What Shaped the Leader You are Today? - People, Choices, and Challenges that Brought You Here
Welcome to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great conversations and share powerful tools to help you become a stronger Racquet's leader. Your hosts are Kim Basketball, a former All American tennis player and now the director of professional Racquet's management at the University of Florida. And Simon Gale, the USTA senior director of Racquet Sports Development. Here are Kim and Simon.
Kim Bastable:Welcome to Racquet Fuel. Today, Simon and I are going to have a new type of episode. We're hopeful this will inspire you to think about your story and what makes you special, which also might help you determine the next step in your career. We all have stories of growth and development and people and experiences who have impacted us. This episode was inspired by Emma Wells, a past guest on the podcast who is an entrepreneur in The UK.
Kim Bastable:She actually said when she was a guest, she was asked about her history and realized she had done very little thinking about what was driving her career and her decisions. And our little conversation inspired her to write a book which she calls grit. So she's been intentionally becoming a leader in delivering tennis in The UK's public park spaces. And with kids in The UK, I've been over there and seen it firsthand, and this book was a fun read. I heard behind the scenes of decisions that she made, people who enabled her, skills she developed, struggles she had.
Kim Bastable:Let's just say none of us gets to their career in one simple step. It's many, many steps, and Emma was really open and honest to share her walk in her book and how she hopes to help others. So, Simon, we were mentioned in Emma's book, which was quite an honor. What are your thoughts on where we're going today?
Simon Gale:Well, first, I think when we look at all of the guests that we've interviewed, we get a lot of reflecting from them, and I'll get a comment or a text or an email that just says, you know, I never have really looked at how I got where I am today and and my story and who inspired me and so on, and we we ask those questions. So I love that that this is an extension of that. I think the world of Emma, and I know she runs an amazing business over there in The UK, and I love that a simple conversation inspired her to think about her career and then put it down on paper. So lots of reflection, I think, in these questions today, and hopefully, it makes people think about where they've come from and and maybe guides them with their decisions moving forward. So excited to get started.
Kim Bastable:Yes. So at the end of each chapter, as Simon mentioned, questions, Emma provides questions, and they were very insightful. They caused the reader to reflect on their own life in in similar ways to the ways that she shares her story. I found it quite interesting and insightful to think through of them, so I proposed this to Simon as an episode. And whether you grab Emma's book or not, we hope you'll look at these questions, which we will provide the list of in the show notes, and and ask yourself some of these.
Kim Bastable:Dig deep to find your answers. And and we're gonna start out. Simon, I'm gonna quiz you first. So, Simon, here's question one. Are you simply giving people opportunities to participate, or are you helping them feel that they truly belong?
Simon Gale:Well, I hope it's belonging. That's the that's the objective. We'd have to ask the people who have worked for me over the years, and I think that's something that you hopefully get better at as you you lead more is understanding how important that is to to create that sense of belonging for your people and give them opportunities to evolve. So I really strive and try and focus on that. Giving people access to to working for your organization kinda opens the door, but I think that sense of true belonging where they feel like they've got a voice, they're seen, they're valued, they're empowered to contribute is is really what our goal is.
Simon Gale:When I thought about this question, you know, I work very hard to try and establish a great place to work, and it's never gonna be perfect for everybody. But for the majority, is this a place where you can leave better than when you started? Have we created an opportunity for you to evolve and get better and be ready for whatever's next in your career? So if we haven't done that, then I've failed you, And I take that really seriously as their leader. So trying to invest in them with education is is valuable, and and you you do that, but I think that's more of a...
Simon Gale:Something you just do. I think the the value is in time, And can you give people time? Just the power of conversation. Do you dedicate time? I I spend at least thirty minutes.
Simon Gale:I try to with every employee a month and longer if they want it to just check-in. How are you doing? What can we do for you? How can we support you better? It's a lot of time, but I think it's time well spent, so that's where I zero in on.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. Which... And I would say this question could be expanded to the community you're building as a club too. If if you're a club owner, did you just provide courts and put them out there, or are you building something around? Are you building programming?
