In this months tip, I look at how important having a sparring partner is.

Hi, I’m Laurence from Loxam Consulting and today I’m going to touch on this months tip:

Sparring Partners

The famous writer John Grisham brought out a new series of books in 2022 and for some, this may have been the first time they had heard the phrase outside of the boxing world.

For me, it was in 2018 when I was reporting into a Dutch line manager who was the Global Director for a international robotics company.

I was the Director in the UK and was very keen to impress and help to push the business forward.  I was reporting everything, especially the great stuff….  My Director was patient but after a few weeks said very bluntly (Dutch culture), ‘why are you telling me everything’?  I was surprised by this but when he then said ‘Laurence – see me as your sparring partner’ my whole perspective changed and it was one of those moments in life that you always remember.

What am I getting at – all successful leaders need a sparring partner.  It can be a colleagues, an outside coach, a trusted mentor and even a spouse or family member.  For me, it’s probably less about trying to find the best sparring partner and more about ‘just getting one’.  When you have a sparring partner the next questions start to arise……  What makes a good sparring partner and do you need more than one!

We can pick this up next time.

Have a great day,

Laurence