A sense of direction

My children (26 and 28) think it’s hilarious that I am a ride leader for my cycling club. We have many shared memories of them asking, “Mummy, why are we going this way?” when they were still in booster seats. My point is that my sense of direction is not my strongest suit.

I do a lot of work with my coachees on their strengths, and show them time and again that just because a trait isn’t a strength doesn't mean that you don’t have it and can’t improve it. It’s a little bit like building a muscle.

One very successful client yearns to be more of a natural communicator – she has to work hard to adapt her communication style to her recipients, to simply remember to communicate, to share news, to look after her own PR. She can and does do all of it but it doesn’t come naturally, her style is to get on with the job and deliver great results – and she does! But communication is critical to success, especially to a CMO, so she has to flex her communication muscle and remember to deliver it. What is brilliant about her is that she realises and is actively building that muscle.

Ride leading requires many skills, one of which is a sense of direction. Feedback tells me that I have the other skills in spades so my fellow cyclists forgive me when I lead them astray. We laugh about it and either turn around or adapt our routes. I call that dynamic routing.

If you would like to explore your strengths and work out how to flex the muscles of other things you need to do your job better, consider some strengths coaching.

Leading rides takes many skills, only one of which is a sense of direction.