Kim Bastable:Are you building an atmosphere where people get to know each other? They don't just show up to play and go home. Maybe that social area where there's a bar or a restaurant to hang out. That... Those are the things that need to be considered.
Kim Bastable:But I like that you mentioned voice. Do they have a voice? Are they seen? Do they have power? I think those are always...
Kim Bastable:Those are three good keywords to to belonging. That's a good advice and something good to think about.
Simon Gale:All right. Your turn, Kim. I love this question. Are you spending most of your time delivering the work, or are you building the systems, relationships, and culture that will allow others to succeed well after you're no longer there?
Kim Bastable:I think this question is really convicting and something that we all need to do. I have said before on this podcast, tennis players, therefore tennis coaches, racquets coaches are doers, and we don't tend to delegate as well, and we don't tend to look for that next person to take over the role once we're gone. But it is so, so important. And in my case, with the University of Florida program, it's the same thing. Any educational program is...
Kim Bastable:It's the program that matters. I just happen to be the one leading it, so there need to be systems in place so that someone else can do that job after you're gone. And that's something we we need to do constantly think about. Are the systems in place? Are they in a place where other people could find them?
Kim Bastable:Are they clear? Are they actionable? All those things. So it's convicting, and I think it's a kind of a... I don't wanna say a daily fight, but it's a...
Kim Bastable:Certainly a weekly or semiannual fight to reevaluate yourself and say, are you making room for someone to follow you? So I hope so, but never done once.
Simon Gale:And I would add that when I thought about this a little bit, my mind went to SOPs or standard operating procedures and and started thinking about what did I do twenty years ago versus today, and the number of SOPs you have now versus it was more institutional knowledge and you were managing more and you were busier because it was all inside you versus it was written down and everyone else could flourish as a result. So I think you evolve as you get older and more experienced, and as you work at bigger facilities, you're forced to create better systems. When it's a smaller club, you can keep your finger on the pulse of everything. When you get into a bigger facility, you have to delegate more, and that means more systems and procedures and communication flow becomes priority.
Kim Bastable:Which I think as people are growing in their career, that's something they need to realize. Yes. They can do everything in their smaller club, but they wanna prepare themselves for their future career. They must practice the idea of building SOPs and getting people delegated to to be ready for the Yeah. Alright.
Kim Bastable:Simon, if you could stop wearing one hat in your work or business, which would it be, and what would that allow you to focus on instead?
Simon Gale:If they made a hat called administrative firefighting, that would be my hat. If I could step away from... And it's part of the job and you accept that. It's just what percentage of your time it takes, and sometimes it takes a lot more. There's weeks where you feel like you go home after Friday and say, I'm not sure what I actually did this week, but, gee, I was busy.
Simon Gale:And then you have weeks where you feel like you achieved a lot. So I feel like administrative firefighting and as you have a bigger team with more people, there's that saying, more people, more problems, but it's just more management. There's a lot more that comes with it regardless of whether it's a problem. So I'd love to take that time and be able to invest it into long term strategy, vision, culture building, looking for next opportunities within the business. So I feel like that time gets taken away, and you need to do that sometimes in your own time at home and so on where you've got quiet time.
Simon Gale:It's kind of this eighty twenty rule that I have where can I spend 80% of my time high level thinking and looking where we're going and 20% in the weeds? But when I get into the weeds, can I get out of there as fast as I can so that I don't get
Kim Bastable:That's an ambitious eighty twenty? That's good if
Simon Gale:you could
Kim Bastable:stay in those strategic Well,
Simon Gale:if I get fifty fifty, I'm okay, but I'll shoot for eighty twenty. But that's that's that's for me where I would would love some extra time. What about you, Kim?
Kim Bastable:Yeah. I think I I think it's the same. It's the administration of... As they say, your members are your biggest problem, and that's kind of, you know, my students are my biggest challenge, but that's a good challenge. And I do...
