This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.
I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, I attempt to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.
What happens when the thing that made school hard becomes the reason you run towards the biggest challenges?
James Williams grew up with what was then called a learning difficulty and is now known as dyslexia. He hid it, worked harder than everyone around him and learned what it feels like when the world is not designed for you. He went on to a career at Coca-Cola across the UK, Brazil, Latin America and Japan, ending with the Tokyo Olympic Games, after running the Olympic torch relay in London.
James and Sumit explore why dyslexia is not a superpower but a different skill, how the Olympics taught him to simplify complex things and see across silos, and why he believes legacy can become an inhibitor in sport. James is now building a women’s sports team and an ecosystem around it, and is honest about how nerve-wracking and hard it is, and why he runs towards a fire instead of away from it.
The conversation turns to the balance between ambition and enjoyment. James talks about the torch relay he never photographed, the team he told that “it is just a fizzy drink”, the burnout he teetered on the edge of in Tokyo, and the daily check-in with yourself that keeps him honest. He closes with why he now has designated breakfasts with friends, and why talking beats texting.
You can find James Williams at the links below
In the interview, James shares
- “I run towards a fire. I don’t run away from it.”
- “All you’ve got is a very different skill.”
- “I don’t think you can be a good leader without actually showing some level of vulnerability, because you’re not Superman.”
- “If it makes you nervous excited inside, then it’s something you need to do, because there’s something inherently right about it.”
- “You shoot for the stars, but if you hit the moon then you’re good.”
- “You have to inspire and enable and support people to get on that train, but you can’t be the driver of that train, or the legacy dies with you.”
- “Sometimes doing the right thing is not always the easiest thing to do.”
- “Every now and again, stop and go, wow, isn’t this amazing?”
- “If you don’t share and talk about stuff, you’re never gonna learn.”
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