Fill your space
Inspired by this article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/06/nine-year-old-reporter-orange-street-news-truth
I was talking to chap last week that I had met for the first time and we were getting to know each other and talking about confidence and presence. I talked about how many times I have used the “Superman stance” to build my confidence in certain situations that I go into (presentations, job interviews) and we got on to talking about taking up space.
I was talking about it in terms of how I need to teach my daughter that she deserves to be heard and take up her space in the world and by extension how young women need to start filling their space too. As I was talking to this chap, I asked if he had noticed how the different genders take up space on the tubes or planes. How, often, a man will spread out, but, a woman will suck herself in. This is often something that society encourages as we learn how we are expected to behave with the norms we see.
He mentioned that it is not something that he had noticed, but now he came to think about it, he does see it quite often. He thought about how he would change his behaviour when sitting on the tube next time.
We carried on talking in general terms and how everyone has the right to take up their space, have their voices heard and their views considered.
We spend a lot of time in this world, looking at people and wondering whether they are more important than we are or if they are not important enough. Something to do with human nature, all this comparison. But what it does is reduce us down to very simple elements and can cause us to make snap judgements about people based on when, were and how we encounter them. The new term: Unconscious Bias
I read a lovely article this week about how the disruptors are not as important as the doers. The world won’t turn if the fundamentals aren’t taken care of, just because you might be the next great hotshot, it doesn’t make you more or less valuable than the person standing next to you.
If you are feeling like you are not holding up to all these great hotshots, remember that the world needs you and everyone else. You need to take up your own space, have your voice heard, have your views considered. You may need to stand on something or shout louder, but don’t let someone tell you your views don’t matter. Young or old everyone matters.
Inspired by this article: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/06/nine-year-old-reporter-orange-street-news-truth
In the simplest terms, I help people to get ready to profitably scale. What you do with a room full of people is very different to how you do it when they cross cities, continents or oceans.
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