I am immensely grateful as Key Steps Corporate Training reaches its 16th milestone today, coinciding with our middle daughter turning 21 on Saturday. It sure is an exciting time with so many reasons to celebrate!
On 21 November 2007 – after 11 years in corporate Learning and Development – I received our official CC registration documents, went on to achieve our SETA accreditation and stepped out of my comfort zone into the realm of self-employment and entrepreneurship. This marked the beginning of realising my dream of providing bespoke learning solutions that really get results. What a ride it has been!
In 2018, we converted to a Pty Limited and restructured our business to achieve BEE Level 2 status. Currently, we are on the verge of completing our QCTO accreditation, another important step for our South African clients. Moreover, the challenges posed by Covid, were an alchemical catalyst for one of our most transformative periods, expanding our global reach across five continents.
Thank you for being part of our journey. We are because of you! This journey has been akin to giving birth and raising a child – full of surprises, challenges and unparalleled growth. Basically, I had no idea what I was in for, which is probably a good thing 😊! It feels so exciting to be here… Sweet 16. We’d like to commemorate it with 16 lessons we’ve learnt and #KeySteps we’ve taken to…
‘be the difference that makes the difference.’
- Just do it. For years, I had outgrown the organisation that I was in, but it took a crisis before I took the leap and started Key Steps. Waiting for a crisis to prompt change is unnecessary; take action today. Don’t wait. Just do it. Take one step – however small it might seem – towards your dreams.
- Know it is going to be easier and harder than you thought. Everyone warned me about cash flow so I started out petrified that I might really struggle to pay my bills. It turned out that cash flow was much easier than I thought – I had been paying ‘school fees’ for 11 years and had been underselling my value for too long it turned out. On the other hand, I thought getting our name out there and recognised was going to be easy, but it took about a decade for Key Steps to become an ‘overnight’ success. Whatever you are busy with, there are always easy and hard parts. Celebrate the successes and push on through the challenges. Surrender to the journey and…
- Always be learning. Be humble enough to know that no matter what you know, there is always a huge mile to go. The value in unlearning and learning is immeasurable. Be open. Be teachable. Be hungry.
- Allow growth to ebb and flow. Sometimes when you are in a big learning phase, the growth is slow. Be patient. Did you know that a Chinese bamboo tree takes five years to grow. It has to be watered and fertilised every day, yet it doesn’t break through the ground for five years. Once it breaks through, it grows 90 feet tall in five weeks! Keep watering and nurturing and trust the ebb and flow of growth.
- Excellence matters. Focus on being the best you can be at what you do. Keep a side glance at your competitors but your main focus on your customers and vision to serve. Put in the work and then some. Build a referral network of people who are excellent at the things you are not, and clients will thank you for it. PS: Remember that excellence is worth attaining while perfectionism is a disease.
- Consistency is the cornerstone of success. I love my work so much that I can deliver the same programme day in and out for weeks and still do it like it was the first time. My consistency comes from a deep deep passion and discipline. I’m very disciplined and have a disciplined, consistent and incredible team. Be disciplined and be consistent.
- Develop your professional network. You’ll go faster and further with a good network of other professionals around you and it’ll help with point 5. I joined the Professional Speakers Association of Southern Africa (PSASA) the same month I started Key Steps. I’ve also belonged to several masterminds the past 16 years. Key Steps success would not be what it is without my tribe. Cherish your tribe.
- Have a personal development team. My professional tribe is not my personal one. This is made up of my therapist/coach, my supervisor, my spiritual guide, my body talk practitioner, my wellness guru, our family therapist and Mila’s OT. I pay dearly for these professionals, but it is worth every cent. When I started therapy, at 21, I was relegated to eating beans on toast. I got creative and discovered that I could make lentil stew for about R2.50 a container I’d freeze it in bulk and be grateful I could scrape together enough to pay for my studies and therapy. It was a long decade but, again, well worth the sacrifice.
- Have a strong support system. Points 7 and 8 are part of this support team but you’ll likely need more. I’m fortunate to have family nearby and even that has not been enough. I am a mom, wife, friend, colleague, student and business owner. To manage all this, I’ve had to engineer my support system as meticulously as I engineer our business development plans.
- Focus on relationships. My business is about relationships. People won’t do journey work with Key Steps unless they know they can trust us. To trust us, we have to genuinely care about helping people to be their best selves. We live and breathe this. It’s paid in spades in all the right ways. And that brings me to having the right people in your direct team. These relationships are the most important – value them and invest in them. I am deeply grateful for Collette (and all our office support that have come before) and for our core team of facilitators. We are because of you.
