Harnessing Your Unique Genius – The Key to Your Success

Today, we're diving

into a conversation

that hits home

for so many of us

that struggle with

feeling unnoticed.

Like you're the world's

best kept secret.

And often what I'm

hearing so often is

that feeling of playing

it small versus at

your absolute best.

Best on our latest

episode, turning

your unique genius

into your success.

This isn't just

another pep

talk.

It's a real raw dive

into the heart of

what makes you, you.

I chat with the amazing

Sandy Halpin, who

shares her journey

and the profound

lessons that she has

on leveraging what

makes people you.

As uniquely brilliant,

we talk about why

identifying your genius

is the key to your

success, that we've

all got to dare to be

a little bit different.

She talks about

difference by design

and that actually the

future of your business

is really dependent

on you being brave

enough to experiment

more and color outside

the lines more.

And it's your unique

genius that enables

you to do this.

Enjoy, and I look

forward to hearing

your thoughts.

Sandy, finally, we

managed to get you

on this podcast.

Blimey, trying to

get our diaries to

connect is a bit

of a challenge.

can be.

Oh, it's so good to

have you here just for

the purposes of the

audience, we've worked

together for a couple

of years, if not longer

now, actually, I think

we met during COVID.

became a client,

you've collaborated

on some work with me.

, and I really love

the work that you

do in this space of,

really standing for

something different

and the strategies

that you put in place

to help businesses

and organizations

shift from where they

are today into where

they are tomorrow.

And so I'm super

excited that we're

going to have a

bit of a deep dive

conversation to where

you think fundamentally

all of this starts.

Now.

I'm really curious

before we get started,

I, um,, I went to

see Steve Bartlett.

He's, uh, has an

amazing podcast, diary

of a CEO, millions of

followers on there.

I'm sure.

I think you're probably

an avid listener like

I am and, um, went

to his Sydney tour.

And one of the things

that stood out from

his conversation, he

was, he was talking

a lot about who,

not how, of where we

really have to start

with who and not how.

And from his context,

it was very much around

the clients that you

want to work with.

And I'm passionate

about finding our

ideal clients.

And, What I know

about you is you're

passionate about the

who as an individual

and the impact

that that has on

business, on growth,

on engagement, on

fulfillment, on

team performance.

So what do you

think about that?

That comment of

Steve from Steve

Barlow around it

starts with who, not

love it.

Speaks, speaks to

me in my very core.

It we speak so

regularly about

authenticity,

but understanding

who you are.

But.

What I see is still

a lot of people

who are trying to

emulate someone else.

We read a lot of

leadership books and

we try to be like

the person instead

of taking a step

back and going, you

know, there's some

golfing with me.

And it's so much

easier when we identify

who we are and how

we're different

and engage with the

world as ourselves.

So the who as it

relates to us, the who

as it relates to our

team and our business

is so incredibly

important to be able to

position us for success

and for future growth.

Oh, I love that.

I'm looking forward

to delving into this

before we do, Share

a little bit about

what got you here

what is the little

bit of genius roadmap

to Sandy Halpin?

I'll start by saying

it's different.

What it is not is a

vanilla roadmap to

where I am today.

I am the daughter

of an accountant.

I've always loved maths

and unsurprisingly,

yes, I too was

an accountant.

For 30 years, I

think I had the

formal qualification.

Um, my career has been

quite different in

terms of an accountant

or a consultant or

a business advisor.

So I have been in

and out of large

business and startup

environments.

And advisor throughout

my entire life.

I've worked with some

titans of industry

like Disney, like

PricewaterhouseCoopers

here in Australia

with Qantas.

And I've worked

for startup

incubators like Easy

Groupings in the UK.

the masterminds

of EasyJet, Easy

Everything, Easy Rent

a Car, and I've been

in startup land here

in Australia as well

and advising SMEs.

So I've got like a

30 year career in

finance strategy.

And change and what

I bring to work these

days is a mix of that.

So I bring people,

strategy and numbers

into the room.

And it's one of those

things that, you know,

yes, we love doing

leadership programs

and change programs,

but is it really

making a difference

to our results

and is it really

helping us identify

and move towards

a strategy and the

future that we want?

Um, my passion is

all about how do we

identify what it is

that lights us up?

Individually or

collectively in terms

of a business, how

do we create value

that increases the

size of it and that

bring something

new to the world?

Cause when it's new,

we can stand apart

and we know who we

are and we can stand

for something that's

really important to us.

So that what

lights you up.

Now where did

that come from?

Have you always known

for yourself what

lights you up or was

there a moment for you

where you almost had to

stop and pause to then.

