What makes a Maverick ?: Recent Episodes
Carol Glover
Can you truly be authentic, different, unconventional and succeed at life, work and leadership? Yes ! As a ginger, punk inspired Maverick, I’ve had a blast doing all three. Today Coaching C Suite leaders and mentoring Founders, learning and sharing even more about life and work today. The pandemic of 2020 has brought into sharp focus, a raft of wide sweeping changes that conventional business people and monolithic organisations are now facing "head on". Thinking & acting different , embracing change, unlocking grit and flow are key to success. Simply, a Maverick Mindset.
This episode is the story of what happens when you send a 13 year old Maverick out to work and they realise its their passion and what came next. This episode was cathartic for me, hope you enjoy it. For the last 3 years, via deep inner work and reflective thinking I've pieced together my story. How a not very academic, ginger, sporty, teen from Douglas, Isle of Man, got to have such a fun, senior and varied worldwide career . And because of that i am ultra motivated to help others do the same - because i know you can be and have anything you want - if you want it enough. Creative thinker, leader, communicator, problem solver, people person and pivoter - the Intrapreneurial skillset for leaders in the 2020s. And how a huge Growth Mindset, well developed emotional intelligence and Maverick based authenticity, becomes an irresistible combination. Today i get to do lots of it all again, coaching senior leaders and professionals who want to connect with the Intrapreneurial skillset and reduce pressure and stress by being true to themselves. Mentoring young "founders" means i get to see it all through their eyes, again. To me, this episode is the secret ingredient in how to succeed at work and leadership in the post pandemic world - see what you think.
As the eldest of a large , excitable , not well off family, my escape from the noise and craziness was reading. I read from a young age, developed a ridiculous passion for spelling and words, read all the books in Douglas children's library and then borrowed from teachers and friends. Reading is a great escape for me . On holiday i spend hours in coffee shops reading local mags, journals and papers, Its a good day if i learn something from reading each day, that i didn't already know. It feeds my growth mindset . Also adore literature and theatre. I think Shakespeare is the consummate story teller of all time . I adore the wit and brilliance of Oscar Wilde. Over the last 4 years, I've read lots for my studies as a Coach, to understand the amazing developments in human potential, psychology, peak performance, thinking differently and self leadership. For these books i awake an hour early each morning , read a chapter, make notes and reflect. This activity, lights up my brain and unlocks my creative flow . At night i read before sleep every single night. I speed read fiction and with a Kindle average 3-5 books a week. Books are my constant companion, they teach me, make me laugh, cry, smile and want to know more. Most of all they help me connect to my best version of Maverick Carol.
I was so fortunate to be a student in late 70s Britain. The country was pretty drab and dirty then and London was a pretty dangerous place. Out of this malaise came a movement of unbelievable passion, energy and attitude - Punk Rock. With its roots in New York it really made its mark here. I was a working class misfit late teen , who suddenly met lots of other like me. Often it wasn't about the music, as many early bands couldn't really play their instruments, it was about chaos. It gave you an attitude to hook onto, that said "I can be anything i want to be and no-one can stop me". Today i see a lot of the the essence of punk, in startup entrepreneurs i work with. They've got high energy, ideas and belief and they'll learn as they go - the ultimate extreme growth mindset. In this episode i really enjoy sharing my love for the music that talks to my inner being. The fun i had and most importantly what i learnt from being a punk. That being authentic,true to yourself and with like minded people is a hugely freeing place to be .
Many of us don't feel school was for us. I worked hard there, learnt how to study, got a couple of "A " levels, largely thanks to being in a top class with very bright, academic classmates, and i was determined and conscientious.. This episode covers what i did learn at school that helped me in later life, what working from the age of 13 taught me and how when i went off to Polytechnic, a long way from home, my life changed, for many reasons. No matter what, i stayed true to myself, who i was and who i believed i could be. It didn't hurt that i was criticized at school, along with my other sisters, for being "disruptive" and "chatty" - two of the key skills that leaders need in the 2020s. 10 years after leaving school i lead a team buying hundreds of millions per annum for one of the UKs dominant retailers. How? By being a curious Maverick thinker with a huge thirst for learning.