- Listen to your deep inner voice. This one I’m good at… I’ve gone against advice many times. In 2007, I was told that to be really successful, I had to niche. “You are so good at negotiation skills, specialise in that,” they said. At Key Steps, we are good at many things because being an emotionally intelligent leader is many things – and that is the closest we get to a niche. Staying true to our value proposition is what has made the nature of our work possible. Our clients know that we can honestly work with leaders in a 360 way and are ‘specialist generalists’ who can cover the spectrum of leadership dilemmas and development areas. Maintaining deep expertise across a broad spectrum of offerings is harder work than having one niche product, but it is what makes my heart sing and makes us good at what we do. Thank goodness I listened to that inner voice.
- It’s okay to be ‘weird’. In fact, maybe it is necessary. I’ve always been a little weird. I didn’t fit in. I was super shy. I loved to read instead of play. I was a nerd. I was teased at school. Honestly, until my late 20s, I felt a bit like a square peg in a round hole. At 46, I am so glad I am ‘weird’. My ‘madness’ fuels my success in all the right ways. I have the most insane attention to detail. I have long stopped seeing it as a problem but a strength to be harnessed.
- Dare to be authentic and vulnerable. But don’t get stuck being true to yourself. I like having a reputation for being authentic and vulnerable. It’s what brings my facilitated sessions to life. Being open and vulnerable was so hard in my 20s, I spent way too much energy trying to be perfect. Showing myself, my real self, has been liberating. And I’ve learnt not to be “true to myself” but to my future self. If I was true to myself, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I do as I was a deep introvert and couldn’t speak in public as a teenager. Always be true to the version of you that you are stepping into (see point 3). You are better and more capable than you think you are!
- It’s okay to quit. No, not on yourself but do let go of what’s not working and honour boundaries. I’ve had to ‘fire’ clients (thankfully only 2 in 16 years but they were toxic). I’ve also made some hiring mistakes. The first one, I held on too long trying to ‘fix’ what was beyond repair. I’ve learnt that most ‘problems’ can be resolved but only if two parties want to resolve it. When the writing is on the wall, let go. It’s also okay to say no to work. In fact, I think it is critical. Let go of what is not meant for you. I remembering crying as I turned down a huge contract but 10 years later, I know that contract would’ve corrupted our soul.
- Don’t make it all about work. This is my hardest and took me about a decade to get right 😉. Key Steps is my Ikigai… I love my work, the world needs it, I get paid for it and I am proud to say that clients say I’m pretty good at it – take a look at our new website and see for yourself www.keysteps.co.za. We are so proud of it. I’ve still had to learn to put the brakes on – there is only so much time and energy to go around. Mila helps. My family helps. Cultivating interests outside of work helps. I now choose to have a life outside of work. To an extent, I still live and breathe Key Steps; I can’t imagine it any other way. I just live and breathe a lot of other things too and it makes me a healthier human and a better facilitator and executive coach.
- Fill your cup regularly. When you are at your best, there is more of you to go around (but not an unlimited supply – see point 15). Get out in nature. Exercise. Eat well. Take care of your body, mind and soul. Nurture your family and friendships. Build in mindfulness routines. Create healthy rituals. Filling your cup takes effort. It is worth the effort.
As we embark on the next 16 years, filled with many more Key Steps to ‘be the difference that makes the difference,’ I am eager to continue this journey with you.
Thank you for your unwavering support. Namaste!
- Just do it. For years, I had outgrown the organisation that I was in, but it took a crisis before I took the leap and started Key Steps. Waiting for a crisis to prompt change is unnecessary; take action today. Don’t wait. Just do it. Take one step – however small it might seem – towards your dreams.
‘be the difference that makes the difference.’
NOTE: The information in my blog may be freely shared and re-used in any online or offline publication, provided it is accompanied by the following credit line: This was written by Dr Sharon King Gabrielides, and originally appeared in her free weekly ‘Key Steps Food for Thought Blog’ available on the Key Steps website.
About Dr Sharon King Gabrielides
Sharon is a dynamic facilitator, speaker and executive coach with over 25 years’ experience in leadership development and organisational transformation. Her PhD thesis contributed a framework for holistic and sustainable leadership development that was published by Rutgers University in the USA. She is faculty of numerous business schools and highly sought-after by leading corporates because she works hand-in-hand with them to create sustainable results and long-term success. In 2020, Sharon was inducted into the Educators Hall of Fame, which is a lifetime achievement award, recognising excellence and her contribution to the field.
Sharon is one of only three women in South Africa to have achieved the title of Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) – the Oscar of the speaking industry. She is also a COMENSA Master Practitioner (CMP), a qualified Modern Classroom Certified Trainer (MCCT™) and an accredited Global Virtual Speaker. Sharon is also a registered Education, Training and Development Practitioner (ETDP), holds an Honours degree in Psychology and practices as an NLP master practitioner.
Most important to Sharon is that she has become known for her genuinely caring manner, practical and transformational approach, and for providing valuable tools and that allow people to take Key Steps to really… ‘be the difference that makes the difference.’
