Finding Where You Belong – Trust, Resilience, and Daring to Dream!

A week ago today, I had the absolute pleasure to spend time with Rolls-Royce staff, at their magnificent site just outside Bristol, for a lunch and learn fireside chat hosted by Irene Batley, as they celebrated Inclusion Week globally across Rolls-Royce facilities.

In the audience were members not just from their Armed Forces Network, but also their Gender Diversity and Race and Ethnicity Networks, gathered together with the theme of ‘finding where you belong.’ It was a great privilege to be invited to share my experiences of navigating my life and career.

Finding a sense of belonging has always meant so much to me, and I thought I’d share some highlights from the discussion with the hope that we can each reflect on what it means to us.

Inclusion means so many things to different people, and since I was a child, I have been drawn to the Armed Forces for the sense of belonging it engenders in people – it isn’t just about sharing experiences of conflict, it’s also about peace and how we come together as a nation to create that. To take from the Rolls-Royce Armed Forces Network, ‘serving those who have served us’ is central in creating that sense of community and unity with a common bond.

Someone in the audience asked a great question on whether the world is becoming more divided. I believe that in these times of uncertainty we need to ensure that when we are stepping up our inclusivity efforts, we are not unintentionally creating segregation. Leaving no one behind is incredibly important (and that includes our male, Anglo-Saxon friends of a certain age!).

Mentorship and the importance of having support in the pursuit of my passion was also a big part of the discussion, and I was able to share how some of the individuals who’ve been in my life have shaped my journey. I do believe that being inspired comes in so many ways – from the books you read, the company you keep, the places you visit, and the choices you make. Sometimes we learn great things from them and sometimes we realise what we don’t want, which is just as invaluable.

This means my list of mentors is long, and I couldn’t cover everything! But in short, I mentioned the late Lord Young’s immense influence which guided me to pursue my vision for X-Forces Enterprise and helped me to shape the organisation into what it is today. I also had to mention David Murray, who explained the importance of avoiding ‘the tall poppy’ and overcoming resistance during growth.

I’m very grateful to Rolls-Royce and our other partners who demonstrate why authenticity matters in business, and that we can do so much more when we establish those relationships. I was also delighted to mention the wonderful Julie Baker, whose selflessness is something I admire hugely.

A great question I had was, ‘given your story, what advice would you give people who lack confidence but have so much to give?’ This brought us back to mentorship and the power of being able to share your ambitions and aspirations. I would always say – give one day. One day of your time to make someone feel seen, through knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer support, can go further than you could possibly imagine.

As many of you will know, working with young people has always been my passion – these are our entrepreneurs of the future, and they really inspire me as reminders of what we can learn from those who have different perspectives and the value of ‘reverse mentoring’ – you are never too old or too young to learn something new!

There were a great many stimulating questions from the audience, and I’d like to end on a quick-fire summary of ‘the qualities that have carried me through’ and some key points for success:

• Trust – so much more is achievable with a trusted network
• Resilience and agility will allow you to bounce back from challenges
• If you have a dream, explore it and don’t let fear be the main barrier for success; sometimes success is knowing it’s okay to change your mind!
• Find out where the red lines are and set them for yourself

A huge thank you again to Irene and Rolls-Royce for facilitating such a thought-provoking discussion.