Fresh Eyes

For most of the last twenty years of my career in learning and development, I have been fortunate to travel to many far-flung places around the world to facilitate workshops and programmes.

It has been a wonderful journey, full of different cultures, customs, conversations and perspectives.

Latterly, however, things have changed.

Now, working with Aviva, delegates travel from across the UK and Ireland, along with a few from other European nations, to attend the Learning Centre in Perth.

Instead of me travelling everywhere, everyone now travels to Scotland.

My journey is a much shorter one now – a few times a week up the road to Perth, where I feel genuinely honoured to facilitate modules on Aviva’s flagship leadership programme, Lead the Way.

Often, I ask delegates whether they have been to Perth before, or even to Scotland.

It still amazes me that the vast majority say this is their very first visit.

That fascinates me.

For most of my career, my travel has taken me in one direction – south. I have been in England hundreds, if not thousands, of times over the years. Yet many of those who come north are seeing Scotland for the very first time.

The comments are often simple but striking:

“There is so much space up here.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“It feels different.”

And perhaps that is the lesson.

Leadership is often less about discovering something new, and more about learning to see the familiar with fresh eyes.

Perhaps we Scots take for granted the space, the landscape, the beauty and the calm that surrounds us.

We live with it every day, so it can become background rather than blessing.

Leadership can be like that too.

We can become so familiar with our teams, our work, our strengths, our culture and even our opportunities that we stop seeing them clearly.

Sometimes others help us see what we have stopped noticing.

Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to remind us of what is already there.

Great leaders learn to notice again.

They pause long enough to see the beauty in the ordinary, the potential in the familiar, and the value in what others may be experiencing for the very first time.

What might you be taking for granted that someone else would see as remarkable?