Even as I start this blog I know it has the potential to be somewhat random. I start the week of BIBA a bit bleary eyed, on the 7.10 train from Norwich, after a great weekend. Darrell and I spent Saturday night with John and Jennifer in Southwold, and they were in great form. Although I have to say, spending too much time with someone who constantly reminds you that life free of corporate stress is fantastic could get a bit tiresome, and he did mention it a time or twenty. For the many of you who’ve asked me what he will do next, I can confirm exactly what I’ve said all along, he’ll enjoy life to the full, but never again in a corporate world.

Then on Sunday England won the cricket world cup!!!!

Whilst I agree this isn’t the main event of the summer, it is still cause for huge celebration. A rooky twenty year old getting man of the match, the romance of KP’s mad dash to see his new son born then racing back for another heroic feat of batting, a bowling line-up every world side would want, and the icing on the cake was beating Australia. As I watched on Sunday, nervous right until the point of needing 5 from 21 balls, I reflected on just what confidence can do for a team. Momentum is everything, and whilst there have been some great, in hindsight, selection changes, the biggest plus this team have is confidence. The moment of yesterday for me came from a terrible missed catch from Stuart Broad, he was miles off, but instead of his head dropping a few balls later he redeemed himself with a great catch, probably harder than the one he missed. That’s what happens when a team has momentum and confidence, heads don’t drop for long, belief is everything, they rally around to encourage and support, and success comes. And the captain, despite his own batting form, deserved every bit of the respect and admiration of a team that know what a fantastic job he’s done, because the thing he gives them most is the belief that they can win, that they are world beaters.

Sorry for my rambling indulgence in cricket commentary, it’s a little known secret that my alternative career choice would be a sports commentator, so I got a bit carried away. How I would love to be sitting here in July writing similar commentary on the football world cup.

I also strongly believe that the psychology of winning is the same in any walk of life, from sport to politics to business, and as a leader the very best thing I can do for my team is instil confidence, and encourage them to believe they can win.

So back to BIBA, our team are out in force, we’re hosting more brokers than ever before, we come into the event feeling good about the momentum we have as a team, and as a business. The world is not getting any easier, and isn’t likely to for some time, but relying on the world changing to bring success is like hoping Brazil can’t play in the world cup, and what football fan would ever want to say that out loud. So if you see us out and about at BIBA, if you drop in to the stand for a morning after cure all smoothie and bacon sarnie, when you speak to the team, hopefully you’ll get a sense of a team with momentum and confidence, a team starting to win.

Janice xxxxx