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LEARNING FROM THE ADVENTUROUS KIWI - HOLLIE WOODHOUSE

Posted On May 12, 2020 

It’s always amazing what you can do if you set your mind to it. The speaker at the recent 3Keys event I attended impressed me with her story. Hollie Woodhouse is a full-time endurance athlete, adventurer and graphic designer. Every year she sets herself a goal, a challenge to complete. In doing this, she has been on some impressive adventures. 


I took three key points from her talk, centred around her experience crossing the Greenland Ice Cap; mind set, teamwork and flexible planning. You can apply this to your work or to your life in general. Read about her experience here.


1 - Power of your mind. 

You can do anything if you set your mind to it. Despite training for her Greenland adventure Hollie found herself struggling at the beginning of the expedition. She felt she was letting the team down, holding them up and going to struggle the whole way. 

he talked about changing her mindset, to just keep going, encouraged by her team members and focusing on positives rather than negatives, the beautiful landscape a welcome distraction.


2 – The importance of teamwork

The importance of teamwork – Hollie talked about the British team. They had started later, were much stronger physically, and had powered ahead of their little team earlier in the expedition. 


However, when the blizzard had hit on day 12, Hollie’s team had collaborated to build a break from snow to shield their tents during the storm. The British team had not set up their camp correctly. This resulted in one team member abandoning another in their shared tent, a move which ruined the morale of the entire team. None of their team were even speaking to each other, which greatly affected them both emotionally and physically.


Hollie’s team caught up to the British 13 days later, working together to help each other through the snow. It was the camaraderie and teamwork of Hollie’s team which equalled their success. 


3 – Have a plan A, B and C

Plan A was to complete the crossing in 24 days.

Plan B was to complete the crossing in 27 days to meet the boat waiting for them. On Day 25 the team discussed their options as they were too far out to make the boat. At this point they could have abandoned their trek, called the helicopter and gone home. Collectively they decided to keep going to the end. 

Plan C was to finish, and on Day 29 they competed the crossing over the Greenland Ice Cap.

Hollie describes the trek as the “best and worst thing I have ever done” and when asked if she would do it again, the answer is always “yes”.


Apply these three principals to your next job search:
1 - A positive mindset
2 - Can you see yourself working within the team? What will you bring to the team?
3 - Apply for more than one role. Have your own plan A, B & C.
And don't worry - we are here to help you with all of that! Contact me today. 


If you would like to be inspired further by Hollie, visit her website or check her out on social media.

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