Ida, a coach with The Coaching Lens, tells this Aha! Leadership Moment story in two parts.  It’s about an old Irish Fisherman’s sweater – one of those heavy, cream coloured, cable wool sweaters knitted painstakingly by hand using the traditional Aran Diamond and Honeycomb stitches.

A few weeks ago, we were sorting through boxes of accumulated stuff, when I came across a fisherman’s sweater that I had knitted almost six decades ago for my boyfriend.  As I hefted its heavy warmth, I marveled at the intricately complicated pattern and once again remembered why it had escaped during so many previous purges.  This time however, I realized that while it was a touchstone for me, it also represented an Aha! Leadership Moment worth sharing.

Why had I never tossed it or given it away to Goodwill?  Every time I came across it, I saw a window back to a time in my life when I had unlimited confidence in myself and in what I could accomplish.  At the age of eighteen, I had barely succeeded in knitting a plain scarf, but I was bound and determined to knit a whole sweater and it had to be a Fisherman’s Knit.  It was a challenge –I had to unravel countless rows, figure it out and do them over again — but not once did I think of giving up and it was presented to Harry with much love and pride of accomplishment.  Over the years, I’ve felt life’s experiences chip away at that rock-solid self-confidence, but every time I find that Fisherman’s Knit sweater, I smile to feel a warm wave of memory wash some of it back over me.

I wish such a touchstone for everyone:  Something that reminds you of who you are and what you can accomplish, so you can go and do more of it!   Please reach out to us at The Coaching Lens if we can help you to find your touchstone.

And that Aha! Leadership Moment?  Ida shares another aspect of her Fisherman’s Knit Sweater in the next posting: Part Two.