Today's podcast is one recorded last week for our local University College Mann (UCM) podcast series " Reconstructing Normal " - not that i think there will be reconstructing or normal in the new future. The series features a wide range of perspectives from a knowledgeable & talented group of speakers, many professors, and me 😎. All sharing our take on what we've learnt over the last 3 months and "What Now?" A wEVOLution is happening, in plain sight. Can you see it ? Can you feel it? What does it look like?"
Key to our future will be :
Community
Collaboration
Collectives
Between March and May 2020 we learnt #togetherwearestronger
And the strength came from within:
Compassion
Kindness
Gratitude
All human emotions that:
✅Help us relate to others
✅Improve positive mood
✅Help regulate blood pressure
✅Support sleep
And in social terms improve empathy, communication and interpersonal skills.
The essence of Emotional Intelligence (EQ).
The #1 in demand skillset for the future for humans at work . Everyone gets a seat at the "co-creation" table. This will be the last episode in the "what makes a Maverick, In a crisis" series. 🙌🏻Join me next time “ on the other side.”
Welcome to a very special "What makes a Maverick" Podcast today, from a huge hearted Maverick, Community Champion and International Coach, Marion Morrison and someone whose lived with a Maverick for 35 years - Peter Glover. One of the biggest songs of the pandemic in the UK was "Times Like These", a collaboration between performers, skills, instruments, ages, styles and genres, all reminding us that "It's times like these we learn to live again, give to give again, and learn to love again" - and didn't we just? As a punk i have appreciated Foo Fighters, my sister Val is a huge fan, however i didn't really know these lyrics. For me the words, the contribution and the use of tech encapsulate the "WE-volution " that we are all living through. We now know that they keys to our future as humans will be "WE": #Community #Collaboration #Collectives Between March and May 2020 in Isle of Man where i live, we lived #togetherwearestronger And the strength came from within:#Compassion #Kindness #Gratitude All human emotions that help us relate to others, improve positive mood, help regulate blood pressure, support sleep and reconnect us to the positive neuroscience of our own bodies. There's a reason we feel good when we help others or others help us. It's called Oxytocin, one of the feelgood chemicals of our brain. And in social terms, improving empathy, communication and interpersonal skills is the essence of Emotional Intelligence (EQ), the #1 in demand skill set for the future for humans at work . Today's podcast is a “takeover” of the “SHED Talks” show last Friday on Quing TV, by two people i admire and respect greatly. Community Champion & International Coach Marion Morrison and Peter Glover of “Share & Grow”. It’s a fab show, with leading edge thinking, tips and techniques about how to harness Love and key emotions to move from Me to We. 🙌🏻Join us “ on the other side.”
When does the future start?
What about now!
Post Pandemic life , is likely to be very different from life in February 2020.
You can start by choosing to create your own future, now.
The lockdown phase of the pandemic, has given us all a chance to find, unlock or rediscover, values, beliefs and skills that have lay dormant.
We have had a chance to "be" rather than "do".
We now know what "lights us up".
Many people are getting to enjoy the new way of living.
Everyone of us has learnt something about ourselves that we didn't realise before.
The #staysafe phase is where we get to stretch out again into our new world.
Don't we owe it to ourselves to build all of this new self knowledge into creating our new future.
This episode helps you to see how to do that .
Enjoy.
Clarity begins at my home and your home - or in my case my SHED. I work in the SHED, coach there and film there. So last week when clients asked me to do a session on , "How to think clearly when you're working at home?" It seemed the obvious place to cover this topic. So this weeks podcast is the audio of last weeks SHED Talks broadcast on Quing TV on. As well as considering the negatives of distraction, isolation and lack of focus, this podcast also opens up the positives of how good your thinking can be at home when you remove the obstacles and distractions. Going into more detail on how you clutter your thinking, how do you find the clarity you need to be able to come up with new ideas, to keep going, to finish work and also for those who run businesses, or are at the top of the business How do you keep developing, growing and pushing forward with the business when you're isolated from everything that's going on in it? The session includes client tips gained recently on how to identify priorities, check thinking when isolated and how to stay focused on what matters when distracted. Working in isolation at home may not be temporary, so the need to build your skills and productivity may be here for quite some time . Initially working at home was a bit of a novelty and probably felt strange, however once but we got used to the technology, we built some routines and new habits - all of which are really important to creating normality around working from home. Hope these tips for how we can improve the clarity, quality and creativity of our thinking, while at home are useful. More importantly how by thinking differently about working at home, we can improve our motivation, creativity, happiness and job satisfaction.
