Perspective

Sankofa is a symbol used by the Akan people of Ghana. It is usually symbolised by a bird with its head turned backwards while its feet face forward carrying a precious egg in its mouth. It literally translates as ""Go back and get it" and symbolises a desire to learn from the past in order to develop a brighter future.

The symbolism of Sankofa has been particularly beneficial for me as I reflect on 2020 and think forward to 2021 and beyond. No doubt the past twelve months brought a number of personal and professional challenges. I lost a couple of friends and came very close to losing my Dad but for me, it was mostly positive.

I had high ambitions of being able to travel but they were curtailed by the requirement to stay home amidst the pandemic. I spent a lot of time spent reflecting and thinking about what is really important to me and what I want to eliminate from my life. What makes me content, fulfilled and happy even.

In his book, A Guide to The Good Life, William B. Irvine states “The easiest way for us to gain happiness is to learn how to want the things we already have.” A powerful reminder that we should not attach happiness to things and people that we don't already have. To be present and to have a sense of perspective when things are going well or even when they are not going so well.

This Stoic quote about happiness and the concept of Sankofa that I mentioned early on, have been great reminders for me about the perspective I have had. I don't hate 2020. I don't think it should be cancelled. I don't think it was the worst year of my life. Others may have different experiences but for me it is just a reminder of the privilege I have. Where I have come from to where I am now, and the gratitude I have for another day to create significance in the work I do and the life I lead.

William Irvine in the same book states “We sometimes should think about the past to learn lessons that can help us in our efforts to shape the future.” Ironic how these principles of Stoicism and Akan Wisdom combine and correlate to help me frame how I navigated a rollercoaster year and what I can learn from them going forward too.

Letting Go
In 2020 Madeline (my wife) and I became empty-nesters. Eldest was out filming on TV set in various locales of the country for Britbox and Netflix, and youngest headed to the North West for her first undergraduate year as a polyglot. Made even more poignant given that we are still in the grip of a pandemic but seeing your offspring branch out and explore their own paths is a mixture of emotions. From heady excitement that they are stepping into adulthood and doing their own thing to worrying about their safety and whether we had done enough to prepare them for a brave new world.

Professionally I also let go of a couple of things too. I stopped youth speaking. I stepped down as non-executive chair of a social enterprise. I shut down an incubator I had worked on for two years that was focused on developing Black tech startups. I stepped aside from another board I was on that focused on diversity in investment And as of Dec 31, I am winding down the part of the business that focuses on presentations skills training. Only doing this now for senior leaders as part of leadership coaching.

Letting go is never easy but it is a necessary part of our growth, and I realise that whether it is letting go of my children so they can become fully-fledged adults, letting go of some work that I was emotionally invested in or heck letting go of some limiting beliefs it is all essential for growth.

Doubling Down
One of the reasons I was able to let go of some things this year was to double down on the areas I am truly passionate about and that is leadership development and organizational culture.

Delivering services and spending time in researching and testing these disciplines have made me double down on which executives I coach, hone my signature programmes, explore how to extend my leadership podcast to a wider audience, helped to cofound a mastermind group for Black-owned professional service companies and take on a senior advisory role on a family-owned investment firm.

I am very proud of the clients who I will continue to work with this year which afford me an opportunity to double down and I am looking forward to our teams getting stuck into some tough and culture shifting programmes.

I started this review by referring to Sankofa. Looking to your past in order to build for the future, while remaining present. There are a lot of things I have learnt from my past which have taught me how to navigate through tough times. I am hoping they will continue to shape the way forward for me both personally and professionally, and if by some small chance someone else benefits from those teachings and learnings, I will be a very happy man.