Identify that

Great question.

and it's something

that I've been

asking myself for a

while, to be honest.

I'd known when I was a

child that I was super

independent, in fact,

I came home in grade

six, and so I'm from a

small country town in

Far North Queensland.

I came home in

grade six and said

to my parents, You

are sending me to

boarding school.

Because I knew

the world was far

bigger than a small

country town in Far

North Queensland.

I have always

been that kid who

looked for more.

Kind of, and it's

got two sides.

There's a beauty

side, there's a

light side to that,

and there's a shade

side to that, right?

So the light side

is the exploration,

the search for

adventure, um, , the

independence, getting

out of my comfort zone.

But equally the

shade of that is

you continually

live in the future

or somewhere else,

rather than actually

anchoring to where

you are and getting on

with the activity of

where you are today.

And I have to be

honest, it's some

of those, it's one

of the things that I

still struggle with.

you know, it's a

strength of mine,

but it's equally, um,

what can hold me back

at times and keep me

spinning my wheels.

Um, but I have always

been that person

who's looking for

more, no matter what

business I've been.

It's been, what can

we do differently?

I am fascinated

by possibilities

in the future.

I will sit there

and think deeply

about what some of

the geopolitical

issues might have

on our future.

and then try and

translate it back

to what does that

mean for today and

the actions that we

need to take today.

there was a couple of

things that you said

in there that I just

want to delve into.

Um, one was you said.

There was, there's

an L I think you said

at the age of eight

or six about daring

to be different.

And the second piece

that I just want to

pick up on as well is

that comment about, uh,

your strengths working

in your favor, but

also becoming a shadow.

So my question is Where

do you see those two

things playing out?

First up, the daring

to be different.

And then, because

they're linked, I'm

sort of seeing in my

mind, there's a link

between the daring to

be different and this

piece around knowing

what you're bloody

good at, what your

strengths are, but also

the awareness of how it

can work against you.

Can you talk to those

two things for me?

So unsurprisingly,

one of the things

that you hear me say

regularly, right, is

different by design.

All we know about

the future is it's

going to be different.

Look around us,

look at the domestic

market, look at the

international market,

look at technology

and the pace of

technological change.

Even if we stand in

the same place, our

future is different

and we have a

choice to either.

Accept that difference

by default because

we do nothing and

we'll arrive value

or knowing it's going

to be different.

We step into it and

say, okay, what are

the opportunities?

What's the possibility?

And what can I do to

harness the future?

and to either create

the future or be in

a position in which

I'm able to adapt and

I'm ready for what

the future might hold.

Because if we do

nothing, we stay

stuck where we are.

It sounds really

easy to say, but

the reality is, it's

really difficult to do.

Because when we think

about the future

and different by

design, and daring

to be different,

we're talking

about uncertainty.

Most of us like

to live in a level

of certainty.

So when we consider

uncertainty, we don't

know what the options

are in front of us.

And we don't know

the actions to take,

and we also can

guess ourselves.

So understanding

who we are, what our

strengths are, how we

engage with the world

around us, starts to

give us cues and clues

about what we can do

differently from a very

tangible perspective

to be able to explore

or create opportunities

in front of us.

How do we step into

uncertainty in a way

that is right for us,

where the discomfort

that we feel is

kind of comfortable.

because it's playing

the stuff that we love.

We can again, you

know, when we talk

about strengths and

greatest weaknesses,

I don't like to talk

about weaknesses,

but the reality

is, it's not about

what you don't do.

It's about doing

too much of what

you're good at, or

it's the flip side,

you know, every

coin has two sides.

So our strength can

absolutely rocket

us forward, or it

can hold us back.

I use an example

regularly, a couple

of examples around

my strengths.

So I have competition

very high in my list

of strengths and I

work with strengths,

but, it's great.

I love it.

A lot of people really

hate it because overt

competition these

days is in kind of

something that we

like to, celebrate,

ironically, because we

all love team sports

and it's all about

overt competition.

So competition allows

us to take that step

back and reflect on

what What does it

mean to be different,

to be number one?

What do I need to do

differently to stand

out from the crowd?

That's the

beauty of it.

That's the light.

The shade is either

overt competition where

we erode value, or in

the circumstance of

many, me included, if

I don't think I can

win, I won't get on

the playing field.

Hmm.

understanding how

that shows up, doesn't

give me a lean past.

It means that I'm

aware of some of those

traits and I then

have a choice about

the action I take

to create different

Can I just delve into

that, just knowing you,

so, cause I'm sure this

will be fascinating

for our, our listeners.