"People who need people, are the luckiest people in the world,"according to JLo in the One World concert recently.
Whether we believed that or not back in February 2020, we've certainly had a huge chance to review our own position on this, over the last 6 weeks.
The very words "social isolation" are uncomfortable and make us sound disconnected.
As humans we thrive on human connection .
Its one of our key attributes that set us apart form all other species.
Whilst governments have thrown funds at financial hardship, human isolation, especially from loved ones has been a huge deficit for most.
Personally i love people and interacting with them - I'm and enthusiastic, chattering extrovert.
I love "the interestingness of people " and i believe that everyone has a unique backstory and has done amazing things in their life.
Often without realising it.
so, whilst i have been super busy and productive during lockdown , i have missed people.
I bet you have too.
So when this relaxes, how are you going to fix this.
With the growth of nano- tech, Human connection is more important than ever.
Our inherent human skills of "emotional Intelligence" and "communication" will be even more vital in the post coronavirus world of work, and so how we approach re-engaging is important to the development of our race and what we do next.
IN this episode, a few tips from someone who loves connecting with people .
It takes some of the biggest music artists of our time and a seminal track from the Foo Fighters, to remind us of what really matters as we, hopefully, pass the peak of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic. We have the chance to learn to live again, give to give again and learn to love again. Are we going to take it? In this week's episode i share what this has meant to me and those i mentor, as the pandemic has progressed.. What we can all pay attention to currently that will help us truly learn from this experience and how this learning can help us live, better, happier and more fulfilled lives for ourselves, our family and our work. And how through gratitude we can continue on a path of learning, living and loving to take the best form the current experience and build it into our life for the future.
I live in a place that probably has the most unique set of real train sets in the world : horse drawn, electric, steam and diesel. So the word train is quite revered in Isle of Man. In the current pandemic, everyone of us has a train. A train of thoughts. As we are bombarded by negativity, media and facts that are too difficult or upsetting to comprehend, it is hard to stop our train of thoughts, running away with themselves. Hard but not impossible. We can replace the runaway train, with one of our own choosing. Filling the carriages with our own purpose, energy, love for others, and determination for how we will live when this is finished, when our train pulls into our destination. In this episode i talk about how to build you own train, one carriage at a time. Join me and climb aboard. 😎
I'm a huge music nerd.
Have you ever noticed how many songs wouldn't exist if we removed the word Love from our vocabulary?
Forget music,
We couldn't exist without the ability to feel Love. Period.
Love and consciousness are what separate us from the animal kingdom.
We are getting the biggest chance in our lives to truly understand the meaning of LOVE.
For our family, friends, community, countries, world and planet.
The deep connection that sustains life.
I cant teach you anything about love, its about a feeling.
Letting it in.
What i can do in this episode is help you celebrate it.
Alongside one of my favorite stories of my whole career.
When i gave one of them a lift in my lime green Citroen Pluriel.
I smile just thinking about it.
Enjoy 😎
We have been living increasingly busy lives.
This pandemic, whether we like it or not, has give us the gift of time .
To reflect, to think, to be,
Technology, mobile in particular, has been blamed for increasing distraction, reducing focus and negatively impacting our mental health , in recent years.
Our ability to "switch off" from life and connect with what truly matters to us, has dwindled.
Connecting to our unique thoughts, memories, feelings, and energy.
We now have a chance to re-connect.
If we choose to take it.
To sit quietly in the present, think about what truly matters to us, to feel it, and to begin to live it.
That is the voice we have all been given an opportunity to find.
Are you ready ?
I know not everyone is, and that's fine.
when you're ready, your voice is there and waiting to come out.
