Have you watched the film “Out Of Africa”? The one with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford? It came out in 1985 and I remember going to the cinema to watch it with my husband.
The film looks very dated now. At the time though, it caught my imagination of Africa as an amazing place to be.
The film “Out Of Africa” is adapted from the book of the same name by Karen Blixon, a Danish woman who from December 1913 lived in Kenya for seventeen years.
With her husband she ran a coffee estate employing 1000 people, alas at too high an altitude in Kenya, meaning the venture was not a commercial success.
Karen Blixon returned to her mother’s house in Denmark in August 1931, without a career, divorced and childless, with poor health from treatment for syphilis. Her new beau had died in an air crash too.
Karen Blixon’s house, now a museum, nature reserve, bird sanctuary and excellent cafe!
Not a great set of circumstances from which to return home, to resurrect and build a life again.
We visited her house in Rungsted, on the island of Zealand in Denmark two weeks ago. This gave us a more authentic look at her whole life. On her return from Africa she had no idea what to do.
Yet as you may know, through a slow process, she became a renowned writer, author and broadcaster.
Memorial of Karen Blixon in Copenhagen.
This is how Denmark and the world now remember and honour her. We found visiting her home a moving experience.
When something goes wrong or circumstances change, many of us cannot conceive of what else we can do.
We cannot imagine how to reinvent ourselves in a way which brings us meaning, satisfies, calls on our strengths, and on the basis we need to earn, offers something of value to others too.
Where Karen Blixon wrote in her house.
In 2009, when the UK entered a period of austerity, my consulting and change management work dried up.
For a while, it felt a real second best focussing more on leadership qualifications, largely in the public sector and the NHS, as organisations were still investing in their people at this time.
***Interestingly, this is now what I enjoy the most.***
Also available as a film.
I become alive taking a cohort of learners into a period of self-discovery, emerging after a length of time with a definition of leadership which works for them.
I am on top of the world to see them invigorated with an appropriate level of “can do” confidence, motivation and enthusiasm, from which they demonstrably take their career to the next level.
The ILM Level 5 leadership qualification they gain is the icing on their cake!
The dining room, and utility room to prepare cut flowers!
As we enter the autumn, I am starting a new eight month leadership programme with cohorts of learners with First Rail. This builds on the success of similar programmes with Rail Delivery Group in 2023.
I am also:
- becoming an international speaker with my keynote speech “Switch On Your Strengths”,
- creating collaborative leadership training opportunities in India for later this year, and
- expanding my trustee and non-executive portfolio, building on my experience with charity Love4Life.
The grounds are now a nature reserve and bird sanctuary.
This clarity has taken me a number of months, if not longer, for my thinking to emerge, fine tune and focus. It has been an iterative process with almost continuous bouts of having no clue what I really wanted.
Then when I did know, I was expert at thinking of all the reasons why I would not succeed; that it was going to be too difficult or plain just not possible. This negativity distorted any helpful thinking and my confidence waned.
Does any of this this sound like you? Where following adverse circumstances, as in Karen Blixon’s life, or changes in the economic context in mine, require a re-thinking?
Karen’s legacy is available to inspire us all.
If you would like a journeying partner to move from “This isn’t possible” to “This can be me”, get in touch. Let’s chat to find out if I can help you. Personal Development coaching is part of my portfolio.
Helping you to develop your clarity, develop a positive mindset, reveal your hidden strengths and sharpen your focus is something I love to do.
You can find out more about the impact of my work by reading the testimonials on my website and LinkedIn profile.
Gill How is an internationally recognised Leadership Developer delivering programmes globally which enable senior managers, executives and professionals step into their strategic leadership capability and stretch their strengths. She is a Fellow of the Association for Coaching, a Team Facilitator and Strengths Expert. She has founded an EDI Bookclub+ to which ALL are welcome. If she can help you in developing the potential of the professionals and leaders in your organisation, get in touch:
“Gill is an exceptional educator and coach. Her insightful, challenging and empathetic style made the course what it was, fabulous. I learnt so much about leadership and about myself, my purpose and values.
My coaching sessions with Gill were transformational. She helped me uncover and challenge my limiting beliefs and gave me tools to work with them, turning my weaknesses into strengths. Gill has the ability to make people think differently about themselves and supports them to grow.
Gill is unique, inspiring, passionate and lives her values. I hope to work with her again in the future.”
Jessica Rumbold, Associate Director, Jacobs
Has this blog been food for thought? Here’s some more amazing Danish food!
Photo credits: Martin and Gill How