So Sandy, you know,

very successful, very

accomplished, and she's

just shared competition

is your strength.

, but equally it

has a shadow.

So knowing you, the

shadow of this is,

like you said, if I'm

not going to win, The

risk is I step back

and I don't play.

I don't lean in.

So as an outsider, as

someone that works with

you, I see, uh, things

get put off the, the

focus, the following

the shiny stuff, the

suddenly luckily I know

that as I pull you back

in, but this is what's

so beautiful about

what you're saying,

Sandy, that Well, I see

two things going on.

People don't actually

own their strength.

They don't go, I am

bloody good at X.

This is my superpower.

and they don't

share it.

And whether that's

because of tall

poppy syndrome or

worry about sounding

arrogant, I don't

know, but we don't

own our strengths.

And instead we try

and be all things

to all people.

The second part then

of this is that we

Because we're not

owning our strengths,

we're not necessarily

asking for help.

And we're doing

stuff that doesn't

actually fuel us and

just start spinning.

So one of my strengths

is I'm a, I'm a

learner, right?

I'm

obsessed And I'm

curious about

understanding

and learning.

Now, the negative

of that, that I

experienced over

the last 12 months,

because I've spent

this last 12 months in

serving clients, doing

delivery, Building

the business, et

cetera, et cetera, et

cetera, is I didn't

put enough time in

my calendar to learn.

And so the negative

of not understanding

I needed that is my,

uh, I wasn't inspired.

Like there was moments

where I was like,

I don't have this,

the inspiration.

So hence why I'm going

to New York in a few

weeks to be inspired.

But, but the, what

I'm, what I'm trying

to share here is

that actually once

you understand what

you're bloody good at.

What your strengths

are, it becomes a

superpower, and then

it's up to you to be

able to manage it so

that the shadow you

become aware of, and

you can play, you can

actually ensure that

that shadow doesn't

bring you down, but

actually you can stop

it before it does.

Yeah.

And so again, when

you're working with

businesses and business

owners and even

teams, how have you

seen this awareness

play out for

the positive?

it's fascinating,

right?

Because, people

will talk about their

strength and what I'm

experiencing is that

when we talk about

strengths, often people

like to start talking

about, Oh, what a good

leader looks like.

And it's, it's kind of

motherhood statements.

We don't get into

the nuance and

the grittiness of

what it is that I

bring to the table.

That's fundamentally

different.

And people when

they read, so I, you

know, I work with

Gallup 15 strengths.

So it's, they get

a report and it's a

pretty detailed report.

And as they read it,

they start to discount.

They don't step

into, and we do an

activity that is

specifically called,

what is my superpower?

And when I'm in the

group, what can you

rely on me for on

a repeatable basis?

And unless we

understand that and

the nuance of that,

we miss the potential.

Not just in the

individual, but

in the business.

And so we start to play

small and we've talked

about this regularly

in terms of, you know,

unless you know what

it is that you're

great at, how can

you communicate that

being in a business?

Or if you're an

executive, how do you

set yourself apart?

Otherwise it's just

like a job description

and let's face it.

They're pretty boring

and bland because it's

an activity list, not

an engagement list.

It's, it's again,

the how, not the who.

In fact, it's not

even the how, it's the

what.

And it's activity.

And so the moment that

we become a commodity

in our own minds, is a

moment we can't shine.

And if we look at

a commodity in a

business context, it's

price competition.

Anyone who's listening

to your podcast is

not about a race

to the bottom.

Anyone who's

listening to your

podcast is about,

how do I stand out?

You know, we talk about

niching, we talk about

knowing your customer,

we talk about knowing

what your genius is.

You can think about

it and feel about it,

or you can get to know

it and really develop

that capability.

And one of the things

that I personally feel,

and I don't necessarily

say it to my clients,

but the way that I work

is how I like, I hope

is drawing this out, is

that when you know your

strengths, you have an

obligation to develop

those strengths.

Because strength starts

as talent, and unless

we build that talent,

unless we practice that

talent, it lies there

as a possibility, but

it's not a reality.

And I often use sports

analogies, it's so

easy, I love the whole

sports analogy in

terms of the workforce,

um, and, applies as

equally to a sports

team, say , as it

does to the individual

performer, I will often

use someone like Kathy

Freeman, who is an

absolute gun, right?

All these people know

their strengths, but

unless they develop

their strengths and

the people around

them know their

strengths, they'll

just be good, but

they won't be great.

Or when you think

about individual

performers, Kathy

Freeman, we know that

she's a dynamic one.

We would never put her

in a marathon because

that's not her jam.

But to the outside

world, she's a runner.