Kim Bastable:They they pop emails in my inbox. They have issues that come up, and it sorta knocks me out of my strategic thinking moments. But I realize that's what I'm here for. And you cannot let those peoples, you know, untimely in your mind, untimely in quote, air quotes, comments, emails, concerns knock you off. You have to enjoy each one of those relationships, which I do.
Kim Bastable:I mean, I enjoy the idea of helping and inspiring people and really just listening to the challenges of of students. But I I think, yeah, I think there was a help in my mind. I did get an administrator who was able to do some of the things that I did not truly need to be doing. Talking to a student about a concern, I do do, but pushing paper across the desk and doing certificates and some other administrative things I do not do. And that has been freeing in the last not quite year to have that help.
Kim Bastable:And I do think it matters. I encourage people to find those things that they truly do not need to be doing somebody else can do and get that help because it it really does free your your brain to be strategic and thoughtful.
Simon Gale:Early on, if you're new at a facility and and and you're in a management role and you've got a lot of this administrative burden, which, as you say, is part of the job, there's a motivation there to say, well, if we grow the business enough, can we afford to add an employee even if it's part time to pick up x percentage of the admin that I'm doing that someone else could do? And there's a motivation to grow your business and say, I propose adding a headcount or a part timer in order to help alleviate this so that I can focus on growing revenue or the member experience or whatever it is you need to spend your time on. So motivation is a good thing when you can start to see things get handed off your plate. But sometimes you get stuck doing it, and you just do that for the rest of your career because that's the way I've always done the job. So how do you want people to feel after interacting with you?
Kim Bastable:It's important that they feel like I care and that I have time. I tend to be, and I've realized this over time, a task oriented person. And so if I see somebody across the room, I will often equate what I see with the task that they were supposed to accomplish. And my inclination is to ask immediately quickly about the task. And I have noticed that and I have tried to change that and start with a how are you question.
Kim Bastable:What's going on in your life question versus the task question. So it's it's something I've definitely thought about a lot because the task is not as important as the person. I just tend to be one of those get things done kind of people. So hopefully they care. They know I care.
Kim Bastable:I take time to think and ask questions that reflect greater than the task.
Simon Gale:Yeah. I would say caring is is is is my first priority. I wanna show that there's some empathy there or I've listened and I care about what you have to say. I'm not distracted and looking at my phone or or thinking about the next thing. If you're in front of me, I'm I'm focused on you.
Simon Gale:And that's not easy all the time because there's a to do list that's long, and you've got the next thing coming up. But can you stay engaged with the person in front of you? Hopefully, a little inspired that that I've gotten you or I've challenged you to think a little differently and look at something differently, and maybe that helps you with your future decision making or where you're at with your life or with your with your profession at the moment. I don't generally think about the impact I've had on someone. I just think about it when this question comes up.
Simon Gale:It's not an intention. It's not an intention, but I would say I'm intentional, but I'm not thinking about how are they gonna perceive this conversation when it's done, but I want them to feel like they got something out of it. It was worth their time, and normally, I hope that I got something out of it too. I would say early on, I probably tried to tell too much, a bit like when I first started teaching. I would give everyone their money back for the lessons I first taught back in my career because they probably hit three balls in an hour and listen to the the full full catalog on how to hit a forehand, but I think the ability to listen and respond to what they say versus tell more, which kind of is same as what you're saying with, can I ask a question versus ask what you got done or tell them something?
Simon Gale:So really trying to be a better listener, and I think that's evolved over time as well. But I think it's an important thing to think about when you're talking to someone is how do they feel after they speak to you. If they never come back for another meeting, you know how they feel.
Kim Bastable:Exactly. That... That's how they communicate their... The reality of the lack of relationship maybe. But, yeah, I mean, this is why one of the things we do in our courses to do a little bit of a three sixty, to understand what people do think about us and perceive about us, which is an important part of understanding.
