Keep Looking Forward

There is a quote from a famous ice hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, who said ‘skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been’. Wayne is an all time hero for me, I was lucky enough to watch him play at the height of his fame. He always seemed to be able to see how the play would unfold and be on the ice, right place right time. He also had incredible resilience and never gave up.

I believe that we should always prepare ourselves for what is coming towards us rather than where we are now, Making sure we are always ready with what the client or candidate wants and needs, not just what we have known them to need in the past. It’s the business equivalent of skating to where the puck is going to.

Wayne Gretzky, like all world class sportspeople, didn’t achieve success by accident. They hone their skills, keep themselves current and are always improving. They dedicate themselves to being ever better tomorrow than they are today.

In our world, you could say this is about keeping our knowledge current and mastering our craft. I have spoken about the passion I have for life-long learning and this is all part and parcel of dedicating ourselves to that path.

We have been navigating some tough conditions in our markets around the world. I always think that these times are often when we do our best work. We need to be resilient, we need to think about what we can do differently, we always need to practice our craft and be a little more expert today than we were yesterday and, above all, we need to ‘skate to where the puck is going’ by preparing to offer what our clients need tomorrow in readiness.

Next month, we will be having our half yearly kick off meetings across the world, thinking about what we have learnt in the first half of the year and setting the priorities for the months ahead. I look forward to seeing you at many of these meetings and hearing your plans.

In the meantime, keep safe and well.

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