But there are so many

different points along

that definitional

description of runner.

she and her coach had

to know exactly what

she was great at.

And every performance

was about finding

that 1 percent more.

And it's not

about criticism.

It's about building.

It's about finding the

gold and what do we

need to do differently

to leverage that talent

to build that strength.

I love what you said

there that actually

when we don't identify

this stuff, we start

playing safe, do you

believe that every

single person on this

planet, listen to this

podcast has something

unique about them

that makes that a

strength for them?

Absolutely.

We are unique.

Every person is unique

and historically we

have probably looked at

our uniqueness in terms

of lived experience

there's a stat out

there that, you know,

if you use a tool

like Gallup strengths.

To find one person

with the same top

five strengths in the

same order as you is

one in 33 million.

That's just

the top five.

There are 34 strengths.

So from a simple maths

equation, that just,

you know, blows us

off out of the water

once you start looking

at the full list.

But what it means is

that it'll take the

Australian population.

We've got what?

28 million people.

There is no one

in Australia

who is like you.

There is no one

in Australia

who is like me.

And what that means

is when you hear

a question, you

ask a question and

then I hear it,

we will interpret

it fundamentally

differently because

it's the way that we

engage naturally with

the world around us.

So when you think about

a team environment.

And I hear often

with, you know, high

performing leaders,

high performing teams

that, well, I've got

a bit of a difference

of opinion here.

That's fantastic

because it's the

difference that

makes us unique.

It's the difference.

And we leverage

the difference and

understand where we

are not the same.

We start to appreciate

the breadth of

opportunity that is

out there because

we don't want to

be creating for the

same because we don't

want to be the same.

And yet, if we're

not careful, the

risk is, is that

we look the same.

So, you know, I talk

a lot and you've heard

this, like there are

hundreds of accountants

and lawyers and physios

PR people out there.

Lots of us

with the same.

How and what in terms

of what it is that we

do, but we've got to

be brave enough to step

into understanding our

own superpower, our

own strengths, our own

amazingness, our own

brilliance, and nurture

that and build it so

that it shines really

strongly and allows

us to do the work

that we've been put

on this planet to do.

And you gave some

examples that you

talked about, you know,

the sporting analogies,

um, you know, I think

about, if you think

about it From music

and theater and films.

There are incredible

individuals out there

that have stepped

into their superpower,

but we can't do

this on our own.

Can we?

No.

Um, and I'll use a

personal example.

I am one of

those people who

historically, and

particularly at school,

was a solo performer.

my dad has regularly

told me when I was

a child, you've got

to ask for help.

He's like, what

do I need to ask

for help for?

I like to be

the expert.

This is that

competitive piece that

comes out of me, right?

but when you think

about any high

performer, and that's

an individual or

a team, you think

about Cathy Freeman,

you think about

the All Blacks.

You think about

Man United or, you

know, any sporting

team, they have an

entire support crew.

What happens on the

field doesn't happen

in and of itself.

It is the subject

of, or it's this

culmination of intense

effort and persistence

that is formed

by people who are

observing and providing

different perspectives.

It's informed by

different plays.

It's informed by

different strategies.

It's informed by

people around us.

We are no different.

Our businesses

are no different.

So when we expect

ourselves to have all

of the answers and I

say, this is someone

who used to think this

way, I had to have all

the answers and many

leaders think about

this and business

owners think about this

and we are missing.

I reckon 95 percent

of the opportunities

out there because we

are an echo chamber

and we get in our head

and if we don't help

doesn't necessarily

mean saying, oh my

God, please help me.

I'm drowning.

Right?

But help could also

just be an outreach to

a client or a potential

client or colleague

or someone in the same

industry and say, I'm

really fascinated.

Can you help me

understand what

you're thinking and

what you're seeing?

And how might I

apply

Yeah.

so Sandy, it's all

great talking about

strengths, but I'm

curious as to what

you think actually

gets in the way.

Because for, for me

and all the years that

I've been working in

leadership or now, Uh,

running my own business

mastermind groups, it,

it feels like we focus

on the negative more

than the strengths.

It's like that one

thing that someone

said to you years ago

in the playground or

your first performance

review becomes the

very thing that you

That you suddenly

think makes you the

person that you are.

And it reminds me of,

uh, a good friend of

mine, Kieran Flanagan.

She's a world

class speaker.

She travels the world.

She gets paid

ridiculous amounts

of money to speak.

And she was sharing

with me that she

was looking through

the feedback.

And it was all

these cards.

And it was like

positive, positive,

positive, positive,

positive, positive.