Kim Bastable:We don't always think about ourselves as clearly or we don't see ourselves the same way others see us. So I think three sixties and and those types of activities are helpful in this. Maybe ask somebody what it feels like to be on the other side of you sometime. You'll get that feedback. Sorry.
Kim Bastable:Let me ask you. Have you ever gone through a period when your intentions were misunderstood or criticized despite you trying to do the right thing?
Simon Gale:All the time. I think it's a yes, of course. I mean, I think if you're in a leadership role and you're trying to create meaningful organizational change, there's gonna be some pushback. If you've inherited a staff who liked the way things were done, you're gonna have a a percentage of that staff who wanna come along for the ride of where am I... Where I'm taking them.
Simon Gale:They want... They they fully embrace it because they they want more, and they're curious, and they're motivated. You're gonna have a third who like where it is but are open to it, and you've gotta get them to jump on your side. And there's probably a third who say, I don't want anything to do with what this guy's telling me. I want what we used to have, and they might be the ones who end up leaving you.
Simon Gale:But I I think staying very grounded in in in your core values and and being true to your word, if you stand up in the opening week of your new role and you say, we're gonna do this, and I wanna do this, and I want to listen to you, and I'm gonna speak to you, and you don't do that, and you're not transparent about where we're headed and how we're gonna get there, I think you're gonna lose people because they lose trust in you. So I think that's really important. And I look back at most of the places I've worked, I've inherited clubs that were doing okay or doing well, but had massive room and opportunity for growth. And so with that comes a lot of change. Systems, people, pricing, whatever it is, and not everybody's gonna love that.
Simon Gale:And that's that's okay, but this is where we're going and how long it's gonna take to get there, and I hope you wanna come along for the ride, or maybe this is not where you wanna stay long term, and that's okay. But this is what I was asked to do, and and I'd love to keep you all with me, but this is where we're headed. So, you know, I try to be transparent with what our goals are, and there's not gray area around what I said versus what we did. And if we have to pivot and change, I need to be transparent about that and explain why. So there's there's there's not a, well, you said this and you actually did that.
Simon Gale:I I think that communication becomes critical. And I think one of the biggest challenges I had in my career was when... If if you're an employee... Let's say one of the first jobs I had here, I was a teaching pro, and I was low guy on the totem pole, and I went out and competed for lessons with everybody else at an indoor busy club where there wasn't much court time. And after a few months, I went to the ownership and said, I think we've got opportunities here to grow, and we could do this better.
Simon Gale:And we don't have a director at this point, and I was asked to be the director after being one of the pros for three or four months. So now I'm telling my peers who I was competing with for lessons where we're headed and how we're gonna get there, and that's very challenging when you have that internal promotion from one of them to now you're in charge. I've dealt with that a lot in my career, and it's definitely part of that evolution of getting better at communicating. That's what it all comes down to for me. What about you, Kim?
Kim Bastable:Yeah. I love all that. I mean, I think that's great. Emma talks about this in the book as a big challenge for her. She had some public backlash from a decision that she made, but I think your point is so well taken.
Kim Bastable:It's just that's what leaders do is they muddy the waters a little bit, and then they have to sell people on the ideas because the idea of standing still is not available. I mean, nobody can, and businesses change, cultures change, demand changes. And so this is really a constant, and it's something that any leader needs to get used to having in their their life. And, it's it's about communication and understanding reasons why and then explaining slash selling those reasons why or the rationale. But people aren't always gonna agree, and you have to agree to disagree and hope to work together for a greater good.
Kim Bastable:So, yeah, it's a very good answer, a very interesting dilemma that I I don't I don't think any leader avoids.
Simon Gale:That's a great question. When do we ever stop and think about these things? They might be part of your intentions, and and and you you conduct yourself in a certain way to try and check these boxes, but I don't know about you, but I don't stop and think about these questions too often, so this is an interesting exercise.
Kim Bastable:Yeah.
Simon Gale:Alright. Next one for you is, am I relying on what... Rather than remaining curious enough to keep learning and evolving?
