we contribute towards to the world, our work, our lives and the people around us.

What is your story? What’s the story of your life, your career, your business? Where are you now? Where did you start from? What inspired you then? What was your vision for your life or your company? What’s happened along the way that are markers for change or inspired you to move forward? How has that built and equipped you for where you are now, and where you want to go?

As a life and business coach, and Organisational Developer, I spend my life listening to peoples’ stories, and am fascinated by them and what they tell me. I am constantly amazed at the wealth in peoples’ lives, businesses and organisations. Often, they can remain untapped because the people themselves have lost sight of who they uniquely are, and what they uniquely carry. Terry, who runs a successful business in healthcare, with a large staff, a healthy turn over, and business awards, came to me bored, frustrated and wondering what he was doing it for. His staff were driving him mad. He felt stuck in a rut. As I asked him to tell me his story of how and why he started his business he began to come alive. Through going through his story, we discovered his core passions, rediscovered why he was doing what he was doing, found the root of his frustrations, and helped him to come back to his core mission and purpose. When he shared his rediscovered vision with his team, his outlook was transformed and so was the business.

Many of us are so used to living inside ourselves, doing what we do, that it’s easy to overlook the treasures we hold in our journeys. Our stories are precious, and they are powerful! The ups the downs, the good and the bad. They all have a place and can be used to equip and inspire us, and others.

What have the challenges you’ve faced taught you? Built into you? Resilience, compassion, discipline, patience? 

Often our stories and qualities need to be:

• called out
• articulated,
• recognised
• celebrated
• utilised and built upon

For our stories to be effective they must be authentic. They must be real! I find with my clients that is often the tough stuff, the unexpected and the difficulties they’ve encountered which has taught, equipped and shaped them.

People are hungry for authentic people, with authentic stories that are not airbrushed and perfected, making the rest of us feel like lesser mortals! We hunger for authenticity and real connections.

These things, the things that have shaped and impacted us, are the things that will ultimately secure our successes.