This article was also published on my LinkedIn.
Passion, it’s what gets you out of bed in the morning. 6 days out from my next novice powerlifting competition, and I’ve been reflecting on what this competition preparation (comp prep) has taught me in comparison to previous ones, and how it is applicable to my role as Business Development Executive at Accodex. Heading up our Partner Relations team and assisting our accounting and technology Partners across three countries means that I have had to develop and improve my existing skills base quite rapidly. With the majority of our staff and partners being classed as Millennials, the three qualities that permit me to develop and improve myself, are also the same skills that I have applied throughout powerlifting. These qualities include:
1. Communication: Communication is imperative in all aspects of life, as it ensuring that the correct message is received. If you cannot communicate correctly, a misunderstanding may occur, and in the case of powerlifting, result in an injury. For example, when I was training in San Francisco last year, I asked one of the gym staff for a “spot” on bench press, thinking they’d know how to do a handout and spot correctly considering they worked in the gym. I learnt the hard way that I must communicate correctly and explain exactly how to do it to each person as I ended up having 50kg drop straight onto my lower stomach and hips.
Communication with my coach has been imperative in ensuring that my prep is tailored to my abilities. I’ve been more diligent on communicating with my coach regarding how each session has gone, meaning that we’ve been able to adjust my numbers each week based on how well or how badly my lifts went the week before.
Communication is one of the main skills that is imperative to my success in my role at Accodex, as I am required to communicate with not only our team at Accodex HQ, but our Philippines team and our Partners in the UK and USA, as well as our key suppliers. It has ensured that I have been able to build stronger relationships in order to improve processes, enabling us to scale more rapidly.
2. Resilience: Resilience is key to ensuring that you can continue to grow and develop in all aspects of your life, be it business or personal. This comp prep has taught me to have stronger resilience. Resilience to accept feedback, resilience to keep training no matter how tired or frustrated I get. This is transferable to my career as sometimes not everything goes to plan; for example sales meetings. You may bomb a sales meeting because you do not have enough information before you go into the meeting.
Resilience to accept feedback, no matter how critical has been imperative in ensuring that I have been able to grow and push through the mental barriers surrounding receiving what can be critical feedback. The ability to accept feedback is essential in being able to improve technique, as well as see changes in the weights you are able to lift, alongside body composition.
Being able to give and receive feedback has been imperative in being able to improve the service offering Accodex is providing to our Partners, as well as ensure that our Partners can continue to grow and develop their existing skill sets. It has also enabled me to shape my career path more accurately based on the feedback I receive relating to my performance.
3. Time Management: Time management is imperative in ensuring that you can complete everything that you are required to. When I’m training, there is always a required rest period between each set, whether it is squats, bench press, deadlifts or just accessories. Time management has been one of the skills I’ve focused on in order to ensure I am training to the best of my ability each session. The same goes for my work at Accodex, I plan my day to ensure that I am making the most of my time, and can easily switch from task to task. I also schedule in lunch breaks so that I have a chance to unwind for half an hour to an hour, meaning that I can regain focus ready for the afternoon.
In closing, I believe that if you can link the skills you’ve gained from your passion to your career as a Millennial Accountant, you will find that you are much more fulfilled in your career trajectory.
If you want any clarification on the above, please let me know in the comments, or fill out the form on my Contact page.
Credits:
Photography courtesy of Natalie Stone from Natalie Stone Photography. Please see her Facebook and Instagram for more examples of her work.
Sammie Johannes 