2018: A year of change

According to the ancient Chinese science of Feng Shui, 2018 was the year of The Earth Dog - a year of change and introspection. I don't really pay much attention to these things, but I have to confess that 2018 was a year of important changes in my life.

Professionally, I had the opportunity to lead a team of amazing people and that was an incredible opportunity for self-growth. They thought me to be there for them, support them, clear the way and let the magic happen. I learned that, when you provide the right support to your team and clear all the noise, they have the perfect environment to thrive.

But, after spending the last 5 years with Red Cross, I thought it was time to move on and learn about other organisations, their culture, ways of working, strategy etc.

It was a very hard decision to make, it put me totally out of my comfort zone but a learned from it. I left Red Cross without another permanent work to go to. I did some temporary work, explored another industry and also learned from these experiences. 2018 was definitely the year of change and the year when I expanded my comfort zone (once more).

In my personal life, I decided to play this year's soccer season with another club. I left my mates, with whom I had played the last two seasons, and joined my daughter's club. This change would make my life easier as my daughter and I would have the same training days and times and this would take off the pressure from the household routine.

In the beginning, I was impressed with the professionalism and organisation of the new club. That's definitely one of their strongest qualities. However, I slowly learned about their competitive culture and its negative impact on the players. Instead of working as a team we were competing against each other to guarantee our game time in the next game match.

Some people function really well in this kind of environment. I don't. That's why, in the middle of the season, I decided to change and go back to my old mates. Oh boy! What a good feeling! We are a bunch of "old ladies" who want to have some fun while doing a bit of exercise. We support each other. We encourage each other to do our best in the field. We know each other's weak points, but we play on our strengths. Guess what? We finished the season in 3rd place, 1 point ahead of the other team that I started the season with. This experience was such a powerful lesson to me and just reinforced Peter Drucker's thoughts:

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast"

Thinking about the future, I can't wait to have 2019 started. Again, according to the Feng Shui science, it will be the year of the Yin Earth Pig, a year where we can expect good news in the horizon. Would that be the truth? I have good reasons to think it is. Stay tuned.

Wishing you all a good festive season and a relaxing break.