And then there was this

one card that said,

yeah, pretty good, but

not quite as good as

X other speaker at one

card out of probably,

I don't know, hundreds.

Why don't we do that?

Why don't we focus

on that one thing?

Cause I think this

is what stops so many

of us stepping into

our spotlight, being

different by design,

using our strengths

so we can play bigger.

, I'm convinced it's

that, what do you think

goes on there?

Yeah.

think there's a couple

of things, right?

So it feeds into

our fears and that

version of us that

tells us we're not

quite good enough.

It reinforces that

regardless of the

amount of great

feedback that we get.

no matter how much of

a growth mindset we

have, it triggers that

bit of a fixed mindset.

You know, maybe

I'm not as good.

Maybe I'm not

there yet.

yet.

But it also comes

back, I think, to the

way in which we have

conducted business

and like performance

reviews for as long

as I can remember.

We seem to be

hardwired, business

seems to be hardwired,

to focus on what

we're not doing.

doing.

rather than what we

are doing doing and

what we're doing well.

So we might have 10

KPIs and you see it

all the time, right?

Where people go, Oh,

you did great at doing

really well at these

nine things or these

eight things, but

these two, you're not

doing so well at it.

You're not doing

them the way that I

want you to do them.

to do them.

So can we

work on those?

So you can be a bit

more like X, Y, or Z.

Well, the reality

is you're never

going to be there.

And when we think

about the return

on investment of

our time and our

dollars, What we

need to do is reframe

the conversation

and say, well, what

are we great at?

How do I engage

with that and how

do I apply that and

reframe the challenge

of these things that

maybe I need to work

on, but we'll never

do it the same way.

We'll have, I'd

have a team of say

10 salespeople,

none of them will

engage the same way.

way.

We all are different.

So if we expect

everyone to sharp and

do things by rote.

rote.

And in the same way,

we're never asking

people to bring

their genius to work.

We are never allowing

them to unleash

the potential and

opportunity that they

bring to the table.

We are forcing them

to think and color

in the lines in

between the lines.

The future is not in

between the lines.

The future is

let's color

outside the lines.

There's nothing certain

about the future.

So if we don't use

this thing that's

between our ears ears

and think differently

about how we can engage

or get our people to

engage in a way that

brings their genius

to the table, then

there'll be no lines

to color in between.

between.

Cause we miss it.

And we miss the

dynamism of people.

I firmly believe that

the vast majority of

people show up every

day because they want

to be engaged and

they want to feel like

they're contributing.

Now, there are a lot of

people who want to do

that, who turn up in an

environment that don't

allow them to do that.

And so they'll turn

up for the paycheck.

paycheck.

But if we can re, re

strike what it looks

like to come to work,

if we can redefine

what it means to

really bring people

and their genius into

the into the room,

how

that the future

is challenges,

challenging us to think

differently.

Um, we're all having

to experiment.

We're all having to

try things that we

haven't done before.

We're all having to.

quite possibly fail

more than we've

failed before.

and so this piece

to sort of wrap up

today's interview or

today's conversation,

this piece around,

I love that idea

of we've got to be

brave enough to color

outside the lines.

We've got to be

brave enough to be

different by design.

, if you were to leave

our audience, our

listeners today with

sort of three ideas,

what would those three

ideas be for them?

go beyond the obvious

when we think about

what it is that

we're great at and

what our genius is.

It doesn't need to

have a really fancy

title or, um, you

know, great buzzwords.

When we take a step

back and think about

what it is that we

do effortlessly that

drives value and

drives our engagement

and the way that we

do it, we'll start

to identify what it

is that's our genius.

Whatever the situation

is that you're facing,

when you identify what

your genius is, is,

When you are feeling

uncomfortable, and this

is in business or as

an individual, put a

different lens over it.

We'll look at it

through your genius.

If your genius is

being able to see the

future and think about

different ways and

bring people on that

journey, then whatever

it is in front of you.

you.

Think about that

challenge in terms of.

Being the genius who

can see the future

and bring people

along on that journey.

As opposed to the way

that someone who's an

analyst might look at

it, which is, well, let

me understand history

first and then I can

start to understand

the cause and effect.

Two very different

approaches.

the third piece is

about developing or

building the muscle to

deal with uncertainty.

Because we can have

clarity and it can

coexist quite happily

with uncertainty.

Because the clarity

is about who we are.

are.

the goals we have

and the values that

we have and the way

that we engage so we

are ready and we are

adaptable because the

future is uncertain.

When we have clarity

to ourselves, we have

the opportunity to

craft and drive the

future that we want.

we want.

thank you so

much, Sandy.

It's been

absolutely joy.

Take care.