Having attended many networking events, I have seen numerous speakers on my travels – some funny, some informative, some very serious and some down right boring….
However, I recently attended a fantastic event where the speaker truly inspired me. .. The person billed wasn’t from the world of business, but from the world of football. … not one of the hot shot big stars earning millions and millions .. but a boy from Rotherham who had a dream and went for it….Howard Webb (MBE)- Referee.
The reasons his talk was so inspiring for me was this.. .. there was this little lad from Rotherham, who despite a love of the game, knew deep down that he wasn’t going to get anywhere in Football as a player because there were other kids in the class that were far better, so rather than quit, he decided to take up refereeing.. ..
Now that might not be the obvious choice, in fact most people would shun the opportunity. I know from personal experience through my 15 year old stepson, whose football team coach “begged” the parents to train as referees (or “take their badges”, as it’s referred to) to enable him to coach the team during matches (otherwise he has to referee with impartiality). Despite his best efforts, nobody stepped up and in the end, he decided to pay for a referee each match, so he could coach the team.
I remember being very surprised at the time, since most football fans (particularly footballer “dads” – trust me!) consider themselves a referee when stood on the terraces! Maybe they recognise that perhaps this is one vocation where giving is most definitely better than receiving!
Anyway, Howard chose the path of refereeing and climbed his way to the top, showing:
- The courage to be involved with something he loves – he’s passionate about football
- The belief in himself to reach his goals – he wanted to be a top class referee
- The determination to carry on working his way up through the ranks – nothing was going to stop him
- AND above all he took action, to put the hard work in to reach his ultimate goal – Referee a world cup final match – only 19 people can claim to have had the honour.
So how does this link into my blog – well, just like in business, to start up and manage a company, you need to have a dream. You need to be brave and have the courage to make the move, to take the plunge and to carry on, you have to take every opportunity to run with it. ..
You have to believe in yourself and what you are doing – If you don’t have the belief or desire, what will drive you to succeed? Plus other people will sense it and they may not believe in you.
You have to be determined, determined to succeed. Set backs aren’t failure, they are learning points – change the way you do things and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes again.
And above all take action – you can’t expect things to just land on your lap, you have to take action and work for what you want.. ..
As a business woman, I admire inspiring stories. If a lad from Rotherham can referee the most important football match in the whole world, what can you achieve????
I hope you enjoy my blogs – I hope they are a little different
To contact Joanne please call her on 01274 483936 or email info@databubble.co.uk
