Since the completion of my last blog, From Decks to Desks, I am pleased to report that I am now a year further on in my Recruitment career and as many recruitment professionals will know, success comes in an unformulated pattern of peaks and troughs. With this in mind and for the benefit of anyone considering a career in this area, I wanted to tell a little story about one of the most inspirational characters I have ever met, Ian Hutchinson.
For those of you who are not aware, the Isle Of Man TT is an international Motorcycle Road Race which is held on a 37.3 mile stretch of public road and has been run for well over 100 years. Throughout race week, there are a grand total of 5 applicable races where the riders and bikes can reach speeds of up to 210mph and are capable of completing 1 lap in just short of 17 minutes.
In 2010, a quietly spoken and somewhat shy Ian Hutchinson (now known as “Miracle Man”) arrived on the island and did not cease to impress. He won all 5 races in one week, a feat which to this day has still not been beaten. Following this incredible success, Hutchinson’s life took a turn for the worse. During a British Championship round at Silverstone, Ian crashed on a rain-soaked track and was inevitably hit by another rider’s bike which resulted in a completely shattered leg and a doctor’s report stating his leg would need to be amputated and that he would never walk again, let alone get back on a bike. This however did not align with Ian’s objectives and in his own words he told the doctor’s “where to go”.
Five years, several arguments and 30 operations however wasn’t enough to stop Hutchinson from racing again. He’s back at it and in a spectacular way. Ian made his return to the Island last year and managed to complete an incredible hat-trick of victories at the 2015 Isle of Man TT.
Ian’s career is an incredible tale of success, obstacles and having the overriding courage and drive to succeed, even during times of extreme adversity. From my own experience, the most important step in building self confidence and achieving and reaching your goals in any environment is to simply set yourself a vision and take action, whether its bringing on new clients, setting up more meetings or in Ian’s case making a comeback from a potentially career ending injury.
As everyone who is involved in our industry knows, success comes and goes all too often and the only thing we can do to harness it is to make pro-active decisions and realise that every misstep should be considered as a learning opportunity; a way to understand how to effectively translate failing into a future success. In recruitment or in fact any occupation, every change we make, every person we interact with and every bit of information we collect comes together so we can create a different outcome and control it to the best of our ability.
It is impossible to stop obstacles from appearing in life, but we can choose how to handle and proceed with them. They may block our vision for a short time, but if we persevere through these challenges then we can discover opportunities that have always been waiting for us on the other side. As we get more efficient with this process, we enable ourselves to see the positive side in even the toughest of situations and for myself, Ian Hutchinson is a truly inspiring individual.
.png)