"The definition of true hell is: Your last day on Earth; the person you became meets the person you could have become”  - Dan Sullivan

This quote encapsulates why I do what I do. It connects my 20 years of Global HR, Talent and Leadership Development experience within wonderful companies such as 3M and HubSpot. It is my reason for completing a Masters in Work & Organizational Behaviour (psychology) and multiple ICF coaching courses i.e. helping ambitious professionals transform high potential into high performance.

From coaching sports teams in my teens, to immersing myself in corporate training during my twenties, and picking up national coaching awards in my thirties – it's been an incredibly rewarding path (I think I will stop counting decades right here). I agree with the eminent philosopher Bruno Mars who once said 'I think success is having fun'! What has made my journey to date such fun is quite simply the fact that so much of what I have had the privilege do is aligned to who I am as a person and what I naturally do best. 

The saying 'What got you here won't get your there' holds true but, not necessarily absolute truth. Thinking specifically about how leaders grow, I wonder: What if they're moving too far from what made them great in the first place as they climb the corporate ladder, becoming a jack of all trades and a master of none? As Simon Sinek said, "We can't be good at everything. If we were, there would be no need for teams." The following questions are central to my coaching and facilitation philosophy:

• Why prioritise and agonise over our many weaknesses before fully capitalising on our strengths?

• How high is the performance ceiling for teams open to celebrating and leveraging each other's strengths?

• How authentic would leadership styles be if truly aligned to an individual's personality traits and innate talents? 

My mission today? It's all about helping leaders ensure that they never meet the leader they could have been. It's about partnering with leaders and teams to transform their high potential into high performance, by building on what already makes them great.

I feel like I've found my Ikigai, the Japanese concept meaning your 'reason for being.'' Ikigai is all about what I'm good at, what I love doing, what the world needs, and what I can get paid for. I believe it's the antidote to that 'true hell' feeling.