Live it 😎
When everything around us is changing, rapidly, we can't control it. Alan Watts said " The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, join the dance". I don't know about you but i love to dance. Always as if no-one is watching. It is freeing, exciting and connects me with the highest energy i possess. So does positively dealing with challenges, obstacles and crises. I see opportunity where others see difficulty. I'm a Maverick. That's how i dance with change, and life. There has never been a better time to dance, with nobody watching. People are sharing concerts, DJ sets and parties online. On of the best exercises we can do is dancing. For body and mind. So if this all feels too difficult. Put on your "red shoes" and dance away "the blues". Lets' dance 😎
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In a world of turbulence and dynamic change, the best way to make plans is in pencil, with an eraser close by. In business, the act of erasing and replacing is often called "Pivoting". Two of the key skill sets for the 2020s are adaptability and flexibility - both require a pencil approach. I have spent my Maverick life with a notebook and pencil on me, everywhere I've gone. As an analogical thinker i have seen ideas all over the world in different settings, noted them ( now photographed too) and dipped into them as needed - many of them super successful in completely different settings. During the current pandemic, staying curious and adaptable is key to staying positive, opportunistic and creative. We have the biggest opportunity of our lives to slow down, be present and think. By transcribing our thoughts into a notebook or journal, we give them life in our consciousness. Today's episode is about living a Maverick life in pencil. Enjoy 😎
Reflecting on life this week, I've realised that the number 3 drives a lot of my thoughts and actions. So in this episode I've been wondering why that is, why its helpful and what you can do to benefit from the power of 3, too. The Romans developed a system of government based on the number 3, writers and encouraged to use 3 words for emphasis, fun and to create momentum. As a Maverick, forward momentum is important to keep me learning . I have a strategy to see me though the current Covid 19 situation based on taking 3 key actions. They are actions I've been avoiding or hate to do ( like admin). Most of all they are actions that i will learn from, and i now have an opportunity to take time and learn how to do this and well. Few tips here about how you can do the same. It's also okay if you don't want to. The plus of this time we have been given, is that we can choose how to invest it. So choose wisely.
In the board game Monopoly, you land on a certain square and you "Go to Jail". In life, a series of events can send us to our own personal Jail. But only if we let them. Our "Get out of Jail" card, is our own ability to "self lead"ourselves through any negative situation. Equally to make the most of any opportunities by stepping into our best version of ourselves. I have had the good fortune to work with one of the worlds most up to date thinkers on "Self Leadership" - Jason Goldberg. This episode is about they key things I've learnt and how I'm applying them to my own life and business during Covid 19, and tips for how you can too. By nature i am a sociable being, so isolation and distancing are not easy, A combination of my Maverick Mindset and Jason's teachings are ensuring that i stay in service and support to you all by finding constructive ways for us to take small steps forwards, together. That is how we will all get out of this Jail.
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🦁 How to outrun a lion. Pretty sunny at present and sun boosts Vitamin D, which boosts our immune system. Media is pushing us into places of fear and negativity, so what would Mavericks do to help themselves and others? . Self- Leadership. Getting ourselves into the best shape, thus helping ourselves, our family, health services and those in most need. So whilst for many, self-isolation will be effective. So is improving our physical and mental well-being by developing a personal plan: 🌳 Embracing nature ☀️ Enjoying early sunshine 🚶🏼♀️ Cardio, like walking/ cycling, in countryside 🏃♀️Workouts at home 😂Laughing with family & friends 📖 Relaxing with a good book or movie 🥦Eating healthy foods 🍷Reducing/removing sugar and alcohol intakes ❓What else 😀Preparing ourselves may avoid us being affected or recover quicker, making us more use to others. 👩⚕️I’m not a medic, there are people with conditions, so make your plan about what you know works for you. Buddhist philosophy says, to help others you should first help yourself. 🙌🏻Our communities will need us all in coming weeks, let’s prepare by ‘out running our personal lion.’ 😎Keep Smiling.
As the eldest of 5 lively, spontaneous and determined sisters, our parents shaped our belief in the power of being different – little did we know it at the time. Our mum was creative, artistic, musical and Dad, practical, very sporty, with huge self belief. They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. So, my crazy, disorganised, upbringing was fundamental to the Maverick leader, Intrapreneur and Coach that I became. Most important of all was the unconditional support from all family members, growing up and in later life. What could you achieve if you believed at all times that your family would support you no matter what?
Can you truly be authentic, different, unconventional and succeed at life, work and leadership? Yes! As a ginger, punk inspired Maverick, I’ve had a blast doing all 3. Today having given up my corporate career, founded two businesses, and now Coaching leaders, Teams and mentoring young Founders, I am learning even more about life and work in the 2020s. So if you’ve ever wanted to be different and didn’t know where to start, join me here for regular musings on “What makes a Maverick”.