Get Comfortable with Uncomfortable (Stonehenge - England)
Megan Billnoske, ACC
⚡️Bringing the Energy! • Keynote Speaker ● Leadership Trainer ● ACC Coach ● Everything DiSC® & 5 Behaviors® Authorized Partner ● Artist
Traveling on your own, is an amazing opportunity that many people never get, or really don’t take advantage of. I must admit, it’s not the “funnest” experience, but it taught me so much in a very different way than fun.
I was working for a Scottish based company, so trips to the UK were frequent. I didn’t mind! I enjoyed every minute of it. Between the all-expenses paid work trip, the food, hotels, work with great coworkers and hear their accents, it was a dream job.
As my cadence for travel picked up, and I became more and more comfortable with international travel. It's important to note that I am a small-town Houston girl, and had only ever traveled to Disney World, Vegas and cities in Texas when I grew up. With my new-found comfort level, came the itch to explore, even if I was alone.
Afterall, why should that stop me from living life? Nope!
So, I started venturing into solo personal trips on return flights from work destinations. Oh yes! It gave a whole new (and positive) meaning to "layovers".
For example, I had a layover in London for the weekend, and I booked my first solo excursion to Stonehenge. Some think it’s not that big of a deal, but I wanted to see it.
Using Viator, I booked a bus trip that would leave from a nearby bus station in the morning, and then drop me off at my hotel (solo-traveler safety please!). The rest of the 6-hour trip was on the road in a nice coach bus, riding front seat to Stonehenge. After a few hours, we arrived.
I’ll never forget when the bus turned off of the freeway, and about 1 mile away, you could see it in the far distance. Seemingly small, the upright and stacked stones stood proudly in the sunlight. Only after noticing the tiny moving specs around them, could you understand that those rocks were much larger than you think. Those specs were people.
My first thought…this is the work of aliens.
It was so strange and bizarre, feeling like something beyond humans had put this together. Although, there are several theories on how they came to be, and one of this is aliens, haha.
The bus unloaded at the site, and you could go through the museum and learn about it. Then, there was a gift shop, of course.
I headed right to the stones.
I spent my entire 1.5 hours walking around the stones, talking with a girl from the bus and only slightly exploring the museum and gift shop. I learned about the blue stones, theories of how the stones got there, and how far the stones must have been brought because of the nearest source of matching minerals.
After a while, we all piled back on the bus and headed back to London. The bus driver dropped everyone off at their hotels in one area, but mine was across town. Despite having to work the next day, and the extra time it added, the bus driver saw my anxiety about using the subway alone to get back, and he decided to drop me off right at the hotel door. What incredible kindness. The perk was that I got to see parts of London at night, including Big Ben.
Leadership can often feel lonely at times, but all the more reason to get comfortable with that aspect.
That decision you made about layoffs, and who had to be the one that was cut. Empathize anyway.
That unpopular, but strategic, change you made, creating unhappiness and dissatisfaction in your team. Keep going anyway.
That domineering and aggressive employee who is fighting everything you do only because it's you who is doing it. Continue kindness and accountability anyway.
That escalation of something to higher-level leaders, knowing that retaliation will most definitely come back at you. Do the right thing anyway.
Stand firm. Remain kind and respectful. Reach out to others for support, knowledge, help and feedback. That's a good thing!
Lead where you are.
Written and lived by Megan Billnoske, owner and founder of IMSPIRE, LLC. She specializes in working with leaders who are ready to have fun strengthening their leadership skills, unleashing team performance and delivering legendary ROI.
In her 12-year corporate career, she's trained 14,000+ leaders, had 27 bosses, launched 14+ brand new training programs, led countless international teams, worked in 12+ industries throughout the globe and loves what she does.
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