Kim Bastable:I think this is a great question because I love to learn, and one of the things that I love about writing curriculum is it forces you to learn and and grow, and it's pretty much a constant. When I do get caught in the admin of things, that's kinda when I don't feel like I learn, so that's probably why we're just the admin. But I think what happens is sometimes you get so busy that you don't take time. I think there's actually a related question to this, and I'll go ahead and throw it out, which is who or what outside my industry could teach me something that would make me a better leader, coach, or professional? And I'm gonna put that in this because I really think so much of what we need to learn is outside our industry.
Kim Bastable:There's so much we can learn, for instance, about sales and relationships and how you sell. It's not really selling. It's about other people solving their problems, and every coach needs to look at what's the problem of the customer in front of them and how can they help them get better at tennis or join a team or have a social connection, whatever they're looking to do. But maybe it's leadership, getting better at leadership. Maybe it's what's happening in AI, learning about what's happening in AI and how might that apply to anything we do in the Racquet's industry, whether it's from writing to developing strategies to administrating.
Kim Bastable:I think there's so many things outside of the industry. I continually listen to lots of podcasts, and I think lots of podcasts refer to lots of books. And we might think book writing is kinda old school and people don't read books, but I think people read more books now. They can be read to you or you could read them ebooks and so, yes, I think this whole learning inside and outside our industry, you cannot cannot cannot not be curious and continue to grow in your career.
Simon Gale:Yeah. To pick up on looking outside your industry, I talk about that a lot. I think our industry has remained very similar. There's some some some really progressive people and businesses that do things differently, but our model's very similar as a business, and there might be evolutions with some tech here and there on how we take money and and that sort of thing, but we haven't evolved that much when you look at some other industries in the rest of the world. So I'm constantly looking outside the industry.
Simon Gale:My wife constantly tells me that I never stop thinking about how to get better and make our industry better. I'm always... Anywhere we go, I see something. I'm like, that would be great for the campus, or that'd be great for this business. So I'm working on trying not to look outside too much, but I think studying other leaders and and learning from their successes and failures, a, it reinforces whether you're doing something well as a leader or at your facility, and, b, it exposes you to new things that maybe you should be adding and looking at and trying to be more progressive.
Simon Gale:But I think anything in hospitality, event management, given... You mentioned earlier, it's kind of that that people looking for their third place, the connection, how are we evolving our events and the way we connect people to our facilities, leaders need to be looking at that more and more because it's clearly... The research is showing that's the number one priority for, say, a new tennis player versus can they hit a good forehand or backhand? So
Kim Bastable:Let me throw something else too. As you said, this is what inspired me. If we think things are hard... Have any of you watched an Abraham Lincoln documentary that's available on whatever... Is it Netflix or Prime?
Kim Bastable:If we think things are hard... Man, it was hard back in the civil war. And I look at the way leaders went through and watching leadership, and, anyway, it's a trip down the idea of we are blessed, and everything we're doing here in the Racquet's industry is not that hard. Yeah. Just thought I wrote that in.
Simon Gale:Fair point. I'll have to check it out. I I think overall, though, I... I've worked on being more curious. You just said that you can get caught up in the day to day and just getting through each day, but I find myself at this stage of life really saying, gee, all I've done is just do work all week.
Simon Gale:Where am I doing something for myself that's evolving me, and what am I doing? And it might be personal time or something outside of work, but just getting bogged down with the day to day and not being able to be curious because you're just surviving the day, so to speak. So the last thing I would add is I think it's important to try and... If you're fortunate enough to get the opportunity, try and take jobs that aren't the same as your last one. And every job's gonna be different.
Simon Gale:Yes. Different membership and so on, but is it a lateral move and you're just gonna rinse and repeat what you did, and after a couple of years, you get bored with it, or is it a new challenge? And I've always tried to take something that I was almost not quite ready for, whether it's going from head pro to director, director to GM, or an owner, or even coming to the campus. There's nothing that that had ever prepared me for what this place is, but that's an exciting challenge, and I'll make some mistakes, and hopefully, they're not seen on the surface level. They're behind the scenes.
