VIEWS FROM A CHANGED PERSPECTIVE

I have been trying to decide which has been the most significant of my observations whilst running my own business - and there are a number of alternatives vying for the top spot!

Humility: in the corporate life of my career past, I was a great advocate of always doing things in a logical order...establish a vision, define a strategy to achieve it, plan what you will need to do, execute, then check back and reset at intervals to ensure the results flow in.

My reality is a juggling act. To all those business leaders that I might have previously regarded with an air of disappointment, please know that I now know that, whilst the steps themselves are the right ones, the juggling act of simultaneously winning, managing, financing and securing your own business dictates that the 'logical' order of their implementation doesn't always translate as the most feasible.

Pragmatism: I have always considered myself pragmatic, but have recently learnt to be more so. As an independent consultant, people might solicit my views and - joy of joys - even pay for them. But I have learned not to take it personally when they later ignore my sound advice.

That is not something I can afford to get stressed about - I'm learning to shrug my shoulders and move on.

Pride: as busy professionals, most of us take pride in our ability to deliver a quality product on time, or to win the approval and positive feedback of our peers and clients.

When it is you with whom 'the buck' will invariably stop, there is even more pride in raising a glass to toast a good job well done.

Anticipation: this has very firmly replaced the trepidation I felt when first embarking on the path to self-employment.

It looked like a cold and scary world at the start, but it's one that I have been delighted to quickly adapt to.

Collaboration: it is always a joy to be part of a successful team. It is an aspect of my working life that I've always loved and one that I was nervous I'd miss in 'going it alone'. I needn't have worried - the teams are just different. Now I get to collaborate with eager clients who are as ambitious as I am to get a good job done.

The opportunity to be a vital member of a successful team doesn't begin and end at one's own organisational boundaries.

If I thought about it long enough, there are many more observations I could highlight or achievements I could cite. Suffice it to say that in this new phase of my more mature life, I'm most delighted that I still get to learn!