A Note From Sarah
I love this time of year. A walk through the park or the woods while the leaves are turning, then home to a fire, a cup of cacao and a good book or podcast. Autumn has a way of slowing me down, and it’s often in those quieter moments that I notice what I’ve been carrying without realising it.
That’s where this month’s reflection question comes from: what are you carrying that you haven’t named yet? Fear of getting it wrong. Worry about the team. Uncertainty about who you are outside the role. Left unnamed, these things don’t disappear. They show up in our decisions instead.
My podcast guest, Ciarán Casey, has a lovely way of putting it. Our emotions are lights on the dashboard: information, not instruction. You don’t panic and you don’t ignore them, but you stay in the driver’s seat. Ciarán has moved across six industries, and in a special two-part episode, “Creating Your Own Crossroads” (22nd and 29th October), he shares why the comfortable road can be more dangerous than the crossroads itself.
This month I’m also sharing a piece of my own story in ACCA’s Accounting and Business magazine: my first failed attempt to sell my business, back when I was the business, and the question I now ask every owner I work with. If you were out for six weeks, would your business still run without you?
For your autumn listening, I’m recommending A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek and Garry Ridge. And our book club returns on Monday 9th November with Radical Candor by Kim Scott, a book about saying what you really mean, with care. Another way of naming what we carry
So light the fire, make the cacao, and give yourself the space to name what’s been sitting with you. It’s usually lighter once you do.