Simon Gale:But can you take a job that inspires you because you have to get better and you have to be curious about how to do the job better? That's something that's always pushed me to stay curious. Just a thought.
Kim Bastable:No. I I think that's that's awesome. And I think that challenge is really good, but we do shy away sometimes for it, so we have to look for that. There was a... One of our questions that Emma asked is what challenges currently testing you are actually evidence of evolution rather than a reason for retreat.
Kim Bastable:And I found that very insightful. It's like we are growing and changing. And sometimes, you know, the things we're tackling now, we would've never thought we could even do ten years ago or would never be in front of us. And the reason we're at that challenge is because we have grown and evolved, and so they aren't something to run away from. It's actually a pride point of I'm in this problem because I have grown or accomplished a lot.
Kim Bastable:And that that said, people don't take time a lot to really think about where they've come from, as Emma said, in in writing this book and why she was inspired by questions on the podcast. I think we all need to look back and realize that it's it's been quite the evolution. Once you've been around and lived enough years, you can say that. But even if you're 30 years old, you can look back to where you were from 20. So, anyway, I found that that really interesting.
Kim Bastable:Did you have any other thoughts on the idea of what challenges are currently testing you, and if they're evidence of evolution rather than reason to retreat?
Simon Gale:I think up until probably this job, maybe my last job, I always focused on rebuilding, making something better, you know, increasing revenue, just building a facility and making it better and and putting great people in there, and then looking for the next opportunity because I felt like I was done. Like, I'd I'd done my job, move on to the next thing. Kinda like a coach who wins a national championship or someone says, alright. I did it at this team. Now I'm gonna go somewhere else and build another program and do it there versus the coach who says, well, I've done it once.
Simon Gale:Now I'm gonna stay and see if I can do it two, three, four times. I'm finding now that I'm looking inward a little bit more and saying, you know, because I'm almost seven years here at the campus and looking at ways to push myself and expand challenges within my role versus looking for what's next. Because you start to understand how much energy and work and time it takes to build something. And at some point, can I reinvent or find things that I could do within my existing role that challenged me versus I gotta go somewhere else to get challenged? I didn't think that way twenty years ago.
Simon Gale:It was what's next.
Kim Bastable:Super insightful. Very good.
Simon Gale:Yeah. I I don't know if I've ever told anyone that, Kim, so here you go. You just got some insight there.
Kim Bastable:That's nice. No. I love that idea.
Simon Gale:That's what I thought about.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. I mean, the idea that you can... There's so much you can do, and I think that's what rackets has tended to do. We've done the same old, same way, and that idea of mixing it up and challenging yourself and trying new things tends to be resisted particularly when Racquet sports are growing and you don't have to. Maybe the finances are okay.
Kim Bastable:But I love the idea of adding challenge and thinking outside the box, challenging to yourself personally, and then hopefully it helps the business. I think that's excellent advice.
Simon Gale:So next one I have here is what boundaries do I need to protect so I can lead with energy rather than exhaustion?
Kim Bastable:I think this is a constant. Tennis pros get the joy of being on their feet every day. They do not have to sit at a desk, but that does not mean that they get fitness and they get exercise and they eat well and they sleep well, which are all ingredients to better energy. I can think of nothing more inspiring if I'm a member of a club for me to walk in the club and see my director or my head pro out hitting ball, working out themself. Even in the gym, so often clubs don't even allow their tennis pros or Racquet's pros or directors to use the gym.
Kim Bastable:But what could be more inspiring than to see them taking time for the fitness and the health to make them a better employee and just to show fitness and health examples to kids and adults alike. This is something I'm pretty near, it's near and dear to my heart, the idea of this. We have to maintain our own energy in order to be good at what we do and everyone needs to put some structure and direction whether it's blocking off an hour or an hour and a half in the middle of every day to do whatever, workout, walk, eat lunch. So many pros I feel like eat bars on the fly. They they book their lessons back to back.
