Last Sunday was International Women’s Day and what a perfect day it was to travel down to Stratford-upon-Avon to be a trainer for the One of Many Coaching Certification.

I’m looking forward to spending a whole week with women who want to change their corner of the world.

In the lead-up to IWD, I called out the incorrect theme of #GiveToGain. It seemed to strike a chord, the post received 42 reposts, and the responses to my survey were revealing.

Just 9% of people said they experienced the correct UN theme: “Rights. Justice. Action.”
Meanwhile, 27% said the theme wasn’t obvious at all.

That’s a huge number of organisations that were inadvertently swept up in #GiveToGain.

Raising awareness about the origins of that alternative theme sparked far more conversation than I anticipated. Hopefully, those percentages will look very different next year.

Which brings me to this week’s reflection.

One question

What is one experience you had recently that turned out differently from what you expected?

Unexpected outcomes reveal blind spots, assumptions, and hidden dynamics you couldn’t see beforehand.

Sometimes the result is disappointing and sometimes it’s better than you imagined.

Either way, the value lies in the information you gain, which can be integrated into your next steps.