Reflections

What have we learnt in 2022?

— We set ourselves some big, hairy, audacious #goals at the start of the year: Some we slayed (yay for us), some are still yet to be completed (but we put the effort in and made great progress), some didn’t go according to the plan (but we were agile enough to adapt our approach rather than give up) 

Learnings – celebrate the wins; focus on the input and the output naturally appears; a plan gives you a platform to view the real-time landscape and adapt to deviations  

— We listened to many hours of #podcasts during the year: the Rich Roll podcast is an ICC standard, never failing to offer up at least one nugget of #learning (#652 Joe de Sena, #664 Simon Hill, #685 Cory Booker, #713 Gordo Byrn, #723 Mel Robbins); How to Fail with Elizabeth Day (S13, Ep1: Brené Brown, S14, Ep3: Jarvis Cocker, S14 Bonus: Jane Goodall, S15, Ep9: Greta Thunberg), the Diary of a CEO podcast is another long-form, unfiltered stream of inspiring ideas and refreshing challenge (#201 Stephen Fry, #187 Paul Brunson, #174 James Smith, #147 Chris Voss); and the Gabby Reece Show consistently hits all the right notes in a shorter format (see Reconnecting with your Why, November 28^th). We guested on the High-Performance Podcast, the Adventure Podcast, Private Parts and Rethink Leadership, and of course, we continue to produce unique and thought-provoking podcast content thanks to our Cool Conversations guests, topical commentary on Coolaboration and escapism and cultural insights on Tales from the Trails 

Learnings – guidance comes giftwrapped in all manner of designs, we just need to shut the laptop, put down the phone and take the time to open the gift and use the contents 

— We also love to #read and we purposefully make time for it: the #book that we all agreed was our stand-out favourite of the ICC year (and decade!) is ‘Let My People Go Surfing’ by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia. ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall, ‘Holding Tight, Letting Go’ by Sarah Hughes, ‘Himalaya’ by John Keay, ‘In the Shadow of the Mountain’ by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, ‘The Art of the Good Life’ by Rolf Dobelli, and ‘Journeys to Impossible Places’ by Simon Reeves also featured highly. However, we are probably most excited by the recent publication of David Goggins’ second book ‘Never Finished’ and we are all hoping that Santa has got it ear-marked for delivery later this month! 

Learnings – long-form content will stand up to the test of current short-form media distractions. The opportunity to stop, absorb, reset and relax all come in book form, in all of its differing platforms  

— When Patagonia announced that “all profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to save our home planet”, we all sat up and listened. We have high hopes that others will follow Patagonia’s lead and we are proud to continue to play a miniscule part in the #purpose and #direction of 1% for the Planet, co-founded by Yvon Chouinard. After returning from a recent #expedition to Bhutan, our co-founder, Kenton, educated us on the ‘success drivers’ of Bhutan, one of the happiest (and consistently developing) countries on the planet – rather than using GDP as a marker, they use GNH (Gross National Happiness) as the criteria to assess true societal development and economic longevity. As well as the more common indicators such as Health, Education and Living Standards, GNH markers also include: Good Governance, Cultural Diversity and Resilience, Time Use, Community Vitality, Psychological Wellbeing and Ecological Vitality and Resilience 

Learnings – as suggested in the quote by Sir David Attenborough: ‘Anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is either a madman or an economist’, there are more sustainable and societally accessible growth markers in use around the globe that perform more consistently than conventional economic drivers 

— A galvanising #quote inspires us at ICC, just when we need it. Although tricky to choose a favourite, our standard go-to’s are: “Be You. On Purpose”, “Coast it or Crush it” and “Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress”. When working with our clients to design and embed a high-performance #culture, a pretty direct quote that guides our curiosity is: “the culture of any organisation is shaped by the worst behaviours that a leader is willing to tolerate” – Todd Whitaker 

Learnings – we know about Peter Drucker’s observations on culture eating strategy for breakfast (and lunch) but we have also seen in practice that obsessing and panicking about strategy can conversely eat culture as it dismisses the very thing that will deliver strategy – your people 

— ICC #coaching clients have taught us a thing or three: #success isn’t always measured by winning; #perseverance is usually rewarded; #communication removes confusion and complexity; #collaboration for the win 

Learnings – in business, we become part of a collective, often losing sight of our own strengths and skills amongst group directives and tactical decision-making. Taking time to pause and consider what’s driving our actions often reveals what we really need to pay attention to and, amazingly, we find that we already have the skills required, they were just a little hidden. 

AND FINALLY, our research demonstrates that organisations focused on and investing in #culture are experiencing higher comparative industry growth, and we believe that this is a direct result of the high-performance mindsets they have generated. If you are excited to find out how ICC can support your high-performance development via our cultural diagnostic, taskforce implementation, executive coaching and skills development, make it your goal to come and talk to us, we’d love to hear from you.