Kim Bastable:It's just not good for longevity. It's not good for health. It's not good example to our patrons. I think it's so important to put boundaries around health and energy.
Simon Gale:I agree a 100, and I think that also should be something you consider when you apply for jobs too. What's the philosophy of ownership and management? If you walk in and they say, it's a seven day work week, and you work whenever we book you, and we don't give lunch hours, you can't use the gym, this sort of thing, is at a place that you're gonna thrive. You have to decide on that. I think, if I'm being honest, I would say there's been a lot of stretches in my career where that balance was way off, whether it was enough time at home or taking care of myself, just got caught up in the job too much and too motivated to get the next thing done, and you sacrifice your time.
Simon Gale:So I agree a 100%. The other thing I would add is I think it's really important if you have a decent sized team to protect the chain of command. Because if everybody can leapfrog all the... Their direct reports and come to you with everything, there's times where they need to. But if everything is brought to you because they want to hear your answer first, that's a tremendous amount of time that you have to give when they could have got the answer from their direct report.
Simon Gale:So I think that's a really important thing that can exhaust you is if you... You've got to get comfortable with saying, well, I'm happy to answer it this time, but next time I'd like you to get that answer from your head pro or the director or whoever their direct report is because you can't just keep... You can't keep answering all those questions all day every day that... In a larger organization. It's just too much time.
Simon Gale:If the rest of your team is educated and knowledgeable to answer those questions, then they should answer them for you. Or else I love that. This... The day will never end.
Kim Bastable:That's excellent advice. Excellent advice to think about to to preserve energy. It's that boundaries around your time, making sure that you're not spending it willing that's stepping on the toes of other people's authority too when you allow people to come and bypass. That's good advice. Alright.
Kim Bastable:Well, we're running short on time, so let's do one last one. Simon, when did you last step outside your comfort zone and discover that you were capable of more than you expected?
Simon Gale:Well, that's a good question. Last time I stepped outside my comfort zone was probably, this is more personal rather than tennis or racket sports and job related. I recently discovered that my daughter has a very unique syndrome only in the last few years, and she's now 19. And so upon receiving that diagnosis, we'd discovered a whole new world in this coffin sirens syndrome world that we'd never heard of. It's very, very rare.
Simon Gale:And this year in January, I put my hand up to be on the board. It was the end of last year, but it started in January. Totally out of my comfort zone. Firstly, the board was seven females and me. So I did a lot of listening this year, Kim, a lot of listening.
Simon Gale:But I needed to listen because I I didn't know anything. I've just started to understand what it is, and now I'm trying to understand how to function within a a board, which I've been on tennis club boards, but that's a comfort zone. This is not comfortable. I'm talking about fundraising and advocacy and research for something I know nothing about other than what my personal experience is. So it's really challenged me, and I'm just starting to find my stride now, nine months in.
Simon Gale:The last month, I found where I add value, and I was fishing for seven or eight months on where can I help even though I have a a role? It's operations, like secretary in operations. So it's a big role, but I'm trying to work out how I add value. And I've never... Been a long time since I felt like that.
Simon Gale:That's been my comfort zone challenge this year, very recent.
Kim Bastable:Thanks for sharing that, and it's so inspiring. First of all, I look some of that, and I think, you're a busy guy at the campus and a very full and complete job, yet you're giving back and you found the time. There's too many times when people think they do not have time for things outside their work. So my question would be, how have you found the time, or what do you speak back to those people who say, I don't have time for that?
Simon Gale:I was at a conference, the Coffin Cyrus conference a few years ago, and I wrote a little handwritten note when I watched the president and chair, who's also the founder of the foundation, working at the conference, introducing everybody, just relentless amount of work. And I went up to her and just handed her a note and said, can you read this after the conference is finished? And I said, I'd love to find a way to help. I see how hard you're working, and no one's paid. We're all volunteers.
Simon Gale:And it took her six months to respond. I was like, wow. She's not interested. And she said, I just haven't had a chance to get to it. And we talked and went back and forth and got there and said, okay.
Simon Gale:I I I see where you could add some value around strategy and so on. So it tapped into some of my skill set, but in a very different way. And I said, I'm not sure I have the time. It's, you know, fifteen hours a month is what it's advertised as, so to speak. But I have such a passion for it and such dedication because it's personal that it wasn't a question.
Simon Gale:It's just make the time. And you think about the time you waste, all of us spend an hour or two dilly dallying around on LinkedIn or Instagram or just sitting around doing nothing. Now the minute I finish dinner, I duck into the office and do an hour or so of foundation work. But I love it because it's it's having direct impact on my daughter, and it's having a direct impact on families, and it's very powerful. So I would suggest if you have the opportunity, even if it's not personal, if you have the opportunity to connect yourself to something in your community or something where you can just give time, it'll probably be the most rewarding thing you do, and it'll give you great perspective on career versus personal.
Simon Gale:And it's not that it's taking away from my career time. I just use my personal time better than I used to. So it hasn't impacted anything, but it it keeps me really busy. That's for sure. But I enjoy it.
Kim Bastable:That's awesome. Well, I think I would agree that that personal side of life is what's become more challenging for me and outside of comfort zone is with 16 grandchildren, and the oldest is 22 down to two. So there's a lot there, and you don't wanna neglect them. But I still wanna stay impacting in the Racquet's industry, so it's juggling a lot of things that, you know, I didn't have ten years ago. But, you you know, you make your priorities.
Kim Bastable:This is where you plant down where you think you are meant to be built for and do the best you can, and nobody's grading you on, you know, outcomes, to be honest. It's your effort. You do the best you can. You contribute in ways that are meaningful in life, and it's the most rewarding thing you do. So I don't like the I'm too busy if it's a meaningful thing.
Kim Bastable:If you're too busy to get on LinkedIn more... Or sorry, in, Instagram more or Facebook more, I'm okay with that answer. But if you're too busy to make an impact outside of your career, that's that's a problem. Super insightful. I appreciate this talk.
Kim Bastable:I hope the listeners have enjoyed this. Or any final thoughts you have, Simon?
Simon Gale:I was just thinking 16 grandchildren, that might be the biggest team you've ever managed, is it? That's a that's a permanent part time job right there, so hats off to you.
Kim Bastable:There's always... Well, not to mention the six married children and their spouses that cause there to be always someone who needs something and has a question or, yeah, so the family of 30, where you want it to be meaningfully... You know, some people have families of 30 and they see them once a year and it's... That's it, but that's not really the way I roll. So, yeah, it's a it's a lot in a really, really positive way, and I obviously can't do it perfectly.
Kim Bastable:I can't be as involved in all these as I was originally when they're small, but grandparenting's different, and I'm learning all the time. So that would be my greatest new challenge, probably the whole idea of grandparenting.
Simon Gale:Well, I would say, just to finish off here, thank you to Emma, Emma Wells for writing her book called Grit. These questions definitely got us thinking. And if you haven't read it, you should because I think if you take the time to reflect on on just these questions she asked throughout the book, it's a good check and balance in in where you are in life and your career. So thank you to Emma.
Kim Bastable:Again, thank you to Emma. We appreciate your thoughts, and this has been fun. So that's what we have for you today on Racquet Fuel. We'll speak to you next time. Have a great day.
Introduction:That's all for today, but we're not out of fuel. You can find more information and resources in our show notes and by visiting racquetfuelpodpodcast.com. If you liked what you just heard, please subscribe. And also, leave a review, which helps other people join the mission to become stronger Racquet's leaders.
Conclusion:This podcast is a production of Athlete Plus, the people, stories, and science behind elite athletes and teams. Athlete Plus is the official podcast network of the Institute for Coaching Excellence, a research, education, and outreach center in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. The Institute for Coaching Excellence offers various online certificate programs and degrees in partnership with the Department of Sport Management. Learn more today at coaching.hhp.ufl.edu.
